Location: Los Alcázares, Región de Murcia, Spain.
Summary: A week of nurse visits, blood tests, extreme heat, website maintenance, genealogy research, PostCrossing postcards, supermarket frustrations, and adjusting my medication routine. I met friends for coffees, dealt with repairs and deliveries, and spent most afternoons escaping the heat in my air-conditioned apartment while watching football and working on my website.
Monday, 11th August
My morning started at around 8 am when the alarm went off. I got up, took a shower, and then got a cold drink. I took my medication and sat in front of the computer to check for any messages. I completed the Wordle puzzle and worked on my website for a bit, then left the apartment at 9:40 am, giving myself plenty of time to arrive at the health clinic to see the nurse.
When I arrived at the clinic, I sat down and began reading one of the books I had purchased the previous week, which focused on researching the genealogy of prisoners. I didn't have to wait long and was soon sitting with the nurse as she redressed my ankle. It looked good, and she didn't take long to clean it, redress it, and make me another appointment for Thursday. As soon as she had given me my appointment, I went straight back to the apartment. I had deliveries arriving, and possibly a collection company that would pick up my coffee machine.
I put my disability scooter away and went to my apartment, where I had a couple of pieces of Spanish tortilla for breakfast. I sat at my computer and began working on my website. Just before 1 pm, the man from Cecotec arrived and collected my coffee machine to take it for repair. Once again, he had no paperwork and could not provide a receipt for taking the machine, but he allowed me to photograph the work order on his mobile phone. After he left, I returned to work on my computer. While I was working, I suddenly heard a strange noise in the apartment, which startled me enough to stop working to figure out what it was. The noise was my robot vacuum cleaner working. I am normally out when it cleans the house and forgot it would start while I was in the apartment.
I stopped work at about 2 pm and got myself a Texas Wrap salad for lunch. The afternoon and evening were then spent working on my website, mainly adding OG tags to pages and beginning the long job of deleting, adding, or editing redirect links to old and current links on the website so that Google would hopefully begin to delete old pages from its index instead of me having to do it manually.
When I finished work for the day, I watched TV until I went to bed.
Tuesday, 12th August
I got up at about 6:45, took a shower and then sat at my computer with a cold drink. I took my medication, completed the Wordle puzzle, and got ready to go to the health clinic for my blood test.
I arrived at the health clinic around 7:45, and although there were a few people in front of me in the queue, most of them were there for full blood tests, and I was second in line for the Sintrom blood test. I saw the man who I thought was drunk the last time I had a blood test and decided not to let him take my blood today, but as my turn came, he left to go somewhere else. A lady performed my blood test using the pin-prick machine correctly and got it right the first time. The result was good, and my dose shouldn't change, but I will have to wait for the printed results to confirm.
I left the health clinic, and as I did, I saw my friend Rob outside. His dog had got his lead tangled around his disability scooter, and I helped him untangle it before we both left and went home.
When I got home, I stopped briefly to pick up some rubbish. I took the rubbish to the bins and recycling to the recycling bin and then went to Cafe Prensa for a coffee. At Cafe Prensa, I saw a few friends, Rob, Darren, Teresa, Christine, Steve and Bev. We all sat chatting for a while before leaving.
I then went to my health insurance office. I spoke to Sofia and told her that I wanted to cancel my private health insurance. I explained that the Spanish public health system had surpassed my expectations and that I would stick with it. She said that was fine and told me she would need it in writing or via email. She also told me that if I ever needed help with anything, even just translating a letter, to call her. She has been a great help to me over the years.
I left the ASSSA office and went to the nearby Chino to look for postcards for PostCrossing. They had none, and neither did the tourist office. I then went to the new large Chino on the main road. It had lots of good stuff but no postcards. I tried on a couple of shirts, but the sizing was ridiculous. I gave up and went to Pizzeria La Sombre.
At the office, I met Martin and Dave, and we were joined by Rob. After finishing a large bottle of water, I decided I was getting too hot and left earlier than usual. I stopped at a Chino near my apartment and found some nice postcards for 50 cents each. I bought five and took them home.
When I got home, I turned on the air conditioning and binge-watched The Resident. I also researched the medication I take, as it has been making me short of breath in the mornings. I went to bed around 10:30 pm.
Wednesday, 13th August
I woke at 5 am but was able to get back to sleep. I got up at 7 am. I didn't take my medication this morning. After my research last night, I decided to try taking my medication before I go to bed rather than when I get up.
I wrote the five postcards I bought yesterday and got them ready to send to people in Finland, Belgium, Germany, Russia, and the USA. I then took them to the Los Alcázares post office. There was only a short queue, and I sent all the postcards. I also bought an ONCE lottery ticket for Friday and asked if I had any mail, as I hadn't received any for over two months. For some reason, the post stops being delivered in the summer.
