Nearly Lost in Translation

A bit of a blip on the landscape so to speak.  I just realised that I had lost my pen.  Not just any old pen, but one that I have had since I started calligraphy in 1990.  I figured out that I probably left my preciously sentimental and expensive pen in a Tabacchi (newspapers, postcards & cigs shop) in Italy, 200km away.  Of course I wanted to drive back and get it, but Linz being Linz said “well it’s going to cost $60 in road tolls plus gas and the 200km drive, and the pen’s only worth $80, so perhaps you could just let it go”.  The world came to an end for 10 minutes while I contemplated that.  Tad upset.  But I couldn’t give up without trying.  Those of you who know Linz well, know he has maps in his head (as well as all that other stuff).  We looked at Google maps and found the very long street where we thought the Tabacchi was.  Linz knew exactly where in the street it was, and lo and behold, Google told us the name of the Tabacchi.  We did an internet search, and found a phone number.  But Linz didn’t think his rusty Italian would get him through a phone conversation trying to explain why he was ringing, so again he suggested I give up.  But no.  In English I typed out all the things that he might possibly need to say during such a conversation, then I dumped it into a translation site and turned it into Italian.  Brilliant.  Now Linz was prepared to give it a go.  Well, the phone call went ahead;  Linz is 95% sure that yes, they did know what he was talking about and had the pen.  I have since posted a self addressed envelope, a note in Italian, and money and am hoping that my beloved pen will be waiting for me on my return to NZ.  Kiwi Determination, there’s nothing like it!