Three random shots from my photo file today, apropos nothing in particular, as that’s what I have to say today; nothing in particular. Mind you, I often start like that and then wander on and see what comes out, and a whole page later… well, there we are.
These aren’t the best photos ever, but they show you three different locations. Horio and the ‘main street’, which is just wide enough for a very small truck or a carefully driven car, a square at the back of Yialos, and a view at the top of the main road by the windmills. If you look around blogs, social media, print magazines and websites, you will see stunning photos of Symi, the harbour and the neoclassical houses, but it also has beauty in the day-to-day. Like the ‘main street’ of Horio with the walls where bored and over-excited children have applied their marker pens, and where the flag gets changed only now and then. Where there are no glitzy high-fashion outlets for oligarchs on super-yachts, but a simple bakery, a butcher’s shop, some homely tavernas and other small businesses that keep the village alive.
All locations are worth a wander.
The village after you reach the top of the Kali Strata – keep going straight up, along the main road unit the very end, then do a right, first left, on until you can go no further, right, first left and up, and you will come to the museum, for example.
The main road from the harbour to the village and beyond. Get off at the windmills, walk back a little way on the pavement and you will see a splendid view of Yialos.
In Yialos itself, behind the town square, where this other hidden (and private) square can be found. If you’ve not found these views already, look out for them on your next visit.
Yesterday was my first ‘lunch downtown’ for several weeks, and it made for a pleasant change. The King Saron is back in action, bringing day trippers over once or twice per day, there were three or four other day trip boats operating as well, so the harbour was busy, which is good to see from an island finance point of view. We did what we had to do; a visit to the dive centre, post office, buy some tea bags (not from the post office), buy a new bulb fitting for the laundry light (today’s challenge is to change it, and it’s only taken me a year to get to this point), and then it was off to lunch.
The morning started well with a cup of tea in the courtyard
In the evening, the harbour was also full, from what I could see of it from up here, with a few boats anchored offshore too, and there was a concert in the village square. Neil was called in to work for the evening, and I’ll find out later how that went because he’s still in bed while I am starting my day’s work, but then, it’s only 4.00, so you can’t blame him.
Today looks to be a quiet one as I have nothing planned other than the usual writing work, and perhaps a quick sweep of the courtyard to get rid of some fallen leaves. Then, I can start reading my new book, ‘Life of the Victorian Stage.’ A book, I should add, that was hard to buy.
A Struggle with Amazon
I was trying to buy a Kindle copy because a) it was more immediate and I don’t have to wait for delivery, b) I don’t have to pay post-Brexit import changes, and c) it was cheaper. To buy it, I had to log into Amazon. So, I entered the details, and it came up with a captcha thing where you can hardly read the letters and numbers. I did though, and was told it was wrong. So, I tried again, and again, and again…. Until finally, I passed the challenge and was over the threshold, where I was told I would be sent a verification code to my phone within 90 seconds…
No code arrived. (Resend: nothing.)
I tried the process again – still no code.
Did some online research, and checked my phone’s ‘push notifications’ were on, made sure my password was correct and all that jazz, and tried again. (This process had been working fine a couple of days ago, btw.)
No code.
Rinse and repeat several times. No joy.
I headed to customer service only to find the only way of contacting Amazon was via phone. Not doing that! Actually, I can’t do that, as my mobile phone tariff only lets me phone within Greece, and we don’t have a landline anymore.
I then found a customer service email on the dark web and sent them a message – only to receive the auto-reply that the email no longer exists.
Then, I found some other links to CS via the lighter grey web, only to find those pages didn’t exist either – yet they come up at the top of a Google search.
Tried downloading the Amazon app, and that DID send me a verification code, so the phone was working fine, then.
I then found out, I can’t buy Kindle books through the Amazon app (it’s basically useless and tells you to use a PC to buy Kindles). Nor was I able to buy one through my Kindle app on my tablet, nor through my phone (verification code needed), and still not via the PC. (Ditto)
Had a break, turned the PC off and on again, and a while later, finally managed to get my password accepted, and get a code, and, I bought the e-book.
I don’t know why all that happened, but I got there in the end. Now, though, I have a message saying there’s a problem with the payment, yet the account page shows it all as being fine.
