This weekend I was, sort of, half-offered 2 jobs. That’s nice. One of them, unfortunately, I couldn’t take. The other, well, who knows, it’s early days yet.
Something or nothing?
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Category Archives: Friends and Inimies
Bored/Fed-up
No, not me. I’m really busy and have no time to be bored, although I am incredibly tired.
Mantova, Subbuteo, Eating
Well, today, we go to Mantova to the Festivaletteratura. We have been going for about 5 years now and every year it gets easier as we understand more each time.
Post 200; Mongolian Barbeque and other food for the weekend; Clowny WILL be a real word!
Well, first, this is the 200th (published) post!* Considering I have been doing this blog for a number of years, 200 doesn’t seem that much. But it is some sort of milestone, I guess.
My 2nd week back at work and, the weekend just gone was also back to normal, if not busier.
Friday we were supposed to go and see FfI, who had the really bad accident at the end of July. However, she was on new drugs and very groggy so it was rearranged for Saturday. Then, on Saturday morning, A texted to suggest the Mongolian Barbeque restaurant. We agreed. So it was, kind of, apero at FfI’s about 5, then 9.30 we were at the Mongolian Barbeque. What a great place.
We had starters, which were “pick your own”. I chose a few small meatballs with a gravy with some roast potatoes and, incredibly, they tasted just like faggots. Now I really love faggots – you know, Brains – and we can’t get them here, so I was delighted to taste these.
Then we went up, selected our raw meat and then gave it to the cooks to griddle. And it all tasted superb. All this for a fixed price of €18. Great value for money. Even better for Sunday Lunch where the fixed price is €12. It doesn’t include drink but it’s still not bad.
The only thing to remember is that, should you not eat everything on your plate that you have chosen, they make a surcharge of between €5-10! Can’t say I blame them really as it ensures that people don’t just pile their plate and leave a load of stuff to be thrown away. However, this is a bit of a struggle for V who, as normal with free food, takes much more than he needs – and then can’t eat it! So he spent a while trying to convince everyone else to take some. Luckily, there was A – who is more like a human dustbin!!
Anyway, the food was very, very good and the experience of queuing up and watching your food being cooked, is also good. Worth checking out. It’s on Via Monte Nero in Milan, should you choose to go. Do book as it’s very popular.
Sunday was a really nice brunch with N followed by a surprise visit by friends from the UK who were catching flights back today. For the price of a nice Indian meal they stayed with us. And it was great to see them.
V was explaining about Dino to them, with the usual, ‘I never wanted another dog’ and he actually said ‘he does many clowny things!’. Now, I’m not sure why he said it. Nobody picked up on it and I said nothing. Maybe he remembered the word when we played scrabble that time with S & P. The story is that, in order to get a decent score, I made up the word and, although P, in particular, was sure it was a made-up word, no-one challenged me officially for fear of losing a go.
I made a very good explanation of why it was a real word, even though I knew that it probably wasn’t.
Anyway, now that V has said it to others, I’m sure that, in a few years, it will enter the dictionary and become a real word. And, when it does, you will know that I invented it!
It seems a perfect end to my 200th post, don’t you think?
* Unfortunately, not any more. I have deleted some posts since the move here. This is probably somewhere around the 195th post now.
Drinking milk – a warning
K: Can I drink the rest of this milk, please, Mum? (a small jug of previously warm milk used for Caffe Macchiato).
S: Sure.
V: You shouldn’t drink hot milk that has cooled. It will make you ill.
All (OK, probably just me): What?
V: Drinking milk that was heated and has gone cold makes you ill.
A: Did you make that up?
V: Hmm. Maybe, yes. When I was young.
Dragonflies: Montevecchio
We were up at Montevecchio the other evening (not really a place I would recommend) and walking around the cobbled streets when I saw so many dragonflies doing their acrobatic, helicopter thing above us and over the vines laden with unripe grapes.
Then again, yesterday, in the park with the boys, a load of them in the sun chasing their food.
In Montevecchio, we were with A and F. He actually asked if they bite!
I must say that they have got to be one of my favourite insects.
We found somewhere to eat. Called Il Rustico it was exactly what it said on the tin – rustic. Unfortunately, the food was too.< Not that there’s anything wrong with that but it was more than disappointing and V & I commented, to each other, that, even though people consider Milan to be expensive, we could have had a far better meal in Milan for the price. Even A & F agreed that the food was well below par. Give Montevecchio a miss. Now back to cleaning and general household chores. Oh joy.
Just thought you should know…….
The thermometer on the balcony, in the shade, says it’s currently 38 degrees. Wow, Yes!
