12th January 2010, Marjal and it's a bit windy

Well I guess we have settled back into it and although it's pretty windy many people are out there sun bathing, no snow here mate.

(no pics as we have not been out much and there's nothing to take.)

After turning the MS inside out I cannot find the wallet I left our two Spanish SIMs in, can only imagine I took it home and left it there. So off to Carrefore and the Vodafone shop to buy another, €24 for some reason as it should have been €30, I did not argue so long as we have the 18 cents /minute feature for calling the UK (after 8 pm local time mind you). But at least when someone calls us we are not charged at all.

SWMBO used all the time that was in it to call anybody she knew because we have been cut off for 3 days, so back to shop to put more €'s in, for some reason you cannot do it using an ATM?

A few sayings to keep you interested.

A Few Zen Thoughts For Those Who Take Life Too Seriously:

Save the whales. Collect the whole set.
A day without sunshine is like, night.
On the other hand, you have different fingers.
I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.
42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
Honk if you love peace and quiet.
Remember, half the people you know are below average.
He who laughs last thinks slowest.
Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7 of your life.
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
Get a new car for your spouse. It'll be a great trade!
Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.
Always try to be modest, and be proud of it!
If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
How many of you believe in telekinesis? Raise my hand...
OK, so what's the speed of dark?
How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked
something.
When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now. (My son Adam's favourite)
Everyone has a photographic memory; Some just don't have film.
If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.
I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, "what happened?"

Thinking about some of the above I put the kettle on last night and just watched it, it boiled, so there goes another myth, I'll try running with scissors next, which reminds me.

Tricia decided to go on an, anything I touch I will break but it's not my fault, regime.

She started by pulling the blinds off one of the windows, “didn't touch, it just fell off when I cleaned the window!” Took me an hour to fix.

Then the cover plate of the “rock & roll” bed fell off, “I was only getting the brush out from under it!” 15 minutes. I actually broke our scissors and left them out to mend, only needed a new rivet, she threw them out with the rubbish, “I didn't know, nobody told me!”

Then our new phone. “Er...it's asking for a PUK?” Now for that message to appear the user must have typed in the pin code, wrongly, 3 times. “What code did you type in Pet?” “The right one silly, the one we always use”. It turns out she did use the correct numbers but not quite in the correct order. Which results in a PUK and you have to call your provider, prove who you are and then they will send (e-mail) you it. BTW if you put in the wrong PUK more than a few times the SIM gets fried, new SIM needed.

We had only had the bloody thing 5 hours! The other way is to have all the purchasing documentation at hand and as she hadn't thrown away that yet, or had she?, we were saved.

I tried SWMBO's Nintendo DS “Brain Trainer”, apparently I'm 71 years old, I didn't know it was a speed thing, just get them right. I'm now down to 48 and getting stronger all the time.

Washing day again, but with this wind, by the time you (she) hung them up they are dry and you take them down or go fetch them from the end of the camp site, where your underpants have lovingly wrapped themselves round someone's wind protector guy rope.

The West Wing is finished and we have moved on to “Prison Break”, as recommended by my ex-racketball partner Ron C. Well it's about a guy on death row for a crime he did not commit and his brother gets himself put inside (same prison by coincidence) to “break him out”. Tricia loves it, me ho hum, but it beats conversation.

Sometimes I wonder how SWMBO manages to function at all considering some of the “thought” processes she has. For instance she keeps her clothes pegs together by attaching them a piece of card about 2cm x 10cm, they came like that, she did not invent it. “I've lost my peg card!”, and then spent about an hour looking for it. “Make a new one Pet”. “How?” “By cutting a piece of card to the correct size”. About 30 minutes later she proudly produces her “new” peg card by cutting up the back of a notebook we cannot now use any more, still she's happy.
When we were leaving for our Christmas “break” the local council were clearing the river (Segura) and canals, of overgrowth and rubbish, problem is they “emptied” everything on to the cycle and foot paths, so we are effectively locked in. The only cycling is by using the busy N 332 which takes no prisoners, same goes for walking on it. Going to get fatter.
I was thinking about the MP expenses thing and it reminded me:-

FIVE SURGEONS

Five Canadian Surgeons are discussing who makes the best patients to operate on.

The first an Ontario surgeon says, "I like to see accountants on my operating table, because when you open them up, everything inside is numbered."

The second a Quebec surgeon responds, "Yeah, but you should try Electricians! Everything inside them is colour coded."

The third a B.C. surgeon says, "No, I really think librarians are the best; everything inside them is in alphabetical order."

The fourth an Alberta surgeon chimes in: "You know, I like construction workers...those guys always understand when you have a few parts left over.

But the fifth, a Newfoundland surgeon, shut them all up when he observed: "You're all wrong. Politicians are the easiest to operate on. There's no guts, no heart, no balls, no brains and no spine, no morals about expenses and the head and the ass are interchangeable.

Last update, Tricia has finally found and used the gym, considering that back home people pay £30/month for a gym/swimming pool/tennis courts etc., £30/month for BB and £60/month for electricity and we have been getting them all for free as part of our rent, it's not too bad.

Now our monthly rent has gone up to €560 and not including electricity, it's now kind of expensive so I finally fitted the Spanish gas bottle into the main system and we are now “cooking on gas”, as well as heating, water heating and freezing (fridge freezer) on gas.
Dateline 15/01/2010

Found a new route to Guardamar not using the dreaded N 332 and SWMBO found that some of the shops were having their “January Sales” . So she finally bought some cushions (2) and a large metal wall clock. Weather is now 20°C and sunny so lying around sunbathing and reading. How's the snow?

We also heard that we now have a new lodger, Richard, Derek L's son. Nice to have someone you actually know and I hope they all get along OK. At the last count it's Adam, Heather, Antonia, Olly and now Richard. I hope one of them knows how to wash up.
 
Just had king prawns in garlic butter and fresh bread, yunny, now off to the PWC.