2025, Week 2 journal.

Week 2 of 2025 started cold and finished the same way. I managed to get a few jobs done around the house, and most importantly, I managed to get my India e-visa application approved for my holiday in February.

Monday 6th January.

I woke at 6 am today but fell back to sleep and got up about 45 minutes later. I am still waiting for my coffee machine to be delivered, so I got some water to take my tablets with. I sat at the computer to check for messages and do the Wordle puzzle.

After doing the Wordle puzzle, I went into the bathroom to shave my head. While shaving, I nicked my skull a couple of times and drew blood. I tried a couple of new blades and different razors, but they didn't help. I did as good a job as I could and then took a shower. As I showered and watched drops of blood drip from my skull into the shower tray, I decided that my eyesight wasn't good enough for me to keep using razor blades and decided to get an electric shaver that was designed just for skulls.

After I finished shaving, I got a pot of tea and checked the weather forecast. I saw that it should stop raining at 11:30, so I should be able to go to meet Martin on my disability scooter without worrying that I would get stuck in more rain. I sat at my computer and scoured the Internet for a good skull shaver. I have had a few over the years, both expensive and cheap, but I have not been satisfied with any of them. I found one online with seven heads that can be used in the shower. It looks pretty good and isn't expensive. I ordered the Bamba PrecisionCare Skull Head Shaver, and hopefully, it will be with me before I need to shave my head again.

For breakfast, I got myself a bowl of porridge and had it with blueberries, honey and some Greek yoghurt; it was delicious. At around 11:30, I looked outside, and the rain had stopped, so I got on my disability scooter and went to meet Martin at Mr.16 Kitchen. It may not have been raining out, but it was cold, and I was happy that I had my thermal vest on. Dave joined us, and we sat chatting for a couple of hours before leaving to go home. When I left, I stopped at Pizzeria La Sombre and got a pizza to eat at home.

When I got home, I turned the heating on and sat in my armchair to eat my pizza. The pizza was very nice. I still think they make the best pizza in the area. The warm apartment and warm feeling in my belly that the pizza had given me soon also had me falling asleep in the chair. This evening I watched the Wolves vs Nottingham Forest match on TV. It was quite a good game, and Forest won 0-2. The result wasn't good for Arsenal, but it was good for my fantasy football team, as I had three Forest players on my team. When the game finished, I went to bed and quickly fell asleep.

Tuesday 7th January.

I woke up just before 7 am and quickly got up and got myself a pot of tea. I sat at my computer and did the Wordle puzzle in two, the first time I had done it in two for quite a while. I then made myself some porridge for breakfast and put the heating on in my apartment.

I messaged my neighbour Liz this morning, and we arranged to go to the health clinic tomorrow to pick up my health card. Liz had previously said she would come with me if I needed a translator. I then sent off some more details to my bank for a claim I am making against an online company from which I attempted to buy some luggage tags. After I had done this, I went to Mercadona on my disability scooter to do some shopping. I went around the store and got everything I needed, possibly more than I needed for the next couple of weeks.

When I left the store, I went home with one bag of shopping on one of the arms of my scooter and two more bags on the footplate between my legs. I took my shopping up to my apartment and put away all the shopping before sitting down for a rest. For lunch, I had a bowl of carrot soup that I had made and put in my freezer a couple of weeks ago and two cheese and onion chapatis. Once I had eaten my food, I sat down at my computer and entered the details of all my shopping into my budgeting software.

At 1:30 pm, I received a message from my investment company cancelling the online meeting I was supposed to be having with them at 3 pm. I immediately replied and asked why, and they said that I had cancelled the meeting. I told them I had done no such thing and was told the meeting would go ahead as planned. About 30 minutes later, the investment company called me back, and I had the meeting early and over the phone.

I was delighted to find out that my investments had done well and that I would be able to go on the Australia / New Zealand trip next year if I still wanted to. We arranged for them to call me back in July to arrange a payment from my investments so that I could book the trip if I still wanted to.

