Plumbing Challenge

It’s Monday, and we’ve started with a mildly blustery day. The Blue Star came in at around five, and I thought of those who were due to catch it because they must go to Rhodes for the first of three appointments to get their biometric residency permits. If only they could be done here on Symi! It’s not so much the cost, as the Bule Star is that that costly, but arriving in Rhodes at six in the morning for an appointment that shouldn’t last any longer than 20 minutes is a trial. That done, you’ve got to wait until the return boat in the evening, with more or less everything shut and in a deep red zone… When I am due to go in April, there is, currently, a morning Blue Star but no return boat until Wednesday. I’ve not checked the Stavros sailings yet, but it might mean a two-night stay to add to the cost and possible danger. I’m hoping I’ve had at least one vaccination by then, but who knows?

We also need to have our annual health checks done. We usually do these in February or March to avoid the pre-season workers’ rush, but that’s not going to happen this year, not until later, possibly. As for today, my plans for the week are to turn my hand to some light plumbing. The bathroom sink needs its pipe cleaned out, and there’s a permanent drip from a washing machine feed tap that we don’t use. (The washing machine is in the other part of the house, and I plumbed that in myself. Well, I stuck a pipe onto a tap and plugged it in.) The sink waste pipe is one of those flexible things, and it’s never been properly fixed into the wall, so that should be easy. The plan is to take it out of the wall, fiddle about with it and flush the gunk out into a bucket. That done, it shouldn’t be too hard to refix into the wall, maybe with a little filler if I am feeling adventurous, and then all should be well. I’m fed up with using the plunger on it at five in the morning, only to free it but have it slow-drain again a few days later. Knowing my luck, it will all go horribly wrong, and I’ll have to call someone. I am to DIY what the yUK government is to giving pay rises to nurses.

I am building up the confidence to attack the washing machine tap as that, to me, has no discernible way of detaching from the wall. I mean, I can’t see a nut, and as I only own three adjustable spanners and a blunt screwdriver, who knows what will happen? I’ve tried fixing the drip with silicone – messy, but it has stemmed the flow – but it looks like a complete transplant will be needed. As the tap is ‘live’, it also involves turning off the pump, emptying the pipe, trying to get the tap from the wall without damaging the pipe, finding a replacement tap, attaching it with my spanner, and hoping for the best. I’ll see how the sink adventure goes first. If you were wondering why I have three adjustable spanners, the answer is, I have no idea. They multiply in our house like coat hangers. So, wish me luck, and I shall report back on the progress of this, the most exciting thing to happen in our bathroom in the past several months.

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Nearly a year already

A year ago today, we spent our last day in London before flying to Canada for our trip across the country by train. (I blogged about it towards the end of last year in day-by-day style if you want to search or scroll to find the full story.) Hard to believe it’s a year already. In a few weeks, it will be one full year since I was last off the island. To be honest, I’m looking forward to having to go to Rhodes for my 1^st meeting about my biometric residency card, not because I want to travel until things are safer, but just to see some different scenery. The appointment is necessary, before you say anything, and all British residents have to do it, else lose their right to live in Greece. So far, from what I’ve heard, it’s all going reasonably well for us here on Symi, but people on other islands and in other parts of Greece are having a hell of a time since the B-word kicked in. I’m not due to go until the end of April, so restrictions may be different by then, and Rhodes may be safer than it currently is (which, compared to other parts of the world, is still incredibly safe), and, the way things are going with vaccinations, they may well have got to us under 60s by then too, which will help.

Meanwhile, talking of a change of scenery, here are some spring photos from around the island.

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Lockdown Deep Red

(Not a new feature film starring Gerrard Butler, apparently.)

If you’re outside Greece, you may not have heard that Rhodes and surrounding islands that fall under its jurisdiction are now in the ‘deep red’ zone. This is because of the increase in cases nationally and, in the case of Rhodes, locally. This means Symi is also in the deep red zone, though there are yet to be any reported cases of you know what on the island. Schools have gone back to online learning. You can only venture two kilometres from your home for shopping or walking and must stay local. Masks are compulsory in the street and in the shops that are allowed to open. At least, that’s the theory. (It seems appropriate today to post some photos of gates and bars.)

