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For people who don't generate any income there is nothing (apart from a modest increase in health charges, and a couple of centesimo on petrol) much of concern. There have been no changes which affect where you generate income (that's a whole different ball game!) The best site IMO, (in ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ), would be for good up to date detail.

Probably at heart I am a contadino, but I have absolutely happily run a biggish private house with frequent guests, a biggish swimming pool and everything dependent on pumped well water, on 6.6KW. All domestic hot water was electric. It didn't take much management. If you are going for electric geothermal then that is another issue, but for straightforward domestic use, even as relatively extravagant as were my demands, IMO if you can't cope on 6.6KW you need to understand load factors etc. Bestest and cheapest option (if you are resident) is to learn to live with 3.3KW - it isn't impossible by any means (even without commune water).

This has a lot of suggestions depending on context - I think I'd be inclined just to use 'a pieno' (thhough not for anything to do with a car!)

It brings to mind the instructions given to me by my mother (and I'm sure I was not alone) about how essential it was to have clean underwear at all times...."in case one was run over by a bus". That notion still remains in my subconscious when I board a plane - with immaculate drawers, naturally!

I'm frustrated that no half respectable economic commentator has attempted to explain what the results of any country leaving the Euro would be - for that country or the Eurozone as a whole. All that anybody has said is that 'it is unthinkable' or that 'they fear for the future'. Not very helpful. In my heart I do think that the lenders to Greece should take their haircut. Money is lent at diffferent interest rates to cover perceived risk. Some investors (pension funds etc.) are often only allowed to make investmens which are perceived as sufficiently 'low risk'. It is the ratings agencies which publish these judgements, but I think that the institutions which have lent money to 'adequately' rated (countries) still had a responsibility to look at the writing on the wall. (Just as they shouldn't have done the TARP). However, if a haircut restructuring is cobbled together, today Fitch have said, basically, whatever you (ECB, Europe) do, we'll call it a default. The default scenario triggers off all sorts of financial horrors. It does seem clear to me that the Euro common currency simply isn't working, and that the inability to devalue their own national currency is at the heart of the Greek difficulties. It was a useful mechanism, devaluation, just as inflation was a handy tool to have to hand.   It seems to me there are two quite distinct problems in the financial sphere. Irrational lending followed by denial  of responsibility and socialisation of debt: and an unworkable single currency in Europe. The first problem can be considered to have been engineered by the likes of Moody's et al, but the second was simply an honourable experiment which has failed. Maybe as a first step Germany should leave the Euro, and the Scandinavians shuld unhook their currencies from the fixed rate.

It seems the weather has been a bit brutal in l'Abruzzo - following comments on their forum. In Umbria the weather has been 'queer' - afternooon thunderstorms following unseasonably hot mornings - more like August than June. Much watering of pots necessary - what a bore.

I agree it isn't wonderfully easy to book multiple journeys - and they have (had) a rule which limited expenditure in one month to something less than €1000. Maybe that seems fine and generous, and it is if you are thinking about a couple - but even when you get towards family you might be struggling with this limit. But that's only the half of it. If you need to connect via a 'regionale', and you happen to board at one of the many statons which don't do a 'self service internet ticket' - you've paid, you've got the receipt and the even barcoded e-ticket - but the conductor doesn't have a bar code reader! So you are in the wrong! By great good fortune the first time this happened to me the strangers in the neighbouring seats were all in the same boat, and we were not going to put up with this - so (probably because he was clearly outnumbered) the conductor slunk away muttering 'this time...'. It is a shame, because buying a journey on a frecciarossa and having the four figure code on your cell phone as a ticket is mega impressive, but like so many things in Italy they can't carry la bella figura through to completion. I put it down to attention deficit disorder, learned, no doubt, from their premier il Silvio.

Funny! I nip across into Tuscany to get away from the rip-off restaurants in my bit of Umbria - though the problem is restricted to tourist industry and shopping stuff; the corner garages, stonemasons, glass merchants etc. are just as helpful and reasonable as Annec's in Marche.   Some of the extra costs are imposed by the region, true, and entrepreneurs in Tuscany and Umbria do get hit by higher local taxation, but they also get helped by the money from this higher taxation too - (which is why restaurants which should have closed long ago still struggle on and act as a fiscal and commercial drag IMO.)  In a touristy area, like Bagni di Lucca, or around Lake Trasimeno the native ½ûÂþÌìÌÃs aren't that interested in eating out (and when they do it's generally a big celebration and they don't care about the price), whereas around Modena there are many more younger working ½ûÂþÌìÌÃs who are more cosmopolitan. In a really sleepy place (out in the sticks of any region) there will be decent cheap places to be found, usually on a main road so the lorry drivers will be attracted for lunch. Interestingly the ENEL type vans are often outside a particular eating house because ENEL have done a deal with the restaurant, and all the drivers need to do is sign for the meal. The food is usually good.

  18/06/2011 > 19/06/2011 TROFEO SCARFIOTTI Località: Club organizzatore: CIRC.AUTOMOTOVEICOLI D´EPOCA MARCHIGIANO L. SCARFIOTTI Via S. Sebastiano 9 62027 SAN SEVERINO MARCHE (MC) tel.: 071/7573270 e-mail: caem.scarfiotti@alice.it That's the organiser. Sorry, it's the best I could find, the club CAEM doesn't seem to have a website. It does seem to be a 'gita turistica' for classic cars, but there is also this which is a hill climb which has the same name: this one is in July.

Now - the most bizarre thing - I know I have 'personally' e-mailed sagraisolar, through this site, so I thought it would be a piece of piss to direct you to his e-mail (through this site). So I had a go at this (after all, this site is supposed to be the admin's idea of the apogee of social networking (lol)) and I failed dismally. So, consulting my personal address book, sagraisolar (is,was) available at heatingitaly@gmail.com . Good luck - he certainly seems to be pretty solid on solar issues!