The morning air was quite fresh but it seemed very dark possibly as we seemed to make record progress and were ahead of ourselves. Kostas and Skinny had a love-in whilst the others concentrated on making progress. Skinny is always ahead of the pack as I can see his green light far off in the distance as we walked the beach to Azzuro.
There was a good number of vans on the beach road and a couple of small tents behind the Big Rock as we discovered on the second walk. We completely missed them on the first or perhaps the dogs found them and said nothing.
On the second walk down to Azzuro, the dogs still had their lights on and there was someone sitting at the top of beach petting Skinny with Sasha and Obi not far away. They all seemed happy together so I left them to it.
The girls were racing around as we walked back, in and out of the sea and along the beach. They seemed to be enjoying the slightly cooler air, quite noisily at times. They still had plenty of energy when we went out again. This time they had a few fishermen to amuse them including the Parrot Fishermen on the west side as we were walking back.
I searched for Ethernet connectors then went down to the bar to change one of the cable ends just in case that was the cause of the ongoing camera fault. There is still a poor connection so I took down the camera and left it on top of one of the fridges on a different cable to test the switch and the port. The camera looks across the bar towards the fan and has been whirring around each time I’ve looked at it today. Tomorrow, I’ll put a new cable in and replace the original camera. A nice job for a Sunday morning.
I went to Anatoli for a loaf and then to Petrakis. On the way, I passed a car which someone had tried unsuccessfully to park up a lamppost. The car was stuck up the bank by the pumping station at the entrance to Paleochora and the lamp post isn’t looking so well. I didn’t hang around in Petrakis as it was busy and made my way back for a quick swim form Alonáki Beach.
A number of people were swimming as it was around 09:45 by now. There were some waves but pushing towards the shore. I didn’t swim for that long as I had the dogs to feed and the DDs to make.
I did the DDs first then fed the dogs. They waited patiently as I got on with it. The day was beginning to warm up so I was glad to sit down with a cup of tea after a quick shower.
I received a phone call from an unknown courier company to say that my Amazon order from the US would be delivered. It’s the two bottles of Nylog which is the go-to HVAC joint sealant for Americans. They have suppliers in UK but the ones I tried wanted over 30€ just to ship and then 20€ for the product! Added to this there would be customs charges and it would take forever. I paid 50€ for two bottles including shipping. I have more than enough jointing compound. Just a question of keeping track of it. I notice the torque accessory and the open-ended spanners are not that far away too. Somewhat quicker delivery than the projected ‘end of August’ forecast.
I’d picked up the package from reception having dropped Marisa a message on Viber. She took over from Maria at 15:00 so I went up to pet Kira and give her the cardboard envelope to destroy. It kept her amused for a long time but Marisa will have lots of little bits of chewed up cardboard to dispose of later.
The afternoon seemed quite warm so the dogs were doing very little. In fact, I found myself asleep at 16:50 so leapt up to put on the doggy rice which is now cooked and quietly absorbing water. It’s amazing just how much water the rice will absorb. One cup of rice will absorb four times the volume of water. Great for the dogs as it makes them feel full with the added bonus they are well hydrated so don’t drink loads of water. I’ve noticed how little water they are drinking compared to when it was very hot. Me too for that matter.
I watched an interesting YouTube presentation by a well known American cardiologist. I’d seen him interviewed elsewhere. I was attracted to the presentation because the title mentioned fasting. I began to do intermittent fasting last summer when the weather was hot and have been doing it ever since. I thought I’d probably stop during the winter as I’d feel too hungry when the weather was colder however that was not the case. Consequently, I’ve continued and found that quite a few others use IF or multi-day fasts too. As yet, I’ve not tried a multi-day fast, except whilst ill, although I know that Sandra and Sonja do a five-day fast about every six months.
The main thrust of the presentation was that human beings are not designed to do the amount of eating we currently do. That many of the modern illnesses result from excessive consumption of sugar, salt and saturated vegetable oils. That we should avoid heavily processed foods and even eat fruit moderately too. The rationale being that modern fruit has been gradually modified to be bigger, juicier and sweeter.
Another important takeaway was that we are under constant pressure from ‘society’ and most notably the food industry to keep consuming. There is also a drive to provide convenient foods which require little effort to prepare if any. Pop it in the microwave for a few minutes or just add boiling water to produce a delicious meal with little effort, cost and time. All very well and good but human beings are not adapted to consume the quantities of sugar, salt and oil contained in these ‘foods’. Furthermore, they are generally cheaper than fresh produce with almost no effort in preparation!
Walking down the high street of many towns it’s hard not to find a fast-food outlet of some kind. The ubiquitous fish and chip shop has been the traditional staple now joined by pizza eat-in or takeaways, Chinese, Indian, Thai or Korean takeaways too. I recall the pavement outside the local kebab shop was always swimming with grease and littered with the salad served with the kebab. When food is relatively cheap, easy and tasty, it’s all too easy to ‘dine’ out or get a takeaway after a busy day or treat the kids to a ‘meal’ at MacDonalds or Burger King. During my days of commuting, I remember watching people racing towards the barriers munching on their burgers and chips. Lovely for the people in the same compartment as they travelled home.
The problem is that to break away from societal convention takes effort and will-power. After all, it’s easier to conform. For many people, it’s only when they become so unwell as the result of poor diet and lack of exercise they go to the doctor and may be pointed in the right direction. However, considering the amount of time given to nutrition during a doctor’s training, you’re more likely to receive medication to counteract your high blood pressure or type-two diabetes. The added bonus being it’s just a matter of ‘keep taking the meds’ without having to bother to change one’s lifestyle. It’s only when people are really up against it they’re forced to make an effort to find an alternative. Or it’s too late altogether and they just die…
The bottom line is that many of the most common modern ailments to affect Western Society are the result of poor diet, excessive consumption of sugar, fats and salt, lack of exercise and refined foods. After all, once you get to sixty, you’re most likely to be taking some medication or other for the rest of your life. Effectively, lifestyle-related ‘diseases’ which most of us know what they are. However Big Pharma is delighted you, the health service or your insurer is going to continue to buy insulin or blood pressure medication from them for the remainder of your life… So you’re trapped – unless you wise-up and break free!
The dogs are impatiently awaiting their food which I’ve yet to process even…
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