At the start of week 30 of 2021, I still felt poorly.
Friday, July 23rd.
I woke up this morning feeling a bit better than yesterday but that doesn't say much. I go for a long swim before the sun gets too hot, then after my swim, I take a shower & make a pot of camomile tea, update my website, & settle down on my balcony. I am amazed at the ferocity that the Spanish below my balcony play dominoes. They slam the dominoes down as if trying to force each domino through the table onto the floor below. Even when they are just shuffling the dominoes on the tabletop, the noise made sounds like a washing machine on rinse cycle. I wonder if dominoes is classified as a contact sport in Spain & whether they have to wear wrist supports & ear protectors to play a game. I wonder if it has yet become an Olympic event.
It is very hot today & I do as little as possible. At 6:30 pm I check the thermometer on my balcony to see if it has cooled down at all, it has but it is still registering 100f or 38c. so I stay indoors & watch a film. At 10 pm a Saxophonist starts playing on the raised stage in the square outside. He is very good, playing lots of different types of music, but once again I am left wondering why there was no advertising for him. The only people that see or hear him are the few people walking around the artisan market or the people living in the apartments surrounding the stage area.
He finishes around 11:45 & I go to bed. Around 3 am I am woken by one of my Spanish neighbours. Their apartment is directly across the street, opposite my bedroom. They always leave every window wide open to keep cool but tonight one of the people staying there has fallen asleep watching the television. They must be laying on the television remote control because every now & then the volume increases until it starts to wake neighbours up. Finally, another Spanish neighbour shouts at the house but is unable to wake the sleeper he then decides to set off his car alarm for a while to wake him up. The alarm is allowed to go off for a few minutes but does not wake 'Señor soñoliento'. The neighbour then removes a shoe & throws it at a window, it makes a clattering sound as it hits something & this seems to do the trick as the television is immediately switched off & I can get back to sleep.
Saturday, July 24th.
I feel a little better again this morning & go for a swim before the beach gets busy. I swim for around an hour covering about ¾ of a km. After my swim, I shower & get myself poached egg on toast for breakfast. I decide to go & get a couple of bits of shopping just to get out of the house. I message my friend Sheila just to make sure that her kettle is working correctly, then go to see her & Bernard on my way to Mercadona. We sit chatting for a short while before I continue on to get my shopping. The shops are crazy at this time of the year, I much prefer it when there are no tourists in Los Alcázares & I don't have to stand in a queue at a till to pay for the few things I have bought.
It is far to hot to do anything again this afternoon so I try to sit & read my kindle. It is made very difficult by the very young kids outside having a screaming tournament. Can anyone explain why little girls stand next to each other & see who can scream the longest, the loudest & at the highest pitch? Can someone also tell me how they manage to survive to become teenagers without being shot by mistake by people who believe they are escaped howler monkeys from a local zoo? I settle for shutting the windows, putting the air conditioning on & watching two Deuce Bigalow films. They were very funny & I can't believe I have never watched them before.
The artisan market does not disappoint again tonight providing a place for a group of around 8 or 9 young mothers with around 20 screaming children somewhere to let off steam, away from their families who presumably can't sleep until the little bastards have finished screaming at around 2 in the morning.
Once the market stallholders have all driven off, tooting their horns to say goodbye to each other & all of the mothers & kids have gone, peace returns. Until the teenagers turn up around half an hour later on their loud noisy motorbikes with their beer & boom boxes. Luckily for me, they don't have anywhere to sit directly outside my bedroom window but how my neighbours tolerate the noise they make is beyond me. We are told to sleep with our windows open to allow the cooler air in, they don't however tell us how to let the cool air in & the noise the teenage monsters make, out. They come to a crescendo around 5:30 am & walk home singing happily pissed as the proverbial newt.
Sunday, July 25th.
I don't wake up too early today because of the noise last night but when I do, I immediately go down to the beach for a swim.
My luck in the last few months hasn't been very good & this morning is no better. I am slowly swimming in a direct line from the beach to the rocks when I am sideswiped by a fast-moving Spanish athlete who is not looking where he is going He crashes straight into my left hip & stops me in my tracks. As I survey for damage he quickly shoots off in another direction with no apology & without waiting to see if I have any damage or to swap insurance details. I continue my swim around the rocks, do my little water aerobics routine & head back to shore. I keep a lookout for the fast-moving Spaniard but am unable to see him, he must have slipped away quickly before I demanded recompense. I go back to my apartment, take a shower have some cereal for breakfast & type up a memo in case I need to make a claim for damages.
At lunchtime, I take out the Sharky mobile & drive to Roda to visit Campbell's bar for Sunday lunch. This week I tried roast beef & I have to say it was the best roast beef I have had in a very long time, After my meal, I go back to my apartment & watch the film 'Last Call', it was a good film that helped me pass a few hours but nothing special.
At around 5:30 pm I walk along the beach to La Playa bar to listen to Diana sing again. I sat with my friends Jo, Michael & Rob chatting & listening to Diana. I had a great time & around 8pm I walked back to my apartment. As I walked home I noticed that speakers were being set up on the stage outside my apartment again, nothing is advertised but I will keep my eyes open & come back down after 10 pm as that is when the music normally starts.
