I think the wind peaked today at 41 mph (66 km/h). Sucks when you try to get in and out of your car, btw. This flag and many others were fresh replacements about a week ago. I wonder what the budget is on flags. Maybe they need to make them out of kevlar.

9. Steven Seagal

These are rare, but hands down, the most annoying. Before crossing, they quickly judge to see whether or not you are at safe distance for evasion braking. Eye contact is made, then they proceed to look ahead with a slight grin on their faces while crossing at an ever so leisurely pace. In their eyes, they own the road, not you.

8. Tennis Ball Boy

These delusional soon-to-be Darwinian failures are aware of the oncoming cars yet still try to make a quick dash to the other side. After a few steps they suddenly release an err in judgment and dash back to the safe confines of the originating curb. On some occasions, however, they’ll just say to hell with it and reach their goal.

7. Parade Horses

You know those parade horses fitted with blinds that block their peripheral vision? There are people like that! Except one thing, these people don’t wear blinds. They walk out of store, and while staring ahead, will proceed to cross the street without so much as a side glance. For some reason they forget that cars and streets go together.

6. Confused

These are the people at crosswalks who think that a red stoplight or crosswalk signal in front of them means go. They step on the street right when the light changes and think it is safe to cross until they realize cars are are moving or heading in their direction.

5. Torpedoes

Street dogs. They lock on to a car like a submarine’s torpedo guidance system to a ship. Direction and speed are meticulously calculated in their little brains. Once optimal distance between the two is achieved, fifi fires away at your port side while barking furiously. Luckily, cars are superior, and although man’s best friend spins around to continue the chase, they ultimately fail. Some do manage to get a scratch or two in.

4. Careless

Here we have another intersection group but they are only found where crosswalk signals do not exist. They look at the stoplight perpendicular to them, see the cars waiting and think it is ok to cross. Not knowing that the light will turn green right when they are a few steps off the curb. But they’ll continue to cross without a care in the world and we in cars will have to wait.

3. Friends & Family

Groups of two or more people who have lively conversations and forget that they are about to cross a street that may have traffic. If they are lucky, they’ll have a spotter who notices us drivers and then quickly gives warning shouts or slaps to the group.

2. The Confident

Another intersection dweller, this person sees the light turn red and is confident that the oncoming cars will stop. Even if the road is slick with ice, they have faith that no slipping or sliding will occur.

1. Deer

Similar to the Tennis Ball Boy, yet they forget that streets are dangerous and fail to turn their head even one degree toward oncoming traffic before crossing. They appear to just pop out from nowhere, typically from the front or rear of large vans or trucks. At times it can be amusing to see the expression on their face, “Oh shit I’m in the middle of the street and cars are heading my way, FAST!” Followed by a quick “which way do I go” dance and back to the curb they go. These are the most dangerous and ones you seriously have to look out for at all times.

The weather has been nice for the most part this past week. Sunny and hardly any wind. Went to Lago Fagnano-about 100km outside of the city-for a night’s stay at a nice little lodge right on the lake.

Anyway, it is hard to get any decent new photos of the large Chacra XIII housing development that I previously posted about due to these events. The police have sealed off all entrances to everyone except workers.

Some of the houses are already being painted on the outside as you can see in the picture below on the left. Hideous two-tone blue.

What was once a hotel long ago, the structure was gutted and is currently being transformed into a government-run culinary arts, hospitality, and hotel management school.