✍Journal: Week 41, 2025.

In week 41 of 2025, I did loads of work on my website in general, but also started changing the layout of the genealogy section and added some general lifetime history sections to some people.

📝Monday, 6th October.

I woke up early this morning but managed to get back to sleep. I woke up again when the person in the apartment above me must have knocked something over. The crash, as it hit the floor, woke me up, but as it was 7:00, I got myself up. I got a coffee, which tasted much better today and looked outside. I must have slept well last night because there were large puddles in the square outside, and I hadn't even heard the rain. The wind was blowing very hard, and I hoped it would calm down so I could go for a long walk this morning. It seemed strange, but good, to get up on a Monday morning and know that I wouldn't have to see the nurse until Friday.

After completing the Wordle puzzle and managing to get it in 3, for the fourth day in a row, I treated myself to breakfast: bacon, eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, and fried potatoes. After breakfast, I checked the weather forecast, and since it was supposed to rain heavily later, I messaged my friend Dave to ask him to give me a lift to see Martin at lunchtime. Then, I continued working on my website. While I was working, I received a message from the writer of one of the extensions I use on my website. I couldn't get it to work properly, and he asked to access my site to try and find out what the problem was. I gave him a user account, and then stopped working on the website.

Just before midday, I walked to the main road and waited for Dave to pick me up. When Dave arrived, I got in the car and we drove to Pizzeria la Sombre. As we arrived, Martin arrived at the same time. We sat chatting for a couple of hours and were joined, at different times, by our friends, Andy and Terry. After saying hello to Aria when she was dropped off from school, Dave gave me a lift home, and I had a salad for lunch.

I worked on my website and spent a couple of hours browsing the Internet before having a jacket potato with cheese and a couple of battered fish fillets for dinner. In retrospect, one of the things I cooked would have been enough, but once cooked, I couldn't throw anything away and ate the lot.

I felt rather bloated and had no energy for the rest of the evening, so I played games on my laptop until 20:30, then turned it off. I watched TV till around 22:00, then went to bed.

📝Tuesday, 7th October.

I woke up around 6:00 today and got up around 6:30. I made a pot of tea, completed the Wordle puzzle, and checked my email messages. I ate the porridge I had put in the fridge with blueberries the night before. Now that I have grown accustomed to eating it cold, I Im beginning to like it.

I had some smelly rubbish that needed to be taken to the bin, and two large bags of clothes to donate to charity. I messaged Martin to see if he wanted to meet me for a coffee, and then went out on my disability scooter to take the different rubbish and recycling bags to the correct bins. I had just dropped the rubbish in the bin and was putting the clothes in the charity collection bin when Kate rang me and asked if I wanted to meet her and Martin for breakfast. I told her I was on my way to NoName cafe, and she said they would meet me there. I continued on my way and was soon sitting at a table at the cafe, having a cup of coffee.

A short time later, Martin and Kate arrived, and we sat chatting for a while. When they finished their drinks, Martin and Kate left to get a cooked breakfast at the Penny Farthing Cafe. I said I would join them for coffee when I had finished my drink at NoName Cafe. I read a book on my Kindle for a short time, finished my coffee, paid the bill and went to the Penny Farthing Cafe.

I ordered a coffee and sat with my friends chatting while they ate breakfast. When we had finished, I got the bill for my coffee and discovered that one coffee had cost €1.95. It's not a great deal of money, but it's a 30% increase over the cafes I normally drink at. To some, it may only be a small amount, but over the weeks, months, and years ahead, it would mount up. Any amount of money is better in my pocket, allowing me to use it to travel the world. It made me appreciate the other cafes in the area more and realise that the not insignificant amount of money I spent earlier in the year, on my own coffee machine, was money well spent. My coffee machine cost around €220, and I spend around €40 a year on coffee beans, totalling €260. If I were to drink the two coffees I have at home every morning at the Penny Farthing, it would cost me over €1,420. Just by drinking coffee at home, I save around €1160 a year. I can already feel another cruise coming on, perhaps somewhere I can buy some inexpensive coffee beans to bring back to Spain.

When we all left, Martin and Kate jumped in their car, and I continued to the office on my disability scooter. On the way, I stopped at EconomyCash to buy a salad and to look for some fly repellent. As hard as I looked, I couldn't find the fly repellent. After buying the salads, I went to the Mercadona store. On the way, I saw a beautiful blonde lady waving to me as she crossed the road. I didn't recognise her as I shot up the road, but I hoped she had been waving to me, so I waved back.

