Well, looked up Arnold Wesker on Google, now Sir Arnold of course, and how out of touch can you get? Author of 44 plays, translated into twenty languages, plus poetry, journalism, lecturing etcetera. This damn machine. I had no sooner written that, and saved it fortunately, when it cut out again. It has a habit of doing that for some reason or other and naturally it always takes one by surprise. I’ve had to rename this Blog as the original became “read only”. I don’t know about all the electrical appliances crashing, I might lose everything anyway because of an unpaid bill. After Douglas left I noticed an electricity bill here that is already almost a month out of date and there is no way I can get to pay it now. If you pay within a given date you can do it at the local post office, after that you have to go into headquarters in Xania. Douglas is quite certain (when I spoke to him on the telephone) I won’t be cut off. I ain’t so sure.
He evidently had the most boring journey back to Athens. The boat he said was packed and ploughed on so slowly over a placid sea – “lathi poo lene” as the Greeks say, like oil, and it is the newest and fastest in the Anek fleet and then, when he finally arrived at Piraeus he found there were no trains to take him into Athens as work was going on at various stations. He eventually managed to get a cab and arrived at the flat exhausted. It’s bad enough having a bad journey if you’re well, not so hot when you’re proper poorly. I was getting very worried as for some reason he seemed to think the boat should have got in at about five and come eight-thirty I still hadn’t heard from him and there was no answer from the flat I finally called him on the mobile to find he was still In Piraeus waiting to collect his luggage. For once I was grateful for mobile phones. Usually I am the complete Luddite where those bloody things are concerned. Anyway, how he came to the conclusion he would arrive in Piraeus in five hours I really don’t know because the overnight trip takes eight. Have just heard from Chris that the Anek brochure gives the daytime boat arrival time as 5 so he wasn’t mistaken.
What a change in the weather! Fortunately Sunday evening I saw the forecast on television which was for rain over the whole country so brought the garden furniture (cane) in and just as well as six o’clock yesterday morning I was woken by rain thudding down on the bathroom roof, a really heavy shower which saved my having to water the garden as planned. Actually I wasn’t really asleep, just dozing as Sweeney got me up at six wanting to go out and I had gone back to bed. She really is now totally disorientated and has to be gently prodded and guided everywhere. Poor old gal. I honestly don’t see how she can last much longer.