Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*
Covid 19
Someone has prepared this per million deaths table, and concludes: It's almost as if there's no direct correlation between lockdowns and deaths per million.
Peru. Harsh lockdown.
Belgium. Harsh lockdown.
Spain. Harsh lockdown.
Bolivia. Harsh lockdown.
Ecuador. Harsh lockdown.
UK. Lax lockdown.
Chile. Harsh lockdown.
Brazil. Extremely lax lockdown.
USA. Mix of harsh and extremely lax lockdowns.
Italy. Harsh lockdown.
Sweden. No lockdown.
Mexico. Mix of harsh and extremely lax lockdowns.
Personally, I think the sample is too small to be truly indicative and, on top of that, the situation it too complex to draw definitive conclusions right now. In some of these countries - e. g. the USA - the death rate is rising much faster than in others. In addition, it's too simplistic to say there was no lockdown in Sweden. De jure, no. De facto, yes. To a degree.
Spain: The back-to-school ‘experiment’ discussed here, a bit.
Living La Vida Loca in Spain and Galicia
I've been banging on about levels of efficiency here . . . Yesterday I read that some Brits are being given a TIE with the wrong statement on it, possibly affecting their rights after the end of this year. Instead of (as on mine) Residente Permanente bajo Artículo 50, theirs refers to Residencia de familiar de un ciudadano de la Unión. Check yours . . And good luck if you need to change it!
Which reminds me . . . I went shopping yesterday, to two outlets. The first, to a paint store, was largely successful but the second - to a large wholesale ironmongers - wasn't. But the young woman there directed me to another one 2km away. As I neared it, I came up against a road closure and had to make a 5-6km detour to get to it. To no avail, as they too didn't have what I was looking for. But 50% success counts as pretty good for my shopping expeditions and there are more ironmongers to try.
The noteworthy aspect, though, of this experience is that the pleasant young lady in the first ironmongers only proved helpful after I'd followed up her news that they didn't stock the item with the question of who else might do so. At this point, she not only gave me the info but insisted on coming outside to point the way to the new store. It's sadly common here that one does have to ask this question when given a No. Does that rank as poor customer service or as an inability to think before being prompted to do so? Or am I being too harsh7critical?
María's Dystopian Times, Day 28
The Way of the World
The Rolling Stones are re-issuing old songs. This has me wondering, if Manfred man did the same with this number, would they have to sing of Quinn the Inuit?. . .
Spanish
A new verb for me: Tronchar: To split. As in Me troncho; 'I split my sides laughing/I'm dying laughing'. But . . . A warning -Es una expresión un poco pasada de moda.
English/Spanish
Three more (less all-known?) refrains:-
- Beauty draws more than oxen: Tetas de mujer tienen mucho poder. [Sin tetas, no hay paraiso]
- Beggars' bags are bottomless: Zurrón de mendigo nunca henchido.
- Better keep now than seek anon; Nunca dejes camino viejo por camino nuevo.
Finally . . .
My relentless war with the prolific sucker shoots on my bourgainvillea continues apace. For the last week, the temperature here has been in the (unseasonal) 30s. Which has been of great assistance to the plant. Next week it’ll be 10 degrees less, they say. Which just might be to my advantage.
* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.