Sunday morning, the cat is up on the roof in the sun, half the housework is done, chicken is marinating in the kitchen ahead of a barbeque later and I am watching small fishing boats coming in and out of Harani down below me. The washing machine is on, I’ve checked my emails and messages, stripped the bed, put the washing up away, had a shower, hung things out to dry and am now sitting down to get ahead of myself by writing this, and it’s only 7.45.

The joys of having a loud cat.

The other night he was allowed to stay in and we avoided the 5.00 shout-out, but did have to put up with a 5.00 bedroom exploration instead. But at least I was able to stay in bed, mostly asleep, until half seven on that day. Last night we tried the same thing but this resulted in a ‘wanna go out’ shout at some deep-dark, unexplored, time of night, and so I got up to let him out. That was followed by early morning ‘I wanna come in’ shouts that finally got me out of bed at 6.30 – Neil had gone to see to his Lordship even earlier than that.

But, on the happy news side; we’ve had a good weekend so far and there’s still the children’s art class exhibition to go and view later this morning followed by the barbeque. We’re aiming for Nimborio for that but it will depend on the wind. It was blowing madly yesterday, and a bitter north wind was finding every possible crack to whistle in through in the house. There’s less wind today but it still looks cold out there.

The ear thing seems a bit better today too, though it’s still very noisy in there, but the keyboard isn’t sliding about too much. I’ve made an appointment with an ear doctor in Rhodes for the week after next, and hope to at least find out what causes all this and, even better, some way to get it under control. I have spoken to a doctor recently who thinks, as I do, that it’s caused by some kind of RSI, from sitting here at the desk blogging away all day (almost) every day; pressure on a part of the back or neck that restricts blood flow to the inner ear. It’s one possibility and the most likely. He recommended acupuncture but that sounds far to much like changing a tyre under water for me. I suppose I could try randomly sticking pins in myself, it would be a lot more pleasurable than the tablets I tried on Friday. ‘Vertigo-Vomex’ (I’ve had them before, I should have known better). Yes, yucky name, and yes the dizziness did stop but that was only because I was so drowsy from them that I was practically drooling. Took me a good 24 hours to get just two of them out of my system and start functioning again.

But hey! You didn’t sit down here to read about all that. You want to know the latest Symi gossip. Well, what can I tell you? Her form down the road hasn’t washed her step and is no better than she should be, and he from along the lane is reportedly seeing someone who you would never guess, and that scandal over at number 26 with the politician’s brother’s other half and the milk bottle, well, what an odyssey that’s been…

I’ll be back with more of the same during the week. A week which is a birthday week. And to celebrate my 52^nd I have arranged for Richard III to be buried on my birthday. And that was not easy to arrange I can tell you!

Share on Facebook

Here’s the question: is the new house haunted?

Why do I ask? Well, three things have now happened which, if you were of the mind, you might put down to paranormal activity. 1) I have started a diet… Don’t be silly. Let’s start again:

One: the television suddenly started playing, loud, about an hour after we’d gone to bed. Two: after sorting that out, the money from my jeans’ pocket suddenly fell out and clattered to the bedroom floor. Three, this morning the extractor fan in the kitchen outside my office suddenly came on of its own accord.

Okay, so the answers to these three events are: One: the TV was on some kind of automatic turn on function by accident, or we’d turned off the DVD player but not the TV so after an hour of being on and not showing anything it decide to click back from DVD mode to TV mode. Two: getting back into bed after turning the TV off disturbed the jeans hanging on the end of the bed and gravity did what it does best. Three: well, that’s a bit less explainable.

Sitting here wondering what the noise was, and checking the air con, as that’s what it sounded like only much louder, I then went to the kitchen to see where it was coming from. The fan was on full power and had come on. I tried to turn it off only to realise that the switch is broken; it slides across the various settings but is not actually connecting to anything. The only way to turn it off is to throw the fuse, which I did. This also blacks out the light in the kitchen, and then I remembered that this was how we found that switch when we moved in; fuse, off. So this must be some kind of recurring problem. Only question is: why did it wait five weeks before suddenly turning on? Why hasn’t it done it before?

