Cretan Diary - Chapter 1 | |||||||
The Prologue (by Mike)Jenny first mentioned her dream of living on a Greek island many years ago. I didn't consider it seriously since it was never going to happen; we simply couldn't afford it. However, after changing my job a couple of times then twice being made redundant, I started my own business and began to make some money. I got a bank loan and we had our house extended because a 3 bedroom house isn't big enough when you have a family of five. Then I bought a used Top-of-the-range car on Hire Purchase. A neighbour sidled up to me one day and asked if I'd won the lottery. He was serious! I hadn't but my business was doing really well. We were able to afford a week-long tour of mainland Greece. In subsequent years, we visited several islands, (not only Greek ones) including Tenerife, La Gomera, Mallorca, Cyprus, Kefalonia and Crete. We took Greek language lessons at a local college and, after a year, were able to read the Greek alphabet and speak a few phrases. I quit the lessons but Jenny continued and Carl (our youngest son) joined her. Jenny continued to dream about moving to Crete but I was unconvinced. We consulted a mortgage broker but failed to agree on a way to raise the money. The sale of our UK house seemed to be the only way but I was extremely uncomfortable with this. In the meantime, our two oldest sons had gone through a year of physical and mental punishment in order to join the Royal Air Force. The eldest was also married and both were now working on the same RAF base. We had two spare rooms.
 On May 5th 2009 we took the very first direct flight from Manchester back to Crete and our friend and agent, Eleni, together with an estate agent, Georgios, showed us other houses. Most were more expensive than we could afford and not to our taste. "Arthur's House" was at the top end of our budget and needed some renovation. The very last house we saw was also on offer at 150,000 Euros but was only four years old and needed only a little repair to damp walls and a re-paint. At first sight it was too small but Georgios suggested that the entrance porch could be glazed and turned into an office for me. That was the clincher so we expressed our interest. The following day Georgios called to say that another couple had offered 139,000 Euros for the house but, if we could offer 141,000 it would be accepted. We did so and the paper chase began. We used a lawyer recommended by Eleni who spoke Greek, English, French and Italian fluently. He took us on a tour of banks and notary public so we could set up power of attorney and apply for an additional small mortgage of 20,000 Euros before we had to come home. This loan was required purely to pay the various legal fees and not for the actual purchase. We made the provision of working broadband Internet a condition of purchase and Georgios was able to perform a miracle and get this installed only a few days after we returned home to England. So our Lawyer was able to complete the purchase on our behalf and everything went more smoothly than I could have imagined. The house has two storeys and is on a gentle slope overlooking the sea. It is in an exposed position which, allegedly, suffers from high winds and lightning storms. However, the view is to die for! It has pipework for central heating but no heating system apart from a couple of air conditioning units upstairs and one downstairs. Natural gas is not available on Crete and diesel oil is expensive. Calor gas is available but gas heaters create a lot of water vapour, which will make the house damp. So we need to consider our options carefully. A wood-burning stove is one possibility, to burn olive wood, which is a "renewable resource". The Preparations For the last two years I have been electronically scanning thousands of family photos, slides and negatives and correspondence going back to the nineteen seventies. I've also scanned hundreds of magazines going back to 1947, many of which belonged to my father, who died in 2000. They are all stored on a variety of Hard Disk Drives and optical discs so I can take copies with me. We bought a couple of dozen flat-packed cardboard boxes and filled them with possessions that we "can't live without", plus a couple of office chairs and a new satellite TV dish. As Apple Macs are very expensive (especially on Crete) I plan to take my G4 tower, on which I do most of my work, plus a couple of spare Mac Minis for emergencies. These take up very little room and can be stashed away on a bookshelf. Jenny also has a Mac Mini. I'm also taking a couple of Mac keyboards because they do wear out and are not cheap. In addition, I plan to take a scanner and a printer, which we can share. With two months to go, and not being certain of the cost or quality of dental care on Crete, I've had all my old amalgam fillings replaced and a couple of teeth crowned. Immediately after that was finished, another filling broke so I had it repaired and I'm due