How Was Your Week?

What a week! I am happy because I did manage to tick off a few major tasks from my To-Do List: Book an MRI Scan, restart Portuguese Lessons, take my new car for a drive and buy another mouse to use with my laptop.

Appointment Challenge

My main goal for this week was to book an open MRI scan with GoOpenMRI. (there was no way I could manage a skull scan inside a closed machine). GoOpenMRI is a private facility, and I’ve been trying to book since 13th December. I originally completed their appointment request form on their website. Waited. No reply. I rang numerous times, and each time, the woman who answered the phone, upon hearing an English voice, put the phone down. I asked Mr. Piglet to try. He tried twice. Same treatment. I sent two emails (in Portuguese) to their contact email address. No reply. I was now beginning to wonder if this company actually existed or, worse, they were racist. Yes, I know I should be able to speak Portuguese fluently by now, but I am not alone. Thousands of foreigners (Dutch, German, Swedish, etc.) live in Portugal, where English is a common language, and it is a private clinic, not public.

Finally, in desperation, I went to my doctor’s surgery and begged a favour from the receptionists to ring on my behalf. They tried several times. No reply. I waited. They tried again and again. Still no reply. Considering the telephone number is the only number available for their five clinics across Portugal, we were all surprised. The receptionist kindly told me to go home rather than wait and that they would keep trying and call me when they had made an appointment. HOW KIND!

Eventually, they got through, and an appointment was made for Friday. YaY! My appointment went well; the receptionist and technician in Faro both spoke English and were extremely kind and helpful.

A Mouse is Like a Pair of Shoes

Or to me it is. When you suffer with arthritis in your hands the shape of the mouse is important so rather than order another mouse online I went to Radio Popular so I could try before I buy. We looked at the boxes of ‘mouses’ and they were sealed with security tape so the boxes couldn’t be opened. Sigh.

I found a young assistant who shrugged when I told him that buying a mouse was like buying shoes and I wanted to position my hand on it first. Not possible. I explained about arthritis and eventually, after a humph… huff and a puff…he agreed to open a box. Perfect. How hard was that?

Coffee With a View

Mr Piglet has been nagging me to use my new car, but after driving my Zippy (Fiat 500c), I find it way too big, and I can’t park the piggin’ thing. Yes, I know I have to get over myself, and it is just a matter of familiarising myself with all the gadgets, etc., so I have to man up… as the saying goes. With this in mind, I drove to the beach and up to the cliffs to have coffee and a walk.

The view was spectacular, as usual, and the walk invigorating. I even spotted several wildflowers, which I couldn’t resist stopping to photograph.

Portuguese Lessons

After my experience trying to book an MRI scan with a woman who had even less patience than a gnat, I was more determined than ever to continue with Portuguese lessons. After a trial lesson, I enrolled for one-on-one online lessons with Carlos, who immediately pinpointed my lack of verbal communication skills–if I couldn’t pronounce the words how was I going to hear them? So, to begin with, we will focus on vowel sounds, accents, stressed syllables, etc. etc. and go right back to basics. My lessons start on Tuesday.

Example

Onwards …

On a less positive note, I broke my New Year’s resolution to quit alcohol for a month and succumbed to a glass of wine. I also decided to quit writing my next novel until my mind was in the right space. AND, I almost binged on chocolate and cake left over from Christmas. I said almost. Thank goodness for The Wellness Reimagined Link Up, which starts on Monday.

Co-hosts:

• Debbie Harris from Deb’s World
• Donna Connolly from Retirement Reflections
• Jennifer Jones from The Retirement Phase
• Joanne Tracey from And Anyways
• Sue Loncaric from Women Living Well After 50

There is no way I am going to fail.

How was your week? Did you manage to achieve your goals?

Post added to AnythingGoes Linkup