In Week 40 of 2024, I spent most of the week in my apartment waiting for Celeritas to pick up a printer. I did lots of work on my family tree and got excited when my holiday tickets arrived.
Monday, 30th September.
I was up early today and got a coffee before sitting at my computer to work on my website and family tree research. I spent the entire day inside waiting for Celeritas to pick up a printer. They had told me they would be at my apartment between 7 am and 10 pm. They did not turn up at all, and I was fuming.
I emailed Celeritas and expressed my displeasure at them not turning up. I told them that I would not be home tomorrow but would be in the rest of the week. I went to bed around 11 pm.
Tuesday, 1st October.
I woke up at around 7 am today. I got a coffee and sat at my computer to check for messages and do the Wordle puzzle.
At around 10 am, I got my disability scooter out and went to the Password computer shop in Los Alcazares to see if they had looked at the external hard drive I had taken in. When I got there, I spoke to the man inside, and he promised to look at it in the next few days and to message me when he had.
When I left the shop, I messaged my friend Martin to see if he wanted a coffee. I knew he was going to be at the bank and then buying lottery tickets this morning, and I thought I'd catch him while I was there. When he answered his phone, he was in the lottery shop but just leaving to go to the bank. I said I'd wait by the bank, and we could get a coffee afterwards. I sat on my disability scooter and read my Kindle, waiting for Martin, but he did not show. I did get a message saying he was at Buena Vista restaurant, so I set off to meet him there.
When I arrived at the restaurant, I sat with Martin. It turned out I had been in the right place, Los Alcazares, to meet him, but outside the wrong bank, and we had missed each other. I went to order a coffee, but the waiter told me the water had been turned off and that they couldn't make me a coffee. I turned down his offer of a beer or a whisky, and after chatting for a few minutes, Martin set off for the office on his supercharged bike, and I headed the same way on my disability scooter.
When I got to the office, I sat down and talked with Martin and Dave until Arias got back from school and Martin collected her from the bus. We sat talking for a bit longer before leaving to go home. Just before I left, I had a message from Celeritas telling me that they had called and I was out. I was getting really annoyed with them now as they should have called yesterday and didn't, and they were told I would not be in today.
I thought I would go down to Rio Nalon and see how all the building work was progressing. As I passed by La Petit Bistro, I saw my friend Wayne and stopped to chat. After a while, we went to Rocco´s bar for a pint, and when we had finished, we went to Henry's bar for a beer.
I decided to go home and come back out later to watch the Arsenal game in the pub because my TV box had been playing up. I went home and got ready to go back out but when I waited outside my taxi never arrived. Worried I would miss the game, I walked to my local bar, but they didn't have the game on, so I walked home. I sat in my chair, and luckily, the TV box was working again, so I could put the game on. Unfortunately for me, I fell asleep and woke up at half-time. I watched the end of the game, in which Arsenal won 2-0, and then went to bed.
Wednesday, 2nd October.
I woke up at 8 am today. I used my last coffee pod up and hoped that Celeritas would come back early to pick up the printer. I contacted my friend Bob and asked if he would be able to change my lights for me today, and he said he would come around this afternoon.
I spent all morning waiting for Celeritas and researching my family tree. Bob came round in the afternoon and switched one light that wasn't working with the one that was and put up my new combined light and fan in the other room for me. When Bob left, I tidied up before going back to work on my family tree.
Once again, Celeritas never turned up, and I went to bed around 11 pm.
Thursday, 3rd October.
When I woke at 7 am today, I had to settle for a glass of water as I hadn't been out to do any shopping yesterday, so Celeritas couldn't say they had called when I was out. I sat at my computer and saw a message from Celeritas saying they had tried to pick the printer up again yesterday. I didn't know where they were going, but it wasn't my apartment, and I was fuming. I sent them another well-worded message and hoped that they would pick up the printer today.
My weight loss has been going well since I got back from Marrakech, and I decided to weigh myself today to see how much I have lost. In the 16 weeks since I got back, I have managed to lose 9 kilos. I hope this keeps going while I'm on holiday, and in any case, I don't expect to put a lot of weight on while I'm away. As my next trip is a coach tour rather than an all-inclusive cruise, I don't expect to eat three full meals a day and drink copious amounts of beer and cocktails in the evenings.
After having a couple of pork ribs for lunch, I rang the Nationwide Building Society in England to get a new PIN code, as I can't log in to my online account at the moment. The man I spoke to was accommodating and said it should be sent out very quickly. I doubt it will be here before I go away on holiday, but at least it will be here when I get back.
I decided this afternoon to give up on waiting for Celeritas to pick up the printer and return it to Amazon. I had another message from them saying they had called and that I was not in. I haven't been out of the house for three days this week, and they insist they have called around six times while I was in. I cancelled the return with Celeritas and arranged to take it to the post office in Los Alcazares. After measuring the size of the box the printer is in, I realised I could get it on the footplate of my disability scooter and take it to the post office on that.
For a while, there has been a puddle of water in the garage that I at first thought was rainwater, but it has not dried up. It must have been a leak from the water tanks in the garage. I messaged the management company when I got back to my apartment to ask them to send someone out to look at it.
