Thursday, October 11, 2007

Despite All My Rage I Am Still Just A Rat In A Cage

Moved last weekend to a brand new hotel. So new there's no internet. They are waiting on an Italian security bureaucracy to give them permission. Also no pay TV channels, and one channel in each of Spanish, French, English and German. The English one is of course all news all the time, from which it is kind of weird to get American baseball and football news in a British accent, delivid by BBC Weld. Spanish news is more dramatic. Italian game shows look horribly familiar.

My connection to the outside is solely through my work hosts' office connection, and it cuts out sometimes and seems to be slowly infecting my laptop with unfiltered, nameless diseases. A few daily reboots hold them at bay. Sort of an annoyance when I need to refer to documents, and Windows decides it can no longer open Acrobat or Word can't find templates.

My wife joined me and is now out there, somewhere, walking around Milano, Saronno, wherever she wants to go. The weather is almost exactly like home: Hazy, then clear, temps about 20, the leaves beginning to turn. The home office says I'm doing great, they'll decide later if I can or should stay next week. I think they'd rather I fix it so I don't have to. This means I have to balance fixing it so it looks like I have to stay despite all my efforts against the fact that I really miss my kids.

My wallet's journey has progressed from Paris to Bergamo and might actually arrive today. I haven't missed it. Might make use of an ATM card.

The writer inside needs to write and write and write (!), some people know how that is, but no dice, and from this the merest beginning I must go do real stuff now.

7 comments:

Roy said...

Well, I'm glad you find time for the occasional post anyway. We are all enjoying your Italian misadventures.

You told everybody there about Columbus day, right? How we revere the gentleman who found America...er....Cuba and brought culture...er....syphilis to the New World?

Don said...

Yes, the subject came up because lunch included pesto.

Well, pesto's from Genoa, and so was Cristoforo Colombo, so I mentioned that, and they asked if we still have parades, and I said mostly no, it's become a day to regret the killing of innocent Americans by those barbaric Europeans, and they said, well, and shrugged with great eloquence.

Anonymous said...

Just make sure you are home by November 1 to start NaNoWriMo - you're not getting away with skipping this year like you did last year :-)

Kos said...

I am suffering from great jealousy. I so want to visit Italy.

Nice touch with the Smashing Pumpkins reference, btw.

Kristiana said...

I need to write and write and write too but cant or wont and maybe should just wait until nanowrimo.

Hope you get to come home soon.

Teacake said...

Well, at least you have your camera, which is better than an ATM card. I hope your wife has/had fun, and that you get a little fun too.

asha said...

"I need to write and write and write too but cant or wont"

Yeah, yeah. I say that and I have all the time in the world so I say won't, unless you call blogging and commenting writing. My dearly beloved does not and thinks I should delete all my blogs and websites and WRITEDAMMIT! to which I feebly reply, "When fishermen can't fish they mend their nets" or I guess WON'T fish. Either way, it sucks.