Oxi, in more ways than one
Today is Oxi Day in Greece, so in Yialos, there will be a church service and a parade with schools, the military and island organisations represented. Many shops will be closed, at least for the morning, but the boats still run, and tourist shops, bars, tavernas and cafes will be open, much as they were on Saturday.
We went to Yialos on Saturday to, among other things, have what will probably be our last lunch of the summer. I mean, at a taverna, not in general, lunch remains our main meal of the day. We were also there to help a friend celebrate his name day which we did by being given a glass of wine the size of a goldfish bowl which rather left the rest of the day happening in a blur. Back in Horio, we were invited to dinner on Sunday night and, attending that, had a wonderful time with people we had, until then, only said hello to in passing. We left having made a new group of friends, and still able to have the meal outside in the courtyard (overlooking the harbour), we had a lovely evening full of very varied conversation, good food and good company.
It was what I needed after a Sunday afternoon Windows update. “We are working on your update, please hold.” As I wasn’t doing much else on Sunday thanks to the goldfish bowl, I pottered around and came back to the computer later to see how it was doing. “6% This could take some time.” I pottered a little more, read a chapter, tidied the living room and returned, “12%, please hold…” Read half a book. “14% We are working on it, honestly…” Listened to Wagner’s Ring Cycle, figured out a Rubik’s cube… “20% Sorry about this, but it’s Sunday here in cyberspace, and we are short-staffed…” Redecorated the bedroom, translated the Bible… “35% see, we’re getting there…” Went on holiday, studied for an MSc… “45% having trouble finding the thingy-whatsit bit, won’t be long now…” Finished a novel (writing, not reading), painted the Forth Road Bridge… Until, finally, the screen changed and I was asked to log in to my Windows account.
Except, it was having its own Oxi Day. “Incorrect password.” No, it’s not. “Yes, it is, please try again.” Why? This is my password. “That password is not recognised” (You could hear the word ‘idiot’ after that, which I thought was rude.) “Would you like to try another method?” Well, if slapping my laptop about the screen and circuit board isn’t going to work, yes, I would. “Sorry, that method is not available. Reset your password?” Ah, yes, that’s going to be the only option. “Please log in to your Microsoft account.” What do you think I’m trying to do? “Please go online and…” I can’t! You won’t let me into my computer… Ah-ha! Mobile phone. Right, found the page, now to request a password reset… Ten pages of questions later (I kid you not. Everything from “Who’s in your Skype contacts list?” To “Tell us the title of an email you sent recently”, to “What was the name of your great-grandmother’s second pet, not the Labrador, the other one?” And finally finished the inquisition with, “Thank you for the information. Our team will review it and get back to you. This usually takes 24 hours.” At which point, I started talking in capital letters, starting with WTF.
It’s at times like this you’re compelled to turn to the dark web and find a helpful little forum where someone with the answer posts it for you to follow, except when I followed the ‘safe start’ route, the ‘advanced options’ thing didn’t come up, so that was no help, and in the end, after – again I kid you not – about 90 minutes of this, I just turned the thing off and on again for the sixth time. And it worked, Automatically logged in and hence I’m able to present you with this early Monday morning ramble and get back to normal.
