2024, Week 45 journal.

In Week 45 of 2024, I spent a lot of time at home. I met friends for a drink on three successive days at the start of the week and then didn't leave the house apart from shopping.

Monday, 4th November.

Today, I woke up at 7 am. I got up straight away, got myself a coffee, and cooked myself some breakfast. I had a bit of a Spanish tortilla, bacon, beans and mushrooms, and it was lush. I had another coffee and did some work on my website until around 11 am.

I had three bags of clothes, linen, shoes and a walking stick to donate to the local councils' collection for the people in Valencia. I loaded it all onto my disability scooter and took it along to a collection point in a council building in Los Narejos. I dropped everything off inside and then went to my health insurance office.

I went into the ASSSA office and asked Sofia if she could organise a Flu and Covid booster jab for me. They are usually in October, but I missed it because I was in Japan. She said she would contact the health clinic for me and that they would probably call me when I could go in the next group.

After leaving Sofia, I moved to La Sombre Pizzeria, The Office, to meet Martin and Dave. I was early and sat waiting for Martin to arrive at midday. Dave soon joined us, and we chatted for a couple of hours. It was pretty busy at the office today, and a few people joined us as we sat there, including Shaun, Viv, Sean, Lou, and Terry. Martin left me with Sean and Terry when Aria arrived on her school bus, and I stayed for a bit longer, having a drink with Sean and Terry.

When I got home, I intended to have a chicken stir fry for dinner. I wasn't hungry when I got in, so I took a nap before dinner. That was the plan, but it didn't work out. I did go for a quick nap but didn't wake up till 11:30 pm. When I woke up and realised what time it was, I went straight back to bed.

Tuesday, 5th November.

I woke early at around 5:30 am, and after trying and failing to get back to sleep, I got up around 6:15 and got myself a coffee. I went online and did the Wordle puzzle and then cooked myself breakfast.

After breakfast, I worked on my website, adding more photos and typing up some of my notes about what I did in Japan. I left to meet Martin just before Midday and arrived at La Sombre a bit late. Martin was in a good mood and didn't fine me for being late. We sat talking until Aria's bus arrived, and Martin took Aria home.

When I left, I went to the J&G Cocktail bar in Los Alcazares. I chatted with some friends there before leaving and going to my apartment. Once inside, I put my feet up and had a siesta.

This evening, I worked on photos for my website and went to bed at around 10 pm.

Wednesday, 6th November.

After getting up today, I had a coffee and did the Wordle puzzle before editing more photos. I was about to work on some videos that I had to edit when my friend Lisa messaged me to see if I wanted to meet for a coffee. She was close to my apartment, so we walked to the Alaska bar for coffee and a tostada.

We sat in the sun, catching up on our different holidays before walking to the J&G cocktail bar. We stayed there for a few hours, discussing our plans and our trips: Lisa's trip to Thailand with Archie and mine to India on an escorted coach tour. We stayed longer than we had envisaged and couldn't decide where to eat, so we jumped in a taxi and went to Roda to get something to eat there.

Once there, we sat chatting with some of Lisa's friends, and when I saw my friends, Paul and Mike, I chatted with them for a while. I wanted to watch the Arsenal football match and went to Lisa's house to watch it, but I fell asleep before it even began.

Thursday, 7th November.

When I woke up this morning, I checked for the Arsenal score and was disappointed to see they had lost yet again. I was glad I had fallen asleep and missed it. Lisa gave me a lift home on her way to one of her regular dance classes.

My apartment was freezing when I got in, so I put the heating on for a while, sat under a blanket, and had a massage in my chair. The sofa in Lisas is very uncomfortable, and my back was killing me this morning. I had a painkiller, put some deep freeze on my back and returned to the chair. I had been supposed to be meeting my friends Steve and Mandy today, but my scooter was low on charge and wouldn't get to the end of the road. Even if it had been charged, the lift man was working on the lift, and I couldn't get my scooter out of the garage anyway.

I messaged Steve and told him we would have to rearrange our meeting before getting back in my massage chair and having a massage. Within half an hour, I was asleep and slept most of the afternoon. When I woke, my back felt a bit better but not great, so I took another painkiller.

I spent the evening watching TV before going to bed at 10 pm.

Friday, 8th November.

I felt much better when I woke up this morning. I got myself a coffee and did some updates to Joomla on my website. When the updates had been done, I got on my disability scooter and went for a ride along the beach. When I got to La Encarnacion, I turned and went back to the main road to get to the pharmacy.

At the pharmacy, I bought my regular tablets, sintrom and omeprazole and got a new Vicks nasal spray. I don't need them at the moment but I also bought some Ilvico, the cold and flu tablets that I take. With the colder weather arriving, I expect to get my regular cold around Christmas. I have already decided not to do the Boxing Day swim that I usually do this year to try to avoid a cold. Last year, I was particularly affected by the cold, and I want to stay fit and well for my February trip to India.

On the way home, I stopped at the local Indian shop and bought some tortilla wraps and potatoes. When I got home, I got myself a ham sandwich and ate it before doing an hour of work on my website. Then, I decided to massage my back again. I got under a blanket, switched on the massage chair and began watching TV.

I have been watching a TV detective show for the last few days. It was brilliant. It was entertaining, funny, and sad, and it brought me near tears a few times. Each episode is around 90 minutes, but it's worth watching. It is called McDonald and Dobbs. Take a look if you want to laugh, cry, and relax, all within one show.

Saturday, 9th November.

I woke at around 6 am today but fell asleep again and got up around 8:30 am. I had coffee, did the Wordle puzzle, and chatted with my friend Debbie before washing some clothes in the washing machine. I got another coffee and made myself a protein shake before I then sat at my computer to do some work.

I worked, editing photos all day, stopping only for lunch when I had a homemade cottage pie and for dinner when I had a home-cooked chicken and mixed sweet chilli pepper tortillas.

In the evening and at night, I watched some football on the television before going to bed around 10 pm.

Sunday, 10th November.

I woke around 8 am, got up, and had cereal for breakfast before starting to work on my website. I worked on my website till around 2 pm when I got myself some dinner and then settled in my massage chair to watch the Chelsea vs Arsenal football match.

The game finished 1-1, and although it was probably a fair result, I was disappointed with the score. I felt Arsenal could have scored more goals and probably should have. They have to buy an out-and-out centre forward in January. That said, I have been saying that for years, and they haven't done it till now, so what do I know?

After the game, I did a bit of family tree research before going to bed at around 10 pm.