2025, Week 3 journal.

Week 3 of 2025 was a week in which I spent a lot of time waiting for a delivery that never turned up and one in which I met my friend Gail and her boyfriend, Rob.

Monday 13th January.

I slept well last night and woke up at about 7:30 am. I got up and got myself some porridge for breakfast and prepared for a long, dull day at home, waiting for the delivery of my coffee machine. I attempted the Wordle puzzle and failed to get today's word. I sat at my computer and worked on my website while I awaited the delivery.

My friend Wayne called me and asked if I could look at his laptop as he couldn't get it to work. I told him to pop around with it and that I would look at it for him. For lunch, I took a turkey stew out of the freezer and put it in the microwave. It tasted great, and I am glad I made the mistake of using turkey instead of pork when I originally made it.

Wayne arrived a short time after I had lunch, and I attempted to fix his laptop. Unfortunately, I could not fix a thing. Whatever had caused the problem looked to have uninstalled every app from the laptop, including all the Windows settings files and admin files. I did find a Linux prompt, which made me wonder if someone had overwritten Windows with Linux. As it is, you can not even restore the laptop because all the apps are missing. The only advice I could give Wayne was to take it to the Password computer store in Los Alcazares.

After Wayne left, I started rearranging the appliances in my kitchen to make way for my coffee machine when it arrived. This afternoon, I went to add the new Microsoft software to my laptop, but before I could, I discovered I had what I incorrectly thought was malware on my laptop. It wasn't; it was adware, and after contacting the help desk at Bitdefender, they told me how to get rid of it. I installed three new extensions on my browser, and they stopped the problem. I hope it continues to.

This afternoon, I continued to wait for the delivery and worked on my website. I did a lot of work and waited a lot. I also watched some educational videos on   Microsoft OneNote. I went to bed at about 11 pm, but I couldn't sleep, so I got up again to continue trying out some of the things I had learned about OneNote. I went back to bed at 2 am. 

Tuesday 14th January.

I got up about 8:30 am today. I got some water, took my tablets, and had a bacon sandwich for breakfast. My coffee machine didn't arrive yesterday, and I had no message today explaining why, so I will have to wait all day again to see if it arrives today.

I looked on the Udemy website this morning and found an elementary but helpful lesson on Microsoft OneNote. It was a free course, so I logged in to the site and spent the morning going through it. I discovered some invaluable information and look forward to putting it to use.

At lunchtime, I made a ham sandwich and had it with some carrot and orange soup that I had in my freezer. It was very nice. After lunch, I continued to work on my website and spent time playing with the OneNote software while waiting for the delivery from Cecotec.

Once again, I have been left waiting all day, and my delivery from Cecotec hasn't arrived. This evening, I watched some of the football on TV and watched some more OneNote videos online before going to bed at 11 pm.

Wednesday, 15th January.

I woke up at 5:30 am, and because I couldn't get back to sleep, I got up around 6 am. I got myself a pot of tea and sat at my computer to check my messages. I also sent a message to Owain Wyn Evans on Radio 2 to see if he would read it out. As I sat drinking my tea and listening to the radio, Owain read my message out on the radio, and I felt a little less alone in the early morning hours.

At 10 am, my friend Lawrence picked me up to get a coffee, and we went to Cafe Prensa and met Steve, Christine, Theresa, Carol, Steve and Bev. We all sat chatting over our coffee for a couple of hours before we all left. On the way back to my apartment, Lawrence said he was hungry, and we stopped at the Buena Vista restaurant to have a cooked breakfast. We sat at the side of the building out of the wind, and after finishing breakfast, we continued chatting over a beer. I told Lawrence I had seen a reclining chair I wanted to look at in El Corte Inglis in Cartagena. Lawrence said he would drive me down there tomorrow to take a look, so I said I would buy him lunch on the way back. We left the restaurant around 2 pm, and Steve left in his car to go home. I walked the short distance along the beach to my apartment.

