11 replies to this topic

[Dinny]

I SAID that the most important thing to get fixed as soon as I got here would be the internet connection. No internet, no work.

Lucky for me it took two weeks to get it fixed (not Crete's fault, it could have been up-'nd-running the day after I came here just by buying the right phone cable, installing the modem which was already in my PC, and buying a phone card for access to the internet. But I mean LUCKY FOR ME 'cause at least I had two weeks of 'dolce far niente' (italian saying for 'sweet doing nothing'), enjoying the fact that I had arrived, enjoying exploring my little house and start cultivating my 2 square meter garden that comes with it, getting reacquainted with my grandchildren, what two great weeks it have been!

As soon as I got the internet running, work discovered my hiding place, and I had to face four days of heavy work. Meaning, no long breakfast in the terrace with delightful reading - just a quick cup of coffee, no breakouts to Matala to see what the kids were doing, no getting off to Mires to buy this or that.... just work! :cry: I can assure you, this is VERY difficult in Crete! I've never had that much self-discipline, which explains why yesterday instead of working most of the day, I got caught up with a thriller I just couldn't put aside (Night-time Is My Time by Higgins Clark) and spent most of the day in the terrace, enjoying the air, the sun and occasionally checking that the sea was still right out there when I looked up.

I DO appreciate though, and very much so, that I have no wake-up-call, I don't need to be in the office by 8 am, nobody is bossing me around, and all it takes to catch up on the hours spent in the sunshine yesterday is that I'll have to work most of the night today to meet my deadline tomorrow morning. :?

I LOVE CRETE
But it's no place to work

[Kritsa Yvonne]

Hi all

I am in an internet cafe whilst the guys are watching paint dry (the Test match - it seems like it might be quite important)

I can totally agree with Dinny about how hard it is to work - I do have some with me but as I have to rely on getting to an internet cafe I have even less inclination - perhaps in October when our visitors have gone???

So far I can report that Agios Nikolaos, the beaches at Istron, Agia Fotia and Tholos, the market at Iraptera, Katharo and Lassithi Plateaus etc are still there - we will continue to ensure that our other favourites are still there too before we set about exploring new spots - including matela.

BFN Yvonne

[harribobs]

Hi all

I am in an internet cafe whilst the guys are watching paint dry (the Test match - it seems like it might be quite important)

it was very hard to work in manchester while having 95% of my attention on the Ashes! woohoo!


i think i know where i'd rather be though!

[Lala]

Glad to hear everything is working out for you Dinny, just think of poor Yvonne having to go to an internet cafe ;-)

Cricket, who in their right minds is going to stand in the middle of an open field while someone hurls a solid object at you at around 60 mph and all you have to defend yourself with is a piece of 2x4?
Madness, utter madness, and a complete waste of good grazing land ;-)

Bah humbug

[Dinny]

Thanks, Lala!!! I was too embarrased about my ignorance to ask what the heck Yvonne and Harribobs were talking about... paint drying, ashes... :?: Cricket, you say? Hm. Still don't know what they're talking about, I would find it rather hard TALKING about cricket, not to mention WATCHING it, but as the saying goes, de gustibus non est disputandum

[yannis_s]

Nice latin Dinny... What does it mean?

[Dinny]

means: You can't discuss taste :wink:

[Henry Hooray]

You're quite right, Dinny, there little point in discussing taste; so there's no reason why I or anybody else should 'defend' cricket (where, incidentally, the ball can leave the bowler's hand at nearly 100mph, or 160kmh). But I'm very happy that I've been somewhere where this test series has been shown live, in its entirety.

Sounds like you're getting installed, Dinny (sorry my Pal contact isn't available to go to your part of Crete). The danger for you is of course that a great number of us may beat a path to your door in the future!

Best regards, Henry.

[Dinny]

No danger at all, Henry. In fact, I would welcome that very much!

As for the handyman, that small problem has been solved as well. There's a German guy living nearby who's actually making a living on doing these kind of odd jobs. The advantage is that he speaks the language at bit, know where to buy the stuff needed for the repairs, etc., so I'm looking forward to seeing my house being fixed very soon. Thanks for checking with your Pal. contact though.

[Chris + Alex]

Hi Guys,

We're off to Crete in just over a week to set up home and until then we're trying to wear out the Greek language CD's !

We need internet. Who is the best ISP and how much will we have to pay? Are there any with freephone numbers ?

Any other help or advice would be much appreciated.

It was only our first visit this year and we fell in love straight away.

[Dinny]

Hi,
I'm still getting along with my "Smile"-card from OTE = 22 hours of internet connection for 10 Euro. Things are slow down here... but I'm already getting used to it! :wink:

See, BEFORE I can get a ISDN-connection from OTE (which is the best possible, since ADSL is still only a dream)
- I must get a tax number (OK, done)
- so that I can get a bank account (OK, done)
- so that the "logistic" can draw up the contract for the rent of the house (hmmmm, the logistic forgot to take a copy of my AVM, and he didn't have the right formular for the contract, but we're working on it)
- so that I can go to OTE together with my landlord to change the telephone contract to my name
- SO THAT I CAN FINALLY ask for an ISDN-connection, which will take a few days only to set up.

You could check out the OTE website, it comes in English as well, for the price and alternatives.

Good luck with you moving over!

[Chris + Alex]

Thanks for that Dinny. We've already sorted out the tax and the bank issues so we'll check out OTE now for the internet.