Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia, Spain
Summary: A week of cold weather, hospital visits, the long awaited arrival of my new disability scooter, lift problems, shopping trips, good food, long rides, and plenty of football and Whiskerwood.
Monday, 24th November
After getting up this morning, I had a coffee and worked on my computer. I did the Wordle puzzle, checked my email and social media pages for messages, had another coffee and got ready to go out to lunch with my friend Jim. He picked me up at 13:30 and we drove to San Miguel to a restaurant he liked called The Castle. Unfortunately, it was closed on Mondays. We drove back along the coast road, stopped at another restaurant, but Jim did not want to eat there, so we continued to Mil Palmeras and went to Los Celtas Restaurant. We had been before and always had a good meal.
It was very cold outside, so we sat inside. I ordered the Menu of the Day. The seafood soup was beautiful, full of fish, squid and shellfish. I would go back again just for the soup. For my main meal, I had the pig cheeks, which I think are actually beef cheeks. They are my favourite. I finished with bread pudding. After the meal, Jim drove us back to Los Alcázares and we stopped at Buena Vista for coffee. Jim then had to pick up another friend, so I walked home. I fell asleep watching TV, woke around 19:00, watched a bit more and went to bed around 22:00.
Tuesday, 25th November
I woke early after sleeping well. I had a coffee and did the Wordle puzzle before checking my messages. I left for the health clinic around 12:30, but had a long wait because the patient before me needed lengthy treatment. I read my Kindle until I was called in. The nurse cleaned the wound, applied cream, redressed it and made me an appointment for later in the week. She told me I would be seeing a different nurse next time. I went straight home. It was cold again, and I spent the rest of the day playing Whiskerwood.
Wednesday, 26th November
I woke early feeling nervous because my new disability scooter was supposed to arrive today, but I had not been given a time. I had coffee and porridge, then played Whiskerwood while I waited. The scooter finally arrived around 15:30. The driver delivered it to my apartment door. It was wrapped in selophane, and he showed me the ignition key, the charger and the mobile phone holder. I turned it on, drove it the length of the building, turned around and signed the paperwork. He left quickly, and I felt nervous about the scooter.
I put warm clothes on and took it for a test drive through Los Alcázares town centre, along the promenade and back along the main road. Unfortunately, it had not been sent fully charged, so I could not test it for long. When I got home, the garage lift was not working again. I contacted the lift company and asked them to come out urgently. I waited until 17:00, but no one arrived. I asked Liz to look out for the repairmen, then went to see George to ask if I could leave the scooter at his place overnight. He did not think it was safe because of a recent break in.
I went to the Time4AChange store, and they kindly let me leave the scooter there. I chatted with them, then walked to Avenida Cafe for a coffee, where George and Yvonne were sitting. As we talked, Liz phoned to say she had let the repairmen in, then phoned again to say she had thrown them out because she did not like the look of them. I was furious. She then phoned again to say she had called the lift company and confirmed they were genuine and that they would return.
I walked home and saw the repairman arrive. I let him in and he repaired the lift. It was too late to collect the scooter, so I left it at the shop overnight. I watched TV and tried to calm down. Arsenal cheered me up by beating Bayern Munich 3-1 to go top of the Champions League.
Thursday, 27th November
I woke early, excited to collect my scooter. I had coffee, porridge, did the Wordle puzzle and waited until 10:00 when the shop opened. I walked there, collected the scooter and drove it back to my garage to charge fully. For lunch, I made sausage and mash with fried onions. The Spanish sausages I have found are excellent and full of real meat. I stayed home for the rest of the day, letting the scooter charge while I played Whiskerwood.
Friday, 28th November
I got up just after 6:00, had a coffee and a bacon sandwich, then did the Wordle puzzle. I went down to the garage to check the scooter. It had charged completely. I reconnected some power leads to give myself more room when plugging it in. I went back upstairs and played Whiskerwood until I left for the health clinic around 12:30. I sat outside the nurse’s room reading my Kindle. She saw me waiting and invited me in early. She cleaned and redressed the wound and checked that I had an appointment for next week.
After leaving the clinic, I headed towards Roda, going through country back roads, past Lottie’s house, past Campbell’s bar and back to Los Alcázares. I pushed the scooter to its top speed of 13 km/h. It handled very well, the suspension was excellent and it ran quietly. I had an early night and put the scooter on charge again.
Saturday, 29th November
I woke at 6:00, fell asleep again and got up at 9:00. I did the Wordle puzzle, had coffee and porridge with banana, blueberries and raspberries, then put my laundry in the washing machine. I went downstairs, checked the scooter and took it out for a proper test run. I went to the health centre, then through the country roads, using Google Maps to find tunnels under the AP7 motorway. I found one that cars and scooters could use, went under the motorway and continued towards Los Arcos hospital.
The feeling of freedom was wonderful. The old scooter would never have made it this far. I turned around, headed towards San Javier, found another tunnel that came out near the Asia restaurant, then continued back to Los Narejos. I went through the market and then home. I had travelled about 22 km and still had half a battery left. The whole journey took about an hour and 40 minutes.
When I took the laundry out of the washing machine, I dropped some on the floor. I decided to buy a collapsible wash basket to place under the machine door. I ordered one on Amazon.
Sunday, 30th November
I felt good when I woke up. The stress of waiting for the scooter had built up more than I realised, and now that it had arrived and worked well, I felt much better. I stripped the bed linen and put it in the washing machine. I went to the garage, unplugged the fully charged scooter and messaged George to tell him I would not need a lift to the hospital on Tuesday.
I relaxed for the rest of the day, playing Whiskerwood and watching TV. I watched the Chelsea vs Arsenal game. It was not stress free. Chelsea had a player sent off, but still scored to go 1-0 up. Arsenal fought back and equalised, and the game finished 1-1. I thought the refereeing was poor, with Arsenal getting six yellow cards that I am sure were only given because they were wearing red shirts.
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