Finally A Car

 I have been holding out for almost 7 months. Seven months without a car! Having spent my wasted youth in San Diego, California, you should know that from the time I was 18, I have had cars. Let's take a little trip down memory lane.

Not my car... but just like it

My first car was an 1958 MGA. My Dad thought I was crazy, but I earned the money and bought it, anyway. About the 2nd or 3rd time driving, I had a little accident, but nothing big. I ended up driving it to San Jose State college, when I enrolled in 1965. A funny story about that. The car developed a starter problem and needed a shove and a popping the clutch to get it going. One night, coming back from my father's house to college, the car stopped and I needed help to get it going. Some nice fellows came along, with a gas can, looking for an open station because their car had run out of gas. I offered to take them to the station, if they would push the car for me. And off we went.

When we got back to their car, they were very messy, trying to get the gas into the filler tube, so I offered to do it, myself. Suddenly, we were surrounded by cop cars, flashlights and orders to put our hands in the air. It turns out they had just robbed a local business of their payroll and were attempting to flee when they ran out of gas. They admitted that I had nothing to do with their plan and the sergeant who was holding me in the back of a police car, let me go with a warning to make better choices.

Just like mine

Anyway, that was my first car, which got put up on blocks to store, when I went into the Air Force. Years later, when I came back from a tour in Vietnam, it was waiting for me, so I rebuilt the engine and used it for a while.

My next car, which I bought while stationed at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino was a little Nash Rambler. It don't know why I bought it, but I drove it for years. Then I went through a series of sports cars: TR3's, Austin Healey's, Jaguars... you name it, I bought it, fixed it up and sold them. The problem was... the price I paid, the materials I used and the price I sold them for always ended up losing me money. But I sold them fast. This is why I am not rich.

Much like one of my 3 TR3's

I eventually bought 3 TR3's at various times. Now these cars have
a unique system of locking the bonnet (hood for you Americans). They use a little square key, that turns 2 bonnet locks on the front of the hood. There is also a safety catch to prevent the hood from flying away, in the even that you forget to lock it down. Of course, none of my cars had that safety catch, and as a result, I damaged 3 hoods.

Here is what happens when you forget to lock down a TR3 hood. You are driving along after having filled up your car and checked the fluids. Wind is going through your hair with the top down, when suddenly there is a little rumbling, the hood begins to flutter and it suddenly goes straight up in the air, crashing across the top of the windscreen, leaving a nasty crease and it hits your head just hard enough to give you a splitting headache and breaks both hinges in two.

Hood Straps

Now you would think that having that happen once, you would never do it again. Except weeks later, while in San Diego looking to purchase a used hood from a junk yard, after having filled up the car and checked the fluids... driving along the freeway... rumble... flutter, but in this case, since the hinges were already broken - it just floats away in the wind to land somewhere behind me. This time, when I bought the replacement hood and hinges, I invested in a set of leather straps, which reminded me more than those little chrome buttons.

I would like to think this is the end of it, but several years later, when I found another 2nd hand TR3 in need of much work, while driving it back to my Mom's house... well you know what happened. But I was still thrilled and when I got home, I proudly announced, "Mom, come out and look. A Triumph!" Her reply was, "Over what".

Anyway... there are many more auto related stories, but I have gotten off the track. Back to my purchase in Portugal.

First of all, there is finding a car. There are several good listing sites (OLX and Stand Virtual) where you can search and determine criteria for your purchase. Then when you find a suitable vehicle, the fun begins.

2010 Peugot 107 Automatic

There is insurance to get (I bought mine from our bank). Insurance for the year (a basic policy with no comprehensive) cost me 372€. Then there is a transfer form to fill out and sign with the seller. Usually, you go to an attorney, and in this case I paid 70€ for the service.

After that, there is a yearly inspection (32€) and road tax, which I am told in 100€ for my 2010 Peugot 107.

After taking the train down to Lisbon and making the purchase, my wife and I drove back home very satisfied. We could have spent more and gotten a better car, but for the minimal use we plan for it, this little car should do just fine.

Denise's First Jab

Centro De Saude de Gafanha de Nazaré

Denise finally got scheduled for her first round of Covid vaccine. She was scheduled at a Centro De Saude about 14 minutes away, not at our local Centro, where I just went for my 2nd shot.

Gafanha de Nazare is a cute place. Across from the medical building is a park, with basketball, soccer and tennis facilities. And right next door is a cemetery. It is nowhere near as elaborate as the famous La Recoleta in Buenos Aires (here is a link to that visit), but it did have a number of mausoleums and we noted also that a lot of the tombs had pictures of the "residents".

    

Some Observations About Portugal

Portuguese people are not at all shy or retiring. When we lived in Uruguay, we found the people to be mostly quiet and not given to outbursts. I accidentally made a workman cry when I told him that my high school woodworking class would have done a better job on the cabinets. Hey... I was angry. Our house in Ilhavo is right on the street and you can hear conversations coming a block away.

One of the many local cafes

Coffee is just an excuse to sit around and talk for hours. When I stop into a cafe... it is to get a coffee. But I learned, today, that the best thing I could do, to learn Portuguese, is sit outside, with a coffee, next to a full table and just sit back and listen. Almost free Portuguese lesson.

The Portuguese have a great sense of humor. They love laughing and that is a great advantage when you are massacring their language. I think they get a laugh out of my poor attempts. I remember when we lived in Germany, that the locals enjoyed teaching us slang phrases, because it amused them when we spoke them. While sitting at a table for lunch, I said (and this is not spelled correctly) "schmeiss mal die butter ubber", which, loosely translated means "toss me the butter babe". The head of the table, gave me a solemn look and said "don't lower yourself, Wally".

