Appliances

Jug and Toaster plugged in

Plug into Boat and Cable Join

The swinging footbridge that I use every day

I walked into town yesterday at mid afternoon and found that most of the shops were closed, undoubtedly because it was Saturday. 

Fortunately the store where I had spotted some appliances was open and a young man who knew a few words of English helped me.  I opened my little book and read out my pre-prepared phrases (“tostadora electrica” … “caledra electrica para agua caliente” ...“enchufe Australiano”).  He got the message that I was looking for an electric toaster, and electric jug, and I needed Australian compatible plugs.  I produced his challenge for the day: an Australian double adapter.  Happily, all of the plugs on the appliances that he showed me fit into my Aussie double adapter perfectly.  What a relief!  

As usual I went for one of the cheaper jugs.  He encouraged me to go for the most expensive one because it was a much better jug – the best.  I picked up the other side of his message, that the cheaper ones were crap.  It was a similar story with the toasters.  The prices seemed high – about $245 pesos or $55 each.  I  don't like making snap decisions so I told him that I would think about it.

I then walked on to Delta Computers and found that they had closed at 1.30 PM, so the new mouse would have to wait until Monday.  On the way to Delta I had come to the realization that purchasing top quality appliances would not be a waste of money because I would be able to take them back to Australia with me.  So I walked a block to the bank and drew out $1,000 pesos and returned to the shop.  The girl knocked $40 pesos off the price because I was paying in cash so the cost of the two items was $450 pesos, or about $100 USD.

The grocery store was closed but on the way back to the boat I dropped into the butcher shop which was still open.  In the last 2 days I had eaten a steak sandwich and a hamburger so I wanted to give the beef a rest.  I pointed and asked for pechuga de pollo, chicken breast.  Con hueso?  I asked.  No, no hueso.  Great, boneless chicken breast. Quatro pro favor.  I walked out with four chicken breasts weighing 940g or just over 2 lb at a cost of $28.19 pesos, or about $6.30 USD.  At $3.15 a pound chicken costs about the same as beef.

It was a hot day so back at the boat I cracked a cold beer which really hit the spot then put the chicken in the refrigerator and unpacked the appliances.  They plugged into the galley 240V wall plugs with no problem and soon I was boiling my first jug of water.

It the photo you'll see a couple of elaborate wire holders on top of the toaster.  They are described as “accesorio para sandwich”.  I don't need them for ordinary toast because wire frames inside close in on both sides of the bread when I depress the lever, and it is unlikely that I'll use the toaster for heating sandwiches.  Nevertheless I'll keep the holders for a while and maybe experiment with some ham and cheese sandwiches.

With the Australia fan heater and workshop lamp that I already had on board I'm probably set up for appliances for the moment.   I've got an Aussie heat gun somewhere too, and now I'll be able to charge my Aussie Bosch electric drill straight from the wall plug without going through the inverter.   For that matter, I can now run my Toshiba laptops from the wallplugs rather than the 12V cigarette lighters.  Argentina may have its political and economic problems, but for me this is electrical heaven.

In the evening I boiled a cup of rice with an onion and two carrots then fried two of the chicken breasts in olive oil.  The chicken was superb: meaty, lean, and tasty because I had coated the pieces with garlic pepper.  This was in sharp contrast to the greasy chicken that I had been served at the club restaurant.

Believe it or not I have yet to find a fish shop in this center of commercial fishing.  I can smell the fish when the wind blows this way from the fleet, so I know that there is fish around.  I'll probably take a stroll toward the fleet and see what I can find.