2025, Week 22 journal.

In week 22 of 2025, I finally received the results of the tests I had taken at the doctor's office and got the all-clear. I performed a significant update to the image formats on my website, which should improve its loading speed.

Monday, 26th May.

I woke up around 6:45 this morning. I got up and got myself a coffee before sitting at my computer to check for messages and do the Wordle puzzle. While I finished last week's blog page, my friend Lisa asked if we could rearrange our coffee meeting this morning. I can't remember a time when she wasn't busy, either in the gym, on holiday, or getting her hair or nails done. She leads an even busier life than I do.

The cancelled coffee this morning worked out well for me as I had a few other things to do and an appointment to see the nurse before my work meeting at the office with Martin at lunchtime. I pottered around before taking a shower and then leaving on my disability scooter to take my old phone to a DHL collection point in Los Alcazares.

I dropped the old phone off at the collection point and then continued to Espressarse Bar for a coffee and a tostada before going to the health clinic to get my leg dressed. As I went in, I saw my friend Rob sitting at a table. I ordered my breakfast and joined Rob. We sat talking while I ate my breakfast, and when I finished my breakfast, we both left. I went to the health clinic, but the nurse never appeared. I translated the notes stuck to her door, which informed anyone waiting to make a new appointment at the reception. I walked to the reception desk and, using my phone, explained that the nurse hadn't been there and asked for a new appointment. The receptionist scheduled an appointment for me to see the doctor on Friday.

As I was arranging my appointment, an Irish lady saw me and asked if she could help with any translation I needed. I explained that I had finished, and we left together. She had told me that she had seen me around Los Alcazares and recognised the Sharky Mobile parked outside the health clinic. We left together, and she walked alongside me as we went towards the main road. We parted at the main road, and I went to meet Martin.

By the time I got to La Sombre, it was nearly 1:30 pm. I ordered a beer and sat talking with Martin and Dave. I told Dave that I was having problems with my TV, and he said he would look at it for me tomorrow to see if he could identify the issue. We all left a short time after Aria got there on her school bus.

On my way home, I briefly stopped at Harry's bar to see my friend Andy. He had asked me about building a website for him, but I didn't think it would benefit him to have one, and I explained why. I told him I could build it for him if he still wanted me to, but it would cost him a lot of money for what he wanted, and I didn't think he would see any return on it. After speaking to Andy, I made my way home. When I got in, I didn't feel like cooking anything, so I went back out to the Hong Kong Chinese restaurant and got myself a takeaway.

Tuesday, 27th May.

When I got up, I went through my routine, got a coffee, sat at my computer, did the Wordle puzzle and then took a shower before getting ready to meet Martin at lunchtime. I worked on my website for a couple of hours, and at around 11:30, Dave arrived to look at my TV for me. He made an update to the settings for me, which I hoped would work, and we then left in his car to pick up his bike at a store in Los Narejos.

We were met at the store by Martin, picked up the bike and then went back across the road to Pizzeria la Sombre. We sat talking until Aria got back from school and Dave left. He offered me a lift home, but I declined and said I would walk home. When we finished our drinks, Martin and Aria went home, and I walked towards Rio Nalon and the bars there.

I stopped in Harry's bar, had a beer and a chat with people there before going to Roccos bar. I sat outside chatting with my friend Terry before going inside and chatting with the barmaid, Wilma. It turned out it would be her last day as the bar was closing. I quickly went to Gin and Fizz next door to see Rachid to ask about Roccos. I had a friend in the UK who had been looking to buy a bar, but as I managed to contact him to let him know about Roccos, Rachid told me that it had already been sold to someone else. Apparently, the lease owner had put the rent up so much that he couldn't keep both bars open anymore.

I went back to chat with Wilma for a while before heading home and having the leftovers from the Chinese I bought yesterday. I watched TV for a while and went to bed around 10 pm.

Wednesday, 28th May.

