Rent:  as previously noted, we are paying U$S850.00/month rent for our furnished house just off the beach.  The big surprise on that was the across-the-board requirement here for a deposit equal to 5 months rent.  (I am told that is because it takes that long to toss out a non-paying tenant.)

Housekeeper:  We hire her through an agency.  The total cost to us is U$S2.10/hour and they take care of all the employment paperwork, worker's comp, etc.  She comes in 6 days each week, 2-4 hours per day as needed.  Our total cost last month was just over U$S100.00.

Utilities:  Our electricity bill is a mere U$S83.00/month.  That includes outside lights and three computer systems on at all times.  There is also a big refrigerator, two hot water heaters and a clothes washer.  I’ll have to revise that when we turn on the central heat.  The bill for natural gas is a paltry $9.00/month.  The water/sewer bill for April was U$S8.00 for a month. 

Telecoms:  The basic phone cost, before ANY calls is U$S5.63/month.  You pay for every call—pennies per minute locally, more for cellphones, etc.  We pay U$S82.00/month each for our two ADSL lines:  each is 768kb down and 192kb up. 

The last item today is prepaid cellphone costs, there are three rates:
The lowest to another cellphone from the same company, about U$S0.09/minute; to another cellphone company or to landlines are higher, but I haven’t figured out how much yet.  From a landline to a cellphone is  about U$S0.25/minute.

April 17, 2006
The electricity is 220/240 volts and 50 cycles instead of 60.  What that means technically is that a lot of your US stuff won't work without a converter, and some of it won't work even with a converter. 

Fortunately almost all computers and peripherals works on both major electrical standards.  For laptops you just have to put an adapter onto the plug so it fits into the wall socket.  For most other things there is a switch somewhere you need to change.  By the way, the electric plugs are Western European with two round prongs roughly the same size as a US plug, not those big clunky British ones that look like they belong on an electric furnace.

Television is an entirely different standard from the US.  It is called PAL--the same as that used is most of Europe (except France; what a surprise).  So unless your TV or VCR is multi-format, don't plan to use it here.  For details on the different formats see World Television Standards.

There are other little things that, I'm sure are perfectly normal here, but a little strange to the gringo eyes of the Southron:
    * the hot and cold water faucets go from on to off in less than one turn--so adjusting the water temperature for a shower is accomplished by micro-turns and is best done before you get in unless you have scald-proof skin.
    * the hot water heaters are hung upside down on hooks and are hidden in cabinets.
    * the electric, water and gas meters are all inside the front gate, so you have to let the meter reader into the yard to get your meter read.
    * the doorbell is hidden on the inside of the gate pillar next to the mail box--everybody can find it but me.
    * the water in the drain swirls clockwise, not counter-clockwise (because we’re south of the equator).
    * barbecues are cooked with wood, not charcoal that's for amateurs or slackers.
    * they sell meat for the dogs in the meat section of the supermarket.
    * even though the signs say "No Dogs Allowed", everyone takes their dogs on the beach.
    * the garbage is collected at 11PM instead of 6AM.
    * they don’t have canned soup.
    * salad dressing, if available at all, is only in tiny bottles, oil or vinegar and oil is the norm here--Caesar salad just means romaine, croutons and cheese, the dressing could be anything.
    * the English they do speak here is British English, not American English--so they go "in hospital", you lounge in the sun in your "garden" not your yard, and they have various insurance "schemes" from which to choose.

What was it George Bernard Shaw said about being divided by a common language?  Heck, I feel that way sometime when I talk to someone from Boston…

April 19, 2006
The official name of the country is República Oriental del Uruguay / Oriental Republic of Uruguay.  Contrary to popular thought, and unlike the West Indies, which Columbus thought were part of India,  it is NOT based on a mistaken notion by an explorer that he had found China or Japan.  The term “oriental” is taken from the original name of the area that has become Uruguay, the “Banda Oriental”, is so called because it is on the Eastern (oriental) shore of the Rio Uruguay which forms its Western border with Argentina.

