Banner ads

As you may have noticed, there are now adverts at the top and bottom of my blog. This has been done by the hosting company, Kool Serve and not by me.

Now, in theory, I have no real problem with banner ads – as long as they are tasteful and not flashy. I accept that this can be part of having free hosting (although I would pay for it quite happily – the free hosting is not really by choice – there are reasons). I also don’t have a problem with it because I realise that the hosting company cannot provide these services for free but must have something in return.

However, I am now expecting the uptime to be vastly improved since now they are getting something for it.

In the meantime, I will make backups every day! Just in case, you understand.

Something more special

I suppose I should be thinking about it now. Or even trying to write something. You know? Something more profound than the usual drivel.

Some bloke has just written a post celebrating his 100th post. So, I guess for your 1000th you should do something, shouldn’t you? That’s in 42 posts. Well, 41 after this has been posted.

I was going to keep it a secret. At least, keep it a secret until it actually happened. But the celebration of the 100th posts has got me a bit worried. For post 1000 it should be more special. Maybe. Perhaps.

It could, perhaps, also coincide with the 6th anniversary of time that I moved here? Or, if I don’t write enough posts in time, then, perhaps with the 6th anniversary of the start of the blog? The reality is that it will, probably, fall somewhere in between these two dates. A sort of no-man’s-land of a date.

Of course, I could ask you to give me a subject? I’ve never done that before. It could be a useful experiment, if not a daunting one. After all, I’m not really a ‘writer’. Just someone who writes a blog.

Anyway, I’ll give it some thought. Perhaps you could too?

The Internet is full of liars and charlatans – just like real life.

I’m not entirely sure why people are either surprised or, even, angry.

It’s the thing about the Internet. It’s impossible to say if it’s real or not. And so, the Syrian lesbian blogger who turned out to be some American guy living in Scotland and the lesbian blogger who also turned out to be a man are being hounded and made a lot of people angry. But why?

Karl, posing as (or should that be ‘was posing as’?) a very ugly man wrote a blog for 2 years before finally revealing he was, in fact, nothing of the sort. People got angry. People get angry, I think, because they feel they’ve been duped. But they only have themselves to blame. With the ‘Syrian’ blogger, there’s even a woman (in Canada, I think), who thought she was having a relationship with him/her, even if they’d never actually spoken (obviously)!

In a way, I have to admire these people. To create (and, in some cases, go to great lengths to give credibility to) a persona that’s not only not you, but isn’t even your sex and doesn’t have your sexual orientation takes some skill and creativity. They need to be good writers, one would think. But is it any different than, say. JK Rowling creating a whole host of characters for her Harry Potter series?

One could argue, of course, that JK Rowling doesn’t pretend that the characters are real. And yet, in her head, at least whilst she’s writing them, they do have a sort of reality. When they become films, they take on a more substantial reality. OK, so pretending you’re someone in the real world and carrying it on is different – but only slightly. You didn’t have to believe it. In fact, why should you believe anything you read on the Internet?

There are some people who read my blog who I know and have met. Lola, for example, Pietro, a colleague, Karl, the once ugly man or Stef, a good mate are people who know I am a real person. Stef and Pietro knew me ‘before the blog’, Lola and Karl, afterwards. Then there are those (Gail, The Store Manager, Man of Roma and Ruth, the friend of a friend) who don’t actually know me at all. Well, Ruth knows I’m real, I guess. Yet, I have a friendship with these people. I don’t actually know them either. Does that invalidate the friendship? Not really. If, for example, MoR turned out to be a woman living in the USA, would that make our discussions irrelevant? No, not at all. And I trust that these people, when they blog, are telling me the truth. Would it matter if they weren’t? Again, no not really.

There is a woman with whom I am a ‘friend’ on Facebook. Solely for a game that I used to play. She has all sorts of ‘problems’ but I don’t know that it’s all real. Perhaps she is just making it up? She certainly craves attention both in the game and on Facebook. I don’t know if it’s all real or whether it’s just being said for the attention. And I don’t really mind either way.  I take the Internet for what it is.  I believe the people that I read about but I’m not really emotionally involved, I suppose.  How can I be?  I don’t know them.  I can read about things that they do, empathise with them over problems that they may have but deeper than that it’s impossible for me to go.

And, anyway, it’s not like real life didn’t throw up the odd con-man (or woman) or two?  The Internet just makes it easier and, certainly, makes changing sex very easy too (not that that hasn’t been done in real life).

So, whereas I’m not especially impressed by what the two guys have done I’m not really shocked and I’m not outraged.  It’s what you should expect unless you have proof otherwise.

Here and there.

He was happier last night, which was good.

I’m not so happy, though.

He’s not here. I’m not there. There’s the two or three hours distance.

It’s difficult to find interest. There’s many things I could do. You know, keep busy. Stop thinking. Stop being without or alone. Stop feeling.

