In a previous post, I spoke of the Brazilian Elections. Today is the runoff with the two previous candidates and from what is coming in, Jair Bolsonaro has won the Brazil elections with 55% of the votes. This is Brazil’s version of Donald Trump.
Most of the people I work with are elated. The previous President is serving eight years in prison for extortion and it is his friend who ran against Bolsonaro, because the Court ruled he could not run for Office while still in prison. The President before him was impeached on corruption charges.
As fireworks are going off all across this huge city, a pretty friend of mine texted me the message:
Im crying. Its been a long time I dont feel so happy
Brazil had its presidential elections last Sunday.
It was most interesting as elections all over the world are different from ours. Brazilians are very passionate about most everything, and it shows. The two top contenders, Jair Bolsonaro and Fernando Haddad have won the first round and will vie again on October 28th. As of the last count I have seen, Bolsonaro had 46% and Haddad had 29.3% If Bolsonaro had accumulated anything over 50%, he would have won, but since he didn’t, the run-off takes place.
Now, you have to understand in the US there are usually about 4 different parties. Republicans, Democrats, Green Party and the Socialist/Communist party. In reality, it is only the first two. But in Brazil, I counted 13 different political parties.
Normally I would not pay attention to any of this, but a pretty friend of mine explained to me who stood for what. I now understand Bolsonaro with his 46% of the votes is the Brazilian “Donald Trump”. He is far right and promised to “drain the swamp”. I am convinced he will win on the 28th, but it will take time to see if he can keep his promises. Brazil has had decades of corruption in its presidency and I cannot believe Bolsonaro will be able to clean house. It will be an interesting thing to see in the next few years.
A few interesting side notes:
In Brazil, you are required to vote or pay a fine. My friend told me the fine is about equal to one US dollar.
On the day of the election, no alcohol can be sold.
As with the elections in the US, there is a lot of corruption involving the voting machines.
I will watch this closely, as my friend is very political and shared her interest with me.
My good friend on the 14th floor, whose sink I severed my finger off in, has one of those strange little squat-body vacuum robots. I was visiting her one afternoon when she showed it to me. It was the cutest little thing but I thought, No way would it be of any use. But just the fact it is a new movement in the technical area (on my ignorant level), I looked closer at it.
I ended up buying one since they have been on the market long enough to establish a good product. The one I purchased from Amazon had the best reviews and price. It is the DEEBOT. Below is what it looked like after assembly.I sat it in its little charger home and a few days later decided to see if it was worth the purchase. Using the remote control that came with it, I sent it off on its intended duty to clean the dining and living areas. It took only a few minutes for it to get lost under the dining-room table amongst the chair legs. I think it saw it as a dense forest. So, I pulled all the chairs out so it will be able to finagle its way through. Below is a video of it when it first comes alive. (one of the days, I need to figure out how to embed the videos directly into the post – if any of you little ones know how, please let me know)
And I like the way it will busily go about its work. I like it going under the couch and love seat, looking for anything Camila missed while vacuuming.
It took about an hour and then went back to its little charger home. I picked it up like a flat little turtle and took it to the utility room and emptied its dust bin. I was surprised what it had picked up on its task. After only one run, it collected this:I am impressed and I will run it once a week. I would fire Camila if this thing would empty the trash, clean the bathrooms, clean the kitchen and change the sheets on the bed. Additionally, Camila is a bit better looking, as she like most Brazilians have cleavage.
But I like this little critter and will use it once a week. … after Camila does her part.
Kick butt, go for any adventure Life puts in front of you, but remember …. breathe. D.
I was in Porto Alegre last week, and got to see a new little baby. Remember in a recent post about a young lady named Alice who just had her little one, whom they named Olivia? Well, I got to see Momma and daughter when I was there. And more importantly, got to hold the little one.This may be deceiving, but the baby is actually outside her body stuck under the wrap thing, and quite comfortable.When I held her, she was not comfortable at all.
Alice is also an expert cheese cake maker. She likes to make a cheese cake when I am there, but this time, it was for a good man’s birthday.Now, the gory part ….
During the past two years that I became a Pumpkin Pie Master, Hot Wing Master and MasterBeaner, I have acquired some nice sharp knives. I envision that some day, I will be able to take knives and throw them in the air like they do on the cooking shows, but for now it is not the time in my life to be careless with sharp knives. But I do keep them very sharp with a 15º edge, not the 20 from the manufacturer.
Last week, my friend on the 14th floor asked me to bring one of my knives to cut a hunk of frozen cheese in quarters for her. No Problem I sez. I have the knives to do it with. Afterwards, I gently cleaned the knife in her sink and noticed there was red stuff in the water.
“What the heck.” I said. “Where is this red color coming from?” About this time, I began to notice my finger tip started feeling bad. “What the heck.” I repeated.
