I understand a joke!

Posted on by
11

Two men are in the desert.

One says to the other ‘I am very thirsty’

The other replies ‘eighty-eight’.

I am, of course, immensely excited. I cannot believe that I got it. It is, as you may have guessed, what they call ‘lost in translation’ since it’s down to a play on words.

My Italian improves but, oh, so slowly. Obviously it would help if I practised or studied it!

Every morning I listen to the radio on the way to work. I choose to listen to a music station, not unlike how I remember Radio One was before I switched to Radio Four. I would listen to the Italian version of Radio Four (if I even knew what it was) except that I don’t really understand Italian well enough.

So, here I am listening to Radio 105 (actually not on 105 but on 99.1 or something – don’t ask, we’re in Italy) and, every morning at about 10 to 8 they have a jokes section. People phone up and leave a recorded message telling their joke. They play about 5 jokes. I listen and try to understand. Sometimes I understand two or three sentences but never enough to get the punchline.

Mondays are when they play the kids jokes. I’ve been waiting for so long now to understand a Monday morning joke (on the basis that, if it’s kids, they will tell simpler jokes and speak in simpler Italian)

And, this morning I got this one.

OK. You may not think it is funny, however, you have to translate it into Italian to get it – which means it is even better that I understood!

‘I am very thirsty’ more or less translates into Italian as ‘Ho tanta sete’. Because the ‘h’ is not pronounced in Italian, it sounds similar (particularly to my ears) to ottantasette which is 87. Unsurprisingly, then, ottantotto was the response, meaning 88.

See, it just doesn’t work in English – but I got it! Finally!

It may not be the best joke in the world but it’s the first one I have fully understood and I didn’t even think about it in English!!!! I would like to thank the kid who allowed a stranger in a very strange land to have a first and start the week off so well.

There’s only NOW!

Posted on by
7

“I’ve got €7 to last me until pay day.”

I am, due to the impending move, being very careful. It doesn’t mean I can’t go out; buy cigarettes; buy stuff I need, but I am just being watchful knowing that, although I have another pay-check to come before I move and yet another before I have to pay the first rent, I will need cash for the movers (I cannot do it on my own); pay the deposit; and, almost certainly, buy stuff where we only had ‘one’ of something (for example, a table to eat off – although I have plans to make that not such a ‘big’ expenditure).

And I would understand if [of V] it were just the one month because, for instance, paying a deposit or having to pay car insurance or something. But this has been all three months of this year, so far.

But, considering we are only half-way to pay day, I am taken aback.

Of course, it’s no longer my responsibility, in any way, but I want to ask things like “What have you spent it all on?” but, then, I think I know some of the answers to that already. A party at which few of the friends attended because the invites were only made the day before or, even, that day; a new tattoo (I think but this is pure guess on my part); going out with colleagues.

What will happen when the rent becomes due every month (and the flat he chose was, in my view, too expensive, even for me!) and the bills, every two months? And, I know too, that there will borrowing ahead of the salary; borrowing to stay afloat meaning that the following month there will be less available; and so on and so on. A spiral of debt leading, almost inevitably, to a disaster. Oh, I hope not but I just know.

And, even if it is not my responsibility, I still feel responsible. How crazy is that? Worse, if I had the money, almost certainly, I would be offering (yes, you read rightly – offering) to help! But it would be help for ever.

This is what it must be like when you have kids who go out into the world but never really cut the apron strings.

In any event, over the next two weeks, I shall be buying the coffee, the milk, the wine, the food – in addition to my own expenses.

I don’t mind and I do mind – all at the same time. I can’t NOT do it. I wish I could. Does it make me stupid? Some kind of fool? Yes, I guess so. But I am unable to do anything else.

And, when we are in separate flats, what then? Will I be tapped for a few Euro here, a free meal there, coffee at my house because he doesn’t have any? Or worse, “Can you just lend me a few hundred to pay the electric bill; the rent; the loan?”.

And the answer will almost certainly be ‘yes’, even if it means postponing certain purchases I want. There’s just no planning; no thought of anything other than the “now”.

I can’t live like that and yet, through him, I still do!

Let’s talk about Net; It’s hardly working; Still, ‘no’ won’t come out of my mouth

Posted on by
2

Lets_talk_about_Net_Its_hardly_working_Still_no_wont_come_out_of_my_mouth

You have to sing the title to the tune of “Let’s talk about sex!”, if you see what I mean. At least, that was what was going through my head as I thought of the title.

Firstly, sorry to those of you who couldn’t read my blog yesterday. There was going to be a post but at about 9.30 a.m. or so our time, my blog went off-line. There then followed a slightly bizarre exchange of comments between me and the hosters of this site – 000webhost.

It started off OK. Instead of saying that the website was down, which is what I usually do, because I knew it was something to do with the database, I went for that instead.

They replied that I would have to upgrade if I wanted help with scripts. I didn’t as that wasn’t the problem. But then I had to go into more lengthy explanations as to why it was down.

Eventually, at about 3 in the afternoon they came back with “it will be fixed very shortly”.

By the time I got home and got my creaky, old laptop up and running, it had been about 3 hours. I rated this as a reasonable time to start asking again.

