The private practice in the now Kallikratiko Municipality of Dionysos opened in May 2002 in Agios Stefanos, in the shopping center, where the ELTA of Agios Stefanos is, on Koimesis Theotokou Street. The original numbering was 28-30 and based on it business cards, stamps, letterheads, exam files were printed and banks, insurance funds and other public organizations were informed. One fine day, the Municipality announced to the tenants of the shopping center that the new number was now 40, as there were already two other 30 on the same street. If you had gone to the trouble and expense, no problem. Throw away what you have printed and print them all over again, based on the new numbering, and be sure to inform all public agencies of the relevant change. As the new Master of the Genus Arcas emphatically states, the transformation into a “third world country” should be considered an improvement.

The success with OTE was equally shocking. The revolutionary ISDN lines had just been released and I was quick to request the numbers 8145898 and 8145899 so that I could have separate telephone and facsimile, commonly fax. In fact, I also made sure to put up a light sign (in a shopping center, I repeat) with the newly acquired contact numbers of the clinic: landline 0108145898-9 and mobile 0974198222. About a month after the construction and posting of the light sign in a prominent place, OTE notified us that the telephone prefix changes and for landlines it becomes 210, and for mobiles 697. Therefore, those of you who resented the consideration of Arkas as the new Teacher of the Genus, please reconsider.

However, the colossal success with phone lines does not end there. Unfortunately for me, KEP Agios Stefanos also acquired ISDN lines and indeed with the numbers 2108145896-7, unfortunately without following my shining example and reserving one of the two numbers for exclusive fax use. So the rest of the public agencies trying to send a fax to the Agios Stefanos KEP saw fit to expand their search and use my own fax number. Several Mondays passed when I found the MFP out of paper, sometimes even out of ink, because someone took a sudden fancy to me and saw fit to send me 50 to 100 pages of something I hadn’t asked for.

Technology itself seemed to help my problem, as OTE’s “digital facilities” were now available. Turning on instant diversion on mobile, I have repeatedly felt the joy of answering my mobile phone, waiting for a new customer, and feeling the characteristic sound of “the facsimile looking for its match” pierce my eardrums. Before long, I decided that rather than trying to contact the fax sender to explain the situation, it was much easier to “block” the incoming number from my cell phone and give the original sender a chance to study in delve into Greek Mythology and understand the martyrdom of Sisyphus or Tantalus or alternatively both.

Apparently, the mess with phone lines wasn’t limited to the fax machine. There were not a few times when the caller urgently asked for “Litsa” without the possibility that he had dialed the wrong number crossing his mind. I confess that I have repeatedly envied the well-known actor Danny Devito for his amazing line in one of the most inventive answers in the history of world cinema, about calling the wrong number. Opportunity for repetition in the film Ruthless People (1986), which was translated into Greek as “Please, kill my wife”.

Seven years later, specifically in November 2009, the clinic was moved to its new headquarters, on Stratigou Petritis Street in Drosia Square. It goes without saying that my first action was to request in writing from the then Municipality of Drosia the official numbering of the property, which received the number 7. In fact, on the same street there is an attraction of the modern Greek reality, with a coverage factor of the plot >1, full occupation of the sidewalk for a number of years and reward from the technical service of the Municipality with the construction of a new sidewalk and limitation of the width of the street. The new practice location includes 4 parking spaces for the needs of orthopedic patients, in stark contrast to the reasoning of most businessmen in the area who consider the sidewalk as a perfectly legal parking space for their business. In fact, nearby, there is a line-shaded disabled parking space on the pavement, without the responsible municipal engineer having been forced to commit ritual suicide.