I spent the afternoon trying to keep warm and surfing the Internet. In the early evening, I watched a bit of TV while waiting for the Arsenal vs Newcastle game to begin. Arsenal played relatively well until they got to the Newcastle goal, where they again missed chance after chance. They lost this first leg of the semi-final 0-2 and will be very lucky to get to the final now, with the second leg being played at the Newcastle ground.

Wednesday, 8th January.

I woke up around 5 am, rolled over and went back to sleep. I woke up again at 6:45 and got up at 7. I went to the kitchen and got some porridge for breakfast and a pot of tea.

After putting it off for a while this morning, I began to make my cottage pies. I began by chopping the onion and measuring out the ingredients. I like to use a sweet potato rather than a regular potato, and when I went to peel the sweet potato, I realised that the potato peeler was currently in the dishwasher, which was halfway through the wash cycle. Rather than stop the washing machine, I borrowed a potato peeler from my neighbour, Liz. I peeled and chopped the potato and put it on to boil and simmer while I cooked the mince.

After preparing the ingredients and browning the mince, I left it on the hob to simmer for 45 minutes, then sat down at my computer for a rest. The smell of the mince cooking away was divine and made me feel hungry. Once the mince and potato had finished cooking, I turned the hob off and left everything to cool down. I then went down to my neighbour Liz, and we walked to the Medical Centre to try to get my health card. Liz knew the Spanish receptionist and talked to her in Spanish, and I gave her my paperwork. The receptionist checked for my card and told us that it still hadn't arrived and to try again next week. We asked if she could make an appointment to have the blood test for my sintrom, and she told me that she could, but I needed to print off the results of my previous tests and bring them in when I made an appointment. 

Liz had an appointment next week, so we said we would call in next week, and I would bring the Sintrom test results with me so they could arrange an appointment for me. We walked back to the apartments, and once I got in, I made myself a cheese and onion chipata for lunch. When I had finished it, I portioned the mince and mashed sweet potato into dishes and made three large cottage pies. I will have one for my dinner tonight and freeze the other two.

By about 3:30 pm, I was beginning to get very hungry, so I added some shredded cheddar cheese to the top of one of the cottage pies I had made, heated it and ate it with some peas, carrots and sweetcorn. It was delicious, and I was so glad I had made it. After eating my meal, I pottered around the Internet, looking for an app to help me make notes about my holiday when I go to India in February. I had been using Google Keep but had found it to be constrained. After looking at various other apps, I found OneNote by Microsoft to be interesting. I hadn't used any Microsoft software for years and thought I would check them out after looking at other similar apps. I spent all night playing with One Note to see what it was capable of doing. I had to admit it was perfect and decided to use it going forward.

At 11 pm, I decided to stop playing around with One Note and to go to bed to get some sleep. As often happens when I am in "computer mode", I couldn't get to sleep very quickly. Ideas on how I could incorporate OneNote into my daily, weekly, and yearly life kept running through my head. I eventually dropped off to sleep and slept well.

Thursday, 9th January.

I woke around 5 am, dropped off to sleep again and woke up again at 7 am. I got up, got a pot of tea and sat down at my computer. I watched some videos on OneNote and decided that I would actually buy a subscription to Microsoft Office 365. I had been trying to stop purchasing software subscriptions, but the deal I picked out included 1 TB of online space to use for backing up my files. The current backup deal I have cost more than the Microsoft subscription, so I will actually save money by switching to it. I purchased the personal plan and got ready to spend the day downloading it to my mobile phone, tablet, laptop and computer.

Needing a coffee, I messaged my friend Lawrence to see if he would pick me up when he went to Cafe Prensa and agreed to. At 10 am, I went outside, and he picked me up in his car a short time later. Then, we drove to the cafe in Los Narejos. When we arrived, Steve was already there, and we sat with him and got a coffee. A short time later, we were joined by Steve and Bev, and we all sat and talked for around an hour. After we left, Lawrence dropped me off at home again, and I went inside to wait for a delivery, which I had just received a message about.

