HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That's got to be the joke of the year, matched only by republicans wanting to run Sarah Palin in 2012! ROFLMAO!
in reference to: CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Lou Dobbs weighing White House run in 2012 « - Blogs from CNN.com (view on Google Sidewiki)Monday, November 23, 2009
Bad day for iPhone users...
Looks like iPhone users are going to be facing some interesting challenges in the next few months. At the moment only jailbroken phones are at risk, but who in their right mind lets users install security software with a default password and doesn't require users to change it immediately upon installation? Bad, bad idea, Apple. Maybe if Jobs would pay less attention to this ego and his tantrums and more to the things that should have attention paid to them, they might actually get more market share than Blackberry. Me, I'm going Android. I trust Google a hell of a lot more than I will ever trust pathetic Steve Jobs.
in reference to: BBC NEWS | Technology | New iPhone worm is 'more serious' (view on Google Sidewiki)Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Up to my gills.
If you're wondering why I haven't updated the blog it's because I just don't have time. Yesterday, for example, I woke up at 7:30am. School starts at 9am and ends at 6pm. I managed to get away for a few minutes to head to Banco do Brasil to request a CPF card (Cadastro de Pessoa Física), something similar to a US Social Security number, used to identify yourself for all commercial and personal transactions. I couldn't even activate a pay-as-you-go cellphone SIM card because I didn't have a CPF, had to go to the cellphone company store the next day to do that. It's a lot easier to get things done in Brasil if you have a CPF. Once school ended I went home, ate dinner, and worked until 11:30pm, at which time I did my homework and finally crashed into bed, exhausted.
That might explain why all I've seen of São Paulo is the four blocks east and west of Ave Paulista, perpendicular to the street where I am staying. That's OK, though. I signed up for this and I'm sure I'll get my chance to see more of the city at some future time. Right now, I have plenty of work to do and have to keep my priorities straight.
School is going very well, I am some 500% ahead of the other students, mostly because I know Spanish and can read Portuguese. The hardest part of this is trying to keep the pronunciation rules straight and separated in my head. I keep mixing Spanish with English, a habit that is not easy to break after nearly 50 years of the former and just two weeks of the latter. I am heartened by several strangers who have expressed surprise at how well I can speak the language after such a short period of training. I've also met with one client here and they were very impressed with my Portuguese, which at times was better than their English. We both tried hard, though.
The highlight of this week is a Cuban friend of mine from Havana, a regional airline pilot on the island, with whom I have corresponded for several years but have never met. He is here in Brasil, in training at a facility in the nearby town of Curitiba, about six hours away by car. He will be coming back to São Paulo on Friday before heading home on Sunday, so it looks like we will finally get to meet.
That's it for today. Time to get back to work. :)
That might explain why all I've seen of São Paulo is the four blocks east and west of Ave Paulista, perpendicular to the street where I am staying. That's OK, though. I signed up for this and I'm sure I'll get my chance to see more of the city at some future time. Right now, I have plenty of work to do and have to keep my priorities straight.
School is going very well, I am some 500% ahead of the other students, mostly because I know Spanish and can read Portuguese. The hardest part of this is trying to keep the pronunciation rules straight and separated in my head. I keep mixing Spanish with English, a habit that is not easy to break after nearly 50 years of the former and just two weeks of the latter. I am heartened by several strangers who have expressed surprise at how well I can speak the language after such a short period of training. I've also met with one client here and they were very impressed with my Portuguese, which at times was better than their English. We both tried hard, though.
The highlight of this week is a Cuban friend of mine from Havana, a regional airline pilot on the island, with whom I have corresponded for several years but have never met. He is here in Brasil, in training at a facility in the nearby town of Curitiba, about six hours away by car. He will be coming back to São Paulo on Friday before heading home on Sunday, so it looks like we will finally get to meet.
That's it for today. Time to get back to work. :)
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Reminders
Today I was given a strong reminder that I'm not getting an younger... I met a young man by the name of Ruben Azenha. He works for a company that I used to work for, Borland Software Corp., which was supposed to be bought by Micro Focus, but now the deal is in question... but that's another story. The point is that I told Rubem, as we were walking to a very nice Gerais-style restaurant (in reference to Minas Gerais in Brazil), that I began working with Borland as a member of TeamB in 1988.
