This and that.

The early bird catches the worm or so they say. It would seem to be the case as regards weather at the moment. I go out first thing and it is generally fine, with occasionally even a bit of blue sky. However, by the time I get back from running round the block, there has often been a turn for the worse and the last couple of days this has turned into torrential rain by lunchtime. All my favourite walks and running routes had dried out nicely when we got back from Spain but now the impassable puddles and squelchy mud patches are back with a vengeance. Friday was a bit of an exception, starting with torrential rain and turning into sunshine, causing me to leave my umbrella on the tram. Fortunately I had been travelling with a friend who was getting off a few stops further down the line and so was able to phone her and ask her to take it with her. The wonders of modern technology! 

Most of my friends assume that the cost of living in Spain is lower than here in the UK. My gut feeling is that this is so but it may be that there are things I buy here that I don’t in Spain. So I have been making a comparison of prices. Fruit and vegetables tend to be cheaper in Spain: 2 grapefruit cost me €0.84 in Mercadona while they cost me £1.10 at Tesco. The other difference as regards fruit is that just about everything is sold by weight in Spain whereas here you pay per item, which tends to push the price up. Surprisingly, however, I paid £0.45 for an iceberg lettuce here while I paid €0.85 in Vigo. Some things cost much the same: Weetabix, yoghurts and margarine. Milk is a bit more expensive in Spain: €0.85 for a litre and £0.85 for two pints. But there’s not a lot of difference. So far my price comparisons have been rather inconclusive but I will persevere. What still remains cheaper in Spain is eating out and drinking out. And then, you don’t get free food when you drink out in the UK. 

I have also been amusing myself by recording howlers produced by autocorrect. Typing anything on the iPhone or iPad leads to a wealth of amusing things. My granddaughter rarely checks her messages before hitting “send”. Consequently, the other day I received this message: “Plaited bread”. She meant to say. “okiedokie” in response to a suggestion of mine but somehow the letters were changed by the little tyrant who lives inside her phone. Some of my collection arise from trying to type foreign words. Here are a few examples: 

chicos goes to chicks;

besos goes to best, or even besoms;

chupito goes to chump into (whatever that is supposed to mean!) and, just now suggested, chariot;

pinchos goes to ponchos.

It works from French too: 

matériellement becomes material lament;

plaisirs becomes plagiarism;

souvent becomes solvent.

This is what I get up to instead of watching Eurovision on TV!