It was time to get the oil changed on the Jeep. In the past, I would try to time my oil changes when I was in Lubbock, because the little place I used, hidden on the side of a main street was ran by Vietnamese. They are not the ones hiding in the reeds and rice patties waiting to attack you. Those years are gone. These little guys are actually Catholic, easily discernable by the religious items hanging on the wall. But since then, they sold out to others who I believe are also Asian, and Christians. Good people. I always enjoy visiting with them as they would always ask me what country I am working in, how long I would be in the States and what trips I would be taking, etc.

I once had the oil changed at a Walmart in the Austin area, and the next time I had it done in Lubbock, the little guy told me the last service place I used did not put all the bolts back in the cover plate underneath. They only put four of the original 9.

But since moving much further south, I had to find a place I trusted as I did the little guys in Lubbock. An older brother used to own an oil change service center and I learned a lot from him on what to look for. So I spent time looking on the Internet and checking reviews.

Among the selection was a place called Slick’s Oil Change. That conjured up an image of a place with the entrance in back of a body shop, who has a guy with a runny nose and a beer in his hand, comes out to see what you want, wearing dirty overalls with one strap broken showing his dirty undershirt. “Whatcha needin’?”

“Uh, oil change?”

“Yeah, I kin do that for ya. Actually, you are in luck, cus I afa sale on good used earl. (oil). And I can git ma cousin Leroy to do it. He allas wanted to learn to change earl.” Then he crushes his empty beer can on his forehead and throws it back into the building.

Ah, no. So, I skipped over Slick’s Oil Change, and looked at others. But the more I searched, the more Slick’s Oil Change came up. So, I gave in and looked at the reviews.

The CarFax website gave them 5 stars with 247 verified reviews. Another site gave them 4.9 stars with 296 verified reviews. Another gave 4.9 with 506 reviews. These are for an oil change place!

So, I drove up there to get it done. Very nice brick building with a lot of customers. Went in and they said it would be about an hour and a half. Okay, so I decided I could wait until I got to Lubbock.

Months later, I had to get the inspection done, so I waited until mid-month so there would be fewer inspections going on. Went back to Slick’s and they said it would be about 45 minutes and since I was pressed for time, I decided to go elsewhere.

Down the street and around the corner is the “5 minute oil change” place that also did inspections. One of those places you don’t even have to get out of your car.

Sure enough, they had time for an inspection, because all three guys were standing around loafing. One was eating a sandwich.

“Sure, we can do that. You don’t even have to get out of your car.”

They had it done in 5 minutes and I drove off. I was the only customer at that place, while around the corner and down the block Slick’s had a multitude of people working on car after car.

So, back to the present. I called Slick’s and they said they open at 8:00. So I headed there the next morning and arrived at 7:45. There were about 7-8 people already standing in line to get in when they opened. Crap.

I debated whether to wait until the middle of next week to get it done when there would most likely be fewer customers. I would go in and ask about the wait time for later in the week.

At 8:00 I followed the line in and stood around near the desk. A little lady who reminds me of one of my sister-in-laws, but not as loud, was in charge. She called out someone’s name and a guy near the front spoke up. She quickly got him set up for service, then called another person. Then about eight people later, she called my name! It turns out, she noticed who came into the parking lot and got the license plate number, looked it up and placed it on a sticky note on her desk in the order they arrived. The Jeep had not been there for service before, so she had to look the number up on the Internet.

I was impressed. I asked if it would be quicker if I came in later in the week, and was told, “No, it is this way all the time.”

So, my name was put in the que at 8:10 and I was out at 9:10. On the way home, I passed by the 5-minute oil change place, (you don’t even have to get out of your car) and it had no customers.

So, I did a little slick research on Slick’s and found it is owned by a woman and her sons. Capitalism works for everyone.

Unless you own a 5-minute oil change place.

There is a rock solid love between Dani and her sister, Flavia. If I didn’t know better I would have said they were twins. Dani does video calls with her sister, always lasting hours! Once I saw Dani in the backyard cutting the grass with her phone mounted on the lawnmower talking to her while cutting the grass. When they sit near each other, they are almost on top of each other. At one point when Dani and Flavia were leaving to go shopping together, Dani said she didn’t want to have to carry much so she would have one hand free to hold her sister’s hand. When they drink beer, they share the same can so it can be finished before it gets warm. Sounds logical to me. The next time I go somewhere with a brother, I will ask him if I can hold his hand, and when drinking coffee I will ask him if he wants to share the same cup so we can finish it before it gets cold. My brothers are logical people and should understand.

