NEW READERS START HERE >>>>>>>>>

Just to remind any older, and advise new readers

This Blog was originally intended to have a two-fold function; as an occasional contemporary diary-record of our own experiences here in this beautiful country, AND, arguably more importantly, as a forum to offer help, advice, assistance or simple `as WE found / tried it` recountings to would-be, aspiring, even existing fellow ex-pats: or just those with a simple or idle curiosity.

By definition, the first objective has been achieved subject only to the limitations of my own inputting abilities and inclination (and thankfully, some posts have been read and even commented upon by friends).

There remains, however, and we feel, a considerable deal of untapped user-knowledge which, whilst we would be the first to recognise in particular the problems of currency in a rapidly changing environment, are just waiting to be unleashed -if only as a start point- on a whole potential audience.

QUESTIONS? Ask them - we`ll be delighted to tell you exactly what we discovered about so-and-so, how we dealt with such-and-such a subject (the potential is huge;, WE`ve not had anything yet we weren`t eventually able to resolve; or alternately where you might find an authoritive Portuguese source for the information you seek.

Two last points: I`ve always believed that for ALL of us, minimisation of our pain -or more importantly, maximisation of the benefits achieved as a result of the efforts of -trailbazing- others, communication is the key ingredient, and I recall, after struggling to answer the relatively simple question by a visitor "Do you feel you`ve really settled in now?", feeling absolute satisfaction with a reply along the lines "well, we still don`t necessarily know the answers to ALL the questions, but we feel fairly confident that, regardless of how obscure a particular query or request might be, we at least would know where to start in an effort to obtain satisfaction." That was after about three years.

M&G
mbcjg@talk21.com