Well...we took care of the eye doctor last Saturday (I spent $22.60 to have the Dr. tell me Ale has 20/20 eyesight...and that, as far as he can tell, she has not "inherited" my tendency to myopia or astigmatism... Yay! those must be her father's genes!- he still has 20/20 eyesight at 35!)
She so desperately wanted glasses (and I sooooo desperately DIDN'T want her to need them! LOL!)....
And I already made an appointment for us both at the dentist's for Friday. This is just a "diagnostic" visit, so the Dr. can see what she needs to do... I'm hoping in Ale's case it'll be just a clean up and then maybe schedule a visit to the dentist's husband, who is an orthodoncist...yep, even I can tell she needs it!)... in my case... I KNOW there will be LOTS of work! I've always had terrible teeth...

I also have to start allocating some money to pending vaccines for Ale...

O U C H ! (in more ways than one!)

One of the new translators tempted me: asked me if I'd like to upgrade my computer, then went on to say a fried of his refurbishes used laptops and offered me a "new" one for $350....

I've been toying with the idea... but, at the same time...it's $350...wouldn't that $$$ be better invested in...say...me? and Ale? (our teeth, specifically... we haven't been to the dentist's for ever...)

so... that's been in my mind the past couple of weeks... and, when I was this [] close to calling the translator and tell him if his friend still has the laptot, I want it...I ran into my dentist at the drugstore around the corner from work!... hmmmm... I'll take that as a sign!...

For the time being, I'll take those $350 and allocate them to the "Teeth" fund (God knows it probably won't be enough!)...My old laptop works just fine...plus, if that guy's friend refurbishes laptops, he probaly WILL have others later on!

Well, yesterday we had the annual meeting of the coop at work. They gave each of the attendees $20...yay! ... originally, they were going to raffle 200 gifts of $20 each, but, since there were about 200 attendees... it was decided to just give each person $20!....
I also won a bottle of wine! (raffle of products donated by suppliers)

...I invested my $20 in buying a set of 1 small round table + 4 stools which I had seen advertised that same morning for $21.99... (plastic)

I set it up in a corner of our yard and now that's Ales "atelier"...she can craft, paint, draw, write...whatever she wants... she loves it because its her own little corner.... I love it because it should mean no more paint/glue-ruined bedcovers...MY bedcovers, as she never paints/crafts in HER room...only mine!

Oh, yes...we knew it would be tight... in fact, our boss made us write down who we thought would win, and by how much...he said he didn't want us to write how we were going to vote, just who we thought would win (he's an american, so it wouldn't have made any difference to him...plus, I think it's pretty obvious-from conversations in the past- where each of us stands, so...
anyway, we all said the margin was going to be 2% or less!
(and it was!) it is not a surprise, even the right-wing people were kind of fed up with our party, but, a leftist government in ES is just... well...unthinkable...(if that makes any sense!)

My personal worry is that the president elect will NOT be able to do whatever it is that he intends to do, but that the party allowed him some freedom while on campaign because that was one of his "conditions" to run with them, that they would not try to control him...but, what happens now? Will the party continue to allow him this... or will they demand that he does what they want? If this is the case, and he doesn't want to...is there really something he can do? The Vicepresident elect is the same man that has run for VP for that political party ever since they became a political party (it was ALWAYS the same two, the only reason the other one did not run is he died a couple years ago!...so, NO, HE hasn't lost his intent of ruling, nor has the party really changed...they only found a fresh face for the party, someone not "tainted" by a war history.... I know what I am going to say will seem horrid to some of you, but, during the campaign, there was a lot of mudslinging, and one of the things that was played up was the VP candidate´s guerrilla past…how he had killed hundreds of people (as per his own account in his autobiographical book), but, to me, that is not really the problem… (nobody can go through 10 years of war and come out clean)…to me, the main problem is that I do not feel he has changed his views… (all those deaths should at least have TAUGHT him something)…there´s absolutely no regrets, but, rather, some pride in what he has done…
Also, while it is true that the now president elect has met with Lula and not with Castro or Chavez….the VP is another matter, he´s always been buddy-buddy with these folks… Now, one might say the VP doesn´t matter, but, let´s face it, he DOES…. I might have read one too many conspiracy theory novels, but I fear that, if the president doesn´t do what the party wants, if he´s too resistant….”something” could happen to him…

As I said in my previous entry, there really isn´t much that we (the people who didn´t vote for him) can do now, other than wait and see….and demand that he proves we were wrong, as a friend says! (and, quite frankly, I think we would all welcome being proved wrong!) ---prove that we were wrong in thinking he doesn´t have the freedom/will to do what he promised to do…

Now, many of you may not understand this “fear” we feel (I know my boss doesn´t!)….
Well, this is not the US, where differences between 1 party and the other one might be huge, but the basic views are the same …

Don´t think our elections were like choosing between Obama and Bush…this was more like…. (Fidel) Castro or Bush… hmmm...or maybe Chavez vs someone, as we say "to the right" of Bush...and, yes, it IS a very polarized society… you can´t “sort of agree” here, you´re either for or against… (foolish, I know!)….