A said it was stupid. I could have punched him in the face. Then, I thought, perhaps he never feels like that? That would explain a lot. In fact, it would explain everything. To never have that feeling would be much worse than having it.

He says it is looking good. There. Where he is and I am not. I look at the weather forecast for there and here. It’s not particularly good at either place. I try to tell myself that it would be dreadful being there, with the rain. And the decoration ‘in progress’. I would be in the way. We would be in the way, which is true. And we wouldn’t be able to do anything. Them for sure and me because I am, quite frankly, worse than crap at this sort of stuff. Not that anyone believes me. ‘How difficult can it be?’, they think. I know they think that. In theory it should be straight forward. But, even when I try so very hard, paint doesn’t seem to get onto the walls as much as me and the floor and other places where it should not be. And the stuff on the walls is streaked or globular or thick in places it should not be, running down. No, it doesn’t work for me.

He said, “You can come down if you want”, adding without a pause for breath, “but it will be a complete mess”. He doesn’t want me there whilst he is doing it. I will be a distraction. So will they. They, maybe, more than I. They, who demand attention from him without even demanding it. Because they are the ‘poverini’, of course. Unable to demand and by being unable to demand, demanding more and with greater urgency. At least for him.

I don’t let on that I’m not happy. After all, that would be unfair. It would be selfish. He is doing this for us. For me, he says but in reality, for the four of us. Or, maybe, mainly for him? Or, maybe, for me too. It is ‘More than Words’. And he had to have an injection for his back, last night. He ‘couldn’t move’, he said. I told him he should stop but he said that he wouldn’t. He’s very stubborn like that. It’s no good arguing with him. He won’t listen anyway or, rather, he will listen but then do what he wants. I don’t demand, I’m far too old for that!

I told him I was on holiday. He knew, of course. I just wanted him to know. So, I was being a bit selfish after all! He told me to relax and enjoy it. I said I would, even if I knew that I can’t as much since he’s there and I’m here.

So I sit here and write this. Rather than there and not. In a moment I will do something. Something else. Washing, cleaning, the dogs, sorting out English stuff, a box, some editing. Something. Or not. Not here nor there.

Damn!

It’s been a while, I know.

Yes, it seems I am as back as I can be.

Lots of things to tidy up, of course. Lots learnt in the process of trying to get it back. Lots of help from Stef, so many thanks to him.

Lost posts coming back soon. Lost links likewise. Recreation of mods made to blog as well.

Lots to do.

But I am so happy to be back :-)

Temporary Post

As regular readers will note, something has happened to this blog.

The previous company decided to migrate to new servers. They didn’t tell me. After it went down, I found a post explaining that all accounts would be deleted and we should take backups of our data. This was on some forum somewhere.

I didn’t. I was doing it quite regularly and meant to keep doing it but I didn’t. I have found a file which seems to be everything up to the end of February and I can recreate some of the later posts from archived pages on the web (but won’t be able to recreate the comments) but it won’t be complete.

It is a little annoying. But it’s not the end of the world.

And some of the comments made:

10 Responses to Temporary Post
1. Gail says:
5 May, 2011 at 2:59 pm (Edit)
Hi Andy-
hanging in there with you through the change. No matter what!!
Love you
Gail
peace…..
Reply
o admin says:
6 May, 2011 at 8:01 am (Edit)
Hi Gail. Thanks. I’m doing my best to get as much as I can back.
Reply
2. TSM says:
5 May, 2011 at 4:52 pm (Edit)
I know, I was gutted when I came to look at the blog and saw 404s and then stuff about database errors. Did think about trying to let you know via Twitter or e-mail, but the last posts I read sounded like you were on holiday so decided not to bug you! Really annoying when hosting companies change stuff on you without letting you know other than via forums you don’t frequent!
Reply
o admin says:
6 May, 2011 at 8:15 am (Edit)
Thanks TSM. Yes, I was on holiday but it was only a few days. Ah well, such is life. It’s one of the penalities with having to use free hosting companies but, really, I should know better and should be backing up at least once a week! Next time, I promise myself, I WILL backup regularly LOL.
Reply
3. TSM says:
6 May, 2011 at 9:28 pm (Edit)
Do you self host WordPress? If you do, there is a backup plugin for WordPress. You can automate it to e-mail you the backup in a zip file at timed intervals.
Reply
o admin says:
7 May, 2011 at 12:44 pm (Edit)
Yes, I do. thanks for the tip. I’ll have a look.
Reply
4. Lola says:
10 May, 2011 at 9:58 am (Edit)
It’s not the end of the world but I DO miss your blog!
Reply
o admin says:
11 May, 2011 at 2:14 am (Edit)
Sorry, Lola. This new version of WordPress has new settings and I didn’t see your comment. I miss it too. I must get it back and running this week!
Reply
5. Lola says:
11 May, 2011 at 2:15 pm (Edit)
no problem… just come back soon, please

Reply
o admin says:
11 May, 2011 at 4:22 pm (Edit)
I will. As soon as I can. I NEED to write some posts!
Reply

Easter Lunch

I’m afriad both comments and pictures have been lost. Will try to find pictures and republish them soon.

