I’m having one of those days when I think it’s the day it isn’t. Today is not Saturday, it’s Friday, but I’ve been pottering around thinking, ‘I need to do my Jackson Marsh blog this morning,’ as I do every Wednesday and Saturday, only to realise I’m on the wrong day. Oops, better witter on about something vaguely relevant to the Symi Dream blog…
Luckily for me, Neil is now in the habit of going to Yialos most days of the week to do his gym thing and pick up anything that’s needed from the shops, bank, post office and other amenities we don’t have up here, and while he’s there, he takes some quick photos to share with you. Yesterday, as you can see, we had a cruise ship come in and float about all day while its lifeboats ferried passengers to and fro, and people explored the range of closed tourist shops, the few open tavernas, and the many open cafés. Neil met a couple on the bus who were heading up to explore Horio, and that’s always good to see because although there’s not a huge amount of shopping to be done up here, there is a lot to see and experience.
Talking of shopping, I’ve been having a tricky time trying to get a package from Germany. I ordered something back on the first of October, and it was sent by courier. The DHL service comes with tracking, so I kept an eye on it all the way from a place with sixteen syllables to Athens, and the depot there. Not long now, I thought on October 16th when it was logged as in the country/destination area of delivery. I waited, and waited, and checked the tracking… the shipment was processed on the 16th, and again on the 19th (twice), and on the 25th, the tracking told me it couldn’t be delivered. We often get a courier message like that, and usually, it means the delivery is with the local agent, but in this case, apparently not. The DHL message said they couldn’t find my address and the thing would be sent to the nearest post office. Perfect. Then, on the 31st, and again on the 1st of November, the shipment was in a parcel centre. No idea where. On the 7th it was being returned to sender because of an ‘address error,’ and on the 15th was on its way back to Germany, where it arrived on the 16th.
Meanwhile, I’d contacted the seller, but heard nothing. I’d tried to find my way through the maze which is the DHL ‘contact us’ process, one which insists on sending you back to where you started every time to think you’ve found the contact form, and I’d contacted the seller a second time. Today, I wrote again and asked about getting a refund. We shall see. If all else fails, I will have to phone them, but using the phone is something I hate doing more with each passing day, and I’m not sure whether I’ll get anyone who speaks English, because I certainly can’t speak German. There again, if that’s all I have to worry about…
Anyway… Off into the ‘weekend.’ Having thought today was tomorrow, I find myself with an extra day, although I haven’t, and I have no plans after this evening apart from working, writing, and possibly rummaging about upstairs to find the duvet. Still, no need for the heaters to go on, but we’re getting closer as the northerly breeze brings down the temperature. Now, I should go and prepare my author’s blog for tomorrow in case I wake up thinking it’s December or something, so have a good weekend.
