Near Heart Attack!

Ok I was about to have a heart attack when I saw the headline today “Poste Italiane diventa un operatore telefonica” (Poste Italiane to become a telephone operator) with a picture of Poste Italiane Mobile next to the headline. I thought they were going to offer a telephone network like Vodafone or something. I was thinking they would have ridiculous fees to receive calls, they would listen in on all your calls (after all they like to open your packages), and to would cost an arm and a leg to call someone. It turns out what they mean is that PI is coming up with a way to pay bills with your mobile phone. A truly good idea but it’s too bad that I fear the people in charge of it. I love the idea that I’m at trying to do some insane Italian paperwork (TV tax, hot water heater registration, apartment rental contract registration, etc….) and they say that I have to pay a bollettino to do it. Then I whip out my cell phone and punch in a few numbers and say, “Ha, it’s paid now give me my dam _____ (insert Italian thing here)”. Of course the big thing is going to be the security of this sending money by cell phone. I don’t know that people will trust it. I don’t, yet. We’ll see.
This morning walking to work I passed the cleanup of an accident. From the looks of it a scooter hit a car pretty hard. I would guess the kid is ok but I bet he has a broken leg. The car had the yield triangles in his direction so I assume he was at fault but I could be wrong. I’m still amazed that cars and scooters don’t hit more. I really think the kids spend so much time on their scooters that they are “good” drivers. Now don’t get me wrong I don’t mean good as in responsible. I mean good as in avoiding getting hit or hitting something. That’s why I don’t have a scooter. I would drive it responsibly and probably get knocked off it every day. The cars would assume I’m going slip in and out and when I didn’t they would be surprised and hit me. The kids drive like idiots but that’s all they know and it makes them tough to hit. I always signal when I’m turning right into my garage but I know one of these days a kid on scooter is going to be sliding past cars on the right and hit me. It’s been close a few times already but then again they always seen avoid the accident. That’s another thing I like about winter. Less kids on scooters.
Also back to the news. I see that Germany believes they can decrease their electricity usage by 40% by 2020 and England is working on lowering the amount used in households by 60% (but they say 80% is possible) by 2050. Meanwhile in the US we give the Green Car of the Year award to V8 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid that gets 22 mpg. Am I the only one that doesn't understand this?
This photo below I made it darker on purpose as I like the outline of the trees on the horizon for some reason.

News and Nostalgia

I’m a little pissed today. You have to be living under a rock in Italy not to know about the Italian reporter that was kidnapped in Afghanistan by the Taliban. He was released a few days ago unharmed and so there is a happy ending to the story. But there is more, so much more, that really angers me. In the Italian news they were covering the story very closely and it was revealed that between 3 and 5 Taliban prisoners were set free as part of the deal to release Daniele. You, my English speaking readers, don’t know that because I didn’t see that fact in ANY of the major English reports on his release (I did find it mentioned in an Australian newspaper online). Surely this is an important part of the article. Italian journalist traded for the release of Taliban prisoners. I wonder what else isn’t getting translated into my native tongue. By the way, one of released prisoners has already released a statement saying he can’t wait to start fighting again. It just burns me when I think I’m being told the truth and I’m not. I see that the Corrier della Sera decided to translate this article into English for everyone. The link to the Corrier della Sera to the left will take you there.
On a lighter note, I was hit by nostalgia last night. I picked up an old CD to listen to while I cooked and set in motion a string of thoughts. The CD was the 92.3 WTTS Collector’s Edition Volume 2. 92.3 WTTS is a radio station that I listened to A LOT in Indianapolis. I loved their mix of songs so around Christmas they would put together some of the best songs of the year on a CD and sell it for charity. They wouldn’t be the most popular songs of the year. I think it was just the best they could get from the artists for charity. This particular CD was from 1996 and that got me thinking about that year. Then it occurred to me that it was March of 1996 when I moved from Cincinnati to Indianapolis. It was my first big move of my life even if it was only 2 hours up the road. And it was a temporary move because when I moved from Cincy to Indy it was for a 2-year contract job and ended up staying for 9 years. Now I’ve moved to Italy for a 3-year contract job and I’m in the 4th year. What could that mean? It deserves the old “Who would have thought?” And the question to you the reader, where were you in March of 1996?
Here are some of the songs on the CD to jog your memory:
Spacehog – In the Meantime
Joan Osborne – One of Us
Natalie Merchant – Wonder
Cowboy Junkies – A Common Disaster
Hootie and the Blowfish – A Fine Line (they were on their way out by 1996)
Jars of Clay- Flood
Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffany’s

I looked up what the number one song of 1996 was, but I couldn’t bring myself to put it in my blog.

Local news

I need to stop reading the local newspaper. I only get more confused. I see what seems to be a good idea that is here in Italy and not in the US and then I read something that I don’t understand.
Case in point: the banks in Italy have this airlock that you have to go through to get in and out of the bank. Seems like a foolproof system. Who would rob a bank in broad daylight with a guard in a bulletproof room controlling the front door airlock? So Saturday I read this article where two “kids”, the article called them kids, went into a bank (around noon on Friday) and armed only with a knife they stole 15,000 euros. How do two kids armed with a knife rob a bank? They don’t have a guard? The article doesn’t say how they got out of the bank. I have to know how the system was so easily beaten. A few days before this robbery I read that a bank in Lecce was robbed of 300,000 euros. How did they do it? They came in through the bathroom window. The funny part about this, the article mentions in the very last sentence that the bank was robbed the same way 3 years ago, but the current management was not aware that this happened!

The Magic Buses!!!

When I wrote my entry on Thursday, I didn’t even realize that Friday was “Friday the 13th”. It’s no big deal here because the number 13 is good luck. I also have a black cat now and guess what, a black cat is considered good luck in Italy. Go Figure!!!
But the big news this weekend is: The new buses are here! Saturday morning I went for my usual trip to the market for veggies, fruit, bread, and meat when I was greeted by these green buses parked all over the center of town. I picked up the one of flyers and it was very interesting news. Brindisi has 15 new buses that run on methane. These “green” buses (literally and environmentally) pollute less, run quieter, and cost less to run. It’s a win, win, win situation. The only question left is “Why didn’t they do it sooner?”
It’s so interesting to see the progress towards the environment being made here. The south is notoriously bad on its environmental record but in the time I’ve been here I’ve seen some good signs. New recycling bins, curbside pickup for some recyclables, and now much better buses. Mindsets still haven’t changed much though. How many people use these recycling bins and why is there still so much litter on the streets and beaches? As soon as the wind kicks up you realize how dirty it still is. Suddenly little tornadoes of trash appear where the wind spirals around buildings. Still I see progress and that’s the important part!!!