Buondì.
As orders come in, for online Italian lessons, ebooks and so on, I enjoy looking at where our customers live.
Of course, I send ebooks by email.
And online lessons are delivered, well, online.
So I never actually post anything, thank God. (Have you been in an Italian post office??)
Occasionally, I need to phone someone, say if they’ve written a duff email address and my ebook delivery email keeps bouncing back.
Or maybe if I just fancy a chat…
(Joke!)
Ideally, we wouldn’t collect such information.
But this is a very, very small business and we don’t have coders to modify the standard shop software.
Ever seen an order form that doesn’t require an address and a phone number?
Me neither.
Wonder why?
Sales tax, probably.
Yesterday, I was filling out a job application form which wanted to know how many children I had, and the age and sex of each one.
Weird.
(N.b. If you want to order something, but strongly object to being asked for your name, address and phone number, feel free to write ‘4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey’, or similar…)
As things stand, though, I get to see where people live (or say they live), which often piques my curiosity…
Possum Avenue, for example.
Or Poet’s Walk.
Belli!
I wonder if Possum Avenue is desert-like, or lined with eucalyptus trees swaying in the breeze?
And the poet?
Is she, or he, roaming the Highlands of Scotland?
Or just on their way to pick up the kids from school?
I’d love to live in either location, rather than in oh-so-boring Via Sant’Anna.
(Wikipedia: According to apocryphal Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus. Mary’s mother is not named in the canonical gospels nor in the Qur’an.)
I know well what a poet is, as a result of reading the marvellous (and free) emails sent out by the Poetry Foundation.
If you could use some culture, do subscribe to their ‘Poem of the Day’ newsletter (literally a poem each day) by clicking here and checking the ‘Poem of the Day’ box.
But what on earth is a possum?
Turns out that there are two sorts, one Australian and one North-American (a little like ebook buyers, or online students…)
PestStrategies.com has a useful guide, from which this extract (the bolding is mine):
The Australian possum has a round body shape and thick fur which is often golden in color—giving it the nickname the Golden Brushtail Possum. Its eyes take on a peanut butter color in the light, and true to its moniker, its tail is thick and voluminous like that of a squirrel. These animals look more like cuddly cousins of the koala bear rather than distant relatives of the opossum.
The North American opossum, on the other hand, has stark features: black eyes, a white face, jagged teeth, and a sharp, pointed face. These creepy animals skulk around waving their rat tails in the air, hissing at those who dare to come too close. This species can be found ransacking trash piles when they’re not migrating from one makeshift den to another; as migrant scavengers, they feed on whatever they can find during their transient lifestyle.
Wow, good job we don’t have opossums in Via Sant’Anna!
Here the only animals are a motley bunch of over-fed domestic felines.
Beh anyway, wherever you live (and we have club members everywhere from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe), don’t forget to…
Save 20% in the Spring Sale!
- Coupon code Spring-Sale-2019 will get you 20% off everything!
- No minimum or maxium spend
- Use the coupon as often as you wish while the offer lasts
- The coupon code IS valid for items which are already discounted, such as ebook multipacks
- The coupon code cannot be used with other promotions
- Pay via Amazon, Paypal/credit card, or bank transfer (better not try this unless you have a UK bank account…)
- This promotion ends at midnight on Sunday 31st of March 2019
Stock up on online Italian lessons and ebooks and save £££!
Visit our online shop or browse the Catalog, which has free sample chapters for just about everything.
P.S.
Did you listen to yesterday’s FREE EasyItalianNews.com bulletin?
If not, why not do it now?
Anita Cummings says
Hi Daniel,
Just wanted to say a big thank you to all at online Italian club for all the hard work you all put in. I have just signed up for a second batch of lessons and wanted to say how much I am enjoying them. I finally took the plunge and had the free lesson with Manuela. I was very nervous and made some very silly mistakes – and am still making silly mistakes but at the same time learning something new each time and feel so much more confident. I wonder why I delayed starting them!
With regard to your comments re possums – yes, they look adorable but you don’t want to get them angry and you especially don’t want them making their home in your roof – makes for very disturbed nights!
Thanks once again!