During week 14 of 2021, I researched new e-bikes and went to a few different bars with my neighbour Russ.

Week 14 of 2021.

Friday, April 2nd.

I get up this morning & do my normal thing, check emails, adjust some settings on my website, lose track of time. It is gone 10 am before I realise, so I force myself to stop what I am doing on the computer before the day is all gone again. My get up & go is definitely coming back & I hope that the fact that I can actually be bothered to juice my fruit for the week will help, it does make me feel better so have squeezed my own fruit juice concoctions. This week's juice consists of half a pineapple, 6 oranges, 6 apples, 1 lemon & a large piece of ginger. After juicing it all & putting all the pulp & peel in a biodegradable bag for the compost bin, I place 2 litres of pure juice in the fridge for consumption when it has cooled off.

I then clear the kitchen, put the dishwasher on, put some clothes in to wash (in my newly cleaned washer) & start to prepare today's curry. Once again I am using my recipe for butter chicken curry & replacing the chicken with lamb, it really is a great curry whatever you put in it but I may alter it a bit and add some fruit before it finishes cooking tonight.

For lunch, I eat the leftovers from yesterday's goat curry with a glass of freshly juiced fruit from this morning. I then sit down to do some work on my website. In the evening I go to La Playa bar for a pint.

Saturday, April 3rd.

I go out this morning for a whizz around on my mobility scooter & took my trash to the recycling bins just up the road.

At lunchtime, I meet my neighbour Russ at La Playa bar, after a short time we walk around to El Callejón de las Brujas, where we sit in the sun for a few hours drinking beer & enjoying the free tapas. My friend Alan messages me to tell me he is on his way to La Playa bar so Russ & I walk back to meet him at the beach bar. We sit in the sun & admire the wildlife on the beachfront whilst enjoying a beer.

I leave my friends at the bar & go home to watch the football tonight. Unfortunately for me, Arsenal were dire & were easily beaten 0-3 by Liverpool, not a good end to what was otherwise an enjoyable day.

Sunday, April 4th.

I had a lazy morning watching the terrible Arsenal game on MOTD again to see if they were as bad as I thought yesterday. This afternoon I walk to the Alaska bar to see my neighbour Russ. The beer was terrible there today so we moved next door to La Playa bar & had a few beers sat in the sun & listened to some live music that the bar had on. I had a go in the bar raffle but my luck was not with me & I didn't win a thing. I went home & watched a few films before going to bed early.

Monday, April 5th.

This morning I was up fairly early & went out on my mobility scooter as my leg has been aching from the walking I have done this week. I went to the Tipsy Thistle bar for a full English breakfast this morning, it is the best breakfast in Los Alcázares in my opinion. Whilst having breakfast my neighbour Russ walked past & joined me for breakfast. After breakfast, I then continue to La Zona bar to see my friend Jo. I had a letter from the town hall in Spanish, I think I know what it is but just want to make sure before returning it. Jo isn't there but one of the Spanish ladies that work in the bar confirms what I thought it was, & that I just need to return it to the town hall to confirm I still live in my apartment. I also see my friend Sean there who offers to take me with him when he goes shopping in San Javier next week. I would go even if I didn't need anything, just to get out for an hour or so.

On my way home I see my friend Gerry who maintains disability scooters. I have never known what tyre pressure I should have in my scooter so I ask him. He kindly tells me what the pressure should be, then checks them & inflates them for me. The scooter feels much better on the way home, thank you, Gerry.

This afternoon I do some washing & make up my bed with just light summer sheets, putting the heavy duvet away until the winter. I then sit in front of the television to watch a film. I flip through the films on Amazon Prime & settle on a film called I still believe for no other reason than it was near the top of the list & I haven't seen it. It was about a guy, a singer-songwriter, who met a girl, aren't they all, they fell in love, don't they all & it had a sad but happy ending. Those who don't know me that well, may not be aware, but it is physically impossible for me to cry as my tear ducts don't work. Tears may not have flowed during this film but there was plenty of dry sobbing & chest heaving throughout the film, if I could physically have cried, my sofa would have been soaked. It wasn't until after I read the description properly, I realised it was a true story about a Christian music megastar, Jeremy Camp. I am glad that he made the film & hope that his story supports & helps other people who have had any sort of loss in their life.

Tonight I watched another film which was based on Bass Reeves, the first black Deputy US. Marshall, West of the Mississippi. It was called Hell on the border & was a great film & I can highly recommend it. An amazing story about a man whom until today I had never heard of, which is an unfortunate sign of the times this great man was born into. If you have an interest in the story of the American West I can highly recommend this film. 

Tuesday, April 6th.

I am awake around 7:30 this morning & check my email & messages before having a pot of sweet cinnamon tea. After my tea I go to Consum to buy some bacon, it is the only place I have found locally that does English style bacon rashers. After getting the bacon & a bit of steak I carry on, to again look at electric bikes at a bike shop in Los Narejos. I have decided that I will buy a bike but that it will have to be an electric one in case my legs cramp up or my knee pops out whilst I am away from home on it. It makes sense to buy an electric bike, one that can get me home if I cant peddle home. When I get there, the lady working in the shop has two young children with her colouring-in books on the shop counter. I look at some bikes but it is obvious the lady has her hands full watching her kids so I decide to come back next week when the schools are open again.

I then pop in to see my cousin Jill to see if she is OK before meeting my friend Martin for a couple of beers. After we have had a couple of beers at La Sombra restaurant, his wife & daughter turn up & we all head down to the beach to sit in the sun there for a while. When I leave Martin & his family to head home along the beach I meet my neighbour Russ going to Rocco's bar, he talks me in to going with him for a final beer.

I had good intentions of buying a bike today but never got it, I had good intentions of beginning my new art project but didn't do it, oh well I can try again with the bike next week and the art project can start later this week.

Wednesday, April 7th.

Today I notice immediately how much I got sunburnt yesterday, my face is very red. It is not sore but I will have to remember to put sun cream on. The day is overcast all day with an occasional bit of rain so I stay in all day watching films. I did notice that the chiringuito was delivered to its spot outside my apartment today, hopefully, by the end of the weekend, it will be open again, to me this always signals the start of the summer.

Thursday, April 8th.

Today is the start of The Master's golf tournament, my favourite sporting event. For the next four days, I will be glued to the television watching it every afternoon. After taking a shower I log on to my American bank & transfer money to my Currency Fair account. I am always amazed that something that I do online via a computer has a bank charge to it, the American banking system is very backward. It will also take a minimum of 3 days for the money to appear in my Currency Fair account, something else I find quite unbelievable, it is supposed to be an electronic transfer, why isn't it instantaneous?

This afternoon I watch the Masters Golf before watching Arsenal play terribly again in the evening. They left it until the last 5 minutes to score a goal & then let a goal in with seconds to go to finish with a 1 - 1 draw against Slavia Prague. The return leg will be a lot harder now. After the football, I switched back to golf. I did see one of my favourite golfers get a hole-in-one, well done Tommy Fleetwood.