156.
Just the same old same old. The more things change, the more they stay the same. How many more clichés can I use here? Finally cornered my employer, and things just continue 'na mesma'. On a brighter note, I finally figured out how to operate the AIR CONDITIONING in my office. Where I was going wrong before was in using the remote control that had no batteries in it... all I needed to do was use the other one, the one that does have batteries. Amazing thing, technology. I had lots of fun with it, setting it to 19 degrees celcius at full power. That really upset the people who are squatting in my office: "Epá, podemos fechar o ar condicionado? Está frio", they pleaded. I turned a deaf ear, and told them that they could always close the door or leave. I didn't really, what I actually did was hand them the control (yes, the one with batteries), and leave myself for the National Library, where I read about an attempted military coup at the Portuguese Navy barracks that are 200 yards from my flat. The attempted coup was in 1918 - I thought that I had better add that before you all wonder why there was nothing in the news. Once back at the flat, I thought I would take a stroll up to the former Presidential palace of NECESSIDADES (it is now the Foreign Ministry), where I took some pictures to add to my expanding LISBON collection. I like living in Alcântara: as a historian, I love being in the middle of an area where so much that I have studied actually took place - I recognise the street names, and can picture all these people of 80-90 years ago walking where I now walk. Isn't history a wonderful thing? I think so - it's almost as good as Celtic.