This week was very mixed; I did lots of swimming, enjoyed a local celebration at the beach, suffered from a bout of GERD, caught up with lots of friends I hadn't seen for a while and had the bad news that an Uncle had a heart attack back in the UK.
Monday, 19th June.
I woke up around 8:30 a.m. today. I got cereal, coffee, and orange juice and checked my messages online. Once I had finished my breakfast, I went down to the Mar Menor for my swim and took the last of an old, stale loaf of bread with me to feed the fish.
A bit of wind blew this morning, and waves were blowing across the water, making it difficult to see any fish feeding on the bread. After scattering the bread for the fish, I swam to the rocks 200 m from the beach. I sat on the rocks for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet and soaking up the energy of the water lapping the rocks around me. As I sat on the rocks, I thought I saw Cindy sitting at the chiringuito outside my apartment, so I slowly swam back to the beach to join her.
I sat with Cindy and got myself a coffee at the chiringuito. We sat talking for a while until Cindy went for a swim. As I sat drinking my coffee, two English people on a table next to me were talking about a hotel they had booked but couldn't find. I hadn't heard the name but thought it was the hotel near the Town Hall. I spoke to them about it but returned to my apartment to check online if it was the one I thought it was. After checking online, I found the hotel they were staying in was the one I thought, but it had changed its name again. It is now called Atrio del Mar and is an Ibersol-owned hotel. I went back to the chiringuito, let the people know where the hotel was, and then talked to Cindy, who had returned from her swim.
Cindy and I returned to my apartment and got ready to go to the office. At around 11:50 am, we walked around the corner and waited at the bus top for the bus. The timetable at the bus stop is incorrect, but the app I have on my mobile phone, Moovit, has the correct information and tells us that the bus should arrive at 12:10 pm. The bus was on time, and we were quickly transported to the office to meet Martin in an air-conditioned bus. I only had water today, but Martin and Cindy enjoyed a few beers while chatting. Just before 2 pm, I messaged June, who had volunteered to take us shopping. She quickly turned up and drove Cindy and me to San Javier and the Mercadona store to get groceries.
We did some shopping, and June dropped us off at my apartment. I got soup and bread for us and put a pizza in the oven. After eating the soup, Cindy went to the beach to sunbathe, but I stayed in the apartment. I had somehow twisted my knee this morning and needed to take a painkiller. I took a painkiller and lay on the sofa watching the television with my leg raised and ate half of the pizza. At around 5 pm, Cindy returned from the beach and went for a siesta.
While watching television, I had a message from Gail, the friend I had made on my last cruise around the Mediterranean. We will see Rod Stewart in July and want to meet before the show for a meal and a drink. We will have plenty to catch up on by then and will probably talk incessantly about planning another cruise.
I spent the evening watching the England v North Macedonia football match on the television. England played well and won 7-0, and Arsenals Bukayo Saka scored a hat trick. It was good to see an entertaining game for a change, and once it finished, I took a shower to cool off before I went to bed.
Tuesday, 20th June.
I slept well last night and woke up around 6 am today. I got a coffee and checked for messages online before going to the Mar Menor for my morning swim at around 7:30 am.
I finished my swim around 9:30 a.m. and was very pleased but worn out after swimming 2 km. When I returned to the apartment, I had another coffee and some cereal before filing this year's tax return and filing it with my accountant. When I had finished, Cindy was still asleep, so I left her a note and went for a ride on my mobility scooter to see if I could see my friend Vince. When I got to his home, he was out or still asleep.
I returned to my apartment, and as I passed the chiringuito, I saw Cindy sitting there having a coffee. I had to get more cereal, so I continued to the Dia store to buy some. When I got back to my apartment, I saw that my friend Mandy was close by, so I messaged her to meet for a coffee, and we met at Buena Vista restaurant for a coffee. After leaving, we walked to Como y Punto on Rio Nalon for a Fanta orange before heading to Rocco's bar for a glass of wine. We sat there talking for a while, and Mandy arranged to go to San Pedro with friends, but I decided to stay where I was. Cindy arrived and joined us as we sat at Rocco's. When Mandy left, Cindy had something to eat, and we continued chatting when my friend Colin arrived. I hadn't seen Colin for a while, and it was good to see him looking so well. We left around 5 pm, Colin heading home, whilst Cindy and I went first to Buena Vista restaurant for a beer and then to the chiringuito for another beer. We sat chatting at the beach for a while before returning to the apartment for something to eat.
Before bed, I took a cold shower to cool off. It did seem to help, as I fell asleep very quickly.
Wednesday, 21st June.