And he turns to me and says he was born that year. Just what I needed to hear, right? LOL! The food was great, the coffee even better. 'Nuff said.
Couple of pics of my classmates... some of them are from Texas, one from India, four of them are from Japan, there's more in the school from Spain, Australia and all sorts of other places.
And he turns to me and says he was born that year. Just what I needed to hear, right? LOL! The food was great, the coffee even better. 'Nuff said.
Couple of pics of my classmates... some of them are from Texas, one from India, four of them are from Japan, there's more in the school from Spain, Australia and all sorts of other places.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Autopilot my bunda.
Not much to report today... I am still making excellent progress with my Portuguese, and can now understand pretty much everything I hear, even from the other students with less-than-perfect skills, like me. It's getting better.
One thing I did want to comment about today was Air France 447, the unfortunate accident where 200+ people were lost a couple of days ago on the way from Rio to Paris. There is a tremendous amount of irresponsible, uninformed and frankly idiotic speculation coming from all quarters, including the as-usual irresponsible general news media.
If you really want to know what happened to AF447, I believe there is only one answer, and it's not terrorism, it's not an uncommanded autopilot dive as what happened to a Qantas A330 back in October. This analysis of the incredibly severe weather the captain of AF447 tried to fly through pretty much says it all. Look for yourself. It's technical, but crystal clear...
One thing I did want to comment about today was Air France 447, the unfortunate accident where 200+ people were lost a couple of days ago on the way from Rio to Paris. There is a tremendous amount of irresponsible, uninformed and frankly idiotic speculation coming from all quarters, including the as-usual irresponsible general news media.
If you really want to know what happened to AF447, I believe there is only one answer, and it's not terrorism, it's not an uncommanded autopilot dive as what happened to a Qantas A330 back in October. This analysis of the incredibly severe weather the captain of AF447 tried to fly through pretty much says it all. Look for yourself. It's technical, but crystal clear...
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Meet the Brazilian alpine-climbing furball.
I have to get this one out here first. Remember the tiny kitten my host family owns? I don't remember if I told you anything about her... she's a tiny cat, one month old, her name is Lara. And... get this... she's a friggin' mountain climber. She's good at it, too! Watch the video!
Ok, so yesterday two days ago I've started classes, and already I'm getting compliments from total strangers at convenience stores of how well I speak Portuguese. When I tell them I've only been in Brazil for three days they are totally shocked. Something tells me this experiment will work out after all! (Cut to "Young Frankenstein" with Fräu Blucher and the hysterical horses.) I can also now understand the babblings of the bums hanging around the convenience stores (more like mini-supermarkets) so I know I must be making some progress.
The picture at left is one of the group classes at Fast Forward. The young man at the far end of the room is Marçel, my current grammar instructor,. Every Wednesday they show a Brazilian movie of some kind. In this case, it was some romantic movie that was too damn close to Latin American "novelas" for comfort. Thankfully, I am a private student so I didn't have to endure that particular show. This is also the break room and Internet room, where they keep a computer available for casual Internet access. It's not exactly a modern speed demon... I think my Blackberry has a faster connection to the net, and I'm roaming internationally with a Sprint worldphone connected to Brazil's "TIM Brasil" or something like that.
We're continuing with the current plan of morning grammar and afternoon conversation. The school's system is actually quite effective and it's clear these folks know exactly what they are doing. They have quickly figured out my rate of learning and have adapted to it by speeding everything up. The textbook and workbook are large but I think we'll finish them in the four weeks of class I am taking.
I think this weekend I will take a bit of time to visit a couple of museums. Still a lot of work to get done but I need to unwind a bit, the training is quite draining. And now I need to go do my homework, so I'll leave you with another video. The lady at the far right of the room in the dark sweater and blue jeans is my conversational instructor, Marilia (yes, I checked, that's how it's spelled.) The infectiously laughing Brasilian at the far left is David, my original grammar instructor. At the round table there are three Japanese students (there are tons of Brazilians working in Japan and another ton of Japanese in Brazil, the two countries enjoy quite a productive and friendly relationship). The student in the dark shirt is Taca and the one in the light shirt is Jun, the other student staying with us at our host family's apartment (he has a room, I have the separate studio apartment behind the main living areas.
