The view from the back

Black Friday? More like mad Friday,

 Putting up the Christmas tree has always been an enjoyable occasion but one that was crammed into the hectic run up to Christmas this year was to be no different. Even with no kids and no jobs you’d think we would have all the time in the world to put up a 2m artificial tree, but no.

 Up at 6:30 to put the gas heater on then a cuppa for the lovely wife got to try and avoid bad luck! (Is black Friday still black Friday in Spain?) Then in to it, the carpet the tree the 420 lights and 400 baubles all in the many shades of red. An hour later it was done, our first Spanish Christmas tree, I remember wondering a year ago if it would seem out of place in Spain, but with the weak sun just rising over the hill side and a frost on the car it seemed quite at home (this place is cold enough to have a real tree and the needles would sweep up easy of the tiles)

 After breakfast our new best friends called round to collect our old car and sort the papers, she was off for a spit and polish then the garage to have the wheel done.

 We however were off to Ikea in Murcia, after failed attempts to buy duvets the common answer was Ikea, not sure what the locals have on their beds but its not duvets. The run up was uneventful the usual empty auto via, when we reached the outlet centre where the Ikea is I got a shock, I had allowed all my memories of traffic to drift away but they had just returned, 5 lanes and service roads , lights and islands this was more like Birmingham than Spain.

 I’m no nervous driver, but I’ve been out of the game for 6 months and the odometer only says 198km, it’s not like Almeria !!  Here the biggest worry is going round a bend and finding the road full of goats or sheep, this was more akin to the chariot race in Ben Hur . Needless to say we went round the island twice before I was able to go from turning left to pealing off up the service lane.

 Well all Ikeas are the same, aren’t they ? No not this one, 3 floors ? One way lifts but 2 way stairs ? They even had to employ multi lingual staff to direct the foot traffic and control the use to the trolleys, the wrong type of trolley ? I mean come along Gromit ! But at last we were in , time for a coffee and unwind, and another with a bun , and another best have it on its own ! Then the lovely wife reminded me that we had come to go shopping and un like some stores you have to walk round and pick your own items up here, how quaint !

 Now I don’t know how many of you are Trekkies, but this store is like the chess variant they play where you keep moving pieces from one floor to the next seemingly without any strategy, eventually we had what we needed 5 x 4.5 tog duvets for the price of one 13.5 tog duvet, we’ll triple them up with the ones we already have for our guests and when they have gone we have a pile of spares as we only use 4.5 tog duvets, the lovely wife is hot in bed generally must be the rash.

 I suggested another coffee before we left but the wife thought it was not a good idea what with the 3 I’d had and my age! Perhaps for the best, after all they are new seats

 Is it just me or are most drivers in Spain really poor at passing you on the Auto via?  At time it seems that a lorry in the near side lane is used as a good opportunity block you in and hover just on your back quarter whilst watching you indicate then whizzing past as you have to brake so as not to join the boxes of fruit or what ever. Only to slow down so you can pass them to let them have another go further down the road.

 I’m getting used to the “ask for no quarter and none shall be given “ style of driving that is found here, on that basis and a touch of telepathy I get by, however on our way back during one of these I’ll block you in incidents I missed the brake pedal and found the clutch ! with cruise set at 115km/h, stabbing the pedal a couple of times before I  figured it out and swapping one across, the fruit looked fresh but his number plate was held on with rubber bands, time for that coffee and a trip to the servicio I think.

What a fuss, once home from the car dealers I started to recall the events that took place whilst we were ordering the car, the last thing on our minds was the up coming bank holidays, being more focused on the impending arrival of 3 guests ( dad , partner and her sister ) who all needed collecting from Alicante airport in 9 days time and our now 3 wheeled wagon as not going to cut it. 

We explained to the nice young man our predicament and he , obviously not understanding completely said , yes and car any colour 3 months ! So  I had another go this time using his desk calendar to show the 12 dec was our dead line, not wanting to collect on Friday the thirteenth . So after some searching of the computer a car was sourced in Seville it will be here on Wednesday the 11 dec. great how ever said the Spanish where slow ? German technology from the peoples car makers  and Spanish friendliness seems to be a good mix. 

Arr the money ! Not planning on buying a new car we were a little shy of the total , well about €5k short not a problem I'll pay what we can and have the rest sent from the UK , on the pad arranging the transfer whilst still sat in the dealers , free wifi sweet ! 

