So here is my whining for the day.  I am getting a cold.  Again.  I eat loads of fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grain bread.  I drink red wine which if it's as good for you as they say I should be frickin' wonder woman.  I rarely eat red meat, cheese and I almost never eat junk food.  I don't smoke and I don't drink hard liquor.  I'm practically a health nut!  Wretched children.  Teaching is a health risk.

And here is perspective.  Our neighbor across the hall has just died after a year long illness.  He was an athlete, abstemious, and a non-smoker.  He was not even 60.  His lovely family have been here since before we bought the place in 1990.  We'll miss him.  Meanwhile, our 42 year old neighbor on the other side, a mom with 2 young kids, had a stroke and has lost partial vision in one eye.  They have found a small hole in her heart that must be operated on. 

Sometimes you just need a good kick in the ass to see that your life isn't so rough.  No more whining.  xxoo me

There are days when I read the news and I'm absolutely speechless, which is REALLY saying something.  These are some of the headlines I just read:

This picture of a potato sold for $1m. 

Chinese scientists create autistic monkeys.

Free schooling, but only for virgins.

And my favorite:

Matador holds baby while fighting bull.

And my thoughts regarding them:  I've seen the spud picture and it's not worth it.  How can you tell if a monkey is autistic?  Is there an entrance exam? (no pun intended) and Let's hope it was his kid.

I shouldn't bother with the news.

It's the beginning of the year so budget time for local communities.  This means the traffic police are out in force racking up huge sums of money with speeding tickets and other violations.  Pecetto, the wealthy little town we need to pass through to get to the school, is infamous for ticketing.  Now they have a new method.  The sum-bitches have installed cameras onto the dashboards of the cops cars that photograph all cars coming in the opposite direction.  The plate number is run through a computer program that automatically checks for outstanding fines, registration, inspection, insurance, all the while checking speed.  They sent out about 10 tickets a day including one to my most irate husband.  Damn 'em!

xxoo me 

I have seen a Nutria!  "What is a Nutria?", you might ask?  It's an animal related to a beaver, that comes from South America, but is now found in Europe and North America where they are descendants of escapees from pelt farms.  We saw one today on a walk along the river in Torino.  It looked like a big rat put through a ringer, sort of elongated and flat.  There was an old gentleman watching it swim who told us what it was.  The Po, Torino's river, is much cleaner than it used to be.  Back in the 70's it was lifeless but is slowly coming back.  There are a lot of water birds but this is the first mammal I've seen.   Today is lovely and spring-like.  The older I get the less I like the cold.  If winter wants to be over now I'm fine with that.  xxoo me