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Thursday February 23, 2017
Wednesday,
rain, rain and more rain, but the evening wasn’t bad for walking
the dogs. I wasn’t really watching at the hard downpour times but the
new roof drain pipe seems to be working well. I will monitor it
during a heavy downpour to see if it needs the deflector “T” or
not.
Mother
Goose is busy at work with her two babies after the larger one
finally flew the coop. Maybe I can get back in the bedroom to
re-arrange the living quarters due to the purchase of that king-sized
bed. Cristina made a couple of videos on her phone of the two hungry
baby birds and I was able to take them from Whatsapp, send them to my
email, process, splice and straighten them in YouTube, and here is
the result: https://youtu.be/v8LQMVSBJD0
Today
I had Spanish class and then headed downtown to find an oversized hip
carrier which hopefully will hold my new Motorola phone whenever it
arrives. I finally found a leather one for $20 with a magnetic clasp
which I have since augmented with a little Velcro for security.
Then
I tried to check out some headphones for the phone because nothing I
have at home wants to work properly. I tried both wired and
Bluetooth but the microphone quality was lacking. The headphones
worked adequately but they are of no use to me if the other person
can’t understand me. I had a single-ear Bluetooth unit at home
that I tried and it worked just fine.
Then
I met with the roving Claro rep, Giovanny, and I received my new
Claro chip and signed up for their $20 plan which gives me unlimited
calls within the country, unlimited Whatsapp (because the Herederos
do at least 30 messages per day) and good FaceBook access which I may
not use. My internet usage outside my wi-fi zone will be limited at
best. I am hardly proficient with smartphones but I will get up to
speed quickly enough.
We
had a smattering of sprinkles this afternoon but tonight I went to
join the Herederos for their night ride, which unfortunately was to
El Centro to join in on the “Noche de Caballeros” or some such
thing, but it is anything but a “Night of Gentlemen”… It is
the first night of Carnaval, so that means get prepared for
wall-to-wall people, getting bumped a lot, and to get soaked with foam. I had bought a
large can of foam and promptly broke the spray mechanism. But Isabel
could make it work so I just gave it to her. Sorry that I am not a
fan of Carnaval and having strangers shoot me in the eyes and mouth
with this stinky stuff. And, to top it off, some thief stole my
‘new’ phone out of a stiff velcro pocket of my new pants. This is why I normally avoid large crowds and am very careful not to get bumped. With crowds like this, it is impossible, and it is a pickpockets dream. Of
course, that really took the shine off the evening so I just made my
goodbyes and left. This is the second time that I have been nailed by pickpockets.......
My
new Claro plan kicks in at midnight so the new owner won’t get
much use of the phone other than selling it. Tomorrow I will go to
Claro and shut off everything that I can. And then I may need to buy
another temporary phone….. Ugh. I HATE thieves.
I was going to go to another crowded biker event on Saturday. Now I just may give that one a pass.........
I
hope you enjoy the photos.
That
was the day's excitement. Cheers, Al
© All
my work is COPYRIGHT
protected and may not be used in any way without purchase, or without
my permission.
If
you want to borrow a picture for sharing with family and friends,
PLEASE give me credit for the photo.
NOTE
that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED
VIEW.
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| A rainy Wednesday |
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| The new drain pipe is delivering the water where it should |
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| A much better morning Thursday |
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| Bright flowers near Spanish class |
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| Gotta love Cuenca skies - looking east |
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| A little unsettled cloud to the north |
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| Gorgeous clouds to the west too |
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| South is really impressive |
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| Love this unusual colour of hibiscus |
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| Afternoon sprinkles coming in El Centro |
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| A portion of the Herederos this night |
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| Todos Santos (All Saints) |
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| Trying some time shots without a tripod - tricky |
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| Would be a tad better with a tripod for sure |
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| Love the lighting at the Escalinata bridge |
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| A relatively small crowd tonight |
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| Let the spraying begin |
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| Going towards Parque Calderon, by the flower market |
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| I, and my camera, are about to get hit... I am NOT happy |
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| Nobody can escape getting foamed |
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| It is no fun getting it in the eyes or mouth |
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| Thousands of people around the park |
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| Wall to wall people |
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| Strangers spray strangers |
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| Our group gets blasted too |
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| Some of these cans can spay a long distance |
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| Trying to get a partial group shot |
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| Some guys just enjoy this a little toooo much |
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| Foam out... |
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| Most people are good sports about it |
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| Everybody has a can ($1 each or more) |
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| Everybody is gonna need a shower later |
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| They even throw confetti |
