use Perl

Signed my contract for a month's short term rent until I find somewhere long term. Amused at how much detail has to go on the contract - place and date of birth and permanent address for both me and the landlady. And if my girlfriend comes to visit, I have to make sure she is properly "denounced" to the police. Whenever I get worried about the UK becoming a police state, coming to Italy makes me feel a little better. Nice flat though, pretty central and near work.

Some parts of Italian bureaucracy are pretty slick - a short queue and a chat with a friendly officer at the "Agenzia Entrate" got me a duplicate Codice Fiscale (from the one I got issued with 8 years ago in my University year in Bologna) which means I can hopefully open a bank account tomorrow if I remember the odd opening hours (morning then an hour during early afternoon).

It's easy to rent a mobile phone, though as you can buy a crappy pre-pay phone for about 50EUR that's also an alternative until I get sorted to get a contract.

Internet Points are expensive and not very well maintained for software (just IE and Yahoo Messenger. No irc :( hey ho, I'll bring laptop tomorrow which is also cheaper). Oh, and of course I have to present my passport in case I'm a terrorist (perhaps that's why they won't let me use irc).