Don Bosco and Joe Tangredi - The Dry Canal Project

April 11, 2008 · Filed Under Blogging · Comment

Yesterday evening I had an interesting chat with one Don Mario Bosco, an international law specialist and entrepreneur who heads the $2.64 billion CINN project concerning the construction of a ‘dry canal’ in Nicaragua.

Just what is a ‘dry canal’, you may be wondering. Well, it’s basically a rail corridor which functions in much the same way as the water filled Panama canal, for example. Containers are offloaded from a deep sea port on the Atlantic side and taken by high speed rail link to another deep sea port on the Pacific side of Nicaragua, and vice versa.

Aside from boosting the Nicaraguan economy, this project is also highly environmentally friendly in that no huge ‘real’ canal needs to be gouged out of the Nicaraguan landscape. It sounds like an extremely worthwhile project and I do hope it goes ahead. However, the project has been being blocked by Nicaraguan politicians, including a former president, who wish to promote the construction of an environmentally unfriendly ‘wet canal’.

I’ll try to get an update on the situation from Joe Tangredi.

As a matter of interest, it was Joe Tangredi of Volette.com who introduced me to Don Bosco, which is no surprise when you learn that Joe is the dry canal project’s Director of Public Affairs and Communications. Joe, who is another entrepreneurial lawyer, is also cooking something else up which may bring about big and worthwhile changes too.

Don Bosco is half Italian incidentally, and regularly spends his summers here, whereas Joe is one hundred percent Italian, even if he has lived for most of his life in the USA.

Knowing just how entrepreneurial Italians can be, it comes as no surprise to me to hear that those of Italian origin, such as Don and Joe, have brought their flair to the international stage, and are attempting to make the world a better place in the process.

Just imagine what kind of an international powerhouse Italy could become if it were less constrained by ineffective government and a lack of familiarity with English. An interesting thought, no?

I think I’ve already said it, but I going to say it once more: The simple art of blogging certainly is leading me in some fascinating directions at the moment!

As to what I was chatting with Don Bosco about - well, that will be revealed another time, if everything comes together, that is.

Tags: Don bosco, Italian, Italians, Italy, Joe Tangredi, lawyers, Nicaragua

Disco, Disco, Music, and an Old Problem

February 18, 2008 · Filed Under Life in Italy · 3 Comments

We have a slight problem where we live in Milan. There is a sort of disco which backs onto our apartment block and the volume of the music, and in particular the bass, can get rather disturbing at times. Five times a week, on average.

Still, you can probably thank the disco music for its contribution to this blog, for without it I probably would not stay up so late writing posts and generally tinkering with this site. You could say it is disco music driven, as opposed to database driven, I suppose.

Anyway, back to the fray. After having made numerous calls to the local police, written to the local council etc about the noise, something has started to move, albeit rather slowly. Lately we’ve been kept up by various engineers who have been monitoring the noise levels, although this monitoring is something of a farce in that the owner of the boogie bar knows when the sound monitoring is taking place. Surprise, surprise, the volume of the live groups and djs is rather lower than its generally wall vibrating levels.

I have to admit that I’ve been half participating in the battle, sort of in the hope that it may pressure other half to move to somewhere quieter. Well, as I’ve mentioned recently, hope propels me, but, often, not all that far.

However, the funny thing is, this is not your average disco. The average age of its patrons appears to be around 70, and, no, I’m not kidding. These no longer spring chickens seem to have a lot of spring in their steps, and will bop the night away until 2 in the morning. Five times a week on average. I suppose this could explain why the oldies trundle around so slowly during the day - they are dog tired after having fevered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night away. Crafty this pensioners. I reckon they just pretend to be old during the day, and then, when the lights go down, they go for it. Ever see the movie Cocoon?

Alas, the antics of these golden oldies generally mean that sleep during the summer months, when the windows are open, it not much of an option. I think I know why the music is so damn loud. You see, although these disco granddads and grannies can boogie like John Travolta could back in the old days, all this frequenting of discos post-retirement, has done away with their hearing.

I wish I could turn off my ears, I might manage to get some sleep.