When I got home, I again looked at the reclining chairs I wanted to look at and picked the type I wanted. I just wanted to make sure it was sturdy enough for me to use, that it had independent movement in the reclining legs, and that it reclined back independently from the legs as well. I wanted to make sure it had a lift function that would help me get up when I wanted to.

I spent the afternoon watching TV before watching the Arsenal vs Tottenham football match tonight. When the game started, Arsenal were playing brilliantly but kept missing the Tottenham goal. Against the run of play, Tottenham scored with a deflected shot and went ahead 0-1. Before halftime, Arsenal scored twice, and they were leading by 2-1 at halftime. In the second half, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou brought on more attacking players, but it didn't help them, and Arsenal won 2-1. North London is red.

My brain was buzzing when the game finished, and when I went to bed, I couldn't sleep, so I got back up and worked on my website till around 2 am and then went back to bed.

Thursday, 16th January.

I woke up around 8 am today. I was still tired, but I got up, took my tablets, and had a pot of tea. I pottered around on my website for an hour or so, and at 10 am, I walked outside to wait for Lawrence to pick me up. He was a bit late picking me up, but we drove to Cafe Prensa to join the others there. We all sat chatting, and I had a great time with one of the Steves. It turned out we had many of the same hobbies, such as computing, plants, and genealogy. When everybody left, Lawrence and I jumped in his car, and we drove to Cartagena to find El Corte Inglis. We parked in a car park that we thought was close, but it wasn't the closest, and we had to walk a couple of blocks to the store. 

When we arrived, it reminded me of the old-fashioned department stores in England, like John Lewis or Debenhams. We found the floor with the furniture, and as I looked at the recliners, a salesman approached me. He was a great help and showed me one that was sturdy enough and large enough for me. I wanted extras on mine compared to the one in-store, so it had to be ordered and built. I decided on the colour and fabric I wanted, made sure it did everything I wanted, and asked how long it would take. The salesman explained that it would take around six weeks to be ordered and built and that it would be delivered in early March, probably on the 7th. This was okay by me as it meant I could go to India knowing that they wouldn't be trying to deliver it while I was away. I paid for it, and Lawrence and I left.

On the way out of the store, I had a quick look in the men's department. The clothes were big enough for me, and the legs on the trousers were wide enough for my tree trunk-sized legs. When I get back from holiday, I will have to come back and have a good look around the whole store. We slowly walked back to the car park where we had left the car, and once we were in the car, we drove back towards Los Alcazares.

As we drove along, we decided to go to Venta Simon at Bahia Bela for their menu of the day. Lawrence had never been there, and I hadn't been there for over a year. We pulled up outside, parked and then went inside. We were shown a table straight away and ordered from the large selection of food on the menu of the day. The food was excellent. We shared a salad, and I had chicken and pasta soup, followed by pork fillets in peppercorn sauce with chips. I had a glass of white wine with it, and for my dessert, I had a delicious chocolate flan. For everything, including bread and the drinks, it was only €14 each. I bought Lawrence his meal to pay him back for taking me to Cartagena.

After we had finished, Lawrence dropped me off at home. It was starting to get cold, so I put the heating on in my apartment and settled down to relax for the evening. I watched TV and watched the football before going to bed when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer at around 10 pm.

Friday, 17th January.

I slept really well last night and woke up at 7 am. I tried to get back to sleep but couldn't, so I got up around 7:30. I sat down at my computer, checked for messages, and then did the Wordle puzzle. Today was the first date I was given for the rearranged delivery of my coffee maker, and I hoped it would arrive today. I wasn't holding out a lot of hope for the delivery today, though, because they have missed three promised delivery dates already.

It was a very cold 8 °C when I got up, and I put the heat on straight away in my apartment. To try to warm myself up inside, I cooked bacon, eggs, beans, mushrooms, and fried potatoes for my breakfast. I ate breakfast and carried on working on my website. I am gradually changing all the images on my website to the WebP format. It provides much smaller files while maintaining quality. This should hopefully help my website load quicker and will save me a lot of space on the server.