I didn't have to wait long for my delivery, and I was able to test out my new skull shaver. It worked perfectly and left my head nice and smooth without nicking or cutting me at all. It will be nice to be able to shave my head without worrying if I make it bleed.

After shaving, I went online to the Indian visa website and completed the application for my tourist visa. It wasn't too tricky, and after uploading a PDF file of my passport and a photo of my good self, I paid the $25 application fee and hoped it would be sent through soon. It is always a bit worrying when you have to apply for a visa online in case anything goes wrong. The Indian visa can only be applied for 4 weeks before travel for the 30-day visa, and for some reason, you have to pay in USD when you apply. What could go wrong? I am an Englishman living in Spain, applying for an Indian tourist Visa less than 4 weeks before I travel, using a Spanish credit card to pay for an Indian visa. Simple, yes?

At lunchtime, I reheated the second portion of cottage pie I made yesterday and put it with the remaining peas, carrots, and sweetcorn. It went down very well, and I wish there had been a more considerable portion. I can't see the two dishes I put in the freezer staying there for long before I eat them as well.

Indoor potplant.This afternoon, I did a lot of work on my website, editing the structured data for the Peru holiday section and adding details to more of the photos from my Japanese holiday. I also put a cutting that my neighbour Liz left me into a nice big pot. It had not been doing too well at her apartment, and I hoped I could keep it alive and that it would grow well in my apartment.

For my dinner tonight, I cooked myself a sweet chilli pepper and chicken stir fry and had it with homemade chips. It was beautiful. I really enjoyed the homemade food I cooked over the last couple of days, and it was definitely worth the effort. I enjoyed my Chinese takeaway last week, but my home cooking is much nicer and a lot cheaper.

This evening, I spent my time watching TV and doing research on my family tree before going to bed early.

Friday, 10th January.

I woke up at around 6 am today. I tried to get back to sleep but couldn't and eventually got up 45 minutes later. I got myself a drink and sat at my computer to check for messages. When I looked at my email, I was a bit nervous for a few minutes when I saw an email from Indian immigration. I needn´t have been, and when I read the message, my e-visa for my trip in February had been granted.

It was cold, 14°c, as I sat in my apartment, but my friend Jim soon put it into perspective. He lives in Scotland, and as I wished him a happy birthday, he told me that where he was, it was -6°c. This did make me feel warmer. I wasn't as cold as Jim, but I still put my heating on. I made some porridge with banana, blueberries, raspberries and Greek yoghurt. It seemed like a healthy breakfast that would help warm me up, and it tasted great.

As I started to work on my website after breakfast, I received a message saying that my new coffee machine was finally on its way. I hoped it didn't arrive while I was out for lunch later in the day. I finally finished editing and labelling all the photos for my Japanese photo albums this morning, so I published the online albums and then continued to work on other parts of my website.

At lunchtime, I walked along to the restaurant La Casa de Papel to meet my friend Debbie. I arrived early, and Debbie sent me a message to say she was running a bit late, so I sat outside to wait for her. I ordered a glass of wine and sat outside until 1:30 pm and then went inside. Debbie still hadn't arrived after 5 minutes, and I received another message from her telling me I was late. Knowing her, I rang her and asked where she was. It turned out she was across the road in the wrong restaurant. A short time later, she appeared and apologised.

The waiter came back, and we ordered the menu of the day: a beef stew and pork cutlets in a pepper sauce with chips. The waiter brought us a nice salad and almost immediately brought our starters out. The beef stew was fantastic, and to me, it was worth the visit to the restaurant on its own. We sat talking between courses and shared the salad between us. When we had finished the salad, the waiter brought our main course to us. The pork was beautiful and very tender, and I enjoyed it very much. For dessert, we both had a creamy mousse with a raspberry-flavoured base. I finished my meal off with an Asiatico, and we sat talking for a bit longer before leaving to fo go home.