Then the whole place shuts down for 4 days, no banks no car showroom nada . On Tuesday morning the phone rang , your money it's not here ! That's right because some one unplugged Spain again from the world of international finance, ( out of re session who they trying to fool ) I can't register the car at trafico until it's paid for , fair point . 

I'll go to the bank and get cash today? Agreed . So off we limp in our 3 wheeled wagon to the bank to see our regular cashier, by far the best dressed man in Spain must be suit wearer of the year ! After the usual pleasantries the lovely wife asked for €5k , no problem call in on Thursday ! No I need it now, sorry we don't have ? The  lovely wife leaned over the counter a little and said softly " but your a bank ?" He got a wide grin as if we had just spotted some private joke and replied " I know " 

So it was to be an electronic transfer overnight and a trip to the dealers to explain that the second biggest bank chain in Spain had no cash ! The economy is really looking up cash circulation is good :-/ 

That evening whilst telling the tail to the neighbours and bemoaning the fact that I was having to give my car away for scrap when for €200 it would be as good as new I got a surprise " I'll buy it " it turns out that our part time neighbour needed a car to go to work in the UK and will have it repaired and drive it back . So the deal was done he got a real bargain I got way more then I was expecting and the knowledge that she's still being loved. 

Wednesday slipped by with no news , starting to twitch by Thursday lunch , as they shut at 1:30 . Then a call , they can't find your address the gistoria needs you to confirm it ??? It's on the padron , yes but not on the map ! That's because it's an illegal build ! So I sent a copy of the rental agreement by e mail and then we got our number plate at 4:40 so just 20 mins to sort the insurance even in the UK that could be a challenge . I called the office and wasted 5 mins explaining what we wanted and the lady remembered me ( not sure if that's good ? ) but she came through , at double the UK price , apparently Spain is a dangerous place to drive. It might be in Madrid but by the time you get passed Lorca the AV7 is a very quiet road . 

When we went in to collect the car the sales man gave us the full tour of every switch , button and function he had obviously done this bit many times in English as he was quite good, and highly amusing using the language issue as a ice breaker, with such memorable lines as " is good ? No " after each description or whilst explaining the dash display " I turn to English , ok now I no understand but for you is good ? No "  
 
If this is his regular patter he ought to be on TV we had all on not to laugh ! Mind you we were ready for some light hearted fun it had been a stressful day and yes the lovely wife was light up like our Christmas tree. 

But that's for next time , after all the next day is Friday the thirteenth ! 

I doubt if the formula has changed , with the age of your heater it could be a dirty pilot light not warming the thermocouple enough or the erosion on the thermocouple tip has reached the point where it is still good enough to conduct electric but is short enough not to be in the flame correctly or a combination of both. A clean and a TC will put it right. 

this work should be done by some one knowledgable on these things , not sure on the part price or availability but the brico in Vera has new heaters for 59€ at the moment so might just be cheaper to replace. 

Still here , breathing and a choking . All joking aside we had a couple of scares this week !

Firstly on a particularly drab Tuesday the lovely wife and I had spent the afternoon cotted up with the heater on reading and discussing cars leading to a late lunch and a little snooze. As it was drawing dark the lovely wife started to close the shutters to help keep the heat in , whilst doing so the gas heater went off, nothing new there you can see the draughts playing on the pilot so it often goes out if you walk by or move it. But this time it would not relight , the flame would light then flare out , arr the gas has gone again , no it's a newish bottle. Then it dawned on me ! 

I asked to wife to open the patio door , are you insane ? Snapped the reply , just open the door for a minute , so the icy blast ( prob 10c , but you know what I mean ) rushed in as the €'s of heat rushed out . The door was hastily closed by the lovely wife and I was remained that I would really need to get it working again ! 

I tried the ignition and it worked perfectly , go on then she said stunned ? Well it would appear the our death box being new is fitted with a oxypilot vitiation device, a what? When the level of oxygen in the room gets below its design spec about 19% it cuts off to stop you suffocating ! 

So be warned if you have older heaters they may not be so techno . 

Whilst trying to gas ourselves we had decided to go and look at a used car, but as always nothing's easy in Almeria ! There is a distinct lack of used cars close to us, and even less when your limiting the choice by leg and head room ! Our chosen car a VW tiguan , 2011 well spec'd but in Valencia !

No prob it's only 4 hrs each way , never been to Valencia only seen it on the F1 , the lovely wife agreed we should go. ? , can we call at the ikea in Murcia on the way back their open till 10pm ? And I wonder if my makro card works here? As makros just down the road from ikea! 

