2024, Week 46 journal.

In Week 46 of 2024, I did some jobs around the home, met some old friends and went for dinner with another.

Monday, 11th November.

I woke at around 8 am today and got up for a shower straight away. After showering, I got a coffee and worked on my website until just after 10 am, when I got on my disability scooter and went to the doctor's surgery for my flu jab.

I didn't have to wait long, and within 10 minutes, I was seen by the nurse and had my flu jab. When I left, I went to the Mercadona store on my disability scooter and got a couple of bits of shopping. When I left the store, I continued to the  Marinocio coffee bar and casino to meet Debbie. I ordered a tostada and coffee and sat waiting for Debbie.

When Debbie arrived with Gonzo, her dog, we sat chatting for an hour before I left to meet Martin and Dave at Pizzeria la Sombre. Martin, Dave and I sat talking and were joined by Aria when she got off her school bus and by Kate when she got back from her break in Prague, where she had gone for a singing competition with Spangles.

After chatting for a little longer, we all went home, and when I got back to my apartment, I charged my disability scooter again, as I will be using it tomorrow if the forecast rain holds off. When I got into my apartment, I cooked myself a chicken thigh and had it with the bowl of salad I had bought at Mercadona.

This evening, I kept warm under a blanket, watched TV and did some more work on my website, finishing up at midnight.

Tuesday, 12th November.

I slept well last night but woke around 5:30 am, and because I couldn't get back to sleep, I got up, got a coffee, and put Radio Two on to listen to. I did the wordle puzzle, had a coffee and worked on my website for a couple of hours. I had decided to bring the bamboo plant I had on my balcony inside my apartment in case the cold killed it. I trimmed the bamboo back a bit, removing dead leaves, before bringing it inside and finding an excellent spot for it to live.

At 11:45, I took an old printer down to my garage to store it until I sell it and then walked to a bus stop on the main road. I only had to wait around 10 minutes for the bus to arrive, and after paying my euro for the fare, I sat down, and the bus set off. The bus only stopped three times before I got off at my stop in Los Narejos. I was soon sitting with Martin and Kate at Pizzeria La Sombre. We sat chatting and were joined by Dave.

At 1:30 pm, I left my friends and walked to a Portuguese restaurant in The Oasis shopping centre, where I met my friends Frouk and Reinder. We went inside the restaurant and sat down for our meal. I ordered from the menu of the day. I had a lovely vegetable and potato soup as a starter, and for my main course, I had shredded chicken with egg and a bit of salad. The main course was okay but nothing special. For my dessert, I had a merengue, which was delicious.

After our meal, Reinder drove me home. After getting comfortable in front of the TV, I took a siesta. I woke up after about an hour and spent the evening researching my family tree.

Wednesday, 13th November.

After getting up, I had a coffee, did the Wordle puzzle, had some porridge and checked my emails. 

At around 10:30, I went out on my disability scooter and rode along the beachfront. I went to a pharmacy in Los Alcazares to get some tablets. After buying my regular tablets and some Ilvico tablets to have at home in case I got a cold over Christmas, I went straight home. I worked on my website all morning and had some lunch before walking to the Avenida Cafe to meet my friends George and Yvonne. We sat chatting for a couple of hours while we had our coffee. I left and walked home and got underneath a blanket to keep warm.

Amazon had processed a return for me, and my account had some money in it. Unable to resist spending the credit on new things for my apartment, I spent a few hours scouring Amazon for essential items. I ordered another set of pillowcases so that I have a spare set to use instead of having to wash and return the one set every time. I also ordered a toaster. I don't know if it is just because I order relatively cheap toasters, but the ones I get never seem to last very long, and I do miss having one. Lastly, I decided to replace my very cheap, 10-year-old microwave oven. I found a new one that I liked and ordered it. I made sure all the items were delivered by Amazon and got all of them to be delivered together on Friday this week. 

Thursday, 14th November.

I woke up at 3:30 am today and could not get back to sleep. I got up, got a coffee, did the Wordle puzzle and worked on my website. At around 9:45 am, I left home on my disability scooter and went to Mercadona to do some shopping.

On the way to the store, I saw my friend Bob. He was parked up in his small train. He was doing a school job, running the children around to different parks with their teachers. I stopped and had a quick chat with him. I mentioned to him that my disability scooter seems to make a strange "thunk" noise and feels like there is something wrong with the rear axle. He had a quick look and promised to come and have a look at it next Tuesday. I don't think it is a severe problem, as it only seems to do it in reverse and when cold, but it will be nice to be sure I make it home when I go out on it.

After a little while, Bob had to continue working, and I continued to Mercadona. I did all my shopping and went home. I had got more shopping than I expected and had to buy a couple more shopping bags. I parked my disability scooter in the garage and took my four shopping bags up to my apartment. I am so grateful for the lift; my knee doesn't like walking up and down steps, especially as the temperatures begin to drop a bit. I put all my shopping away and settled down under a blanket to keep warm.

I spent the afternoon and evening working on my website.

Friday, 15th November.