When I got to Mercadona, I quickly located the fly repellent and made my way to the till to pay for it. As I made my way to the till, I saw the beautiful blonde coming towards me in the first aisle of the store. I realised that I did know her, and it was my friend and fellow Gooner Claire. We stopped and chatted for a while. She told me about the holiday she had just returned from in Canada, and I told her about my upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand. We, of course, chatted about Arsenal and how they were doing this season before then leaving to continue our day. I paid for the fly repellent and then continued to meet up with Martin and Dave.

I got to Pizzeria la Zombre and sat chatting with Martin, and Dave when he arrived. Kate dropped Aria off and joined us shortly afterwards. We sat chatting until I left around 14:00. On the way home, I remembered a couple of things I had forgotten to buy in the shops earlier, so I stopped at Mercadona again to purchase them before continuing my journey.

When I got home, I put my shopping away, ate one of the salads and checked for messages. There was no message from the man checking the Joomla Extension on my website, so I didn't work on my website. I watched a film called ↗️Gone Fishing, starring Joe Pesci and Danny Glover. It was an easy film to watch and I really enjoyed it. When the film finished, I still hadn't heard from the Joomla Extension writer, so I watched another film, again starring Joe Pesci, called ↗️Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag. Although its name suggested otherwise, it was a comedy that I enjoyed, and it helped pass the time.

I was watching TV in the evening when I received a message from the Joomla Extension writer, who said there was a problem with the extension and that he would have to fix it. He also instructed me on how to use it until he fixed the error. I thanked him for the message and his help, then removed his access to my website before continuing to work on it until I went to bed. I will wait for him to tell me he has updated the extension and install it when it's done.

📝Wednesday, 8th October.

I woke up a few times in the night to use the toilet, but got back to sleep quickly every time. I had been sleeping well recently, and my 🔗REM sleep has returned, giving me lots of vivid dreams, most of which I can remember well when I wake. I got up around 7:30 and had a coffee. I then completed the Wordle puzzle and had a second coffee before starting to work on my website.

As usual, I got lost in what I was doing, and before I knew it, it was midday and I stopped work to have something to eat. The Amazon delivery arrived at the same time, and I checked that the parcels were correct.

After eating, I continued working on my website until just after 14:00, and then I went for a walk along the beachfront. It was nice and cool, and a gentle breeze was blowing. I walked to the mermaid and fisherman monument, then turned to pass by the church and up to the main road, where I turned back towards home. I was able to walk without getting out of breath quite as easily as I used to, and I felt that the exercise, diet, lack of alcohol and sleep routines I have been following for a while are slowly improving my health. When I returned to my apartment, I sat in my armchair, turned on the TV, and continued working on my website, adding census records and details about my 🔗grandparents to the genealogy section.

I wasn't very hungry tonight, so I had two rolls cut in half, spread with garlic and ginger paste, topped with grated cheese, and toasted in the air fryer for supper. It was quite nice, but probably a good thing that no one will have to smell my breath for a while. My eyes were a bit sore after all the computer work I had done today, so I stopped work around 21:30 and watched TV for half an hour before going to bed.

📝Thursday, 9th October.

I felt a bit unwell last night and got up a few times, but I wasn't actually sick and eventually fell back asleep. When I got up at around 9:15, I felt a little better but not great. I got a coffee and ate the porridge I had soaked overnight in the fridge. I had a shower and felt better, ready to go shopping. I needed to go because the weekend is a local holiday, and I was unsure which shops would be open.

I wondered if feeling sick had anything to do with the mint-flavoured water I had drunk before I went to bed, and Googled it. It turned out that for those with GERD, mint water may trigger symptoms, and it's advisable to avoid it. My research indicated that, in general, mint water can be beneficial for digestion, although individual tolerance may vary. I suppose my tolerance for it is not very good.

I had a message from a friend who is in Los Alcazares for a holiday. He insists on sending me videos from Farcebook that I can not read because of my ban. I have lost count of the number of times I have told him. He also sent me voice clips rather than typing a message on WhatsApp or forwarding me videos from YouTube. One of the messages I received this morning stated that he had somehow used up all his data credit and could only contact me when he was somewhere with Internet Access that he could piggyback off of. Im not surprised he has used all his credit if he spends all his time watching, and sending videos and voice clips to his friends.

I left to go shopping at midday. I got on my disability scooter and went to Mercadona to do a big shop that I hoped would see me through the weeks till my cousin arrived later in October.

