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15 January 2025
2021, week 26 journal.
2021, week 26 journal.

Week 26 of 2021 started well and went downhill quickly. My trust in people was shaken when I was mugged, and restored somewhat by the reaction of friends, neighbours and even people I hardly knew.

Friday, June 25th.

Today started with a long swim in the Mar Menor before having a coffee and tostada at the chiringuito outside my apartment. I sat in the sun drinking a large bottle of water whilst I read my Kindle. It got too hot for me to sit in the sun after a while, and I went indoors to cool off. 

This evening, I went back down to the chiringuito to meet my friends, George and Yvonne. We met up, chatted and had something to eat, so none of us had to cook today. After dinner, the bar closed early because of a staff member's birthday arrangements. George and Yvonne went to a bar near their home for a coffee, and I walked to La Playa bar, where I sat chatting with Emma, who works there, before being joined by Shellie, Jim and a few other people. We all had a good night, but my leg was aching, so I walked off home on my own. As I got outside the church halfway home, my leg began to swell, so I sat down for a few minutes to rest before I carried on.

When I got to the front door of my apartment block, I went to unlock the door. As I did so, I felt someone behind me grab my bag. I spun around, and there were two young men right behind me. As I threw a punch at one of them, the second one pushed me to the floor. I do not know if my punch even landed, but both of them ran off with my bag before I could even get up. When I got up, I woke my neighbours up using the intercom on the apartment door, telling them I had just been mugged. They let me in and called the police, who seemed to me to be there very quickly. The police, luckily for me, found my keys to the apartment outside by the door. Unluckily for me, they found nothing else. I lost my mobile phone, Kindle, sunglasses, reading glasses, and wallet, along with my credit cards, debit cards, driving licence, residencia, and various shop loyalty cards.

I never thought I would be a victim of this sort of crime, but when you are surprised from behind, in a tight spot, it could happen to anyone. It all happened so quickly that it was practically over as quickly as it began. The police were excellent and told me to go to the police station in the morning. I left my neighbours, went home, and spent the next few hours online cancelling different credit cards before I went to sleep.

Saturday, June 26th.

I woke this morning still very shaken after last night's events. I hadn't slept very well, and although I didn't have a mark on me or look to be injured, the butterflies in my stomach were still going crazy. I went to the chiringuito for coffee before my neighbour John took me to the police station to make a complete statement. My friend Andrew, who runs the chiringuito, met me at the police station and was able to translate for me. The police were excellent. They gave me a report and told me that I should make a claim on my household insurance for my losses as they should cover me. 

When we finished at the police station, Andrew took me home, where I was met by my friend Pat, who then took me to the bank to make sure my accounts had been frozen correctly. Unfortunately for me, the bank was shut, so I couldn't check that I had done everything correctly. After I got home, my friend George came round to check on me. He should have been taking me shopping this morning, but couldn't get an answer. My neighbours told him what had happened, so he had come back several times to check on me. I was in my apartment when he called me from outside. He took me for a quick pint, and then I went home to cancel my telephone and Amazon accounts.

Whilst at home, my friends Sheila and Bernard messaged me asking to take me to Sunday dinner and asking how I was after the mugging. Shortly after speaking to them, my cousin Jill and her husband Peter came around to check on me. After finishing cancelling the last thing I had to cancel, we all walked back to meet George at Pyramide bar for a pint. Jill and Peter stopped for a chat before leaving me with George. We had a couple of pints before we both went home.

I was shattered after everything that had happened and went to bed quite early.

Sunday, June 27th.

I woke up very early despite not sleeping very well again. I went for coffee and a tostada at the chiringuito before going back home to rest. At lunchtime, my friends Sheila and Bernard picked me up and took me out for Sunday dinner at The Lounge Bar in Los Alcázares. It was the first time I had been here for Sunday dinner, and it was a really lovely meal. I saw a few friends who all gave me their best wishes and commiserations for what had happened on Friday, and I was then taken home, where I very quickly fell asleep in front of the television.

Monday, June 28th.

I woke early, showered and jumped on my mobility scooter to get to the bank when it opened. Luckily for me, there were not too many people in the bank, and one of the ladies who worked there came over to see what I was there for. I told her I had been mugged and that I had tried to cancel my cards but was unsure if I had managed to do it (Very stupidly, you can cancel a credit card online easily but not a debit card if you don't have a mobile phone to receive a text for confirmation). She immediately took me to a desk and went through everything for me, cancelling the card I hadn't been able to cancel, checking that no money had gone from my account and ordering me new cards. She even looked up my insurance company for me, telephoned them and arranged to have copies of my insurance documents sent to me so I could make a claim. She then took me to the lady at the counter where you withdraw money and arranged for me to get some cash to use until my replacement cards arrived.