Ok, so yesterday two days ago I've started classes, and already I'm getting compliments from total strangers at convenience stores of how well I speak Portuguese. When I tell them I've only been in Brazil for three days they are totally shocked. Something tells me this experiment will work out after all! (Cut to "Young Frankenstein" with Fräu Blucher and the hysterical horses.) I can also now understand the babblings of the bums hanging around the convenience stores (more like mini-supermarkets) so I know I must be making some progress.
The picture at left is one of the group classes at Fast Forward. The young man at the far end of the room is Marçel, my current grammar instructor,. Every Wednesday they show a Brazilian movie of some kind. In this case, it was some romantic movie that was too damn close to Latin American "novelas" for comfort. Thankfully, I am a private student so I didn't have to endure that particular show. This is also the break room and Internet room, where they keep a computer available for casual Internet access. It's not exactly a modern speed demon... I think my Blackberry has a faster connection to the net, and I'm roaming internationally with a Sprint worldphone connected to Brazil's "TIM Brasil" or something like that.
We're continuing with the current plan of morning grammar and afternoon conversation. The school's system is actually quite effective and it's clear these folks know exactly what they are doing. They have quickly figured out my rate of learning and have adapted to it by speeding everything up. The textbook and workbook are large but I think we'll finish them in the four weeks of class I am taking.
I think this weekend I will take a bit of time to visit a couple of museums. Still a lot of work to get done but I need to unwind a bit, the training is quite draining. And now I need to go do my homework, so I'll leave you with another video. The lady at the far right of the room in the dark sweater and blue jeans is my conversational instructor, Marilia (yes, I checked, that's how it's spelled.) The infectiously laughing Brasilian at the far left is David, my original grammar instructor. At the round table there are three Japanese students (there are tons of Brazilians working in Japan and another ton of Japanese in Brazil, the two countries enjoy quite a productive and friendly relationship). The student in the dark shirt is Taca and the one in the light shirt is Jun, the other student staying with us at our host family's apartment (he has a room, I have the separate studio apartment behind the main living areas.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Confusion, Day 1.
On yesterday's blog I talked about all the things that happened on the day I traveled to and arrived in São Paulo. That evening I met the other student staying at my host's family home. His name is Jun, and he's a 21-year-old young man from Japan who has been studying Portuguese for a few weeks now. He's very well-mannered and clearly very smart and motivated. I'll post a pic of him tomorrow.
On Monday, Jun was my guide to the location of the school, but not before a typical Brazilian breakfast of strong coffee, bread with a choice of butter, jam or cheese spread, some rolls and some small bananas. The coffee was excellent and it helped me awaken from the mess I had made of myself the day before. After breakfast, it was time to head to the school.
The apartment is on Alameda Casa Branca. To get to the school you have to walk down the Alameda for some four blocks until you get to Alameda Lorena. Alameda Casa Branca has something along the lines of a 20-degree incline. Of course, I never thought what would happen at the end of the day when I returned to the apartment. On foot. More on that later.
On Alameda Lorena you make a left, walk one block and run smack into Avenida 9 de Julio, a six-lane avenue. Thankfully, the traffic lights work, and so do the pedestrian signals. One half-block away is the alley that leads to the school. The school is a remodeled home that's been adapted for the purposes of a training environment. I was greeted by the receptionist, then taken to a small conference room where other students who were also starting their training on a Monday were filling out their induction paperwork (registration, short test to gauge Portuguese language abilities, etc.) I was also greeted by the owner of the school, another nice lady who unfortunately had just had surgery on her left leg and was on crutches.
Soon after that, I met my first instructor, David, a 28-year-old with an infectious laugh and a great sense of humor. And that's where the confusion began. You see, I can read Portuguese but I have a hard time listening and understanding, and let's not even talk about speaking it. Imagine what it might feel if you were to become stuck inside a Cuisinart food processor equipped with the ginsu knife blade attachment, and someone turns the damn thing on. That's how my brain felt after about an hour of "education."
