This week, I continued to rest my leg. I got a knee support, which seemed to help with the strength and pain in my knee. I did a lot of work on my website and went out for meals with friends on different days.
Monday, 30th October.
I woke up at around 6:30 am today. I felt a lot better than I had done, and although my knee was a bit sore it felt better than it had yesterday and the previous week. Rest is doing me a lot of good, but being an impatient person I don't find taking it easy and resting easy.
I got up, got myself a mug of coffee, and sat at my computer. The sky outside is black now that the clocks have gone back an hour. My dressing gown has come down off its hook in the bathroom and will now be used regularly. The temperatures have dropped, it is only 16°c outside and is not expected to go much above 23°c today. I am glad I have no plans to go out until tonight when I go out for a Curry with some friends.
During the day I had two separate messages from Amazon saying they had delivered packages to the Tecnyshop near me. I had asked them all to be delivered to my apartment. Later in the day, Amazon delivered another parcel to my apartment. Quite why they delivered one to me here and the rest to the shop I don't know. The delivery reminded me that I still hadn't received the business cards I ordered about 3 weeks ago, so I went online to the company I bought them from to complain about them not being delivered yet. As I opened up the package location page on the website there was a knock at my door. I opened the door, and it was a delivery man with the business cards. That was quite a good response from the complaints department as I hadn't even made the complaint yet. Maybe I should have done this a week ago.
At about 4 pm I had a shower and got ready to go out with my friends for a curry later. I watched TV until Martin arrived on his bike at about 6:40 pm. We put his bike in my garage where it would be safe and then walked to the Buena Vista restaurant.
Martin and I were the first to arrive, and we got a beer and sat outside to wait for the others. Bernard came next, followed a short time later by Paul and Mike. We sat outside chatting for a while before moving inside for our meal. The food was delicious but a little more expensive than other restaurants in the area. We were charged for our poppadoms, which every other restaurant gives you for nothing.
I had the same meal I had on my 3 previous visits because it tasted so good. I had a prawn puri starter, a garlic chilli lamb dish with egg fried rice. After the meal, we sat talking for a short while, and when Bernard left to walk home, Paul and Bernard ordered a taxi, and Martin and I had another beer while we sat outside talking. When we finished our beer, we walked back to my apartment and Martin collected his bike from the garage and went home. When I went in, I checked my computer for messages and went to bed.
Tuesday, 31st October.
I woke up at about 6:45 am. I went to the bathroom and returned to bed until my alarm went off at 8 am. I got up, got myself a coffee and sat at my computer to check my messages. I have a couple of jobs to do today. I have to collect my packages from the Tecnyshop first and I have to wait until my friend George calls to tell me he is home and that I can go to his apartment to help back up photos from his phone. I have to drop off a hard drive and some memory chips at my friend Jackie's house before I continue to see Martin and Dave at La Sombre Pizzeria. I had to go to drop off some money to Dave. I won't be walking anywhere today to rest my knee. I will travel everywhere on my disability scooter.
At around 10:30 I take some rubbish to the bin before going to the Tecnyshop to collect my two packages. I collect my packages and take them home. The first package is for a cheap pair of trainers for my holiday, and they fit fine. The second package is for a knee support. Unfortunately, it is far too small, and despite saying it was an XL size, it won't even go around my leg and has to be returned. I quickly fill in the online form on the Amazon website to return it and take it back to Tecnyshop.
The lady at Tecnyshop has trouble taking the return and calls another lady out to try. She looked at it and had the same problem, but she realised it was because I had returned it so quickly the Amazon system hadn't updated their computer for the return yet. To save me from having to go back, she took my phone number in case there was a problem and promised to do the return as soon as the system updates.
I left the shop and continued on my disability scooter towards the pharmacy. As I am going away I will get double my usual amount of tablets. I always do this when going away in case I get stuck somewhere and need extra tablets. When I enter the pharmacy, I am served by a beautiful young lady who speaks perfect English. I am hypnotised by her beauty, and as well as buying the tablets I buy myself a ticket for the Christmas Lottery. While in the pharmacy, I looked to see if they sell knee supports. I found some and asked the price and if they would fit my tree trunk legs. The lady helping me checks the price, shows me to a chair to sit on and helps me try the knee support to see if it fits. It is a little bit more expensive than the Amazon one, but it fits and is just what I needed, so I purchased it.
I then rode my disability scooter hard and fast to Los Narejos to Pizzeria La Sombre to meet Martin and Dave. I have a couple of beers with them, chat for an hour or two and pay Dave for my TV package for the following year. When I leave I head towards my friends, Alan and Jackie's house. I hand over the hard drive and memory chips that I have transferred files to for them and then go straight home. I had felt some raindrops fall and wanted to be home before it started to rain.
When I get home I get myself something to eat before sitting on the sofa to watch the television and rest my leg for the evening.
Wednesday, 1st November.
I woke up around 6:30 am and got up to get myself a coffee before sitting at my computer to work on my website. When I check my new website, an unexpected invoice must be paid. It is for around €3650, a huge charge for something I shouldn't be charged for, especially as the hosting package is only a week old. I immediately queried the bill, and I was pleased to get an apology a short time later and the bill was cancelled.
I bought myself the Spanish equivalent of Honey Monster Puffs last week and have quickly gone through most of the packet. I had some for my breakfast this morning with some Greek yoghurt and regular milk, replacing the almond milk I had used. Whenever I get some of these, I can't help saying, "Tell them about the honey mummy" to myself. This was the old advertising slogan used by the Honey Monster in the old TV ads.
