During week 9 of 2024, I had lunch with my friend Jim several times. I had coffee at the local bar/restaurant with my neighbour Liz, and I got some shopping for my next holiday.
Monday, 26th February.
I woke up around 5:45 am, got myself a coffee, and sat at my computer to work. I first published last week's blog and then indexed another 100 pages on the Bing Search Engine. After doing this simple work, I did the morning Wordle puzzle and was pleased I got it quickly and then attempted the Connection puzzle. I bombed out on the Connection puzzle today. I got one connection very swiftly but none of the other three, some of which I wouldn't have got even knowing the connection.
I had breakfast at 8:30 am and worked on my website until around 11:40 am when I stopped to go to the office. On the way to the office, I took some recycling to the bin and stopped to get some money at the ATM. Martin and I sat chatting and drinking till about 3 pm, and then I left to go home. On my way past Rocco's bar on Rio Nalon, I saw my friend Yasmin, so I stopped to chat with her. When people started to arrive for the quiz at Rocco's, I went to La Petit Bistro to see my friend Alan. I was in time to play the last bingo game but didn't win anything. When Alan finished calling the bingo, he joined me for a drink. When his wife Jacquie went home, we moved to Perlitas bar for a drink before going to Harry's bar.
In Harry's bar, we saw some old friends, Paul and Paula, whom I hadn't seen for a long time. We sat talking and drinking with them and couldn't stop laughing. After leaving Harry's bar, I went home, got myself something to eat and sat down to watch the TV for a while before going to bed.
Tuesday, 27th February.
I woke around 6:30 am but turned over and went back to sleep. I finally got up at around 8 am. I got a coffee, sat at my computer and indexed more of my website on both Google and Microsoft Bing. I then pottered about on my computer until 11 am.
At around 11 am, I had an inkling in my mind that I had forgotten something, so I checked my calendar to see what it was. I was glad I checked as I had mistaken the time Jim would collect me for lunch. He was coming to pick me up at 1:15 pm, not 11:15 am. I was glad I had checked before I walked outside to wait for him. I got myself a bit of toast and waited indoors until he arrived to pick me up at 1:15 pm.
We drove to Pinar de Campoverde to a restaurant called San Marino for the Menu del Dia. We met our friends David and Doreen there and had a great meal and a long chat. The meal was a typical three-course Menu del Dia. I had a pasta bolognese starter, pork main and a beautiful flan for dessert. If you have never been to this restaurant, I can highly recommend it, but I would advise calling to book a table as it gets busy sometimes and is only small.
When we left, we drove to Torre de la Horadada and stopped at a cafe overlooking the small port to have a coffee. We sat chatting, and when it started to get colder, we finished our coffee and went home. Jim dropped me off but arranged to pick me up to go out to get some shopping on Thursday.
When I got into my apartment, I put on my heating and spent the rest of the evening watching TV before going to bed at around 10:30 pm.
Wednesday, 28th February.
Today, I woke up at around 7:30 am. I got myself a coffee and some porridge and then sat at my computer to work on my website. I spent the entire day editing and posting photos into a photo album on my website for my trip on the Queen Mary II in 2011.
I had an early night and went to bed at around 10 pm.
Thursday, 29th February.
I woke at 8 am and got myself a coffee and a bacon sandwich. I worked on my computer and did some investigation on video cameras. I like the small ones you see people making video blogs with. They look easy to carry around, but there are so many of them I am unsure which one to get myself.
At 1 pm, my friend Jim messaged me to say he would pick me up to go to La Zenia. I needed some walking boots for my holiday because I only have sandals, old trainers or sketchers, none suitable for walking around Alaska. I had ordered two different pairs from Amazon, but they didn't fit or weren't very good quality and got returned.
When we got to La Zenia, we looked in Deichmanns shoes but they only had a limited selection and nothing that fitted me. We walked to Al Campo and found a great pair in a sale. They looked good, fit well and were priced well so I bought them. As we left, we walked past Primark and Jim wanted to look for something for his house. As I looked around I found a pair of track suit bottoms that fit me and were very cheap, so I bought them. They will be ideal for lounging around the home or going to work at the office.
