Trucks of convenience?

In the early part of the 20th century American ship owners, frustrated with increased regulation and high labour costs, initiated the practice of registering their vessels in Panama. The practice later became known as 'flags of convenience', and these days nearly half the world's merchant fleet are registered in lands foreign to their country of ownership.

Now, I could be completely wrong, but I rather have the impression that a similar practice has been adopted by the international road haulage industry. With increasing regularity collections made at our bodega are made by trucks, very often registered in Ireland, and nearly always with an eastern European driver.

I often rush outside hoping to enjoy a bit of conversation in English, only to realise that the driver's English is even worse than my Spanish (which I'm ashamed to admit is still not that good).

So, what's the story behind this I wonder? Almost certainly a method for cutting costs?

Footnote: This post was based on a collection made at the bodega yesterday, and we have since had another collection this morning. Today's odd combination is as follows:

Tractor unit: Dutch
Trailer unit: Belgium
Driver: Ukrainian
Wine: Spanish
English speakers: None

Mind your language!

A couple of years ago I wrote about the effect of using 'Google translate' on a restaurant menu - it did not sound quite as appetising once the old software had got to work on it:

Brandada of codfish, cream of sprocket wheels with apple emulsion

Vieiras cleaning rods with apple and files

Even nearly two years later the same software doesn't appear to be doing any better, as it appears to fail quite seriously with certain words by taking completely the wrong meaning. For example a local wine that appeared on a local website called Señor da Folla Verde - which should, strictly speaking, translate as Señor of the Green Leaf. Google, however, has made a real hash of it, and I can't even begin to repeat the translation that it came up with. Perhaps if you click on the picture above you will be able to see the shocking result......

Ashes to ashes

Very few people that do not play, understand the rules of cricket, and even fewer will understand why England and Australia get so excited every couple of years when they compete for a trophy no bigger than an egg cup.

The 'Ashes' series dates back to 1882 and is named after a satirical obituary published in the Sporting Times newspaper after a match in which Australia beat England on English soil for the very first time. The obituary suggested that English cricket had died, the body cremated, and the ashes would be taken to Australia. The English media dubbed the next English tour to Australia as 'the quest to regain the ashes'.

On that following tour a small terracotta urn was presented to the England captain by a group of Melbourne women. The contents of the urn are reputed to be the ashes of an item of cricket equipment, a bail (the top part of the stumps).

Of course no one outside the two participating countries could possibly be expected to understand the intense rivalry of this series, especially when we consider that cricket is usually regarded as a game for gentlemen.

The reason that I write about this now is that England have today retained the ashes in Australia (the first time they have won over there for some 24 years), and it is making headline news in the UK.

In view of its perceived importance perhaps we should call it 'the ashes world series', despite the matches being played between only two countries (but still one more than participates in the baseball world series in the USA)!

Got cold feet?

Now here's a very curious phenomenon, or should I say, question. (This can be my Christmas quiz question for 2010)....... Do birds get cold feet??

The reason I mention this is that in the cold weather I have noticed huge numbers of birds congregating on the electricity cables, and always seemingly adjacent to the pylons. Now, I am not 100% certain but I think I am correct in saying that these high tension cables do actually generate some heat as the current passes through them - so the question remains, is it just a coincidence that our feathered friends appear to use them when the temperature falls?

More riveting conundrums tomorrow!

Now I really am depressed.....

It seems like only yesterday that I was commenting about the lack of festive spirit in this year's Christmas advertising campaign for our D.O. (Oh, just a minute, it was yesterday!) Little did I imagine when I was writing that post, that it could be superceded the very same day by something even less seasonal!

Each year we receive a greetings card from our local community office - very kind of them to take the time and trouble (not to mention the money in these times of austerity). Well, all I can say is that this year's card left me cold, and I don't mean in the weather sense of the word - judge for yourself from the picture above. Can someone please explain to me how a tinted photograph of a granite staircase and balustrade should remind us of the birth of Christ.... I feel almost compelled to go and ask them.

