Greek post offices
- Thread starter Birvidik_Bob
- Start date
Seajet
...
Reading that - which I doubt not for a second - I'd love to hear of life on a greek F-16 squadron !
Incidentally, dunno if they had to sell them but the Greek AF has / had the latest F-16's with all the bells & whistles & night vision kit most of the USAF can only dream of...
Incidentally, dunno if they had to sell them but the Greek AF has / had the latest F-16's with all the bells & whistles & night vision kit most of the USAF can only dream of...
Birvidik_Bob
Well-Known Member
Reading that - which I doubt not for a second - I'd love to hear of life on a greek F-16 squadron !
Incidentally, dunno if they had to sell them but the Greek AF has / had the latest F-16's with all the bells & whistles & night vision kit most of the USAF can only dream of...
They're not based at Preveza are they? There are some noisy buggers flying over us regularly. You may be interested in our brush with the Military off Crete:
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/birvidik/?xjMsgID=230438
Cheers
Bob
Seajet
...
Bob,
I'll have a check on what little info I have around there.
BTW the missile in your ( very enjoyable ) blog photo is a Harpoon anti-ship missile, can be surface, submarine or air launched; a bit faster and harder hitting than a conventionally armed Tomahawk cruise job but much shorter range.
At British test ranges one theoretically has the ' right to passage ' in a small boat; one day my Dad decided to exercise this right as the Lulworth Cove gunnery range requires a big detour.
Almost as soon as he set off across the range there was a splash a few hundred yards ahead like a WWII depth charge film; we have often wondered if it was a gunner with a sense of humour or they didn't know he was there, having been on the other side with aircraft at ranges we reckon the latter.
On all test firings / releases, the aircraft comes in for a ' dry run ' first to get the alignments, get the tracking kine-theodolite camera crews ready, and to see there's nothing in the way.
The aircraft is then guided in for a ' hot run ' to fire.
Our Sea Harrier had done his dry run, cleared ' in hot ' and fired his Matra anti-tank rockets; just as he pressed the release he saw a small fishing boat...they survived unharmed, unknown if they gave a round of applause.
Another Sea Harrier trial; with the Sea Eagle anti-ship missile ( UK's answer to Exocet but more powerful and intelligent, also much more expensive ) our Test Pilot was cleared ' in hot ' and acquired the radar target, was abut to let it go when the angle looked ' slightly different ' so aborted; another fishing boat more than chancing his luck this time, there'd hardly be splinters left !
Now you see why I go outside test ranges...
I'll have a check on what little info I have around there.
BTW the missile in your ( very enjoyable ) blog photo is a Harpoon anti-ship missile, can be surface, submarine or air launched; a bit faster and harder hitting than a conventionally armed Tomahawk cruise job but much shorter range.
At British test ranges one theoretically has the ' right to passage ' in a small boat; one day my Dad decided to exercise this right as the Lulworth Cove gunnery range requires a big detour.
Almost as soon as he set off across the range there was a splash a few hundred yards ahead like a WWII depth charge film; we have often wondered if it was a gunner with a sense of humour or they didn't know he was there, having been on the other side with aircraft at ranges we reckon the latter.
On all test firings / releases, the aircraft comes in for a ' dry run ' first to get the alignments, get the tracking kine-theodolite camera crews ready, and to see there's nothing in the way.
The aircraft is then guided in for a ' hot run ' to fire.
Our Sea Harrier had done his dry run, cleared ' in hot ' and fired his Matra anti-tank rockets; just as he pressed the release he saw a small fishing boat...they survived unharmed, unknown if they gave a round of applause.
Another Sea Harrier trial; with the Sea Eagle anti-ship missile ( UK's answer to Exocet but more powerful and intelligent, also much more expensive ) our Test Pilot was cleared ' in hot ' and acquired the radar target, was abut to let it go when the angle looked ' slightly different ' so aborted; another fishing boat more than chancing his luck this time, there'd hardly be splinters left !
Now you see why I go outside test ranges...
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Tony Cross
Well-Known Member
I have to say that I recognise what Bob is saying, in Crete it's much the same. However, once again in Greece, it's the system that's the problem and not the people.
The Post Office, like all other government run organisations, is staffed based on cronyism, corruption, toeing the line, brown-nosing, knowing the right people, etc. etc. It matters not a scrap what level of service they provide because their job does not depend on satisfying customers. There is no incentive at all for them to deliver a good level of service, they are not hired nor promoted based on performance, but based on who they know. This crippling and endemic cronyism starts (or used to start) right at the very top with the politicians themselves, and that's one reason the Greeks voted for SYRIZA. As a young party with young leaders they are not (yet) caught up in the web of favours, backhanders, and patronage, they are thus the first (and only) government in post-Colonels Greece that stands even a remote chance of changing things.
The Post Office, like all other government run organisations, is staffed based on cronyism, corruption, toeing the line, brown-nosing, knowing the right people, etc. etc. It matters not a scrap what level of service they provide because their job does not depend on satisfying customers. There is no incentive at all for them to deliver a good level of service, they are not hired nor promoted based on performance, but based on who they know. This crippling and endemic cronyism starts (or used to start) right at the very top with the politicians themselves, and that's one reason the Greeks voted for SYRIZA. As a young party with young leaders they are not (yet) caught up in the web of favours, backhanders, and patronage, they are thus the first (and only) government in post-Colonels Greece that stands even a remote chance of changing things.
