Back in the saddle again

I thought I'd keep you all up to date with what has been happening over the last week. Following the theft of all my camera equipment last Tuesday people have contributed 511 euros via Tipit and 40 euros via Paypal. This is more than I ever possibly thought possible.

I Intend to leave the Tipit account open till next wednesday, which one week after I set it up. Then I will use the money to buy a replacement camera. I will keep you up to date with what I buy so you can see where your money went.

If you would like to contribute before Wednesday you can do it here.

https://tipit.to/tipjar/savethedude

or use my email cpwefl2003@hotmail via Paypal.

The picture was taken with Eleni's camera. She wanted me to borrow hers following what happened. Also thanks to D H Morton for his offer to send one of his camera to replace mine.

The kindness of strangers

At the beginning of this week I had all my camera equipment stolen, an event which tore a hole in my world. It brought back to me all the other things I have lost recently; parent, friends and other things I will not bore you with. All the things I have been trying hard not to think about. It was more than just about the loss of stuff and so touched me on a much deeper level than I thought I could handle.

Yet from the very beginning I have been innundated with offers of help and support from so many sources, even from people I have not had the chance to meet yet. It has been a wonderful experience which I find difficult to write about as I don't know quite how to express my gratitude without resorting to the standard cliches which are simply not to the task of sharing what I feel.

In the absence of a more elegant option let me once again say how thankful I am for all your help.

An appeal for help

Following many offers of help I have decided to set up a TipIt account (see here for more details on who they are) If you feel that you'd like to help me replace the camera equipment that was stolen and so allow me to continue photographing and reporting what's happening here in Greece please feel free to contribute.

For examples of my work check out these sites;

Demotix

Nowpublic

Flickr

Youtube

For any any more questions of how Tipit works check out their FAQ page. I chose them as they were being used by the arrestblair.org site and so seem legit.

Alternatively, you can contribute via Paypal using this email - cpwefl2003@hotmail.com

Thanking everyone in advance.

Craig

The Next Day

The day after. Can't say that I slept well last night. Woke up at 5am with a terrible sense of loss. At first I thought it was just the bitter aftertaste of a bad dream only to realise that I wasn't dreaming about what I had lost.

Yesterday somebody stole much of what I treasure most in terms of material possessions. My camera, lens, video and various assorted knicknacks just disappeared whilst in was drinking coffee in Starbucks. Of course, this is just stuff, nothing that can't be replaced. The objects were not unique in themselves, indeed the only thing that made them special were that they belonged to me.

On the other hand the represented far more than just a bunch of lenses and chips, they were part and parcel of what has kept me sane over the last few years when the rest of my life seemed to lurch from one crisis to another and offered a way of not letting it all get too much.

I always thought that something would happen to my camera but I reckoned that would involve being in the wrong place and time in some riot or protest. Or that it would be confiscated by the authorities to enter a legal limbo from which it would only emerge years later.

After coming through riots, confrontations, beatings, road accidents unscathed and all kinds of other abuse while in my backpack it seems so wrong that I should lose this stuff in something so stupid a manner.

Thanks to everyone who has sent messages of help and sympathy. They have all been most appreciated.

Robbed in Starbucks

Just had my bag stolen from Starbucks here in Thessaloniki. Inside was my camera, lens, video camera and a passport. Close to 1000 euros worth of stuff nicked from under my eyes. I was going to visit the farmers' roadblocks and take some more pictures, guess that won't be happening soon.

Neither I nor the people around saw anything strange or untoward. Just disappeared from next to my feet while I was busy doing a translation on laptop.

The worse thing is that I don't know if I'll be able to replace all this stuff. It's certainly not equipment I can afford to buy now, and I'm not sure when I'll have that kind of money. It represents a lot of hardwork and sacrifice which cannot be clawed back easily.

I've just spent the last couple of hours going from police station to consulate to report the loss of the passport but they said that I should check out all the rubbish bins in the area just in case the thief dumped it with the passport inside.

ο Παναγιώτης Ψωμιάδης θα έχει το 100% της στήριξης του ΛΑΟΣ

ο Παναγιώτης Ψωμιάδης θα έχει το 100% της στήριξης του ΛΑΟΣ, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

"ο κ. Καρατζαφέρης ανέφερε ότι ο Παναγιώτης Ψωμιάδης θα έχει το 100% της στήριξης του ΛΑΟΣ αν κατέβει υποψήφιος περιφερειάρχης. "Εμείς -είπε- ψάχνουμε υποψήφιους για τις άλλες περιφέρειες.Με τον κ. Ψωμιάδη συναντήθηκαν σε ώρα φαγητού "και τι πιο απλό για δύο καλούς φίλους να φάνε μαζί και να συζητήσουν", όπως ανέφερε ο κ. Καρατζαφέρης."

www.agelioforos.gr

Greek carnival season starts next week

Greek carnival season approaches, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.