I got the reply that “it can take up to two hours”. Now I know that this is hosted somewhere where English is not a first language and it is completely free, so I feel I have to cut them a bit of slack. And, having taught English as a Second Language, I am aware of the way that something can be miss-said. So, I didn’t go mad but thought that, perhaps, what they really meant was that it might take up to another 2 hours. I responded to clarify my thinking.

It seems I was right. But the reply was a typical, non-mother-tongue-English speaker, using the word hardly instead of hard. It happens a lot here too. The response included the line “Our head admin is hardly working on it”. It makes me laugh every time. At work or with friends I do, gently, correct them. For those of you who are Italian it should read “Our head admin are working hard on it” or, even better, “Our head admin are working very hard on it”; hardly being very little – almost nothing and hard being very much.

So, this is being written at home and I may get it up there tonight but, probably, it will be tomorrow (i.e. Saturday).

So, I apologise for being off-line but that’s life and the hosting people are, overall, one of the best free hosters I’ve come across. I am toying with the idea of paying for it and moving more sites there but I will wait a little longer.

In other news, you’ve probably read about the British arm of Google/You Tube cutting off the supply to premium British content over the wrangling about how much they pay the artists. Now, in my opinion, there are pros and cons for both sides. However, the Music Industry need to get real. If you can’t find it on You Tube, because it’s been blocked, the obvious place to go is one of the more illegal download places – and then the Music Industry lose the money all together. It all seems a bit crazy to me. A little like the Luddites from the past. I realise that someone has to work out a new model but burying your head in the sand is just not the way.

And, as I suspected, I was asked something else – not the same as before (and that question may, even, still be open) – but very, very similar. Of course, I could not refuse but it makes me very, very nervous. And, of course, if I get let down again, this time, it will make things much more difficult in the future but, at least, I shall be more likely to say ‘no’, I guess.

Well, if it all goes horribly wrong then I shall, no doubt, lose my new flat and then I am likely to be very angry. However, all things being equal, I sign up a week on Tuesday and move in on the 15th of next month. I can’t wait! It will be home, at last, in a country that should feel home (and does, when I’m away from it), rather than a place of transience.

Tonight (or last night as you read this) we are off to FfI’s for a supper and drinks. It should be nice.

Update: Up early this morning. Worried about the question asked. The things that need to be done. There’s a lot of reliance on me; a lot of trust that I need to have but is, sadly, lacking. And yet, still I can’t say “no”. Damn!

Rufus and Dino seem better; Birthdays and Anniversaries – not my fault; Ragù and Bolognese Sauce

Posted on by
4

The good news is that the dogs seem much better. But now I have a couple of bags of expensive food to use up and I hate to see things going to waste so now I’m mixing it with the cheaper food and we shall see what happens. However, Rufus has developed something on his tail – this may be a result of the food since he developed a problem with his skin when we first came here – all because of food.  So my experiment with the more expensive dog food will end with the end of these two bags. We shall go back to the cheapest available.

Continue reading →

Can’t Fit, Won’t Fit; I know, let’s wake everyone up!; Sending emails to Gmail accounts is difficult!

Posted on by
4

I know that V will survive without me but, sometimes, I wonder how?

I mean, take last night as an example. He arrived home and asked me if I had a washing machine where I was going. I replied in the affirmative. He suggested that we could get one for free from a work colleague and all we had to do was pick it up. This would, indeed, be useful as the washing machine no longer works and both of us are fed up with hand washing.

Continue reading →

The Unravelling and update

Posted on by
5

Today is one of those days. Whilst everything is going OK (at work and at home, given all the situations), I have this slightly strange feeling that, in a single moment, one little thing could mean that everything starts unravelling and collapse in a jumble on the floor.

Continue reading →

Didn’t we have a loverley time, the day we went to Parma?

Posted on by
4

Didn't we have a loverley time

Yesterday. It’s wet. And cold.

To be honest, anywhere in the cold, very damp conditions of today, looks quite grim. Plus, I arrive at the station – never the best place to see a city. Add to that, that, I may have paid extra for a 1st class ticket with a guaranteed seat but it’s the first time the train has been used that morning and the heating isn’t working in the carriage, after an hour’s journey it’s not really going to place you in the best frame of mind.

Continue reading →

A party – or something else?

Posted on by
5

I mean, it’s a nice idea but, the last time that we did a party with many different types of friends was when we did the ‘Leaving for Italy’ party. That was a very special event as we did not know how often, if at all, we would see these friends again. And, in fact, we have not seen most of you since we left for Italy. This may have something to do with the fact that we rarely come back to the UK.

Continue reading →

The Island in the centre of the City; Know any good restaurants for lunch in Parma, dear reader?

Posted on by
6

Last night, we (that is V & I) were invited for dinner at FfI’s. When we reached Isola, V went ahead to her place and I went to get her some cigarettes from a place that she had told me about. It’s a slightly strange thing here because cigarettes are sold only at tabaccherias (tobacconist shops). You cannot buy them at supermarkets nor off-licences but only where they have the ‘T’ sign outside.

Continue reading →