Trev in Cyprus.

[trevnhil]

Thanks for you good wishes Willow. I have noticed on TV and in the press recently that the UK, NHS has had some very bad press.

4 hrs and longer waiting times!!! No beds for people!!! not too good, but of course papers will exploit the bad news.

Trev..

[trevnhil]

We had a phone call today from the fire station, asking if we had complied with the items pointed out to us by the H&S people. Hilary told them we were still awaiting a letter to say what additions / alterations were needed. So at the moment we can only wait.

On a better note.... I have some pics of the garden. Don't expect anything 'grand'. We are just filling the soil up.













Cheers. Trev..

[trevnhil]

There was a quite big fire near Polemi last week. Fortunately there were no casualties both to people or buildings, but a lot of crops were desroyed









And lastly as the spotter plane was leaving he flew right over our bungalow.......



Trev..

[accykeef]

It is frightening just how ferociously that vegitation burns.

[trevnhil]

Since my last post a few things have happened / occurred.
As you say Keith is is frightening how quick the very dry vegetation burns.

We have had another fire in the village that got withing a few yards of peoples homes. I imagine that they would have had their own hosepipes out to try and damp down the vegetation as the fire approached them .



We have also had the plumber here to alter the gas supply to the Two gas hobs that we have. Despite having copper tubing from the large gas tank direct to the hobs, we have now blanked all those pipes off.

We have taken the advice of the fire officer, and I have placed a 10kg smaller red gas bottle outside each of the two kitchens.
I have then drilled through the double wall and threaded a neoprene / rubber gas pipe through and connected it to each hob...



The cost of doing this including the plumber to disconnect and reconnect would be a bit less than €100.
However I don't like the red bottles being on show, and I don't like the blazing sun heating up the gas bottle and pipes.
So I have ordered two cupboards to encase each bottle and it will look better and keep things in the shade. The cost for that is €350.

All this (unnecessary) work just to get a completion certificate to say the house is built correctly!!!

Trev..

[trevnhil]

Two more things have happened.....
We have hod out Daughter and Granddaughter visiting for the last 3 weeks. Whilst they were here it was our Granddaughter's 16th Birthday.
A special time for any teenager I would have thought, and i was a little fearful that she would rather be at home with friend of her own age.

However on the day all went very well staring with the opening of presents and cards.
All three ladies then went to a nail bar in the afternoon and were beautified ready the party at night. All five of us went to a good quality Chinese restaurant and had wa really good meal.
Because I mentioned it was a Birthday meal, Katy was a presented with a single slice of cake on a very large special plate. All in all it was a really good day.
We also had complimentary apple fritter balls with ice cream... Mmmmm




The other notable thing happened just yesterday.
Those who have a cat will know that they are mainly creatures of habit, despite being able to roam at will.
Yesterday our cat had his breakfast, and then I saw him wonder off down the fields about 100mts away.
He usually does not return until tea time around 4pm. However yesterday about 11am he was outside howling, so I let him in. He wandered around the house howling and seemingly in distress.
I checked him over and he growled and spit at me...... So because of the state he was in I set off to the vets with him, with suspected Snake bite.

I was right about the snake bite as his face was swelling up by the time we got there.
They gave him a number of injections and kept him there.
This morning he has had more jabs and I have brought him home.
He is upset at not being allowed out, but I have to return with him to the vets in the morning. he will be easier to catch if he is kept inside until tomorrow.
The downside is that we cannot have the doors wide open in the 32c heat..... A small price to pay for another of our cat's lives.

Trev..

[accykeef]

Remarkable that internal pipework is considered dangerous yet gas bottles in the blazing sun are OK. I would like to find out more about the logic in that argument, (why the original method was dangerous) it is the calibre of what our dim politicians would come up with, after a 6 month consultation with some 'experts'.

Are these new rules a result of a fire incident somewhere, where some dipstick drilled through a gas pipe?
I agree with you about the cupboard but I though that cabinets, cupboards and louvres were your department.

