During week 13 of 2024, I ate an excellent meal with friends at Thai Aroi. I met friends on Tuesday and mostly spent the rest of the week indoors.
Monday, 25th March.
I woke up got myself a coffee, and had a massage before making some updates to my website and waiting for my friend Mick to call round to put up my washing line for me. Mike arrived at about 10:15 am It didn't take him long to put the washing line up in my spare room for me, and just after he left, I returned a parcel to Amazon, taking it to Tecnyshop before continuing to the office to meet Martin and Dave.
I arrived at the office a little earlier than expected, and as soon as I sat down, Rosa greeted me with a big, beautiful smile. I sat with a beer and was joined by Martin and Aria, who had two weeks off school. While we sat talking, Dave and Sean arrived and sat talking to us. Kate joined us for a short time after she came back from a trip to Murcia this morning.
At around 1:30 pm, Dave and Sean left, and Kate took Aria home. Just before 2 pm, Martin left to go home, and Terry joined me for a chat before I left to go home a short time later. When I got home, I was hungry but didn't want to eat as I was going out in the evening for a meal with friends. I watched the latest episodes of The Cleaning Lady on TV before getting ready to meet my friends at Thai Aroi restaurant for a meal.
I met Martin outside the restaurant, and Bernard soon joined us. We sat talking until first Paul and Mike arrived and shortly after Pat and Dave arrived. We all had a drink before moving inside to order our meals.
To start my meal, I had grilled pork, which was fantastic and was served with a spicy dip. Martin, Dave and Bernard had all ordered prawn cakes and I could try one as they all had four each. They didn't eat all their prawn cakes, and I loved them so much that I said I would take the two that were left home for lunch tomorrow. My main meal was Pad Mee, Thai noodles with vegetables, and I had it with chicken. Everybody had different main meals, and they all looked good and everyone said how much they enjoyed their meal. The waiter had brought an extra portion of rice, which no one wanted, so I had him box it up with the prawn cakes for me to take home. After finishing our meal, the owner introduced us to the chef, a young lady from Thailand. It was a nice touch, and we could tell her how much we enjoyed the meal. He then came out with a tapioca pudding for us, it was strangely served with a little bit of sweetcorn, but it was beautiful, and I ate mine and Pats as he didn't want it.
By now, my ample stomach was fit to burst, and when we all left, I waddled home. I only had a short walk and soon returned to my nice, warm apartment. I briefly relaxed in my massage chair, watching TV before retiring to bed.
Tuesday, 26th March.
I woke early, had a coffee and a massage and then sat at my computer to update my website. At 10 am, my neighbour Liz sent me a message from Buena Vista restaurant, and I walked along to meet her there for a coffee. We talked until around 11:40 am and then returned to our apartment block. I showed Liz my new washing line because she is considering getting one the same.
Just before midday, Liz was going to the Las Claras Centre in Los Narejos and dropped me off there to save me from getting a bus to go and meet Martin. I walked the short distance and sat down at La Sombre Pizzeria to chat with Martin. We were soon joined by Dave and Sean and a short time later by Jess and another man. Our ordinarily quiet get-together is getting noisy, and we will have to start limiting numbers or putting a noise abeyance order in place. Dave left first, taking Sean with him, and a short time later, Jess and the other man left. As Martin and I chatted, our friend June called Martin, and as she had always told me to let her know if I needed a lift, I asked her if she could give me a lift. She agreed to give me a lift, and in a few minutes, she pulled up and gave me a lift to the cafe bar near my apartment so I could meet George and Yvonne.
We sat chatting for a few hours, going inside the sports bar when it got cooler. I got some help from the staff and could put a bet on the Wales vs Poland game tonight before we all left, and I walked back to my apartment. For my tea, I heated the leftover rice and prawn cakes from last night's meal at Thai Aroi. They tasted as good as they had the previous day.
I watched some TV before falling asleep in front of it. When my snoring woke me up, I switched off the TV and went to bed early.
Wednesday, 27th March.
When I woke up today, I felt pretty cold, and as I had no plans, I decided to have a lazy day under a blanket. I sat at my computer, did the Wordle puzzle, checked for any messages, got a coffee, and got a massage.
I spent the morning watching TV, trying to get warm. At about 11:30 am, I warmed up two croissants and ate them with butter and jam. I spent all afternoon looking up the places I will visit on my cruise to Hawaii and Alaska in April and May. I read up about some of the excursions I have booked and booked a new short guided tour for when I arrive in Skagway, Alaska.
This evening, I binge-watched a TV series I had seen before and liked called Almost Paradise before I went to bed at midnight.
Thursday, 28th March
I woke up later today but was still up around 7:30 am. I had a massage and a coffee before attempting the Wordle puzzle online this morning. I decided that because my cruise flights are so long, I would upgrade my seats to get extra legroom. I went onto the KLM website and upgraded my seat for all of the flights.
After checking for emails and messages on my computer, I took some rubbish to the various bins and went shopping. I went to Mercadona on my disability scooter and could feel the wind blowing behind me. I was glad I didn't have to walk there. I got my shopping and went home, this time heading directly into the wind. Even on my disability scooter, I could feel the wind slowing me down. The wind was gusting in places, and I felt sorry for any businesses with awnings outside for people to sit under. Sitting under them would have felt unsafe and been very noisy as the wind tried to rip them from the buildings they were attached to.
I had intended to go out to look at the Medieval market, but because the wind was blowing so much, I decided to stay inside, out of the reach of the wind and cold weather. I watched TV and read up about places I would go on my holiday. People on many American cruises leave toy ducks they have built or decorated around the ships for other passengers to find and keep. I will look out for them onboard the NCL Spirit.