I arrived at Mercadona, got the last available shopping trolley, took it inside, and did my shopping. My shopping list has changed recently with my change of diet; the meat these days is mostly chicken, but today I also got a mixed shellfish dish from the fresh fish counter. I also got some Bass fillets and some hake fillets along with a huge can of tuna. I got a large can of tuna because I want to try making my own tuna pasta dishes. I got lots of fresh fruit, a couple of salads, and some of the bottled tea drinks I like, one with mango and one with lemon.

When I had all my shopping, I loaded it all onto my disability scooter, with one bag between my feet and another hanging on each armrest, and went straight home. When I got home, I put all the shopping away and had a cheese pasta for lunch. After lunch, I rested for a while and then went downstairs to see my neighbour Liz. We sat chatting for an hour, and then I went back to my apartment.

I watched a film called ↗️The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, starring Nicholas Cage playing Nicholas Cage. It was a fun film that I realised I had seen before, but I watched it again. Once the film finished, I looked for tonight's International friendly between England and Wales on TV, watched the pre-match chat, and got ready for the game. England started the game very well and were 3-0 up after 20 minutes. For the rest of the first half, England kept pushing for more goals, and it was quite good to watch. In the second half, Wales were much more determined, and the pace of the game slowed, which I found boring. The game finished England 3, Wales 0, and I went straight to bed.

📝Friday, 10th October.

I slept well last night. I woke up once during the night at about 1:30. Hearing the rain outside, I went to the bathroom and returned to bed, falling asleep quickly. I woke up around 7:30, got up and made myself a coffee. I could see puddles of water outside, but it didn't look like the big forecast storms had arrived.

At about 9:40, I walked to the health clinic. There were a few puddles, but nothing that would suggest the forecast storms arrived last night. When I got to the clinic, I was pleased to see it was open. My neighbour Liz had told me that it was closed and that I shouldn't go for my appointment. I went because the storm hadn't been as bad as forecast, and I couldn't see any reason for the clinic to be closed. I figured that if it was closed, the walk would do me good.

The nurse called me in, quickly removed the old dressing, and cleaned the wound. It looked good to me, and I told the nurse it looked like a dried prune. She laughed and said that it did, a little. She had soon redressed it and made me an appointment for one week's time.

As I walked home, light rain began to fall, and I could hear thunder in the distance, but the rain never got heavy during my walk. I arrived home, hung my coat up and sat in my armchair to rest for a while before getting something to eat. I had a cheese pasta for lunch, and as the rain slowly got heavier and the thunder and lightning began, I felt pleased that I had got to the health clinic before it started.

As the rain formed rivers passing my apartment on its way to the sea, I continued working on my website. I got lost in different sections, but did add some new pages or details to some existing pages.

• 🔗Brian Llewelyn Morris.
• 🔗Llewelyn Morris.
• 🔗Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.
• 🔗St Pancras Old Church.
• 🔗Chingford.
• 🔗Waltham Forest.
• 🔗Postcrossing.
• 🔗Eurobilltracker.

I looked out of the window as I went to bed and rivers of water were flowing past my apartment on the way to the sea but the flooding was nothing like it was years ago and I expect the rain waters to clear up more quickly than it has in the past because of the amount of work the local council has done building new storm drains and maintaining the old ones.

📝Saturday, 11th October.

When I woke up, the rain had stopped, and the water forming small puddles in the square outside was quickly going down. I got a mug of tea and answered a few messages from people who had seen flood videos posted online. People tend to sensationalise bad news, and it's very sad that they read more negative news than positive news. See my blog on 🔗Negative Bias.

After doing the Wordle puzzle and reading all my emails, I went down to the garage to get my disability scooter and go out for a ride to get some pastries. I went along the main road and easily went through the puddles left by the storms last night. I went across the road bridge over the Rambla, avoiding the gawpers filming the floods of water running through it. It is the main outlet for all the storm drains, but videos of water rushing down the Rambla will no doubt soon be posted all over social media, proving how severe the Los Alcazares floods are again. It was more difficult to get around the people who had travelled here to look at the floods than it was to get around the water.

I did notice that all the shops on the route were open and none seemed to have suffered from any water damage. I stopped at the Bastida bakery and bought two pastries before heading back towards my apartment. When I arrived and went into the garage, the elevator door wouldn't close. It wasn't caused by water, as the underground garage was as dry as a bone inside and outside. I parked my disability scooter at the front of the building and went back to my apartment. Once inside my apartment, I got a coffee, ate my pastries and sent an email to FAIN telling them there was a fault with the garage door. Within minutes, they had said that someone would call out to look at it.

