Goodbye 2004!

I am desperately trying to complete several tasks before this year ends......but time flies and, notwithstanding my efforts, I don't seem to see the light at the proverbial "end of the tunnel"!

I should be happy, however, of what I have been able to do this year, and, to feel that I am ready to tackle the new one. My travel bag is always at an arm's length.....

Sooooo......cheers and goodbye 2004!!

Holidays

My return home so close to the holiday season has caused quite a hectic time, trying to catch up with everything that has accumulated during my long absence. Thank goodness friends and relatives are very understanding, and available electronic communication is facilitating the exchange of greetings.

Much is left to be done, but through this brief message I just want to tell everyone that I am thankful for what 2004 has offered me and that I am hopeful for new accomplishments in the year to come. Meantime, a very HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON from me to you all!

Italian parenthesis

The 3 weeks spent in northern Italy to follow up on some outstanding problems related to an inherited property went by slowly and I found them, I must confess, quite boring. Most of my activities revolve around getting things fixed, finding appropriate contacts for disposing of unwanted old furniture and objects, keeping house and paying taxes. Although service usually comes with a smile everywhere you go in Europe, scheduling it is quite a chore, and you must be prepared to face innumerable delays and an enormous waste of your time to finally get it.

I know that for some my above statement may sound surprising, but, believe me, I have actual experience on this subject dating back years. Italy is a vacation paradise, but normal life dealing with daily chores and problems in the country is no picnic. If you add dealings with state or government offices, you can actually have nightmarish experiences.

This applies also to other places in Europe. What is interesting is that when you speak to local people, who are well aware of the situation, they are quite resigned to this state of affairs, see no way out of it, and thus don’t even think about changing it. Their minds, however, works in other directions: counteract the problems, strictly for personal benefit, with any possible mean, lawfully or not. The result is that dealings are never straight forward or direct, but purposely convoluted; problems’ resolution never simple, but obtainable through circuitous and, a lot of times, devious habits. This way of living, in my estimate, is one of the greatest differences of life between the old and new continents across the Atlantic.