At around 10 am, I walked to the Buena Vista restaurant for breakfast. I sat at a table outside in the sun, and as I sat down, the waiter brought me a coffee I liked. I laughed and asked him for a tostada with tomato and he said he had put the order in already when he saw me coming. Now, that is what I call excellent service.
I sat and read my Kindle, reading a short story called Twits in Peril. It was brief, and I completed reading it before going home. It was a very amusing and thought-provoking story about how the corporate world is slowly taking over the world. Read it if you get a chance. It is one in a series, but this is the only one I have read.
When I got home, I checked in for my cruise next week before settling down at my computer to work. I recovered thousands of photos on my computer. I had somehow accidentally deleted them all from my external drive. Luckily, I had a backup of them all and began to recover them.
This evening I watched a very much changed Arsenal team play West Ham in the Carabo Cup. Arsenal looked disjointed, and there were too many changes as the team didn't know where each other was or would be making runs. West Ham went 1-0 up when Ben White scored an own goal, and at half-time, West Ham was winning 1-0 without having registered a shot at Arsenal's goal. The second half was worse. Arsenal played terribly and were 3-0 down before Mikel Arteta brought some regular players off the bench to stem the tide. It was too little too late, and West Ham deservedly won 3-1.
Thursday, 2nd November.
I woke around 6:45 am, got myself a coffee, sat at my computer to work on my website and tried to recover more of the deleted photos from my hard drive.
At 12:45 pm, my friend Jim picked me up and we went to Galin's Bulgarian restaurant in Los Narejos for a Menu del Dia. It was very nice, I had a salad followed by a pork dish for my main, and a Spanish dish for dessert that I forget the name of, but it reminded me of a thin Angel Delight from my childhood. The service was excellent, and I am glad I went, as I hadn't been there for a while. After our meal, Jim dropped me off at home before going home himself before he left for his flight back to Scotland tonight.
This afternoon, I watched some TV and fell asleep on the sofa. When I woke I had slept for a couple of hours but I guess I needed it. I had a message from Jim. He had trouble with his car on the way to the airport and had missed his flight. He was now back at his apartment and hoped to get a new flight on Monday next week.
After watching television, I posted photos on my website from my day swimming with dolphins in 2004 and went to bed at 10 pm.
Friday, 3rd November.
I woke up just before 8 am this morning. I got a coffee and sat at my computer to work on my website. Just before 10 am, I walked to Buena Visa restaurant for breakfast. I sat down, and the waiter immediately brought my coffee and tostada. My friend Wayne turned up as I turned on my Kindle to read. We had arranged to meet there as he is going to fix a couple of hanging pots on my balcony wall so I can finally have some hanging plants hiding on the wall.
Hanging baskets on my balcony.We finished our coffee and walked towards my apartment. As we were walking, my friend George called me to ask about the help I would give him. When Wayne and I got back to my apartment, it took him no time to hang the pots on the wall for me, and he was soon able to leave me and enjoy the rest of his day. I called George back, said I would go around straight away, and then headed down to my disability scooter in the garage. As I was in the car lift, my phone rang and it was George calling me to let me know to call later in the day. The lifts were not working at his apartment, and it would have been difficult for me to get up and down without them. Instead of going to George's apartment, I went to the local spice shop. I bought myself some bread to make a sandwich with later and then returned to my apartment.
Once home,, I replanted some of my plants in hanging baskets and put them on my balcony wall. I also repotted the new mini palm tree I had bought last week into a bigger pot. I watered all of my plants and then moved back inside. I still have some work on my balcony garden, but I can do it over the next few days.
I was settling down for a rest when George called me back to tell me their lift had been repaired and that I could now go to help him out. I finished my work, went to my garage, got on my disability scooter and drove to his apartment. I soon fixed the problem on his laptop, and afterwards, we walked to Poseidon Bar and Cafe for a coffee. Whilst there, I also saw my friend Jasmine who I hadn't seen for months and had a quick chat with her.
After leaving George, I returned to my apartment and worked on the photos for my website until I went to bed at about 10 pm.
Saturday, 4th November.
I spent most of the day today working on my website. I renewed the site's navigation and then edited photos for my photo albums.
This evening I watched the Newcastle vs Arsenal football game. Arsenal were beaten 1-0, but that was not the game's story. Both teams should have had players sent off, and Newcastle's goal should never have been allowed. Firstly, the ball went out of play and a Newcastle player still crossed the ball into the Arsenal area. Then, the Arsenal defender was blatantly pushed over by a Newcastle player. Lastly, the same Newcastle player knocked the ball towards another player, possibly using his hand, who was offside but scored. The VAR system was used, and they spent around 6 minutes deciding they couldn't choose to overturn the referee's decision. It was a terrible decision, and I think this will have ramifications for how football is refereed going forward.
After the game, I worked on my computer until around 10 pm and then went to bed.
Sunday, 5th November.
I got up at 8 am and got myself a coffee before sitting at my computer to add more photo albums to my website. I added around 100 new photos to the albums before taking a break and getting some dinner.
I cooked myself a pork joint in a yoghurt with honey mustard dressing. It tasted fantastic, and enough meat was left to make dinner tomorrow and a sandwich for another day.
This afternoon, I added photos to the albums on my website for my holiday in China. This evening I watched a funny film called Big Stan. It was hilarious and is worth watching if you haven't seen it. The write-up doesn't sound that good but trust me, you will laugh.
I went to bed early, at around 10 pm as I have to get a blood test tomorrow and want to be up early to go to the doctor.