In week 2 of 2024, I finally started to get over the cold I have had since the beginning of December last year. I spent most of the week at home but did go to see FC Cartagena play football on Sunday.
Monday, 8th January.
I woke up around 7 am, got myself a coffee, took my tablets, showered, and got ready for my blood test at the doctor's clinic around the corner from my apartment. At 8:40 am, I set off on my disability scooter and went to the clinic. I only had to wait a short time before I saw the nurse. I was glad to see the nurse working today because she knew me and how difficult it is to get blood out of my veins. She knew which arm to try and where to get blood from. It took her a couple of goes, but she got enough for the test, and I was soon back at my apartment. I plugged my scooter in to charge and worked on my website for a while.
At 11:30 am, I went to Tecnyshop to pick up a parcel from Amazon, and after collecting it, I went to the office in Los Narejos to meet Martin. We sat talking till around 2:30 pm. Martin took Aria home, and I headed towards my apartment. As I passed La Petit Bistro, I saw some friends I had not seen for a while, and I stopped off for a chat before popping into Harry's bar to visit another friend before going home.
Once home, I watched TV for a while and then went to bed.
Tuesday, 9th January.
I woke up around 7 am and got a coffee before logging on to my doctor's website. I checked for the blood test results I had yesterday, but they hadn't been uploaded to the website yet. I got another coffee, had some porridge for breakfast, and surfed the internet until around 10:30 am. I rechecked to see if my blood test results were available again and was pleased to see them and that they looked perfect.
During the morning I went to the Economycash superstore for some bread and milk. When I got home, I made a sandwich and realised I had forgotten the milk. It will at least give me something to do tomorrow. After eating, I added descriptions to some of the photos on my website before indexing more of my website pages.
The temperature seemed to drop quickly in the afternoon, and I put the heat on and lay on my sofa watching TV from under a blanket. I watched TV until around 11:00 am and went to bed but could not sleep. I think I probably finally fell asleep around 2 am.
Wednesday, 10th January.
I woke up when my alarm went off at 7:45 am today. I hadn't slept well and had a horrible dream in which I had gone for a job interview and had been made to go through a test to prove my worth. It wasn't a written test. It was one where I had to go orienteering and climb up the sides of steep mountains with no climbing gear to help me. As someone who doesn't like the feeling of not being in control and safe the dream was horrible. Other people taking the test simultaneously would rush past me and try to dislodge me from my precarious position on the cliff face or steal the markers I had collected on my journey. When the alarm went off and woke me up, I was still exhausted, and it felt like I hadn't slept at all.
When I got up, I got myself a coffee and sorted out my tablets for the next month. After taking my tablets for today, I indexed more pages of my website on Google, removed old pages from Google that I had previously removed from my website and then got another coffee and had breakfast. After breakfast, I finished writing up the details of my day at Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden and finished adding photos to the album for my day there.
In the afternoon I took some recyclable plastic to the recycling bin and then went to the Dia supermarket just around the corner and got the milk I had forgotten yesterday. I had a short siesta in the afternoon before playing a game on my computer and watching TV in the evening. I had a message from my friend Alan to meet him for a drink tomorrow night and told him that as long as my cold continues to get better I would meet him at La Playa bar. I cooked some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, splitting the portion into two and saving the remainder for tomorrow.
At about 10:15 pm, I got myself a warm Horlicks drink with honey and when I had drunk it, I went to bed.
Thursday, 11th January.
I woke several times at night and had to turn my heating up slightly. I woke up at 7:45 am when my alarm went off. I got up, got myself some coffee and porridge and then checked for messages on my computer. I did a little work on my website when I finished my breakfast. I updated the Joomla version and some extensions the website uses before turning my computer off and getting another coffee.
I then sat down, and read through my PIP form again before I sat down to continue filling it in. It was pretty straightforward, and I only had to fill in the details in sections that had changed since the claim was made in 2015. Most of it was the same. I had to include a few more hospital visits for operations and details of ongoing treatments and to say if my situation had changed and how it had changed. It took me a while to complete, and I scanned it to have a copy before putting it in an envelope to send back to the UK tomorrow when the local post office opens.
I had yesterday's leftover spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and then returned to work on my website. I indexed more pages and removed old directories from the search engine before turning my computer off and having a siesta.
I was expecting a delivery from Amazon to Tecnyshop today, and I watched TV while waiting for a message to say it had arrived. The message came at around 6 pm, and I went to pick up my new cardigan. When I got it home, I unwrapped it and tried it on. It fitted well and was lightweight and warm.
