Running Errands

As I set off down to Paphos this morning I was in a convoy.  Di two cars in front and one of her Fitty Friends in the car behind - off to Kalepia (and the new craft and coffee shop I think) and behind John with Rob off to the Gin Bar for coffee (they were going into the village but John could hear the unmistakable sound of funeral bells this morning).  It was a bright and glorious morning, the complete opposite to yesterday.  How wonderful I thought, that everyone else was going out to have a lovely morning - a coffee and a chat and I was off...

... to the customs office, mum's and the cardiologist.  I am clearly doing something wrong!  Before Christmas, in fact way back in November I had ordered John some replacement batteries for his Makita tools - even though now, thanks to Brexit, getting these things in is a complete nightmare and expensive they were still cheaper than we could get here so these were to be his Christmas Present.   The company (on Amazon) appeared to be in the UK but as it turns out were in China so I don't know quite what happened to the batteries but the first lot did not arrive at the shipping warehouse in the UK and then the second lot only arrived a week or so ago.  Anyway under all the new rules I had to go to Customs (which is in the same building as the Tax Office) and meet a guy called Harry from the shipping company and sign some sort of declaration for customs which would mean that when the batteries do finally arrive they will go through customs unhindered and then I will have to pay the shipping company for the shipping and all the taxes and duties.  John might get them in time for next Christmas.  Anyway parking around that building was its usual chaos and I eventually decided to go in the one where you pay 2 euros even though I only had the mankiest 2 euro coin known to man which I thought the machine might reject.  The paperwork was completed by Harry in the coffee shop which is where all sorts of transactions take place and then I had to go up to the 'man in the office' for him to peruse the paperwork at length and then stamp everything in triplicate.  Back in the car park I was mucho relieved to see that the barrier was up and not functioning so my parking was free!

I arrived at Mum's a bit earlier than I had anticipated so had a couple of hours with her before going to the cardiologist.  She was busy with a jigsaw.  Due to arthritis in her hands we have to try and get ones with big pieces and again I used to order from Amazon but now that is far too expensive so we have to rely on whatever Jumbos has in the children's section which means that the subject matter can be a bit simple.  Anyway it is good for her hand eye coordination and whiles away a few hours and gives us something to chat about.  I must go on a charity shop hunt to see if I can find any puzzles with larger pieces so that she can have some new ones to challenge her.  I did order a couple and got them sent to Ellen in the UK to go in her container but I don't know how long that will be before it arrives and clears customs.

I got to the Evangelismos hospital early - they have now cleared a large area opposite for additional parking so it was a doddle - there is now loads of room - previously you had to leave plenty of time to find a space.  Dr Agamenon is not renowned for his time-keeping because he is very thorough but I went in almost as soon as I got there which was a bonus.  He is pretty happy with the state of my heart, particularly as my stress-test was excellent - he is more concerned by whatever has been causing my allergic reactions because this in turn affects my blood pressure and my heart rate.  He has told me to continue on the betablockers for a while longer and wants to see me back in November unless anything untoward happens in the meantime.  

So I was on the road back home sooner than I had anticipated.  I had managed to do everything I had wanted to do save for getting some briquettes (which look like wood) to try in the wood burner.  It would appear that the cold winter has meant people have stocked up particularly as prices are rocketing and supplies of wood, pellets and briquettes are limited.  It is a good job we managed to get a delivery of wood from Christos in readiness for next year.  On the way home I noticed that fuel at the local garage in Kathikas was over 1.42 a litre - this will have a knock on effect with the price of gas so we need to stock up on that for the fire sooner rather than later.   

On the plus side it had been a glorious day with full sunshine and we had made a good amount of electricity.  Thank goodness for PhotoVoltaics!