Oh dear...

...I went to collect my camera but could not check to see it was as it should be because the battery I gave them had been exhausted. So I had to take their word the camera was repaired. Wrong! I rushed back to the flat to try it out and as soon as I put the battery in the dreaded error 99 started to flash! I got on the phone straight away and as you can imagine, I gave them a mouthful. They were most apologetic and told me to bring it back on Monday morning. The following day I got a call from the shop to say they thought there was a short somewhere on the printed circuit board they’d replaced. They assured me the camera would be ready to pick up at the latest this Friday. Friday came and no phone call, so I called them. It now seems the problem is with the shutter mechanism, which is what I told them (After I spent hours and hours researching on the Internet) it could be all those weeks ago! I was assured it will be fixed and ready to collect on Monday. Well, I won’t hold my breath just in case, but hey, this is Cyprus.

So getting off that subject it’s been another busy week for me. On Tuesday I travelled south to settle my shipping bill and stayed overnight with my grandson. Of course we had to go for drinky-pooh’s, well, it would be rude not to. My grandson took me on the back of his scooter into Pafos and we soon got into the swing of things. I have to admit it was a great night of entertainment all round, even though I think Pafos (Especially ‘the strip,’ where all the bars and night clubs are) is a shit hole and bloody expensive these days. Well past the bewitching hour, around three-thirty am to be more accurate my godson wanted me to get on the back of the scooter for the short ride home. I told him to fuck right off! And guess what, yep you guessed it, he got stopped and done for drunk driving, the silly boy. And if he thinks I’m going to pay his fine he can fuck right off again! I caught the two-thirty coach back to Nicosia, which is the way I arrived the previous day and I had a pleasant two hours ride and was back in my flat just before six pm.

Thursday (25^th) I’d arranged to have my first round of golf at the Koreniem golf course about ten miles west of Kyrenia. Our start time was at three-forty pm but I decided to get there early so I could have a nose round. The clubhouse and what I could see of the greens looked fabulous and I was champing at the bit. I started out really badly and by the time we got to the fourth hole I stopped counting the shots I’d taken and how many balls I’d lost! To make matters worse the battery driven golf trolley I hired gave up the ghost and we had to call the pro shop for a replacement. During the time we waited for the replacement I tried to solder on but had to give up after two hundred yards, ok a hundred yards, no I lied more like fifty metres as I was puffing like a billy-goat! The replacement did nothing for me and my game went from bad to disastrous but I carried on regardless. By the time we reached the thirteenth my energy level had dropped to almost zero but I was not beaten yet. Well I was but you know what I mean. My tee-shot was a low left to righter and as there was a lake to the right I thought my ball was going for a dip. When we reached the lake I didn’t even bother to look for the ball. One of my playing partners behind me exclaimed ‘wow, there it is in prime position.’ And so it was! With no more than ninety yards to the hole I hit a sweet shot that landed no more than five yards from the hole. Two puts and I made my first par and the next hole had the same result. Two pars on the trot, things were looking up. Sadly things didn’t look up but down, way down as I lost a further three balls! Oh well, shit happens. Never the less I enjoyed the round on reflection but I enjoyed the welcome shower and the Southern Comfort in the club house even more.

Friday night was quiz night at the Black Olive and as always an enjoyable night was had by all. Last Saturday at the Black Olive open mic night Ingrid made her debut and dressed for the occasion. I went dressed as I normally do and got slated in one of the local expat forums so decided to show people how I could brush up. The quiz night theme was cowboys and Indians so I bought a white wide-brimmed leather hat and white shoes to go with my brand new Italian snow white suit. All that was missing was a pair of six-guns. Well, my grand entrance (And as you can imagine, I creamed it) bought a few ooh’s and aah’s from the crowd. I even got my photo taken with the barmaid (My partner, which I will explain in the next paragraph) for the local rag. That will show the winging bastards. :-)

In case the barmaids husband reads this, let me make it quite clear. We are NOT an item and we are definitely NOT partners! And I only went round to the barmaids house to look at the crappy paint-job in her living room and bedroom, honest! ;-)

Just to clarify things, the barmaids two young boy's were present all the time I was there. :-((

Next week I’m heading back to visit relatives and friends and although I’m looking forward to seeing them all, I’m dreading the cold and hope rioting doesn’t break out on my return! Although I’m only away for just over three weeks I know the fantastic friends I’ve made here will be greatly missed by me and I already look forward to my return.