After breakfast, I put some washing in the washing machine and set it running. I wanted some fresh air, so I went back out and took a big bag of paper recycling to the bin. After dropping off the recycling, I continued to Rio Nalon, went up the street, and noticed again that most of the shops were open. Those that were closed didn't seem to have any water damage. In fact, it didn't look like any rain had gathered in the paved street at all. EconomyCash, however, had decided not to open. I had only gone there for some potatoes, so I turned around, went back towards my apartment, and stopped by the Indian supermarket near my house to buy potatoes and bread.

When I got back to my apartment, the garage elevator had already been repaired, and I was able to put my disability scooter in the garage and plug it into charge. I spent the rest of the day watching films and working on my website. I watched a very good film called ↗️An Unfinished Life, starring Robert Redford, Jenifer Lopez and Morgan Freeman. It was great and I will, no doubt, watch it again. After that, I watched a comedy film starring Jackie Chan called ↗️Shanghai Noon. It was like most Jackie Chan films, some moments of humour and easy to watch.

Feeling very tired, I went to bed at 22:00. I feel like an old man going to bed so early all the time, but it is helping with my recovery, and I am sleeping much better than I used to when I didn't go to bed until much later. Getting my leg and body in the best shape possible for my Australia/New Zealand trip is all I care about, so I will keep going to bed early while my health improves.

📝Sunday, 12th October.

I woke up just before 7:00, got up, got a coffee and looked outside. The weather looked okay, even if it was a cool 21ºc outside. Because of the heavy rain, the Los Alcazares Town Hall had cancelled this year's Caldero celebrations on the beach, but I could see a few people milling about in the square already. I didn't know if they were considering setting up for their celebrations, walking dogs or just more gawpers looking to see what damage they could find.

I made some porridge with blueberries, raspberries, pineapple and banana in it. I have got used to eating it cold now, after it has soaked overnight. It wouldn't soak overnight, but I did put it in the fridge to soak for a while before I ate it. I sat at my computer, did the Wordle puzzle, and surfed the Internet for a while. I got the Wordle puzzle on my fourth go today, but was disappointed not to get it on my first try. The word today was ´wound,´ and I felt that, given how much time I spend at the health clinic getting the wound on my leg looked at, it should have been quicker.

I got myself a second coffee. I decided to try it without milk, an Americano as the coffee machine says, and had a large measure. Now that I have a half-decent coffee, it should taste better than when I previously tried it with cheap supermarket coffee. The coffee I drink at home is ↗️Flor de Jamaica 1967, and it is one that many of the local cafes use. It is 100%  Arabica coffee, which originated in the Ethiopian highlands and was first cultivated in the Kaffa region. From there, it spread to Arabia and then throughout the world. Arabica coffee is considered one of the oldest and most valued coffee varieties. The coffee is the most commonly grown in the world and is known for its smooth and delicate flavour. Enough of the long-winded description; it is the coffee I like, and I can get it locally. It has a distribution centre and a shop in Murcia.

While working on my website, I realised I had an unpublished page about 🔗Monument Valley that was still waiting to be finished. I added a few details to it and then included it in the 🔗Extra Travel Information section of my website. After doing my weigh-in for the week and seeing that I had regained the weight I had lost last week, I decided to go for a walk along the beachfront. I left home and walked along the beachfront towards Los Alcazares. It was strange to see the beach so empty on a day that it would normally be packed before daybreak with people setting up for Caldero day. I tried to remember what it was like last year and then recalled that I was in 🔗Tokyo, Japan, on Caldero day. The beach was a bit washed out, and there was some mud on the promenade near the Rambla. Other than that, I could see no damage from the storm anywhere. When I got to the Rambla, it was a bit muddy, so I decided not to continue. I turned back and walked along the promenade to my apartment.

When I got home, I ate the porridge I had put in the fridge to soak earlier in the morning. Then, I continued to work on my website while I listened to Radio 2. I stopped around 14:00 and had lunch. I cooked a pork tenderloin in the air fryer and had it with some potato salad. It wasn't as nice as the one I cooked last week, and I think it was cooked for a minute or two, too long. It wasn't dry, but it wasn't as moist and beautiful as last time.

This evening I watched another Jackie Chan film, a sequel to yesterday's one, called ↗️Shanghai Knights. It was the same as all his others, but it had the added bonus of seeing Fann Wong play the part of his sister.

I put today's dirty dishes in the washing machine to clean overnight, put some porridge with raspberries and blueberries in the fridge to soak overnight and went to bed at 22:00.

Health and exercise metrics for week 41 of 2025.