Italia is taking a rest and I get tire(d)

July and August are obviously months in which there is an economic slowdown and the ‘only’ business is tourism and in Italia this is no different. Although there is a tiny thing that has angered me slightly… The 2nd and 3rd week of August are considered to be a must take holiday period with some weird consequences. In need of petrol? Well virtually all of them are closed. Needed to go for a check up of your car? All closed. Dryclean ? Closed. The list is long and can be quite annoying if you are in need of the above mentioned services and lucky me… I was! My front tire was flat and turned out to be more used than Paris Hilton…

When I finally found a shop that could repair them he old guy showed me the tire and gave me a lesson is safety and recommended to replace both of them at only 350 euro a bargain…

But Italia is Italia, prices are to be negotiated and two for the price of one seemed to be a fair deal. But looking back it was very impressed that I still managed to do 185km with them on a sandy road just behind the house. But was is more surprising it that I was be able to locate a shop open and willing to take the business.

The old guy smiled friendly and fixed my door as well. I like to be ripped off with a smile even during the Italian holiday season.

Get a grip

It has been awhile since the kitchen was finished by two professional Bob the Builders. However they didn’t put the handles on all the doors and drawers so opening them up was a bit of a challenge. Weekends seem therefore to be the most appropriate time to test my DIY skills and today’s challenge was of Olympic proposition; 20 handles. Key to succeed is as always the tools. After having tried a number of times with different machines and kits it was clear that my arsenal was not sufficient to conquer this war. A quick visit to the DIY store, where I stocked up on Wood, Metal and Cement drill bits. Now capable of making a hole in virtually any surface in my house I headed home to test it all.

With some precise measuring, I started to put the first handle in one of the drawers. At first all was normal until there was a release of smoke and it looked like I started to torch my kitchen. The lacque layer is obviously not appreciating the sudden drill action and is defending its territory. But after a little while I managed to get two holes ready to fix the first of many handles to come. The exercise, although long, isnt very difficult until I met with some proper resistance from the dishwasher. The dishwasher has been integrated and needed special care, the over confident me un screwed two panels and the whole electronic wiring dropped on my kitchen floor. Oops, this was not to open and I started to refit it all which I succeeded in doing after a struggle of 30 minutes with a flexible panel that refused to be put back.

Next challenge the fridge that has a special sliding door system that needed to come off too.
First part of the door was easy but the second part was more difficult since I wanted to continue the symmetry of the other handles. Obviously the system was exactly there were the handle needed to be fixed. With some MacGyver like skills I managed to create something that does both now. The rest was pretty straight forward and I managed to finish the whole kitchen in …bronze medal time. Next phase will be the bathroom but so far I have used my complete collection of drill bits and nothing has managed to get a hole in the tiles.

I guess a visit to the DIY will be needed to continue to transform my house in Dutch gatenkaas.

One week and still alive or...

It has been one week since the move and there are issues… well one big issue; mosquitoes and loads of them. The best thing about living in the South is basically being outside and still doing the things you need to do. Having breakfast, a coffee or lunch but also working and reading are all done outside in a quiet and warm environment. However towards the evening, there is an army of flying things that slowly takes over the place and starts eagerly kissing every human that is in its way. The results are interesting, legs and arms looking like a raisin bread gone wrong and the itching arrrrhhhhhhh. So the time has come that the new landlord starts to take control and shows them who is Boss!

A quick visit to the DIY store to stock the ammunition to start the battle. Two socket plugs with 24x7 lethal smell (whatever that means), two bottles of liquid citronella to fill up to burners, a can of spray and those funny circles that you burn slow also in citronella.

First evening all is put into action with mixed results. My philosophy is simple; you create something that smell bad to mosquitoes, they than will close their nose with one hand and obviously flying with one arm is impossible and they crash and burn, simple as that.
Turns out that some wear protective head gear or something cos the quantity has been reduced but the few still flying around seem to be ex Tour de France flyers (eg EPO filled) and strong as any Citronella tool.

I need to find an alternative tool that will win me the battle before I turn into a spotty looking guy with an bizarre itch…