I seemed to spend the first part of this week waiting for deliveries or for people who were coming to my apartment for some reason & at the end of the week I travelled to Murcia to see one of my favourite groups, Simply Red, in concert.

Week 31 of 2023.

Monday, 31st July.

I woke up at about 7:30 am today. I had a coffee & sat at my computer checking my messages & updating my website. I finally left my apartment at about 11:40 am. I took some rubbish to the bin & then continued to Los Narejos to meet Martin at Pizzeria la Sombre. We were met by David & had a few quiet beers before Viv & her family arrived, swelling the number of people at our office meeting considerably.

When the meeting broke up I went straight home. At around 6 pm I got myself something to eat before crashing on the sofa for an evening of Yellowstone on the television. I am slowly making my way through all the programs made.

Tuesday, 1st August.

I woke at 7:30 am. I got myself a coffee & some orange juice & sat down at my computer to work on maintaining my indexed pages on Microsoft Bing & Google search engines. After doing as much of this job as allowed in one go, I started to work on my family tree research, adding death dates to many of my ancestors on the corresponding pages on my website.

At about 2 pm one of my deliveries arrived. It was two pairs of swim shorts that have images of seahorses on them, very apt for my swims in the Mar Menor I thought. I got myself a pizza to eat for my lunch before continuing to work on my genealogy.

I worked on my family tree until another of my deliveries arrived at about 4 pm. This time it was the beer I had ordered through Amazon. I have taken a liking to San Miguel Radler & can't find it anywhere locally so have it delivered by Amazon. After I had collected my delivery I settled down in front of the television to watch television for the evening.

At about 5 pm another delivery arrived. This time it was a shirt I had ordered with an Arsenal pattern/design on it. I like Amazon because at least you know the day it will arrive but the other two deliveries today were not expected because I wasn't notified when they would arrive. Glad that I have no other deliveries expected I will try to stop buying things I don't really need when I get bored.

This evening I waited for the Arsenal game, hoping that I would be able to see it on the television. After not finding it, I checked what time the game kicked off & found that the game actually kicks off tomorrow.

I watched television till 11 pm then put my dishwasher on to run overnight during the cheaper electric period.

Wednesday, 2nd August.

I woke at 7 am this morning. I got a coffee & settled down at my computer to work on the indexing of my website pages on Google. At 9:30 am I got myself some cereal & got ready for the arrival of my financial advisor, who I have a 10 am appointment with at the apartment.

By 11:15 am the financial advisor had not arrived & I sent him a very short well-worded email querying his tardiness. I settled down at my computer & spent the day working on my family tree. At around 3 pm I had a phone call from the financial advisors clerk. He apologised & explained that he had forgotten to pass my details along to the man that I should have been talking to & then explained that he wouldn't be calling at my apartment anyway & that they only did phone calls or Zoom meetings now. For the money they take from me, I would expect a monthly in-person meeting. As soon as my financial packages come to their conclusion I will be closing all my accounts with them & continuing to do my own investments. The ones I have done on my own seem to be faring better than the financial companies' expert picks have done anyway.

This evening I couldn't watch the Arsenal game on television so I carried on watching Yellowstone, I should soon have finished all 5 series.

Thursday,3rd August.

I woke at around 7:30 am & got myself some orange juice before going down to the Mar Menor for a swim. The water seemed a bit cloudy today & I didn't see many jellyfish floating around. I only swam to the rocks & back once this morning before returning to my apartment for a slice of toast & a coffee.

The day was again spent updating my website with some of my Genealogy research, but I did stop for a short time at midday when the financial advisor I was expecting to call on me yesterday, rang me for a phone consultation. He apologised for the missed appointment yesterday & answered all my questions. He explained that although my current plan ran to 2024 I could cancel it or take money out at any time & that at the end of the policy term, I could leave the money where it was, earning money, but I would no longer be charged for their services. I will have to look at it again next year when it matures.