Future walks in this clear, but sometimes chilly spring weather will have to be local, so no more wandering to the hinterland, and we will continue to be cautious when we are out for shopping or essentials like the bank and pharmacy. Sadly, not everyone is so good. The other day, I took a walk around the village lanes. I passed very few people at first, but after fifteen minutes of solitude among the ruins, taking paths to nowhere, I unexpectedly bumped into someone in that classic comedy film fashion. We met at a blind corner and took each other by surprise at close quarters, resulting in two exclamations of ‘Oh!’ followed by a shared laugh. Luckily we were both wearing masks over both nose and mouth; otherwise, we would have shared breath at less than two feet from each other. Later, coming down the main village lane past the shops, I saw several more people, none of whom showed any sign of wearing a mask, nor even carrying one.

Okay, so if you’re on the hillside or wandering an open road and there’s no-one about, maybe it’s acceptable to wear your mask beneath your nose, it’s hard to breathe otherwise, and if you wear glasses, it can be dangerous when your lenses steam up. But, in the street, with people coming in and out of the bakery, or in blind alleys when you don’t know who’s around the corner, and certainly inside the supermarkets, well, not wearing a mask there is just plain stupid. It’s certainly disrespectful. ‘But we have no cases on the island,’ some people complain. ‘As far as you know,’ I reply. ‘But we can’t go to Rhodes, so we’re not going to get it.’ Well, you can go to Rhodes with permission for medical reasons, and while you’re there, who’s to know if you pop to a large store or visit family? Huh. Not impressed by those who do. Also, through no-one’s fault, it’s possible the ‘thing’ can come ashore here via the innocent and necessary act of meeting supplies from the boat. A crew member who regularly meets people from Rhodes to Patmos and back could easily pass it on to someone here picking up supplies for their shop. You just don’t know. And let’s not talk about some of the hawkers who have, somehow, been allowed to travel between the islands to sell their wares – they are few and far between, but one is enough.

Anyway, I wasn’t here to be sceptical or moan, and I’m not moaning. I’m just pointing out that if others don’t care about themselves or you, the island’s future trade and tourism, and think every mask is contaminated with a microchip and every vaccine too, well, that’s up to them. It’s also up to the police to police it, and they have been doing that, I hear. By the way, what’s the point of saying there’s a chip in your vaccine when you’ve already got one in your invaluable phone far more powerful than anything you could pass through a syringe? Hey ho! On a positive note, the KEP office asks people over 60 to ring and confirm their details so they can get the first jab, hopefully, this month.

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Water

Water is today’s theme for photos. It is not rainwater, but the sea, and here are some photos to show you how calm and clear the sea around Symi can be. It can also be rough, and there are days when you can see the breakers crashing onto the rocks of Nimos, and there are times when the sea floods the harbour. That’s usually when it’s a high tide, a full moon or when the drainage system has clogged up. On those days, you have to take a detour to get from one side of the harbour to the other via the backstreets. There are other days when the tide washes all manner of things up to the bridge, and you are compelled to hold your nose as you pass. On other, calmer days, though, and on most days, we have scenes of calm, where you can see through to the seabed, especially along the shoreline. So, a few shots follow to show you how clear the sea has been of late around Symi shores.

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Early Spring on Symi

How about some spring flowers, fresh from Symi and delivered straight to your screen? Well, here you go. These are some of Neil’s photos, as you can tell by the artistic quality. I can also let you into a little secret. He’s started putting together images for next year’s Symi calendar. I know it’s early in the year, but if he doesn’t start now, he’ll end up with thousands to sort through later in the year, and the thing will never get done. Perhaps some of these images will appear on it. I’m sure, if you have any requests for what you’d like to see on next years’ calendar, you could drop him a line through the Symi Dream Facebook page.

Enjoy a view of early spring on Symi.

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