A German friend of mine who spent some time with me in New York, learned some phrases and tried them out on his wife. "You know, dear, this morning we had a job that we thought was a 'piece of cake', but it turned out to be 'a real bear'." He was so proud of that, but it was so funny to hear him say it. So I get the humor of listening to my attempts to speak the language.

Anyway... got off the track. So the take-away is that I love Portugal and am very glad we are here.

Zoom Assembly

Wally and I, just finished attending our 1 day Circuit Assembly (by Zoom). We are in a foreign language congregation, English! So the entire assembly was held in the English language. Great for us!

Even though, we couldn't see them, there were 3 people baptized. The morning attendance was 902. I joked that Wally and I were the 2! The afternoon session saw an all-time high of 1003 in attendance.Those were English speaking attendees. Portugal has over 50,000 Jehovah's Witnesses. There are Spanish, Russian and English speaking congregations in addition to the main Portuguese language ones.

The day started at 9:40 am. and went till 4:40 pm; with a 1 hour and 15 min. break for lunch. There were audio Bible dramas and video presented situations to remind us of Bible principals. All in all,

the time flew by.

Chave Movel Digital

The citizens area

We were able to get our Chave Movel Digital, today. What is that, you ask? It is the government sponsored account that allows you to identify yourself, via your cell phone number and a 4 digit code you select. It is used in banking, healthcare and many other areas.

All the operations are visible

As non-citizens, we had to appear in person at our local town hall after making an appointment. This is a citizen's area where such transactions are handled. It was done very quickly and efficiently and in the end, we were able to log onto our health network, easily. With access to SNS (national health system), we can view our prescriptions and appointments. So this is a big help.

After that, we went over the the clinic where we had our blood drawn for tests, yesterday and received the results. When I have my next appointment at SNS, I will bring these. The costs for the blood tests were a whopping $0.00. Of course, that is in euros.

Centro de Saude (Central Healthcare Clinic)

We had planned on using our private healthcare system, the cost of which is quite reasonable. But having had an examination for the driver's license exchange (which has to be done through SNS), apparently we are in their care system.

That is why I received my first Covid shot last week and am scheduled for the second one in a few weeks. Again, at the whopping cost of $0.00. They seem quite intent on keeping us healthy, here.

I got my first Covid-19 vaccine shot from the Public Health Service in Portugal. This was a free service and I was very impressed with the process.

First of all, it was offered to me via messaging on my phone. Obviously it is linked to my SNS account information. They gave me the option of accepting or rejecting the vaccine. Normally I don't take vaccines. Not out of any great bias, one way or the other... simply I'm usually too lazy. But it was free and that appealed to me. After accepting the offer, I was immediately given an appointment day and time.

Then a day or so before my appointment, they texted me and after that a person called me on the phone to confirm. Wow! That was unexpected.

I showed up a little beforehand and was ushered right in to a table to fill out a simple, one-page questionnaire. Then they took me to a private room where the vaccine was administered. I was given an appointment for the second dose and the card they issued stated the type of vaccine and the batch number (should anything go wrong).

After the vaccination, they kept me there for an additional 30 minutes to make sure I was OK and then let me go home.

Very efficient and I am appreciative. BTW - the shot was administered without any discomfort.

So far, the care we have received and the help to acquire necessary paperwork have been very helpful. Portugal has been very good to us.

2021 Portugal Census

City Hall - Ilhavo

We just finished filling out the 2021 census. Having lived in the U.S. for many years and responding to many requests for census information, I found the Portuguese process VERY detailed, and yet somehow comforting.

The U.S. census asks a few questions, and at this point, there are a lot of questions they don't ask, because of various restrictions. But Portugal has no such restrictions. You log onto the census website, using the code and password provided on the form they leave at your door. This quantifies the information to the local.

Some of the questions for which they wanted answers were: Where are you from, How long have you been here, When did you arrive, Have you lived out of Portugal for more than a year at any time, Do you own or rent your home, How many people live there and what are their ages, Do you have health problems with hearing, seeing, getting around, understanding, being understood, memory... What is the square footage of your house, How many rooms are there, What is your religion (Jehovah's Witnesses are listed on the form)?????

And that was all I can remember off the top of my head. Now some would rebel at the thought of revealing so much personal information to a government, but it was surprisingly reassuring, as it seemed that the questionnaire was designed to provide the country information on how to best care for it's residents.

I found out through the process that we are "reformados" or retirees. I am finally reformed after all these years.

Errands

 

Such a wonderful, sunny day, today. It seems like the first time I have finally enjoyed our little community in Ilhavo. We moved here to be within walking distance of services and today sure proved that to be the case.

First thing, this morning, I bought bread from the delivery person who comes by our street every morning (except Sunday), announces her presence with a loud bicycle horn and parks right across from our house.

A nice clothing store

Our little shopping strip

Then I went walked less than 5 minutes away to: 1. mail a letter to the Washington DC embassy with a notarized copy of my wife's driver's license 2. Went to the store a few shops away to buy a dress shirt for meetings 3. Stopped by the pharmacy a few doors from our house to pick up a prescription 4. Picked up flowers for Denise - the first of our stay here.

Then - took my little cart and went grocery shopping at our local Continente, and picked up 2 wine glasses, a free bonus from purchases I made the last month.

My shopping bonus

Denise was able to walk over to a frame shop a few blocks away, and put in 2 posters that she had purchased to get framed, so we can start having a little decoration in the house.

When we both got back to the house, we went down the little Chinese store (we have 3 of them in town) just to pick up some miscellaneous items. I was able to find some nice fitting sandals, so I was happy that I went along.

This might not sound like an exciting day, but after so many dreary months locked away (it seems), getting out and running errands was a day off.