This week was a very mixed week, 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 & had the bad news that an Uncle had a heart attack back in the UK.

Week 25 of 2023.

Monday, 19th June.

I woke up around 8:30 am today. I got myself some cereal, coffee, & orange juice & checked my messages online. Once I had finished my breakfast I went down to the Mar Menor for my swim & took the last of an old stale loaf of bread with me to feed the fish.

There was a bit of wind blowing this morning & there were waves blowing across the water making it difficult to see any fish feeding on the bread. After scattering the bread around for the fish, I swam out to the rocks 200 m from the beach. I sat on the rocks for a while just enjoying the peace & quiet & soaking up the energy of the water lapping the rocks around me. As I sat on the rocks I thought I saw Cindy sitting down at the chiringuito outside my apartment so I slowly swam back to the beach to join her.

I sat with Cindy & 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 a couple of English people on a table next to me were talking about a hotel they had booked into 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 went back 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 once again changed its name & is now called Atrio del Mar & is an Ibersol-owned hotel. I went back to the chiringuito & let the people know where the hotel was & then carried on talking to Cindy who had returned from her swim. 

Cindy & I returned to my apartment & got ready to go to the office. At around 11:50 am we walked around the corner & 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, does have the correct information on it & told us that the bus should arrive at 12:10 pm. The bus was on time & we were quickly transported, in an air-conditioned bus, to the office to meet Martin. I only had water to drink today but Martin & Cindy enjoyed a couple of beers whilst we sat chatting. Just before 2 pm, I messaged June who had volunteered to take us shopping, she quickly turned up & drove Cindy & I, to San Javier, to the Mercadona store to get some groceries.

We did some shopping & then June dropped us back at my apartment. I got us some soup & bread, & put a pizza in the oven for the two of us. 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 & needed to take a painkiller. I took a painkiller & lay on the sofa watching the television, with my leg raised up & ate my half of the pizza. At around 5 pm Cindy came back from the beach & went for a siesta.

As I sat watching television, I had a message from Gail, the friend I had made on my last cruise around the Mediterranean. We are both going to see Rod Stewart in July & want to meet up before the show for a meal & a drink. We will have plenty to catch up on by then & 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 very well & won the game 7-0 & Arsenals Bukayo Saka scored a hat trick. It was good to see an entertaining game for a change & once it finished I took a shower to cool off before I went to bed.

Tuesday, 20th June.

I slept well last night & woke up around 6 am today. I got a coffee & checked for messages online before going down to the Mar Menor for my morning swim at around 7:30 am.

I finished my swim at around 9:30 am & was very pleased, but worn out after I managed to swim 2 km. When I got back to the apartment I had another coffee & some cereal before doing this year's tax return & filing it with my accountant. When I had finished, Cindy was still asleep so I left her a note & went for a ride on my mobility scooter to see if I could see my friend Vince but when I got to his home he was out or still asleep.

I went back towards my apartment & as I passed the chiringuito I saw Cindy sitting there having a coffee, I had to get some 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 & 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 & Mandy arranged to go to San Pedro with friends but I decided to stay where I was. As we sat at Rocco's, Cindy arrived & joined us. When Mandy left, Cindy had something to eat & we continued chatting when my friend Colin arrived. I hadn't seen Colin for a while & it was good to see him looking so well. We left around 5 pm, Colin heading home, whilst Cindy & I went first to Buena Vista restaurant for a beer & 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 I went to bed I took a cold shower to cool off, it does seem to help as I fell asleep very quickly-

Wednesday, 21st June.

I woke at around 7:30 am & 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 & then back to the beach. I got caught by stinging jellyfish on the way to the rocks & on the way back but luckily it didn't sting too much & didn't leave any marks. I went back to the apartment, took a shower & then got ready to leave to drop some money off to a friend for a bed I am buying & then to another friend's house to take a look at their computer for them. Before I left Cindy woke up & I said I would message her when I was finished & 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 & always get confused about which one it is, even though I have very clear instructions on which one it is. Today was no exception & after knocking on the door of a house & getting no response I realised it was the wrong house & moved on to the correct house a few doors away. I left the money for the bed that I have bought & then went to see my friends Alan & Jacquie to try & fix their computer.

I had a chat with Alan & Jacquie before starting to work on the laptop they were having problems with. After working on it for a couple of hours it became apparent that it was going to take a lot longer. It is an older laptop & not as fast as the computer that I am used to. Jacquie had to go to an appointment, so I took the laptop & went back to my apartment to work on it. I messaged Cindy to let her know I was on my way back & 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 & had left no note. Rather than go trying to look for her & keep missing her I stayed indoors & continued to work on Alan & Jacquie's laptop. It had lots of viruses on it that I was able to remove. It also had a lot of downloaded films & apps on it they were filling the hard drive. I removed all of the films & apps that Jacquie didn't want & then began to check for updates.

Cindy messaged me at about 1:30 pm to tell me she was sitting outside Rocco's bar waiting for me. I pointed out that I had told her I would come home to meet her & she realised her mistake. I was already working on the laptop & told her I would see her when she got home. Jacquie's laptop needed a lot of updates & it was taking a long time to download them. As well as needing updates for the operating system, it had 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 need to use it. I was just hoping that the system updates would fix the problem & that she would not need a new keyboard.

