Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia, Spain
Summary: I spent the week juggling clinic visits, battling the heat, sending my first PostCrossing postcards, dealing with gout, preparing for concerts, hosting my old friend Dave, and suffering one of the worst acid reflux attacks I have ever had. There were good moments, frustrating moments and a couple of worrying ones, but also plenty of laughs, nostalgia and progress on my website and genealogy research.
Monday, 14th July
I woke at 05:00 and drifted in and out of sleep until 06:00. After coffee and Wordle, I made the mistake of eating a huge bowl of muesli, which left me bloated and uncomfortable. I worked on my website until it was time to go to the clinic.
The nurse changed my ankle dressing quickly and made me a new appointment for Thursday. I went to the pharmacy for my blood pressure pills, Sintrom and omeprazole. Afterward, I bought three postcards for PostCrossing and headed to La Sombre to meet Martin.
Aria gave me a hug and a shark fridge magnet that looked like the shark from Jaws. I wasn’t feeling great, so I went home, turned on the air conditioning and fell asleep. I spent the evening working on my family tree and went to bed at 23:00.
Tuesday, 15th July
I wrote my three postcards first thing, then went to the post office. The postage for America, Germany and China came to €6.40, which I thought was reasonable. I then went to Mercadona for shopping and coffee for my neighbour Liz, who had messaged saying she felt unwell.
My foot was hurting badly from gout, and I was hobbling around the store. When I got home, I took painkillers and delivered Liz’s coffee. Later, I received confirmation that my Prudential investment had been sold and the money transferred. I can now seriously plan my Australia and New Zealand trip.
I spent the afternoon resting with my foot raised. Liz later messaged saying she felt much better and had gone shopping, which amused me. I had cheese pasta for tea, followed by banana, ice cream and yoghurt, and played CIV VI until midnight.
Wednesday, 16th July
I was woken at 01:00 by noisy idiots outside. My gout was painful, so I took a painkiller. They woke me again later, and I gave up trying to sleep at 02:15. I watched TV and worked on my website until 05:30.
I spent the entire day resting with my foot raised. I uninstalled a faulty OG tag extension and reinstalled an updated version that worked perfectly. I revised the OG tags across my site and was pleased to see they now worked with my photo albums. I stayed awake until 23:00 to try to reset my sleep pattern.
Thursday, 17th July
I woke at 08:00, checked messages on my newly reinstated X account and suddenly realised it was 09:15 and I had a 09:30 appointment. I rushed to the clinic on my scooter.
The nurse who called me in was new, and she was absolutely stunning. She spoke perfect English and told me she would be my nurse for a month while the regular nurse was on holiday. She cleaned and dressed my ankle with a gentle touch that made me wish the appointment lasted longer. She booked me in for next week, and I left already looking forward to seeing her again.
I still had some gout pain, so I took it easy and worked on OG tags and website updates for the rest of the day.
Friday, 18th July
I tidied the apartment and patio in preparation for my old friend Dave Hardy’s arrival. He eventually appeared at the door, unable to push it open, and an elderly Spanish lady had to help him. We went upstairs and spent hours catching up on nearly fifty years of memories.
We walked to Buena Vista, where Dave ordered starters, and then to Rio Nalon for drinks. It was extremely hot, and by the time we reached Harry’s Bar, I was struggling. We decided to go straight to El Patio for dinner.
Despite the restaurant being empty, they acted as if they were fully booked. We eventually got a table. I ordered steak, but the first mouthful triggered the worst acid reflux attack I have ever had. I had to run to the toilet repeatedly, and the chest pain was awful. Dave ate my dinner as well as his own.
On the walk home, I had to stop several times to vomit bile and acid. Dave must have wondered what on earth he had walked into, but he knows my medical history and was very understanding. Back at the apartment, I continued to be sick and felt terrible. I went to bed exhausted and in pain.
Saturday, 19th July
I woke at 02:30 with another bout of acid reflux but managed to get back to sleep. When I got up properly, I took an extra omeprazole tablet. Dave got up shortly after, and I realised all the food I had bought for his visit contained gluten. If he had told me earlier, I could have prepared better.
We chatted until it was time to leave for Murcia to see Simple Minds. We left at 12:15 and walked to the bus stop.
Sunday, 20th July
We arrived back in Los Alcázares around 14:00. I turned on the air conditioning, and we sat cooling down with cold drinks. We spent hours reminiscing about our childhood and teenage years. Some stories will go on my website; others are best left unrecorded.
Dave went to Buena Vista for a curry because of his gluten intolerance, and I stayed home and had pasta with cheese and chicken rolls. I was relieved to eat without triggering acid reflux. When Dave returned, we spent the evening talking and putting the world to rights, as only old friends can.
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