Location: Los Alcazáres, Murcia, Spain.
Summary: A personal Week 31 journal from Alan in Los Alcázares, covering coastal swims, new furniture, health checks, summer heat, noisy nights, quiet coffees, and the small everyday moments that shaped life on the Mar Menor.
Monday, 27th July
I slept well last night and woke up before my alarm went off at around 07:00. I got up and got ready to go out to pay for a sofa I was buying and to make sure it was collected. I sat at my computer checked for messages before heading out just after 08:00.
I got to the home in Los Narejos and was welcomed in, I quickly rechecked the sofa and paid for it. After a quick chat, I went back outside in case the removal people were having trouble finding the place. I knew Google sent me to the wrong place last week. They lorry soon arrived, and the driver told me, just as had happened to me last week, Google had sent them to the wrong place. They had had to use a good old-fashioned map to find the address. After they started picking the sofa up, I set off for home on my disability scooter.
I had only been in for a couple of minutes when the lorry turned up and my new sofa was being put in my apartment. When I saw it in place I was very pleased with it. I did the Wordle puzzle and as I finished, Lawrence messaged me to say he would pick me up to go for coffee just after 10:00. When he did pick me up we went to Los Narejos for coffee and sat with Steve, Bev, and Theresa. The service was diabolical today. Everybody had to wait for their drinks and after about 40 minutes mine hadn't arrived, and I asked for another reminding the staff that I still hadn't had the first one. My coffee quickly arrived with an apology and a humorous excuse saying it was Columbian coffee and had come a long way.
When we had all finished, Lawrence took me home via Mercadona so I could get something for my lunch and dinner. Lawrence dropped me off at home and I had the chicken wings straight away and put the other bits in my fridge. After I had eaten, I wrapped a blanket-throw over the new sofa to protect it and moved a couple of further bits of furniture into their final position. I was a bit puffed out and worn out. I closed all the doors and windows and put the air conditioning on to cool the apartment down. I messaged Debbie to say I couldn't go to her BBQ tomorrow afternoon. It would be too hot for me to be sitting outside for hours and after passing out last week at the concert I want to take it easy for a few days.
I lay down on the sofa to see how comfortable it was. It was very comfortable and within minutes I was fast asleep and didn't wake up for over an hour. I felt better for a short sleep and then continued working on my website.
This evening I worked on my website, chatted with Debbie on WhatsApp and I listened to the music that was playing in the square outside for people to dance to. I like the Monday night dance music its old-fashioned dance music with proper singers and nothing too loud. The best part being that it shuts off at midnight and the people that attend and dance, don't create a noise when they leave and go home.
Tuesday, 28th July
I woke up around 07:00. I ached a bit but forced myself to get up and went down to the Mar Menor for a swim. I swam out to the rocks and back a couple of times, but while I was looking at the fish I started heading in the wrong direction and had to correct my course.
As I was swimming back to the shore on my last leg, I saw a large green eel swimming and feeding in the seaweed on the bottom of the sea. I have occasionally seen moray eels hiding in the rocks that I swim out to. The eel today didn't look like a Moray eel and was feeding on the weed. It was nowhere near any rocks and only a few feet from the shoreline. I have tried to identify it online but so far, haven't found out what type of eel it was. I did work out that it wasn't a European eel because of its colour and size. It was a green colour with different shades of green and had the body of a Moray but not the head that I am used to seeing on a Moray. I left it swimming and feeding in the weed, hopefully I will see it again, I will have to take a camera next time I go swimming and get a photo of it.
When I got home my neighbour Liz had sent me a message asking for her front door key back to give to her carer. I thought I had given it back to her last year and checked my safe for it. The only key I could find didn't look like a door key, but I took it down to her. She wasn't in, so I messaged her telling her I thought I'd given it back when her son was here last year and that I had one key in my safe that it might be. I would bring it down later to try in her door.
I continued to work on my website and had some overnight oats for breakfast. I waited in all day for my delivery from Amazon, stopping work on my website at around 13:00 when I had lunch. I ate the salmon, rice and vegetable meal and then continued working on my website and also transferred some files from Google backup to my server. While I watched the lunchtime news, I saw a report about the drug crimes going on in Ecuador, and it made me think about the safety of the holiday I was thinking of doing next year. I will have to do some more research to ensure its safe before I book it. I did look at an alternate holiday, a12–14 Day Kruger + Cape Town + Garden Route Itinerary in Africa.