Wednesday morning we set off on our tour of the med coast! Now the VW we drove down in is moy cansardo , but has been running great up to lately . The lovely wife claims it has a whining noise but I've not really head it until now.

We were going up the autovia , about an hour from home, nr Lorca , when over our talking book, ( the almond blossom society) I heard a clear scream , it was not the lovely wife telling me where the middle of the lane is ! It was more sinister than that and it was from the NS ( now OS ) front wheel , I pulled in to the service area and had a look , the hub was hot and when tugged the wheel moved followed by a dull knock ! Very different from the other side :-( 

So were 70 km into our 700 km jaunt with a shot wheel bearing.  I reluctantly sent the dealer an e-mail apologising and turned to limp home, after a couple of stops to let it cool ( when the noise got too loud ) we were nr J547 the lovely wife said what about the VW dealers in Vera ? I've been they don't have any used tiguans, let's go and ask if they can get one in ? Ok but I doubt it.

Once in the show room it starts , the bright lights dancing off the glossy paint the heady scent of the leather so kindly donated by many a steak dinner, then the aroma therapy drugs start to play on your mind, the psycotropic  mind bending drugs like those used on Jason Bourne get in to the blood,  and if the effect is slow they'll make you a coffee laced with it or take you on a test drive where the concentrations can be raised whilst demonstrating the climate control. At this point they take you in the office where it's warm and cosy, topping up your meds with more coffee, then just like GI Jane they have you read papers and brochures whilst you relax in the warm. 

Then your out in the bright light of day stood in a muddy vacant lot with a glossy folder under your arm feeling light headed or is it just lighter much lighter ! Any way something is missing and the lovely wife says I like White am glad they could get white ? What ? 

Well I'm still freezing , I don't know about you but I never expected frost in Spain just 30 min from the Mojacar coast let alone snow on the mountains visible to the north.  I must apologise to any who I have offended previously when commenting on winter fuel allowances weather they be justified or not they are  required ! 

We have took to Wearing more skins than an onion in the day , with fleeces and Gilles being the norm. Average temp in the lounge at 8 am is 14.5c this rises to mid 16c by 10am with the sun on the back ( on a good day ) we try and manage without the LPG in the day as the fumes are awkward to breath for too many hours, LOL. 

We've been getting through a 13.5kg bottle in about 6 days ( evenings) at 17.50€ a pop they add up, and even then it only takes the lounge to 19c if it's not windy out. We have found that putting the shutters down helps to keep the heat in, but also helps reduce the streaming condensation on the windows , this has lead to mould on the wall behind the sofa where the nets had becomes stuck to the wall . 

By the end of most evenings we will be wrapped up in snuggle blankets, so in away it helps to keep us together , me & the lovely wife locked in a concrete box filled with fumes under a blanket looking at car brochure's. 

We contacted our agent about getting the chimney opened so we can have a wood fire but to no avail, the owner prefers his MDF mock Georgian surround and decorative electric fire it would seem. No doubt all the rage in Essex in the 80's. 

I went down the brico depot  the other day to buy some electric heaters , picked up a couple for just 12€ each , thermostats! adjustable output the lot. Came home unpacked them and the lovely wife took the rubbish to the bins, that evening I said let's get the place warm and put on on in the bedroom and one in the lounge along with our oil filled rad and the death box, settled down to watch the box and pop the trip went , so I re set and a few mins later pop , after messing around it seems that if we have more than one on at any time plus the normal stuff it's pop and the trip goes. So that was a waste of time and money. 

What sort of electric system do they have here ? Where you can't plug 2 electric heaters in how on earth are you meant to keep warm other than gassing yourself ? Mr owner I'm close to saying this place is uninhabitable as you are aware , previous usage on the electric bill shows that no one has been here in the winter I WONDER WHY ? 

The wonderful food I mentioned in our local is still very good but now a bit dearer, after a 25% rise , one guy put it down to the winter visitors arriving " they always put it up in the winter " but it's still fine value. They now have a take out service for roast chickens and rabbit at 8€ ea. , how handy but as yet they have never had any as they only do take out if they have some left over from lunch ?? 

Got my dad n partner visiting for a week soon , their taking a detour from their annual trip to Benidorm for Christmas to see us, I'm really worried about them being warm enough he's 75 soon and a week on ice would not be good , so it may have to be another death box , as non smokers their lungs should be up to it , they can always nip to the loo to gasp at the air through the window ! 

Must put a wood burner on the wish list for our place ! 

Luego de la soleado España