When we finished shopping, we went to the Wok Buffet for lunch. I had been there a few years ago and liked it. The food tasted delicious, and there was a great selection but it could have been kept warmer. A lot of it was only luke warm. It was also expensive compared to other buffets at €18.95 a person, without drinks. Jim and I both had a small bottle of water and these were added onto the bill, costing another €3.50 a bottle. I enjoyed what I had but I wont be in a hurry to go back. There are a lot of better and cheaper places, closer to home I can go to.
After lunch, Jim took me to Cafe Avenida in Los Alcazares for an Asiatica. We saw George and Yvonne there and sat with them chatting for a while and then Jim dropped me off at home. This evening, I began to watch a TV series called Mr Mercedes. It is a drama based on a Stephen King trilogy of books. It was excellent, and I watched it till I went to bed at 10:30 pm. I had got through another leap year without being proposed to, Julia Roberts and Salma Hayek please hurry up.
Friday, 1st March.
I got up at 7:30 am and got my coffee and some porridge. I sat down at my computer and did some more research on video cameras before ordering one that will be small enough for me to carry around on my travels but will still do everything I need it to do. I also added an extra battery pack and a larger memory card in case I run out quicker than I anticipate. I don't want to run out of power or space halfway through the day on my holiday.
At 10:30 am, I walked along to Buena Vista restaurant to meet my neighbour Liz for a coffee and a chat. We sat talking till just before midday when we returned to our apartments.
For lunch I had a seafood salad and then spent the rest of the day binge-watching the TV series Mr Mercedes. I took a break around 8 pm for something to eat, when I had some chicken wings, but I watched it continually until around 11 pm when I went to bed.
Saturday, 2nd March.
I woke up at 7 am and got myself a coffee. I put some washing in the washing machine, filled my dishwasher, set it running and then took some recyclable plastic to the bin. When I returned to my apartment, I put my disability scooter on charge, before I stripped the linen from my bed to wash it later and then got some porridge.
I worked on my computer till around 1:30 pm, when I stopped. I walked to the Spice shop around the corner to buy a potato for dinner this evening, and when I got back to my apartment, I had a pot of green tea and a toasted cheese and tuna sandwich for lunch. This afternoon, I flicked between football matches on the TV before watching more episodes of the Mr Mercedes drama.
When my washing had finished, I stripped my bed linen and put it in the washing machine before returning to the sofa for more Mr Mercedes.
I went to cut the potato I had into chips this evening but as I cut into it I found that something had burrowed into. Leaving behind dark tunnels burrowed right through the centre of it. I threw it away and used the one tiny potato I had left for chips. I had my fish with about six chips, decorated with tomato sauce, I suppose it could be called haut cuisine. It tasted fantastic I wish there had been a few more chips.
When my washing finished, I removed it from the machine and remade my bed before watcing MOTD on TV. I went to bed when it ended.
Sunday, 3rd March.
I woke up at around 8 am today. I had a bit of a headache when I woke, and I hoped it wasn't a head cold coming on. I got a coffee and checked my email. I did my Wordle puzzle online when I realised no one loved me enough to message me this morning. Unfortunately, Wordle beat me today despite having four of the five letters after only 2 attempts. There were just too many words it could have been. I got myself another coffee and worked on my website for a while before getting myself a bacon sandwich for breakfast.
Today was another sluggish day; the wind blew and whistled past my balcony, and I kept warm under a blanket as I watched the remainder of season 2 of Mr Mercedes on the TV. This evening I watched the Manchester derby game on TV. I had hoped that United would win to help Arsenal out, but after taking a 0-1 lead, they allowed City back into the game, and City won 3-1.
I went to bed reasonably early, at about 10:30 pm. I want to ensure I am awake if my delivery arrives early tomorrow. I doubt it will but I don't want to be caught out.