During week 4 of 2024, I reached the ripe old age of 57, my baked bean birthday. I was cold most of the week, which is strange because the cold I have had for months has started to go.
Monday, 22nd January.
I woke up around 7:30 am and got myself a coffee before sitting at my computer to work on my website for a few hours. Unfortunately, I had run out of coffee so I settled for a mug of Ginger lemon tea. I worked until around 11:30 am before getting ready to go to the office.
I went to the office and met Martin and Dave just after midday. We sat talking and putting the worlds to right until Arias´ bus arrived at about 2:20 pm. As I sat there Kate phoned me to say she was at the Iceland store and had got me some of the Quaker Oats porridge I like. We waited until she returned and dropped my porridge off before I left for the Mercadona store. I stopped off at the store and got myself some coffee. While there, I got a burger from the deli counter and sat in the store to eat it.
When I finished my burger, I went to La Petit Bistro, where I met my friend Alan. We had a couple of beers before moving to Harry's bar and having a couple more. When we left, I popped into Rocco's bar to say hello to Rachid before returning to my apartment.
After I got home, I watched some films on the TV before having an early night when I went to bed at about 10 pm.
Tuesday, 23rd January.
I woke up around 8 am and got something to eat with my coffee. I pottered around until about 11:45 am and then picked my Kindle up before going to the office. As I opened my front door there was a birthday card and present from my neighbour Liz hanging on my door. I guess I had told her it was my Heinz baked bean birthday, as my present was several tins of baked beans. Thank you, Liz. I appreciate it very much.
When I got to the office I ordered a birthday pint and sat reading my Kindle until Martin arrived at about 1:15 pm. He brought Kate with him, and Dave soon joined us. As we sat there chatting, we were joined by Jez and Sean, and when they left, my friend Terry arrived. Martin left around 4 pm, and Terry went to the Mercadona store, asking me to meet at La Zona bar to buy me a drink for my birthday.
When I arrived at La Zona, Terry had gone to Mercadona. I went into La Zona and sat at the bar waiting for him. When he arrived we had a chat and a drink before I left to go home. On my way home I saw a lot more friends along Rio Nalon. I had a drink with most of them at all the different bars, so I can't remember which bars I went in and which people I saw. Thank you all for your company.
When I got home, I got myself a drink and checked messages on my computer. During the day, I had over 200 messages from kind people wishing me a happy birthday, either on Facebook, Email or directly calling or messaging me. I watched TV for an hour before going to bed.
Wednesday, 24th January.
I woke up around 8 am, got a coffee and worked on my website for a while. After yesterday's long day of drinking, I didn't feel like going anywhere or doing much today. I was cold, so I stuck the heating on and sat in front of the TV to watch some films.
I spent most of the day under a blanket on the sofa, watching films or working on my website. I spent the whole day in my pyjamas and went to bed around 10:30 pm.
Thursday, 25th January.
Today, I woke up at around 5 am and could not get back to sleep. I got a coffee and added details to photos on my website album for my trip on Costa Toscana.
At around 10:15 am, I met Liz at the front of the apartment block and we went to Buena Vista restaurant for a coffee and tostado. We sat chatting until around 11:30 am and then headed home.
Once I got home, I did a couple more hours of work on my website before turning my computer off and watching a film on TV. I had never seen Gandhi before and thought I would watch it. I was surprised to find that it started in South Africa. I didn't see much of the film before I fell asleep and when I woke up an hour later I decided to watch it another day as it looked interesting. I looked up information about its leading actor, Ben Kingsley, and was surprised to see that he was born, Krishna Pandit Bhanji, in Yorkshire England to an English mother and Indian father. I will watch the film from start to finish on a day I don't get up so early.
I had my dinner this evening and then flicked between TV channels all night. Before I went to bed my friend Kate asked me if she could pop back tomorrow as she needed another document scanning. I went to bed at 10 pm and must have fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Friday, 26th January.
I woke around 6:30 am, I got myself a coffee and worked on my computer for a couple of hours. At around 9:45 am, I messaged Kate to tell her I would be out for 20 minutes and then I went to drop some rubbish at the bin and get some bread at the Dia store.
When I got home I read on Facebook that the body of a young boy who had gone missing in the Mar Menor earlier this year had been found by divers and that the town hall of Los Alcazares had declared three days of morning.
I was getting myself a bacon sandwich when Kate arrived. I quickly scanned the document for her, and she went, leaving me to finish my sandwich. When I had finished my sandwich I stacked my dishwasher up and set it to run overnight during the cheaper rate for electricity. I then emptied Peggy, my robot vacuum cleaner, before setting her off to clean the floor in my apartment.
Whilst Peggy cleaned up, I continued working on my website for a few hours before I turned the computer off and watched the TV before going to bed at around 10:30 pm.
Saturday, 27th January.
I woke up at around 6 am and got myself a coffee and some porridge for breakfast. After finishing breakfast I put some washing in the washing machine, dirty cutlery, plates and dishes in the dishwasher and then sat back at my computer to work on my website again.
I stopped working on my website at around 2 pm and sat on my sofa watching the film "Gandhi". I had tried to watch it earlier in the week but fell asleep. I was able to watch it all today. I knew who Gandhi was, but little else about him until I watched this film. He was a fantastic man and I have nothing but admiration and respect for a real gentle, clever, intelligent human being.
For dinner tonight I got myself a couple of chicken rolls before watching TV and then going to bed at 10 pm.
Sunday, 28th February.
I woke up at 6:30 am, and after having a coffee I sat down at my computer to work on some photos for the Custer State Park photo album on my website.
I stopped at about 10:30 am and had a bacon sandwich for breakfast before going back to work on my computer. At around 1:30 pm, I got hungry again but because I was freezing and couldn't wait to cook lunch I had porridge with banana, blueberries, walnuts and honey to warm me up. It had warmed up earlier, but the temperature dropped again quickly when the sun went behind the clouds.
After eating, I put on my mittens and the heating and continued to work on my website. As I was working, my neighbour Liz messaged me for help with her computer. I took a break and went downstairs to see if I could help. Luckily it was an easy fix, and I was back in my apartment within 15 minutes.
I finished working on photos for an album I was working on and uploaded them all to my website. At about 3 pm I was beginning to feel tired so I stopped working on my website and lay under a blanket on the sofa to watch some football on the TV. I watched another film and went to bed early, at around 10 pm.