On my walk home, I walked past the Avenida Cafe and stopped for a quick chat with my friends George and Yvonne. When I left them, I walked back to my apartment and stopped at my neighbour Liz´s apartment to pick up a parcel that had arrived for me while I was out. I wasn't expecting anything, and it felt strange and sounded strange when I moved it. When I got back to my apartment, I opened the parcel, and it was a bag of tapioca pearls that I had ordered in October last year. Because it never arrived, the company had given me a refund almost 2 months ago. I will now have to look up how to cook it again.

The temperature dropped quickly again this evening, and before 6 pm, I had turned the heating on and was wrapped up under a blanket in my armchair. I continued working on my website until around 11 pm, then went to bed.

Saturday 11th January.

I woke early, around 5 am today, and because I could not get back to sleep, I got up around 5:30 am. I did the Wordle puzzle, then got some porridge with banana, raspberries, and Greek yoghurt with honey for breakfast. Once I had eaten breakfast, I took my regular tablets, Sintrom, Omeprazol and an Omega 3 tablet. I also took a Diosmina tablet that the doctor gave me last year to help the blood vessels in my legs and hopefully get the veins in my legs pumping blood better. The last time I took these for 10 days, my legs improved a lot, so I hope they help again this time.

After breakfast and my daily drug routine, I started working my way through a large pile of washing and putting it into the washing machine. Once the first load was in the machine and running, I sat back at my computer and carried on working on my website. At 9 am, I decided to go for a walk and thought I could walk to Economycash to buy some coffee beans so that I could have some when my coffee machine arrived on Monday. I walked along the promenade, watching the birds flying past and the fish jumping out of the Mar Menor. I walked up Rio Nalon looking at the new layout for "The Strip". It looked great and is a vast improvement over what it used to be.

I walked to Economycash and looked for the coffee beans I wanted, but they didn't have the brand I had researched and wanted. I was sure I had seen some there before, so I thought I would go out again and check when my coffee machine arrived. I left the store and wondered where to go for a coffee. As I stood there considering my options, the bus arrived, so I jumped on it and went to Los Narejos and Cafe Prensa. When I got there, Steve and Christine were already there, and I sat down with them. I got us all a drink as we sat talking, and a short time later, Lawrence arrived, followed by Teresa, Steve and Bev. We all sat chatting over coffee, and after Steve and Bev left, we all started drifting home.

Christine wanted to go to Rainbow Properties but was unsure where the office was. As it is very close to my apartment, I said I would show her where it was. It also meant I wouldn't have to walk home, so it was a win for both of us. After we left, Lawrence phoned me and asked what I was doing that day, and we arranged to have something to eat. He wanted to go to Buena Vista restaurant, so he said he would come to my apartment, and we could go from there. I showed Christine where Rainbow Properties was and the easiest way to get there and park. Because of the one-way systems near my apartment, it is easy for people to get lost. After showing her Rainbow Properties location, she dropped me off at my apartment. I had just enough time to go into my apartment to use the bathroom before Lawrence arrived.

I walked back outside and met Lawrence under my balcony, where he parked. We walked along the beach to Buena Vista restaurant and took a seat under the awnings. It was already about 11:30, but until 1 pm, they were still only serving from the breakfast menu, so we both had coffee and a medium-sized fried breakfast. After breakfast, we still sat chatting, and around 1 pm, I ordered a beer, and we moved to the side of the building so that Lawrence could have a cigarette. We continued chatting, had another drink and finally went to leave. It was only then that we realised how late it was. I had left home at 9 am for a short walk and was leaving the restaurant for the short walk home at 2:45 pm. I went straight into my apartment, and Lawrence got in his car and drove home.

