Morning! Here’s your unofficial local news on this, the name day of St Dimitrios. Neil’s now finished afternoon work at the Rainbow Bar, so you can expect to find it open only in the mornings and evenings according to its usual unpredictable winter timetable. Lefteris kafeneion has a sign saying it’s open from 18.00 to 22.00, and not the afternoons, and I’m not sure about the mornings. As far as I know, the tavernas are also closed for the season, though Georgio’s is probably open throughout winter, though inside only. Other village cafes will also be open according to their own timetables.

Shipping news (unofficial). The Sebeco won’t be running today, and it looks like the Express (or Pride) won’t be running for the next two days. It suffered an engine problem yesterday, so that may have something to do with it. It’s a little confusing, as the image posted with the headline was of the Panagia Skiadeni, so as with most reports from anywhere these days, you had to look further than the headline and image to get to what might not even be the truth in any case. Either way, it sounds like the next few days are going to be days to stay battened down at home. Here’s what the Poseidon Systems shows for later this afternoon over Symi:

And here’s what it shows for around 20.00 this evening:

Eek! You can’t even see the island.
Mind you, we were expecting rain overnight too (according to another forecast), but so far, at 04.20, the ground is dry, and when I look outside, I can see a few stars between the clouds.

In much more local news, there’s been some antisocial media commenting on the overflowing bin store along our lane, though it’s not only us who have gone without a collection over the weekend; the store at the top of the Kataraktis and near Alamina Square are also in the same boat. Has there been a strike by the collection men? I don’t know. Has the vehicle broken down? I don’t know. Is our main man ill? Again, I don’t know. Have those who always look for an excuse to attack the local authorities, either rightly or wrongly, used it as an excuse to attack the local authorities online? Yes, of course. Had we had the old loudspeaker island announcement system, we might know, but what I do know is, it will be back to normal as soon as it can be, so keep your hair on — the feral cats and even more feral chickens are having a wail of a time. If you’re inclined, you could clear up the scatter after them, or you could even tidy the whole area on your own. Someone tidied ours yesterday and cleared the chicken scratch from the road (thank you), and although it still needs taking away, at least it’s a respectable-looking pile.

Further afield, i.e. five minutes’ walk away at the village sports centre, there will be another visit from the National Primary Healthcare Program. This is going to be from December 4th to 7th, and there will be all manner of specialists in attendance. Thirteen specialities are listed, and all or any island residents can make an appointment.

There are far too many for me to list here, but if you don’t read Greek, copy and paste this image into one of those new AI search bots and you’ll get a reasonable translation. Anyone interested will, though, have to use the app found at www.mykim.gr to book an appointment. If you don’t have a smartphone, you will be able to book via the KEP office at the Town Hall nearer the time. All services offered by these consultants and medical practitioners will be free. Now how’s that for an excellent health service?

Gosh. I didn’t realise I’d picked up so much info over one weekend stuck at a desk behind closed shutters, but there you have it. I hope it’s all reasonably correct.