Brumadinho

60’2024 (2024-02-29) – Leap day

Posted on by What did you learn in School today ?

Today, I learned about:

We have come to that day every four years when we are blessed with one extra day. Some think it is good, while others do not. If you have a fixed monthly salary, it means that you are working one day for free!

In my post eight years ago, I explained the reason for why we have the 29th of February every four years, you may revisit it here: 60’2016 (2016-02-29)

You may remember that in my post of 356’2023 (2023-12-22) I showed a picture of Inhotim, the outdoor art museum that is considered to be one of the biggest of its sort, blendid in with a variety of bothany. Unfortunately, time has leapfrogged me, but here is finally more interesting facts about it. The name Inhotim is said to be derived from a former owner of the land where Inhotim is located today, a Mr. Tim, which the local dialect transformed to Senhor Tim -> Nhô Tim -> Inhotim, as simple as that. But it was thanks to a Brazilian mining magnat, Bernardo Paz, who bought the land to preserve it from exploitation and also bought contemporary works of art, that Inhotim could be created. He started with that feat in 2004 and could finally open the museum in 2006. In reference #1 below is the complete story.

You may have heard the name of Brumadinho, the municipality where Inhotim is located, in another, unfortunately terrible context. On 25’2019 (2019-01-25), a dam of a mine in Brumadinho broke and it led to a disaster where 270 people lost their lives and vast pieces of land, both built and unihibited, were totally destroyed. Luckily, Inhotim is located on a higher altitude, so the dam catastrophe did not affect it. More about the dam tragedy can be seen in reference #2 below.

Finally here are some nice pictures from Inhotim:

Pictures from Inhotim, taken during the visit Adriana and I paid there on 342’2023 (2023-12-08). This museum of contemporary art and bothany is fantastic and when one needs to recharge the batteries then there is this delicious restaurant demonstrating what makes the state of Minas Gerais such a fabulous place to visit, famous for its food and drinks.

Today’s header photo was taken by my friend Neide who recently visited the Southwest corner of Brazil. It shows the waters from Rio Uruguay falling down in a spectacular extension, in the so called Salto do Yucumã. More about it will come next month!

That’s what I learned in school today!

Ref.:

1: Inhotim

2: Brumadinho dam disaster

*: What did you learn in school today?

356’2023 (2023-12-22) – Friday

Posted on by What did you learn in School today ?

Today, I learned about:

There are so many wonderful places in this world. Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting one of them. It is called Inhotim, located in the municipality of Brumadinho, 60 km south of Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. I took the following header photo there on 342’2023 (2023-12-08). In a future post, I will tell you more.

Photo of one of the beautiful scenic views in Inhotim, taken by me on 342’2023 (2023-12-08).

But for now, here comes an update to modularity, subject of my post last month, 334’2023 (2023-11-30):

In the reference about the Ericsson central office AXE is said “Modular design may appear self-evident. After all, wasn’t that the key to Scania’s success as a relatively small truck manufacturer?”

So, here comes more information about Scania’s approach. Scania is a Swedish company with headquarters in Södertälje, immediately south of Stockholm. The name Scania is latin for the Swedish southernmost province, Skåne. It was there in Malmö, Sweden’s third biggest city, that Scania was founded in 1900. Today it is part of the German Volkswagen group, but it is still considered an important Swedish company.

In 1980, Scania introduced its 2-series of heavy trucks. It is a very good example of how the various modules of chassis and engines can be combined to configure the needs of a customer. It was very succesful and paved its way for future generations. More about the 2-series can be found in reference #1 below.

But, as most of you probably know, there is also another major truck manufacturer in Sweden, Volvo. Of course, Volvo is also heavily invested in modularity. An example of this can be found in their EDC (Electronic Diesel Control). Reference #2 gives all the details.

Finally, I would like to show you two different kinds of photos I took during the year 2023. The first one comes from a presentation at the Swedish-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce on 172’2023 (2023-06-21). I was very fortunate to integrate a group of athletes who together have won three olympic gold medals.

The golden trio, from right to left: Lars Björkström, olympic champion in yachting, tornado, in 1980; Giovane Gávio, twice olympic champion in men’s volleyball, in 1992 and 2004; and myself, no gold.

The second one was a photo that I had tried to take for a very long time, but the object always found a way to vanish before I could succeed. Then, finally, four days ago, I hit the jackpot. When a humming bird came to refresh itself with the sugary water I had waiting for him, then I was lucky enough to catch, not the humming bird, but more importantly, this fascinating picture of him. More about hummingbirds can be found in refrence #3 below.

This little bird is called beija-flor in Portuguese, a name that literally means flower kisser. It is always so fascinating to see it coming for a pit stop of sugary water on a sunny day, but it is so quick in its action that it is very difficult to catch it on film. Photo taken by me on 352’2023 (2023-12-18).

I wish all of my faithful readers and followers a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

That’s what I learned in school today!

Ref.:

1: Scania 2-series

2: Volvo EDC

3: Hummingbird

*: What did you learn in school today?