I woke early and wriggled around for a little before getting up. The girls were outside fiddling around which is disturbing. They find it too warm inside so want to go out and lie on the sand under the trees. Can’t say I blame them. The likes of Oskar and Luis cannot be trusted to behave so have to be in regardless. So I got up and off we jolly-well… as someone used to say.
The moon was not competing with the clouds but is only around 66.66’% at present. Or around two-thirds if you prefer. It was warm so I abandoned my fleece with a pocket, clipped my phone to my shorts as well as the doggy remote. The torch, when unused, around my neck and biscuits in a pot in my hand. There were fewer mosquitoes it seemed today.
We lost Luis for a little while and I took the boys back after the second Plakaki visit. The girls and the thrower went for another walk as far as the Big Beach were I got Isabella swimming into the sea countless times. Whilst she was occupied, I threw the ball for Sasha who has got the hang of finding it and bringing it back. She even goes into the water after it but it’s early days yet as she’s still quite young. Once suitably knackered, we returned to the van whereupon I left for a trip to the bakery via Panorama and the usual route.
Following a little brain-training, I fed the dogs, made some tea and sat down to sort out some stuff. I’d not been doing it long when I received an enquiry from Maria about what to do with a new arrival. I’d seen Bona walking through the camping with some customers earlier and wondered why. It transpired Toni is unwell so unable to work today. Zoe went into Paleochora to buy CoVID tests so I’ll leave the reader to surmise…
The upshot was that I’ve installed three vans so far today. All in the middle of the camping as the bays have been filled up with unsuitable vehicles. A motorcycle and tent as well as two small car-derived vans, one in the 4m high motorhome bay. I suggested to Maria and Marisa they put anything under 3m in the centre of the camping seeing as there are no tents here for a while and we’re officially only prohibited from using the area by the beach.
Not that I should be bothered about it as it’s above my pay-grade but I feel for the punters. As I explained to Maria earlier, if we all just give up, the place will only get worse! Just a matter of manipulating the system.
During the intervening time, I went mad and ordered an air conditioner for the inside of the van. It’s a mini-split with the air-handler (head unit) inside and the whirry bits outside. There are portable units but they are horribly noisy, inefficient and require an elephant’s trunk to the outside. There’s not enough space inside as it is so a proper system seemed the best plan. It will provide efficient heating in winter too.
I intend to install it myself which, for the first unit, works out quite expensive but I’ll probably get another unit for the outside and most likely need to move or maintain the systems anyway. It makes sense to have a vacuum pump with vacuum gauges to measure refrigerant levels and general efficiency. I’d probably pay lots to have someone come just to evacuate the system and they’d probably insist on me buying the hardware from them too. I’m buying from a big box store which is miles cheaper than from an installer. In any event, for the warrantee to work, the system must be installed and maintained by a certified installer.
I watched a recent installation which required the removal of a redundant unit which needs proper disposal. The refrigerant gas should be recovered and returned to the gas supplier. I don’t have any confidence the gas was recovered but simply released into the environment – very naughty but quick and dirty!
The day has been very warm with a high over 30ºC for the first time this year. This has triggered the cicadas to start chirping so it will only be a matter of time before they all join in. I think nearly every dog went into the sea. The girls were in and out during both walks.
Over the weekend I have a printer to install in Haywards-Heath and start getting my head around moving websites for my Melbourne-based client, Barbara, who worked up the EG interim websites. She wants me to move all of her stuff over from Go Daddy hosting as they’ve fallen out. It would be good if Toni made a miraculous recovery but unlikely if he still has the plague.
It’s still 29ºC at 18:00 so this evening will be warm with plenty of mosquitoes. Air conditioning will mean I can close up the van, reducing the mosquitoes and control the temperature and humidity. This should result in a comfortable night’s sleep for all. Seems worth the effort as I have lots of electricity during the summer and it seems a shame to waste it.
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