Just as I was about to spring from my bed just before five, there came a pattering on the roof. A brief exploration of the weather forecast showed that earlier would be better than later so I dressed and I prepared the dogs to leave. The rain stopped so off we went.
It was not overly warm but there was no wind and the sea was calmer so we went over the rocks and back towards Plakaki. The sea and river are still not communicating so we arrived at Plakaki without incident. Isabella needed recharging, at least her collar did anyway. I think I might know why that collar runs out before the other. There’s a little connection problem when it’s charging.
Other than a little dampness towards the end of the walk, it was mostly dry. Very cloudy and quite uninspiring however.
The dogs were very keen to get back into the van so I fed the cats then took Isabella for another walk around the Promontory as the weather deteriorated.
We were not back long when it started to rain which curtailed my trip into Paleochora to order gas for the customers. Those staying for longer have decided to get Greek gas bottles as it’s difficult to refill their own. It seems that each country or even some providers have a different way of attaching the bottles to appliances. A few of the German customers took the precaution of arming themselves with a set of European brass adaptors so that they could use local gas bottles as they travel. One of the customers plans to remain in Greece for a while so has chosen to keep the bottle, the other two are returning them when they leave the camping. I’m being a good sport by arranging for gas to be delivered for the customers.
I was quite busy with phone calls and support requests. Strange mail messages are arriving at LBS and Louise at EG needed help with synching files. She and Pat have only a further two workdays or so until they leave EG although their official finish date is in January so they can use up their holiday allowance.
I also tried out a VOIP phone service and will port my UK mobile number to this service so that I can make and receive calls for a fixed monthly fee. I’ve said goodbye to O2 after many years. I changed to O2 when I moved to Tyndalls. I’ve yet to hear from Cosmote…
I tested the new phone service with a call to Sport Dog as I needed to pay for the new remote I want for the Doggy Collars. The nice lady is in Ireland and comes from Dundalk so we had something in common. She asked me about Crete so I told her about the dogs and cats. She decided to give me a 50% discount on the order for being such a nice chap! As well as the remote, she’s bundling the charger and I asked for a couple of their locator beacons which fit onto the collars, are waterproof and flash for 200 hours on one battery. Skinny and Isabella can have those to try out as they’re the most likely to go into the sea and rag around.
The day was generally grey and miserable as well as cold. There was some sunshine from the south but rain was blowing over the mountains from the north. Finally, all the dogs went inside the van as did I and we jointly declared the day as over.
That was until Georgia called me just as I was in the middle of feeding the dogs. She was unloading firewood to the Common Room with Tony and wanted to pay me for the equipment I’d bought for the camping; the new network switch and the meters. I discovered that she is having to look after Martha as the lady who usually cares for her has gone back to Albania to regularise her immigration status and become a temporary Greek resident. She can become a permanent resident after five years.
We had a conversation where I tried to explain the advantages of metering the electricity and now I’m commanded to purchase another ten meters. From now on, motorhomes will always pay via meter even during the summer.
The dogs eventually got fed, I retired with them inside and had something to eat and then an early night as it was cold and I felt tired.
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