New number 1

I had it already planned some time ago to write about Carlos Slim Helú as the second richest man on earth and - Mexican. Now things have changed a bit - on the current Forbes list he is first - so it's definitely time to write about him. Ok, just in brief;-)

Carlos Slim studied construction engineering in Mexico City which he finished in 1961. He taught algebra and linear programming at his university before the end of his studies. He is famous for his memory of numbers and his legendary presentation during the general assembly of his company. He presented the annual statement by heart with only a slight error in his calculation.

He made his money with the privatization of the Mexican phone company Telmex. Later he acquired more companies in Latin America and Telmex became the biggest private company in South America.

A lot of people say that corruption was involved before the privatization of Telmex. Now Carlos Slim Helú also has a great political influence; logical concerning his money and the situation in Mexico.

Well, I find it very amazing that the richest man lives in a country with so many poor people (I mean really poor people). I guess that's somehow typical for Mexico. Concerning the society but also as a country of great differences...

Poema para la luna

No puedo dormir esta noche.
Así voy afuera.
Esperaba oscuridad
pero puedo ver el cielo
lleno de estrellas.
Cual es la tuya?
Y cual es la mía?

La luna no está.
Pensaba que la habías mandado
a mi casa.
Pues, eso ya hace mucho tiempo.
Ahora le daría la bienvenida a ella.

Dejo abierta la puerta.
Así ella puede entrar más tarde.
O... demasiado tarde?

The revenge of radio advertisements...

Here in Germany on the radio they play a very annoying advertising jingle for a company which exchanges and repairs windscreens with cracks. A thousand times per day! The Germans will know what I talk about: "Carglass repariert, Carglass tauscht aus. Steinschlagschaden vorm Wochenende? Kommen Sie samstags in unsere Werkstatt und wir reparieren Ihren Steinschlag sofort. Ohne Termin." (Well, something like this.)

I always made my jokes about this advertisement. Especially the guy who explains in a very serious voice how dangerous a little crack caused by a little stone can be. He says something like: "My customer here did not have it repaired. Then he went over a curbstone and the whole windscreen broke..."

I shouldn't have been joking about it. Last weekend I had to go to a garage myself because I had a crack in the windscreen. And the complete screen had to be exchanged. I can tell you: Not really cheap. Fortunately the assurance pays part of it!

Note to myself: Don't joke about really helpful advertisements;-)

Case closed

Ok, ok, next time there will be a "real" challenge again where somebody CAN win. Well, I would have found that interesting but I think I understood.

BTW, Nadja and Michael, you still can tell me a topic to write about. Or do you want to write something yourself?

Paper Boat Challenge: August

It's time for another contest and I hope you will enjoy this!

One thing first: This time I guess there will be no "real" winner in this Paper Boat Challenge (unless only one person answers). This month's PBC is meant to be a kind of poll.

I think a lot of people have dream about "the travel of their life". Many people want to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a sailing ship, for example. I've got a friend who would like to travel on the trans-siberian railway from Moscow to Vladivostock one day. And so on...

What I'd like you to do is telling me about your big travel plan (if you have something like that). Write a short text, add pictures, etc. Try to make it as vivid as possible! I hope it will comfort me in the fact that I can't take my holidays yet while all my colleagues at work are away... ;-)

Note: Adding pics to a comment is not that easy so you can also send your entry to the well-known email address: unbarcodepapel(at)arcor.de

Have fun!