But what really bugs me is that the apartment’s previous owners, in answer to questions as to how quiet the place was, told us that their dear departed dad slept like a stone in this apartment. Indeed, on one occasion the fire brigade was actually called because nobody could raise the chap from his slumbers.

Now, there are a three possible explanations for this in my not too humble opinion. Firstly, the old chap’s hearing aid batteries where totally flat. Or, secondly, guess where he spent his evenings? Yes, tiring himself out on the dance floor at the very same disco that is now keeping us from our slumbers. That would explain why he managed to sleep as soundly as a block of concrete, now wouldn’t it?

The third, and more probable explanation, is that the former proprietors were simply telling porkie pies ( that’s Cockney rhyming slang for ‘lies’, in case you were wondering).

The honest truth is that this here abode is about as quiet as a town hosting nightly concerts by Bob Marley and the Wailers. For the moment this little battle will rumble on, at least until we end up having to call the lawyers in. Then I guess that we’ll only have to wait another 10 to 20 years before the case is resolved, by which time, of course, we too may well end up frequenting the most fun place for the over 70s in Milan.

Well, as the old saying goes ‘If you can beat ‘em, boogie with them’, or something like that. Sorry, what was that comment? I can’t hear you too well. Not sure why.

Tags: apartment, bar, blog, boogie, club, dancing, disco, evening, fire brigade, fun, Funny, John Travolta, lawyers, live, loud music, Me, men, Milan, music, noise, old people, over 70, police, problem, Writing

Appearing as a Witness in an (semi-formal) Italian Court

January 31, 2008 · Filed Under Life in Italy · Comment

As I’ve mentioned a couple of times recently, I was called to appear as a witness in a law suit. I went to court today.

For reasons of confidentiality, I won’t say why, but I don’t see why I can’t talk about the experience in general. You never know, someone may find themselves in a similar situation someday, so this post may help them understand what to expect, especially if they have been called to appear in front of an semi-formal court in Milan. You will find out why I thought this was ’semi-formal’ a little later on.

To kick off, I expected the hearing to be at Milan’s main court building, so I went there, passed through the metal detector, entered the huge main hall and found a sign. Only the court I needed to go to was not listed. Wrong building, I thought. I suspected as much, and had even asked my other half if there were other courts in Milan. She said no. Oh well.

I looked around and, somewhat hidden away on the left and right hand sides of the main entrance, there were two information offices. I showed the letter I had received from the lawyers to the lady behind the desk and she shrugged her shoulders as if to say ‘Not again’, and then she explained that the court I needed to go to was in a street nearby, behind Milan’s imposing main court building.

I was given directions, got a little lost, and hopped in a taxi because time was running a little short. That’s when I discovered that the other court premises were behind the main building. It would have been helpful, I feel, if the address of this other Milan court had been given in the letter I had received from the law firm which had called me to appear as a witness. If the ‘other’ Milan court had been on the other side of Milan, I would have had a problem. Moral: Ring and ask for details of exactly where the hearing will be held.

After having arrived at the other court building, and after having passed through, and set off the alarm, of yet another metal detector (If there are a lot of people in front of you, then passing through the airport style system, complete with x-ray machine, could take some time….). At another information desk, I was told that the court I needed to go to was on the first floor, but in the event, the room, for it was not really a court room, was on the second floor. There was a little notice which showed the name of the judge presiding over each ‘court’ and, luckily, each room was clearly numbered.

I arrived in time, and waited for about fifteen minutes before being called in front of the judge. The hearing was semi-formal, and the room in which the hearing was held was an office. Behind a desk sat the judge, and to either side of the desk were two pairs of lawyers representing the parties.

I was told to remain standing while the judge explained that what I was about to say must be truthful, and asked me if I understood this. I replied in the affirmative, and was told I could sit down. I was asked my name, address, date and place of birth, and then was, very briefly, questioned by the judge about the case. While I spoke, the judge wrote what I said, and then read what she had written back to me. This was useful because for a moment I got the impression that she may have misunderstood something I had said. In the event, she had not, and her check confirmed this.

