It seems that falling asleep is the order of the day as another person I know well admits to such a tendency. I was cooking and the heat was on. It got warm in the van and I’d just munched down a delicious Thai Green Curry from a paste kindly left for me by Ursula during her recent visit. And then I woke up! It was getting late – 22:15 so I felt it was an appropriate time to go to bed. I went on my nightly patrol to the loo and to the central kitchen to turn out the lights. As well as ‘toilet brush’ there appears to be no word for ‘off’ in Albanian. Each night, when I perform my final nocturnal loo-visit, I see the lights on in the kitchen and the men’s bathrooms. Remember that the ladies are locked and only I have the key. They are such a dozy bunch at times! But last night…all the lights were switched off!
The day dawned warmer and drier than I’d expected. We walked and ran without hypothermia or humidity and returned to the camping without incident. Stars were very few due to the abundance of those fluffy things in the sky. Dawn was a little late for the same reason. Only two more days and it’s all downhill to summer!
Paleochora, as you would expect, like Oxford Street, is bustling with Christmas Shoppers. There might have been a few more in Petrakis today but they all seemed to be buying vegetables. I was amongst them as I needed oranges, grapefruit and bananas. I also decided to stock up on nuts and a few raisins. You never know, I might get snowed-in and I’d hate to starve to death!
I decided to stack the wood in the storeroom, which has been annoying me for ages, in a more orderly pile and in a less inconvenient location. It has now been moved to the back of the storeroom and stacked neatly. Why is it that everything gets put near the door for everyone to fall over? I swept the floor and moved a couple of other things to reveal… more space!
As well as the storeroom I have vacuumed and mopped the van and the awning area. Nice not to have to have that familiar crunching of sand under the feet. Not that I’m barefoot in the van as I have my ‘van and decking’ shoes on. These shoes are not allowed off the decking so remain relatively clean. They also keep my feet warm.
A deputation of Albanians appeared outside my gate demanding hot water for the showers. I pronounced that the heater would be switched on at 17:00 providing hot water around 18:00. If you like it less hot, 17:30 should do the job. There was loads of hot water last night as I left the heater on for quite a while. Last night, the lights were off when I looked towards the men’s bathroom so I assume nobody wanted a shower but me. This evening my shower was plenty hot enough so I turned off the heater on my way back to the van.
A couple of support calls today. A laptop with a dodgy keyboard and a couple of EG ladies who were having problems with their VPN (Virtual Private Network). After some investigation on my part, I discovered a configuration omission somewhere on the BCM network. I replied to the last ticket I received from the IT company so hopefully, we should have some action around Easter. I didn’t say which year did I?
I went raving mad and continued my support of the Chinese economy by purchasing hanging water bowls for the dogs at night. The bedding tends to walk a bit and consequently always ends up in the water bowl producing a sort of green soup. The bowls will attach to the kennel or cage doors so will be off the floor and out of the hay. Also, one bowl will be designated to each sleeping quarters so no more swapping around of bowls for water and food. I seem to forget to take them out of the cages then go to get the food ready to discover the bowls are inside the compound. I then walk around, get the bowls, walk back, prepare the food and walk back again to give it to them.
Obi is lying exhausted beside me. A busy day in the same position interrupted by a manic forty minutes racing around the Promontory followed by food. It all conspires to wear a dog out!
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