What do you reckon? Chinese spyware, Russian ghosts in the machine, an Amazon glitch, or perhaps AI having a bad day? Whatever the reason, it provided me with an hour of frustrated non-entertainment.
Sunday started so humid I could smell the moisture in the air. I’ve noticed it before over the years, the smell of damp rock that somehow holds a tang of dust. The balcony rail was wet, always a sign that the weather is sultry, and there was a cloud blanketing the Turkish coast, and another hanging over Nimos. Not a rain cloud, I suspect, but a cloud of humidity, almost a fog John Carpenter would approve of.
The previous day had been drier, and although the temperature in the courtyard climbed to 36 by the afternoon, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. Maybe I’m used to the heat. As usual, we have towels on the sofa, so we don’t sweat-stain the covers, the windows are all open, and the fans are running 24/7.
Today, I have a plan. After my usual six- or seven-hour writing schedule, we’re heading to the Dive Centre with Gson H to register him for a birthday present dive in a couple of weeks. That done, I must buy a new keyboard and mouse as this pair is driving me mad. The mouse keeps sticking on the screen, highlighting things I don’t want highlighted, and the space bar on the keyboard isn’t working properly. I think I’ve killedit because, unless I hit it right in the middle, it ignoresmycommands.It ignores my commands. You see? I’ve tried the usual tricks with the mouse; using a different USB port, updating drivers, new batteries, swearing profusely, but to no avail.
After that shopping expedition, we’re going to go out to lunch for the first time in ages, and will probably treat ourselves to a taxi or bus up the hill because H will need to do whatever people of his age do before going to work, and so will Neil. Talking of which, the village square has been quiet during the siesta shift. Where it is vibrant in the cooler months (May, June, September, October), things quieten down in July and August because most visitors are at the beach or on a boat trip. Very sensible. However, that doesn’t mean there’s not a congenial atmosphere among those who do visit the bars, and the village square remains a very pleasant place to while away the afternoon.
No time for me to while anything. I must get on with proofing the new novel (due out in about 10 days – you will be informed), and prepare myself for the great expedition to Yialos.
It’s far too early in the morning, even for me, in fact, it’s probably not even morning. It started just before two when I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and having wondered how I got there, decided it must be time to get up.
It wasn’t. I might have started on the wrong side, but I didn’t get out of the wrong side (well, I did. I had to but…) and I don’t feel tired or grumpy at all. Not yet. I do feel as though I have no idea what to write about as I get my writing head in order, so, let’s just see what comes out.
First, I thought about shopping, not that any of the shops would be open at two in the morning (as far as I know), but for some reason, I remembered I’d taken a photo in our local supermarket and meant to share it a while ago, so it’s here today. Then I remembered something I’d said to the husband when we were talking about what shopping we needed when he was going because I was working. ‘Can you get some talcum powder? It’s usually next to the batteries.’ This reminded me of when someone needed some washing-up liquid, and I told them they would find it in the wine and spirit section because it’s that kind of shop. If you want to see island life at its best, go to one of the village super markets (sic) because they offer a great eye-opening experience – and decent prices if you shop around.
You get a warm welcome.
After a look at the news, and half a cup of tea on the balcony, I thought I should get to my writing corner and get on with the day/night. There was not much to see from the balcony anyway; the harbour lights, the stars, a bat or two (or a couple of very small nightbirds traveling at speed), so off to the office I go, stopping to see what temperature it is outside, just out of interest, and finding it to be 28°, not bad. I always turn on the porch light when commuting from the living-in house to the workhouse. Although the streetlight outside the gate lights the courtyard and porch reasonably well, I like to scare away anything that might be scuttling or crawling around outside the front door, particularly as I’m usually barefooted. There was no scuttling or crawling today, I am glad to say.
And so, the morning routine began.
A check of the emails via Mailwasher where I generally receive a heap of pre-marked spam offering me all things vital from loft insulation to Thai brides, and a download of those emails I actually need: daily news updates from an ex-journalist friend (scandal and sensation, end of the world stuff, things you couldn’t make up), and I switch on all the programs I will need for the morning. The PC protection comes on automatically and tells me my VPN needs renewing when I only renewed it three days ago, so I enter the activation code, and it still won’t activate, so I sign in, and fiddle about, and finally it works. There is always some such disruption before my day has even begun, but today, it was only a brief one.