I woke at around 7:30 am, and after having a coffee, I went for a swim in the Mar Menor. I fed the fish a small French stick roll before swimming out to the rocks and then back to the beach. I got caught by stinging jellyfish on the way to the rocks and on the way back, but luckily, it didn't sting too much or leave any marks. I went back to the apartment, took a shower and then got ready to leave to drop some money off to a friend for a bed I am buying and then to another friend's house to take a look at their computer for them. Before I left, Cindy woke up, and I said I would message her when I was finished and on my way home.
I went to see my friend to drop the money off. I have only been to the house a few times and always get confused about which one it is, even though I have very clear instructions on which one it is. Today was no exception, and after knocking on the door of a house and getting no response, I realised it was the wrong house and moved on to the correct house a few doors away. I left the money for the bed I had bought and then went to see my friends Alan and Jacquie to try fixing their computer.
I chatted with Alan and Jacquie before working on the laptop they were having problems with. After working on it for a couple of hours, it became apparent that it would take much longer. It is an older laptop and not as fast as the computer that I am used to. Jacquie had to go to an appointment, so I took the laptop and returned to my apartment to work on it. I messaged Cindy to let her know I was on my way back and went along the promenade along the beach to get home.
When I got to my apartment, Cindy had gone out. She had not replied to my message and had left no note. Rather than try to look for her and keep missing her, I stayed indoors and continued working on Alan and Jacquie's laptop. It had lots of viruses on it that I was able to remove. It also had a lot of downloaded films and apps on it, and they were filling the hard drive. I removed all of the films and apps Jacquie didn't want and then began checking for updates.
Cindy messaged me at about 1:30 pm to tell me she was waiting for me outside Rocco's bar. I pointed out that I had told her I would come home to meet her, and she realised her mistake. I was already working on the laptop and told her I would see her when she got home. Jacquie's laptop needed many updates, and downloading them took a long time. In addition to needing updates for the operating system, there was a problem with some of the keys on the keyboard not working. I had to keep using a character map to generate the letter ´p´ every time I needed to use it. I hoped the system updates would fix the problem and she would not need a new keyboard.
While the laptop was downloading various system updates, I scoured Amazon for a new set of goggles to wear while swimming. My full-face set is great, but it doesn't seal around my face properly now that I have a beard. I found a set of goggles and ordered them; they will arrive tomorrow. Hopefully, after they arrive, I can swim and see the jellyfish before I swim into them.
I worked on the laptop until around 00:30 Thursday morning, when one of the biggest operating system updates finished. I could turn it off without starting the download and installation all over again. I hoped that when I continued to work on it, the large update would fix some of the problems tomorrow.
Thursday, 22nd June.
I woke around 6 am but didn't get up until around 7:30 am. I got myself a coffee and checked for messages on my computer. I expect the bed I bought from my friend to be delivered and installed by ATime4AChange this afternoon, and I hope to get some of the jobs I must do before they arrive done. I continue to work on Jacquie's laptop and think the large update has fixed the keyboard problem.
At around 10 am, I walked Cindy to the bank to show her where it was so she could get some money out at the ATM. Unfortunately for Cindy, there was a problem with her card, which caused lots of stress whilst she had to call her bank in the UK to get the problem sorted out. She also had a problem with her phone, which made things even more stressful for her, but she eventually managed to talk to the bank, who rectified the problem, and she could withdraw the money she needed. At around 11:30 am, Amazon delivered the swimming goggles I ordered last night.
In the afternoon, I finished as much as I could on Jacquie's laptop until I returned it to her and set it up with her email accounts. Cindy went down to the beach for some much-needed relaxation, and I waited for the delivery of my new bed and the removal of my old one. The boys from ATime4AChange arrived and dismantled my old bed and removed it before bringing in my very heavy new bed. They put it together for me before leaving for a well-deserved rest.
I felt unwell this evening, so I sat down and relaxed while watching television. The day's heat got too much for me today, and I didn't feel like eating. I gave Cindy a chicken curry to eat but settled for a bowl of fruit muesli with Greek yoghurt for myself. I took a painkiller because my leg was aching and went to bed at 11 pm.
Friday, 23rd June.
I slept well last night and woke up at around 7 am. I got up and got a coffee before settling down to check my messages online. Once I checked my messages, I took some bread and my new swimming goggles down to the Mar Menor for my morning swim. The wind was blowing a fair bit this morning, blowing up waves on the Mar Menor. It made it difficult to see the fish, so I threw bread at them and didn't sit amongst them, watching them as I normally do.
I swam out to my rock on the man-made reef and sat, letting the waves wash away all the negative energy from my body. After about 15 minutes, I swam back to the beach and returned to my apartment.
