This week was quite quiet, but I did catch up with some old friends and collect a trailer to help me move my kayak backwards and forwards to the beach. As long as September stays warm I may now be able to get out on my kayak more often.
Monday, 4th September.
I woke up at around 7 am today, had a coffee, sat down at my computer, and started working on my website. At around 10:30 am I walked to my friend Vinces' house to collect the kayak trailer I had bought from him. Unfortunately, my knees have been playing up recently, and my left knee popped out of its socket on the way there, which made walking difficult and painful.
When I got to Vinces´apartment, I realised I would not be able to walk back to my apartment dragging the trailer with me so we will have to find another way to get it back to my apartment. Vince and I walked around to the cafe bar next to the town hall for a coffee, and I caught a bus to Los Narejos to meet Martin at midday. I was glad I had gotten the bus at the town hall for two reasons: my knee was in a lot of pain, and I also noticed that the bus driver bypassed the bus stop where I usually get the bus. This would have left me standing there all morning if I had gone to catch the bus today.
We sat chatting at the office, and just after 2 pm, Dave gave me a lift home. I intended to cook this afternoon and make myself some soup to go in the freezer. Because my knee was aching, I took some painkillers and spent the afternoon on the sofa with my feet up. However, this allowed me to watch the Arsenal vs Manchester United football match again. I noticed what a load of rubbish Gary Neville talks about when commenting. He is so biased towards Manchester United that he shouldn't be allowed to commentate when they are playing. If you had listened to his commentary with no picture and then watched the game without his commentary, you would have thought they were two different games.
I did get a message from my translator today. She has managed to get an appointment to go to the town hall with me to figure out why they keep putting an embargo on my account for a bill that should be paid by direct debit. The appointment is for Wednesday this week so hopefully soon it will be sorted out.
Tuesday, 5th September.
It was still dark outside when I woke up, but I got up and went to the toilet before checking the time. It was just past 7 am. The darker mornings were making it feel a lot earlier. I open my patio windows and hear the birds singing in the trees outside as the sun slowly lightens up the morning. I update the version of PHP that my website runs on and then make a few changes to my website before getting a coffee and sitting in my massage chair to have a massage, which will hopefully help my aching back.
At around 10 am, I met my neighbour Liz, and we walked along to the Buena Vista restaurant for breakfast. I was feeling hungry when I got there, and I had a medium-sized breakfast, 2 sausages, 2 rashes of bacon, 2 fried eggs, beans, tomato and 2 slices of toast all washed down with a coffee. We sat talking for a while, and Liz mentioned that she was looking for a new washing machine and asked if I liked the one I had bought earlier in the year. I couldn't remember the name of my washing machine, so when we finished breakfast, I showed Liz the washing machine so she could do some research before getting one for herself. At around 11:45 am, Liz kindly gave me a lift to the office. This saved me from waiting for a bus, and Martin, Dave and Aria soon joined me.
At around 2 pm, we all left the office I decided to walk home rather than get the bus. I walked past the La Zona bar and stopped to see if there was anyone I knew there, but there wasn't so I continued walking until I arrived at Rio Nalon and the La Petit Bistro bar. I was puffing like a steam train when I arrived, and my legs were aching. I had done too much walking in the last couple of days. I sat outside the bar and had a couple of beers, but it got too hot to be comfortable, and I moved along to Harry's bar which has great air conditioning. I sat inside Harry´s bar, had a drink and read my Kindle while waiting for the first train of the evening to stop down the road.
I jumped on the train and sat talking with Connie. I stayed on the train as it worked through Los Alcazares and got off when it turned round and headed back towards Rio Nalon. I popped into La Playa bar and enjoyed the evening talking to Spanish friends celebrating their wedding anniversary. I had a couple of beers and enjoyed eating some of the buffet put on for their celebrations. At around 11 pm, I caught the train as it returned towards Rio Nalon, and I got off it close to my apartment.
Once in my apartment, I got a large glass of water and put the air conditioning on. Once my apartment had cooled off a bit, I went to bed.
Wednesday, 6th September.
I woke up at around 7:30 am, got myself a coffee, and worked on my website most of the morning. At around 12:15 pm, I walked to meet my translator, Lesley, at the town hall in Los Alcazares. I left early because I haven't been walking well recently and I got there early. The receptionist took one look at me as I arrived, asked me if I was okay, and watched over me as I sat down. He must have thought I looked ill as he quickly got me a bottle of water and watched over me whilst I sat there puffing. I soon regained my breath and told him I had an appointment and was waiting for my translator.
At 1:15 pm, Lesley arrived, and we went to the tax department. The bill I received a while ago was for local taxes because I have garage space. Why no one else could have told me this on my previous visits I don't know. Lesley also spoke to him about the embargo on my account. It turns out it was for tax on a car I sold in 2005. Because the person I sold the car to never registered it correctly when he bought it from me I still had to pay the outstanding road tax from 2019. I knew the car was scrapped years ago by a lady whose field the car had been dumped on, by some people who had been given it by the person I sold it to. The man was very helpful, and between him and my translator, I found out that the car had now been officially scrapped and that if I paid the outstanding tax for the year 2019, there would be no more bills for it. I object to paying this, but as the guy I sold it to has died, I cannot get any money from him. His wife has refused to give me any money and has said she will deny having anything to do with the car. The town hall clerk said the car tax would be collected from my bank in the next few days but that I could pay the garage tax for my apartment with my debit card. I paid the bill and am now happy it is at least dealt with. The moral of this story is don't count on people, even friends, to fill the paperwork out correctly or at all. If you buy or sell a car in Spain, get the transfer done yourself and get it done legally before you hand it over.
