Joe's Blög

Not sure if I said this last night, but I’m taking today off…There’s a bit of snow but since I have lots of holidays I’m just gonna stay home and relax!

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it’s kinda, sorta snowing right now, and apparently the schools are going to close tomorrow. We don’t get much snow here, but it seems that this is the storm of the century. SNOWBEACH!!!! Snow on the beach is pretty cool.

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We had another earthquake today. This seemed about twice as long and bad as the one earlier in the week twas fun!

http://earthquake-report.com/2012/01/27/earthquakes-list-january-27-2012/
Just look for “Northern Italy”…that’s our one…

I also updated the last post with an semi-related but interesting (and funny) podcast.

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I’ve heard a lot of colleauges talk about Berlusconi, but I’ve yet to hear anyone say anything about economics…maybe they are talking about it in Italian, so I wouldn’t hear, but I get the impression it’s just not an issue here. If we go back to the lira we go back to the lira…

I’ll have a front row seat…

…but looks aren’t everything…
Except in your case…
harharharhar…

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I found the nuisance man in my complex…which is kind of amazing since there’s only about 6 occupied units out of 40 (this being a beachside town it’s full in summer, but dead in winter).
Old man was bothering us when I moved in, and tonight rings my bell to speak to me in Italian…I said “parla l’inglese?” on the phone buzzer thing, but he didn’t respond. Basically all I got was the word Terrazzo (terrace/balcony), so I go out to my balcony to see him standing by the gate. He wanted to show me that is was unlocked. I’m not sure it was my fault, but he stood there opening and closing the gate like an idiot. Said something more in italian and then waved. jerk!

I die inside a little bit everytime he talks to me…DUDE…go tell your wife (yes he’s married) she’s doing something wrong, or wearing something wrong, or drinking too much and stop bothering me!!!

As far as the title…korinthenkacker is my favourite german word…Here’s a definition:
korinthenkacker A “raisin pooper,” that is, someone so taken up with life’s trivial detail that he spends all day crapping raisins. You can spot these types a mile off; just look around the office-it’s that irritating pen pusher or filing fanatic whose favorite job is tidying the stationery closet.

…and on a completely unrelated note. Great recording from one of my favourite artists.

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I guess it’s the patron saint of Massa day…I don’t really know what that means, but the office is closed due to catholic holiday…Cheers San Francesco! You rock!

I think I have my flat sorted. I’m signing a contract tomorrow and then move in November 1st…Luckily November 1st is also a holiday (day of the dead or something…I also don’t know what that means, but it’s catholic again) which means noone has any excuses for not helping me move
Or at the very least here is your fair warning to come up with a legitimate excuse…

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So Leo invited a few friends to his country house somewhere above Florence. I rode up with Leo and Daniele after work on Friday, and just go back (Sunday). I have not showered for two and a half days (I just wanted to share that).
Saturday we BBQd for lunch and then had proper pizza from a proper pizza oven for dinner. Cheers Daniele!
After he left the kitchen I decided to make my own…yeah that went well.
Today went to some little restaurant out in nowhere…I’m learning there’s nothing comparable to the tuscan experience of driving up some single lane (yet two way) road, twisting, turning and honking your horn on every blind corner only to come to a wide point in the road where 34 cars are parked. You have arrived!

The food shots below are all from the restaurant (cept the pizza oven which is in Leo’s house).

I’ll put more countryside pics on my Italian pic page (link on right – or just http://www.joesquires.com/viva-italia/)…

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Today (being some kind of semi-holiday or something) the office was half empty. I took the opportunity to act all italian and take a proper Tuscan lunch by going to the beach at lunchtime. I guess that involves riding a vespa someplace and picking up lunch, then going to the beach to eat it.
As far as I can tell the purpose of this is to look at girls sunbathing or something – thanks to my italian hosts for “educating me”
also to be noted is that Mattheo drove me on my own Vespa…This is because he was carless, and I’ve never actually driven anyone on my Vespa and I’m not comfortable with it (there was that one time when we had 3 dudes on my vespa…but that’s a whole other story…after today in fact, I’m not sure how we managed to get 3 dudes on 1 Vespa)…I was slightly scared to death riding on the back of a Vespa being driven by an Italian, but hey new experiences are good

I’ve recently been reading “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” for the first time. What a book!!! It’s hysterically funny and I can’t believe I never read it before. Love. Love. Love.

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Sexist society…
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/04/17/we-are-treated-like-prosciutto.html

A different Romanian said “Have a nice day” to me the other day…They are definitely teaching advanced english in that country

and some uninteresting pictures of Carrara life…

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Today I was taking a drive to Lerici to visit a friend and missed my turnoff…whilst turning around on some side street I see this city (if I can call it that)…I’m not sure the pictures do it justice, but there’s little villages (ok…that’s a better word) scattered all over Italy in the hills. I think it’s pretty cool. I didn’t have time to go there…nor do I know the name of this place, but I might have to go back on the next free weekend I have

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