The lady behind the counter checked and I did have two pieces of mail. My first PostCrossing postcard had arrived, from a lady in Virginia, USA. She must have looked at my website before sending it, as it featured pictures of Florida and included a nice note saying she hoped it reminded me of my life there. The card had taken 16 days to travel 6,477 km, although I don't know how long it had been sitting in the post office.
The second piece of mail was my new debit card, which I had been waiting six weeks for. It really pisses me off that the Spanish mail system holds mail rather than delivering it.
When I got home, I ordered some felt pin boards from Amazon. It was extremely hot again today, and an extreme heat warning had been issued, so I stayed home with the air conditioning on. For lunch, I had a sandwich with cheese spread and sliced turkey.
I spent the afternoon and evening working on my website, playing CIV VI and watching TV. Amazon delivered a new clothes horse I was expecting next Monday. I left it boxed until the weekend. Before bed, I took my daily medication.
Thursday, 14th August
When I woke up around 8 am, I got myself some cereal for breakfast and watered all the plants on my balcony. Then I got ready to go to the health clinic to have my ankle redressed. I went on my disability scooter and parked in the shade before going in.
I didn't have to wait long before I saw the nurse. She quickly redressed my ankle and gave me a new appointment for Monday. I then went to reception to collect my blood test results. Once again, I was pleased that the receptionist understood my Spanish. The result was good, and I don't have to go back until September 9th.
I left the health centre and stopped at the pharmacy near my home to pick up my prescription tablets. Instead of going straight home, I stopped at Economy Cash for a couple of items. When I got home, I put the shopping away and filled my pill dispenser. I was annoyed to see the pharmacy had given me the small tablet packs again, meaning I will run out earlier than I should.
Because of the extreme heat, I spent the rest of the day indoors with the air conditioning on. I took my medication when I went to bed around 11 pm.
Friday, 15th August
Today was another really hot day, with the heat reaching 40 °C on my balcony. I stayed indoors all day working on my website, adding OG tags and managing redirect links.
Tonight I watched the first game of the new Premier League season, Liverpool vs Bournemouth. It was a great game, which Liverpool won 4-2. The scoreline flattered Liverpool, and Bournemouth were unlucky not to win. Liverpool scored their third and fourth goals in extra time, and Bournemouth had a goal disallowed.
I took my medication and went to bed around 10:30 pm.
Saturday, 16th August
I woke up at 6:45 and, unable to get back to sleep, got up at 7. I put a load of washing in the machine and spent an hour working on my website, deleting outdated redirects and updating others.
At around 9:15, I walked to Buena Vista for breakfast, but it was closed, so I continued to No Name Cafe on Rio Nalon. I had coffee and a tostada and sat reading my Kindle. My current book is about tracing prisoners in jail, and the history of British prisons was fascinating.
After breakfast, I went home and slowly put together the clothes horse, placing it on my balcony. The heat made me short of breath, and it took a while. Once it was assembled, I put the washing on it to dry. A gust of wind later blew it over, and I had to straighten it and move it inside. The frame had twisted and become loose, so I will have to review it again before using it.
This evening I watched Aston Villa vs Newcastle. It was a terrible game until one side had a player sent off. It improved slightly but still ended 0-0. I then watched Wolves vs Manchester City, which was much better. Manchester City won 0-4.
I took my medication and went to bed around 11:30 pm.
Sunday, 17th August
I woke up around 6:45 am. I got a cold drink, did the Wordle puzzle, and checked my email and messages. I felt quite good this morning, and I am convinced it is due to changing the time I take my medication. Taking it at night seems to be helping with my breathing and energy levels.
At 8:30 am, I walked along the beach to Buena Vista, but it was closed again despite the online opening time. I continued to No Name Cafe and had a coffee and a tostada. It was pleasant and not too hot. Just after I ordered a second coffee, a group of around 14 English tourists arrived and immediately rearranged all the tables. I will never understand why such large groups need to sit together for a quick coffee.
I paid my bill and walked back. Buena Vista was open by then, so their online times must be wrong. I went home to wait for my Amazon delivery, which included pins for my new pin boards.
I worked on my website while listening to Michael Ball on Radio Two. I added descriptions to my photos from the NCL Spirit cruise from Hawaii to Alaska. I stopped around midday to cook a breaded chicken fillet for lunch.
Amazon delivered the pins, which were brilliant. I pinned up my prescriptions and lottery tickets near my computer, my postcard in the lounge, and some recipes in the kitchen.
I watched Chelsea vs Crystal Palace, which ended 0-0. Crystal Palace were unlucky not to win, but the result gave me good Fantasy Football points. I then watched Manchester United vs Arsenal. Arsenal won 0-1, but they were lucky. Manchester United played better, and the Arsenal goalkeeper was man of the match.
Before bed, I continued working on my website, deleting over 800 outdated links from the Google Index. I finished around 9:15 pm and watched TV until I went to bed around 11 pm.
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