The Amazon delivery eventually arrived at around 17:30. I put the things away and then cooked my dinner, turkey fillets with salad. Once I had eaten my meal I took a smelly rubbish bin to the bin in the street. On the way I stopped at the apartment of my neighbour Liz with the only spare key I could find. I told her again that I thought I'd already returned it when her son was here, and she admitted I had. Why she couldn't tell me when she remembered I don't know. I went back to my apartment and settled down in front of the TV for the night.
Wednesday, 29th July
I woke just before my alarm went off at 07:00. I got up and got ready to go to the health clinic for my regular INR test. I took a slow walk to the health clinic and arrived just as it opened at 08:00. I had to wait a while before having my blood test and was disappointed to see that my INR reading was very low. I had forgotten to take my tablets on Sunday, so this could have been the reason and I wondered if I had missed them at all after collapsing last week. For a few days after my memory wasn't as good as it normally is. I fully expect to find my dose is put up and the time for my next test is closer than it has been for a while.
I walked home and on the way home I noticed that the chiringuito next to the apartment was being put back up. I hoped it was different people running it and that it wouldn't be the kids who seemed to be running it last year as they were so noisy, left the place dirty every night and always woke me up when they left in the early hours of the morning. It also seemed to attract plenty of kids who would be there all night after it closed, smoking drinking and using the tables and chairs that the chiringuito never tidied away. The rubbish the kids left behind would always be blown over the sand and into the sea, so I hope it is people who will at least clear up, pack away the tables and chairs and not employ rude kids.
It was cooler today but still in the low 30 °C. Lawrence messaged me, and we arranged to meet at Buenavista for coffee. Just before 10:00, I walked along to the restaurant and ordered my usual coffee and tostada. Just as I finished, Lawrence arrived, so I ordered another coffee. We sat chatting and admiring the dental floss bikinis on the ladies on the beach. When we had our fill of dental floss bikinis we left. Lawrence went to La Zona for a fried English breakfast. While he was eating I went to Mercadona and did some shopping. When I had done my shopping and Lawrence had eaten breakfast he dropped me off at home.
I decided tomorrow I would try to sort out my login details for the health clinic website and change wrong information that it has on it. I can't see my results for tests either and wanted that to be fixed. I messaged Sean and arranged to meet him there tomorrow morning to help me with translation.
I had intended to do some work on my balcony but because it was so hot, and I had walked further than I wanted to in the heat earlier I did very little else all day. I took some recyclable rubbish, lots of old cardboard boxes to the paper recycle bin. While I was out and close to the Chino, I bought a few items for my kitchen, just cheap tat, a brush to help wash pots out and a couple of postcards. I also bought a couple of squeeze bottles that I could put homemade sauces in and store in the fridge.
This evening I surfed the Internet looking at different holidays for next year, I saw a few that I liked and will suggest them to my friend and see what she wants to do before I book anything. I stayed up until around 23:00 before I went to bed.
Thursday, 30th July
I got up at around 06:45 and got ready to go to the health clinic. I left around 07:40 and met Sean outside. We were lucky enough to be the only people in the queue not having a blood test and one of the receptionists saw us straight away. Sean explained to the lady, in Spanish, that some of my online details were incorrect and that I couldn't see some of my details, although I could see some of them.
The receptionist tried to get my INR results, but she was unable to see them and questioned me about my history of blood tests. I told her that I was here yesterday, and she found a printed set of my results but couldn't see them on the computer screen. Talking with Sean in Spanish she asked for more of my details and I gave her my health card and TIE card. We were asked to sit down while she looked into it more, and we sat and waited. About 10–15 minutes later she came out to see us. She explained that for some reason I was in the system twice with different health codes. She had taken copies of all my details and was going to get the problem sorted out for me. She told me that it would probably take a few days for it to be sorted out. I guess the IT people would have to combine the two Alan Morris in the system into one.
When we left, I went to pick up my Amazon parcel at the drop-off centre in Economy Cash. When I arrived at about 08:40 the store was still shut, so I sat down at Café Parking for a coffee and tostada. I ate breakfast and by the time I had finished the store had opened, and I was able to go inside to collect my delivery. I went straight home with my parcel, a pack of 10 lockable wire chains I could use as keychains. Once home I transferred my keys to one of the chains. They had arrived just in time as my current key fob had broken in my pocket.
For dinner, I had a salmon, rice and vegetable bowl. This afternoon I decided to go for a short walk. I decided to walk to Harry's Bar on Rio Nalon have a bottle of water, read my Kindle and then walk home. It didn't turn out how I planned. I got about halfway before the heat and humidity began slowing me down and rather than keep going I cut my walk short and returned home again. In hindsight, leaving for a walk at around 14:00 with the sun at its fullest, wasn't the best idea I had had.