Today is a holiday in Uruguay.  It celebrates El Desembarco de los 33 Orientales / The Landing of the 33 Orientales.  Their heroism led directly to Uruguay’s independence.

On April 19, 1825, a group of Uruguayan revolutionaries (the famous Thirty-Three Heroes) led by Juan Antonio Lavalleja, reinforced by Argentine troops, crossed the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires and organized an insurrection that succeeded in gaining control over the countryside. On August 25, 1825, in a town in the liberated area, representatives from the Banda Oriental declared the territory's independence from Brazil and its incorporation into the United Provinces of Río de la Plata. Brazil declared war on them. The ensuing conflict lasted from December 1825 to August 1828.

In 1828 Lord John Ponsonby, envoy of the British Foreign Office, proposed making the Banda Oriental an independent state. Britain was anxious to create a buffer state between Argentina and Brazil to ensure its trade interests in the region. With British mediation, Brazil and Argentina signed the Treaty of Montevideo at Rio de Janeiro on August 27, 1828, whereby Argentina and Brazil renounced their claims to the territories that would become integral parts of the newly independent state on October 3. However, Argentina and Brazil retained the right to intervene in the event of a civil war and to approve the constitution of the new nation.

Argentine and Brazilian troops began their withdrawal, while a constituent assembly drew up the constitution of the new country, created its flag and coat of arms, and enacted legislation. The constitution was approved officially on July 18, 1830, after having been ratified by Argentina and Brazil. It established a representative unitary republic--the República Oriental del Uruguay (Oriental Republic of Uruguay), the word oriental (eastern) representing the legacy of the original designation of the territory as the Banda Oriental.

You can read this and more at:  http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/uytoc.html. 

The “Liberty or Death” flag that they flew on this day can be viewed at:  http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/xl_33or.html.   This site notes that it is still used on ceremonial occasions along with the National Flag and the Artigas Flag.

So, from the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, please accept my best wishes for a Happy “Landing of the 33 Orientales Day”.

April 23, 2006
Last night I took my longest ride yet in Montevideo.  I went all the way from Carrasco in the Easternmost section of the city to Prado, which is somewhat West of the city center.  During my ride I passed the Legislative Palace, (Uruguay’s Capitol Building) and also the Presidential Residence and separate Presidential offices.  (Unlike at the White House, here the President has to drive to work, not take an elevator.)

We left the house at 11PM in order to go to Church for the Midnight Easter Liturgy at the Greek Orthodox Church.  We returned about 2AM. During that ride we went through many section of the city and they were almost universally laid out with wide tree-lined streets and replete with open parks.  They were clean, and the pavement was without pot holes.  Every section seemed to have its own “business district” with shopping, restaurants and bars.

Like Washington DC, there are traffic circles (rotondas) and street go off at various angles creating a plethora of triangular mini parks everywhere.  Unlike Washington DC, we didn’t find any slums or areas that looked dangerous—though I have been assured that “slums” do exist.

One interesting side note, for those of you old enough to remember when Exxon was Esso, it still is here: same colors and layout of the gas stations as in the US, but still proudly bearing the Esso name. 

Montevideo is a pretty city—it certainly appears to be a safe city.  I am investigating buy a handicapped scooter so I can explore it on a more intimate basis.

April 29, 2006
In the years I have been gone from Florida I have gradually adapted to a modified version of international English and then the metric system of weights, distance, and volume -- but have tenaciously clung to Fahrenheit when reckoning temperature.  After all, what could be simpler and more logical than water freezing at 32 degrees and boiling at 212 degrees?  How dare the metric proponents claims that setting these benchmarks at 0 degrees and 100 degrees would be more efficient?

Somehow 35C doesn't sound hot, while 95F is very hot.  And a comfort zone of 22-27C (72-80F) just doesn't work either.  Besides, when I was in chemistry class, about 100 years ago C stood for Centigrade (100 degrees in Latin, I think) not Celsius.  So who is this Celsius and why should we prefer him or her to the Venerable Fahrenheit?  These are questions that the inquiring minds wants to know.

