Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia, Spain
Summary: This week was dominated by a lingering cold that refused to shift. I spent most of my time indoors working on my website, resting, and trying to recover, with a few short outings to see friends and run errands.
Monday, 9th January
As soon as the doctor’s surgery opened, I went for my regular blood test to check my anticoagulant levels. I had not seen the lady before and she complained a lot about my poor veins. She looked at both arms several times before finally taking the sample from my left arm. After she had finished, I went home for coffee and porridge.
Later in the morning I went to the Las Claras Centre in Los Narejos. I used to go to a Monday coffee morning most weeks but had fallen out of the habit. I want to start going again as I am losing touch with people I used to see regularly. I saw a few familiar faces I had not seen in months and it was good to catch up. I will try to go every week now.
After the coffee morning I continued to Pizzeria La Sombre to meet Martin for our weekly catch up and a few beers. It was a subdued meeting as we were both feeling under the weather with a cold. On the way home I stopped at the D’Pollo takeaway to get something to eat. The rest of the day was spent tucked under my blanket trying to keep warm.
Tuesday, 10th January
I spent the entire day at home working on my website. The cold gave me a tickly throat and headaches that would not go away. I treated it with lemsip drinks, tablets and plenty of water. The only time I left the house was to return a parcel to the Euronics shop near my apartment.
Wednesday, 11th January
I had continuous headaches again today. The tickly throat was easing and the sniffy nose was improving. I worked on my new website design all day but did not seem to make much progress. The lemsip made me drowsy and I kept making mistakes and having to correct them.
Thursday, 12th January
I worked on my website for a while this morning before going to see my friends Pat and Sandra in Barrio de la Fuensanta. It was great to see them both again. We sat chatting with a cup of tea and a cake and the time flew by. I thought I had only been out for a short visit, but when I got home it turned out I had been away for around three hours including travel.
I felt much better for getting out of the house and seeing some friendly faces.
Friday, 13th January
When I got up my headache was not as bad, but I had run out of lemsip so I went to the local pharmacy to buy the Spanish version. A pack of ten Lemsip in the UK costs about £4, but here Frenadol costs €10.95. It is a bit stronger, but still a big difference. I hoped the cold would clear soon.
I worked on my website for a few hours and finally had a breakthrough with what I was trying to do. The change in the menu system looked like it would work. I continued until around 14:00 when I stopped for lunch. After eating I fell asleep for a few hours before working on the website again. I did not work for long as the Frenadol made me very drowsy. I watched television for a while before going to bed early.
Saturday, 14th January
I spent the day indoors again trying to get rid of the cold. I worked on my website and watched some football on television. It was disappointing to see Chelsea buy a player Arsenal had hoped to sign. They offered more money and doubled the wages Arsenal had offered. Although I was disappointed he would not be joining Arsenal, I was glad the club did not break their budget for an unproven player. I wondered if he would now remove all his self promoting posts about wanting to join Arsenal and if he would
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