After I left the town hall, I had a very slow walk back along the beach to my apartment. I felt very hot, and my left knee buckled under me several times but I got home safely and immediately put the air conditioning on. I spent the rest of the day with my legs raised on the sofa, resting.
Thursday, 7th September.
I woke up at 7 am today. I got myself a coffee and started to do some genealogy research on my 3rd great-grandfather, Thomas Tincknell. As is normal, I lost track of time and was soon gone at 10 am. I stopped what I was doing and got on my disability scooter to go and get some tablets from the pharmacy.
I got my anti-coagulant tablets and tablets for my acid reflux from the pharmacy and then drove my scooter along the beachfront promenade. As I went past my apartment block, I saw my neighbour Liz and her son James on the beach. I stopped for a quick chat before going to Buena Vista restaurant for a coffee and tostada with tomato. The coffee here is great, and the tostada is easily the best in all the cafes I use in Los Alcazares.
After finishing my breakfast and reading my Kindle for a while I head off to Economy Cash to buy some bread and some bananas. Once I have got my shopping I head back to my apartment. As I approach my garage, I realise my disabled scooter is nearly out of power. It will have to be charged before I use it again.
This afternoon I sit back down at my computer working on my genealogy. I discovered some census records for my third great-grandmother, Sarah Jane Puddy. Until today I had known very little about her, so today's discoveries filled a big hole in my research. As is always the way with genealogy research, it transported me through time, both back in history, looking at records and forward in time because the next thing I knew, it was midnight, and I stopped what I was doing and went to bed.
Friday, 8th September.
I didn't sleep well last night. I had some fitful dreams that had me waking briefly before falling asleep again, only for the dream to start where it had ended. When I woke at 8:15 am, I got myself a coffee and messaged the person I had been dreaming about to check that they were okay.
This morning I worked to set up a new section to the Genealogy section of my website. This part is for " newspaper clips" about people in my family tree. The first clip I put on it is for a criminal case with some of my great-great grandparents and great-grandparents on it. After doing this for a few hours I took a break and got on my disability scooter to get some shopping at Mercadona.
While shopping, I received a phone call from my friend Kelvin, who is currently in Los Alcazares on holiday. He wanted a drink, and I arranged to meet him at Rocco's bar. On my way home from shopping, I stopped at Rocco's bar, met Kelvin and Colin, and talked for a couple of hours. While sitting with them, I got a message from my friend Ady, who would help me collect a trailer for my Kayak. I left Kelvin and Colin and took my shopping home before meeting Ady at La Playa bar.
I met Ady at the bar, and another friend, Clara, drove us down to my friend Vinces' garage to collect the trailer. We got the trailer and Clara drove me back to my apartment to wait for Ady to drop off the trailer. Once the trailer was safely locked up in my garage I went back to La Playa bar to buy Ady a beer for helping me out. Whilst there Vince messaged me and asked me to keep the key to his garage safe at my home.
Nobody was at La Playa bar, so I got the train back to Rio Nalon, where I saw some friends and chatted with my friend Wayne. Somehow, Wayne accidentally broke the arms off my reading glasses, which means I will have to get another pair as I can't see to read without them. Once home I sat watching some television before going to bed.
Saturday, 9th September.
I didn't get up until after 10 am this morning. My back was aching when I did get up, so I got a coffee sat in my massage chair and had a massage to help relieve the pain.
After my massage, my back still ached a little, and I decided to do very little today. After looking through the films on my IPTV box, I decided to have a Humphrey Bogart day. I stretched out on my sofa and watched Casablanca, The African Queen, The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Sunday, 10th September.
I woke up this morning at around 7 am. I put some washing in the washing machine, put my dishwasher on and then, because my back still ached a bit I took a massage before settling down at my computer to work on my website. My reading glasses had to be held around my head with a bit of cord to prevent them from falling off my nose. I will have to buy some new ones tomorrow as I need them to read my Kindle and phone messages and work on my website. I hope they can use the glass in new frames to save some money but I will take an eye test at the same time in case they need upgrading.
I spent some time in my garage today arranging my parking space. I was able to raise my kayak off of the floor and put it on the trailer that I had bought from Vince. I had to move my kayak and bike around a bit so that they don't overlap my space but my E-bike, kayak and Disability scooter all now fit the space well and are all secure.
This afternoon, I moved the charging point for my robot vacuum cleaner. I had placed it in the spare bedroom where it was out of the way, but it didn't run correctly from there. I can only think that the number of walls between it and the Wi-Fi box somehow interfered with the signal. I moved the charging point back into the lounge but placed it on a wall under my sofa. There, it is out of site and close to the Wi-Fi box. After I had moved the recharging box, I plugged Peggy back in, charged her up and then let her go around and vacuum the apartment up. It all went well, and she immediately returned to the newly positioned charging point.
This evening, I watched several episodes of Poirot on the television before going to bed. This easy-to-watch series has many episodes, and it will be my binge-watch program for some time.