To make matters worse, David was substituted by another instructor, Marçel, who is a bit younger but equally well-qualified to teach, as all Fast Forward instructors are college graduates with degrees in what the Brazilian education system calls "Letras" or "The letters." In other words, they all have degrees in the Brazilian language. Actually, my brain got worse. Marçel was doing a fine job, and has been doing a great job since.
My other instructor is a very gregarious and strong-willed lady by the name of Amarilia (I think I spelled that right, I have to check tomorrow with her). Marçel is my grammar instructor, Amarilia is my conversational instructor, and yes, they are my instructors because thankfully I am taking four weeks of private instruction. Why thankfully? The group sessions are not running nearly as fast as I am, since I can already ready the language to a fairly technical degree. Had I been in a group I would have been held back by the slowest student. As a private, intensive, full-immersion student I can plow ahead at my own speed, which according to my instructors is as close as you can get to a Caterpillar backhoe running downhill in the middle of a hurricane.
By the end of the day, I was dead to the world. And then I realized... holy moleed, I forgot I have to raise my altitude to the level of the entrance to the apartment building using nothing but leg power. After nine hours of mush, wearing flip-flops and carefully avoiding strategically-placed piles of apartment-size-doggie-poo.
Well... one thing's for sure, I'm going to lose weight and I'm going to finish the month in much better shape than when I arrived. More tomorrow. Need to get some sleep and I still have other work to do.
On Monday, Jun was my guide to the location of the school, but not before a typical Brazilian breakfast of strong coffee, bread with a choice of butter, jam or cheese spread, some rolls and some small bananas. The coffee was excellent and it helped me awaken from the mess I had made of myself the day before. After breakfast, it was time to head to the school.
The apartment is on Alameda Casa Branca. To get to the school you have to walk down the Alameda for some four blocks until you get to Alameda Lorena. Alameda Casa Branca has something along the lines of a 20-degree incline. Of course, I never thought what would happen at the end of the day when I returned to the apartment. On foot. More on that later.
On Alameda Lorena you make a left, walk one block and run smack into Avenida 9 de Julio, a six-lane avenue. Thankfully, the traffic lights work, and so do the pedestrian signals. One half-block away is the alley that leads to the school. The school is a remodeled home that's been adapted for the purposes of a training environment. I was greeted by the receptionist, then taken to a small conference room where other students who were also starting their training on a Monday were filling out their induction paperwork (registration, short test to gauge Portuguese language abilities, etc.) I was also greeted by the owner of the school, another nice lady who unfortunately had just had surgery on her left leg and was on crutches.Soon after that, I met my first instructor, David, a 28-year-old with an infectious laugh and a great sense of humor. And that's where the confusion began. You see, I can read Portuguese but I have a hard time listening and understanding, and let's not even talk about speaking it. Imagine what it might feel if you were to become stuck inside a Cuisinart food processor equipped with the ginsu knife blade attachment, and someone turns the damn thing on. That's how my brain felt after about an hour of "education."
To make matters worse, David was substituted by another instructor, Marçel, who is a bit younger but equally well-qualified to teach, as all Fast Forward instructors are college graduates with degrees in what the Brazilian education system calls "Letras" or "The letters." In other words, they all have degrees in the Brazilian language. Actually, my brain got worse. Marçel was doing a fine job, and has been doing a great job since.
My other instructor is a very gregarious and strong-willed lady by the name of Amarilia (I think I spelled that right, I have to check tomorrow with her). Marçel is my grammar instructor, Amarilia is my conversational instructor, and yes, they are my instructors because thankfully I am taking four weeks of private instruction. Why thankfully? The group sessions are not running nearly as fast as I am, since I can already ready the language to a fairly technical degree. Had I been in a group I would have been held back by the slowest student. As a private, intensive, full-immersion student I can plow ahead at my own speed, which according to my instructors is as close as you can get to a Caterpillar backhoe running downhill in the middle of a hurricane.
By the end of the day, I was dead to the world. And then I realized... holy moleed, I forgot I have to raise my altitude to the level of the entrance to the apartment building using nothing but leg power. After nine hours of mush, wearing flip-flops and carefully avoiding strategically-placed piles of apartment-size-doggie-poo.Well... one thing's for sure, I'm going to lose weight and I'm going to finish the month in much better shape than when I arrived. More tomorrow. Need to get some sleep and I still have other work to do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
