Week 16 of 2024 started in Los Alcazares and finished with me travelling to Madrid by train and then onwards to Amsterdam, Los Angeles and Honolulu by plane before joining my cruise ship next week.

2024, week 16.

Monday, 15th April.

I was up early today because I have to have my regular blood test before I go away on holiday at the end of the week. When I got up, I had a coffee and checked my toe after breaking the nail off last week. The swelling had gone down, the infection had disappeared, and the pain had gone. I was glad it wouldn't be a problem before I went away. 

I went to the doctor just before 9 am and was seen quickly. The beautiful nurse had difficulty finding a vein again and only just got enough blood to be able to send it off for the tests. Once the tests were finished, I returned to my apartment to work on my website. Just after 10 am, I met my neighbour Liz, and we went to the Buena Vista restaurant for breakfast. I had a full English breakfast because I had been running down my food at home before I went away.

We sat chatting until around 11:40 am, and then when Liz went home, I took my disability scooter and went to the ATM. I drew some money out and went to the Eurochange money exchange centre. I changed some euros for dollars so that when I arrive in Honolulu next week, I won't need to look for somewhere to draw money out immediately. When I got my dollars, I went to meet Martin at the office. When I arrived a bit late, Dave was already there, and we sat chatting until Aria got back from school on her bus. Aria has nicknames for all of us based on cartoon characters. I am called Robin after the Batman and Robin character. As she had her Robin t-shirt on today, I took my photo with her. Aria and the two Robins, as it were.

After a quick chat with Aria, I went home, and Martin and Aria headed back to their house. When I got in, I updated my website before I sat and watched the last of season three of Race Across The World. I wasn't very hungry but wanted to eat something before I went to bed. Because I didn't have much left in the house, I had a bowl of porridge with walnuts, blueberries and peanuts. It tastes good whatever time of the day you eat it.

  6 hours, 33 minutes.      1811 steps.      0 metres.

Tuesday, 16th April.

I was up at 7:30 am today. I got a coffee and sat at my computer. I logged into my doctor's web portal and got the results of yesterday's blood test. The results were a little low but this was probably because I forgot to take my tablets one day last week, so it was nothing unexpected and meant I could carry on with the dosage of tablets I have been taking for the last few months.

It was pretty strange this morning I was having simultaneous conversations with four people at the same time on Facebook Messenger. None of them knew each other, and I had to be careful to answer the correct person so they didn't get confused with the answers or questions I was asking & giving.

I was supposed to be meeting my friend June today for coffee, but she called to say she couldn't make it, and we arranged to meet when I got back from my holiday. After chatting briefly with June, I finished indexing some web pages on Google. Then I had a shower before taking some rubbish to the regular rubbish bin, the paper recycling bin and the plastic recycling bin. While putting rubbish in the recycling, I saw a lost Martin who had ventured into Los Alcazares from Los Narejos. We had a quick chat, agreeingthat I would go into the office to help for an hour or two before going away next week.

Martin went home, and I went to Economy Cash to get something to eat later. After I had got my food, I moved on to Pizzeria La Sombre to meet Martin. We sat chatting over a couple of beers and were joined at different times by Dave, Sean, Amanda, Dawn and her son, Kate and eventually when the school bus arrived by Aria. Many people joined us today, so I paid for my and Martin's drinks to ensure we only got collared for what we had. Previously, people had sat down with us and left without paying, and as there were so many people today, I made sure the staff charged us for our drinks separately.

When I got in I cooked myself a chicken thigh and had it in a cheese roll with grilled onions. It tasted so good that I did a second one a few hours later. I spent the evening watching YouTube videos of different places in Hawaii or the ship I will sail on next week. 

  8 hours, 17 minutes.      2643 steps.      0 metres.

Wednesday, 17th April.

I woke up before my alarm today and got a coffee around 7:15 am. I spent the morning looking at more online videos of the NCL Spirit I will be on next week and some places I will be going. I also found some things on Amazon that I want that make my trip more straightforward, and ordered them. They should arrive tomorrow, and I can take them with me.

At 1 pm, I walked to Buena Vista restaurant to meet my friend Lisa, who I hadn't seen for quite a while. We got a drink and chatted for an hour before ordering some food to share. We had chilli garlic chicken, mushroom rice and a Tandori grill with chicken and langostino. The food was beautiful and we sat chatting whilst we ate and had another drink. We spoke about the places we had both visited recently and still want to visit. It seems we both have the same love of travelling and adventure. After our meal, we had a coffee and continued talking until around 5 pm. We then agreed to meet for lunch when I returned from my cruise. I had a great afternoon. Thanks for your company, Lisa.

Once home, I took a massage in my massage chair and turned on the TV. I was asleep within 10 minutes and woke up about an hour later. I watched TV while waiting for the Bayern Munich vs Arsenal game to start. Arsenal didn't play badly but they were missing that clinical striker in front of goal. Unfortunately, Bayern Munich were very good going forward and much more clinical. They scored the needed goal, won 1-0, and knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League. I was disappointed with the result but proud of the team for getting as far as they did. Hopefully, next year, with a couple of additions, they will do better.

