No blog today other than this late message. Woke up to find we’d been cut off. Our phone bill hadn’t arrived although we have been searching the post office and ACS for it these past few weeks. No idea what happened there, but back online now and must investigate where the bills ended up. Recently, they have gone to the courier, previously to the post office, but this is the first time in 17 years we’ve missed a bill (or two, as it turns out). Will call into ACS and provide them with a photo of the house and directions – they deliver to the house opposite, so maybe our bill just didn’t make it to the island. Who knows? Anyway, enough of that. A couple of photos and I can get back to my usual routine.
Hello. Here are a few photos from my limited time away from the desk this past couple of weeks. I am editing down a new story which must be ready to send to my proofreader on Wednesday, so I’ll say good morning, and get back to work. Have a good weekend.
Sadly, I see there is only one week to go until the Bidet arrives, and I couldn’t feel sorrier for everyone living in the UK. The Bidet, or B-Day, is the day when the hideous Brexit arrives, although it will take a long time before it is finally ‘achieved’ as if such a thing can achieve anything apart from… Well, most of you know my feelings on this subject, so I won’t go on, but next week I will raise a glass to my old country and wish it well in its decline into… No! I said I won’t go on, and so, instead, after this random photo, there is some good news…
Just sheep living in a ruin. Oh! An accidental analogy, but rather a good one, I think.
And the good news, which is actually a bit old now, is to remind those who may be worried, that the Greek Government has ratified a law that protects the rights of British citizens living in Greece. In a nutshell, whether Johnson Minor of the yUK gets a Brexit deal or not after the Bidet, anyone who has a Greek residency card is entitled to stay on the same footing as they are now, regards residency rights. If you have just moved to Greece or still want to do so, you can still apply for such a permit up until the end of December this year – so there’s nothing to stop you moving to say, Symi, this summer and being given the same rights as those of us who have been here for years. After December 31st, things will change (not sure to what), but all of us here and registered, with a blue, cream or whatever colour card it is, will be fine and will enjoy the same right to live here as we do now. We won’t be able to cross borders and live permanently in other EU countries perhaps, so that right has been taken away (by Brexit, not Greece or the EU), and I am not sure what’s going to happen with the finer details of yUK pensions and so on. Random photo follows to give breathing space…
But still, although the Bidet is only one week away, I am, frankly, no longer bothered. I am for my friends and family who are suffering this gradual stripping away of their rights and their voice, the benefits of a continent-wide engagement and so on, but the yUK can go to hell in a handbag without me. I don’t even bother with the yUK news much now, I tend to read the Greek news as this is now my country in all apart from citizenship, which may come one day – well, after about five years or however long it takes.
Another analogy, perhaps?
So, get your residency in now – there are websites which tell you how, though a visit to the local authorities for advice (KEP) or direct to the police station is probably the best way to find out exactly what you need, and it will involve proof of address, utility bills, tax numbers, bank accounts, IKA numbers and so on. It can be a trial, but it’s worth it in the end.
It’s anyone’s guess as to why today I woke up with an obscure song from Starlight Express going around inside my head, but at least the house didn’t feel as chilled as of late, and the windows weren’t condensated as much as they have been. (Not sure if condensated is a word, but it’s too early to care.) Another day of routine begins; posting this, at the desk, taking a walk if I can be bothered, some shopping and back to the desk for a while before the TV-fest begins. Yesterday’s viewing was pretty much as I described the other day, Survivor, the Circle, Sex Education and a couple of action/adventure films, but still, no reason why the ‘divorce’ song from an Andrew Lloyd Webber show should be in my head.
Anyhow, both heaters are on, the typewriter is fired up, and I’m ready to go, so I’m going.
All very quiet in Yialos yesterday. People who visit here only in the summer wouldn’t recognise the place; only a few folks in the cafes, no sailing boats, only the essential shops open, other familiar places not only closed but undergoing repairs or even restoration, and no ferries at all, not on a Tuesday.
I biting wind greeted me as I left the house in thermals, jacket, hat and gloves (and everything else). This increased as I took the Kali Strata down, the steps acting as a wind tunnel to bring the north breeze up to greet me. Some local cats were hanging out on their motorbike like a gang of Mods from the 60s, moggy-mods perhaps, I saw few others on the way down, but by the time I reached the bank, I had warmed up. A quick ‘raid’ there and a check at the post office, and then back up the steps again, sweating by that point. I’ve not seen any bills for three months which is a bit worrying, as there’s usually something every month. I reckon they are in our landlord’s post box outside his house, and we will get them eventually, but I’d rather keep on top of them, particularly as the water meter hasn’t been read for about two years and last time it came in, I took the reading down and reported it, and it was, then, a fair amount of money. Anyway, that quick trip was about the highlight of my day yesterday, that and a shower which is not as pleasant or easy as it sounds when your bathroom’s only five degrees above freezing.