So, the answer to the question: is our Symi house haunted? Must be, no, it’s just a quirky Symi house.

You will be glad to know that the vertigo is not as bad today (Friday) as it was yesterday, though the symptoms persist: head pressure, shallow breath, wobbly world and ear noise, and to the extent that I think a trip to a specialist is in order. Nothing serious I suspect as it’s been around for years now and I’m still here (as the ‘Follies’ song says), just that it’s getting worse. Adrianna was very helpful by suggesting that coffee can trigger the symptoms, and we have been enjoying a lot of that recently. So, I will, meanwhile, try cutting that out of the paranormal diet and see if it helps (along with salt and alcohol).

Anyway, here’s wishing you a good weekend and hoping the cat lets us sleep. He’s been very unsettled these past few nights, shouting to come back in when put out at night, which he’s never done before, and then starting again at five in the morning, if indeed he ever stops.

Share on Facebook

Here’s some good (and probably slightly old) news about a Greek bank: Alpha Bank has sponsored (donated?) three machines to the Symi surgery. A letter from the deputy mayor to Alpha Bank, published on Verna a while ago now (but I only just found it) says:

Προς τμήμα δημοσίων σχέσεων ALPHA BANK – Κοινωνική Εταιρεία Ευθύνης

Σας ευχαριστούμε θερμά για το έμπρακτο ενδιαφέρον σας να ανταποκριθείτε άμεσα και να συνδράμετε στον εξοπλισμό του ιατρείου Σύμης με τρία σύγχρονα μηχανήματα, ήτοι με έναν φορητό υπέρηχο, φορητό καρδιογράφο και έναν φορητό συμπύκνωτη οξυγόνου, που θα συμβάλουν στη βελτίωση της ποιότητας της ζωής των κατοίκων του νησιού μας.

Which roughly comes out as:

“To the public relations department ALPHA BANK – Company Social Responsibility.

We thank you for your active interest and prompt response, and for providing assistance with equipment for the Simi clinic with three modern machines, i.e. with a portable ultrasound, portable cardiograph and a portable oxygen concentrator, which will help improve the quality of life of its residents our island.”

So, good news there. And there was also an article on another news website stating the Europol had ‘smashed’ a people trafficking ring from Turkey to Greece, stating that “the gang had smuggled 350 people, mostly Syrians, by boat to the Greek islands of Kos and Rhodes, charging as much as 9,000 euros ($9,500) per person.”

To which I would add Symi, and probably many other islands too. We’ve experienced the situation first hand here a great deal on Symi and we chatted to some refugees in Kos last year. I dare say that this will not be an end to the problem.

There’s that’s a couple of serious articles for you to check out today. I’m keeping things brief because my vertigo is playing up wildly today (this is Thursday as I write) and my fingers are not hitting the correct keys (in a worse fashion than usual), mainly because the keyboard is swimming about and not staying still. It’s a pain to have to go back and correct the bad typing while feeing like you’re on the Symi 1 in a storm, so I’m heading off to sit and be stable somewhere else. Have a good day!

Share on Facebook

Symi in the winter #4Power cuts.

Ah, the absolute peace of waking up to a power cut. I think this was the first of the winter, and I’m still not sure what it was all about. And when I say ‘absolute peace’ I actually mean, waking up to the sound of the cat screaming at the front door, loudly, wanting to be let in, at 5.15 in the morning.

But later, sitting in my office listing only to the sound of the clock ticking, and then being in the kitchen and, after turning off the gas having made a hot water with lemon, listening only to the kitchen clock ticking – no fridge, nothing else humming – and the rural sounds of sheep and geese outside. (If it’s not geese we have down the lane then it’s someone with a very consistent nose-blow sound.) And of course no water as the pump will not go and no heating, no cooker, and using a candle or a torch at that time of day. And not being able to connect to the internet so no messages or emails, not even SimCity Bulidit (unless playing off line), and no morning walk/jog because I don’t want to risk spending the rest of the morning wet with sweat, and catching anything thanks to being cold and damp all day.

