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.
2024, week 4.
Monday, 22nd January.
I woke up around 7:30 am & went to get myself a coffee before sitting down 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 & met Martin & Dave at just after midday. We sat talking & 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 & had got me some of the Quaker Oats porridge I like. We waited till she got back & dropped my porridge off before I left to go to the Mercadona store. I stopped off at the store, & got myself some coffee. As I was there, I got a burger from the deli counter & sat in the store to eat it.
When I finished my burger I went along to La Petit Bistro where I met my friend Alan. We had a couple of beers before moving to Harrys' bar & having a couple more. When we left I popped into Rocco's bar to say hello to Rachid before heading back to my apartment.
After I got home I watched some films on the television before having an early night when I went to bed at about 10 pm.
Tuesday, 23rd January.
I woke around 8 am & got myself something to eat with my coffee. I pottered around until about 11:45 am & then picked my Kindle up before going to the office. As I opened my front door there was a birthday card & 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 & sat reading my Kindle until Martin arrived at about 1:15 pm. He brought Kate with him & we were soon joined by Dave. As we sat there chatting we were joined by Jez & Sean & when they left my friend Terry arrived. Martin left at around 4 pm & Terry went to the Mercadona store asking me to meet up at La Zona bar so that he could buy me a drink for my birthday.
When I arrived at La Zona, Terry had gone to Mercadona. I went into La Zona & sat at the bar waiting for him. When he arrived we had a chat & 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, which is why, I can't remember which bars I went in & which people I saw. Thank you all for your company.
When I got home I got myself a drink & 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 & 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 & settled down in front of the TV to watch some films.
I ended up spending most of the day, either under a blanket on the sofa watching films, or working on my website. I spent the whole day in my pyjamas & went to bed at around 10:30 pm.
Thursday, 25th January.
Today I woke up at around 5 am & unable to get back to sleep I got a coffee & 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 & we went along to Buena Vista restaurant for a coffee & tostado. We sat chatting until around 11:30 am & then headed home.
Once I got home I did a couple more hours of work on my website before turning my computer off & watching a film on TV. I had never seen Ghandi before & thought I would watch it. I was surprised to find that when it started it started in South Africa. I didn't see much of the film before I fell asleep & when I woke up an hour later I decided I would watch it another day as it looked interesting. I looked up information about its main actor, Ben Kingsley, & was surprised to see that he was born, Krishna Pandit Bhanji, in Yorkshire England to an English mother & Indian father. I will watch the film from start to finish on a day I don't get up so early.
This evening I had my dinner & 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 & 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 & 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 & then I went to drop some rubbish at the bin & 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 & 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 & she went, leaving me to finish my sandwich. When I had finished my sandwich I stacked my dishwasher up & 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 to work on my website for a few hours before I turned the computer off this evening & watched the TV before going to bed at around 10:30 pm.
Saturday, 27th January.
I woke up at around 6 am & got myself a coffee & some porridge for breakfast. After finishing breakfast I put some washing in the washing machine, dirty cutlery, plates & dishes in the dishwasher & then sat back at my computer to work on my website again.
I stopped working on my website at around 2 pm & sat down on my sofa to watch the film "Gandhi". I had tried to watch it earlier in the week but fell asleep but 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 & I have nothing but admiration & respect for a real gentle, clever, intelligent human being.
For dinner tonight I got myself a couple of chicken rolls before watching some TV & then going to bed at 10 pm.
Sunday, 28th February.
I woke up at 6:30 am & 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 & 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 very cold & couldn't wait to cook lunch I had porridge with banana, blueberries, walnuts & honey in an attempt 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 & the heating & continued to work on my website. As I was working my neighbour Liz messaged me for some help with her computer. I took a break & went downstairs to see if I could help. Luckily it was an easy fix & I was back in my apartment within 15 minutes.
I finished working on photos for an album I was working on & uploaded them all to my website. At about 3 pm I was beginning to feel tired so I stopped working on my website & lay under a blanket on the sofa to watch some football on the TV. I ended up watching another film & went to bed early at around 10 pm.