The music turned out to be the saxophonist that was playing on Friday night, I walk down to the chiringuito, buy a pint & sit & listen to the music for an hour before going back to my apartment to watch television & some of the Olympic events in Japan.
Monday, July 26th.
I go for a swim this morning but don't see much as the water is very cloudy. The wind is disturbing the sand on the seabed & the algae in the water means that visibility isn't very good this morning. I swim past the rocks do my short set of water exercises then swim back in.
After my swim, I go for a shower before going to see my friend Mike as he has a problem with the internet connection on his phone. I am a bit late getting to Mike at Café Prensa but I sort out his phone then have a coffee & tostada. Mike doesn't hang about for a chat so when I have finished my breakfast I join my friend Martin outside La Sombre restaurant. Unfortunately for them they had a flood yesterday during the night & are still clearing up. Martin & I go to LA's family bar for a pint, returning to the office when they have finished cleaning up.
As well as having a couple of pints I order a pizza, I eat half & get a takeaway box for the other half. Martin & I put the world to rights & around 3 pm we both head our way home. I am just going past a little Spanish café near my home when my friend Elaine calls out to me. I stop to have a drink with her & two people she is sitting with. It turns out they are the owners of an apartment she is soon moving in to. They are a very nice couple & we sit chatting for a while before I eventually continue my journey home.
Once home I eat the remainder of my pizza whilst watching television. When the noise of the people outside begins to quieten down I go to bed.
Tuesday, July 27th.
I go for an hour's swim in the Mar Menor this morning. After my swim, I go home for a shower & then go back to the chiringuito for coffee, tostada & a large bottle of water. I sit there reading for an hour before going back to my apartment for my reflexology session with Sole2Soul.
Julie, my reflexologist, arrives & I have my treatment for this week. When she has completed the session we arrange another appointment & Julie suggests that switching to once a fortnight & then to once a month will be enough for me. I am always very relaxed after she has been & can highly recommend her if you have ever thought of trying reflexology.
This afternoon & evening, I sit on my balcony reading until about 11 pm. I had a very relaxed day today.
Wednesday, July 28th.
This morning I woke up, check my email & then went to arrange a blood test at the doctor's surgery. Whilst I am queuing outside, I am very disappointed by an arsehole of an Englishman who pushed past the queue of people outside to make an appointment for his antigen test for travelling. I was sitting outside on my disability scooter behind an old lady waiting her turn to go in. Behind me was a couple carrying a young sick looking child. A rude Englishman ignored all of us, went inside, ignoring the rule of one in one out, due to the number of people allowed inside.
I allowed the parents with the sick child to go in front of me so they could be seen quicker I hope my show of manners helps restore some of the good feelings towards the English that this rude Englishman cost us. Sir if you read this, I hope you miss your flight or your appointment on August 13th. I arranged my appointment for tomorrow morning & then went home.
I changed into my swim shorts & went for a swim for an hour, it was lovely & flat when I started & although the wind had picked up a little by the time I finished it was still very pleasant & I got out feeling refreshed. I went back to my apartment, showered & then went back out on my mobility scooter to Mercadona to get a few bits of shopping.
Just after I got home the postman arrived with a parcel from my sister in England. She sent me some very fetching swimming shorts with turtles making up a very colourful pattern on them. She must be a mind reader as I had been thinking of getting some new swim shorts. The rest of the day was spent on my computer, reading or watching television, anything to stay in the cool.
Thursday, July 29th.
I woke up early before my alarm goes off. I drink plenty of water, it is supposed to help if you are having a blood test, then leave to be at the doctor's surgery when it opens. I am seen very quickly, have my blood taken & soon set off towards La Encarnacion es for breakfast.
I have my usual breakfast of tostada with tomato, coffee & orange juice. I sit & enjoy breakfast whilst I read my kindle, it really is a lovely place to have a relaxing breakfast early in the morning. After breakfast, I go home for an hour or so before deciding to go for a walk.
I walk along the beachfront before I cut up towards Rio Nalon in Los Alcázares where a lot of the bars & restaurants are. When I get to Rocco's I see my friends Colin & Elaine are both sitting there. I decide I need a rest & join them for a beer. We sit talking for quite a while & decide to walk on to El callejón de las brujas a small Spanish bar near the tennis courts in Los Alcázares. Colin has to stop off at home & Elaine has to take her dog home so they both leave me at Rocco's. After a short while I set off to Colin's apartment & meet him there, we continue on to the bar where we sit in the shade & have a couple of beers & tapas before being joined by Elaine. We sit chatting for a while before Elaine heads off home & Colin & I head off to La Playa bar on the beach.
Colin & I sit on the beachfront reminiscing about previous years & talking about our friend Kelvin who used to drink with the two of us into the early hours of the morning. We both hope that if Kelvin visits this year we can get together for a beer or two. After finishing his beer Colin heads home & I walk back to the chiringuito near my apartment. It has been a very circuitous walk, I sit & have a beer & rest my legs. Just as I am about to leave my friends Jim & Shelley arrive & force me to have a beer with them before they head off to work at La Playa bar.
I finish my beer & then head off to my apartment where I get something to eat & then watch a couple of episodes in the Deception television series before going to bed.