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I know this is getting boring but today we climb the Mediterranean Steps in 11m 25s which is 80 seconds faster than last
week which was already a record speed for us. Quite how and why we are getting such great reductions in time I have no
idea but it is the case.
At the top the cloud is streaming over the rock like smoke - an extraordinary sight ( see clip on
YouTube
)
The driftwood is now drying out in the bath - makes a change from coal, I suppose - we are from the North of England after all. One slight problem is that some of the wood is bleached on only one side but maybe that can be turned into an artistic asset in due course.
In my pocket I find that I have four very shiny 50p pieces. Why are they so shiny? This is not straightforward.
I mentioned before that Gibraltar has it's own bank notes featuring a very
tarty looking
Queen Elizabeth II. If you look more closely you will realise that about half of the coins in circulation are also from
Gibraltar too (the other half are British). My guess is that at least a thousand tourists land in the Rock every
week. When they leave they do so with a few coins in their pockets of which at least half will be Gibraltarian. Since
the population is only about 30,000 this means that the entire Gibraltar currency disappears every year. Hence the
need to keep minting brand new - shiny - coins.
Simple really.
Today we are due to complete the purchase of our flat which means I have to go to the bank to sign bits of paper. The
weather is vile - cold and blowing a gale.
Later I collect a printer cartridge for my HP1600 which was on order. I am staggered to find that a single cartridge
costs £77.89. Since there are four cartridges this means that the cost of replacing all the cartridges comes to over £300.
The printer only cost £100 (but comes with only half full cartridges) so it is cheaper to just buy a new printer.
Later we pick up the keys to our new flat. Everything is fine but we cannot make the refrigerator work. It turns out that
there is a switch hidden at the back of an adjoining drawer. Very tricky.
According to the Daily Telegraph, couples who share a bottle of wine in the evening have a higher than average chance of
getting liver disease. As my girlfriend points out, we won't have that problem as she usually drinks most of the bottle by
herself.
As we now live right next to the Rock Hotel, we pop in later on for a bite to eat - this time I make sure I have my
share of the wine as well as drinking both complimentary glasses of sherry. Liver failure beckons.
We now have a panoramic view of the cable car - they are still busy replacing the cables.
My shower only dispenses water out of some of the holes - the rest appear to be blocked. So, I unscrew the shower head
but it is far heavier than I had expected and it slips out of my hands and crashes to the floor where it chips the shower
tray. I run my fingers over the chip and cut my finger tip. My girlfriend gets some plaster and wraps it round the end
of my finger. "Cut the end off" I say. Fortunately she realises that I mean the plaster.
I then start a massive hike round the water and electric providers in the baking heat. Eventually everything is sorted out -
I hope.
Later I unblock all the holes in the shower head with a tiny screwdriver and put it back. Surprisingly, it works.
In the evening a group of us go bowling - we are all pretty terrible although not as bad a Barack Obama who only scored 37 points which is almost impossibly bad.
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