Avast me hearties!

The following first few lines have been translated.

Yes. As you probably already know, today is a special day for it’s none other than Talk Like a Pirate Day.
[Aye. As ye probably already know, today be a special tide fer `tis none other than Talk Like a Gentleman o’ fortune Tide.]

You can even do your own Pirate Personality check.
[Ye can e’en do yer own Gentleman o’ fortune Swabbieality check.]

This is my rating below:
[This be me ratin’ below]

You are The Quartermaster

You, me hearty, are a man or woman of action! And what action it is! Gruesome,
awful, delightful action. You mete out punishment to friend and foe alike
– well, mostly to foe, because your burning inner rage isn’t
likely to draw you a whole lot of the former. Still, though you may be
what today is called “high maintenance” and in the past was
called “bat-shit crazy” the crew likes to have you around
because in a pinch your maniacal combat prowess may be the only thing
that saves them from Jack Ketch. When not in a pinch, the rest of the
crew will goad you into berserker mode because it’s just kind of
fun to watch. So you provide a double service – doling out discipline
AND entertainment.

What’s Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

In the meantime, the most popular chat-up line would seem to be ‘Prepare to be boarded!’. Ah well, ye don’t expect good old Pirates to be too original, do ye?

Melon, Parma Ham and…….what?????

Today, at lunch, I chose to have melon and parma ham. Normally served as an antipasto dish, this was the main course and, as I haven’t had it for years, I decided to give it a try.

Of course, I then had to go hunt for the final, perfect finish to the dish. My co-workers were absolutely horrified. Really! There was that horrible shock/horror moment as they watched me sprinkle black pepper over it.

It seems that this is something never done in Italy but, for me, this dish without it just doesn’t quite hit the spot.

I looked round at everyone and said:

>Well, I am English.

That seemed OK as they think I am quite weird anyway.

So, next time you have parma ham and melon in a restaurant in the UK and the waiter offers black pepper AND if they are Italian why not ask them whether this is normal for an Italian meal in Italy. It would be interesting to hear what they had to say, don’t you think?

Quick post

Very short post just before our customers arrive. I am so busy and with V working the long hours (which should finish soon) I just have no time at the moment not even visiting my favourite blogs!

Wolverhampton was, well, Wolverhampton. Thank goodness, arriving back and stepping off the plane reminded me why I live here. It was about 25 degrees and fabulous.

After a dismal May and June, with rain and temperatures less than the UK sometimes, we are now back to normal. Temperatures in the low 30’s and clear blue skies. Hurrah.

Dino is turning into a great dog. The toilet training is going quite well and he is so sociable and playful with the other dogs in the park. A real pleasure.

He does have the one trick that he always plays. We usually go to the park for an hour or an hour and a half when I return home each night from work. After spending time playing with his many friends at the large dog area, when it comes time to go he’s not so keen. So, he just lies down and has to be enticed to move. Once we’re off the grass he’s pretty much fine but it normally takes me about a quarter of an hour to get him off the grass. Bless.

Dino’s new thing; I hear you have had some nice weather in the UK?

Dino learnt a new “trick” yesterday. After a long walk and playing with various other dogs in the park, he gets a little tired. On our way out of the park it is necessary to coax him with a little tugging of the lead. I can’t (and wouldn’t) just drag him along although sometimes there is a little of that, just to get him on his feet and moving.

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Mafia paint; Jack’s Blog – RIP

There are a couple of things I just thought I’d say.

One is that, further to the apparent monopoly that the Mafia have on the rubbish collections around Naples (and most of Italy), it seems they might have a monopoly, here, on the supply of tarmac and road paint.

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A quick overview – Gay, immigrant, drunk, nail-biting, Tibetan Taxi Driver

I must apologise for my lack of posts this month. There have been many times that I’ve started to write something, been distracted or ran out of gas halfway through and they just never get finished.

I have wanted to say things about the events in Tibet; gay people; drink/driving; immigrants; and many other things but they just haven’t made it to the blog.

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Alcohol helps my Italian (apparently)

Last night we went to a great house party held by a colleague of V’s.  I did have a little too much red wine but didn’t realise that until I woke up this morning.  Luckily, I don’t, generally, suffer from hangovers so I just felt a little sick.  However, the party was FUN!  And I spoke more Italian than normal and even had some sort of debate with some guy, who’s standing in the upcoming elections here, from some new communist party.  Well, I say debate – he didn’t speak English and, now that I know I was quite tipsy, God knows what I actually said to him.

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