tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.comments2023-12-16T10:49:06.489+01:00Thoughts from Galicia, SpainColin Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comBlogger630125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-24911052817113494742021-07-11T09:32:35.246+02:002021-07-11T09:32:35.246+02:00I had to look up what baseball boots are. To my Am...I had to look up what baseball boots are. To my American ears, they're Converse hi-tops, or simply, hi-tops. They've been in fashion for at least ten years, I think. And their origin doesn't lie in baseball. They were originally designed by Chuck Taylor as basketball shoes, when the game was just beginning, over a hundred years ago.Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249273119777270679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-87122868142086973682021-07-10T15:20:21.248+02:002021-07-10T15:20:21.248+02:00Luna is every car window, including the windshield...Luna is every car window, including the windshield. Parabrisas is explicitly the windshield.<br /><br />Single use plastic has been replaced by single use plastic coated cardboard and bamboo. Before long, complaints will appear about how many trees we're dedicating to those objects. I'm surprised no one has objected to how many trees sure just for toilet paper. (I do understand the need for conservation, but not the hypocrisy.)Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249273119777270679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-15906617908932314502021-07-09T11:31:54.831+02:002021-07-09T11:31:54.831+02:00prison cell - calaboose - calabozoprison cell - calaboose - calabozoEamonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06113513952030287447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-87187788672819286502021-07-08T12:43:44.439+02:002021-07-08T12:43:44.439+02:00I think it's the agents who jack up the wages ...I think it's the agents who jack up the wages - whether for pop singers, footballers or BBC newsreaders. I expect they take a decent bite. Lenoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12933569673776013122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-29955117602965600332021-07-07T09:27:45.862+02:002021-07-07T09:27:45.862+02:00Many thanks, María.
Fortunately, I don't ret...Many thanks, María. <br /><br />Fortunately, I don't retire until 12.30. So, I can iron at midnight. And also put on the washing machine at that time.Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-5320272858375277172021-07-07T09:09:36.276+02:002021-07-07T09:09:36.276+02:00Okay, here goes.
Punto means peak, so better to s...Okay, here goes.<br /><br />Punto means peak, so better to sit in the dark during those hours.<br /><br />Valle is literally valley, and it connects the most expensive with the least expensive; in the middle. This means that during these hours of the day you can turn on the lights, but it will still be more expensive than it used to be.<br /><br />Llano is flat, and is the cheapest, which, depending on the market price for energy, can still be more expensive than it used to be. Since it applies to when we should sleep, I suggest leaving all electric intensive chores for the weekend, when the rate is llano for Saturday's and Sunday's 24 hours. Even so, more expensive than when this rigmarole started.<br /><br />I still haven't received my bill, but I'm trembling.Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249273119777270679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-82771248596215671562021-07-05T16:27:31.126+02:002021-07-05T16:27:31.126+02:00Obrigado! Obrigado! sphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16339340521845382606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-62343797001306545282021-07-05T16:10:22.788+02:002021-07-05T16:10:22.788+02:00Sorry, just SOUTH of VdC . . .
Sorry, just SOUTH of VdC . . .<br /><br />Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-43480716294974243852021-07-05T16:06:46.769+02:002021-07-05T16:06:46.769+02:00Is it feasible to do nothing until faced with a to... Is it feasible to do nothing until faced with a toll booth or a "pull over here and register your credit card" sign?<br /><br />My friends says it is. You can't anyway avoid the pre-existing old booths and the one pay station he knows for new un-boothed toll road is signposted off into a services just north of Viano do Castelo on the IC1/A28. So it's possible to stay on the motorway and drive past it toward Oporto airport. Taking the risk of being stopped later, of course. Which hasn't happened to him so far.<br /><br />I don't think you can buy a dongle after your trip, only before it. A while ago, the credit payment demanded - at €50 as I recall - was far too high for a short tip into Portugal, inviting avoidance. But I don't how how low you can go now. <br />I guess that registering your car and debit/credit car details on line or at one of the pay stations is the easiest way to comply with the rules. Then you only pay for the journeys you make.Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-18802419650075302792021-07-05T15:34:09.561+02:002021-07-05T15:34:09.561+02:00Thanks Colin. I'm even more confused now. I ju...Thanks Colin. I'm even more confused now. I just need the simplest solution for 4 days of pottering about without forming a long term financial relationship with the Portuguese government or joining a queue in the post office (at the beginning and end of the trip?). Is it feasible to do nothing until faced with a toll booth or a "pull over here and register your credit card" sign?<br />I apologise for using up your time, but I've been trying to find this info for days. Everyone points me to the above mentioned official site and says how straightforward it is. It doesn't answer any of my questions.<br />sphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16339340521845382606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-68263938414102500092021-07-05T14:49:06.112+02:002021-07-05T14:49:06.112+02:00@sp . . .
