Still balloons...

Hello,

From the site
http://360graus.terra.com.br/balonismo/default.asp?did=113&action=entrevista

How much does it cost to become a baloni flier in Brazil with a good equipment?
An envelop costs around USD 10.000. Of course this is the price of a convencional one. A full balloon costs around USD 22.000, with basket, burner, tanks and fans. Out of this are the radios, the GPS and the altimeter.

Who qualifies?

Nena

Didn't I say she must have a site?
http://www.nena.de/
It's in german, but this ought not to be a big problem to Fabio.
Cheer you up,
Jonas

Bah, Che!

Dear students,

It´s 20:26 in the capital of the Pampas Gauchos and I assume you´re at the branch having some fun with Marcus. I´ve just got back to Porto Alegre, after a two-day trip to Torres, where I sort of took part of in a hot-air balooning international championship. (Well, at least I DID ride in a pick-up truck spitting flames into the sky (that´s the one they use to inflate the ballons) and honking like mad in the middle of the night. Yes. The teams do that after calling off the day, all 50 of them in a mad flamming pilgrimage).

I´m back to Porto Alegre then. The first thing I did was to rush to the Guaíba east margin just in time to see that world-famous (?) sunset. And after typing this I´m off to a pub. I´ll post a picture of the Guaiba at dusk as soon as I get back to Rio. See you next week them. Don´t forget to tell me what you´ve been up to this week in the comments ;-) Cheers!

Holidays

Hi Everybody!

This week I found the following text on the Internet, related to our last class. Someone asked:




Are religious holidays like Easter bad for the economy?

The only good thing for the economy about Easter is the chocolate Easter eggs upon which people spend their money which in turn creates jobs, but Easter eggs have nothing to do with religion. And taking 4 days off when the economy needs people working and needs people spending their money creating more jobs, this seems to me to be rather wasteful. I mean, there was a recent application for a major department store chain in my country to get permission for their stores to be opened on Easter Sunday and the reasons they cited were decreased importance of religion in people’s lives and the economy could do with the extra trading hours. They didn’t get permission though; the religious groups still have enough political influence for their wishes to be granted even if they are at odds with the greater good.

What do you think; do you think the struggling economy will hasten the demise of religion as people put the importance of fixing the economy before practicing religious ceremonies that have lost all meaning anyway?



And someone else answered:



Last question first: Economic downturns actually cause an upturn in religious feeling. People don't have as much disposable income for entertainment and the party kind of sobers up. Many people feel that they have been squandering in excess and think that they need to get back in touch with the free "good" things in life, which means living a more Christian-like and less secular life for most Americans. As for your first question, holidays do get people out of their homes when they have been money saving and television watching hermits, and they spend money on everything from gas to alcohol and all kinds of religious or traditional stuff in between. Money gets pumped into the economy and people have to work harder and longer in order to pay for holiday expenses. Most of us don't get 4 days off for Easter or any other holiday, we get one if we're lucky. When I was in the grocery business, Christmas Day and Easter Sunday and Thanksgiving afternoon were all that I could count on. Businesses that are now struggling with payroll issues are now glad to give their employees time off without pay when they get a chance to do so. You might find it interesting to know that there was a period in the Soviet Union when there was no Saturday or Sunday and workers did not have a common day off. It was thought that this would help the economy by having a non-stop production cycle. I have read that this had a devastating effect on family and social life, and I'm not surprised. People need a reason to go to work; they need positive motivation in order to achieve high productivity and create a high quality product. They need to care about something enough to make work worth their while, not just something that they must do in order to keep a roof over their heads and avoid starvation. That's why we need holidays; in fact, we don't have enough of them.



I found very interesting the approach to the psychological effect of holidays on people's lives and I totally agree with the author. The problem is not a simple mathematical one: we abolish holidays, workers work a few more days and the economy will be stronger and healthier. Human beings are not so simple and that must be taken into account.

So, following the spirit of the article, enjoy yourself and have a great time on the next holyday on the 1st of May!

See you all on Wednesday,

Jonas