Melody
Well-Known Member
Very entertaining blog and something all of us in Greece can recognise.
Birvidik_Bob
Well-Known Member
Liz wants to know what colours it comes in.
Birvidik_Bob
Well-Known Member
Hi Tony - couldn't agree with you more. There's an inchoate blog hidden on my hard drive on this very topic.
cheers
Bob
Birdseye
Well-Known Member
That sounds like the MoD. The day will come when all we can afford is one plane but it will be up there technologically with what the rich countries have.
jimbaerselman
Well-Known Member
Electricity office, local tax office, water office . . . and watch the queues on Monday mornings at the NBG. That's where and when they collect VAT, only from the registered Principal mind you, of small businesses. NBG . . . National Bank of Greece, govt owned, monopoly of tax collection.
So half a day of each week of a business Principal's time is taken up queuing in a bank. And another half day a month paying attendingoffices to pay bills . . .
Retired in Crete
Well-Known Member
macd
Well-Known Member
The one efficient thing Greek post offices do (as least in Lefkas) is collect fixed-penalty speeding fines. The officer that busts you hands over a chit (in my case for €40, but €20 if paid within 14 days). You hand chit and dosh over the post office counter. Amazingly, there was no queue, and the whole job took about four minutes.
Just don't remind me about the post office in Preveza. Mothers have raised families waiting in that queue.
Just don't remind me about the post office in Preveza. Mothers have raised families waiting in that queue.
Tony Cross
Well-Known Member
You might be the only person in Greece putting money in to a bank!
Melody
Well-Known Member
Actually, you can do a lot of this online, and have been able to for several years. Much as I dislike Greek banks in other ways, they make it very easy to pay IKA, TEBE, OTE, DEH, mobile phone bills and all sorts of stuff. It isn't totally without issues but works fine for most things.
The problem is that Greece is way behind in use of the Internet and many Greeks don't trust online payments so they still queue.
Even with online payments I still reckon I spend half a day a month in government offices though ...
jimbaerselman
Well-Known Member
John, Melody,
Thanks for the corrections. Indeed, you're right.
The real difficulty is finding small business owners in country areas with keyboard skills! And my nearest Alpha bank is 20km distant! So I have to deal with the NBG.
They live up to their initials, and cancel my on-line access if I don't use it for 3 months. Then take 8 days to re-open it by sending a letter . . . to an address which isn't registered because there's no rural addressing system . . . unless you buy an in-town post box . . . which fills with rubbish if you're away for more than a month.
Thanks for the corrections. Indeed, you're right.
The real difficulty is finding small business owners in country areas with keyboard skills! And my nearest Alpha bank is 20km distant! So I have to deal with the NBG.
They live up to their initials, and cancel my on-line access if I don't use it for 3 months. Then take 8 days to re-open it by sending a letter . . . to an address which isn't registered because there's no rural addressing system . . . unless you buy an in-town post box . . . which fills with rubbish if you're away for more than a month.
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Melody
Well-Known Member
Yes, I've been through the business of getting new passwords several times with Eurobank. Get form from bank, complete it, fax to main office, wait, not arrived, take original to bank for them to courier, wait 2 days, phone up, wait 2 days, get another form back by courier, complete this, take to bank etc etc. .... don't get me started on Greek banking!
Alphabank's Internet banking is good though and I don't think they cancel that if you don't use it for a while. We have personal accounts with them and often don't use Internet banking for a month or two.
Alphabank's Internet banking is good though and I don't think they cancel that if you don't use it for a while. We have personal accounts with them and often don't use Internet banking for a month or two.
AndrewB
Well-Known Member
When you enter a Greek post office, you collect a little number. That must then be compared with the number on the board. The savvy Greek then makes an estimate of the length of time it will take before their number is due up, goes off to do some shopping, sips a cup of coffee in a street cafe over a lengthy natter, maybe an ouzo or so, then returns exactly at the moment their number appears.
It is a skill that can only be acquired from birth, possibly before. We tourists don't stand a chance. We dart nervously back after quarter of an hour (having achieved very little else in the mean time) to find the numbers have only gone up by two. Repeat again, and then once more. Next time the numbers have mysteriously advanced by a hundred, and we've lost our place in the queue. Come back tomorrow and repeat the whole charade.
It is a skill that can only be acquired from birth, possibly before. We tourists don't stand a chance. We dart nervously back after quarter of an hour (having achieved very little else in the mean time) to find the numbers have only gone up by two. Repeat again, and then once more. Next time the numbers have mysteriously advanced by a hundred, and we've lost our place in the queue. Come back tomorrow and repeat the whole charade.
Tony Cross
Well-Known Member
So true.
But you forgot to mention that if you don't get to the desk with 10 microseconds of your number being shown the clerk will advance the indicator. This happens so often that after an hour or so the numbers people are holding bear no relation to the numbers shown on the indicators. Then normal chaos resumes....