Location: Los Alcázares, Spain.
Summary: A productive week with my TV being wall mounted, lots of website work, moving furniture, helping friends with tech issues, a trip to the Murcia Spring Flower Festival and a busy weekend of football, photos and socialising.
Monday 10th April
I got up around 08:15 after a late night watching golf. My friend and local handyman David Warwick came around in the morning to fit the new television wall bracket and mount the TV for me. After getting up I had a couple of ginseng coffees to wake myself up properly before working on my computer for a while.
David did a great job fixing the television and soundbar to the wall and left around midday. I went down to the garage and got my electric bike out. It does not have a throttle and has to be pedalled, but the electric battery and gearing system make it easier and put less pressure on my knees.
I cycled to meet Martin at the office. By the time I got there I was a little shaky as I was out of condition and had not been on the bike for a long time. I sat with Martin, Dave and Aria talking for a few hours before returning to my apartment. When I got home I got some frozen soup from the freezer, added Cumberland sausages and reheated it. I ended up eating it all. I fell asleep almost immediately afterwards and woke around 19:00.
I did some more work on my website before going to bed around 23:00.
Tuesday 11th April
I woke around 06:30, got a coffee and sat at my computer to work on my website. After finishing what I wanted to do I started moving furniture around the apartment.
I moved my computer from the spare room into the lounge where I want to work. I also wanted to move the work table from the spare room to the balcony but it was too difficult on my own. I went to my neighbours Val and Richard. They invited me in and we talked for an hour or so over a cup of tea. Richard then came back with me to move the table. After struggling to get it out of the bedroom we had to remove the legs, carry it to the balcony and reassemble it. We then moved the chest of drawers from the hallway into the spare bedroom. I thanked Richard for his help and he went home, probably regretting giving me the heavy chest of drawers in the first place.
I set the computer up in the lounge but had trouble getting the monitor to work. After trying for hours I realised the monitor cable was damaged. Once I replaced it everything worked fine.
In the afternoon June asked if I could look at her phone, notepad and computer. She had been having trouble contacting people on Farcebook. I suspected user error and when she picked me up I went to her home to look at everything.
Her problem was that she had multiple user accounts. I suspect well-meaning people had created new accounts for her instead of fixing the original issue. After she told me which account she wanted to use I made sure it was set up correctly on her phone, laptop and computer. She also had multiple shortcuts to the same applications which confused her, so I tidied everything up.
June dropped me home and I told her to note any problems she had so I could fix them. She also offered to give me a lift to the coach for my trip on Thursday, which I gratefully accepted.
In the evening Dave and Viv picked me up to go to the Gurkha Durbar restaurant to meet Martin, Kate and Aria for Aria’s birthday meal. I had a lovely chicken Rogan Josh and enjoyed the company. After the meal Dave and Viv dropped me home. It had been a long day and I was glad to get to bed.
Wednesday 12th April
Today was spent working on my website. The navigation was causing me all sorts of problems. I seemed to take one step forward and two steps back. Whenever I thought I had sorted it something else caused a different issue.
Thursday 13th April
After waking up and getting a coffee I did a full restore of my website to a previously saved backup. It put everything back to how it was at the start of the week but still left the navigation system in two different states.
I walked to the local pharmacy and bought more Sintrom, Omeprazol and IdeaCalm tablets. When I got home I moved some plants around on the balcony. One of the wooden plant containers my friend Reinder made is starting to fall apart and needs replacing. It will give me a chance to add more colourful plants and hopefully attract more bees and butterflies.
At 15:00 June picked me up and dropped me at the arches in Los Narejos for my trip to the Murcia Spring Flower Festival. After a short wait the coach arrived and I went to see the festival.
When I arrived back in Los Narejos at around 22:15 June was waiting to give me a lift home. I was very grateful as I had walked too much and my legs were swollen and sore. She did not take me straight home though. She took me to La Ola bar for a drink. It was nice to unwind and see Jose.
After June dropped me home I went straight to bed and fell asleep quickly.
Friday 14th April
I woke around 08:00, got a coffee and made a small change to my website. I wanted a break from the computer and around midday I walked down to the chiringuito outside my apartment and got a pint. I read my Kindle and watched the wildlife for an hour before returning home.
In the afternoon I moved more computer equipment into the lounge, putting the printer on the chest of drawers. I also moved some furniture around in the bedroom. The rest of the day was spent with my legs up, resting and hoping the swelling would go down.
Saturday 15th April
I woke around 07:30, got my usual ginseng coffee and sat at my computer. I transferred the photos and videos I took at the Flower Festival and will edit them over the next few days before posting them to my YouTube channel.
I put on the first load of washing and then went to Mercadona just before lunch to do a big shop. I probably bought enough groceries for a couple of weeks, minus anything I forgot. When I got home I had a seafood salad for lunch and put a second load of washing on before watching some football.
While watching the football I messaged a friend in the UK. We have not seen each other since before COVID and it was great to talk again. During the chat she booked a flight to come over in June for a couple of weeks. I am really looking forward to her visit as we always laugh so much together.
After the football I continued working on my website. I started adding my photo albums back. They are all there but hidden until I adjust them. I finished just after 22:00, got a beer and watched television until I went to bed after MOTD.
Sunday 16th April
I woke around 07:00, got a coffee and worked on my website. Just after 09:00 I had some cereal and tidied the kitchen before editing photos in Photoshop and Lightroom until June arrived to take me to lunch at Campbell’s in Roda.
I had roast lamb with all the trimmings and a couple of pints before June dropped me home in time for the football. I watched the West Ham vs Arsenal game. Arsenal started brilliantly and were 0-2 up again, but just like last week they let the lead slip and it finished 2-2. They are still top of the Premier League but with Manchester City still to play they will probably need to win every game to take the title.
After the game I walked to La Playa bar to meet my friend Alan Bond. He arrived with his family and we chatted about upcoming plans. He has spare tickets to see Rod Stewart in Murcia later in the year but I am already going. I told him I would ask around.
When the bar closed early Shellie dropped me at Rocco’s bar where I had a couple of beers and chatted with people. At about 23:00 I left and walked home. My legs were very painful by the time I got back and I was glad to rest them before going to bed.
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