After going to the bank, I then continued to Liberty Seguros to see if they could help me get a new TIE card to replace my stolen residencia card and a replacement driving licence. Jordan told me they could help me. As I left, I saw my friend Wayne, who was going in for help; his car had been broken into over the weekend. It seems there were a few robberies and break-ins over the weekend.

I left the Liberty Seguros office and then went to the ASSSA office, as my health card had been in my wallet as well. They quickly ordered me a replacement card and told me that it would be sent out quickly. From there, I went for coffee with my friend Mike before going to see my cousin Jill. I wanted to get my spare key from her so I could get a few more copies cut. Luckily for me, her husband Peter was going to get some cut for them. While I was sitting chatting with Jill, Peter went and got extra copies of my keys.

The last few days have been hectic, and I slept through most of the football this evening, just waking in time to see the scores and, in the case of the France vs Switzerland game, the penalty shootout. After watching the football, I went straight to bed.

Tuesday, June 29th.

Today was my friend Jacqueline Carpenters' birthday. She had kindly invited me to the Number 6 by Genoa restaurant, where she was having lots of friends for a meal to celebrate her birthday. My friend George very kindly gave me a lift there before he took his wife shopping so I didn't have to worry about getting there.

Once there, I met a few friends I hadn't seen for a while and met a few people I had never met before. I am not sure if it was the good food, the happy atmosphere, lots of good-looking ladies or the talk about football this evening, but it kept my mind off everything else that happened in the last few days, and I really enjoyed myself. After the meal, my friends Pat and Sandra dropped me off at home in time to see the England vs Germany football match on the television.

Even England managed to lift my spirits by beating Germany 2-0 and progressing through to the next round. I watched the second game while updating my website. For some reason, I have been a bit preoccupied in the last few days and haven't been able to write anything down. After watching the Sweden vs Ukraine game, which Ukraine won in the last few minutes of the game, I went to bed.

Wednesday, June 30th.

I woke up this morning and got myself a tostada at home. I then walked around to the local recycling bins to dispose of all the boxes in which my recent packages from Amazon had been delivered. On the way home, I stopped for a coffee at the chiringuito by my apartment. It seemed strange sitting there without my Kindle to read, so I downed my coffee and returned to my apartment.

For lunch, I had some pork ribs, and after lunch, I binge-watched a TV series about a Canadian Emergency Medic who can read people's minds. It is the usual story: the hero saves lives, people think he is strange, the leading lady doesn't trust him, and then falls in love with him.

Thursday, June 1st.

I slept well last night and woke up around 8 am. I potter around the apartment for a while and then go for a swim in the Mar Menor. After my swim, I have a coffee and tostada at the chiringuito before taking some rubbish to the local bin. After dropping the rubbish off, I went to the Avatel office to see if they could give me a new sim card for a new phone to replace the stolen one and if I would have to change my phone number. They are able to issue me a new sim card that keeps the old phone number. I am thrilled that this will save me a lot of hassles when changing my phone number everywhere.

For lunch, I have leftover ribs from yesterday. I accidentally knocked some photos over this morning, smashing their glass frames, so I have to clean the mess up quickly as I have a cleaner coming around to clean my apartment for the first time today. I don't want her to cut herself on any broken glass. A lot of things seem to have gone wrong this week, and just before my cleaner arrived, I found that the butler sink in my utility room was blocked, and it was beginning to stink. I took the drainpipe off to unblock it and had just unblocked it when the cleaner arrived. The apartment stank and I tried to explain that I had been unblocking the sink, but I am not sure she understood. On top of that, the cleaning supplies I had were incorrect, but her husband nipped to the shop to purchase new ones. 

To stay out of the way, I sat on my balcony and did the next Spanish lesson on the course of lessons I had bought. Unfortunately, there seemed to be nothing about cleaning or blocked sinks, but I hoped that as I did more of the lessons in the weeks to come, I would be able to speak with her a little more. It was around 100f/38c on my balcony, and the longer I sat there, the more I realised why I prefer to do things in the mornings when it is cooler.

The cleaners that came to clean my house have done a fantastic job so far. I think it is cleaner now than it was when I moved in 6 years ago. They haven't finished the deep cleaning they are doing, but when they have finished, I will be sitting at the beach all day and eating out all the time so that I don't make it untidy or dirty.

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