Tangled bureaucracies

So, the Consulate has my passport, and I'm promised a call on Monday from them. Sounds like I can leave in a few days, right?

Wrong.

Now, the hold-up is with my registry with the Greek army - specifically, the establishment that I've been a foreign (to Greece) resident for the past eleven years. I need a specific certificate from the local municipality where I'm registered, and they're apparently taking at least a week to process it. And once that's done in Athens, it's got to be sent here, and I've got to deal with the army officer at the consulate personally to show that I've been a resident of the US for the past eleven years, and he's shown signs that he's going to be a pain in the neck about what constitutes "proof".

In short: there's a short list of things one absolutely has to present to the army office. The only thing I'm missing is the "Certificate of the Males Registry to the pertinent Municipality in Greece" (and my current passport, natch. But the Consular visa section's got that, but hello, left hand, have you met the right hand?), but he's also asking for Social Security forms (oh, and the forms from years in which I was unemployed for half the year are no good), tax forms (ditto on years in which I was unemployed for a significant period). I've got a certificate that I had steady employment up until the year 2002, but that was six years ago already. After that...

My next rent payment on the apartment in Athens is due on April 15. Any bets on whether I'll still be rotting away in New York then?

Ever hear of references to "Greek time"?

Slightly paraphrased telephone conversation:

Consular official: "Sir, your visa is ready. Can you come by the consulate tomorrow morning, about ten o'clock? I'll give you back your passport with the visa stamp."
Me: "The visa's ready? That's great news. I can be there in an hour."
Consular official: "Ah. Actually, when I said the visa was 'ready', I didn't mean 'ready right this minute'. I'm still waiting for something to clear..."

And the sting

Paraphrased again:

Me: "Hello, I spoke with you a couple of weeks ago [about certifying past foreign residency]. I've got business at the Consulate Monday morning, and I was wondering if I could make an appointment?"
Colonel: "Sorry. I'm on vacation Monday and Tuesday, and then I'll be busy preparing for a presidential state visit. You'll call me back on April the tenth and we'll set up an appointment, okay?"

Now, if you'll all excuse me, I need food.