Saturday, April 14, 2012


Friday, October 28, 2011

I want everyone to know how proud I am of m wife, Adinete.

We first met in Brazil in 1968 and we came to the United States in 1971.  At that time she spoke very little English and had  less than a high school education in Brazil.

From that time until 1982 I managed (or mismanaged) finances. 

We were separated as a result of my stupidity in 1982.  On January 31, 1993 we remarried after being apart for nine years.

During that time she reared our children, worked at two and three jobs, and paid off a thirty-year mortgage we incurred in 1979. 

When we remarried I turned the management of our finances over to Adinete.  Using the equity in the house she paid off, she has acquired five additional houses. Since then two of the houses have been sold.

We have been able to visit Brazil every couple of years or so for periods of three to six months. She bought two houses: 0ne in Olinda, Pernambuco and one in Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte, where our son, William lives.

On our last trip to Brazil Adinete arranged to sell the Olinda house for an amount three times what she paid for it in 2000.

But Adinete did not stop there.  This week she leveraged the sale of that house into the purchase of TWO houses here in Alamo and closed the transfers today.

Besides being a supreme wife, she is also a great mother and grandmother.  She never lets me go to sleep hungry.  She cares about my health.  She always has a snack for the grandkids when they come home from school.  On my 69th birthday she gave me a new pickup and recently replaced my old recliner with a new one. 

Because of her natural intelligence, her innate money sense, her loving nature, and all her other superb abilities, including her determination and fiery temper, we are living a fulfilling life together.

And we thank GOD for this bounty every day!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Parnamirm


Our home away from home

Our house is located in the Barrio de Jardim Planalto on the eastern side of Parnamirim about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Natal, the capital of Rio Grande do Norte.  We are in a more or less middle class neighborhood.

A intercity bus stop is about fifty yards from the house, we have a convenience store on the other side of the block, and a bakery with daily baked bread is six blocks away, not to mention a building supply store adjoining our lot. The store is facing the principal thoroughfare in Jardim Planalto.

Included below are some general statistics about Parnamirm 

Our House in Parnamirm
Information about Parnamirm, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
 

Founded 
December 17, 1958

Area Total
120,202 km²


Latitude e Longitude: 
-5.915833°, -35.262778°
.
Distance from Natal- 12 km²

Altitude:
53 m

Área Total 
120,0 km²

Annual Average Temperature                      70 F
Population: 
202,413 - (IBGE 2010)

Urban Population: 100%

Male Population: 48%
Female Population: 52%

Demographic Density:
1686,7 hab/km²

Life Expectancy:: 68,27          

School Attendance 85,13%

Literacy Rate of Adults: 85,90%


Gross Internal Product: 
R$ 914,803 thousand
(USD 568,201 thousand)

Per Capita Income: 
R$ 5,607.00 Fonte: IBGE/2005
(USD 3,482.61)








Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Invictus

This is a poem by William Ernest Henley that I had to learn in my high school English class.  The last two lines had a profound influence on my thinking and how I have viewed my life since then.

 Invictus

OUT of the night that covers me, 
  Black as the Pit from pole to pole, 
I thank whatever gods may be 
  For my unconquerable soul.

      In the fell clutch of circumstance         
  I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance 
  My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears 
  Looms but the Horror of the shade,  
And yet the menace of the years 
  Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, 
  How charged with punishments the scroll, 
I am the master of my fate:  
  I am the captain of my soul.




Saturday, May 7, 2011

One of the Oldest Cities in Brazil


Sao Luis -- the most Portuguese style city in Brazil

The view of the new part and old part of the city of Sao Luis, northern Brazil, May 6, 2011.
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    Friday, April 22, 2011

    I must be getting old.  I can remember when "assimilation" was not a bad word.