It’s a result
Well, a few results, and all good. I am wittering on about our recent health check-ups here. As you may have read, we went too Euromedica the week before last to have our annual MOT’s done under our AXA policy. The results were ready a couple of days later, and our insurance agent friend called in to pick them up for us. She and her husband came to Symi on Friday for a visit to Panormitis on Saturday, and we met up first on Friday night, where she gave us our large envelopes at the bar.
Yiannis had been away that day, so Neil was there for an 11-hour shift, and we’d stayed behind for a swift one before heading home – but that’s another story. Yiannis had his results from his check-up with him, and the three of us sat and went through them all comparing numbers. He was also able to explain what each one was, although, having been through these things so many times before, we had a good idea. One of the handy things about the blood test results is that they not only show you what your levels are, but what they should be. There’s a lower and a high number to the side of each one, so it kind of reads, ‘This result should show between 78 and 120’ or whatever is appropriate to that test. All of ours were well within limits, my sugar and cholesterol were lower/better than last year, our PSA results are good and low, as are other kinds of fats and acids, the chest X-ray is clear and we’d have the A-okay from the cardiologist at the time when we were wired up to her machine. Of course, if we were unsure about anything, we would take the information to the local GP and seek a professional opinion; we might do that anyway.
I have to admit, I was surprised mine were so good, after the excesses of Christmas which seem to have run on until at least yesterday. I blame the cold weather; it’s not the weather yet for regular walks (I managed three last week), with strong, cold winds, and it’s more like the weather for staying in with ‘one last bar of chocolate before the diet’, a practice which has been running since about last November. Oops. I reckon it’s because we drink so much water – I know, wine is also involved, but even that is counteracted slightly by the three + litres of water we each drink per day even in the winter, and sometimes four or more litres each day in the summer. So, there was good news on the health checks, and that was followed on Saturday but further good news.
I hope I’m not boring you; I know people find these kinds of living-in-Greece details interesting. Our wonderful agent, Tsambika, from AXA, Rhodes, had told me that if I had a second policy with the company, I would receive a discount on my health cover, so we discussed contents insurance. We’ve been thinking about this for the last 16 years, but it’s one of those things that slips your mind, especially when you live in a place with hardly any crime, but it’s still something we ought to have. Long story short: our rented property is 100 square meters (the insurance is worked out according to square meterage whereas in the UK we’re more used to talking about number of bedrooms as the defining factor), and the cover will cost €75.00 for the year. That’s for every kind of cover you would expect apart from loss of cash and jewels, which can be insured too if you have a fixed, secure safe to keep them in. You can also add items over a certain value (which we don’t have, our most expensive thing is the piano, and that doesn’t come up to the limit). The point is, any day now our contents will be properly insured, it’s not going to cost much, and the discount against my main health insurance bill works out around 50% of the cost of the contents insurance. So, finally, peace of mind for my knickknacks and it’s only going to cost €36.00 for the year, in effect.
There you go. That’s the update on that. There will be more news during the week, but a few highlights: the Painting Group are here for their early season stay, the wind has been from the north, and it’s been bloomin’ cold – but it will soon be at least 35 degrees for a few months, there are more day-trippers about now the Panagia Skiadeni has started trips again, and from today we are in Great Week, building up to Orthodox Easter this weekend.
