2024, Week 51 journal.

In week 51 of 2024, I spent most of the week indoors keeping warm. I did manage to sort out my Spanish Health card at last, and I visited Murcia to visit the vaccination centre and enquire about vaccinations for my trip to India next year.

Monday, 16th December.

I woke up before my alarm went off to wake me up at 7:30 am today. I quickly jumped in the shower and afterwards got dressed before getting a coffee. I checked my email messages, had a second coffee, and then walked to my friend George's apartment in Los Alcazares.

George took me to Murcia and dropped me off very close to the vaccination centre that I had an appointment with at 10 pm. It didn't take me long to find the building, but getting in was a little more complicated. I tried a couple of doors before a policeman opened one and let me in. I was shown where to wait and asked to fill out a form. As I sat there, a man came along and helped fill out the form, and a short time later, I was led through to see a doctor. She spoke excellent English. She had lived in Birmingham for a while and learnt English there. She told me my accent was beautiful and much easier to understand than the Birmingham accent.

We went through a few questions, and she asked me where I was going in India and when I was going. I gave her this information and told her about the jabs I had in September for my Japan trip and the medication I am currently on. She told me that I didn't need anything else for my trip but that I should have an antibody test when I got back to see if I needed the hepatitis A vaccine boosted. She told me that it is not always necessary, but you should check 6 months to a year after having the initial vaccine jab.

I then went through to see another lady who gave me information on general health guidance for visitors to India, about drinking water, food, mosquitos and sprays to use. She was also helpful and chatty. On the whole, I found this office much nicer than the one in Cartagena and easier to deal with once I knew where it was. If I need to go to a vaccination centre in the future, I will come here.

When I left the building, I tried to ring George to see where he was but couldn't get an answer. I walked back towards where he dropped me off and nearly bumped into him in the street. We were soon back in the car, and he drove back to Los Alcazares and dropped me off at my apartment.

It was cold in the apartment when I got in, so I put another jumper on before walking to the Indian shop near my apartment to get some potatoes, a French stick loaf, and some tortillas. When I got back to my apartment, I made myself a ham and cheese french stick for lunch and sat at my computer.

I haven't sent Christmas cards for years, and this year, I will do what I always used to do: send Jacquie Lawson e-cards. I logged into the website, bought a subscription, and then sent a lot of cards to people whose email I have. Later in the week, I will send more out on Facebook to people for whom I don't have an email address.

After sending the cards, I saw an advertisement for a company that sells tickets for shows at Murcia Bullring. I am already going twice in July next year to see both Simple Minds and Lionel Richie, but I thought I would see if they have anyone else for next year yet. I was surprised to see that the group Journey is there in July next year as well, and because I have always wanted to see them, I booked a ticket to see them and a hotel room for the night. I should move to Murcia for July.

During the afternoon and evening, I did some very monotonous administrative work on my website and watched the Bournemouth vs West Ham football match. I went to bed as soon as the game finished.

Tuesday, 17th December.

I woke up early today, and by 6:45 am, I was enjoying my first cup of coffee and doing the Wordle puzzle. Afterwards, I had a second coffee and some muesli for breakfast.

At around 8:30 am, I went to the doctor's surgery to get my blood test for my INR level. I hadn't been for a while because of my trip to Japan and because I caught a cold on my return. My details were taken, and I saw a new nurse. She told me that they now have the little pin prick machine in the surgery and that I don't have to keep having the full blood test. This was great news for the nurses because it meant they didn't have to take a long time trying to get blood from my damaged veins, and even better for me for the same reason.

I was at home before 9 am and was pleased to be in the warm. I arranged to meet Martin at Cafe Parking at 10:30 am for coffee. I worked on my website for an hour before I set off on my disability scooter to meet Martin. When I arrived at Cafe Parking, Martin had just arrived. I sat with him and ordered an Asiatico. I gave Martin the parcel I had for him, and we sat talking for half an hour before he left to meet Kate. I went to Mercadona to get a couple of groceries.

After I had got my shopping, I went home along the promenade. Just as I approached my apartment, I saw my friends Rod and June, and I  stopped to say hello before going back inside to get out of the cold.

The afternoon and evening were spent doing family tree research, working on my website and watching the latest Venom film. Venom: The Last Dance was a good and easy-to-watch film. I doubt it will be the last dance, though.

Wednesday, 18th December.