When I got in, I sat in my armchair and was asleep within 10 minutes of switching the TV on to watch a film. When I woke up, I remembered the washing in my washing machine. I took it out and put another load in the machine. I put the clean washing away in my wardrobe and drawers and returned to my armchair. I quickly dosed off again, waking a couple of hours later. Todays, early morning had caught up with me earlier than anticipated. When I woke up, I made myself an open cheese and minced meat sandwich for my tea and, after eating, sat back at my computer to do a couple of hours of work on my website.

Because I didn't want to have to go out on Monday before I could have a coffee, I went online, searched Amazon, and ordered some of the coffee beans I wanted, and they will be delivered tomorrow. Because I had some credit with them, I didn't even have to pay for them. I have my Internet searches set up with Microsoft to earn points every time I do an Internet search for something. I use the Internet to search a lot, so now and then, I get sent a €10 Amazon credit. I think it is great because I would be searching anyway, and I now get free coffee for my searches and asking questions.

I took the second load of washing out of the washing machine and put it away. Then, I spent the evening watching old films on the TV, and I didn't go to bed until about 12:45 am.

Sunday 12th January.

I had a lie-in today. Yesterday's walk in the fresh air and early morning, combined with a late night, must have caught up with me. When I got up, I took all my tablets and ate some porridge for breakfast.

After breakfast, I stripped the bed linen from my bed and put it in the washing machine. I then went back to work on my website. I spent most of the day working on my website, only stopping for a roll at lunchtime and to receive a delivery from Amazon. I now have coffee beans, and I hope that my new coffee machine finally arrives tomorrow.

I managed to talk to my Uncle Dave today via a Facebook video call. It was great to catch up. It is a shame he isn't able to visit me here in Spain. I think he would love to see where I live now. After chatting with Dave, I remembered I hadn't done the Wordle puzzle this morning, so I logged onto the website and had a go. I got lucky and did it in only two attempts. Perhaps I should leave it till the afternoon every day.

I looked at my Fitbit data today and noticed that it now includes "cardio load data". Cardio load is a way of understanding how much exercise you’ve been doing, whether it was logged as a workout or not. The Fitbit app automatically calculates a target cardio load based on what you’re used to doing. You can choose whether you want to improve your fitness (in which case, it will nudge you to crank your load up a little higher each week) or maintain your current fitness. Fitbit uses your heart rate to estimate whether a given minute of exercise was vigorous or moderate for you.

I have been trying to do more to help me lose weight, but it isn't easy because of my health, and I have to rest more than I like. This week, my Fitbit told me that I had done too much and that I should rest on two different days. I suppose it's good because it stops me from damaging myself more, but strangely, I do very little, and it still thinks my heart can't take me doing much more.

Once the washing machine had finished doing my laundry, I remade my bed with nice smelling clean sheets and put the second set away in a cupboard. This afternoon, I watched the Arsenal vs Manchester United FA Cup game. Manchester went 0-1 up against the run of play in the second half but had a man sent off. Arsenal equalised but could not score again, and the game went into extra time. Nobody scored in extra time, and the game was won with penalties by Manchester United when they scored all of their penalties. Once again, Arsenal had been let down by their attack. Will the owners finally buy a striker? If they don't, Arsenal will struggle to finish in the European places in the league and will go no further in the Champions League.

After the game, I sent an email to the manufacturers of my armchair, ECO-DE. It is doing all sorts of weird things. Sometimes, it won't recline. Other times, it reclines, but the footrest won't come up. This evening, it wasn't going up from a reclined position and seemed to want to recline further instead of going up. After I sent the message, I settled in the chair and watched TV. As I sat watching TV, I received a message from my friend Gail. She and her boyfriend Rob are coming to Los Alcazares next week and would like to meet on Saturday. It will be good to see her again as I haven't seen her since we cruised to Brazil in 2023, and I have never met her boyfriend, Rob, who is an Arsenal fan like me.