This week started slowly as I was still getting over a cold. I also saw a doctor about my tinnitus. The week finished with me receiving the documents for my upcoming holiday.

Week 5 of 2023.

Monday, 30th January.

I woke up feeling horrible today. I had some porridge & a coffee, then wolfed down my cocktail of tablets. I did go to the local 
Dia supermarket to get some coffee capsules for my Nespresso machine but apart from that I did absolutely nothing today.

I coughed & sputtered my way through the day trying to keep warm as much as possible, taking tablets when they were due & eating hot soup when I was hungry.

Tuesday, 31st January.

I woke up feeling a bit better today but still did nothing but keep warm indoors all morning. At 4:30 pm I got on my disability scooter & went to the doctor's clinic to see a specialist about my tinnitus.

When I saw the doctor, he removed a large amount of wax from my ears before giving me a hearing test. The results showed that I have trouble hearing two octaves in one ear & one octave in the other ear. He tells me that I need to have further tests & gives me a form to take to my insurance agent to get the costs authorised.

When I get home I sit watching the television to see the final hours of the transfer window. Arsenal buys the midfielder Jorginho from Chelsea & releases two other players to go out on loan. Hopefully, our signings will add some depth to the squad & help Arsenal win the Premier League this season.

Wednesday, 1st February.

I woke up at about 7 am & got myself a coffee before going to do some work on my website. I have to go & see my health insurance agent this morning to get some tests authorised. I also have to ensure they don't arrange the tests whilst I am away on holiday.

As I am near the cafe my friend Mike goes to in the mornings, I pop in to say hello & have a coffee with a group of people that he meets. We chat for a while & after Mike leaves, I go to my insurance agent, Sofia. She takes copies of the paperwork that the Doctor has given me & says she will try to get the appointment authorised & the appointment made before I go on holiday. She also gets a copy of my new updated COVID certificate for me, for some reason, I can never manage to do it whilst she manages to get it for me.

When I leave the insurance office I pop in to see Martin & Kate, they are at home but I am feeling the cold a lot & do not want to stay out too long & I head home after saying hello. I am soon at home, wrapped up warm with the heating on. Today is supposed to be the coldest day of the year so far.

Thursday, 2nd February.

I woke at around 7 am, got myself a coffee & some porridge & work on my website for a while before going out for some groceries. I go to Consum around 11:30 am to get some crumpets, they work out expensive in Spain but are ideal when I don't want to cook much. 

After getting my shopping I continue on to see Martin for a chat & we have a beer or two whilst we discuss a round-the-world cruise I plan to do before I die. It would be the ideal thing to do to allow me to cross lots of things off of my bucket list. The biggest problem is the cost & the huge single supplement that a lot of holiday providers charge for single travellers. I will continue to investigate it & continue to dream about making the trip.

After leaving Martin I stop off at Rocco's bar on the way home for a couple of beers. I have a chat with Rashid but there are very few people about so I head home. After I get home I put away the groceries I bought then message my friend Shellie to see if her pub is open & then head off out again. When I get to La Playa bar I see Carrie from the San Juan bar, she tells me that she has just sold her bar & I wish her luck in whatever she does in the future. There are a lot of bars for sale in Los Alcazares at the moment including La Playa bar, the floods, COVID & downturn in visitors haven't helped & I wish all local business owners the very best for this coming year.

I also see my friends Bob & Connie & have a quick chat with them before they leave. Bob agrees to come round with some garden sheers to trim my hair before I go on holiday later this month. Shellie seems very happy behind the bar today & it transpires that she has asked Jim to marry her & he has said yes, congratulations to you both. When the bar closes at around 9 pm Shellie & Jim drop me off at home & I sit on my sofa to watch television before going to bed.

Friday, 3rd February.

I woke around 8 am today, get myself a coffee & sit at my computer to work for a while. My leg aches a bit this morning & is slightly swollen. I decide that to be safe I will order a new set of compression stockings to wear whilst I am on holiday. The extra walking I will be doing is likely to make my leg swell up so they will help.

I log onto Amazon to order the compression stocking & order some Oohlong ginger tea leaves at the same time. They will be delivered tomorrow so I will have to stay home & wait for the delivery. This won't be a problem really as I normally do my washing on a Saturday anyway.

The rest of the day is spent watching films on television & keeping my leg raised to help the swelling.

Saturday, 4th February.

I slept well last night & I woke at around 8 am today. I got myself a coffee before sitting at my computer to check my messages & update my website.

I stripped the bed linen from my bed & put it in my washing machine before I sit down in front of the television to watch today's sport. Arsenal play Everton in the early football game & Wales are playing Ireland in the opening game of the Six Nations Championship this afternoon. With my tea leaves & compression stockings arriving today, it will be a very busy day in front of the television.

The Arsenal v Everton football match was a good game if you weren't an Arsenal fan. Unfortunately, they were completely outperformed by Everton & lost 1-0, well played Everton. I didn't watch the Wales v Ireland rugby game. I had turned over after watching the football but the game was already out of touch for Wales so I watched a film instead.

My compression socks & new tea leaves arrived this afternoon & I stayed indoors in the warm watching films all night.

Sunday, 5th February.

I slept well last night & woke up at around 8 am today. I got myself a coffee & checked my email. I had lots of junk mail which I quickly filed in the bin before reading an email from MSC informing me that I could already check-in for my cruise later in the month & sending me my tickets & other paperwork.

I spent some time working on my website this morning, unfortunately, a lot of the internal links on it need adjusting because of the new navigation & I have to start adjusting them all. I work on my website until around 1 pm before I realise the day is half gone & stop for something to eat. I have a jacket potato for dinner, I cook it for 8 minutes in my microwave & finish off for 10 minutes in my air fryer, before filling it with a mixture of blue cream cheese & grated cheddar cheese. It was lovely, air fryers really do make beautiful jacket potatoes.

This evening I flip between police car chase programs & the Tottenham v Manchester City football match. Tottenham beat City 1-0 & help Arsenal out by making sure that they keep a five-point lead over them in the Premier League, whilst still having a game in hand, Thankyou Spurs.