You may (or may not) be aware that I'm a bit of a dreamer. The other night I dreamed that the president of Loule council had called me in. When I entered his office, I thought that I could see the outline of my brother seated in a corner. Both men were smiling. It became clear to me that my brother had done a deal with the president that would lead the council to register Casa Nada. This was a source of great joy to me. In my dream I expressed my appreciation to the pair of them, declaring: "Yes we can", which I thought was the president's motto. (Wrong president; I know!) This was one of the few dreams that I was really sorry to wake up from. Mainly, they're a pain in the butt.
BLOSSOM RAINING DOWN
The dream inspired me to chase up our lawyers to discover what progress, if any, they were making with the project to register Casa Nada. I gathered that the sticking point was a council office that was being tardy in checking satellite records - three months tardy that is. Although Portugal has taken (largely successful) measures to attract foreigners to settle in the country, its bureaucrats don't seem to have got the message.
EVEN THE LEAVES ARE SPRINKLED WITH BLOSSOM
It will not surprise you to learn that our disapproval of potus grows with his every tweet and declaration. When we became aware of an online petition to oppose his coming state visit to the UK, Jones hastened to sign it. I would have signed it too had I been eligible. For some time we watched the website pleasurably as the figures leapt up by a hundred or two every few seconds. Regrettably, they seem to have hit a plateau somewhat short of two million.
THE FIRST SOMBRE ORCHIDS ARE OUT
For several years I have been using an internet-by-satellite service. It's rather expensive but it delivers a steady speed some eight times faster than those available in the sticks by landline or mobile data download. Until a few weeks ago, it was trouble free. Then it started playing up, telling me at odd intervals that it was offline for no reason that I could discern. I phoned the suppliers who reassured me that there was no problem on their side. Then I noticed that even when I lost the internet on my desktop, it was still available on our phones and tablets. Clearly the problem lay with me. A visit to my computer shop resulted in a high speed wireless adapter that seems to have cured the problem. Joy is functioning technology.
Midweek we attended the funeral of our old neighbour, Zeferino. When we first arrived in Espargal, around the turn of the millennium, he was still picking his carobs . Some years ago, he decided to leave the carob-picking to his son, but still performed a daily tour of the village, pausing to chat and to watch anything as exciting as a house being painted or a plot being ploughed. Gradually the old man retreated into himself under the burden of his years until, finally, having clocked up 95, he went to join his ancestors.
We were pleased to be among those to say a last farewell. RIP Zeferino. You were a good man and an inspiration to the rest of us.
We have been trying to discover the owner of a mysterious bunch of keys. I found them on the dining room table some time ago. Jones thought I had left them there and vice versa. Neither of us has the faintest idea to whom they belong nor how they came to be there. I have emailed the neighbours and placed a notice on the village notice board - thus far without positive response.
On the dog front, there is good news and bad. Pally's paw appears to be much improved. That's the good news. The bad news is that Barri seems to be developing dysplasia. We had her into the vet one morning. He has to take x-rays to determine the seriousness of the problem, an event that we've postponed. For the moment we'll see if medication eases things. If not, the alternative is surgery. We don't look forward to it.
WALKIES!!!!!!
I am able to inform you that I have successfully resolved the first 5,000 Freecell games, an achievement that has rocketed me to level 83, with the exalted title "Duke of the Deck". Three of the games proved so difficult that, in spite of any amount of trying, I had to go online to discover their solution. My average time per game has been a little under 5 minutes.
AFTER A DAMP WEEK, THE ALGIBRE RIVER HAS SWELLED REASSURINGLY
(I hesitate to do the arithmetic lest it weigh on my conscience.) On the positive side I heard somewhere that the mental challenges of a game like Freecell serve to keep the brain healthy and the memory sharp, warding off Alzheimers and suchlike. Stay tuned!
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