Sunday was, of course, Easter Day. It is customary here, in Italy, to eat lamb. I am more than happy about that – lamb being my favourite meat. F doesn’t really eat meat but absolutely hates lamb. He says he doesn’t even like the smell of it.

We (mainly he) decided to go to eat at lunchtime on Sunday rather than in the evening. We went to Osteria Dell’Angolo (see link on the side). It is a restaurant I found in Pallanza and one that I love. The food is not like a really first class restaurant in Milan but it’s not far off. They did a special menu for Easter Sunday Lunch.

The day was warm and sunny. We ate outside in their covered area, surrounded by vegetation which, from the outside, makes it almost hidden. Certainly compared to the brashness of all the other bars looking over the lake, it seems hidden. And once you’re inside, it seems as though you have stepped into a different world. We booked on Friday evening. Since they weren’t sure about the weather, we got the last table. If the weather were to be good, we could, of course, eat outside.

The weather was great and so we settled at the round table in the corner, more or less, on our own.
The menu looked good:

We decided that, as there was a choice of two things for antipasto and primo, we would take one of each and share.

Both the antipasti were superb. The courgette mouse with tomato sauce (not Heinz, I may add) is a staple from them and I’ve had it before. It’s very delicate. The thinly sliced lake fish (whatever that may be) was even subtler but divine. We had half each.

Then came the primi.

First the ravioli filled with asparagus cream, simply done in butter with sage. Is your mouth watering already? It should be. Mine is as I write about it!

Delicate, I would say.

After half of that, we swapped plates and I had one of the rolled pancakes filled with smoked scamorza. To be honest, I usually dislike scamorza (a type of smoked cheese) but this was just perfect. I’m glad I had the primi this way round though as the smoked cheese was much stronger than the delicate ravioli.

As you can see, the pancakes were rather crispy. Mmmmmmm.

But then came the bit that I was waiting for. The Lamb!

This was my plate. I say that because we had about 4 pieces of lamb each but, as F doesn’t eat it, I got it all

I was very, very happy about that – although quite full afterwards.

For sweet, there was a piece of colomba with vanilla cream (which is actually custard although F refuses to believe it!) and a glass of spumante.

If I’m honest, I didn’t really feel that full although later, I didn’t really want any dinner.

It was lovely. I took the photos and that’s when it came up about the blog. I had to explain why I needed the photos. After being surprised I had one (although I have mentioned it before), he asked what I wrote about. I said everything. And then tried to explain that it was stuff in my head. He asked if it included him and I said that it did but that I didn’t use pictures of him nor his name.

I wonder if he’ll try to find it now?

Anyway, should you be on Lago Maggiore and near Pallanza, I recommend Osteria Dell’Angelo. It really is lovely. The service is good and the food is excellent.

Buon appetito!

The checklists that never got posted

Checklists 3, 4, etc. didn’t get done.

Checklist 3 would have been that the dogs went in for a wash and blow dry. Checklist 4 would have been that the flat was clean. Checklist 5 would have been that the car was packed and 6 would have been that the dogs were clean and smelling beautiful.

Non of these posts got made because of Checklist 4. F was here. And I couldn’t really be sitting at the computer whilst he was trying to super-clean the flat, now, could I?

Oh and there should have been other checklists too. Like 1A – Colomba ordered (and subsequently got). 2A – Eggs bought.

There were to be 6 adults, 1 baby and 2 dogs. I did think it was going to be a bit of a squeeze, even if the flat is big. However, sadly, B couldn’t come. And, so neither did her friend. And, I guess, that was why our mutual friend (with husband and baby) didn’t come either.

We did miss B an awful lot but it was nice all the same. F said, several times, that although he missed B, it is really good with it being just us. That made me very happy. And we talked about his house by the sea and how we should spend more time there and how we could get a place on the Lake (to rent), maybe, if it were cheap enough. Which is almost like getting a place together. And we talked about the dogs. And his dream about Dino dying and how he couldn’t stand it and that was why he never had a dog.

F bought another Colomba and we gave one Colomba and one egg to the Aunt that lives downstairs for her to share with the Aunt that lives upstairs. They are, after all so nice and I will never forgive myself (nor V) for having to wake them up at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning to get V’s briefcase which he had forgotten.

The Colomba and egg were a little way of saying thank you.

And so, the weekend was great and the weather was, overall, very, very good and the dogs got lots of walks and we spent a lovely time together.

And we talked a bit about the blog. So that was good, wasn’t it?

