pilchard's activity

Hello to all you newbies ( or oldies ?).... Hope you enjoy it here. Pilchard

Been rushed off our feet Annec. These things only ever occur when you are mown out with important stuff to do. What with finding out about this nightmare at a very late stage, excavating, shuttering & casting our own steel re-enforced foundations mainly on our own, helping two lots of friends push their projects on, olive picking & getting ready for a trip back to blighty........... we just don't have the time to do any more than we have. I think it's in good hands though. Italians seem haphazard & incompetent but, when it gets serious they rise to the challenge................ "tocca ferro".  Will be back in January & then we'll see.Pilch

Considering that we wanted to flag this one up as being of general rather than a specific local problem we decided to not reveal the location, although would have PM'd Penny & let her know. We do not want to be accused of being NIMBY's. Sure, the closer one of these things is to me the less I like it, but really, even at some distance, 20km or so there is still a risk. No, my point is that it matters little where they & more that THEY ARE. There is all sorts of complete twaddle spoken about Incinerators; how they are a clean alternative what with the new Clean-Burn technology etc. There is no such thing as clean -burn.The one proposed for Bisenti is to be fueled by old tyres, chopped up on site, & the waste to be burned is unsorted general waste. The emmissions from the tyres would be bad enough but unsorted waste?????????? In our area, & I guess, all of Teramo province & poss even Abruzzo there is no sorting or segregation of waste. Everything but glass goes in the same roadside bins: food waste, cardboard packaging, plastic bottles & wrapping, polystyrene, aluminium foil, old electrical goods with printed circuits & batteries. You name it. If it's small enough to go in the big wheely-bin, it does.The heavy metals bit comes in here. Unsorted rubbish has significant levels of heavy metals. Supposed is a deceptive word. Some Waste Incinerators are "supposed" to burn sorted (ie. safe/innocuous) rubbish. Get real kiddo....... this is Italy. Politicians & local authority councillors are "supposed" to be working unstintingly for the good of the people they represent & not take bribes. Waste Incinerators are "supposed" to burn clean & produce nor leave any pollutants. If you believe that you are simple. A used plastic bottle, if no-one wants to send it of to be recycled into Patagonia Fleece Jackets etc, in itself is a useless yet fairly stable piece of plastic that if left alone will do no-one much harm. Try to destroy it by burning it & you relase highly toxic airborn Dioxins of which just one molecule is sufficient to induce a cancer, a birth defect or an infant death. Aluminium, still suspected of having associations with Alzhimers Disease burns at a very low temperature & it's oxides become instantly airborn. The ash residues represent about one tenth of the bulk that is burned & anything not burned, especially heavy metals remains in even higher concentrations. The ash goes into land-fill; thats when it's not finding it's way into the foundations of new primary schools.Being careful about where the waste comes from might be a sinch though. There is a well known family run company in Sicily, whose name I forget, that is well known for it's prowess in this field. I believe there is a similar one in the Naples area.If they want it........................ for the benefit of their comunity...............yes they do want it. The new Sindaco & his two buddies that signed the document releasing this piece of comune owned land on a small industrial estate do want it. They want it so bad they ignored the fact that it should have been presented to the full council, discussed & voted on. The rest of the council are a bunch of spoilsports who notified the local populace who turned out in force at a specially convened meeting & got mad enough to want to necklace the Sindaco & his pals. The council, minus the "gang of three", gave back-word to the project & then issued a denuncia declaring that if there were any legal repercussions & the applicant, S.A.I.D. at Scerne di Pineto,decided to sue, then it would be the gang of three they sued.The roads ARE bad round our way but the worse of them are between us & Teramo. The road to Pescara is undergoing significant improvement & large parts of it are already very smooth, flat, straight & high speed. Although Teramo is closer as the crow flies, Pescara, Montesilvano & Citta Sant Angelo, with their plethora of excellent shopping opportunities, plus the beach & the airport, are now far quicker to access than the delights of Teramo. The whole Fino valley is fast developing new housing, industry, commerce & shops in a way that is entirely non-detrimental the natural beaty & ambience. It is true that the long awaited tunnel under the hills that separate us from Teramo would be a boon, but it could certainly also ease access for rubbish coming from there. If anyone has heard there is competition for one of these idiocyies then they are seriously miss-informed. I know Pineto didn't want one, I've read the official comune report, & Bisenti certainly doesn't want it. The council members that blocked it went to l'Aquila today to hand in petitions from locals, plus letters of support from all surrounding Comune condemning & rejecting the proposal . I havn't read what Silvi's views are but the wise, informed guess would be a firm "no thanks".Although global warming certainly seems to be giving us a wetter climate these days I guess that the last time the flood-plain of the Fino river ever saw significant problems was a few million years ago.Pilch

 Best way is to get yourself in the local bar each evening for an aperativo and absorb Italian...Just hearing the pronunciation and the use of the language, the facial expressions etc. Although where we are in Abruzzo there's a little thing called dialect and this is completely mistifying. I also used and still use Michel Thomas, his 8 discs are good. I downloaded them onto my Ipod and go out walking for an hour each day & also learn Italian whilst trying to get fit!Good Luck, it's not easy. I have been here 21/2 years and my Italian is appaling  .....Secundo me.Sprat     

 We own no olive tree at all, but, we get roped in, (we love doing it) and help pick neighbours and friends trees. Last year we spent about a week overall picking. It's a great experience. The weather is delightful and the midday pic-nic and glass of wine and then the afternnon session with friends and neighbours is a joy. The camaraderie and jests make it fun. The olive oil is just a bonus at the end. Last year we got given 50 litres of oil for helping out. All from 5 different sources and what a difference they all were. I wouldn't miss it for all the oil in Abruzzo. My question is, how can you possibly use all the oil you collect each year? Or don't you collect it each year?Sprat  

I have someone that can bring it over by 15th Oct but, the way things have started to move, even that will be too late. Looks like I'll be using whatever they have at the local builders merchants & be very careful to avoid puncturing it. Needs must when the devil drives. Thanks all the same for the offer though.Pilch 

 Here in Abruzzo we have free Sky TV with a modest sized 60cm dish.Join Abruzzolutely forum, ask the same question & you'll get all the info you need.Pilch 

 Quote:- (Illegal drugs and weapons might be a problem mind should you be caught with them).Spose I better just stick to the wine then. The family will be so disappointed though.Pilch

 I think this is the slow goodbye of Italy mag forum, personally.Sprat

 it really does to see the amount of abandoned animals here. I agree with you Angie. Educating the young & hopefully it will change in time. We have heard and seen some cruel acts on animals & maybe, we are softies.Sprat