Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia, Spain.
Summary: This week began with meals out and a trip to La Zenia Boulevard, then quickly turned into a battle with a heavy cold. Most of the week was spent indoors keeping warm, drinking lemsip and working on my website while trying to shake off the worst of the cold.
Monday, 2nd January
I woke up feeling ok and had a coffee and cereal before working on my computer for a while. At lunchtime Martin and Kate came round with their daughter Aria to pick me up for a trip to La Zenia Boulevard. I wanted to buy some tea leaves from a shop there. When I chose two types and went to pay, the assistant stopped serving me halfway through to deal with two people who wanted to buy an expensive china tea set. I have never been treated so rudely in a tea shop, but I guess money talks.
Afterwards we went to Che Argentinian for lunch. There was a long queue, but once seated the service was quick. Unfortunately my acid reflux reacted as soon as I took my first bite. I had to stop eating until it settled, then it came back even stronger and I had to run to the toilet where I was soon vomiting stomach acid. The reaction eased again, but the chest pain stopped me from eating any more. While the others finished their meal, I took a short walk outside.
After lunch Martin and Kate dropped Aria at the supervised play area. I did some grocery shopping in Al Campo while they looked around clothes shops. When they were in one shop, I sat with Aria and she cuddled me. I noticed the admiring looks from passing ladies. I wondered if anyone knew where I could hire a small cute child to impress women next time I go shopping.
Kate dropped me home and I put the heating on straight away as the apartment was cold. I was hungry after my aborted lunch but did not want to risk solids, so I heated one of my homemade soups. It filled me up and caused no acid reflux.
Tuesday, 3rd January
After getting up I worked on my website for a few hours, then took my recycled plastic and paper to a local recycling bin. I continued on my disability scooter to a Chino supermarket in Los Narejos and bought some cable ties. As soon as I left the shop, I attached my Save The Mar Menor flag back onto the front of the scooter before heading to Pizzeria La Sombre for a couple of beers with Martin. Neither of us felt brilliant and it was a quiet couple of hours.
On my way home I passed my old house in Los Narejos and saw the people I sold it to sitting outside. We had become friends, so I stopped for a chat and a cup of tea. It was nice to catch up and to see the house still looking great. The name I attached to the wall, Casa Gooner, is still there and still going well.
Tonight I watched Arsenal play Newcastle. It finished 0-0 but it was not a boring game. Newcastle defended well and there were some strange penalty decisions that did not go Arsenal’s way. The worst part was the refereeing. The game was not rough, but he still managed to give out nine yellow cards. He even booked a Newcastle player who was not playing. It is about time the FA fined referees for poor performances.
Wednesday, 4th January
I woke up feeling terrible. I seemed to have caught a cold. I spent the whole day drinking lemsip, taking capsules, drinking water and working on my website while staying warm in my apartment.
Thursday, 5th January
Today was much the same as yesterday. I felt terrible, drank lots of water, took lemsip and stayed warm. I did manage to cook a roast pork and beef joint with mini roast potatoes for dinner. The saying goes feed a cold and starve the flu. I fed my cold and hoped it helped.
Friday, 6th January
I still felt awful and only left my heated apartment to check the mailbox. There was no mail and my excitement about the postman ringing me soon faded. I continued making big changes to the layout of my website. As I had not felt like going outside all week, I was grateful to have something to keep me occupied. I must have spent around fourteen hours working on it. It was not complicated work, but it was time consuming.
Saturday, 7th January
I felt a little better but still took lemsip drinks and capsules while staying inside my warm apartment. I watched some FA Cup football but could not get excited about it. I continued working on my website, but the new layout meant I had to alter all the pages and redesign the navigation systems.
After going to bed I was woken at about 01:00 by kids outside. They had parked under my bedroom window and were blasting Spanish rap music loud enough to wake the dead. I shouted at them but it made no difference, so I used an app on my phone to call the police. I could not hear what they were saying because the music was so loud.
As I tried to sleep, another car pulled up and I heard Spanish voices. I did not know if it was the police, but the kids turned the music down immediately. When the car left, the volume did not go back up. It slowly dwindled away, so I guessed the kids had moved on.
Sunday, 8th January
I woke around 07:00 feeling terrible. The cold was worse and the broken sleep had put me in a miserable mood. I had a lemsip, then a coffee and cereal before getting back to work on my website.
I worked until about 12:45 when June came to take me to Campbell’s Bar for Sunday lunch. I had roast lamb with all the trimmings and it was beautiful. We spent about two and a half hours chatting as we ate and had a drink before she dropped me home. I got straight into my pyjamas, put the heating on, made a lemsip and spent the afternoon watching football or dozing on the sofa.
I had cheese on toast for supper and worked on my website until about 23:00 when I packed up and went to bed.
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