In the afternoon I spent more time looking at holidays before having a siesta. The evening was spent vegetating in my chair and trying to keep cool, and I eventually went to bed around 23:00.
Friday, 31st July
I woke around 07:00 and checked my messages before going down to the Mar Menor for a swim. After not seeing many jellyfish at all whilst swimming recently I saw a few more today. I counted around a dozen as I swam for about 40 minutes, going out to the rocks and back a couple of times.
I hadn't been back in my apartment long when Lawrence messaged me to see if I wanted to meet for coffee at Buenavista. I said I would meet him there and a short time later I walked to the restaurant/bar and ordered my breakfast. I was about halfway through breakfast before Lawrence eventually arrived. We sat chatting until about 11:15 and when he left for his Spanish lesson I went home.
I had fully intended to work on my balcony when I got in, but the heat was already too much for me to be on my balcony. Its great having a South-Facing balcony that gets the sun all day, but the heat gets too hot for comfort. My balcony has walls either side of it acting as wind breaks so it is like being in an oven. I decided instead to close all the doors and windows, put the air conditioning on and cool down before doing anything else. I went back inside and worked on my website while I cooled down.
I wasn't sure what was going to be on in the square outside today but had seen people assembling something when I had been swimming. Lawrence told me that his friend Rosa was going there this evening for some Salsa dancing and as I sat working on my computer I could hear the sporadic sounds of music from outside. At around 21:00 I got a message from Debbie and Yvonne telling me they were outside listening to the music, so I went down to meet them.
I eventually found Debbie and Yvonne and sat listening to the music and while the ladies danced I admired the shapes and moves of all the young Spanish dancers. By 00:15 I had had enough. The heat, even at gone midnight was uncomfortable, and I went back to my air-conditioned apartment. I had no chance of getting to sleep, the music got louder and louder and went on until 02:15. I dropped off to sleep around 03:00.
Saturday, 1st August
I woke up at just after 08:00. I got a glass of water and took my tablets before sitting down to check my messages. I did the Wordle puzzle, showered and got ready to meet Debbie for breakfast at Buenavista. I walked along at just after 09:00, sat down and ordered a coffee. While I waited for Debbie, I read my Kindle. Debbie arrived at about 09:30 after she had dropped her dog at the vets to have a haircut.
We sat chatting and both had tostada with tomato and tuna for breakfast. We stayed there until around 11:30 and when Debbie went to collect her dog at the vets I went home where I sat reading my Kindle most of the day. For lunch, I had some chicken wings and for dinner this evening I had a milk shake with banana, blueberry, Greek yoghurt, protein powder and chia seeds.
This evening I tried to watch the Girona vs Arsenal friendly match on TV, but there were problems with the streaming over it, and it kept breaking up and switching to different channels. I was able to at least follow along with the score and Arsenal won the game 1-4 with mainly players that would expect to be reserves or in the under 18 squad. Reading the report after the game, it sounded as if they all performed well and bodes well for the upcoming season and for Arsenals future. I went to bed just after the game finished at around 22:00.
Sunday, 2nd August
I was woken up by noisy kids at 02:30 and again at 04:00. At around 05:00 I was woken by a neighbour who was up early probably getting ready to go to work but making a lot of noise. At 05:15 I gave up trying to get back to sleep. I had a pain in my toes, most likely a bit of gout, and couldn't sleep. I got up and put some washing in the washing machine, set the dishwasher running, and sat down to work on my website.
As the sun started to come up just after 07:00, I got ready to go for a swim in the Mar Menor and at 07:30 I took my towel down to the beach and went swimming. I swam out to the rocks and back 3 times which took me an hour. After my swim I went back to my apartment and had a shower before going to Buenavista for coffee and a tuna/tomato tostada. I ate my breakfast and was reading my Kindle when Lawrence arrived. We sat chatting and then left. Lawrence took me to Aldi because I wanted to get some cherries.
The big toe on my left foot has started to hurt a lot. It is gout and the only way I know to get rid of it is to eat cherries. For some reason, it seems to work for me. Unfortunately, the store had no cherries. It didn't stop me buying some salads and a few other bits, but it wasn't what I wanted. Lawrence drove me home, I put my shopping away and had some lunch before falling asleep in front of the TV for an hour.
When I woke up, I took some rubbish to the bins and went to another store to look for cherries. The DIA store near my apartment didn't have any cherries either, and I went home. When I got to the apartment I went in via the garage entrance, put my disability scooter on charge and then went back to my apartment.
I watched TV in the afternoon and some old films in the evening before going to bed around 22:00
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