Cold and Covid Vacs
Blimey. The temperature has dropped by at least 10 degrees in the last couple of days, and although the courtyard is registering 7° first thing in the morning, it feels a lot colder thanks to the north wind. Shutters are shut, curtains are up, and the heaters are on in the background, but blankets are required for TV watching, thermals and Aran jumpers for daywear, and as soon as I find where I put them, fingerless gloves will be a la mode for typing.
Yesterday, I went through the online process of putting our house electricity bill in my name to match up with the house contract. It used to be a complicated process and, although I never tried it, involved attending the DEH office in Rhodes with paperwork, bills, your landlord, his extended family and various other hard to find bits and pieces. Now, it’s a case of filling out some online forms, giving tax numbers and passport proof of who you are, the contract and bank details. Hopefully, in a couple of days, I will get a reply telling me what, if anything, I need to do next. I forgot to add the contract when I filled the form as my translation might not have been up to scratch, but I’ve now emailed that, so I wait to see what happens. The good thing about having the bill in my name is that it works with the contract, and everything is now linked through the online tax service. Not sure if that means the bill is deductible, but what it more importantly means is that I will have a utility bill in my name and address. That proof of address, I hear, is needed for getting the new biometric residency cards, which are another story yet to be told. Neil has the phone bill in his name.
We’re still waiting to hear what we need to do to get those cards organised, so if you’re on Symi and wondering, hold on a while longer as the officer in charge has said we’ll know as soon as he does. There is a rumour that, as with the Covid vaccinations, we will have to go to Rhodes to complete the process. What with inter-island travel banned for anything but medical emergencies, I can’t see a group of immigrants such as us being allowed to pop over for the day to exchange residency cards for biometric ones. I can’t see an island population of 2,500 or so nipping across to get a shot in the arm either, but again, we’re waiting to hear what’s happening about that.
Meanwhile, the kitchen table should be clear again soon as the Phantom is coming along, and I’ve almost finished. It’s not my best work, but it’s fun to do, keeps me away from the TV and makes a change from writing.