Single Point of Failure

Dutch Horse

Ξ December 14th, 2009 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Family, Travel | ∇ Alter, Daughter, Father, Horse, Photo, White |

Premieres

Ξ August 1st, 2009 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Family, Fun | ∇ Girls, Movies, Question |

I’ll let you guess… who wanted to watch these movies? The possible solutions are girls, girls or girls!

Both of my girls cried at Hannah Montana. A chick flick, totally! I’m a fan, absolutely!

Ice Age 3 is a decent sequel… the last one, I hope!

Harry Potter is a decent sequel… I’ve read all the books. I’ll wait for the last movie.

Visit to the Zoo

Ξ March 3rd, 2009 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Event, Family | ∇ Animals, Fun, Visit, Zoo |

The last visit visit to the Zoo had been more that fifteen years ago. But out of the blue A. suggested a quick visit during the weekend. Nothing was arranged otherwise, so we went to the Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa.
The only thing that wasn’t new was the location. Placed well inside the city of Lisbon, it provides some green shades to the city and rest to the visitors. The rest was new, everything seamed to be different from what I remembered. We had a good time visiting tigers, elephants and giraffes. The aqua show was fantastic with the sea lions and dolphins. With some luck we escaped the few drops of rains that fallen during the lunch hour, by being inside the restaurant, and returned to our visit right after.

A. had a great idea. Thank you.

Couch Potato

Ξ January 5th, 2009 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Family, Fun | ∇ Daughter, Family, Mamma Mia, Movies |

This was me during my last vacations. Sitting on the couch, watching tv, doing nothing at all… Well, I was sitting on the couch and watching tv!

It took some time but I managed to ‘kill’ most of what was waiting on my “to watch” list. The top three movies I watched were:

Now, about Mamma Mia, there is much to be said. First, let me start by stating that I usually hate musicals, but with Mamma Mia it was different. It is true that listening to a duet with Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep almost cost me an hear drum - Pierce Brosnan really needed a couple more music lessons, but the actual movie was quite good. A funny result from watching the movie is that my daughter is now a major fan of ABBA.

Places to go, People to meet

Ξ January 5th, 2009 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Family, Travel | ∇ Escapade, Family, Plan, Travel |

A white sheet of paper is hanging from my white board, right in from of me above my screen. The content of such sheet of paper is a list of places… places to visit, places to enjoy!

Some of them already had the pleasure of my presence, the others are still waiting. Some are already part of traveling plans for a near future, others are left for future arrangements.

Castelo de Almorol
Castelo de Guimarães
Castelo do Marvão
Castelo de Óbidos
Convento de Cristo (Tomar)
Convento e Basilica de Mafra
Fortaleza de Sagres
Fortificações de Monsaraz
Igreja de São Francisco (Porto)
Igreja e Torre dos Clérigos
Mosteiro da Batalha
Mosteiro de Alcobaça
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
Paço Ducal de Vila Viçosa
Universidade de Coimbra
Palácio de Mateus
Palácio Nacional da Pena
Palácio Nacional de Queluz
Ruinas de Conimbriga
Templo Romano de Évora
Torre de Belém

Space, The Final Frontier

Ξ November 2nd, 2008 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Family, Fun | ∇ ESA, Exhibit, Family, Galileo, Space |

Saturday was not a family day because some of us had to work. No, I don’t mean me. This time is was A. who had to work the saturday all day long. The rest of the weekend (today!) was spent doing family stuff, trying to compensate.

So, the plan was to visit the latest exhibit by the “Pavilhão do Conhecimento” (Pavilion of Knowledge). With a fancy name, “Space, The Final Frontier” exposition shows some of the latest achievments of ESA. Hanging from the ceiling a 1:10 model of the International Space Station shows the complexity of that man-made structure. The visitor’s ability to land a space shuttle or the command rendevouz operations between two spacecrafts is put to the test. Amongst these and another lot of other experiments, I enjoyed controlling the Mars rover from “earth” while he was discovering the surface of Mars. The small robot vehicle was actually a few meters aways but it was cool!

It was a nice time spent learning about (some of them) new stuff!

For those of you how are interested, the exhibit is avaliable until August 30th 2009, but don’t miss it.

Homemade Sushi Night

Ξ October 19th, 2008 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Family | ∇ Dinner, Family, Food, Sushi, Taste |

It may look be a little rough around the hedges, in fact it shouldn’t have any edges, but it tasted very nice.
Yesterday, after a quick travel to buy some products in a place called Martim Moniz, Lisbon’s very own “china town”, it was time to have our first sushi only homemade dinner. It was risky, but it was worth it.

Being the first we ever tried to prepare sushi, even after searching the whole internet for Sushi recipes the lack of experience resulted in huge amounts of left-overs. The dinner preparations were for three, but it could have been for five or six… and food would still be too much.

Knee Deep

Ξ September 9th, 2008 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Family, Fun | ∇ Grapes, Red, Wine |

My father-in-law makes a good amount of wine by the end of each summer. One more, he asked me for some help during the wine making activities. My favorite thing to do before drinking the actual wine is not to catch the grapes, but to help stepping on them. So today, knee deep in grapes and wine and already with a lot of alcohol in the air, I helped to step on the grapes.

In a couple of month, I’ll say something about the taste of the new wine! Maybe accompaning a nice steak dinner.

Saving Lucky!

Ξ August 17th, 2008 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Family, Life | ∇ Cat, Family, Lucky, Saving |

This was my good deed for the day.

I was coming home after enjoying the after lunch coffee when I heard a cat “meowing” like crazy. At first I didn’t understood where it was coming from, but after a while it became clear that the cry for help came from the bottom of an abandoned well.

Using some of the available tools (boards and tubes that were covering the well) didn’t help to rescue the drowning kitten, so, I had to run home for a bucket and some cord. After a while, with the help of a passing neighbor, the little kitten was inside the bucket and free from the sludgy depth. The kitten was in miserable shape after that forced “swimming lesson”, at it seemed more like a ball of tar and sludge than any living thing.

After a quick wash in warn water and some serious shivering, the kitten was still scared but much better looking.  And, because this story ends with a happy ending, “Lucky” is now the newest family member.

28

Ξ August 5th, 2008 | → 0 Comments |
∇ Family, Fun | ∇ 28, Birthday, Family |

It was a couple a days ago… 28 years old! A nice round number, in the company of the closest family.

Thank you!