Botswana and Animals!

Hey readers I just got back from 2 weeks of going all over Botswana looking for animals. I think I'll put up a few blog pieces about it because the stories are too long for Facebook. Of course names will be changed to protect the innocent. I had a great time and the trip was not easy but that was part of the fun. We had several nights of camping in subzero temperatures and when I was in boy scouts we didn't even do that. Despite being in Botswana during winter and the dry season we were lucky to see a good number of animals.

The New Bike

This is a Create Bikes fixie that struck me with its colors as I thought surely no Italian driver could say they didn’t see me on this thing. I bought the bike at Absolute Bikes in San Pietro Vernotico. I may mention this store a lot in the blog because I really like going there and I’m convinced that they need to open a store just like it in Brindisi. This bike’s not a true fixie because I have the bike set up to ride on the sprocket that free wheels. If I flipped the rear wheel around it would be a true fixie. I use this one for my daily commute to work and I have tried the fixie side but I’m not convinced that I like that setup yet. Having one gear is not a problem as the ride to work is pretty flat and only about 3 kms. The narrow handlebars allow me move easily between cars in traffic and bike just seems much more maneuverable than the mountain bike. Also I’m sitting up higher than the mountain bike so I can see what dangers await me up ahead. The brakes aren’t that great so I tend to ride slower which is also probably a good idea in my particular urban environment. It’s not a particularly light bike at 11 kgs but again “che me frega?” it’s all about getting in shape. I hope to slightly trick this baby out or at least do some upgrades that I’ll talk about/do later.

Old Mountain Bike

The workhorse is my old Specialized Hard Rock. I think I bought this bike in 1996 as it has an A1 cyclery sticker on it from the west side of Indianapolis. I’m pretty sure I was living on the west side in 1996. I know I had just moved to Indianapolis from Cincinnati to start my first real job after graduation. I know I was still driving that god awful 1988 Mercury Cougar that I bought from my parents. This poor bike has no suspension because that was only on those super expensive mountain bikes at the time (how times have changed!). It was just an entry level mountain bike that had what you needed and nothing more. This seems to still be true because I still use it almost exactly as it was with very few problems; most of the problems have been brought on by me and time. I think the center pull brakes and grip shifters were the s**t then so it was considered a little tricked out because it had those 2 things. I’m not sure what possessed me to pack it for the move to Italy. There wasn’t much chance that I was going to use it because I feared Italian drivers like you wouldn’t believe back then. Since I started riding it again lately on long rides I’m finding that it has weathered time but needs some real tender love care to be a reliable bike. I’m no bike mechanic so it should be interesting to see what happens when I try to fix it. I’m an Engineer so it’s in my blood to think that I can fix it. When things go wrong I’ll just take it to the store. Absolute Bikes has already replaced the right side grip shifter as it was completely shot when I start riding it again. I took the original kick stand off and threw it away long ago thinking it added too much weight. Now I’ve added a crappy Italian one that barely keeps the bike standing. The most recent addition is panniers and rear rack from Topeak that I bought back in the States. I think I’m going to really like this combination. I like to carry a lot of stuff and this bag will let me do that and leave my back free of the sweaty backpack come summer.

So that’s an introduction to my old bike. Next time my new bike.

Biking Blog

I’m thinking about revamping this blog about my life in Puglia. I stop blogging because it seemed like I was repeating myself and whining about the same old Italian problems that will be here forever. About September of last year I started getting interested in biking. I brought my old mountain bike over when I loved to Brindisi in 2003. It has largely been gathering dust because I was afraid to confront Italian drivers on their home turf. I’m not sure what pushed me but I became fixated on a Fixie. I bought the yellow, blue and red machine and started using it as regular transportation to work. Now I also use the old mountain bike for longer trips on the weekend. I’m starting to think more about a real trip with the bike, like from Brindisi to Rome on the Via Appia so that leads me to the revelation that I’m posting today.
I could turn this blog into something where I post about what I’m doing and where I’m going on the bike. It would serve as a record and hopefully push me to go out more and get in better shape. I could still whine about random Italian things like food, weather, politics etc. So what do you think? I wonder if anybody is even still reading this blog. Well it’s been hard to muster the will to write so let’s see what happens…..

Italy can be so stupid sometimes...

I say this with all due respect. One of the many laws that government is trying to pass is getting a little of the good old political treatment. A simple law is now becoming a classical example of the Italian bureaucracy. Listen to this… The new law would limit cash transactions to 1,000 euro (the current limit is 2,000 euro). You can’t buy something in cash for more than 1,000 euro, which sounds reasonable because carrying around tons of cash is not a good idea. With this law it would be harder to launder money and it makes it harder to avoid paying taxes. Credit cards are great for their perfect electronic record of the transaction. Now the parliament wants to add a little exception. They want tourists to be exempt from this rule. I guess these super rich jet setters can’t be bothered to buy things with their credit card. If you’re buying that Rolex or Gucci you want to be able to throw down a big wad of cash because that’s more exciting? I’m looking at you Russians when I say this. So with this exemption it means the store will need to make a copy of the passport of the tourist buying the item for 1,000 or more and then within 3 days deposit the money in the bank with the copy of the passport. Of course all transactions will have some paperwork that goes with them and copies etc... Why can’t Italy make a simple law and stick to it? I mean this original law would help address another issue, which is that tourists should NOT be parading around with huge wads of cash. That’s like wearing a sign that says “ROB ME”. As a foreigner I don’t want some stupid crook to mistake me as one of these idiots going around with too much cash in his pocket. This is just one small example of Italy trying to cater to a very small crowd and screwing everything up. And this exemption can be so easily abused. For crying out loud all they need to do is get a copy of a passport of a foreigner. In hotels they take your passport and make a copy during your stay. Now the hotel clerks could start a side business selling passport copies to merchants who need it for locals who want to spend large wads of cash. The exemption makes a simple thing difficult and opens a whole new line of abuse. Stick to the original law it’s so easy. Cash transactions are limited to 1,000 euro!!!

Carcofi

Ok that hail photo sucks but this photo of artichokes at the market last weekend is pretty good.

Hail

A photo of the hail from my balcony.

Italy

Well I'm still in Puglia and boy have things changed. Well not for me but for Italia. The government has changed and Italy was thrown into the spotlight for the debt crisis. Now the new government is trying to patch things up which obviously is not going down. Add in a few unrelated disasters (Concordia sinking and today earthquakes) and I think I have some stuff to write about. So I'm going to try to get back on the blog wagon.