At around 7:45 pm, I walked down to La Playa bar to my friend's daughter's birthday party. I had a good evening talking to people I hadn't seen for a while, and my friend Jim invited me to go and see Cartagena play football again on Sunday. At the end of the night, Shellie gave me a lift home. I put my bedroom heater on and then sent birthday messages to friends on Facebook before going to bed.
Friday, 12th January.
I woke up at 7:45 am when my alarm went off. I got myself a coffee and watched the news on TV before going to the post office to post a letter. After posting my letter I went towards Buena Vista restaurant for breakfast. As I went past my apartment, I realised the battery on my disability scooter was about to run out. I parked my disability scooter in the garage, took my walking stick, and walked to the restaurant.
I had a cooked breakfast with a coffee, read my Kindle until midday, and then returned to my apartment. I had to transfer some money from one of my bank accounts to another and could finally do it today. I will check that it worked correctly tomorrow, and if it did I will be able to close one of the accounts down.
It was pretty cold in my apartment, so I put the heating on, got myself a drink and then climbed under a blanket on my sofa to warm up. Unable to warm up properly today, I binge-watched Fast and Furious films and went to bed around 10:30 pm.
Saturday, 13th January.
I woke around 7:30 am today and got myself a coffee. Once I had finished my coffee I put some washing in the washing machine and had some cereal for breakfast.
After breakfast, I worked on my website for a while before walking to Tecnyshop to collect a pair of slippers I had ordered from Amazon. When I got to Tecnyshop I realised my mistake, they no longer open on Saturday mornings so I will have to wait until Monday morning to collect my slippers.
When I returned from the shop, I put my disability scooter on charge so it will be fully charged for next week. I went to my apartment, got ginger and lemon tea, and sat at my computer to work on my website. Today, I typed up the page about my visit to the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain in Brazil.
This evening I watched some of the Newcastle vs Manchester City football match, it was an excellent game for neutrals but the result, a 2-3 win for Manchester City, isn't good news for supporters of all other teams. It looks like Manchester City are on their usual second-half-of-the-season run of good results early this year.
Sunday, 14th January.
I woke up at 7:30 am today. I got up, stripped the linen from my bed and put it in the washing machine before getting myself a coffee and sitting at my computer to check any messages I had received overnight.
After taking my tablets I got myself a second coffee and some porridge with blueberries for breakfast. After breakfast, I worked on my website until around midday and got my washing out of the washing machine before walking down to La Playa bar.
When I got to the bar, they had run out of draft beer, so I had a small bottle while waiting for my friend Jim. When Jim and the other people going with us to Cartagena football ground arrived, Jim introduced me to everyone. I had no hope of remembering all the names, and to be fair, the only name I will probably remember is John, purely because he is another Arsenal fan. We had two taxis ordered and were picked up at 1:30 pm to go to Cartagena.
When we arrived at the ground, we went to the ticket office to buy our tickets for the game but it was not yet open. We walked to the beer tent in the car park and waited for the ticket office to open whilst having a drink and chatting. When the ticket office opened, Jim went and got everyone's ticket, and once we had finished our beer, we made our way inside the ground to find our seats. There is no one to show you to your seat inside the stadium, and the numbering of the different sections is unclear. Whilst everyone was looking for our seats, I used the bathroom, and when I came out, I quickly found the other 8 people in our group.
They were sat on the upper level but right on the front row. We were level with the corner flag, and I had a great view. It turned out that, unable to find the seats the group had just sat in those seats until someone complained we were in their seats. No one complained, and we watched the whole game from them.
Bob Gilespie, Alan Morris, Kenneth Johansson, and Darren at FC Cartagena.
It was an excellent game for us to see. There were five goals, two penalties, a few yellow cards and lots of goal-mouth action right in front of our seats. Villareal had a penalty in the first half, right before us, winning 0-1 at halftime. In the second half, Cartagena got a penalty, again right in front of us, to make it 1-1. Cartagena was a much better team in the second half and scored three more goals in the goal we sat next to. Cartagena won the game against Villareal b, 4-1.
After the game, we waited in the car park until our taxi drivers picked us up. We quickly left Cartagena and were dropped off at La Playa bar in Los Alcazares. We had a few drinks and some pizza while chatting until people started to leave and go home.
My leg had been in quite a bit of pain again today, and Shelley kindly dropped me at home to save me from walking and I was home by about 8:30 pm. I put the heating on, got myself a coffee and a painkiller, and sat watching films. I must have been more tired than I thought because I fell asleep, waking up early on Monday morning. As I was comfortable and warm, I stayed where I was on the sofa and went back to sleep.