After lunch, my neighbour Liz popped up, and I repaired her laptop for her. When Liz left, I contacted the company that should have been delivering my new coffee machine to ask them where it was. They replied that they were holding it in their depot for me to pick up. I swore a lot and then mailed them back, explaining that I am disabled, have no car, and have no intention of going on a 100 km round trip to pick it up. I then contacted the manufacturers and told them the same thing. 

Because I now knew that the delivery wouldn't be made today, I went to Economy Cash on my disability scooter to get something to eat. I got a few bits of food and went straight home. I went down Rio Nalon, and it was fully open after the remodel. It looked really lovely now, and I think the work carried out was a real improvement over how it used to be. As soon as I got home, I cooked some spare ribs to have for my tea and then ate them.

This evening, I received an email back from the delivery company about my coffee maker, and the manufacturers told me that the machine would arrive on Monday. I will keep all of my fingers crossed that it does arrive. I went to bed at around 10 pm and fell asleep quickly.

Saturday 18th January.

I woke up around 8 am today. I got up and checked my email and found an email from a hotel where I was staying before my trip to Heathrow asking for my credit card details for my bill. When I checked beforehand, it was over €100 more than the bill should have been. I refused to pay it and messaged the hotel to tell them. I believe someone may have hacked their booking system, and I will pay at the hotel, but not before.

A short time later, I had a message from the hotel telling me my booking was okay and that their system had been hacked. I was glad I checked the bill before paying it. I spent the morning working on my website, replacing more JPG files with WebP files and linking them to the correct pages.

At about 2:45 pm, I went to meet my friend Gail and her boyfriend Rob. Gail and I met on a cruise around the Mediterranean on the Costa Diadema and went to Brazil on the Costa Favolosa together, but today would be the first time I had met Rob. I walked along the beachfront and went to the Estribor cafe next to the hotel where they were staying. I sat outside and ordered a coffee, but it was very cold, so I moved inside to wait for them. A short time later, Gail walked in with Rob, and after introductions, we sat down, had coffee, and chatted.

Rob and I are both big Arsenal fans and wanted to watch the game. I suggested going to Harry's bar to watch it, and we left Estribor to watch the game later. We walked along the beachfront, and when we got to my apartment, I showed both Gail and Rob around it. When we left my apartment, we walked along to the Buena Vista restaurant to get something to eat. We sat in Buena Vista, and all had something to eat and a drink while we talked. When we finished our meals, we left and continued along the beach to Rio Nalon and Harrys' bar.

Arsenal started well and got a 2-0 lead. Both Rob and I agreed that we thought Arsenal needed a third goal, and Gail couldn't understand why we were nervous. Unfortunately, Rob and I were correct, and Aston Villa scored two goals to earn a 2-2 draw. We had a good time in Harrys' bar and met a few people who were looking to buy property in the area. After the game, we finished our drinks and we walked up Rio Nalon so I could give Gail and Rob an idea of what was there and where they were in relation to the road they arrived on. Gail may be coming back with some friends later in the year, so it made sense to give her an idea of where she was going to be staying. On the way back down, we stopped for a drink at The Celt bar. As we sat there chatting, a karaoke started, and my cousin Jill walked in with some friends and her husband, Peter. I didn't talk to them for long because Gail, Rob and I were leaving, but it was good to see them all.

After leaving, we then stopped at the 19th Hole for a last drink and to listen to the singer there. When we left, we walked back to my apartment, and Gail and Rob said goodbye to me before they continued back along the beachfront to their hotel. I went into my apartment, got a glass of water, and went straight to bed. It had been good to catch up with my cruise buddy, Gail, and to meet her boyfriend, Rob.

Sunday 19th January.

I woke up around 8 am and tried to get back to sleep, but because it was cold, I couldn't. I got up, put the heating on, and sat down at my computer to check for messages. My legs were swollen today, so I decided to do as little as possible.

I continued to work on my website and the images on it. I watched some football on TV and some films and generally did very little while keeping my legs raised to try to help the swelling go down. I went to bed reasonably early, at around 10 pm.