This evening, I was feeling very drained for some reason. I sat in my chair binge-watching Star Trek Voyager. The first series was terrible, and I wondered how they got a second season, but the second season has started quite well with a couple of tear-jerkers and thought-provoking episodes. I watched TV until Midnight and then went to bed.
Friday, 4th October.
I woke up a few times during the night but got back to sleep quickly. I finally got up at around 8 am. I took a shower and got ready to go out. After I had done the Wordle puzzle and taken my tablets, I went down to the garage to get on my disability scooter.
I went out and took the printer to be returned to Amazon to the post office. I was there just after 8:30 am, and there was only one person in front of me. I was seen relatively quickly, and the lady behind the counter took the large parcel from me, sent it to be returned to Amazon and gave me a receipt. I have to say that at one time, going to the post office was a real chore because the woman working there was a real dragon. She looked miserable, acted dumb, was rude, and wouldn't do anything for anyone. I have noticed now that she is polite, accommodating, and even chatty and has had a makeover. Whatever was going on in her life to make her act so horribly a few years ago, she has obviously gotten over it, and it is nice to see her smile and to see her behind the counter when I go in. I didn't think I would ever say that a few years ago.
After I finished in the post office, I went across to the Estribor Cafe opposite. I sat there and had a coffee and tostado before I went back to the Password computer store. The man confirmed what I thought about the hard drive, which was that it was sadly dead. I asked him if the bag of computer equipment I have and don't use would be of any use to him, and he said it would be, so I promised to drop it off with him next week.
As I left, I had a message from the company that looks after the apartment building I live in about the water leak I told them about last night. They said they would send someone around and asked if I would be home to let them in. I told them I was out but would return home soon. I then went to the stationary store on Paseo de la Feria behind La Encarnacion. I bought a reem of A4 paper for my printer and was surprised that it worked out cheaper than a similar pack from Amazon. I hope I remember next time I need paper.
I went home with my paper and the broken hard drive. I took the stuff into my apartment, and after sitting and working on my computer for a while, I wanted another coffee. Having no coffee or milk at home, I decided to pop out to the Mercadona store to get a few groceries to see me through till I go on holiday next week.
After going to the store, I returned home with my groceries. I had a piece of tortilla and a coffee, and then I sat at my computer to work on the family tree section of my website. I continued to work until about 2 pm, when I stopped and had a salad for lunch. After lunch, I continued doing my research on my family tree and stopped around 7 pm. I had some fish fillets for my tea. The fish had bright red skin and was called "red fish". It tasted okay but was nothing special. I don't think I would bother with it again.
I had an email from the company I booked my holiday through today. It contained all the documents for my holiday next week, and if I wasn't already excited, I am now. I printed off all the documents that I needed for the trip.
This evening, I carried on working on my website and stopped around 11 pm when I went to bed.
Saturday, 5th October.
I got up around 6 am today. I got a coffee, took my tablets and sat down at the computer to do the wordle puzzle. Once I had done the puzzle, I put some washing in the washing machine and then sat down and did some work on my website.
At around 9:45, I took a break from the computer and walked along to the Buena Vista restaurant for breakfast. I had a medium-sized English breakfast and a couple of coffees. I sat reading my Kindle for a while, and around 11, I asked for my bill. I did notice that the bill was for more than the advertised price on the menu. I told the waiter, who said he would inform his boss of the error but still took the amount on the receipt. I am not sure where I would stand if I refused to pay the extra, but as it wasn't much, I didn't complain. I walked home and did a bit more work on my website before putting a second load of washing in the machine.
This afternoon I watched the Arsenal vs Southampton football match on TV. Arsenal should have scored a few in the first half but looked goal-shy, and the game was 0-0 at halftime. In the second half, Southampton looked much better and took a surprise 0-1 lead before Arsenal quickly scored a goal to make it 1-1 and two more to win the game 3-1. The result was a fair one, but Arsenal still haven't quite clicked in front of goal and still need to make the most of the chances that they create.
This evening, I watched TV until midnight, when I went to bed.
Sunday, 6th October.
I got up around 7 am today. I got myself a coffee and checked for any messages on my computer. I then began cleaning my washing machine. Having never done it correctly with the machine I bought last year, I Googled how to do it. I cleaned the rubber seals, emptied the fluff drain, and washed the powder and cleaner compartment before pouring the cleaner I had bought into the machine. I then set the machine to run at a high temperature for an hour.
I got myself another coffee and some porridge, and after eating it, I checked the washing machine before sitting down at the computer to work on my website again. After doing a bit of work on my website, I switched to doing family tree research. After a while, I made a discovery that I thought would lead to a breakthrough on the Davies branch of my family tree.
For a long time, I have had no luck in tracing my 2nd great-grandmother, Maria Davies's family. Today, I was looking at the Lewis branch of my tree and discovered a link to a Davies family, all from the same area of Wales, Tremain, as Maria. Many of the names in this branch are the same, and if I can follow this branch of the tree, I hope to find Maria attached to it somewhere along the branch.
I watched some of the football this evening but kept going back to my genealogy research. When my eyes began to get sore at around 10 pm, I turned the computer and TV off and went to bed.