JONES SKY: MORE TO FOLLOW
For as long as we've possessed mobile phones we've been clients of Vodafone - generally satisfied clients. We have found their prices reasonable; their sales staff knowledgeable and their help lines helpful. If an operator can't answer your question, s/he either puts you through to someone who can or calls you back.
CLOUD IN THE VALLEY
That is - until recently when Vodafone introduced a menu on their main helpline number. The computer that takes the call spells out a series of options in Portuguese from which the caller has to choose verbally and, when it fails to recognise the choice, like Sisyphus it starts all over again. After two galling attempts to get through, I fired off a gripey email to Vodafone - in English - pointing out the frustrations now faced by their expat clients. That was late on a Saturday night.
On Sunday afternoon, somewhat to my surprise, I received an email reply - also in English. Apart from trying to justify the menus, it advised me that these could be avoided entirely by using alternative numbers that went through directly to operators, numbers that it provided. I was impressed by the response and said so - in my best Portuguese.
THE ORPHANS SHARING A BASKET IN FRONT OF THE FIRE -
Before I leave the subject: a few weeks ago when the battery on my mobile phone started playing up, I took the device into Vodafone for attention. The phone is a sealed unit and the battery cannot be replaced by the user. It seems that Vodafone couldn't replace it either because they exchanged the faulty device for a brand-new phone.
MOON AGAINST THE CLOUDS, JUPITER (TINY DOT) AND LIGHTS OF ALTA FICA
A confession: as a man with a curmudgeonly back, I have found increasing difficulty over the years putting on my socks and cutting my toenails. It's not that I can't; it's just that I'm never sure at what point my back is going to seize up - which makes it unnerving. So I try not to.
However, there's a silver lining to this vertebral cloud. Mary the hairdresser in Benafim is happy to trim toenails as well as hair. And Jodi the physio has introduced me to "sock aids". From a range of such products advertised on Amazon's website, I chose the simplest and cheapest option, an item shaped like a three-fingered glove with two tapes attached.
The "fingers" are thrust into a sock which the dresser then pulls on by tugging on the tapes. The device is remarkably effective. Jonesy, who has been an acting sock-aid, is pleased to be relieved of the duty.
FATBALL HANGING FROM BIRD FEEDER
One of the items that Jones brought back from London - courtesy of Lucia - was a bag of "fatballs", a product much sought after by the parakeets in the Jones back garden. In Espargal, the birds that plunder the seed on the bird feeder have so far shown no interest. We've tried hanging the fatballs in different parts of the garden - thus far to no avail. Maybe we have the wrong varieties of birds.
OLIVE DROPS
The week has continued wet and dry by turns. Rain water from the roof spills via underground pipes into the cisterna while that from the exposed patio tumbles into large plastic bins beneath the spouts. We habitually save water, even when there's an excess. However - and this is the point of the paragraph - so mild has been our winter that mosquito larvae are swimming in the bins. Not an evening passes without a couple of mozzies buzzing around my head in the study. Poor Barri flees downstairs every time I whack one with the swatter.
MEMORIES, MEMORIES!I have spent long hours scouring through our thousands of digital photographs, a jumbled record of nearly two decades in Portugal. Inevitably, the majority involve the dogs that have passed through our lives during those years, along with our various guests and visitors. About half the photos have landed in the recycle bin. The rest have been sorted and filed on my capacious D Drive. In due course I plan to copy the photos to a digital photo frame.
I LOVE YOU TOO
Thursday I took the car back to Honda for the replacement of a faulty solenoid valve - not a component that I'd heard of until it began playing up. Although I once used to service my cars myself, with a lot of help from my younger brother, these days I can hardly identify the parts in the maze of machinery under the bonnet.
While the valve itself was not expensive, by the time Honda had calculated the diagnostics, dynamic testing, consumables, waste recycling - and added VAT at 23%, the bill would have paid for a number of excellent lunches for two. Still, Maria Paula had the car back with me mid-morning , which I really appreciated and, in truth, it's only the second middling repair in seven years. It's been a great car!
On the way home I stopped at an electrical super-store where I found a replacement for a defunct stair light, the likes of which none of the local suppliers had ever seen. Weeks of searching both online and on the street had come to nothing. So I returned home with a measure of satisfaction, one further improved by a welcoming fire and a cup of coffee.
On the political front, Portugal's outgoing president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, has "vetoed" a bill from the new Socialist government that would have given gay couples equal rights to adopt children. The president expressed the view that the issue required more public debate. The draft legislation returns to the Assembly, where it may be resurrected in due course.
Six years ago, recognising the writing on the wall, Silva reluctantly endorsed gay marriage. One waits to see what attitude may be taken his newly-elected successor, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who takes office in March. Although both men made their mark as centre-right politicians, De Sousa is better known as a television pundit. The country will be watching closely how he gets on with his socialist prime minister.
CAT BURGLAR
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