Sep
17

Rocking the barca

2005 | Filed Under Films, Italy | Leave a Comment

There is a well known saying in English, which is often used as a retort. It goes ‘don’t rock the boat’ which means ‘don’t attempt to change things – or you may/will regret it’. In Italy there very few attempt to rock the Italian boat. Why is this? Well, there may be two reasons, firstly, nobody wants to end up in hot (possibly boiling) water - to coin another old adage, and secondly, they are so much a part of the boat that they fear losing the advantages of being connected to it.

This is a preview of Rocking the barca. Read the full post (326 words, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

Sep
16

Batteries of batteries

2005 | Filed Under Thoughts | Leave a Comment

Almost everything I use these days runs on a battery. They are everywhere. Big ones, little ones, minute ones, light ones, heavy ones, new ones and old ones. No wonder the power generation plants are going into meltdown, it is everyone using up energy to create more energy. Hardly a night goes by without the need for something to be plugged in and recharged.

This is a preview of Batteries of batteries. Read the full post (238 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

  • None Found
Sep
16

Exactly the Punto

2005 | Filed Under Italy | Leave a Comment

Fiat, that Italian manufacturer of cars in recent years that nobody bought unless they did know much about or like cars or were able to get a huge discount, may have got it right this time.

This is a preview of Exactly the Punto. Read the full post (260 words, 1 image, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

Sep
16

More Machiavellian naughtiness

2005 | Filed Under Italy | Leave a Comment

You may have heard about a couple of corporate battle royals which were going on over the taking over of a couple of Italian banks by nasty foreignors.

This is a preview of More Machiavellian naughtiness. Read the full post (374 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

Sep
14

Jogging along, well cycling actually.

2005 | Filed Under Me | Leave a Comment

My exercise phase is going fine and I washed 5 kilos off so far, but I'm not running, which does not do your back a whole lot of good, I'm cycling instead. (I never really liked running anyway - but I may have a go once I'm much fitter). Keeping my heart rate between 126 and 144 beats per minute and staying out for over 50 minutes every other day.

This is a preview of Jogging along, well cycling actually.. Read the full post (587 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

  • None Found
Sep
11

An earful, skin full weekend

2005 | Filed Under Me | Leave a Comment

An inquisitive mosquito came to an unfortunate end last night. It flew right into my ear and does not appear to have come out again. Initially, I was aware of it moving around, and this was quite an odd sensation. My other half tried to see the wee blighter, and shone a torch up my left lug hole. She saw nothing, but I could still feel it wriggling around. I lay on my side in the hope that the daft little vampire would find its way out, but I'm not that sure it did. So, what did I do? Well, we live in the era of the enormous encyclopaedia known as the world wide web, so I hunted around and low and behold, I found quite a lot about removing objects from ears and noted that a few sites suggested dripping olive oil into your ear canal as this will, a) kill the offending invader and b) flush the thing out.

This is a preview of An earful, skin full weekend. Read the full post (505 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

Sep
8

A tip for those writing in another language

2005 | Filed Under Language | Leave a Comment

If you are lucky enough to have a full time connection to the www, then you can use it to check what you are writing, when you are writing in a language which is not your own.

This is a preview of A tip for those writing in another language. Read the full post (294 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

Sep
8

The number of natural disasters

2005 | Filed Under Thoughts | Leave a Comment

It could just me who is under the impression that there seem to have been a lot of large scale natural disasters in recent years. We've had floodings, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, whirlwinds and devastating storms.

This is a preview of The number of natural disasters. Read the full post (236 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

Sep
7

September in Milan

2005 | Filed Under Italy, Milan | Leave a Comment

September here is a wonderful month here in Milan, even if it signifies the end of the holiday season. You get hot days with cool nights, which makes surviving the days much easier. There is a higher chance of rain, but it still does not rain as much as it does back in the UK. I'm still wandering around in shorts and linen clothes and my dear overused PC still needs the fan blown at it to help it keep its cool.

This is a preview of September in Milan. Read the full post (304 words, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

Sep
7

Anyone know anyone who wants to teach Italian kids English?

2005 | Filed Under Italy, Language teaching, Milan | 13 Comments

Let’s see if the power of the web can help me out.

This is a preview of Anyone know anyone who wants to teach Italian kids English?. Read the full post (100 words, estimated 24 secs reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

Sep
7

A blow with a silver lining, maybe

2005 | Filed Under My son | Leave a Comment

Our two year old has passed quite a bit of time in a private and expensive creche (asilo nido). This is because we could not get him into the council run creche in time. Now, we have managed to get him into the council run and much cheaper creche. Good. Well, no, not exactly.

This is a preview of A blow with a silver lining, maybe. Read the full post (533 words, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

  • None Found
Sep
5

I’m tired and I’m going to go to bed

2005 | Filed Under Me, This blog | Leave a Comment

Nothing I've attempted to scribble this evening has come out anywhere near the way I wanted it. I blame being on baby duty last night. When I finally woke up this morning I felt much like I expect a zombie feels - yes I know zombies don't feel, that's my point exactly. I'm no longer coherent as a result, so what ever I try to waffle on about will come out horribly.

This is a preview of I’m tired and I’m going to go to bed. Read the full post (236 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Like to dig deeper?

  • None Found

Next Page →