At around 7:30 pm, I walked down to La Playa bar to see some of the San Juan festival celebrations on the beach. I sat outside the bar, and because lots of people were there to see the party on the beach, I saw lots of friends I hadn't seen for a while, including Lilly, Sandy, Fiona, Graham, Ady, Jordan, Stuart, Andy, Gary, Bernice, Moira and many others whose names I can't recall at the moment. Whilst I sat there chatting with many of them, Cindy walked down to the bar to join me and stayed for a couple of hours before heading back to the apartment. I also saw Mandy again, and later that night, she asked me for help as she had misplaced her phone. I put a message on Facebook for her, asking anyone who might find it to hand it to the bar or me.
As the night passed, I moved inside the bar and sat talking to Gary. As we sat chatting, Andy came back, and I introduced them to each other. Guys, if you two set up a new Super Group, I want to be able to tell people I set you up together. Now, I will have to think of a new Super Group name. Do you have any suggestions?
Saturday, 24th June.
I didn't arrive home until 5 am from last night's party at the beach, but I still got up at around 9 am for a coffee. As I sat at my computer, Mandy messaged me to say that someone had handed her phone into the police station and that she had been to collect it. We arranged to meet for coffee, and I walked along to Buena Vista Restaurant to meet her. While there, I had a small English breakfast and a couple of coffees. Mandy and I sat chatting until around midday, when we left and walked to the chiringuito outside my apartment. We sat there chatting until Mandy left to meet another friend and went for a walk. Today is the day my Cousin Paul married his longtime girlfriend and partner in crime, Sara. Because I couldn't be there to celebrate with them I raised a glass to them to toast their good health.
Cindy soon joined me, and we had a couple of beers and sat in the sun, watching the wildlife go by. As we sat at the chiringuito, we couldn't help but notice a man who had some mental problem. He tidied tables as people sat at them, then moved the menus around. This was all harmless but became more annoying as he started to confuse customers of the chiringuito. He tried to take orders to give to ´his staff´ and then started abusing the people who worked there. The staff at the chiringuito did their best to ignore him, but I do think if he had been in any place in the UK and possibly lots of other bars in Los Alcazares, he would have ended up flat on his back with his nose spread across his face and spitting teeth out on the floor. He eventually left quietly when the male staff arrived, and the ladies went home. I feel sorry for the man who needed some help, but I also felt sorry for the staff and owners of the bar for having to put up with his abuse and for the loss of customers that he scared away.
Cindy and I returned to the apartment and changed before walking to Buena Vista Restaurant for a meal. I had a nice prawn puri starter before having some Mexican-style chilli tacos. Cindy had a prawn curry with rice. After our meal, we returned to the apartment and watched one of my favourite films, ´ The Shack´. I think Cindy liked it. I love it and have watched it many times. It always brings a lump to my throat, even though I know what's happening. If you have seen it, or you do watch it, please let me know what you think about it.
Sunday, 25th June.
I got up at about 8 am today. After coffee, I took some bread down to the Mar Menor and sat feeding the fish. The sea was calm and clear today, and I sat for a long time feeding the fish. They swam in circles around me, taking the bread from my hand. Once the fish had eaten all the bread, I swam out to the rocks and then proceeded to swim a circuit around the man-made reef and back to the beach, a distance of around 0.75 km. I saw a lot of fish around the rocks, but there were also lots of jellyfish in the water today. The jellyfish were all harmless, but they are a surprise if you swim through them without seeing them first.
At 12:45 pm, June picked up Cindy and me, and we all went to Campbells for Sunday dinner. It was not to be a good day for me. I leaned on a counter as I said hello to Chef Martin and broke my sunglasses, and then, unfortunately, on my first mouthful of food, I suffered a heavy bout of GERD. I was not able to eat another mouthful and had to take a short walk to relieve the pain and to help me feel better. I had my dinner put in a box to take home with me. Cindy and June had all but finished by the time I returned, and after sitting and talking for a while, we left.
On the way home, we took a detour so that June could show me where the train station was in Torre Pacheco. We both think it will be easier for me to leave from there rather than go to Balsicas to catch a train the next time I go on an adventure. After showing me the station, June dropped Cindy and me off at my apartment, and she went home. I lay down relaxing on the sofa whilst Cindy sat sunning herself on the balcony.
This evening, I did manage to reheat my Sunday dinner and eat it all, but it took me a while as the GERD was making eating difficult. I stayed home after dinner, but Cindy went out for a drink. Whilst I was sitting at home, I got some bad news from England: my Uncle Paul, who I speak to most weeks but not this week, has had a suspected heart attack and is recovering in hospital. I hope that you have a speedy recovery, Paul.