to have it crowned before we leave. I also had my eyes tested and my current prescription is fine. I'd been feeling increasingly unwell and began to suffer from tingling in hands and feet so, reluctantly, I booked an appointment with the doctor. My father and his father both died from diabetes so I was worried that this was the start of it for me. However, tests were negative and the doctor was convinced that I was suffering from stress. Since the diagnosis, I've felt better but I still seem to suffer from occasional "blood sugar crisis" - sort of a mixture of nausea and weakness - so I try to eat regularly and sensibly. For the most part, I avoid eating foods containing raw sugar, chocolate and caffeine - all of which cause me to suffer palpitations. Carl, our youngest son, will continue to live here and is beginning to "take ownership". He has already touched up the external paint work and his girlfriend is making plans to redecorate. Carl is "putting on a brave face" but is not totally happy about our leaving. Hopefully, our two older sons will visit him frequently and offer support. Carl hasn't found employment since leaving college so I will have to pay the mortgage, council tax and utility bills until he can afford to. This is feasible but leaves us with very little money to spare, so I hope it won't be for long. For many years we've had two telephone lines. One was originally for a fax machine but is now used only for broadband Internet. Clearly, having two lines is an unnecessary luxury for our son (who uses his mobile phone exclusively) so I have emailed a cancellation notification to BT. We need to look seriously at saving money now! Jenny's niece's eight year old daughter came to stay with us for a week. She is a delightful child and provided a welcome distraction in the final month prior to our leaving.
August 29, 2009 Yesterday we drove to a caravan site near Filey to say our goodbyes to Jenny's brother and family. I drove there and Jenny drove back. We were so knackered that we didn't awaken until 9am when the phone rang. It was Jenny's friend reminding her that they had planned a shopping expedition today. Jenny has driven them both in my (our) car. I went for breakfast with my friend, Terry, then we drove to Macro Warehouse in his van to buy a set of ladders. We'll need these in order to reach the flat roof of our new home. See photos September 2, 2009 Still clearing my office and trying to get rid of stuff without actually throwing away anything useful. I advertised a bunch of books and audiobooks on the local "Freecycle" email list. I had seven people ask for the "William" audiobook CDs (by Richmal Crompton). I emailed the first but (when eventually she replied) she couldn't collect before tomorrow evening at the earliest. I emailed her saying that I had to go to town right now so phone me and I'd drop them off whilst there. No call. I wanted rid so I emailed the second. She didn't reply. So I emailed all seven of them and said the first one to phone me and arrive on the doorstep could have them. So far I've had one response from a lady who is "far too busy with family" to come and collect. I feel disheartened. People expect a lot for "free". It's actually easier to sell stuff on eBay but it's too late for that now. At present my office looks as if a bomb has hit it. I think I'll bundle all these books into the car and drive to a local farm shop that sells second-hand books. They can have the lot. September 7, 2009 Time is running out. Only a week to go! Today I finished scanning some of my old school exercise books that turned up in a cardboard box in my office. One of them was over fifty years old! Since I hate to throw anything away, I have preserved them for posterity in the form of PDF files. Now I can finalise the rearrangement of my computers so that I can pack away my main one and, for the final few days, use my secondary (slower) computer, which will be left behind when we leave. I'm still anxious in case I forget to take vital files with me to Crete. I have bought two 500GB Firewire drives to go on the van and two tiny "Passport" pocket drives to hand-carry on the flight. Carl will (hopefully) scan any important mail and upload the files for me so I can read them the same day. If any letters need to be posted, we can reverse the procedure. I have just "recycled" some old electronics magazines. I really wanted to scan them, too, but I'm out of time. Aaagh! I have reduced my Vodafone contract to the minimum (£10 per month) so I can keep my mobile number and use it (rarely) on Crete. I'll check it occasionally for text messages. I plan to buy a new phone over there. As an Apple Mac user I feel that I ought to buy an iPhone but I can't possibly justify it - so I won't. Tomorrow I have a dental appointent to have a gold crown fitted; on Wednesday my final osteopath appointment for "routine maintenance"; on Thursday I see the doctor to get a polyp removed from inside my lip. | |||||||