I shall be away for a few days next week. Another fabulous trip to the delights of Wolverhampton, via Bristol airport. Oh joy. Guess I will have to dig out some of my winter stuff. 
Whilst I am away, given the hours that V is working, I expect the remaining live plants on the balcony will be dead and that Dino’s toilet training will suffer a large setback. By the way, Dino is now almost the same size as Rufus, shoulder to shoulder. Scary, considering he’s only coming up to five months old!
And next week is the final week before our (where I work, that is, not a holiday with V, of course, since that’s what we won’t be having) 2 week holiday. Which also means it’s only 11 days until S is here, with the kids. Yay. Although, notoriously, the weather breaks around the 15th (Ferragosta). I’m just hoping that this year is an exception. I mean we don’t need 38 degrees to be sitting at a café but the high 20s/low 30s and no rain would be good.
Embarrassment in the Lift
Italians are meticulous about cleanliness…….inside their houses. Outside it can look like it’s run down or neglected. Outside they’re happy to put up with dog poop in the street, throwing litter, overflowing rubbish bins, etc. But inside the house, everything must be spotless.
The shame is that this trait does not extend to personal hygiene. OK, so that’s unfair as not all Italians are like this (and, of course, some (many) Britons suffer the same problem). However, ride on any bus/tram/metro carriage, particularly in summer, and the stench can be quite unbearable. During the summer months I regularly take 2 or three showers a day (and, on a rare occasion, four).
But last night was a tad embarrassing. There is a person, in our building, who seems to have a problem with their water supply. I think the person lives on the fifth floor but I have obviously never met them, as I would remember, believe me.
Unfortunately, when the person leaves the lift, they leave behind an odour that, to be frank, makes me want to heave. So much so that, as they normally use the right-hand lift, I now will happily wait for the left-hand lift, even if the right-hand lift is ready to go.
We were a bit worried as we wondered if the other people in the building thought it was us or, to be more precise, the dogs. I can assure you it is not. Sure, when it rains they can be a bit whiffy, but that’s a doggy smell. This smell is an unwashed-for-ages smell.
Yesterday, as we were off to visit FfI, a friend who had a rather serious accident about a week ago, I was in a bit of a rush. With the temperature at about 35 degrees or higher, going to get some trashy magazines for her followed by essentials from the supermarket (wine, vermouth – oh yes and washing powder), I ended up with about four heavy bags (they use thick glass in wine and vermouth bottles 
).
By the time I got to the flats, I was hot. I have this unfortunate ‘problem’, inherited from my Grandfather, of sweating profusely in heat when it is coupled with the slightest form of exertion. It’s not that I’m not fit, although I could be fitter. It has been happening since I was in my twenties, if not before.
But the sweating comes on big time only when I stop doing the exertion. So it was yesterday evening. I got in through the lobby door, collected the post and a lady from the fourth floor came in just after me and as the left hand lift was there, opened it. As I was getting the post, I slowed down a little. I thought ‘OK, I can wait for that lift’ (the other was on the fifth floor – and I know what that means).
However, she held the lift door open, seeing that I had a lot of bags, and offered to share the lift. I accepted and walked into the lift. The next few minutes for the lift to reach our floor seemed to last half a lifetime. >As soon as the door closed I did my usual impression of Niagara Falls. Unfortunately, it’s highly visible and there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop it. I try, in my head at least, to squash into the corner of the lift and I don’t look at her for the shame of seeing the look in her eyes. The look of shock or horror. I was grateful to escape the lift.
Then, as I am unlocking the door, I wondered if she thought it was me who made the other lift stink? I hope not.
To be honest, the heat last night (and hurrah that it has finally arrived) was so hot that no matter what I do I have a permanent film of perspiration. It gets worse after a shower, even if the shower is cool, but at least I feel clean. However, this is the weather that I prefer. I can shower as often as possible and would sooner do that than be even a little cold.
The rules of engagement
So, are they engaged, or not? I really don’t know. F was sporting a very nice diamond engagement ring – but on the third finger of her right hand!
We just couldn’t quite get a straight answer, particularly from A. They implied that, once an actual date had been set for the wedding the ring would be moved to the left hand. This was just a sort of half-commitment.
Lesbian Music; It’s like September
Most of my favourite writers and singers are women. My all-time favourite is Joan Armatrading. I first saw here in 1977 not long after she had released Love and Affection but, I seem to remember that it may have been the album after that – Show Some Emotion.
A great artiste, to be sure. From that time I have seen her in concert almost every tour, except, perhaps, for a couple of tours.