It’s okay though, I think to myself, I can go and do some work on a book, only to remember that all my work is up there in the ‘cloud’ and I can’t access it without the internet being on and that needs electricity. The copies of the work that are on my laptop (which has four hours battery) are not the latest versions so no point going back over on them.

And so you’re reduced to pottering about: checking on the photos I took yesterday when we went for a short walk to Pedi, during which Neil took a phone call about work, we saw people working on the roofs of the new holiday blocks, saw that Apastolis Taverna is still full up with chairs and tables and boat bits, and its beach is still the winter boat yard extension. We waved to a few people who were out and about, saw the cargo boat high in the water having unloaded, and walked back up the road to the sound of bleating goats, sheep, and then the squawk of chickens, and back to home for a quiet evening in and an early night.

And who says nothing happens around here in the winter?

Share on Facebook

We all got a bit of a shock on Monday night, around nine, when an earthquake/tremor struck just off Symi, between Symi and Rhodes actually. It was a 3.9, which isn’t particularly big, but it was only 2k down and fairly close. Some people didn’t notice but we heard a huge bang that sounded like an explosion and then a rumble that went on for a few seconds. Some people in Rhodes have been talking about it sounding very loud there, while others didn’t notice it. I suppose it depends on where you are and how close you might be to the fault line and the shockwaves.

Good, so the earth has let off a bit of steam. It’s been a while since we’ve had any noticeable tremors, a couple of years ago we had loads through one month, November I think it was. Apparently there’s an underwater volcano not far away. Don’t let that put you off your Symi holiday though; we’re solidly built on rock.

And talking of Symi holidays, it looks like now is the time to get your Euros in and book (and pay for) your accommodation; the exchange rate between the Euro and dollar (US) and Sterling is looking favourable. Who knows how long this will last though? It’s also time for us to think about our off-Symi holiday and we have started planning for our next great adventure. And where are we going?

Rhodes for a night or two, yippee! It’s that check-up time of year again, or will be in a couple of weeks. And it’s pre-season shopping time, as once the bar work and season starts we won’t be as free to pop over the water for a day or two at the shops. Not sure when yet. I’m not sure how Jack cat will take to being left alone at the new house for a few days, he’s still not 100% settled and is still jumpy, probably because his paw is still ailing him and he feels a bit vulnerable. But as long as we can arrange for his litter tray to be changed and his food to be presented he should be fine. He is, after all, a cat; it seems to be only he who has not realised this yet.

As you can see from the photos I went out and about- this was Tuesday morning actually- and was out and back before the sun. I’d been awake since 5.15 thanks to the Alarm Cat’s insistence and so, at 6.10 thought I might as well go out and get it over with. I was back by seven by which time the sun was up but behind the clouds.

I gave our postman bit of a shock later in the day. I heard someone calling for ‘Daskale’ (Daskalos = teacher, which is what a lot of people call our landlord, because he was their teacher), so went out to see who and why. And there was our postie in the courtyard. He was more surprised to see me come out of the house than I was to see him in the courtyard. I explained that our landlord had moved across the road and we lived here now. He went on to explain that there was a package for us at the jewellery shop, and that one had been given to him by the DHL courier to be kept for us at the post office because the DHL courier didn’t know who we were. (Which is wrong, as they usually ring us and tell us we have a package, I think it was because our landline is unplugged at the moment, so they couldn’t ring). Anyway, all that info was exchanged and the postie now knows where we live, though we continue with the PO Box as our way of receiving the mail.

Don’t know why I told you that, something related to shocks perhaps? Off now, so have a good day and remember to go and book your Symi holiday. Best do it now before you forget.

Share on Facebook