This week was a lot quieter than last week & a lot wetter. I did a lot of online training at home on Adobe Lightroom but did manage to get out to meet some friends I hadn't seen for a few years as well as see Arsenal beat Liverpool to go to the top of the Premier League again.
Monday, 3rd October.
I woke up with the birds this morning at around 5:30 am. As it was still dark I went back to sleep for a couple more hours before getting up for a coffee. I read my email messages & had two bacon rolls for breakfast.
Martin sent me a message at around 11:30 am to say the office would be opening late so I was able to complete some work I had been doing on my laptop before heading to the office at about 1 pm. Martin was very late not getting to work till about 1:30 pm but some friends, Lottie & Alison had called into the office to drop something in for him. They kept me company until he arrived & they could complete their business.
When I left the office I went to the Plaza de Dia supermarket to get some ice cream & two different types of cheese. A very mixed but manly shopping basket Im sure you will agree. When I arrived home I got myself some grilled turkey with cheesy chips for my meal before finishing it off with some ice cream.
This evening I started watching the first of the Adobe Lightroom training videos I had signed up for before going to bed around 10:30 pm.
Tuesday, 4th October.
I woke early this morning & finished yesterday's Lightroom training videos before getting a coffee. After my coffee, I had to contact Amazon to get my phone number changed as it would not allow me to do so online. After speaking to around 4 different people who all told me it couldn't be done, one lady did it for me. I will keep my fingers crossed that I don't have any more problems with it.
Because of the training, I am doing all week I was unable to go into the office this morning but this worked out well as my friend Bob is calling around at some time to fit a shelf in my kitchen for me. I will be able to pause the training video whilst he is here.
This evening Bob came around & refitted a shelf in my kitchen for me, I can now move stuff off of my dining room table & back into the kitchen. Along with the kitchen furniture my neighbours gave me my kitchen is now beginning to look & function really well. That is apart from the combi desktop oven I got which appears to be tripping the fuse every time I plug it in. I am hoping it is just a small problem & can be fixed.
Tonight I go to bed early but can not sleep so I get up, make myself a warm milky Horlicks with honey in it & look at some more Lightroom training videos until I get sleepy & go to bed.
Wednesday, 5th October.
I stayed up working on my Lightroom administration jobs till around 2:45 am but I am awake at 8:00 am & ready to go. Before I continue my work on my computer I get a coffee & some cereal & decide to see if I can find any reason online, for why my desktop oven keeps tripping the fuse in my apartment.
To start my detective work on my oven I log onto the Amazon website to see if there is a manual I can look at for my oven. When I find my purchase details there is an online chat helpline I can use so I contact them. Within 10 minutes the girl checks my record, offers me a full refund & arranges for the oven to be picked up before the end of the week. To say I am pleased is an understatement, all I have to do is get the box out of my storage cupboard in the garage & box it up. The collection people will label it all up so I don't have to worry about anything else.
I took some rubbish to the recycling bins, then went to the supermarket for a french stick loaf, to use for my lunch. When I get home I have something to eat & then after boxing up the oven that doesn't work I choose a new one to purchase. I choose a new model that I like, it is slightly smaller than the old one but has a lot more functions, it is also about €60 less than the old one. As I go through the purchasing & payment process, I am very happy to be given another €40 off the price in a flash sale. It can not be delivered for 10 days but I still have use of my microwave & my electric hob & the €100 saving will go a long way to buy a couple of meals out at a restaurant.
This afternoon I do some more Lightroom training, again learning how to use Lightroom to correctly administer photos. I then sit & watch television before going to bed at about 10:30 pm.
Thursday, 6th October.
I woke up around 8:30 today. During the night I was woken by heavy rain outside my window & I can see it has rained heavily because of the puddles on Plaza de Espejo. As I get myself a coffee I can hear thunder off in the distance & wonder if it is going to rain again this morning.
I do some more Lightroom training online this morning, I have to do as much as I can this week whilst the courses are free. I hope I remember a lot of it but even if I only take a few good things away from it, it will be time well spent.
This afternoon Amazon arrive & take away the two pairs of trousers that I bought that were too big. They are from Amazon UK, I hope they make it back quickly & I get my refund. A few hours after the trousers are collected a driver from Seur arrives & takes away the oven that I am returning to Amazon. The money for this is credited back to my account as soon as he picks it up. I just have to wait for the new one to be delivered now.
Tonight I watch Arsenal v Bodo Glimt in the Europa League. Arsenal put out a very much changed side to the one that beat Tottenham at the weekend, making eight changes. The players that came into the team did very well & a very inexperienced Arsenal team win 3-0 to go top of the group they are in. The players that scored were Eddie Nketiah, Rob Holding & Fabio Vieira.
