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Saturday, April 15, 2006 

The Road to Blogging is Paved With Good Intentions

I intended to update my blog yesterday but it was Friday and as usual, I'm in a rush on Fridays to prepare dinner before my son goes to his computer classes, feed him and then drop him off to be picked up a hour later. When I got home sheer laziness overwhelmed me and I did absolutely nothing worthwhile with my time.

Today, I had a full schedule. First my son had to go to his basketball practice and then we were off to the plateia (square) to shop for the birthday party he will go to tomorrow, buy a few groceries for the weekend and then come home and do laundry and make supper. As I sit here now, I am pleased to inform you that I have done all of these things. I guess miracles really do happen.

The only thing I didn't manage to do is write the blog I intended concerning the 100 million€ passport fiasco reported on the news last night. I can't really write it until I have some supporting news links to back up the story. And so far, neither Kathimerini or ERT news has mentioned anything about it. From what I know, MP Christos Markogiannakis is being blamed by his former boss, Georgios Voulgarakis, for a microship machine used in the making of passports which no longer works. This means that all passports issued this year will be rendered invalid by September and they will have to reapply for new ones once the machine gets fixed/replaced. My husband just received his passport last week and paid 60€ for it. He will now have to pay another 60€ plus the 12€ cost for affixing the microchip on it. The rest of the taxpayers will have to absorbe the 100 million€ cost for the faulty machine. Of course, no one is 'officially' to blame. Former Minister of Public Order blamed his deputy, Markogiannakis. And as is routine now with New Democracy politicians who find themselves being held accountable for mistakes, bad judgements and/or scandals, he blamed PASOK. And as always, the Greek citizens are the ones paying for their mistakes.

As soon as I find out more information about this latest act of incompetence I will blog it. Besides, why do today what you can put off for tomorrow?

But for now, I have to get ready to meet some friends for a coffee and maybe some board games later on.

Well that stinks as much as the garbe (but I hear that that is being dealt with).

Which board games?

traveller...Yep traveller...it's being dealt with. For the first time in two weeks, I saw a garbage truck on my street! YAY!

franje...I play Scrabble, Risk, Trivial Pursuit (all editions), Pictionary, Taboo, Scattergories, Monopoly (which I don't like but my husband the capitalist pig does LOL). We play them all in Greek and the one I'm most proud of winning is Scrabble because I can win it in another language. I usually end up in the poor house with Monopoly due to the underhanded deals my husband makes with the other players. LOL

LOL! Yeah, playing monopoly the Greek way is far more interesting, selling your property on for the right price or agreeing not to charge your friends for landing on it but double charging the opposition (after all, the price stated on the card doesn't cover the admin fee).

Anyway a very good morning to you SeaWitch! Ciao...

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