After the judge had questioned me, the four lawyers present were asked if they had any questions, and they said that they had not - to my slight relief. I was then asked to sign the judge’s ‘transcript’ of the statement I had made, and to sign another document. I was thanked and told I could go.

Total time taken: about 15 minutes in front of the judge. I think it went quite smoothly.

As I have already mentioned, the only potential problem was knowing the exact location of the court room.

Oh and one small, obvious, but possibly useful, tip. Make a brief list before the hearing of the information that you think the judge or the lawyers may ask for. I did this, referred to it, and it was handy.

Speaking to a lawyer friend beforehand may also prove useful, as this will allow you to understand what to expect in terms of questioning during the hearing. I did this too because I like to be prepared. I have done a lot of negotiating in the past, and have always found that good preparation helps you keep control of a situation. Yes, I know that this was not exactly a life threatening event, but you never know, and it is better to be safe than sorry.

Finally, my Italian is good enough to allow me to deal with these situations (At least after today, I know it is!), but if you do not speak Italian very well, then it may be a good idea to speak in your mother tongue, in which case, your testimony may be postponed until an interpreter can be present. Not doing this could, potentially, put you in a difficult position, but then again, the lawyers’ calling you should consider that a non-Italian speaker may have problems before the hearing in my opinion.

Verdict: In all, a lot less traumatic than a job interview, I would say, but then I was not exactly a key witness, so I did not receive a real grilling. Not fun, but an interesting experience.

Tags: court, Information, interview, Italia, Italian, law, lawyers, Me, Milan, Milan court, questions, situation, tribunale di Milano, Useful, witness

Wordfast - a translating system - first steps

January 14, 2008 · Filed Under Work · 3 Comments

Seeing as I’m becoming more and more involved in the translation of things like technical due diligence reports and other quite repetitive reports, I’ve invested in a Word add on known as Wordfast. You can discover more by clicking on the link.

What is this thing? Well, it’s known in the trade as a ‘translation memory’ application. Basically what it does is remember things you have translated and then proposes an exact or approximate translation of a sentence or ’segment’, as the jargon goes.

I’ve yet to put this system to the test, but I have been going about the rather laborious task of creating translation memories from translations I have already done. Then, when someone rings me up and says ‘Can you do this by…..?’, I shall reply ‘yes’, and get down to work.

Why use one of these systems? Simple, it can speed up translating work appreciably. And it ensures that translations are more consistent, plus it means that I do not have to go hunting around for some expression or other that will not spring to mind. A great time saver in itself.

Wordfast is a wee bit fiddly to get the hang of, but the more you use it, the easier it becomes. And building translation memories allows me to become more familiar with how the system works. Although I’ve yet to become proficient with it.

I’ve also been creating a few glossaries, which I can then print off, send off, etc and distribute while I’m teaching. Although I’m not sure how many people really use my glossaries. The paper versions are OK, but finding stuff can be very slow. However, put a glossary in a .pdf file or even a Word document and by using the ‘find’ functions you can search quite painlessly for the right expression or word. .pdf files are a little safer, as you cannot accidentally overwrite something or delete it, which could be something of a problem with a Word file. You know, the phone rings and two seconds later you have deleted something you should not have. ‘Undo’ may save you, as long as you are aware that you have mucked something up. With .pdf files this cannot happen.

Of course, putting glossaries on the web is one of the best ways of ensuring that all and sundry can access them. So I may have a go at putting some on the new site I’ve been building.

The only trouble is that producing these glossaries is fairly dull, and slow, work. Something for those semi-idle moments when you can’t be bothered to use your brain, I would say.

I also reckon that Wordfast or a variation may well be useful, not only for translators, but for businesses working in an international environment, especially those working with technical expressions, like lawyers, architects and engineers. However, I’m not too sure how such a system could be adapted to work efficiently. If I come up with an angle, I may post here, but if anyone out there on the WWW, especially those from Wordfast, can think of how to do this, then I believe that there may be one heck of a, growing, market for it.

Tags: Business, lawyers, market, teaching, TM, tra, translating, translation, Useful, web, Wordfast, Work