  7 hours, 15 minutes.      2884 steps.      0 metres.

Thursday, 18th April.

I got up around 7 am and got up & got a ginger lemon tea. I edited my website blog, added web pages to Google Index, and cleaned up my kitchen. I have finished everything in my fridge and will eat out for the next couple of days to not mess my kitchen up before I go away. 

At 10 am, I joined my neighbour Liz and went to Buena Vista restaurant for a cooked breakfast. I had a medium size breakfast of sausages, eggs, bacon, beans, tomato and toast, and washed it down with a couple of cups of coffee. We sat talking for a while and left just after 11:30 am.

I had just got home when my friend Pat messaged me to tell me he had done a trial run to the train station in Torre Pacheco. He was giving me a lift there on Saturday morning and was worried if it existed because some of his friends had told him there wasn't a station there. It was nice of him to do this even if I knew they were wrong, and I feel lucky to have such a good friend.

A short time later, my friend Bob arrived to give me a holiday haircut. I usually shave my hair myself but didn't want to miss any spots, so he did it for me. It didn't take him long, and just as he was leaving, the Amazon delivery I was waiting for arrived. It was a busy morning, but I was pleased to finish a few jobs and receive the delivery. It meant I could meet my friend Mick later, who was arriving for a short holiday.

I met Mick at Perlitas bar at around 4 pm. He was here for just four days with his friend Bryan, whom I have met on many occasions. We sat talking at Perlitas bar with some friends and had dinner from Pearles Place next door. I had a lovely pie and chips with beautiful gravy. Our friend Alan Bond joined us on his way to a gig at Las Claras tonight and invited us to join him later before he went.

At around 8 pm, we visited Las Claras with another old friend, Lynda. Alan was doing his karaoke gig, and quite quickly, Mick was up singing. A good singer, Lynda also got up a few times to sing, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Everyone was enjoying themselves, that is until my so-called mates Mick & Alan handed me a wireless microphone and told me that I could sing from where I was and put on ¨I´ve got a Brand New Combine Harvester ¨ by the Wurzels and made me sing it. I hadn't sung for a while, and my already horrible voice croaked through the song, making the words sound like they had just been through a combine harvester, but the people at Las Claras were all very polite and applauded me anyway. 

I was listening to Mick sing another song when my phone buzzed. I had a message from my sister's other half, Brett, telling me they had decided to marry in a small registry office in May. As I am leaving to go on holiday tomorrow and will be away for just over three weeks, this didn't give me long to book a flight back to the UK to gate-crash the wedding. When Mick, Bryan and I left Las Claras, we got a taxi, and I dropped them off at Rio Nalon before continuing home.

As soon as I got in, I messaged my good friend, Chris, back in Portsmouth to see if he could put me up if I managed to get flights for the wedding. He said he would be happy to put me up and I spent the next three hours trying to find ways for me to get back for the wedding. At around 1:30 am, I finally booked flights from Murcia to Bournemouth and sent my sister a message to surprise her before I went to bed. 

  7 hours, 15 minutes.      6194 steps.      0 metres.

Friday, 19th April.

I woke up and got myself a coffee at around 7 am. I had a message from Brett saying that he and my sister were pleased that I had decided to fly back for the wedding. I sent them and Chris details of my flights and explained that I would get in touch when I got back from my cruise so that I could arrange transfers to Portsmouth and sort out my lodgings for the few days I would be back.

I got another coffee and waited for a message from Mick and Bryan, whom I had arranged to meet for breakfast this morning. I got a message from Mick saying they would be on their way soon, so I walked to Buena Vista and ordered a coffee. I started to read my Kindle and got another message from Mick saying they were running late. I read my Kindle, and Mick and Bryan arrived around 11 am. The wind had picked up a bit, so we all moved inside where it was warmer. We all had breakfast and tea and sat chatting till around 12 pm.

When we left, I went back to my apartment and started to sort out and put the paperwork for my holiday in order. I popped down to see my neighbour, Liz, had a cup of tea with her, and then returned to my apartment. I sorted out my clothes for my holiday and made sure I had my tablets, laptop, phone and camera cables packed and ready and then watched some TV, hoping I could get to sleep early tonight.

I set my alarm for 5 am tomorrow and set myself a reminder to ring Pat when I woke up to check he was up.

  5 hours, 22 minutes.      4416 steps.      0 metres.

Saturday, 20th April.

I had a very early start to the day, getting up to catch the train to travel to Madrid for the start of my holiday.

  6 hours, 48 minutes.      4336 steps.      0 metres.

Sunday, 21st April.

Today, I had to get up even earlier to get to Madrid airport for my  flight to Amsterdam & onwards to Los Angeles and Honolulu by about 3:30 am

  0 hours, 0 minutes.      4380 steps.      0 metres.

I am unsure how accurate the steps were at the end of the week because of the time differences I travelled through. I expect my steps to increase considerably while I am on holiday. I will update these when I get home.

Weekly totals:    0 hours, 0 minutes.      26664 steps.     0 metres.      Daily average:    0 hours, 0 minutes.      3809 steps.      0 metres.