Choice removal enforced in effect

I slept well, and am no worse for wear. The pollen count isn't high by any count, so something specific and localised is causing a strong allergic reaction. At the end of the morning we drove to La Cala de Mijas, for Peter and Linda's 30th anniversary party of settling on the Costa del Sol, and we gave Di a lift there. There were about a dozen guests all told. Clare and Ann swam in their pool, with Peter's great grandchildren. I wonder what they thought of that!

Mid afternoon we returned and dropped off Clare at Casa de la Esperanza for a rest, while I took Ann for a drive up to Mijas Pueblo. We parked on a lower level of a ten story car park set into the hillside. There was no public information on display about parking charges in any language, though I didn't think it would be much. At the entrance gate our number plate was scanned and a ticket issued with the number printed on it. Just like the car park system in Sabanillas encountered during my summer locum in Estepona.

We walked up the hill into the village, visited the Virgen de la Peña shrine, went up to the bull ring and into the church square, marvelled at the views, and then, tired by the effort, headed downhill back to the car. When we reached the payment machine I discovered it was con tarjeta only, and was told by the car park attendant that there was a coin plus card machine on the tenth storey. 

I was determined to get rid of the small change acquired in yesterday's display of passive aggression at the restaurant on the Palmeria  de Sorpresas in Malaga, so I decided to go up to the tenth floor. The lift was so slow or else stuck in transit so I had to climb the stairs to reach the machine and get rid of a euro's worth of change. It took me ages, as I wasted time waiting for the non existent lift, and Ann phoned me from the car to check on me, worried my ankle had given me trouble. 

Having paid, the barrier recognises the car's approach, the ticket is no longer needed. It's a smart system, but hardly user friendly when there is no explanation or advice available in an almost deserted large building. Smart but impersonal and dystopian. People serve the machine that takes away not just your money, but your choices, putting you at a disadvantage, punishing if you wish to use old fashioned cash. What if I'd not been able to climb those stairs to pay cash?

Between us we cooked supper, and afterwards I uploaded photos to share with Ann. I had an email from the church warden in Costa del Sol West, announcing the licensing of their new chaplain at last, telling about his licensing service in Sotogrande, and thanking me along with other locums, for the support given during the past two years of vacancy. That was a small kindness I've not experienced before. A human note on which to end this day