I woke up early before my alarm went off today. I got a coffee, checked my email and then walked to my bank with a US dollar cheque. My account advisor had told me that I could take a cheque that I received from the people who used to manage one of my properties in Florida into her, and she could pay it into my account. I walked along the promenade and arrived around 9 am.

Luckily for me, my account advisor could see me straight away, and after chatting with one of the other advisors, she managed to pay the $300 into my account. It cost me €12 to do it, but as I had been waiting for the cheque for around four years, I thought it was worth it. While there, my advisor also helped me claim to get money back from an online company from which I bought something. They hadn't paid the postage for the item. I refused to pay the postage, and the postman took it away. It was sent back because the $51 item had a postage charge of €33. Hopefully, they can recover the money, but it could take months.

When I left the bank, I walked to the town hall to get a copy of my Padron so that I could return to the health centre and collect my Spanish health card. When I went in, it was hectic, and the man at the front desk told me that there were no more appointments left for today and that I should come back at 9 am tomorrow. I left the Town Hall and walked along the main road back towards my apartment.

As I passed the pharmacy, I remembered I needed more tablets to cover me over the Christmas period, so I went in and got some more Sintrom and Omeprazole. I paid for my tablets, but as I went to leave, the lady at the counter called me back and gave me a Poinciana plant for Christmas. They did the same last year. I guess they do it every year around Christmas. I left and carried my new plant home, and when I got back to my apartment, I put it on a shelf next to my TV, which is mounted on the wall. I now have a Poinciana on both sides of the TV, and it looks very Christmassy.

This afternoon, I worked on my website doing some administration, and I added a section for my trip to India next year. I hope to be able to update it whilst I am away on this holiday so that I don't have to do it all when I get back. I should be able to type my notes up each evening and leave myself with the photos and videos to work on when I get back.

This evening, I watched the Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Carabao Cup football match. I was a bit worried when I saw that Arteta had made eight changes from the team that generally plays. Arteta put out a mix of older players, players returning from injury and youngsters. After only four minutes, Crystal Palace went 0-1 up after an error from the Arsenal defence. Arsenal didn't play well, and although they attacked, they couldn't find the back of the net, and it looked like Palace could score on the break.

In the second half, Arteta made changes, bringing some of the regular players back. Arsenal finally started playing well and went into a 3-1 lead, with Gabriel Jesus scoring his first-ever hat trick for Arsenal. I hope this gives him some confidence because he has been terrible for a couple of years. Ex-Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah scored for Palace, but the game finished 3-2, and Arsenal went through to the semi-finals of the competition.

Thursday, 19th December.

I woke up before my alarm again this morning, and after checking for messages, doing the Wordle puzzle and having a coffee, I walked to the Town Hall in Los Alcazares to try and get a copy of my Padron again. When I arrived, the receptionist gave me a ticket and told me to sit down and wait for my number to appear on the screen.

I had to wait for 1¼ hours for my turn, but once I was seen, it was straightforward. I soon had the historical copy of my Padron. I left the town hall and walked along the main road towards the Rambla, where I stopped at Espressarse Cafe for coffee. I messaged and phoned my friend Clara to see if she could come to the health centre with me to translate, but she didn't answer.

I had my coffee and a tuna and tomato tostado, warmed up a bit, and decided to go to the health centre on my own to see if I could speak enough Spanish to get my health card. When I arrived, I had to wait for about 10 minutes, but luckily, the girl behind the reception desk understood my very poor Spanish enough to help me. She checked all my documents, had me sign more paperwork and told me that my health card would be ready to pick up on the 7th, 8th or 9th of January.

I left the health centre and walked back to my apartment. Just after I arrived home, I received a message telling me that the parcel I had ordered for Martin had arrived at Economy Cash, along with one for me. After this morning's long walk, I rested my legs before going back out to collect Martin's parcel.

This afternoon, I got on my disability scooter and went to Economy Cash to collect my parcels from Amazon and buy some milk. I quickly got my milk and was surprised when the girl told me at the till that they couldn't accept cash and that it was only credit cards. I don't know if this is permanent or a one-off for some reason. I collected the two parcels from the Amazon lockers and went straight home.

It was cold when I got home, and I was glad that my apartment was heating up. I watched some old films on TV and slept in my chair before cooking myself a sweet chilli stir fry. I used a cheap bag of fresh veg and some ham and cooked it in the prebrought sauce. It was very lovely, and I will try it again.

Friday, 20th December.