Friday, 7th October.
This morning I woke around 6:45 am & unable to get back to sleep I get up, make a coffee & start working on my computer. It looks dark but dry outside & I hope the rain has moved on so that I can get out on the Sharky mobile to get some shopping.
At around 10:30 am I go to the Mercadona supermarket for a small bit of shopping & then return home. I didn't want to stay out long as I have my monthly delivery of CBD oil arriving from Holland today & don't want to miss it. Although there are places locally I can buy it, I get it online from Amazon, it is cheaper, & they deliver it to me once a month on a repeat order so I don't forget it & let it run out. When I get back I have a bacon, cheddar & mushroom baguette as a late breakfast before cleaning up my kitchen.
I work on some photographic images today. After some of the lightroom training, I have done this week, I have discovered a really quick way to add GPS locations for the photos. Using Lightroom I can just drag & drop images on a map & the GPS location is added to the metadata of the photo. It is a lot easier than using Google maps & cutting & pasting the data, it will save me a lot of time in the future.
This afternoon I arrange to meet some friends at the Hotel Costa Narejos bar at 5 pm. I haven't been to the hotel bar for a while & haven't seen my friends for even longer, I look forward to seeing them. I had a beefburger & settled down to watch the television for a while before heading out. You guessed it, I fell asleep & woke at 5:02 pm. After I woke I quickly got ready to go out & then walked along the beachfront to the hotel.
As I walked into the hotel I see Debbie & her husband Kevin sitting with Kim & her husband John & I sit down with them. Unfortunately, I am so puffed out after the walk I can't even say hello straight away. When I get my breath back I joined in the conversation & we all sat chatting until gone 9 pm. Time flew by & it is soon around 9:15 pm. Debbie & Kevin had left to go for a meal & Kim & John offer me a lift which I gratefully accept. I get home by about 9:30, make myself a sandwich & get a glass of ice-cold mango tea, & then settle down to watch the television for a while before going to bed.
Saturday, 8th October.
I woke around 8:30 am after a good night's sleep & get a coffee before checking my computer for messages.
At around 10 am I went to the bank to withdraw some money from the ATM before going home & entering the notes on my EuroBillTracker page. I had my lunch around 1:30 pm & walked down to La Playa bar to watch the football, unfortunately for me, the bar had run out of beer again, I had a rum & coke, had a chat with my friend Sophia & then went home to watch the football. I watched the Manchester City game which they won 4-0 & started to watch the Spurs game but it was so boring I turned over & watched a channel about wet paint drying instead.
Tonight I watched a film called Mr Harrigans Phone, it was brilliant & I really enjoyed it, if you can watch it I recommend that you do.
Sunday, 9th October.
I woke this morning ready & excited for the Arsenal v Liverpool football match today. I got myself a coffee & a bacon roll before stripping the bed linen & putting on my first lot of washing this morning.
I worked on my computer, sorting images, beginning to date some & add GPS coordinates to others until at around 4 pm my friend Wayne called me to see if I wanted to watch the football with him. He came to pick me up & we were soon at La Petit Bistro having a pre-match drink. After a pint there we moved to Harry's bar where we would watch the game.
We sat with our friend Stuart & were chatting right up until the time the game was to kick off. I couldn't see the TV screen very well where we were sitting so we moved inside. As we walked in there was a huge cheer at the game & after 58 seconds Gabriel Martinelli had scored for Arsenal & we were winning 1-0. Arsenal was playing very well but slowly Liverpool got better & eventually equalised. There were five minutes of extra time being played at the end of the first half when Martinelli pulled away down the left & crossed for Bukayo Saka to poke the ball in & give Arsenal the lead back against the run of play.
In the second half, Liverpool again had more of the ball & again equalised making it 2-2. As Arsenal started to gain more possession they piled on a lot more pressure & eventually, Gabriel Jesus earned a penalty. I could hardly watch as Bukayo Saka took the penalty but he scored & Arsenal was in the lead again, 3-2, this time they were able to hold on to the lead & win the game.
I was very happy as Arsenal leapfrogged Manchester City back to the top of the Premier League. I don't know if Arsenal will be able to play this way all season but for now, I am just enjoying every game as it comes. I finished my beer & walked back to my apartment. The long walk & the jumping around in celebration took its toll on my legs, on more than one occasion my knee popped out on the walk home & when I got in I was glad to have made it back. I had a painkiller & went to bed with my knee throbbing as if I had been playing the game myself.