Next year’s Symi calendar is now on sale. It can only be bought online from Lulu.com
Here’s a preview:
Wittering off
Wittering off
Yesterday’s short blog post was titled ‘wittering on’, and today’s, appropriately enough is ‘wittering off.’ That’s because I’ve decided not to keep this blog up to date so much from now on if I update it at all. There are several reasons for this, and the list is below. Mainly, I’ve been doing this since more or less every day 2005 in one form or another, and it was set up originally to promote the Symi Dream business. We’ve not had that since 2015 (or was it 16?) and since then, all I’ve been doing is wittering on and off about all manner of nonsense just for the sake of keeping the blog running. These days, things are different for me, and my time is spent, as you know, writing books in order to make a living. Writing a post here five times a week has become a distraction, and it doesn’t actually help me sell any books, so… As they say in USA TV-Land, ‘you do the math.’
I may make announcements here now and then and post them to the Facebook page, but if you want to follow life on Symi, then I highly recommend Adriana’s blog, and a search on Facebook for groups and pages with Symi in the title. There are loads of them with proper news and updates, information and useful things, plus regular images. These pages will stay up so you can look back through posts and photos, and the email address will stay active for a while at least, and I’ll be over on Facebook if you want me (inserts smiley wink). So, thanks for following all these years, and I’ll leave you with some of Neil’s photos, beneath which is a brainstorm list of my reasons for pulling back the reins on the blog.
If you want to know the reasons, I’m stopping this hobby after 16 years, here we go: Not much to talk about apart from what I am writing and the weather. Not many new or interesting photos to share, just snaps for the sake of it. I feel I have to take photos when I’m out and about. I’m constantly having to think of something to write. It takes from 20 to 40 minutes of my day to sort out, download pics and put up posts. I’m only giving rambling chit chat for the sake of it, and not much news about the island. These days, it’s not as easy to share the posts around social media; Facebook requires me to switch accounts, add a link and so on, whereas before, I could click a button on the post and it would be shared directly to the FB page. Now, it’s a pain I can do without. Then there are the enquiries that come in as if I were a travel agent, and other enquiries about the island asked as though I were an expert. I’ve started doing a BSL course, and I’d rather spend 30 minutes on that per day. I’m trying to make a living by writing books, and the fewer distractions I have the better. Oh, and I don’t get paid though it costs me money to host the blog. I could list other reasons, but mainly, the time has come to let it go.
Wittering on
Wittering on
Happy first of the month to you. Had rather a successful day in Yialos on Tuesday, collecting post and pottering about, having lunch at Meraklis, and later catching a cab back to the village in time for Neil to start work. I’m not saying it was hot, but…
It was pretty warm. It was also pretty quiet to start with but later, after the day boats arrived, things became busier, so hopefully, some shops did some business. And talking of business, I have to go and do some in Rhodes on Friday. Luckily we have plenty of boats and crossings to choose from, and there’s one back in the afternoon which isn’t too late, and which will suit me just fine.
I need to go back the following week too, to pick up my biometric card, a process which, for some people, has meat a two-hour wait on a staircase, and in this heat. This process has been relatively easy for most of us. Just imagine what it is like for refugees who, apart from anything else, don’t speak Greek and are not used to the way things work around here—two offices to visit, maybe more, 101 pieces of paper, forms to fill out, waiting, fingerprinting, no appointments so more waiting, being turned away when the office shuts, and ‘Come back tomorrow…’ Looking forward to that visit next week, not. Except I am, because once it’s done or once we’re turned away if we can’t get in to pick up a card (how long does that take?), then I’m off to find an 18th birthday present for our godson, so I shall be shopping with a purpose.
