Feel Good Thread!

[SarahAnn]

I don't have my dog when in BA, but I always carry a supply of bags and, when I see someone letting his or her dog dump, I had him or her one while adding, "Se te cayó algo."

...I like ´Senora, se ha olvidado algo´

 

[EdRooney]

It's not often one finds something heart-warming in the Sunday news these days, but this picture made me smile:

Caption: "Former Guantánamo prison inmate Syrian Jihad Ahmed Mustafa Diyab ( R) seen drinking the traditional herbal "mate" tea beloved by Uruguayans"

Kudos to Uruguay for doing more than its share to end the illegal US torture programme!

 

[camberiu]

 

[Eugenia]

I have a feel good to add to this. Although I am far from home where my friends and family are I have been blessed with kindness from strangers. Little things that seem meaningless in the moment but put a smile on your face and make you feel good.

 

[steveinbsas]

I am presently waiting to know the cost of engine repairs to my car which is now sitting in a garage after overheating and starting to blow blue smoke last week.

I waited over two weeks for the mechanic who does engine repairs to take my car to his shop. It had been sitting in the shop of a friend who does auto electrical repairs since the 3rd of December. I had the car towed there when it "broke down" in Bahia Blanca.

My friend thought I needed new piston rings and a valve job...at the least, but he doesn't work on engines. I had told him my car was "consuming" engine coolant and I had to top off the radiator after every trip to Bahia Blanca as the low radiator fluid light almost always came on after a RT (which we made almost every Friday). He thought that was just a sign of age, but neither one of us made the connection to the sudden loss of power and the billowing clouds of blue smoke. His guesstimate for the cost of repairs was between $10,0000 and $15,000 pesos, depending on whether or not the engine needed a partial or a complete overhaul.

The answer was immediately revealed with the removal of the cylinder head, which finally occurred on Thursday.

I had a very strong "feel good" moment when the mechanic (who had worked on my car before) told me the problem was simply a blown head gasket and that the loss of power was due to the loss of compression and the excess consumption of coolant were both the result of the blown gasket (which had obviously been deteriorating for some time). The estimated cost of repairs is about $4000 pesos, and for an additional $1500 he will also change the timing belt (and a gear or pulley that should also be replaced) as well as the water pump.

It would be impossible not to feel very good about the prospect of paying about $500 USD for these repairs, knowing that the cost of similar work in the USA would be much (if not astronomically) higher.

PS: A very good feeling was also generated by the realization that the mechanic was honest about the need repairs, as well as the fact that he made no effort to overcharge a foreigner. he laughed when I told him in Spanish that the two most important things a foreigner needs to learn in Argentina are how to talk to their medico and how to talk to their mecanico.

 

[Gringoboy]

Half \lLife 3?