Playing the waiting game

Wiki quotes 'In the Christian religion, patience is one of the most valuable virtues of life.' It is therefore no wonder Italy is one of the most religious countries in western Europe...and I am learning to be very, very virtuous!! 

Some of you may have seen my Lesson of the Week post back in September. It has been given elevated status to 'Lesson of the Year'. Currently we are waiting for the following:

• The man from the CAF (Finance Assistance Office) to confirm that our property is correctly registered at the land registry resulting in us paying less council tax. He told us approx a month ago it would be done well in advance of 16th December deadline...perhaps his idea of well in advance and mine differ slightly?

• The window company to tell us our new windows that we have ordered are ready. The three to four weeks quoted towards the end of October yesterday became 10th December!

• The Chimney Flue company Piemme. Our two to three days for confirmation of the quote has just turned into a week...and given our experience so far elsewhere will probably be a while longer yet.

The response to our questions of "How does this country function?" to our Italian friends: The standard shoulder shrug and utterance of "This is Italy!"