Early long distance call

I'm now waking up just before sunrise. Good. As I was saying Morning Prayer sitting in bed, the St John's Gospel reading was interrupted by a WhatsApp video call from Martin, staying in a guest room by the beach in Pondicherry, South India. Such a surprise! He had just received news of an investigation into his un-necessary surgical treatment, the result of mis-diagnosis by an expert. He now has independent confirmation of what he learned before. With this, a significant compensation claim can be made. Chris is visiting his parents in Canada and just gone to bed, so Martin chose to share the news with me. "Funny" he said "When I received this I wanted to call my mother. I'm sharing the news with you, as you're one of the few people who still remember her well." She's been dead ten years. I met Martin and ''Our Mam' fifty four years ago. When Chris returns from Canada, he's be going to the opera with Clare, in my place.

I re-worked my Ash Wednesday sermon after breakfast, and freed up some more space in Google photos by download seven to ten year  year old albums of relatively little interest. Then I walked down the hill to Mercadona for some additional groceries, I was unable to carry yesterday. My right ankle was unusually painful, perhaps because I'd been sitting for several hours. Only coming back did I discover a remedy for the problem, gently turning the foot slightly inwards, anticlockwise, and letting the displaced joint slip back into alignment. When I slipped on the stairs in December, the foot was wrenched the the opposite direction clockwise. It's no longer bruised and painful but there's a muscular weakness giving one sets of ankle bones a tendency to mis-align, and hurt. Perhaps now in understand what's happening I can work on strengthening the ankle and leg muscles in a different way.

For lunch, I cooked an experimental chicken madras curry, using a spice mix bought in the municipal Mercado del Carmen. I wasn't sure how much to use. Happily I got it just right. First time lucky. Then some more writing, before driving to La Cala de Mijas to visit Peter and Linda for a couple of hours. It was sunset when I set out to return from there, but first I needed to re-fuel the car, as the fuel gauge had dropped. I wasn't sure how much further it would go, probably another 90km. But you can't be sure as the first time user of a different vehicle make. I found a garage conveniently nearby and cheap, and put €20 worth of fuel in to keep me going, as I didn't have much more cash on me to spend. 

I had difficulty getting the locking fuel cap off and on again after refuelling so my hands stank of diesel. Another time I will use disposable gloves! Then another challenge, driving back to Fuengirola on a busy road in the dark. Fortunately speed limits are 80kph, and drivers well behaved, so it wasn't so bad, but it was the first time I've driven in the dark abroad, for four years.

After supper and the Archers, a chat with Clare on the phone, then an hour's fairly brisk walking, as I felt the need for exercise, have spend a fair amount of time not moving much today. Then I read for a while before turning in.