In article <1050064139.3e96b50be0484@www.tarcanfel.net> you write:

>For one thing, there's the keyboard.  Left shift key is too short, and has the 
>pipe/backslash right next to it.  @ is with single-quote, down by L, along 
>with ~#.  Right-alt doesn't usually work.

Right.  Try sending an email from Zurich, where the @ sign is the third
choice on a swiss keyboard key, and shift, alt, ctrl, nor any combination
of the above give you the @.

>The plumbing is different too.  We're not in one of those quaint cottages 
>where the drains run down the outside wall, but it still seems primitive.  The 
>toilets have these great deep bowls, and when you flush it feels like you're 
>pumping the water up a well.  

I was curious about the lack of water in the bowls in Italy... it's not a
water saving thing, as the water level is always the same before and after
the flush...  I finally decided it must be to make less noise in the
cement walled bathrooms.  

Maybe.

>Live from Andover, England
>Jonathan

Thanks for keeping us posted.  Have a Guiness for me, the proper
temperature.

Regards,

-Don