Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight.

And, lo, has caught the sultan’s turret In a noose of light!

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable

 Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’

NOTE: This post is later than usual as there’s no internet in the place in which I’m writing it. I’m told that I’m ‘connected to wifi but without internet’ but I’ve no idea how this can be. And the management shows no interest in doing anything about it. Hey ho. On with the show, from home. Later.

Cosas de España/Galicia

Today is, by my calculation, the 16^th successive day of a North wind and glorious sun, meaning nocturnal temperatures of 2-3º. But it’s much colder elsewhere, it seems.

This site will tell you, hour by hour, how much your electricity (luz) is costing you. It’s cheaper at the weekend, of course, though even on a Sunday you can pay 4 times more than what it is at the cheapest hour – 0.190 v 0.046. But I have no idea how these charges are worked out and whether or not they’re accurate.

As I’ve said, Galicia is a region of small landholdings, minifundios. The borders of these can be marked off in a number of ways, ranging from a rag attached to a branch to a solid granite block- Here’s a few singletons and couples I clocked in the forest behind my house yesterday. All of the couples were only a few metres apart:-

Singletons

Couples

The main thing to know about these markers is that most of them can be moved. And some people get murdered for doing just that. By an angry neighbour, of course.

Less importantly . . . I see the Pv city Sunday flea market now comprises at least 80% illegal gypsy traders, most of whom use the ground, rather than a table, on which to display their wares. I guess the police will arrive to shift them once we get close to 100% because the legal traders simply don’t turn up. A cycle that repeats itself every 5 years or so.

Having been passed by 6 cyclists speeding down the narrow Rúa Real, I got to wondering what these Lycra-clad sportsmen would have done on a Sunday 10 or 20 years ago, before (expensive)bikes and (ridiculous)clothes became de rigeur. Jogged? Walked? Nothing?

Germany

Warning: The remake of All Quiet on the Western Front – on Spanish Netflix, Sin Novedad en el Frente* – is very graphic, But the English dubbing is superb. Unlike Spanish dubbing, which seems to me to use the same 3 voices for everyone and anyone of any age and sex.

*Actually closer to the original German title, I think.

Ukraine

Losing its treasures to Russia, it’s reported. One of the several consequences of Putin regarding Ukraine as a country which doesn’t exist because it’s really a part of Greater Russia.

Social Media

The problem with social media is that it’s subject to selection bias. The moment the pack scents the quarry, anything that corroborates guilt is gathered into the growing tsunami and anything that doesn’t is spat out. You can say that again.

Relatedly . . .

Quote of the Day

The plural of anecdote is not data.

Spanish

Una sinpa [sin pagar]: A ‘runner.’ As in, ‘Let’s do a runner’. I did this once in SdC, having asked for the bill several times over 20 minutes. Down South, a Latvian chap has been arrested 15 times for doing it, racking up a total bill of €766 over 2 months of eating out at the expense of others. At an average of €51 a time. Not bad going. A gourmand, perhaps. But, ironically, probably just saunters slowly out of a place, never actually running.

Finally . . .

To amuse . . .

I confess to having to ponder this cartoon for a few seconds . . .

My new mouse has transformed my laptop life, as it doesn’t do any of the unwanted things the hypersensitive touchpad on my new-ish PC does. So, I’m slightly less grumpy again. Which reminds me . .The mouse came in a plastic pack with instructions that needed a magnifying glass – really – and which didn’t explain how it worked. It took me a while to realise that the Pico receptor had to be plugged into a USB port on my PC, not inserted into the (resting) place for it under the mouse . . .

But what I really wanted to mention is that the text told me that the contents of the plastic pack included a ‘gift box’. This was a piece of bare cardboard inside a glossy cardboard wrapper. Thus is language devalued.

For new readers:-

1. If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here. If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city there.

2. Should you want to, the easiest way to to get my post routinely is to sign up for email subscription. As opposed to using a Bookmark or entering the URL in your browser.