Whilst the laptop was downloading various system updates I scoured Amazon for a new set of goggles to wear when I am swimming. The full face set I have is great but doesn't seal around my face properly now I have a beard. I find a set of goggles & order them, they will arrive tomorrow. Hopefully, after they arrive I will be able to swim & be able to 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 had finished & I could turn it off without having to start the download & installation all over again. I hoped that tomorrow when I continue to work on it, the large update will have fixed some of the problems.

Thursday, 22nd June.

I woke around 6 am but didn't get up until around 7:30 am. I got myself a coffee & checked for messages on my computer. I am expecting the bed I bought from my friend to be delivered & installed by ATime4AChange this afternoon & hope to get some of the jobs I have to do done before they arrive. I continue to work on Jacquie's laptop & think the large update has fixed the keyboard problem.

At around 10 am I walked with Cindy to the bank to show her where it was so that 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 make calls to 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 did eventually manage to talk to the bank who rectified the problem & she was able to 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 & set it up with her email accounts. Cindy went down to the beach for some much-needed relaxation & I waited for the delivery of my new bed & removal of my old one. The boys from    ATime4AChange arrived & dismantled my old bed & removed it before bringing in, my apparently, very heavy new bed. They put it together for me before leaving for a well-deserved rest.

This evening I felt a bit unwell so I just sat & relaxed watching television. I think it was just the heat of the day that got too much for me today but 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 & went to bed at 11 pm.

Friday, 23rd June.

I slept well last night & woke up at around 7 am this morning. I got up & got myself a coffee before settling down to check my messages online. Once I had checked my messages I took some bread & 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 to them & didn't sit amongst them watching them as I normally do.

I swam out to my rock on the manmade reef & sat letting the waves wash away all the negative energy from my body. After about 15 minutes I swam back to the beach & went back 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 & because lots of people were there to see the party on the beach I saw lots of friends I haven't seen for a while, including, Lilly, Sandy, Fiona, Graham, Ady, Jordan, Stuart, Andy, Gary, Bernice, Moira & 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 & stayed for a couple of hours before heading back to the apartment. I also saw Mandy again & 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 to me.

As the night got later I moved inside the bar & sat talking to Gary. As we sat chatting, Andy came back & 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 Groups name, any suggestions?

Saturday, 24th, June.

I didn't arrive home until 5 am from last night's party at the beach but I still managed to get 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 & that she had been to collect it. We arranged to meet for coffee & I walked along to Buena Vista Restaurant to meet her. Whilst there I had a small English breakfast & a couple of coffees. Mandy & I sat chatting until around midday when we then left & walked to the chiringuito outside my apartment. We sat there chatting for a while until Mandy left to meet another friend & went for a walk. Today is the day my Cousin Paul married his longtime girlfriend & 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.

I was soon joined by Cindy & we had a couple of beers & sat in the sun watching the wildlife go by. As we sat at the chiringuito we couldn't help but notice a man, who obviously had some sort of mental problem. He started off tidying tables as people sat at them, & then he started moving the menus around. This was all harmless but became more annoying as he started to confuse customers of the chiringuito as he tried to take orders to give to ´his staff´ & then started abusing the people that do work there. The staff at the chiringuito did their best to ignore him but I really do think if he had been in any place in the UK & possibly lots of other bars in Los Alcazares, he would have ended up flat on his back with his nose spread across his face & spitting teeth out on the floor. He eventually went away quietly when the male staff arrived & the ladies went home. I feel sorry for the man who obviously needed some sort of help but I also felt sorry for the staff & owners of the bar for having to put up with his abuse & for the loss of customers that he scared away.

Cindy & I went back to the apartment & changed before walking to Buena Vista Restaurant for a meal. I had a very nice prawn puri starter before having some Mexican-style chilli tacos. Cindy had a prawn curry with rice. After our meal, we went back to the apartment & we watched one of my favourite films, ´The Shack´. I think Cindy liked it, I love it & 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 having a coffee, I took some bread down to the Mar Menor & sat feeding the fish. The sea was very calm & clear today & I sat for a long time feeding the fish as 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 & then proceeded to swim a circuit around the man-made reef & 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 the harmless type but they are a surprise if you swim through them without seeing them first.

At 12:45 pm June picked up Cindy & me & we all went to Campbells for Sunday dinner. It was not to be a good day for me, I lent on a counter as I said hello to Chef Martin & broke my sunglasses & then, unfortunately, on my first mouthful of food, I suffered a heavy bout of GERD. I was not able to eat another mouthful & had to take a short walk to relieve the pain & to help me feel better. I had my dinner put in a box to take home with me. Cindy & June had all but finished by the time I returned & after sitting & talking for a while we left.

On the way home we took a detour so that June could show me where the train station is 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 off on an adventure. After showing me the station June then dropped me & Cindy at my apartment & 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 & eat it all but it took me a while as the GERD was making eating difficult. I stayed at home after eating my 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 & is recovering in hospital. I hope that you have a speedy recovery Paul.