When I got up, I had a message from Lauren saying she couldn't go to the social services office with me as she had to look after her sister. Not sure if she would be able to help me in the future, I contacted my friend Jo, and she said she would call the social services and see what we needed to do to get me on the disabled register in Spain.

I spent the rest of the day working on my website and watching TV.

Thursday, 29th May.

Today, I spent the entire day working on the images for my website. I started at around 7 am and didn't stop until I went to bed at around 10 pm, having taken a break only once.

Friday, 30th May.

I was up at around 8 am today. I got a coffee, completed the Wordle puzzle, and got ready to visit the doctor at the health clinic. I was hoping that Lauren would be able to make it today.

I arrived at the clinic a little early and waited outside. When Lauren arrived, we went inside and waited to see the doctor. We had to wait 40 minutes before we finally got to see the doctor. Lauren asked the doctor what the results of my tests showed and was told that I don't have diabetes and that my cholesterol is okay. I have to continue to take the blood pressure pills and was told the same thing that every man over 40 is told at the doctors: eat less red meat, eat more salads, drink less beer, and do a little more exercise.

As we left, Lauren quickly asked the nurse in the next room if she could make an appointment for me to have my ankle dressed. She told us that if we waited, she could do it today. We sat outside, and a short time later, the nurse called us in and dressed my ankle. The wound on the outside was healing very well and had scabbed over, so it no longer needed a dressing. She instructed me to apply cream to keep the skin hydrated, and then cleaned and dressed the other wound. She told me that it would hopefully heal completely soon. When we left the clinic, I paid Lauren for translating for me and then went home on my disability scooter.

Just before 1 pm, I went outside to meet my friend Jim, who was picking me up to go for lunch. When Jim had collected me, we drove to Mil Palmeras and went to a restaurant I hadn't been to before, Los Celtas. We had an excellent menu of the day. It was only €12 and was very good. I had a crab salad for a starter, with what I think was a pig's trotter or shin with chips. Whatever it was, the meat tasted fantastic. I had bread pudding for dessert, which was okay but not particularly special.

When we had finished our meal, I paid for lunch and we strolled back to the car before going to Torre de la Horadada to have a drink. I had a Seven Up, and Jim had an ice cream and a water. We sat chatting for an hour before leaving and going home.

I thought I would drop off to sleep as soon as I got home after the good food and the exercise, but I didn't. I sat and watched TV for a few hours and went to bed around 10:30.

Saturday, 31st May.

I woke up around 5:30 this morning, and because I couldn't sleep, I got up. I stripped the bed and put the linen in the washing machine. I got a coffee, completed the Wordle puzzle, and then continued working on my website.

I stopped working on my website about midday. I took the bed linen out of the washing machine, made my bed up and then put another load of washing in the machine. I got something to eat and then returned to work on my website for the rest of the day.

Sunday, 1st June.

I slept well last night and got up at 7 am today. I had my coffee, did the Wordle puzzle and sat contemplating what to do the rest of the day. I decided I would try to finish the work I was doing on my website.

I had a problem with the website setup. For some reason, the images on my website, although displaying correctly on the frontend, were not being registered as images for search results. I contacted the developer of the extension that I used to build the photo albums, the website hosting company, and the developer of the software I use to build sitemaps. I informed all of them about the problem and asked for any suggestions. I heard back from all of them relatively quickly and soon had a working fix. The web hosting company had added a line of code to my server configuration. When I rechecked the website, all the images on the site were now being registered correctly as images. I had done a lot of work converting all my images from JPEG format to WEBP format, so I was glad the problem was fixed. The change had saved me a lot of space in my hosting package and meant that the pages would load quicker.

I rewatched episodes of Insane Pools on TV tonight. I love some of the pools they build, but the cost of the pools and landscaping is around the same as what I paid for my original home in Florida. I will not be asking them to build me one. I went to bed around 10 pm. I am going to bed earlier lately. Am I getting old?