The reason I haven´t blogged about this before is I´m still trying to digest it… not to mention that nothing has changed/will change/can change before June, when the new president comes into power!...

Oh, and, for the time being, at least, the right wing party has promised they will be a “constructive” opposition….(not voting NO on something just because it wasn´t their idea, or leaving theirs seats so that there is no quorum for a vote, for example…the sort of thing the now-ruling party used to do!)

…so, I´ll be writing more once I see what REALLY happens!

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DISCLAIMER: This is my personal view, I'm not a political analyst nor do I pretend to be knowledgeable enough about politics ...but, hey, it's how I FEEL, so it's valid! LOL!

I haven't been blogging lately... too much going on!
ELECTIONS IN ES>
Well, the leftist guerilla turned political party won the elections... 48.X% to 51.X%...67,000 votes difference!... some people are celebrating... some others (like myself) are still holding our breath and wondering what this will REALLY mean for the country...nothing to do now but wait and see, and give them the benefit of the doubt I guess...
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TRANSLATIONS>
I haven't had as many translations, but the studio added 2 new translators, and they asked me to train them, help review their first 3 scripts BEFORE they got sent for review, just to help them get acquainted with the whole system (as well as avoid embarrassment if any turned out not to have a suitable level, they are not professional translators) ... they've done well, and the improvement from translation #1 to #3 is noticeable... from now on, they'll be pretty much on their own!
Oh, and I accidentally erased the WRONG file from my USB drive... did you know files deleted from your USB drive don't go to the recycle bin?? I had to use a special software and was able to recover PART of it! (about 9 pages out of 22!) so that set me back a whole day!!...
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went to the Dr. yesterday for a check up and turns out some seemingly insignificant things, added up, means she has strept!...well, the Dr. prescribed us another drugstore...er, several medicines, but he gave us enough medical samples that I didn't have to buy anything! YAY!
They also gave me a list of "pending" vaccines...her 8 year booster shots... OUCH! ...well, obviously we did NOT give her any yesterday (not for at least 15 days!)...Part of me is considering taking her to a public clinic to get the shots...then part of me feels guilty because supplies there are limited and they should really be for people who REALLY can't afford them... (like me, 4 years ago!)....Plus, they DID bruise her there last time!
Ahhh, what to do, what to do?
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WORK
Sometimes I go crazy, sometimes I could fall asleep on my face...what else is new?!
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HEALTH
I started going to the gym and lost about 2 Kg...but I think my body is too comfortable in its current weight, because then I gained 1 back! (at least 1 and not the 2, or, worse yet: 3!)
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PETS
Sis took Antonio to the vet and he prescribed some cod-smelling medicine for his coat... the label said: palatable for cats and dogs...well, Antonio certainly didn't find it palatable... the first time I tried giving it to him, he ignored me for 2 full days!
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NESTING
Yep, still at it...still fighting the urge! To give in a bit, I bought a small house facade today (you know, the little ornamets that LOOK like a small house facade)... I already hung it on my wall... (it's sooooo pretty!)... I bought that and a couple indigo-dyed ponytail scrunchies for Ale and myself... resisted the urge to buy a bag, a necklace (oh, so pretty) and a metal thingy with pegs... which was beautiful, but that I really wouldn't even know WHERE to put! LOL!
Oh, and I'm almost done with the rug (about 90% done!)

Well...I have to go finish translating now!

I'm always lurking, even if I don't post...so..."see" you around!

her boss told her yesterday that, given the low sales in Central America, they might be closing down offices starting in June...
Right now, most of their large customers are not buying anything...some have said they are awaiting the results of the election (to be held March 15) to decide what to do...others simply have less orders from the US, so they are not producing as much, so they are not buying as much...
It's tough, because sis is already 44, and, here in ES, a woman might as well consider herself unemployable at 35!
Not only that, she's worked sales, but, in a field that is so specialized...
Well, there's not much to do but wait and see, I guess...
For the time being, she'll try to lower her debt as much as she can (she's got at least $12K- $15K...and I don't know how much of that is cc!!)
Don't know if she's already told her children...at least they're both working now, so it'll be easier than it would have been, say, this same time last year!