December 2019 - Page 2 of 3 - Keep Calm and Drink Coffee

WINDMILLS 2.0

Dec 12, 2019 | TROUBLES AND BLOWS

We can tell that progress has brought us new windmills against which, however, we cannot even be Don Quixote: by now the maximum we can aspire to is the role of Ronzinante.
To subscribe to it, all you need is a “yes” on the phone, easy. Complications arise only when any type of problem occurs, or even more fatally, when existing conditions are changed. Even the most resolute who insist on calling, they can just win a series of different answers.
We are in the era of communication and yet every possibility of contact has been cut, leaving only two inexorably frustrating options:
– the call center, with which in any case it is necessary to go through at least three series of menus to speak with a person;
– the site, with which, however, there is no way to get out of predefined and absolutely non-resolving questions.
In the last period, for various reasons, I have dealt with four different large companies and the only conclusion I managed to reach was a level pro nervousness.
How many cases of abuse are there? Unfortunately, they multiply every day and we have not yet understood that the union would make strength, already, the conditional is a must.
If you have had an experience that can somehow help someone else not to run into the same quagmire, feel free to tell it: one cup on top of the other, maybe we can start a few steps higher.

SMART WORKING

Dec 12, 2019 | WORK

In Italy smart working is regulated by a law backdated in 2017 as a way of executing the subordinate employment relationship characterized by the absence of time or space constraints and an organization by stages, cycles and objectives, established by agreement between employee and employer work; a modality that helps the worker to reconcile life and work times and, at the same time, encourage the growth of his productivity.
Workers are guaranteed equal treatment with their colleagues who perform the service in ordinary ways. Their protection is therefore envisaged in the event of accidents and occupational diseases, according to the procedures. And there is an equal pay.
In short, this is the theory.
But the practice? Corresponds?
I would like to know some direct opinions.
And as a topic of discussion I would put the question from the point of view of those who, in addition to work, also take care of children and housework, since I have the vision of a greater number of pins to keep in balance. Which goes back to the topic of organization.
More generally, without excluding other experiences and considering any type of work, how do you set yourself for the daily roadmap?
Does the day start with a good coffee?

THE MINDS OF BILLY MILLIGAN

Dec 12, 2019 | BOOKCROSSING, BOOKS

Italian title: Una stanza piena di gente

Author: Daniel Keyes

The book is in Italian language

This book tells a true story that happened in Columbus, Ohio. The story of William Milligan, guilty of theft, kidnapping and violence against three university students. Recognized by the victims, he is arrested but a disturbing reality emerges during the trial: Milligan suffers from multiple personality disorder. 14 different personalities will emerge from the therapy, one of which is predominant and nicknamed The Master. Personally, I found this book disturbing for what concerns the events that really happened, so inconceivable that they seem more the fruit of the imagination of some prolific author. And at the same time I found it interesting in relation to the complexity of the human brain which in many ways remains unknown. The narration is rather scrupulous and reports the facts from different points of view, just like a precise account, describing also the suffering of the protagonist, himself a victim of a chain of lives and experiences diametrically opposed to each other. Despite this, I was not able to get involved all the way, and I recognize my limit: I probably wasn’t able to fall completely into the story, I don’t know. So if you decide to read this book, all you have to do is send me an email address and then if you want, you will tell me if your impression will be different.

THE ABSOLUTE ICONIC CARDIGAN

Dec 12, 2019 | FASHION, WORLD

The iconic Kurt Cobain cardigan, worn during the event that became history of music such as MTV unplugged, went to auction twice.
Every time we read every sort of things: newspapers specifying that the cardigan is punctured for a cigarette burn, that it is stained, that it has never been washed, that a button is missing … I wonder how could anyone consider the idea to wear it …
That cardigan stopped being a simple garment, just as Kurt Cobain chose it, probably at a flea market, and became an iconic reference to the Grunge itself.
It wasn’t a stage costume, it wasn’t meant for a particular look, it’s simply a cardigan that Kurt Cobain used rather routinely.
Perhaps it is useless to wonder about the choice of color, we certainly know that Kurt Cobain preferred large garments that hid his thinness, even if nothing could ever hide his greatness as an Artist.

Without making comparisons that could be neither in heaven nor on earth, is there a cloth that somehow represents you?

DANCE IN WHITE BUT WITH RED SHOES

Dec 12, 2019 | WOMEN

The traditional Grand novice dance with the cadets of the Naval Academy of Livorno was a prestigious event of solidarity and culture taking place at the palace of Venaria Reale in Turin.
Personally, every time I see these dances of the past, I immediately think of Elizabeth Bennet, the famous character created by Jane Austen, and to her way to break the rules.
After all, there is also a need for levity, so for one evening it is nice to live a fairy tale.
However, with the typical white princess dress, the debutants decided to wear red shoes inspired by Elina Chauvet’s public art project.
The Mexican artist used them for the first time in an installation in front of the Mexican consulate in El Paso, Texas, in memory of the hundreds of women killed.
These shoes have turned into a silent march of absent women. A march we behoove. A march that we hope could stop as soon as possible.