I went to bed around 10:30 pm but was woken at 11 pm by fireworks outside. I got back to sleep but was again woken at about 12:45 pm by a kid on a very noisy motorbike. I have seen him around Los Alcazares a few times and heard him much more. When I was a lad, there were many laws regarding noisy motorbikes. I can only assume there isn't anything similar in Spain, or his bike would have been crushed by now.
Friday, 29th March.
When I woke up, the sun was out, there was a blue sky, and the wind had dropped. It looked like a beautiful day ahead. I took my tablets, got a coffee, read my messages, and attempted the Wordle puzzle before getting ready to meet my neighbour Liz for breakfast today.
I had a shower, shaved, and then took a shredding machine downstairs to Liz. We walked along to Buena Vista for coffee and a tostada and sat chatting for an hour. I couldn't get rid of a headache this morning; my knee was aching a lot, and I had to leave to take a painkiller. We both walked back towards the apartments and as I entered, Liz went to talk to one of our Spanish neighbours.
When I got in, I sat in my massage chair and had a painkiller before taking a massage. After my massage I entered the details of my breakfast on the new Omo app I am trialling for a week. If it helps me lose weight, I may sign up to use it longer. It seems quite good in how it enables you to track your food and liquid intake. It makes entering things easier. It lets you scan the food or drink items' bar code and uses this to record the details. You enter the amount of food or liquid you consumed. It also connects to my Fitbit to track my steps or other exercise. I spend a few hours playing around with the app, adding food items to see how good or bad they are for my diet.
The painkiller kicked in after a while and sent me to sleep. I slept for a while and felt better when I woke up. The pain in my knee feels better and my headache has gone. I have a chicken burger for lunch and enter it into my daily meal record on the Omo app. I sit in my massage chair this afternoon and use my laptop to edit web pages.
This evening I had a ham, cheese and tomato roll and entered it on the Omo app. I then ate half a large bag of crisps and scanned the QR code to enter it on the app. I was amazed that the bag of crisps had nearly a thousand calories. I only ate half a bag today but would have eaten a whole bag before knowing how many calories there were. I must admit that I probably eat when bored or in pain, so I must watch this as I go forward. I am pleased that the trial, if nothing else, has pointed this out so I can stop doing it. I will stop buying crisps. The fast period I have settled on for this week is 15 hours fast and 9 hours to eat, and when I finish my roll and crisps, I only drink water for the rest of the day.
Tonight, I sat and played a game on my laptop called The Bards Tale. After I had gone to bed, I was woken up twice in the night. Once by a car parking under my balcony window with the radio turned up loud enough to wake the dead and once by the noise of the Easter celebrations in Los Alcazares in the early morning hours.
Saturday, 30th March.
When I woke up this morning, it was a bit grey, but as I sat at my computer, I could see the sky begin to clear, and a blue sky appeared. I could not break the fast I had started after my dinner last night so I just had a glass of water while I woke up.
At 8:30 am, I could break my fast, and I got myself a glass of orange, lemon and carrot juice, which I mixed with water. I took my tablets and sat in my massage chair to watch this morning's news while I had a lower back pain massage. After my massage I had a coffee and then washed and got dressed. As I walked around my bed, my knee gave way, and to stop myself from falling, I put my hand out to catch myself on the bed. Unfortunately, my hand landed on my reading glasses, bent the frame and snapped both arms off them. I got a magnifying glass and looked at them, but I don't think they can be repaired. Because it is a holiday weekend, I think the opticians will be closed till at least Tuesday, so I will have to use the cheap glasses I got at the Chino until I get them repaired.
I went out to get some money from the bank this morning, and as I was out, I took a tour around the medieval market in Los Alcazares. Before I went, I attached my mini video camera to my chest and videoed my route through town. I did this to see how the video came out using the wide-angle lens on it, and when I looked at it on my computer it looked fantastic. I am very pleased with the results. I must learn to transfer the files from the video memory card to my laptop.
I watched football and played The Bards Tale on my computer all evening. I rested my knees and took a massage every few hours. I intended to go out to watch the parade at 9 pm, but I stayed inside because I was warm and comfortable and went to bed at 10:30 pm.
Sunday, 31st March.
I slept well last night, and when I got up put some washing in the washing machine and checked for messages on my computer. Once my fast had finished, I made myself a cheese, ham and mushroom omelette for breakfast. I washed it down with ginger and lemon tea and recorded all the food in the Omo app. I was pleased to see that the calorie count for breakfast was less than I was allowed.
The weather outside was changeable. It started grey and windy, and a large black storm cloud came and went without dropping any rain. The wind outside stayed pretty strong, so I stopped in today. I put some washing on to wash, trying it on a lower heat setting for washing and drying. I hope this will cause fewer wrinkles and that they will drop out when I hang the clothes on my new washing line.
This afternoon, I played around with some video editing software. The free Adobe stuff I use is okay, but the Microsoft free editor is just as good, and I will probably use a combination of the two for my videos going forward. I had a homemade bolognese from my freezer for my dinner tonight with some chips.
I watched the Manchester City vs Arsenal game on TV this evening. It was a 0-0 draw, and both teams cancelled each other out. Manchester City had much more possession than Arsenal but didn't look like scoring, and Arsenal had more attempts on goal than Manchester City, but a draw was probably a fair result. Liverpool were probably happy with the result as it leaves them at the top of the League with nine games left. After the game, I felt exhausted and went to bed at about 9:30 pm.