At 3 pm I got myself some cream cheese & salmon on crackers for a late lunch & then carried on working on my website. At around 5:30 pm, my friends Sara & Maj knocked on my door & we walked to the Buena Vista Restaurant just a short walk along the beach. We sat talking & I was able to relay to Maj what had happened in the AGM meeting last week & the news about the apartment demolition. Like me, she had been worried about the terminology & was relieved with the news I gave her that the apartment block is not going to be demolished. We sat talking about snorkelling in the Mar Menor & I was delighted when Sara & Maj offered to take me with them to Cabo de Palos or Portman Beach, the next time they go.

I broke off from working on my family tree to watch television this evening before going to bed at about 11 pm.

400 m

Friday, 4th August.

I woke up at around 7:30 am after a fitful night's sleep. I had a weird dream: I was a Whitney Houston tribute artist. I had lost my wig & jacket & Tina Turner had given me her wig & a glittery jacket to perform in. Halfway through the act, Tina Turner joined me on stage & we dueted & sang the song ´Rolling on the River´. As we left the arena we got separated & I was mobbed by fans & again had the wig & jacket stolen. It was as I went in search of whoever stole the wig & jacket that I woke up. If this is Whitney & Tinas' spirit's way of telling me they love my singing & want to perform with me, then they will have to wait a long time as I have no plans to join them for a long time.

I got myself a coffee & looked outside because I could hear the wind blowing. The waves on the Mar Menor were quite big & I decided not to go for a swim this morning. I worked on my website until about 1 pm & then I stopped working & packed some clothes in a bag & got ready to leave to go to Murcia to see the group Simply Red this evening.

At 2 pm I walked around to the nearby bus stop & waited for my bus to take me to Murcia.

Saturday, 5th August.

I got off the bus back from Murcia at the Town Hall in Los Alcazares at just gone 2 pm. I walked the short distance to La Playa bar & bought a pint & then sat at a table, at the front of the bar on the beach. I quickly finished my beer & sat there reading my Kindle for a couple of hours before heading home.

As soon as I got home I put the air conditioning on to cool the apartment down. In the evening I cooked two trout fillets & then ate them in a sandwich with creamed camembert cheese. I sat resting my legs & watched a film called ´The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry´. It was a great film & one I can highly recommend but would suggest you watch it with a box of tissues or a hanky nearby because it is also very sad.

This evening I messaged my friend Jacqui, who is also an Arsenal fan. When we had spoken last week at a party she said she wanted to watch more Arsenal games but didn't like going to the bar alone. I asked her if she would like to meet me tomorrow for the Community Shield game between Arsenal & Manchester City.

Sunday, 6th August.

I woke at around 8 am & got myself some orange juice before sitting at my computer to check for any messages. After reading my messages I stripped the linen from my bed & put it in the washing machine before getting myself a coffee.

I spent the morning reading my Kindle, the book I am reading, ´The Illiterate Prince´, a fantasy novel, has me hooked & I can't stop reading it. At around 4:15 pm I walked along the beach to Rio Nalon & then to Harrys' Bar where I watched the Arsenal v Manchester City Community Shield game with Jacqui. To my delight, Arsenal won the match in a penalty shoot-out after the game finished in a 1-1 draw. The game was quite good & both teams had periods where they were the better team but in my slightly biased opinion, I think Arsenal did enough to win the game.

After the game finished I got on the local tourist train & travelled to La Playa bar to see my friend Alan Bond who was going to be there tonight. His wife Diane was running the karaoke tonight & in my slightly tipsy state, after celebrating Arsenal's win quite hard, I did get up & sing a couple of times, much to the horror of the locals. After they had finished their last run of the night on the tourist train my friends Bob & Connie came to the bar for a drink & very kindly gave me a lift home at the end of the evening.

When I got home I went straight to bed. Celebrating what I hope will be one of many wins for Arsenal this year, had taken its toll on me & I was asleep very quickly but very happy.