Wasn’t it?

Unfortunately, any comments have been lost.

Signs. Or not.

As I was sitting in Engineering, one of the rubber soles came off my heel.

I wonder, briefly, if this is a sign.

Does it mean I’m on way to becoming a down-and-out, grateful to have shoes with heels or not? Does it mean that it’s the right time for a new job? Or does it mean that I need to get my shoes re-heeled?

Or all three?

After all, I could be going down the ‘Gentleman of the Road’ road, if you see what I mean. I’ve always felt that I am a step away from that. Well, actually it’s more like a hundred steps. But once you take the first one, I can see how easily one can get pulled down the other ones.

I have applied for the new job. I checked my ‘Internet footprints’. I don’t think I’m that easy to find. I mean to say, this blog is not easy to find. And most other things have privacy setting set so that it is hard to connect everything. I hope. Of course, I am aware that, should I be successful, this blog may have to close, even if I say little about work, apart from Teaching. Well, we’re a long way from that. Not in terms of time but in terms of I haven’t started yet. That’s because I haven’t had an interview yet. That’s because I only sent the CV off about an hour ago.

I think I would love the job. I just think it may have already been taken, if you understand my meaning. Even though this is a British job, I have a feeling that the way it all works is more akin to the Italian way of working. Ah well, I still have this job. This one which allows me to write this blog. Well, they, probably, wouldn’t do much about it if they did find it. If you get me.

I will, of course, on Friday or Saturday, take my shoes to be re-heeled.

Until then I am really busy. Or, rather, really occupied. Which is another reason this post will be short.

Oh yes, and this morning, when I woke up, I had a) no hot water and b) (although I didn’t know it at the time) a broken shutter.

The hot water I hope I can fix by buying a couple of batteries. The shutter has been fixed by the workmen. Thank goodness F was there.

In so many ways.

And now I must really do some work ………

Stuff I have done and not done.

Well, let’s see what I’ve done.

Firstly all the windows have curtains now. Well, except for the kitchen, they had curtains before. What they now have, in addition, are nets. It means I can walk around naked without anyone seeing :-)

Not that I do that – it’s just that now I can ……… if I want to :-)

The bedroom has dark blue nets and the lounge, cream-coloured nets – floor to ceiling stuff (well, not ceiling, but top of windows). It makes the flat seem more private. I like it.

The kitchen used to have a cross between nets and blinds. These have been washed and are now back up. I leave the shutters open all the time in the kitchen and although no-one can see in unless they crane their necks, it’s nice to have that feeling of privacy.

And I have a printer/scanner/copier – and it seems to work, well, the scanner and copier work anyway. This means I can give people the stuff from my lessons without having to do stuff at work. Or, at least, when I’m not AT work, I can still give them stuff. OK the quality is not the same high quality but at least it doesn’t stop me or mean I have to do a ton of scanning when I get back. I must try out the printer, of course.

And it’s all wireless stuff so it means I can move it so it’s out of the way – but that’s a job for tomorrow, or Friday.

I say tomorrow or Friday because I need to move some stuff to make room for it. And moving some stuff means moving some other stuff. And that means trying to sort out the bedroom …. a bit. And that’s not for now.

I also tried to watch Black Swan again. But it kind of fell apart when I had to sort out the printer and so, halfway through, I gave up on it. I don’t think I actually like the film very much. I took note of TSM’s comments abut it being a psychological thriller but, you know, at that level it just fails so badly.

Tomorrow is shopping and lunch with FfC. Or the other way around. I don’t mean nice shopping – just grocery shopping. I was going to do my favourite pasta today – pasta with broccoli – I have broccoli but, horror of horrors (considering the country I live in) – I HAVE NO PASTA! To be honest, I was a bit shocked. How can I have used the last bit of pasta and not got some more? I was devastated and somewhat embarrassed. But I have a lesson tonight so not really enough time to go out and get some and come back and cook it (AND get the printer working). So on a priorities basis, pasta will be got tomorrow. Well, not cooked tomorrow ‘cos I will be out to lunch. But Friday, maybe. Not Thursday because F HATES broccoli. And cauliflower. He is a bit strange, sometimes. Thursday I might do a Shepherd’s Pie for him – as I know he likes that a lot. And, maybe, Rice Pudding, which I haven’t made for ages. Or we use one of my Groupon vouchers – else they will have run out. Yes, probably that. It’s a holiday, after all.

Oh, yes, and it’s still raining. This is exactly why I didn’t want a holiday now. Grrrr.

p.s. My student for tonight, M2, just Skyped me to ask for the meaning of quadrifoglio. I looked it up and the answer was four-leaf clover. I thought it must be wrong and he means something else but he was happy with the answer. Now, why on earth would someone want to know the English for quadrifoglio? Why? What sort of conversation is he having that he needs to know that?