Ramblings in Retirement

September 2007

Well, September got of to a good start; I got fined for not stopping at a stop sign! Normally I would try to blag my way through but when it is a Guadia Civil Trafico cop, no chance. As penny was in the car I was somewhat heartened when she exclaimed that I had stopped; but who is going to argue with an armed cop? I got a 150€ (£100) fine which he took pains to explain would be reduced to 105€ (£71.50) if I paid within 14 days. I am unclear as to whether points will be deducted given that I am on a UK licence. Bad start to the month but…………at least the coffers of the trafico department are topped up.

Over the years, reading the weekly English newspaper, I noticed adverts for a hotel in a town called Bocairent, which is some 90km up in the mountains. I had conjured up an image of a typical Spanish town with this nice hotel and one Sunday in September we went for a drive to see the place for ourselves. The drive was interesting and very scenic until we arrived in Bocairent, which turned out to be quite a large town with a substantial amount of light industrial units. Indeed, the place was in the main quite modern with multi-storey flats and such. The “Old Town” was picturesque but on the whole disappointing. The hotel (la Estacion) was very nice but I could think of no reason for visiting on an overnight stay (probably caters for the Reps and suppliers to the light industry). Nevertheless, a nice day out.

In the second week, Rudolf (the man who is responsible for the actual lift installation) and two engineers started on fitting the steelwork and hydraulics. Whilst smoking incessantly, they welded, bolted and did a variety of things, which we mortals will remain ignorant of. And finally,

we have “LIFT OFF” (or rather Lift up and down). Sorry no photo this month as it is difficult to see it but Ill try to get some video for next months blog.…………….Now, how many bags of sand and cement can it take?!!

We have decided to replace our ancient (5 year old) TV with a larger flat LCD but rather than have it stand on the current TV trolley, we wanted a nice piece of furniture instead. After searching every furniture store within a 20km radius, we found something suitable and had it delivered. No sooner was it unpacked I got to work with the jigsaw and cut out the back panel (needed to do this to allow an airflow around the Sky box and DVD/Video machine). We then bought a Samsung 32” LCD TV with white surround, which looks much better than black or silver against the white wall. See for yourselves.

We have arranged for a short break at the end of the month, Penny is going back to England to see the family and grandchildren I am off to Italy to see my friend Julio (mentioned him in the July issue). I got a Ryanair flight from Valencia to Milan (Bergamo airport) for €20 and then I will fly from Milan to Prestwick for 1 cent plus €17.49 tax!!! I thought that was good so when I booked our return flights to Spain I was again delighted with the charge of 1p (plus tax) so the total for Penny and I to fly back was £49…………..Rollocks to global warming this is heart-warming.

I have finished my “summertime” video project; this was something I had asked the Video Editing Group of the computer club to do over the summer. I had been so busy helping others every time I went to the club I thought I’d never get my own contribution done. I have been delighted with the response from the members and have already received a dozen entries (it’s not a competition). We intend to show the entries to an audience of the club members on November 1^st. I’ll post my entry in next month’s “Blog”

Penny continues to enjoy her art classes and produces some very nice paintings; I want to hang them in the lift shaft for all to see on arrival! Penny has recently taken up Spanish Language lessons and seems to enjoy them, she is now proficient in alphabet and numbers and moving on to grammar!!. Her September paintings are below:

Well this month the Ramblings are early as we are setting off on our travels so until next month..adios