Nevertheless, unless the Confederacy rises again, the chances of me ever living in America are slim, and everyone else uses Celsius, except of course for those primitives who don't give a darn what the temperature is.  So, in the same spirit that I accepted that the letter Z might be pronounced Zed instead of Zee, I decided to take the metric plunge--so I changed my electronic weather station and every one of my internet weather links to Celsius.  I do however, keep a conversion cheat sheet under the glass on my desktop.

But how the heck do you convert between the two? 

If you solve calculus problems in your head for fun, or are just plain anal retentive, you would want to do it this way:

        *  To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32 degrees and divide by 1.8.
        * To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8 and add 32 degrees.

Another less precise system that some people use is this:

        * To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 30 degrees and cut in half..
        * To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, double and add 30 degrees.

That will get you pretty close at most temperature to which you will be exposed, unless you are an arctic explorer or work in a blast furnace.

If, however, those doesn't appeal, you might try the system that works for me:
I start by remembering that 68F=20C.  I then simply add or subtract 2F for every 1C.  Consequently, since 70F is 2F higher than 68, it must be  about 21C.  What I like about it is that it is so simple that I can do it in my head, even when drinking.  It is about 10% off, but who among us can tell the difference between 70F and 69.8F?

There is one final system to consider, as it breaks the temperature down into even more manageable units:

        * Way too cold,
        * Too cold,
        * cold,
        * cool,
        * nice,
        * warm,
        * hot,
        * too hot,
        * Too damned hot!

Which system do you prefer?

May 1, 2006
Having lived outside the US for so long I have become accustomed to Labour Day (purposely using international English spelling) being on May 1st rather than the US and Canadian norm of the first Monday in September.  But there is still something different and a bit sinister about May Day that evokes dark memories of nuclear tipped missiles being paraded in Red Square in Moscow (of course similar weapons are still paraded today in North Korea, Red China, Vietnam, Cuba, and probably Venezuela as soon as Castro wannabe Hugo Chavez can find any).

It seems to me that in most places, Labour Day/ May Day is almost confrontational and Marxian -- whereas the US/Canada paradigm seems genuinely more celebratory.  I should hasten to add that the holiday doesn't seem confrontational here, but then few things do.

Have a Happy May Day / Labour Day!  I'm celebrating mine by laboring...

May 13, 2006
Last Saturday night, my business partner, the Copperhead, decided things had not been sufficiently exciting around here, so he decided to start a fire.  Now he claims it was an accident.  He says he was only burning the pizza boxes in the fireplace, but I still have my suspicions.  Some people will do anything for attention…I was asleep on my one good ear, which means I was oblivious to the world.  I was finally awakened by my dog Harry, as he has been trained to do, when the Bomberos (firemen to you ignorant gringos) turned up.

Anyway, the facts, as I can best reconstruct them are these.

Copperhead tossed the pizza boxes into the burning fire in the fireplace to save having to walk them to the trash in the street.  (As skinny as he is, he can’t afford to burn off the calories.)  The Next thing that happened was someone madly ringing the bell at the gate.  Copperhead went out and there was a neighbor on his cellphone to the Bomberos.  He pointed to the roof and Copperhead saw multicolored flames shooting out of the chimney, that while very pretty, we dangerous to the trees with dying leaves all about the house.

Within a matter of just a very few minutes, the fire truck arrived, the fire men came into the house, took the dog’s water bucket and dumped it on the fire in the fireplace, watched to make sure nothing was set blazing by the now dying chimney fire, and then left.  They did give Copperhead the card of a chimney sweep—who turned out to be a fireman, of course.  The chimney sweep was duly called the next day.  When they cleaned the chimney to took out FOUR GARBAGE BAGS FULL OF SOOT.  Apparently it had never been cleaned and some fool had burned a lot of pine in it which coated the inside with tar just waiting to burn.  Total cost, U$S28.00..

At least we know that emergency service works—I am not planning on field testing the others anytime soon:  somehow a burglary or heart attack seems to much to ask for…

(For those not among the Cognoscenti, Copperhead is a term of adulation given by Southrons to Northerners who supported to good cause…)