[trevnhil]

I don't know of any 'disaster' that may have swayed them when making these new rules.
Basically they are claiming that no-matter where the copper pipes run, there is still the possibility of a leak inside the house where any pipe is connected to the gas hob.
The argument then is that if there is a leak..... then the 500kg of gas in the large tank will just fuel any fire until the tank is empty. There was a possibility of installing a gas warning device under each hob.
But they needed not to just give a warning, but to also shut off the gas at the large storage tank. This would have to be done by a radio signal.....

Would it work over the required distance and through the walls? What if there was a malfunction?

SO... we went with the simpler (suggested) solution.

You are mostly right about the louvered cabinets being within my scope.
However I would have to use waterproof materials and they would need a few coats of paint. Not just this year but in future years as well.
I decided an the easier option of (no Maintenance) Aluminum cabinets.

Its a cash deal..... No visit to measure up..... no visit for delivery and fixing.

I will collect them and sort out the fixing at this end. pictures in a week or two probably.

Trev..

[accykeef]

That argument doesn't really wash with me, if there was an internal gas leak here, it wouldn't stop until the Russian gas fields were empty and that would also affect global warming.

It sounds like some expert is touting work for the gas fitting industry.

P.S. Aluminium cabinet?
Not only do they suggest that gas bottles in sunlight is safe, they are also saying that putting them in an oven is acceptable too. All we can do is comply with their rather twisted logic.

[trevnhil]

I know what you mean about the gas fields emptying, but their have been some terrifying gas explosions in houses in the UK .

Although the cupboards are in metal it will still be cooler inside them, that the gas bottles being out in the sunshine.

Here is the cupboard that the gas boiler is in, and they will be a much smaller version of this.....



Trev..

[mpprh]

Trev ...

What is happening with the financial crisis over there ?

[trevnhil]

There is no simple answer to that.
On the face of things you would not really notice much difference.

However people have lost their jobs.... The health service is now making a small charge for seeing a doctor or consultant. Only €3 or €6 and prescription charges of 50c per item are being introduced.
There is also a property / land tax that only started after about €250,000. Now there is no allowance and the minimum payment is €75 per owner.

Finances wise it is only possible to withdraw €300 a day from a bank. The amount you can send or take abroad is €5,000 a month.

However the biggest downside is that people who are with the Laiki bank or the Bank of Cyprus have in effect lost 60% of deposits over the €100,000 guaranteed amount.
I use the words in effect because 37.5 will be converted to shares and 22.5 % is frozen.

I cannot think of anyone who would choose to buy bank shares here.

We have changed both our state pensions to be paid now into a UK account. When we run out of Euros here we will send some from UK to Cyprus via Currency Fair and the internet.

Trev..

[mpprh]

I think it is worth checking various currency outfits. I've found the UK banks are quite expensive once you've factored in the low exchange rate and fees.

Check out Currencies Direct. I use them because they've generally had the best result. I have to admit I make a few cents commision

www.currenciesdirect.net/affiliates/index.php?ref=1282

[trevnhil]

Thanks for posting the link Peter. I will have a look at them but the charge from Currency Fair is just €3. I know it can be reflected into the rate you get but that is good as well.

Trev..

[trevnhil]

Well the man has been back from the fire brigade to do his last inspection (I hope)

All seemed to be going well as he walked around inside and outside looking at everything that he had looked at before. I showed him the metal post that we had put in to stop any vehicle colliding with the Gas tank.
However he told me that a good idea would be to cement some kerb stones in front of it to make doubly sure.

He then went to check that the gas pipes had been disconnected from them manifold to the house. He was satisfied with that,

Then he inspected the small gas bottles that now provide gas to the two hobs we have here. He frowned at the neoprene pipes from the bottles to the hobs,and told me that they would be better in flexible metal sheathed ones.

Fortunately he said he would leave it up to me and would pass the installation as it is. PHEW !!!!! Thank goodness for that.

I went to the Council offices yesterday because the fireman told me his report would be there within 10 days maximum. That was well over two weeks ago...... Guess what?? No report there.

No worries I will check again in a week or two.

Trev..