Can I get this done in time?

I got sidetracked – by work by the way – and I’m starting this almost an hour later than normal.

Actually usual rather than normal – very little of what comes out of my head can be described as normal…

It’s always a nuisance when the day job gets in the way of relaxing.

Shouldn’t really admit to it, but…

The reason I got diverted was, while the task was not the most interesting ever, it was taking shape quite quickly.

And the outcomes were not unexpected.

Hence job satisfaction and an incentive to keep on track.

But not to worry, I’ll soon get over it and get one of the – more normal – tasks.

You know – nothing goes right, half the information is missing, impossible deadline, that sort of thing.

What do they call it? Oh, I know – life!

The air conditioning has been fitted. 🍾🎺🎇

I mentioned the temperature “issue” last week.

Well, it got worse before it got better.

Just one of over 17,000 images when I searched for time. Randomly selected from page 150 something. Image by 499585 from Pixabay

This Monday, mid-afternoon temperatures exceeded 40C.

Tuesday the AC was installed and temperatures dropped by nearly 15C. About the daytime maximum in parts of the UK if I want to rub it in.

So we’ve hardly used it now we have it. But that’s fine by me. We start with the local breeze and work our way out from there.

I have to say the quality of the workmanship is excellent and you would not believe it hadn’t been there for ever.

Apart from the fact that it’s brand new and shiny. Anyway.

And considering they had to mount the units on concrete walls and drill holes between the interior part of the units and the bits outside, the noise was bearable and seemed less than I “experienced” in the rental place with DIYers.

The benefit of getting it done professionally I suppose. I do recommend it if you can.

And we managed to figure out paying them by bank transfer.

I am the sort of person who would prefer the cheque to remain, even though I seldom use them.

I know it’s totally Neanderthal/Luddite/insert insult of choice* but there are some occasions where cash and Apple Pay really don’t wing it.

And I’m still struggling to get my Spanish debit/credit card on Apple Pay anyway.

Those small presents for relatives, that sort of thing.

And I suspect that what we did was not impossible in the UK, just that I’d never done it.

The fact that it worked first time (we think, but no angry workmen on the doorstep, so) with just a 24 character account identifier and the guy’s name seems amazing.

To me it does even if not to you.

In fact the biggest issue was – in view of the size of the transaction – authorising it.

Couldn’t remember the PIN.

But once we did, it worked seamlessly.

Can I get this done in time?

Depends, nearly halfway through a typical post in 25 minutes so that’s not bad.

Easier of course when the blog wants to write itself and you are just the conduit. If there are a lot of jumbled up thoughts rushing to get out it goes quickly.

You can easily write 100-200 words about nothing at all – sometimes as a filler, sometimes as a stream of consciousness.

And I’m conscious that it’s Thursday, going out in the week night so aprender mi español has to be done prior to going out.

Coz I can’t do it at the restaurant any more. It’s getting too complicated.

It’s bad enough if a vehicle drives past and we’re in here but it’s getting impossible to do with any level of distraction.

I’ve even got the paid for version of the app. Because the last few weeks the learning has been happening quicker than the consolidating so the number of quite basic mistakes has increased.

$59.99 well spent so far.

There have been some TRULY bizarre translations of late:

• my dog has learned Japanese
• my rabbit likes collecting sweets
• the snakes have a hockey team
• there’s a lion in my sailboat (took me ages to realise this is American for yacht)
• the fish want to ski

Got them all right. You can speculate what that says about me…

It does help if you’re not half asleep though. I make all sorts of stupid mistakes as well as the genuine ones that need more studying.

Can I get this done in time?

Oh yes, can’t remember whether I’ve reflected on this before but here goes. Who gets to decide whether a noun is male or female (or male, female or neuter if you’re talking German)?

And why do they get that right?

The one that made me muse the most was “the sea”.

In Spanish ‘El mar’ and in French ‘La mer’.

Oddly the same five letters but not in the same order.

And two languages of a Romance tradition that differ as to whether the sea is masculine or feminine!

And if you want really confusing ‘Das meer’ in German. Neuter.

Come on you lot(s), make your bloody minds up! Male, female or neuter???

Here’s an interesting article.

I love the way it highlights that Spanish has two words for computer, one masculine and one feminine – el ordenador and la computadora.

So apparently it’s how people use it and not imposed. Fascinating. Too bad no one picked up further on the revelation that English used to have three.

So I think I have got it done in time.

Certainly quicker that I was expecting although adding the twiddly bits will still take time.

I’m sure there was something else I wanted to mention.

Ah yes. Covid – Estepona is one of the only towns/cities to run its Feria (fair) this year.

This has been accompanied by an uptick in infection rates and us moving from level 1 to level 2.

Because people have been taking it less seriously. If you need to be in a crowded area a mask is still a sensible fashion accessory.

Stay safe.