After two years of dents, dings, and the aftermath of driving off of a cliff, it’s time for my biennial inspection! I have no idea where to even begin.

Here’s to hoping that the same “I didn’t see anything” attitude that Italians have for running stop signs or getting paid in nero will be a present in the mechanic who inspects my 12 year old Ferrari in a Lancia Ypsilon clothing. Perhaps he will be able to avoid noticing my welded-together muffler or my occasionally-functioning brake light. Ok, that sounds worse than it really is. The muffler mysteriously broke and my neighbor welded it back together for me, but he said that it probably wouldn’t pass an emissions test like that. The brake light on the left side is always lit when the headlights are on, and doesn’t come on at all with the headlights off. You know, the little quirky crap that happens to old cars that take a whole weekend to fix. Hopefully the mechanic will have the blindest of eye.

It’s been raining nearly all day, going from a drizzle in the morning to a downpour in the evening. I picked up Karen at the train station tonight to take her back to her house and the usual 40 minute trip from Casina to Reggio took over an hour at 20mph followed by stop and go traffic in the city. Thank God that I don’t have to commute everyday.

After dropping off Karen, I got back into my car and sat there for a few minutes listening to the rain beat against the car. One of my favorite sounds. Also camping and sleeping in a tent when it’s raining gives me the same feeling. There’s something very comforting about the sound — tough to describe.

But I made it back in one piece through the fog, rain, and road full of frogs the size of softballs. I swear, every time there’s the faintest amount of precipitation, frogs come out in swarms like the opening of a Hitchcock movie. Sure makes driving on these windy roads a lot more interesting.