But all joking aside, I see the relationship with Flavia priceless. It is just down right beautiful! Visiting with her sister and family everyday makes it easier to be in a foreign country; even if it is Texas, the Greatest Country on Earth.

She will always have me, but she needs a constant connection to the beautiful family at home. Good for you, Dani. Good for you, Flavia.

 

We went to the store to get meat for Antonio’s BBQ and I am always impressed to see the available meats in the market. Brazilians love meat.

A few packages of beans, another staple of Brazil..

A couple dozen eggs, but check out the size of avocados, another of Brazil’s staple.

At the apartment we stayed at, there is a bar across the street with 4 karaoke rooms. The place is active until about 3 in the morning. At the bottom is a picture of people waiting to get in at 1am.

When we were at Dani’s mother’s apartment, I fixed hot wings for her, which she loves. So, I was trying to figure out how to start her oven when she came up and pushed a button and turned a knob, then lit a match and tossed it into the oven. FVOOOMP!! . . . and it lit.

I thought, Ah . . . No. We need to fix that. So Dani, Flavia and Antonio and I went out and looked for a new stove. Flavia found one on line and we purchased it. Above is the one that goes VFOOOMP! and below the new one. As of this posting, I understand Dani’s uncles have the stove hooked up to electrical and now, no more VFOOOMP.

Here is something I noticed that is common over much of the world.

Until next time . . . always look for tomorrow, for it is another chance to kick butt.

Also, just to let you know, the jeep sez, It’s oil changing time.

I see and hear people doing the karaoke thing and it isn’t something I want to do, but just sit and watch. Mostly videos here.

 

The one thing I will always love about the Brazilians is the happiness within them. It is the type of happiness that is the best kind. The last video I swung around to get Dani sitting with her grandmother. When my mother was alive, often I would sit with her and gently hold her hand while watching a favorite movie of hers. When I was a innocent little boy she held my hand, it was then my turn to hold hers. So, when I sat near Dani’s grandmother, I reached down and gently took her hand. I know it surprised her, but life is too damn short not to express love, especially to us old people.

One more post to go next week.

We hitched a ride to the nearby city of Bragança Paulista where Dani’s mother, grandmother and uncles live. It was about a 90 minute drive. It was there that Dani’s brother-in-law did his amazing Brazilian BBQ, and the family gathered and cranked the karaoke machine up. First let’s look at Antonio’s BBQ. The karaoke will be in the next post.

Good food, good people.

The apartment we stayed at was a 10 min walk to the Cathedral of Sao Paulo. In our quest to get Dani’s drivers license update with the new Nolte name, we happened across it. This magnificent edifice reminds me of the many churches I visited overseas.

Above is the creepy confessionals. Been there, done that. Next will be Dani’s amazing family.

As mentioned earlier in a post, Dani now has her much deserved Green Card; so the first thing we did after we clinked our glasses of champagne was plan a trip to Brazil. It has been three years since she hugged her family and now she is doing it. I just sit back and watch, enjoy food and drink, and a big plus is watching the beautiful Brazilian people.

Many people do not realize that Brazil has more Japanese people than Japan. Many of the people I see are of Japanese descent, so it stands to reason that there are many great Japanese food places, especially in an area called Bairro da liberdade which has the most Japanese people. So we went to one of our favorites and pigged out. These are from the view from the upstairs restaurant.

I wished I would have gotten views of the inside. Crowded just like Japan itself. We chose to sit out on the balcony even though it was threatening rain. Below is the before and after of my plate.

Another place we happened across is this place that had different items.

Non-japanese food. I fear you will get bored seeing all these pics of food I am posting, but just remember . . . food is what makes life delicious. The first few is from the first meal we had with Dani’s sister and family. It is the typical Brazilin Feijoada.

Below is small meals with friends of ours.

This is a favorite pastry in Brazil called the Coxinha

This is what the hotel gave us every morning for breakfast. Simple and satisfying.

I am a bit disappointed that all these images came out a bit blurry. I promise, no whiskey was involved. The Cathedral of Sao Paulo is next. Stay tuned.