Lost in translation

My Italian is pretty darn good for the basics; getting things accomplished: I can make appointments, conduct transactions, follow commands with the best of them. I no longer have to translate the words in my head when someone responds to me; I can think in Italian, which is a huge accomplishment.

Or so I thought.

When I had a problem with the well pump this week, I called Roberto the plumber, who I see at least 3 times a year for random things (love the old house with old plumbing reality). Roberto told me clearly, "I can come Wednesday or Thursday evening, I'll call and let you know for sure."

Which APPARENTLY I should have translated as, "I'm going to show up at the crack of dawn on Friday and wake you from a sound sleep by banging on the bedroom window and scaring the hell out of you."

Hmmmmm. My studies haven't yet progressed to the tense of verbs that means "sometime in the undetermined future, at a point not at all what I tell you it will be". How very Italian.

I can already tell, I'm going to be just a little off-kilter all day. And I'm expecting a wood delivery at noon ... or at least I THINK I am. Perhaps the wood man speaks in the surprise-future tense, too.