Warm, Bills, Cards
So what’s new? Well, not a lot. As you can see from the photo, the amphitheatre in the harbour is coming along. I’m not sure how long it’s been like this, as I’ve not seen it for a while, but this is how it looked the other day.
Yesterday, I woke up around 3.30 to find the temperature in the courtyard was at 14 degrees. I was able to pull back the curtain in my office and open the shutters, ready to see some daylight later in the morning, and I didn’t need to put on the heating. Hopefully, we’re saving a heap on electricity bills this winter. On which note, I have now applied twice to have the bill put into my name. You can do this online now, and the process was simple. I was told I’d hear back in two days, but didn’t, so left it a week, and asked what was happening. I had another email saying I would hear back in two days and didn’t, so sent a third email after two weeks, and still didn’t hear anything. So, on Monday, I had another go through the website, uploaded the required docs and info, pressed the buttons and found myself at a different place than before. Hm, interesting… Anyway, I continued down that route, everything was accepted, and I had an email saying I would hear in two days. We shall see.
On the biometric front – the cards we have to have to replace our residency permits now we are third-country nationals, not EU citizens – I have read some people saying they had to make three trips to the police station to sort their admin. This, for people who have to travel from one island to another and maybe stay overnight because of transport links, is obviously going to be a pain in the backside, not to mention costly and potentially dangerous. I also read, though, that for us on Symi, we will only have to make two trips. As I’ve not heard anyone’s first-hand experience yet and this is all conjecture, I can’t say for certain. I know, though, that the office in Rhodes has now fully booked all its appointments to the end of May. If you’ve still not got an appointment, from June 1st, you’ll have to take potluck by turning up and joining whatever queue there may be that day. Luckily, we’re in before the end of April.
So, that’s my early morning ‘off the top of my head’ chat. I am now returning to edit chapter five of 23 with the whole book needing to be done by 14th. It’s a slow process involving a lot of thought and cutting, but it pays off in the end.
