Village walk

We’ve gone from being six degrees to 16 in a matter of a couple of days, which means we’ve been able to open our shutters again and enjoy the views, and it means we’ve been able to go out for a walk without having to wrap up in five layers. I went to Yialos yesterday to check for post and didn’t need a jacket. The walk back up the steps was slow and steady, being the first time for a long time, but I managed it without stopping. (Didn’t need to wear the thermals either, so it was a bit of sauna treatment too.) The wander we had around the village the other day came with some extra added delights. Sheep leading the way to the Castro at one point, a friendly neighbour attending to his tree gave us a lemon each, and we were able to sit outside the café afterwards with a reward. All in a day’s wandering.

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Machine in charge

Having one of those ‘phone’ days. Today, it’s suddenly not being recognised by my laptop, which means I can’t easily download the photos I took yesterday, make them smaller for the web and then upload them to here. I’m currently looking into why my phone or laptop has decided to do this and will try and get some down from cloud storage, so you’ve got something to look at, then I’ll probably waste my morning trying to fix this problem, while also popping down to the post office while Neil has his Greek lesson. If there are photos below this, you’ll know I’ve managed to get some off the phone, which is still unrecognised by the machine that recognised it yesterday… Don’t you just love technology?

[Ps. I managed to download from up there to down here and will now figure out why my phone, apparently, does not exist…]

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Spam

The first thing I do each morning when I sit down to work is go through my Mailwasher email filter thing and delete spam before I download the one or two genuine emails to my computer. The other 50 or so go in the bin, but I do check the titles out of morbid interest, and to make sure real messages haven’t been spammed out. So, in today’s collection, we have all manner of alarming and interesting things to consider.

I am congratulated on making a payment of $678.00 to a company I’ve never heard of, I can buy front row tickets for ‘Pretty Women’, a stage show I assume and if so one I don’t want to see (what happened to originality in musical theatre?), Valentines gifts for her! With an exclamation mark as if that meant anything – still wondering who ‘her’ is. I can save on car insurance for a car I don’t have, and buy a coronavirus mask while stocks last, or consider an advert for ‘Potent VegMelted Diabetic Fat,’ which I think I might decline. Then, I can order a romantic teddy bear made of roses (and pay €15.00 import duty at the post office if it’s from outside of the EU, no thanks), and there’s a note from the Shark Tank Investors who apparently love miracle weight loss, as would we all. Oh, I’ve made another payment in Indianapolis of $164.00; news to me. I can check my blood pressure anywhere (I know, I do, thank you), and do you know ‘She dropped 25lbs without a thyroid?’ No, I’d never heard of it either, but if you show me the music, I’ll vamp it for you. And as for ManPlus ‘special’ tablets, well… I’d find that a bit hard to swallow.

And thus, my inbox despammed before I download the two genuine emails, I shall continue with the rest of my day.

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Cold and postage

That was the coldest weekend so far this winter, surely? Down to 5 degrees in our courtyard on Saturday and Sunday with a strong north wind, clear skies and ice on puddles. The workhouse (the section of our house where the study is) is one chilly concrete block this morning and my fingers hurt. I’m wearing thermals, t-shirt, Aran sweater and a woollen cardigan on top of that, hat and gloves and viewing my screen through clouds of condensation breath. The heater is on but takes a while to make a difference, and it’s tempting to stay in the sitting room next door under the blanket with the other heaters on, as they were all day yesterday. But I’m not doing that, there are things to be done. Lots to do this morning, and Neil’s going to Yialos to see the dentist and check the post office as we’re expecting our holiday documents any day now. On which note, check out the news; the Greek post office has said that recipients of parcels from non-EU countries now have to pay a €15.00 fee to the Greek Post in order to receive their package. The story is here: https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2020/02/09/greece-post-parcels-non-eu-fee/

Well, that’s going to make ordering from abroad more tedious. I use Amazon Germany or France when ordering items I can’t get here. Otherwise, I use Greek sites, but if someone’s sending something in the post from the yUK… Well, bear in mind the person at this end might not be able to afford to collect it or want to pay the charge.

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Symi Saturday Photos

This weekend’s collection of images is pretty similar to most other images I’ve been putting up lately because this is about all I’ve seen of late. (The more interesting ones are Neil’s who’s been further.) We went for our once-a-week night out last night. Just down to the Rainbow for a couple of hours for a change of scenery and catch up on the news with Yianni (not a lot, as it turned out). Then back home with all shutters closed against the north wind. Today it’s all about staying in and progressing the next story, trying to keep warm and maybe watching that travel programme that showed a clip of Symi. I’ve been reading mixed reviews. Well, not so much mixed as blended, and not in a nice way. Will take a look later.

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