Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia, Spain
Summary: A week of physiotherapy, swims in the Mar Menor, software changes, website work, social evenings with friends and the arrival of your new suitcase. You also dealt with noisy nights, explored new creative tools and continued improving your knee.
Monday, 19th August
I woke around 08:00, had a coffee and did the Wordle puzzle. At 09:30, I went to Password Los Alcázares to look for a power lead for an old external hard drive, but they did not have one. The man told me to try again in September when suppliers reopen. I then went to the post office, queued for a while and chatted with an English couple who used to live near my first home in Los Alcázares.
I collected a letter from the DWP telling me they owed me eight years of missed Christmas bonuses and had paid £80 into my account. That covered the cost of my new suitcase. At 11:45, I met Martin and Dave at La Sombre. A man called Rob joined us, and we discovered he spends a lot of time in the place I am considering visiting next year. We swapped details.
I went to the clinic for physiotherapy. As I sat down, a Spanish lady on crutches slipped and fell onto my knee, but luckily no damage was done. The nurse checked her, then continued my treatment. After physio, I went home and cooked fish and chips for dinner.
At 20:15, Alison messaged to say she and Lottie were at Buena Vista. I walked over and joined them for a drink while we watched the full moon rise over La Manga. Afterward, I went home and watched the second half of Leicester vs Tottenham before bed.
Tuesday, 20th August
I woke at 08:00, had coffee and did Wordle. I edited some photos and had cereal. Lottie invited me to dinner on Friday with her and Alison. I found a free program called DigiKam to replace another Adobe product and installed it on my laptop and PC.
At 14:45, I walked to the clinic for physio. After my session, I returned home and let DigiKam scan my images. It will take a long time. I received an email from the Spanish Health Department asking for my form again, so I sent it. I watched TV and went to bed at 22:00.
Wednesday, 21st August
I woke early, had coffee and did Wordle. I received another email from the Health Department saying my new health card had been sent. I went for a swim and used my Fitbit to measure the distance. I swam 475 metres in 18 minutes, more than I expected. After collecting shells, I returned home and showered.
DigiKam had finished scanning, so I edited image tags. At 14:45, I went for my final physio session. It has helped my knee a lot. Back home, DigiKam stopped working, so I reinstalled it with a new database and set it running again. I worked on my website and had chicken with vegetables and potatoes for dinner. I went to bed at 22:30.
Thursday, 22nd August
I woke at 05:00 and could not get back to sleep. It was already 27°C inside. I opened the balcony and utility room doors to cool the apartment. Teenagers were still hanging around outside.
My new suitcase was due today, so I stayed home. I typed up notes from my Hawaii and Alaska cruise to clear my desk. The suitcase arrived at 14:30, and I stored it on top of my wardrobe. I spent the evening editing genealogy pages on my website.
Friday, 23rd August
I spent the whole day working on my website and testing new software. At 18:00, I walked to Harry’s Bar for a beer with Andy. At 19:30, I went to The Olive to meet Alison and Lottie for dinner. We talked for hours and left around 22:00.
I returned to Harry’s for a final beer before catching the last train home at 23:30. I saw Moira, Angelia and Bernice but could not stop to chat. I spoke with Connie on the train, then went home and straight to bed.
Saturday, 24th August
I woke at 05:00 because of noisy people outside. I got up at 06:00, had coffee and worked on my computer. In the afternoon, I watched Aston Villa vs Arsenal. Arsenal won 0-2, but they still need a new centre forward.
I installed more software to replace the last Adobe program I still use. I went to bed later that night.
Sunday, 25th August
I woke at 08:30 after a disrupted night. I had coffee and worked on my website. I discovered that photo albums with more than twenty images were not displaying. I spent five hours trying to fix it and nearly rolled the site back before emailing the extension developer for help.
I meant to watch football but got caught up learning new software. I worked until 22:00, frustrated because deleted tags kept reappearing. I found another program to remove old metadata and tested it carefully. It worked, but it will take a long time to clean all nine thousand images.
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