Friday, October 22, 2010

The search for Moltex diapers

Ever since the baby was born we’ve been searching for a reasonable source for organic disposable diapers. We realize that non-disposable diapers are more environmentally friendly, but given the amount of effort involved, it’s just not going to happen.

We found Compra Ecologic, which is a local Barcelona (Masnou actually) company where you can order online and they deliver it to your house.

We ordered our boxes of diapers and they were delivered the next day, cash on delivery (or credit card). They also sell fruits and vegetables, in many cases significantly cheaper that Veritas.

Given how randomly unreliable the postal system is here (one time we waited three weeks for a package from Girona, that got sent back and forth twice due to “computer problems”), direct delivery has worked best for us.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The UK goes austerity crazy

David Cameron's new government annouced a nearly 20% budget cut today. Exactly why a country that controls its own currency would need to go this route is really beyond me. Especially when it seems like the world is about to embark on a money-printing bonanza.

Does this picture look like an economy on the brink to you?



For economists everywhere, this will be a real boon, since it will let us compare austerity vs stimulus to see what the right approach is.

My guess is that creating nearly 500,000 new unemployed people will not do much to improve the economy.

The only bright side is that education and science funding was relatively untouched, and military spending was the biggest loser.

I'm happy that Spain has taken a middle-of-the-road approach in term of cuts.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Terrassa with new eyes

Since we had our baby at the university hospital Mutua Terrassa, we had a bit of time to walk around downtown Terrassa. I was actually pleasantly surprised, while walking west from the hospital along Carrer de la Font Vella. It’s a nice walkable downtown, with a giant Abacus store, restaurants, bakeries and crowds of people wandering around. No Starbucks though, you’ll have to go to the rival town of Sabadell for that. We had dinner at a tapas place called Perpicar (per picar), which had some confusing, yet amusing bathroom signs (the womens’ washroom was labeled Perdonas).

Walking east, you see the Valparadis park, seems to be designed to matches the great downtown park of Sabadell. It even has a little train that goes up and down, just like the one in Sabadell. The S1 train line is being extended from Rambla Terrassa to stop at Valparadis (pretty close to the hospital) and continue on north.


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