My already interrupted evening was further hindered due to excitement-fed stupidity on behalf of Isabella and then Luis. It was already late so I wanted to get everything done then get something to eat. I’d not sat down long before Isabella thought it a good idea to bark at a passing cat. There had already been more than enough barking so I put down my plate, went outside and awarded her the order of the bark collar. Shortly after, there was a nearby pussy disagreement which triggered Luis to stand by the van door and bark loudly. I put down my plate, went outside and gave him the same order. Peace continued through the evening and night until we passed through the gate for our Early Walk.
Having met no one yesterday, today was different. The Inke German woman from Anydroi arrived with her dog and a friend with his. We were on the point of embarking on our second Promontory walk as she pulled up. The dogs rushed over to her car with tails wagging even though they’d not met her before. Their dogs were unsurprisingly reluctant to leave the car despite coaxing from their owners. After a few moments, I led my lot away over the dunes to the Big Beach having agreed to use the west side of the Promontory down to the rocks. We made our way across the beach and were heading up the rocks when I noticed the Dead Sea bird had raised it’s head once more. I was delighted when Isabella relinquished this prize to allow me to consign it to the raging waters at the foot of the rocks. It was only then that I noticed Charlie who seemed to have discovered another part of the same bird. We continued on to the end of the Promontory arriving slightly ahead of the others. I kept the dogs close to me however Inke wanted to move them together so I let them meet up. Their two were still not very relaxed with the idea of meeting such an unknown large crowd so I led them off and we set off back to the camping.
Just as we were leaving the beach, I noticed the American Woman with Dexter (who is NOT an American PitBull) appear at the end of the road. I’d not seen here for several weeks but knew she was moving house. I let the dogs run to greet Dexter who, despite his size and breed, hid behind his mistress.
We spent an enjoyable thirty minutes on the beach with the dogs. Dexter wasn’t over keen to join the others preferring to stay close by and be petted by me. Eventually, we took them down to the sea where they swam or paddled.
It was good to encounter other people with their dogs and not have the whole event degenerate into a chase or aggression. There was only a small amount of button pressing as the situation was mostly handled by instructions alone.
The dogs were naturally tired following the prolonged walk and meeting other dogs. Not that it’s the first time they’ve met with Dexter. I wonder if this new-found tolerance for other dogs has come from their acceptance of The Rug.
I abandoned ideas of starting the DDs due to the lateness of the hour and set off to ride my bike up Panorama and around Paleochora. I ended up swimming off Alonaki under a large grey cloud. The sea was smooth and warm so it was quite enjoyable.
I released and fed the dogs, made tea and then got on with mixing up some dough as I’d eaten more of the loaf than I’d expected. Then it was the turn of the DDs.
I was disturbed from my relaxation by Michael coming to say there was no Internet. I’d been busy with other things so was unaware. I traced the problem back to the COSMOTE router to discover it had been reset. Under normal circumstances, this would be unnoticeable however I reconfigured the external router to talk to the internal network. The reset had erased my configuration. I borrowed Maria’s laptop and sat drinking ice tea working out what configuration changes I’d made from the standard settings. It was still only around midday, the dogs were tired so I was in no rush. If the camping is without Internet for a while they’ll appreciate it more when it’s back.
Maria returned from catching up on lost sleep to relieve Michael who now needed a nap too. I left at this moment as I’d been away for a good couple of hours. All was silent when I opened the compound gate and not a dog stirred to greet me.
What remained of the day passed quickly as I had some emails to answer and a support call from Colin from Haslemere who I’d not spoken to in years. His wife had a sluggish laptop which required some attention.
The DDs are now processed, the bread almost baked, beetroot have been cooked and the Doggy Rice is almost ready so we’re good to go. This evening, I plan to make up for yesterday and not have to rush around looking at cameras, the sous-vide cooker in the kitchen or anything else.
I was about to serve the DDs when I received a call from Michael who was alone in the receptions. A horrid whistling noise emanated from the fire control panel behind his desk. This system has not worked since my first visit in 2011 but has recently been put back into service. Only a small amount of time passes before there is yet another fault event requiring a reset. I suggested he remove the backup battery connection and the main power and leave it for thirty minutes. If it keeps happening, call the installer. It must have cost more in installer visits that it would have to replace the controller. I used to install these things so I know.
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