This is not me, of course. A friend adv...@sp . . .<br /><br />This is not me, of course. A friend advises that your basic options are:-<br /><br />1. Pay all the tolls on the old told roads at the unavoidable toll booths PLUS buy a dongle (at a post office?) which fits in your car and allows the Portuguese government to raid your bank account each time you go under one of the hundreds of gantries on the new toll roads. Which is just about every other decent road in Portugal. OR buy a dongle with some credit on it. OR use the signposted stations at/near the start of some roads which takes credit card details. <br /><br />2. Pay at the toll booths on the old toll roads but ignore the rules about the other toll roads. <br /><br />3. Only drive on new toll roads and similarly ignore all the rules.<br /><br />For Options 2 and 3, you're running the risk of being stopped and both fined and compelled to pay all the back tolls.<br /><br /><br />My friend says he's not sure about the current payment methods under Option 1 as he's never chosen that one. He's driven for several years without incurring the tolls on the new toll roads but does, he says, wonder if he'll ever be stopped and be able to blague his way out of the fines.<br /><br />Not for me to make any recommendation, of course. But it is good news that at least some tolls have been halved. Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-50499352561556257532021-07-05T14:09:28.009+02:002021-07-05T14:09:28.009+02:00Just saw this
https://www.quora.com/If-Google-Plu...Just saw this<br /><br />https://www.quora.com/If-Google-Plus-gets-shut-down-will-Google-s-Blogger-still-workColin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-37702196458649668412021-07-05T14:07:53.925+02:002021-07-05T14:07:53.925+02:00OK, you need too look at Wordpress.org, which is f...OK, you need too look at Wordpress.org, which is free and, say some, better. Rather confusing. You can find comparisons between them on the net. Wordpress.com does have a basic free option, as I recall.<br /><br />It does take some time working out how Wordpress actually works but I believe it's superior to blogger. My impression is that Google - as with The Reader - will eventually drop it. They make changes without advising users. Which is annoying. And I can never get a preview to my drafts . . .<br /><br />Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-8652948137134276052021-07-05T13:03:03.689+02:002021-07-05T13:03:03.689+02:00Colin! You're just the man I'm looking for...Colin! You're just the man I'm looking for. I'm planning my first drive over the border into Portugal for ten years and I can't figure out this toll business. I know it's perfectly straightforward to use the machines if you enter by motorway (via Ayamonte etc..), but what do I do if I want to come over from Aracena and will only be using motorways later in the trip - for example Evora to Lisbon and then Lisbon to Badajoz? I'm not likely to return to Portugal anytime soon, so I don't want to bother with renting a transponder. Can I pay per trip at tollbooths within Portugal, or should I register for Easytoll or Tollcard on https://www.portugaltolls.com/en/web/portal-de-portagens/home before the trip? I'm just wondering how many tourists they have scared off with this malarkey.<br /><br />Thanks.sphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16339340521845382606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-22591901648624406062021-07-04T11:23:39.791+02:002021-07-04T11:23:39.791+02:00Blogger sometimes tells me of comments, sometimes ...Blogger sometimes tells me of comments, sometimes not. It goes by cycles, I suppose. I have long toyed with WordPress, but it seems, unless you pay for a plan, that your efforts will remain very much anonymous. Not that Blogger helps extend my popularity, either, but at least it's easier to post on it, and less confusing, to me, at least.<br /><br />I sometimes get comments from Indians who purport to have read my "excellent article" and then urge me to visit their websites. Sorry, Charlie Spammer, I won't.Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249273119777270679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-32785616018687784512021-07-04T10:40:34.366+02:002021-07-04T10:40:34.366+02:00Thanks, Maria. I sort of eventually guessed this ....Thanks, Maria. I sort of eventually guessed this . . . <br />Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-50616948801968422772021-07-04T10:39:53.766+02:002021-07-04T10:39:53.766+02:00I'm inured to it, James. With my daughters, I ...I'm inured to it, James. With my daughters, I still pretend to be annoyed but this is because they expect me to be . . Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-61079952090958623192021-07-04T10:37:28.247+02:002021-07-04T10:37:28.247+02:00Possibly a very good idea. Except receptionisst lo...Possibly a very good idea. Except receptionisst look at my ID of David Colin Davies and assume my 'first surname' is Colin. Which they then never find. And this is despite me always telling them I only have one surname and it's Davies. They are creatures of habit.<br /><br />Or just thick.Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-22649808946142491242021-07-04T10:35:09.413+02:002021-07-04T10:35:09.413+02:00No, I think I only read The Tiger. Or maybe the Be...No, I think I only read The Tiger. Or maybe the Beano, Can't be sure now, The one without Ming.<br /><br /><br />@María: I will never have a bank or ID app on my phone until it becomes absolutely obligatory.<br />Me neither.Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-88769588760655052152021-07-04T10:32:54.930+02:002021-07-04T10:32:54.930+02:00Lovely video.Lovely video.Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-55594269469570018042021-07-04T10:30:54.212+02:002021-07-04T10:30:54.212+02:00Me too, Anthea.Me too, Anthea.Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-88993741214961244672021-07-04T10:30:07.429+02:002021-07-04T10:30:07.429+02:00Hope it worked!Hope it worked!Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-22504672492309887422021-07-04T10:29:13.876+02:002021-07-04T10:29:13.876+02:00Sorry to hear of your troubles, Perry. Hope you ge...Sorry to hear of your troubles, Perry. Hope you get well soon. If you aren't already.Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-52703676726909085892021-07-04T10:22:05.092+02:002021-07-04T10:22:05.092+02:00I did, Perry, but it was stolen. Haven't (yet)...I did, Perry, but it was stolen. Haven't (yet) reloaded it.Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5993007.post-55604011411921683952021-07-04T10:18:15.843+02:002021-07-04T10:18:15.843+02:00I don't disagree with your main comment about ...I don't disagree with your main comment about the British class system. Everyone knows about it. And its presence always hit me again when I returned from living outside the UK. Some folk out it down to the ability of the British aristocracy to survive both the revolutionary turmoil of the late 18th century and 1848. <br /><br />Maybe if Prussia had survived . . .Colin Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17034285745883721921noreply@blogger.com