I woke up around 6:30 am this morning but fell asleep again straight away. I woke up again at 9:30. I am expecting my deliveries today, so I tidied up the kitchen and moved some of the things around to make room for the new microwave. It is bigger than the old one that I had mounted on the wall. I took the old one down and removed the wall brackets. I will clean the old microwave and then sell it.

I also moved other stuff around, making room for the new toaster. I decided to sell some of the electric appliances I have that I don't use. I think I bought some of them just because I was bored. I sorted out an ice cream maker and a three-level food steamer, both of which have only been used a couple of times. I will clean them up thoroughly and sell them alongside the old microwave. I took an oven/grill down to my garage to store. It is terrific, but I don't get much use out of it because I use my Ninja oven more. I will keep it in case my Ninja ever breaks, but it will probably also be sold at a later date.

My deliveries from Amazon arrived around midday, and I unpacked them and put the new appliances in my kitchen. I made some toast in the new toaster and ate the toast while I searched online for a manual for the microwave. The microwave had a manual, and it was in around eleven different languages, but not English.

This evening, I used the microwave for the first time and was very happy with the outcome. It was a lot quicker than the old one, and the grill function even browned off the food. It will take a lot of getting used to it, but I can already see what an improvement over the old basic one it will be.

I could hardly keep my eyes open tonight and went to bed around 10 pm.

Saturday, 16th November.

I woke up at 5 am this morning. I went to the bathroom, and just as I was about to get back into bed, I remembered that the much-hyped boxing match between Mike Tyson and YouTuber, Jake Paul would be on at 5:30 am. I decided to watch it. I got a coffee and settled down in my armchair to watch the fight.

I saw the end of the fight before the Tyson vs Paul fight. It was a women's fight, and it was furious. One woman kept leading with her head and opened up a large cut over the other's eye.  At one point, the ref stopped the fight so the cut woman could have treatment, and he deducted a point from the woman who had head-butted her. I would have thought disqualifying her would have been better. The fight finished controversially with a points decision awarding the woman who kept using her head the win.

The Tyson fight was a letdown, which is a bit of a silly thing to say when you have an overweight, out-of-condition, retired 58-year-old ex-boxer fighting a 27-year-old man who has only had a few fights. It was only done to raise money for the two opponents and, more importantly, for Jake Paul, for him to raise his social profile and huge following. Still, around 70 million people around the world tuned in to watch it. Tyson edged the first two rounds, but Paul won the remainder and won the fight by a points decision. I hope Tyson doesn't return to the ring again. It was sad to see a once unbeatable fighter shuffle around the ring. He could have been seriously hurt or worse.

This afternoon, I did some family tree research and made a breakthrough in finding details for my great-great-great-grandfather, Henry Benjamin Warner and his parents. Hopefully, it will lead me to more discoveries in my genealogy research. 

This evening, I walked to Harry's Bar in Rio Nalon. The work being done there means the fencing still stops people from walking up the centre of the entertainment area, but you can walk along the side to gain access to the bars and restaurants. I sat outside Harry's bar, chatting with my friends, Andy and Wayne, for a while before moving to the Sibarit bar to meet my friend Debbie.

I hadn't been in The Sibarit Bar long when Debbie arrived. We had a drink and sat talking. As we sat there I realised my friend Paul was sitting at the bar so I said hello to him as we hadn't seen each other for years. When Debbie and I left, we walked a short distance to the El Patio II restaurant. Debbie had reserved a table for us, but she didn't need to as there weren't that many people dining when we arrived.

I had a thick and juicy sirloin steak with Roquefort sauce and chips. It was lovely and much better than the thin, tasteless steaks that most of the tourist restaurants in Rio Nalon serve. I will definitely be going back again soon. We sat chatting for a while after our meal and then went back across the street to Rio Nalon and Rocco's bar. We had a couple of drinks there before heading home. I walked Debbie across to the taxi rank, but there were no taxis. It was only about 10 pm, and I was surprised there were no taxis. We walked back across to Hotel 525 to see if they could call a taxi for Debbie. The receptionist called the taxi company, but they couldn't get a cab to us for at least half an hour, so Debbie decided to walk instead. We said goodbye to each other, and as she headed home, I went back to Harry's bar for a last beer before I walked home.

I got home just after 11 pm, and it was getting quite cold, so I put my heating on for a while to warm the apartment up before I went to bed.

Sunday, 17th November.

Today was a sluggish day. I got up around 8 am, used my last coffee capsule for my morning coffee, and sat at my computer. My legs were aching a bit after the walking yesterday, so I sat in my massage chair with my feet raised. 

I sat all day using my laptop to research my family tree. I was able to find out more about the Warner branch of my family. This week, I found out more about my 3rd great-grandfather, Henry Warner, and today, I was able to discover his father and grandfather, my 4th and 5th great-grandfathers.

I watched the England vs Ireland football match but missed most of it because I was concentrating more on my research, looking up at the game only when cheering announced the arrival of another goal. England won the game 5-0, with all the goals scored in the second half.

I kept working on my Genealogy research and eventually had to stop when my eyes were getting sore, and I went to bed at midnight.