Cretan Diary - Chapter 14 | ||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday - Bye bye RAV4 (Mike)September 29, 2009 I poached an egg for breakfast. Jenny complained that I didn't poach one for her. She obviously didn't see what I ate! It looked more like a very dead squid than an egg. Walked uphill to buy bread and milk. Déjà vu? Supermarket comes into view, just after the barking dogs. I tried to explain to him that I needed a telephone extension lead with twin sockets. I drew a sketch. He told me to come back later and discuss it with "Paul from England". It's not 9am and already the air is decidedly hot. The only clouds visible are out at sea on the horizon. My watch strap broke so we drove to Vrises where Jenny had her strap replaced last year. "Crreeasomai ena loorree kai mia batterreea parrakalo," I said, with confidence. (I'm getting the hang of this language.) The lady in the shop was extremely helpful. She fitted a new strap and charged me 10 Euros for it. Then she opened the watch to determine which battery it required. It was a CR2016 - the size of a Euro! She sent me to buy one from the toy shop across the road then fitted it for free. We walked to the veevleeopoleeo (book shop) where I bought a stapler and Jenny bought two pens and a childs "dictionary in pictures", which cost 24 Euros, but looks very useful. We'll learn a few new words from that. We returned home, with the air conditioning keeping us relatively cool in the car. The rented RAV4 had to go back today. Eleni kindly offered us the use of her little Hyundai Atos. How could we refuse? Jenny made lovely sandwiches for lunch. We drove to Eleni's house where Jenny received instructions on how to operate the controls of the Atos. Then she followed me to Kavros where I left the RAV4 and joined her in the Atos. It's rather cute. It goes and it stops. It goes up hills (just). The Aircon works. However, I'm looking forward to collecting the Peugeot 307 on Friday (albeit with trepidation). I don't suppose it'll be ready this Friday. I expect they meant Friday week or Good Friday. Jenny dropped me at the supermarket to discuss the telephone extension lead with Jill and her husband, Paul. He told me to try the large hardware store on the outskirts of Vamos. I followed Jenny on foot down the long hill to our house. Weather is beautiful. (Sorry.) I've just made a "snag list" for Georgios. This is how it looks at present:- PLUMBING There are 1 or 2 leaking pipe joints in the shed. We need 2 water filters. Bathroom shower door is broken. ELECTRICAL In the kitchen: The fan above the cooker is very noisy. The electricity socket near cooker is loose. PIR lamp outside kitchen does not work. MECHANICAL Faulty shutter bolt in the small bedroom. We need fly screens on toilet/bathroom windows. Wednesday, September 30, 2009 Awoke very early and remembered that I had to complete and upload my end-of-month newsletter for 13,000+ subscribers. I've been doing this for years but the readership recently doubled after word got round that I was a miserable old git. They must be a bunch of masochists. That done, I dragged myself up the hill to the supermarket to get bread while Jenny got the eggs from the 'fridge. I think the road is becoming steeper. Apparently, Crete is "listing" by about 2mm each year, like a slowly sinking ship. I sat down in the shop to get my breath, while Aspasia sympathised. "I also have problem weeth heels at my age," she said, encouragingly. I think she's a few years younger than I and I think she was saying "hills" and not commenting on my sandals. We chatted while she stocked shelves and cabinets, then served other customers. "You are not een a hurree?" "No, I've got all day. We're not going anywhere. HOLY SHIT! GILL'S COOKING EGGS FOR BREAKFAST!" I'd forgotten about breakfast. "SHE'LL KILL ME! Tha eethela ena psomi mavro, greegora, parakalo." (I'd like a bread loaf, brown, quickly please.) I texted Jenny "I'm coming, homest!" (How can Nokia's predictive text get the word "honest" wrong? Is there such a word as "homest"? Did the phone think it an appropriate contraction of "home, honest"?) I paid for the bread and ran. Luckily, it was downhill all the way to the house. I'll never moan about the uphill struggle ever again! (Well, not today, anyway.) After breakfast we received a message that Eleni would be coming around 10:30am to collect some movie DVDs that Jenny had offered to lend. We had over an hour to spare so Jenny "drove" us to Vamos in the little "Atos". We filled up the tank with 20 Euros worth of "ventseenee" then parked outside the large hardware store. As the nights are becoming colder, we looked at the row of wood-burning stoves outside and two shop assistants appeared from nowhere to offer advice. We gave our address and 'phone numbers and an assistant said she'd get an installer to contact us and arrange to call in to give us an estimate for installation. We went inside the shop and looked at bathroom fittings. Or rather, Jenny looked at bathroom fittings while I searched for a 'phone extension lead and "Schuko" plugs. Shortly after we returned home, Eleni arrived. She showed us her Apple "MacBook" laptop and checked that it connected to our ADSL wireless broadband signal. She said that she was due to meet Manoli, the carpenter, who had finally arranged to bring her the promised desk. He still hadn't 'phoned us with an estimate for our office furniture and kitchen table, so I asked Eleni to tell him simply to carry on and get it made because we're still tripping over boxes here. I don't want to wait too many "avrios". After she left, I spent an hour or two replying to emails while Jenny cooked lunch, which we ate outside with wasps buzzing around our plates. The weather is glorious, like yesterday. Later, I fell asleep on the bed, while Jenny did some gardening. It's a hard life. I awoke in time for evening dinner. Jenny made a nice tuna salad, which I ate with two slices of bread, in true Greek style. | ||||||||||||||||||
Chatted briefly with Aspasia (the owner). She told me the bread was late because her son, who collects it, had taken the excavator to refuel it. She had to go and left me with her husband who speaks no English.
