Closing ranks

It's been a while since I wrote about the Big Bad Wolf and his followers, most prominently the Nasty Little Man. But lately tension has risen again. You may remember the NLM, the contractor who started the restoration works to our house and who we consequently thanked for his services after we fired the Big Bad Wolf, our geometer/architect, for running a scam, for being totally incompetent and for trying to rip us off. The list of defects to our house is growing every day and I'll list some of the most important here:

- Water in our walls and under the floor due to incorrectly laid drainage tubes (and we've got floor heating - how much do you think we've already spent trying to keep our house warm!)

- When we went to sign the act for the acquisition of our house and land, all of a sudden 2 plots of land had disappeared from the original plans (we suspect that this was part of a secret deal between our ex-geometer and the vendors because the former probably had a percentage of his own in the sale somewhere and negotiated to have these plots removed so the house would still fit our budget and he would still get his fee without us knowing it. At the solicitor's he claimed that these plots had never been part of the sale, although we've got his original map!)

- A derelict entry road (for which we paid €5.000!)

- Only 6cm of roof insulation whereas the legal minimum is 12cm (imagine what this means during winter!)

- Dubious paperwork (e.g. the compulsory seismic study has only been requested AFTER the works had already started and even AFTER we had already fired the BBW - imagine how insurance companies will react if anything should happen to our house!)

- and so and and so on...

The BBW went to court claiming another €16.000 of fees and expenses (after we'd already paid him over €4.000) and this left the NLM in a bit of a fix. He too is still claiming a lot of money from us: initially €38.000, then he lowered it to €27.000 and the last thing we heard was €21.000. During the final reconciliation meeting in April last year, he said he'd sue us. Well, we're still waiting. Our brave solicitor told us that lately she'd accidentally bumped into the NLM's solicitor in court and that he again insisted that we'd pay up or he'd take it to court. Upon which she obviously replied: "Go ahead, we're already waiting a year!"

Now you'd think that the infamous Italian mafia isn't what it used to be anymore. We're already in the 2010's, the Italian government is taking the war against the mafia very seriously and we're also far away from the south of Italy, where the mob's  still holding strong. But nothing is less true. Also here, the mafia is apparently still controlling a large part of everyday life. Not that people get shot for not paying their "protection fees", or at least not that I know of, but intimidation, corruption and the buying off of local officials are still well-spread practices over here. For example, our ex-geometer usually charges a secret fee of 10-20% to all of the workers who want to work on his projects. And if they don't accept? Tough... but no more work! And who do you think these workers pass it on to? Right! Us, the innocent people who try to build a new life with every penny we've got. And what do all of the local people do? They keep silent and just pay the bills. No one has ever dared to challenge the omnipotent family of "Kings" of the Emilian Apennines. Not even a poor English family which came to live here a few years before us and was consecutively robbed of €100.000 (!) without even realising it. No one... until Christine came here. She threw the BBW right out and the NLM after him and she'd be more than happy to take all of this to court, obviously with the aid of our brilliant female solicitor (I'm sorry to say it guys, but it takes a woman to do this!) - and this after our previous two (male) solicitors wet their pants when they heard who we were up against and were more than happy to hand our case over to someone else. 

All of this has obviously made the "Royal Family" very nervous and if threats are no longer sufficient, they try other means, like inciting the whole population against us. And unfortunately, this works in part. Christine's been looking for a lot of manure to make our field fertile again so she can create a garden. Initially, she found a very friendly farmer who was more than happy to drop his manure on our field because just like about anywhere else the farmers are having difficulties to get rid of the stuff. But after he'd already dropped two tractor loads, he didn't come anymore. And also all of the other farmers in our village have suddenly refused, and very rudely too. Well, if they can afford manure disposal it's their problem. Christine's now found another farmer a bit further away and he's more than keen to come to us. But it's just an illustration of the BBW's power and what a horrible man he actually is. Truly someone who's never heard the word "no" in his life and who's always had things his way. But this is going to change! We're going to bring him down, so hard he won't even know what hit him! We're going to free these mountains of his despicable influence so everybody can again live in peace and without having to pay any more tribute to a person who doesn't deserve it in the least. 

I wish I could post a picture of this man, but couldn't find any immediately on the web. But that's ok, Danilo Silvestri... you're history... and you'll be remembered as the last of the mob bosses of these mountains. People will spit when then hear your name and you will lose all of the money you so wrongly took from all the poor people, yes, even from your own family! Trying to rip us off was your biggest mistake and one which will remain a very painful memory to you forever!