TODAYS PHOTO : 3rd attempt at the Church of Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte. Along coast past Ponta do Pargo near village of Cabo. Thanks to Karen (yet again!)
Source : Diário de Notícias 24/3/2008
I expect you all already know that yesterday was ‘World Day for Tuberculosis’, and found your own way to commemorate the event. Madeira itself is doing very well, with only 37 new cases in 2007, creeping downwards from previous years.
One amusing aspect of Madeira is the lack of proper addresses (street names and numbers) for many out-of-town locations, making life murder for the postmen and women. Ponta do Sol last year decided to do something about it, and now just about everywhere has a proper street name. Under the spotlight now is Santana, which has just 5 streets with names, and they are in the town centre. They intend to do something about it, but nothing is likely to be visible for at least a year and a half. Lets hope they use some common sense when they do … my street address (including spaces, and excluding the town name and beyond) is just under 100 characters!
The municipal kennels of SPAD in Funchal are already full, with around 150 dogs being accommodated, and May, the traditionally busy month of dog abandonments has not yet arrived. However, The Câmara Municipal of Funchal (council) has said it does not support the enlargement of the facility, because it would create ‘a third world mentality’ of yet more abandonments, and prefers to wait for other measures such as micro-chipping to have an effect on the numbers of stray dogs. Or in ‘madeira4u’ speak, “we want to spend tons of money on Funchal 500, and sod everything else”.
According to researchers and scientists, Madeira is a ‘paradise’ when it come to genetic research. As an island pretty much isolated for many years, the gene pool is small, and is ideal for researching conditions and illnesses handed down through the generations, such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Eventually this should result in significant advances in preventative medicines (and maybe surprise a few individuals who may not be who they thought they were).
Around 5 percent of all the children in Madeira’s schools at present are of foreign parentage, representing 54 different countries of the world. Children of Brazilian extraction make up the biggest group. With multiculturalism on that scale, I wonder how long it will be before political correctness reshapes the education system here as it has already done in many other European nations?
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I went to Modelo (Rib Bra) yesterday, saw Superbock advertised at 20% off, as usual none left. We are fortunate here to have the cheapest supermarket on the island, but I do wonder what we have to sacrifice in return. Stuff on the reduced ‘counter’ with no reductions shown, half the stock unpriced or incorrectly priced, or in the wrong place. And I am sure they are winding us up by moving the stuff around the aisles week after week.
I remember this time last year I was paying 45 centythingys for a litre of milk, now the cheapest I can find is 67 ctytgys. Cheese has gone the same way, this time last year I was paying €3.89 / kilo, now I am lucky to find anything under €5.
Here’s a crafty little trick, that you might find useful. If you look at the price of the loose veg, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and courgettes in Modelo and make a mental note. Then go look at the prepacked equivalents (in the white polystyrene dishes), you will often find the prices per KG are lower, especially where they are mixed. For example, yesterday, tomatoes were €1.99 / kilo, cucumbers €2.45, but combined and prepacked they were only €1.88 / kilo. Usually the same thing with mixed colour peppers. Be careful though, as they often put the dodgy bruised stuff in the packaging so you can’t see the damage clearly.
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