The number of visitors I get for the ‘new’ (well, it’s not so new, really) blog is higher than the old one (a little). But it’s not that that is the surprise. It’s where the people come from.
I was struck today, whilst having lunch, about the difficulty, when moving to a foreign country, of knowing the correct/polite manners.
Italians, of course, gave us many things. Many of these things are food (pizza; pasta) and, as I have explained before, Italians talk about food a lot. And I really mean A LOT! Especially when eating. Then they often talk about other food that they have had recently.
On Friday, I went into the smoking room to get warm and have a cigarette. Later, just before lunch, I went in again – the heater had gone and the chairs had been rearranged now that there was vacant space! The heat already in the room from the heater kept the room above freezing for the rest of the day, so better than nothing. Several people have said that, in the New Year we shan’t be able to smoke inside the buildings any more. It will be quite funny to see the MD outside lighting up! We shall see. On the plus side, at least it won’t get so cold in my office as she won’t have the window wide open in hers whilst having a cigarette. So there are advantages to everything, I suppose. Last night was a fancy dress party. It was held in a friend-of-a-friend’s shop in an area of Milan that, they say, is up-and-coming. She sells designer clothes from lesser-known designers from all over the world. I absolutely HATE fancy dress parties. I never have a clue as to what to go as and am always genuinely shocked at other people’s ingeniousness and how something so simple can look so good. As we had less than 2 days notice and it was Friday night (so no time to try and do something special on Saturday), V came up with the idea of going as 70s people. My era. Sadly, we had all the necessary items in our wardrobes including, for me, a pair of real platform shoes that I had worn only once before. They had brought them in as new items in the 80s in Schuh, in Birmingham, hoping for some sort of revival, I guess. Well, it never took off but I kept them as I loved them. Boy, they looked good last night but how my calves suffered! Anyway, it was a cool party and we got back about half one in the morning. Finally, I had written a long post about the jury’s verdict on the de Menezes case but feel it was far better covered over at Stef’s site. If I lived in the UK now I would be very, very afraid. What kind of future is there when you cannot trust the police to be truthful and themselves uphold the law against murder? Oh, yes, and it hasn’t stopped bloody raining for days! We arrive about 1 p.m. The place is heaving with people. Italians, not renowned, in my view, for moving to one side, bump and jostle with each other to get to the stalls, get to the next aisle, get to a place for food. For weeks now, I have been thinking that the links to other blogs needs a serious spring clean. In spite of this not being Spring, it really can’t wait. I won! Since this happens rarely and certainly if V is playing (since he nearly always wins) it was quite something. It was a match arranged by V with some colleagues since one of them, L, was convinced he could take V on and beat him. But I did like the ‘new’ way of making deals. L started it with the deal he gave to M, letting him complete the ‘dark-blue’ set on condition that he wouldn’t have to pay rent if he landed on them. Then I made a deal with him in a similar vein but also collecting 25% of any profit that he made during the game. >However, my coup-de-grace was letting V have the final green one in place of a complete one and a half sides of the board! I knew that he wanted the greens so much that he would give anything to get the set. And it snowed Sunday night, even in the centre of Milan. And it’s been very cold since then. I just HAVE to get another job because they don’t keep the offices warm enough for me. The forecast is for snow and rain from now until next weekend! Enough already! Roll on spring. In other news: I think my feet have put on weight. It seems to be getting harder to get my socks on. Also, I found this morning, yesterday someone at work found my blog. I was a bit concerned for a while but then I thought it must be Pietro. Luckily, perhaps, it was. However, whilst I was looking at all the sites they had visited, it did scare me for a while. Anyway, now that he has found it perhaps I should include his blog on my links on the side? Nice to see you Pietro! 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. I find shopping easy. For example: I need a jumper. I go to some shops. I walk into a shop, have a look around (10 minutes max.). I see something I like. I look for my size. It’s there. I try it on. (another 10 minutes). I decide if it is worth the money. I buy it (another 10 minutes). There you go. Half an hour at the very most. The sun is shining. It’s about 28 degrees. It is, after all, a very nice day for the end of the world.The mysterious case of the disappearing heater; fancy dress parties; Be afraid, be very afraid (the de Menezes travesty of justice)
And just WHO is going to buy all this crap??????
A tidy up
Monopoly; Snow; Fat Feet; An Outing At Work!
Something or nothing?
A village of outlet shops. Your worst nightmare, yes?
Well, it seems a nice day for the end of the world; More on Mantova.