Now I don't want to appear ungrateful as we really do appreciate the gesture of their card, but the picture did leave me asking the question, is this some sort of political correctness gone mad? Certainly in the UK it would appear that we are slowly starting to erase the 'Christ' from Christmas for fear of offending somebody. Could Spain be heading down the same road? I sincerely hope not.....

Our small tribute to Arthur Guiness

Did you know that today, 23rd September, is offically Arthur Guiness day? No? Well, neither did I.... To be honest I am still not quite sure what it celebrates but I believe that it is a 'follow-on' from last year's 250th anniversary.

Purely by co-incidence we were seeding some tanks this morning when I looked at the foam being generated by the re-hydrating yeast. It reminded me of a pint of Guiness (actually 200 litres of Guiness to be more accurate).

Now that's what I call a head!

As you may have gathered from these comments we are now busy in the cellar transforming our wonderful grape must into even more wonderful albariño. This year we have already calculated that no malolactic fermentation will be necessary as the acidity level of our grapes at harvest was pretty much perfect.

Nearly one week after we finished picking at Castro Martin, there is still much activity in many of the vineyards of our denomination. I would be very interested to see the analysis of the grapes being gathered today and to find out whether the cellars concerned will feel the need to artificially acidify at a later date....

Galicia goes bilingual

Here in Galicia it is quite normal to see our matrix motorway signs in two languages, but usually they would be alternating between Spanish and Galician.

Yesterday, for the first time since I arrived here in Galicia I noticed an overhead gantry, not only written in English, but with a very polite request too - "Respect speed limits please". I can't ever remember seeing a sign in England saying please, it would probably be more likely to say "Respect speed limits or else hand over your cash!"

Although we are still in August (technically the peak of the holiday season), we still do not welcome too many British visitors to our remote corner of Spain, which is really what makes this latest development so unexpected.

Perhaps as this sign is on my daily route between the Bodega and our home, it has been introduced purely for my benefit - not that you would ever find me speeding, honestly officer.....

Is there anybody out there?

The annual Microsoft Office outing! 

Yesterday my e-mail was so quiet I almost contacted my provider to see if my connection was working properly - I got so desperate that I was almost praying for junk mail!

We must have reached one of the peak holiday weeks, when we receive more out-of-office replies than we do answers.

Please don't forget that it's our turn next week, and that the Bodega will be closed for one week. I'm so excited I've already packed my bucket and spade!

Have a great holiday wherever you are......

A combination of tales

                        Señor Benni                                     Señor Andi

In a vain attempt to retain my correct BMI (otherwise known as middle-age spread) I go walking by the sea every morning. The only thing that occasionally spoils this idyllic daily outing, are the young people returning from their nocturnal exertions, usually under the influence of alcohol. I should add that they are never aggressive, but nearly always very loud - even so, as you approach them, you quite naturally get a very uneasy feeling, especially if the group is large.

Now, I have talked about the drinking habits of young Spanish people on many previous occasions, so I will not comment any further on the subject, except to say that any collective drunken behaviour in the streets only serves to add fuel to the anti-alcohol lobby, that could eventually damage our beloved wine industry.

On a lighter note, this morning, for the very first time, I donned one of my numerous Liverpool football shirts to go out walking (it does not usually cause too much offense that early in the morning). And yes, you guessed it, I bumped into one of the above-mentioned groups of young men, who shall we say, were a little worse for wear. By the time we had exchanged a few pleasantries about football, the World Cup and Liverpool FC, I was reluctantly drawn into joining them in a dawn chorus - a Spanish version of Anfield's famous 'Torres Bounce'!

Finally, another quick tale vaguely related to football. Yesterday, when I collected my car from the local dealership I noticed that the quality control questionnaire was addressed to a Señor Benni. Closer examination of the invoice revealed the name Benni McCarthy, a footballer who spent a couple of years in our region playing for Celta Vigo. I assume that at some point he must have bought a car from the same garage.... Although McCarthy is not a very common name in these parts, I was most surprised to be confused with him, not just because of the age difference, but also because Señor Benni is a coloured South African gentleman!