Old Aquaintances and Other Things

I've been erratic with the postings lately - sorry CP I know you need your fix - however life has been a carousel the past few weeks. Rather than try and explain it all here is the briefing note version.

• I am working on a survey of prices here in Rome for the Embassy. It is an exercise done every four years to bring allowances into line with equivalent purchases made in Ottawa. It entails going from store to store and pricing something like 2000 items. Well when they start paying $125.00 for a pair of ordinary cotton pants in Ottawa we will be in line!
• I am translating articles - reviews, media news etc - for a publication called Ballet2000. Its a tri-lingual monthly out of Nice and yours truly is up to his dancer's belt in pas de deux, grande jetes and the like.
• I'm also working on a website for the Canadian Club of Rome. An organization headed by a dynamic lady aided and abetted by my dynamic spouse.
• And then there's the contract with the Immigration section at the Embassy. Files, files and more files.

And I entitled this post Old Acquaintances - well September appears to be the month for them. I've been encountering a few people from my dubious past in the last two weeks:

• My former boss from Transport Canada, Sheila and her husband Doug spent a great week with us. They were the perfect guests and put up with my cooking and the pups. They are saints!!!! And are welcome back anytime.
• My former boss - are we noticing a pattern here - from Treasury Board, Yves and his girlfriend Linda were in town for a few days. They had just returned from a deluxe cruise of the Baltic and stopped off in Rome for a few days. We managed to meet up for lunch in the Ghetto - yes Taverna's roasted tomatoes - and dinner at our old local Lemoncini. It was a day of food, wine and fun.
• And tomorrow we are heading up to Firenze for a few days to renew a very old acquaintance. I haven't seen my old roommate Ray in almost 38 years. He and his partner will be in Firenze for a few days so we thought we'd head up there and have a bit of reunion. I'm sure neither one of us has changed a bit in the past four decades.

A life "crowded with incident" as Lady Bracknell would say, or maybe just out of control???? Anyway once things get back to normal, what ever the hell that may be, I promise I've got a whole draft file full of things.

23 settembre - Padre Pio da Pietrelcina