Then I sit down to write something here, and this is what you get, and I scroll through my gallery wondering, apart from typos, what I can adorn the page with today, and I find photos of a cactus. Well, the Cactus Hotel in Rhodes, actually, where we stayed in May when I took the godson over for his English proficiency exam. Very nice it was too; huge room, great view, breakfast even bigger than the feast at the Plaza (and HP sauce in bottles – five-star treatment, I’d say), and right next door to the exam centre. I thought I’d post a view from the room. This isn’t the first hotel I’ve used in Rhodes this year, and I must tell you about the others sometime because although they were further out of town by about ten minutes as the foot walks, they were excellent. (Btw, I believe all the students of the English school passed their proficiency exams this year, I know the Gson did brilliantly.)
But that’s for another day, and mine is now about to start for real with around six thousand words about to pour from my fingertips into various projects. I’ll probably get about half of them done before I have to return to the right side of the bed and catch up on a few minutes of sleep, and start the second shift later this morning.
It’s a lovely peaceful early morning after what, I am sure, was a lively and fun night. I’ve not seen images of the concert yet, and I was well asleep before it started, but I am sure it was a great success. This morning, I was up at three and surprised to find the harbour below so quiet, not that it’s usually noisy at that time, although it can be.
Why? Well, in the summer, it’s not uncommon for visitors and locals alike to enjoy late-night dining and socialising. Who wants to be out drinking and partying at four in the afternoon when the temperature is nudging thirty-six or above? Better to do it in the cool of the late evening or early morning. Sometimes, I hear parties still going on at some of the late-night bars, or on the big cruisers that moor up. Other times I hear one of the kafeneion still in full swing or winding down around three, and, particularly in August, that’s nothing new. There are other sounds to be heard, as I’ve mentioned before. The screech of the owl, the chug of a fishing boat, the hum of nearby air conditioners, and the security ships that patrol or moor up with their generators running. Now and then, I might hear and see a lone motorbike climbing the hill, and it’s also possible to hear conversations when people are talking on the quayside, or riding home two abreast.
Random photo #1: View from the sitting room yesterday.
On which note, one of the vehicle rental places in Yialos is now renting our electric scooters and bikes so you can get around quietly and in an environmentally friendly way. If people would only wear crash helmets as they are obliged to, we’d all feel a lot safer, but the non-wearing of safety gear is what I call the Covid effect.
Say what? Well, it’s like this. After the lockdown, when tourism was starting again, we had a slew of visitors coming over from countries that were worse hit by the thing than we were. They saw themselves as coming to a safe country and arrived with a sense of relief that they were free of the thing for a while, with no sense that they might be bringing it to us. Selfish? Yes. Understandable? Yes. But the same mentality applies to the non-wearing of crash helmets.
It’s all to do with excuses. ‘Oh, no-one wears them on the island, so why should I?’ Because it could be you that gets your brains scraped out on the rocks you so admire. ‘It’s too hot to wear a helmet.’ It’s also too hot to rig a pop concert in the afternoon at 38 degrees but someone did it yesterday. ‘No-one checks up on you.’ Which is like saying, ‘Unless someone else takes responsibility for me, why should I take any for myself?’
Random photo #2: Above St George’s Bay. One of Neil’s winter photos under the category, ‘Things with faces.’
It’s up to you if you want to risk your mental capacity, head, or life while dashing about on unfamiliar roads on a machine you’ve only just met, and it’s up to you if you want to ignore the hire company’s advice that you take and wear a crash helmet (the new electric hires come with free helmets, so no excuse there). If you want to break the law, then that, too is your own risk.
For my part, having driven a 500 CC around London for several years, I can’t even contemplate getting on a motorbike without full leathers and a helmet, so I don’t. I wouldn’t go unprotected in any other country so why go unprotected here? Because you can. It’s not my place to point out the failings or not of the authorities, but there is something to be said for the ‘they don’t check’ argument because it’s often true. Often, but not always. There are spot checks now and then, so, be warned. But when our island’s great and good don’t even bother to wear one, ‘Because we don’t on the islands’, well, to me, that rather smacks of not good enough.
I have no idea where that all came from or why I write it aloud. I’d only been standing on the balcony in silence, watching the lights and listening to nothing, when I thought I’d post today’s photo – something with a face, and somehow, I ended up here.
Ah well, it’s nearly five now, and I must get to work.
