30 Years Ago - 23 F

Today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the unsuccessful (thank goodness) coup d'estat which is better known as 23 F. I'm certain people too young or not yet born will be at the cinemas tonight to see the premiere of the film based on the failed takeover. Most of the TV stations have planned special programmes on those terrifying hours that many of us passed not knowing if we would wake up to military rule or what. I'll probably watch one of them even though I still remember this day very well. I think I've probably mentioned too before that the bullet holes from the gun fired by Coronel Tejero of the Guardia Civil shown in this newspaper clipping are still to be seen in the ceiling of the Congress. Most likely I've also mentioned that the morning after I went to work as usual because I knew the director would expect it. Three of us turned up at 8 am; the boss of our centre was in Valencia where the tanks were in the streets! Tanks were outside Madrid but they never entered the city.

Happy Birthday to My Eldest Nephew

When this little boy was a baby and toddler, he always woke up laughing. Here he is with one of his cousins. He loved playing video games with me and making the bats so small I couldn't see them. Oh, and if he didn't win at bingo, he'd get angry. Hope he has a very happy birthday!

Umbrellas Everywhere

Agua de febrero, llena el granero, or water in February fills the barn. I assume this refers to hay for the animals though it could refer to the buildings where grain is stored for human consumption. Whatever the meaning of this saying, we got our fair share of rain this week, and, as most of you know, Zara doesn't like getting wet so her time outside wasn't as long as usual. We did have a good walk this morning and the sun came out for a while. There are still puddles everywhere, some of which we've hit so as not to forget a saint I say: charco pasado, santo olvidado (puddle passed by, saint forgotten). However, the truth is that we haven't seen them or haven't been able to go around them. In the summer, the gardeners 'drown' the parks and there are puddles and streams everywhere which Zara never tries to avoid. I guess she doesn't mind getting her feet wet, but a rain shower is too much like a bath and she could do with one.

Tuesday night there was a 'turn off all your electrical appliances' protest from 10 pm to 10.30 pm  to let the electric companies know what we think of their prices. I turned off everything except the alarm, but I noticed not very many people in my area participated. Because that's the time I take my dog out, half an hour without electricity didn't really bother me. I was going to post the event on facebook and on one of the Spanish groups here, but I left it until too late. I doubt that the electric companies noticed a very big difference in usage, and heaven help us if there was a football (soccer to some of you) match scheduled for that night. Next time we have such an event, I'll try and remember to post it.

Can you believe that next week is the last full week of February? Well, I'm going to go prepare a shepherd's pie from some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Hope everybody has a good week.  

Madrid Wearing a Beret

This photo taken from the free newspaper 20 Minutos, but the online version, shows the result of the early spring weather that we've been having in Madrid. While I haven't been wearing a beret, Madrid has. Fortunately for us, the weather has decided to change. Although I'll put on a beret again and miss the sun, the health benefits of less pollution will be greatly appreciated by anyone suffering from breathing problems. I always blame the altitude for making me more tired than I am at sea level, but I imagine pollution doesn't help.

These are some of my other conclusions from this week's bout of dirty air. First of all, I remember not being able to see the end of the street where I used to live because all of the buildings burned coal. Once the fire brigade even came to my building because there was so much smoke coming out of the chimney, and I think someone called them thinking the place was on fire. Most buildings nowadays with central heating use natural gas. There are still some houses near, not blocks of flats, that still heat with coal so that when I used to hang my clothes outside to dry, they came in stinking worse than before I washed them. However, the most important result of our hazy week is the fact that the mayor of Madrid asked people to use public transport and leave their cars at home, which they ignored.

While I was writing the word mayor, I was wondering if I shouldn't capitalize it. The Royal Academy of Spanish has now ruled that 'king' and 'pope' are no longer capitalized as in king Juan Carlos I or pope Benedict XVI. The other day I read a news headline about a plane crash in which 6 people were wounded. I thought the use of wounded instead of injured sounded very odd. Would any of you use wounded in reference to an accident such as this?

I'm a bit late composing this because I thought it was a good day to clean my wooden floors and the carpets. I had been thinking about doing the windows. The threat of rain has liberated me from that chore for the moment. As always, hope you have a good week.

As Sayings Go

Here's a saying that I remembered as I was delighted to see that it was still light at 6 p.m. the other day: Por la Candelera, una hora entera, which means around Candlemas it starts getting dark later (rhymes in Spanish though). This also reminds me that it will soon be time to change the clocks, which always upsets me to no end. I get over jet lag easier I think. I'm most thankful for the sunny days (as are my cacti like in the photo) that we've been having recently, which are a sure sign that Spring will be making its arrival known soon and which allow my clothes to dry. I know anybody who has had as much snow as many parts of the US has had this winter is certainly glad Phil didn't see his shadow the other day.

As always the week has gone by too quickly to suit me. On Friday I had to leave class early because I was afraid I was going to be sick. Luckily I live just around the corner and was able to make it in time. I assume it's a stomach virus that is going around. My stomach hurts a bit every once in a while. Yesterday I'd arranged to go out to lunch with some friends who for one reason or another never go to the Chinese with us. I think we all ate the same: green beans and meatballs. I drank tonic water - something that I like when my stomach is feeling poorly. Surprisingly enough, I was able to eat everything after just having a bit of white rice the night before.

Since time marches on, I'll post this and do some things that need doing, and then Zara and I will go out in the sun for a while. The weather forecast said 17º C for today and I saw 60º F on the internet this morning. Hope nobody has a lot of bad winter weather or tropical storms this week.

Nothing is Impossible

Saw this on facebook. It made me laugh.