Well, I took a slice off the end of my finger and I could not get it to stop bleeding. My friend had some Cayenne pepper which is good for cuts as it closes the capillaries. Unfortunately, my capillaries did not know this. So, I wrapped it up in a paper towel and went home.I sat out on my balcony with a good cigar and book for about an hour. When I went in for something, I noticed blood dripping out from the paper towel. It took several hours for this little slice to stop bleeding. But it finally quit and I placed a bandage on it to keep it from draining all my blood away.And now a week later …The offending knife is in the background.
If it took that long for a small slice to quit bleeding, I wonder how long it would have taken if I had cut my finger clean off. Or my head!!
Be careful with knives. Someone could get their head cut off.
I stopped by the Guimas Bar on the way home to have a drink and to watch the local fauna. Luciano talked me into drinking a caipirinha, which is a Brazilian drink that has much more alcohol than I like. Foolishly I had two.
After awhile, a young lady came to my table and said, “They told me you are from Texas and I want to practice my English with you.”
Now, in Texas, she would be referred to as a youngthang.
She said her name is Karen and told me she is not shy. Then pointing to a young man sitting inside, told me her friend is Eduardo and he is shy, and he teaches English. We talked a few minutes about her life and she asking things about the US, and eventually she rejoined her friend. Later as they got up to leave, she dragged him over to meet me. We spoke a few minutes and enjoyed the conversation.
When I meet new people like this I think of my incredible Mother who loves everyone, so I asked them if I can take a picture for her. No one has ever refused. So, here is a picture of me, Karen and Eduardo :
Then Karen asked if she can make a movie for my mother and I responded with a very big smile. Check it out : Kisses from Brazil
Someone be sure and help MotherDear view it.
I find these to be very good people and have decided to meet and visit from time to time. Another adventure on the road of Life.
One of the nice things about living in a large city, is the variety of “ready to eat” food. Sao Paulo is like New York City, where you walk along any downtown sidewalk and see/smell food vendors.
I came home the other day tired and wore out. The weather was wet and chilly and I just felt rundown. Landed on the couch for about an hour, then woke up to a phone call. I had to go back to the Consulate to make a repair.
As I was heading home for the second time, it was dark and wet. I passed by a small restaurant that was grilling meat outside, and just decided to get something to take home.
The sausage and frango (chicken) cost about a dollar each. I thought I was going to have to warm them up when I got home, but they were so well wrapped, I actually had to let them cool down before eating. The sausage thrown on a slice of bread with mustard was perfect! The three chicken wingettes were eaten the next day.
A few weeks ago, I went to my favorite restaurant/bar for lunch and I told Luciano I just wanted something small. He said in his broken English, “I have!” Since there being the most interesting language barrier between us, the outcome was unexpected. He brought me this.
Three porkchops, rice, fries and beans. Much more than I wanted, but I grew up not saying “no” to food and ate every bit of it.
Years ago after a big Thanksgiving dinner, I de-boned the bird’s carcass for Terese like I always did. She took the meat and placed it in a blender with mayonnaise and spices and made sandwich spread. It is the perfect solution to leftover turkey. When you want, just slap some on a slice of bread, roll it over and gobble it down. … notice the word gobble.
It was such a successful idea, that Terese would make a pork roast and turn the whole thing into sandwich spread. I was always elated! So, the other day, I bought something in the frozen food section of the supermarket I shop at, and decided to make the Terese Sandwich Spread. (TSS) Luckily, it was a pork thing I was hoping for.
So, I dug out the blender that Terese used, chopped up the cooked pork roast into blender size pieces, and placed in the carafe. Added a whop of mayonnaise, heavy sprinkling of garlic powder and decided to add some cheese I needed to get rid of.
I pushed the button to churn the ingredients, the machine came alive and the contents just sat there. Didn’t even try to move. I checked it out and found the lower section had broken internally. Not a pretty picture.
So …. since the blender is also a juicer, I changed out the components and transferred the ingredients over to the juicing carafe. The whirling worked, but I had to keep stabbing the mixture to keep the chopping going. What I had when I finished, was not so much as a spread, but a goo with large chunks of cheese embedded in it. * Note to self, next time shred the cheese.
The goo will not be wasted, and I have already ordered a replacement blender.
Now the Damn Dogs …
I just wanted to let you know, that my accuracy has gone from 10% to 80%. And I can now fire the marbles out of my bedroom, instead of my balcony when I can be seen. Just this morning, the DD’s started barking at some poor innocent little widow woman hobbling by. I eagerly opened my bedroom window, and sent a marble near the speed of light to the pet shop garage below. The two dogs took off to the back area to see it if was something to eat. Bottom line is: They quit barking and left the old woman alone.
There are times in life when you realize the hero within yourself.
Most of the people I work with are elated. The previous President is serving eight years in prison for extortion and it is his friend who ran against Bolsonaro, because the Court ruled he could not run for Office while still in prison. The President before him was impeached on corruption charges.