I woke up at about 6 am today but was able to get back to sleep for another hour, and I eventually got up around 7 am. I got a coffee, had some cereal, did the Wordle puzzle and got ready to go and meet Martin.

At around 9:45 am, I got on my disability scooter and went to meet Martin at Cafe Parking. He was there when I arrived, and I gave him his parcel. We had coffee, and when Martin left, I was about to go home when my friend Jacqueline walked past. She stopped and sat with me, and we had coffee and chatted. When I left, I remembered I needed some cleaning products, so I quickly bought them at Economy Cash before going home.

While I was sitting at home working on my website, my tooth started to throb and ache. I took a painkiller and hoped that it was being caused by an over-vigorous cleaning of my teeth and the cold weather out this morning. The painkiller took its time to kick in as far as the pain was concerned, but it did make me fall asleep quite quickly. I woke up about an hour later, my tooth still ached, but the pain was receding.

This afternoon, I continued to write up details of the final couple of days of my trip to Japan this year, specifically on the day I was travelling from  Osaka to Okayama and visited Himeji Castle. 

This evening, I found a notepad I had been going to sell for a while. I charged it up, reset it to its factory condition and got it ready to sell. It didn't have a power lead, but my phone lead is the same, so I used that to charge it. I Googled its price, and it is €89 new. Mine has a protective case and a pen to use with it, so I think I will ask €55 for it. I spent the rest of the evening watching TV and went to bed early, around 10 pm.

Saturday, 21st December.

I woke up at around 5:45 am, and as I was unable to get back to sleep, I got up, got myself a coffee and some cereal and sat down at my computer. I did the Wordle puzzle and then worked on my website, typing up my notes about my day in Hiroshima, Japan, in October this year.

This afternoon, I sat and watched some of the Brentford vs Nottingham Forest football match. After it finished I watched bits of different matches before the Crystal Palace vs Arsenal game started. Arsenal had put out more of the regular players for this game after beating Palace 3-2 on Wednesday. Gabriel Jesus started and very quickly scored again. Unfortunately, Crystal Palace scored an equaliser very quickly to make it 1-1, and Arsenal weren't defending very well. Goalkeeper David Raya made a couple of fantastic saves, and Arsenal improved. They scored two more goals by halftime and were winning the game 1-3 as the game restarted. They scored twice more in the second half to win the game 1-5. The only bad news was the sight of Bukayo Saka being substituted with a suspected hamstring injury halfway through the first half. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as it looked.

Tonight, I watched the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury heavyweight boxing match. It was a very close fight, and I thought Fury had just edged it on points. The judges disagreed with my view and unanimously gave the fight to Usyk in a 116-point to 112-point decision. I don't know how they made their decision, but I think it was wrong. Usyk might have edged it, but not by that much. I went to bed immediately after the fight finished.

Sunday, 22nd December.

I woke up around 5:30 am but dropped off to sleep again quite quickly. I eventually woke up around 8 am. I got up and had a coffee before sitting at my computer to check for messages, do the Wordle puzzle and check my points in the Fantasy Football league I'm in.

Just after 10 am, I got on my disability scooter and went to Aldi to buy groceries. I have some diced pork at home and wanted to get some vegetables to make a pork stew in my slow cooker. While at Aldi, I also got some more ingredients to make some apple crumbles next week. After going home, I put my shopping away, got a mug of tea, and sat down at my computer to start typing up the last few notes for my Japan holiday.

For the last three or four years, I have participated in the Los Alcazares Town Halls Christmas swim in the Mar Menor. It was being held today, but for the first time in a while, I decided not to take part. Last year, I caught a cold, which took me a long time to shake off, and because I didn't want to risk catching a cold or worse, I didn't go this year. I stayed at home in my warm apartment and instead did what I do best. I bought some items on Amazon.

My slippers have holes in them and are becoming dangerous because they keep slipping off as I walk in them. Because of this, I have ordered some new ones. I want to tidy my balcony in the new year and turn it into a sanctuary for me to sit and read my Kindle. To help my plants grow, I decided to compost my food waste and ordered a small compost bin that will live in my kitchen to compost my coffee grinds, tea leaves, potato peelings, and vegetable scraps. Hopefully, these will all arrive in the next few days, and I can have warm feet and start composting over Christmas.

This evening, I watched bits of TV different programs, but for some reason, it stopped working at about 9:30 pm. I turned it all off and restarted it, but it didn't help. I will test it out again tomorrow before ringing the supplier up. I went to bed around 10 pm.