Realizing The Full Situation
When I began investing in cattle about 3 years ago, I expected that we would sell the mature cattle for meat. I expected there to be some sort of meat processing/slaughterhouse facility in the vicinity of my stepfather's farm. Gonged again. There is no such thing. It was only in the process of actually selling a few head that I asked the obvious question - is there a slaughterhouse nearby? It turns out that farmers sell to each other or to people in the city. Transactions are small and personal. That's it. Failing a long cattle drive, we need to keep our cattle operation small and insignificant. That's fine with me. I just want it to be profitable. Our first selling foray, admittedly when the market was low, did not turn out as expected. Let's prepare for the next one.
Finding An Old Acquaintance
An old friend told me a couple of months ago that he would visit Abadiania, a little town about 250 km from here which is the home of the Casa de Dom Inacio, or the place where medium Joao Texeira does his healing work. My friend arrived a couple of weeks ago and I called him. As I was speaking with a Brazilian helper, a woman's voice came on the phone, speaking in English. I was taken aback. It was the voice of Catherine Tucker, the (I thought) former owner of the pousada. I had personally given some orientation to the new buyers in 2006 and had no contact afterwards. The deal fell through and Catherine is now in happy residence at the pousada, welcoming guests as they arrive and making them comfortable. You see, Catherine was a pretty high powered real estate developer and investor in Phoenix - before it blew up. I plan to get together with Catherine as opportunity presents. I look forward to it.
Robotica
What's that, you say? Robots? Well not exactly. You see, I asked the administrator of the kids' school if she knew an inventor who might serve as a mentor for my talented but some educationally-challenged son Jose Carlos. Ca Ca, as we call him, had a tough time in his first two years of school - public school when he lived at his grandmother's house. The experience was traumatic and, as a result, Ca Ca's basic fundamentals are still not well grasped. He will spend a couple of hours a day 4 days a week in a second grade class to help with fundamentals. What's this got to do with Robotica?
Robotica consists of assembling "pieces," I guess like Lego pieces, which together with batteries and locomotion devices, form things that move. Our school is the only one in Caldas Novas that has a once in a week Robotica class. Ca Ca is enthralled. The kid is quite creative and talented at making something arrive from what was apparently nothing. I guess you could call this ability "inventing." So the inventor-mentor came to mind. The school administrator let me know that the basic foundation was in place for Ca Ca in Robotica. Ca Ca himself told me that he has to use math in the work - much as a carpenter must measure his or her work. Maybe we can move on after the 2nd grade intervention and the Robotica. Let's see.
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That's all the news from the Pursley household. May yours be a great week, filled with treats and surprises like mine is.
