MANILVA START OF A HELLUVA WEEK.

MONDAY/TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY 9th/10th/11th JULY 2012.

Well Monday started out just like any other Monday in Sunny Manilva but ended up being a “ Helluva “ day ! We walked around to the pool and checked out the times etc.It is looking very impressive and was full of laughing children ; it turns out that various children’s groups have it booked from Monday to Friday up to 3-00pm and then it is free up to about 7-30pm and on Saturday’s and Sunday’s but at the time in the late afternoon it is the hottest time of the day and there is no shade – so we will see. As we set off we could see and smell some smoke and as we came back along Calle Mar we could see and hear the helicopters overhead but did not realize that it was so close to home ! The fire was on the side of the road up from Sabinillas and just past the corner after Mano and Anna’s house ; it had been started ‘ Allegedly ’either by somebody burning or cutting a cable in his back garden – it was not over a large area but it burnt very ferociously for a short while. The problem was where it was – it was right next to and around the main high-tension electricity cables as you can see in the pictures below; the good news was where it was situated ie. 100m.from the Fire Station,50m.from the Police Station,50m. from the Manilva TV Station and the same for the council chambers !! This meant that the Mayor, Antonia was out supervising, the Chief of Police,Paco was controlling the comings and goings,The Fire Chief was co-ordinating the helicopters and Fire Engine were on site in a minute – all of which was filmed and broadcast live on Manilva TV. !! They even hi-jacked the local street cleaning water truck ! But this was not all as the fire was situated below the main electricity sub-station which is next to the water pumping plant – so the water went off and then the electricity in the village and then the phone system went down and there were no IT connections ! Oh Dear as they say !! They came back on a little later but the phone and IT system did not so we had no contact with the out side world as we had no TV as well. I could not get on-line and our landline phone was dead and the Samsung was also not working; we had a lonely night at home listening to music and reading after our supper of ‘ Chicken Schnitzels ’ with square chips and a fried Egg on top of mine and salad with Brenda’s.

Tuesday morning the village was getting back to normal ; everywhere was covered in black embers including on the roof terrace and the cars. I rang our new IT/Landline/ Mobile provider “ Jazztel ”and reported our problems, the response was very good, they said that they would have an engineer on the job and things would be back to normal in six hours; two hours later they rang on the landline, it was fixed and the IT router lit up ! Result ! I told them that I was still having problems getting back on-line and so they said an engineer would be with us between 6-00/8-00pm – he rang at 7-00pm and said he would be with us at 8-00pm - he was ! He fitted a new router, sorted out both PCs and then got the Samsung Mobile up and working; excellent service and all for 1-euros per month extra on the contract when Mano arranged it !! Unbelievable !!! As this was all going on the new 32” Panasonic HD TV arrived – it has just been tuned in this afternoon in time for today’s Tour de France stage. Yesterday was a rest day for the riders ; on Monday’s time trial stage from Arc et Senans to Besancon over 41.5kms. Bradley Wiggins strengthened his grip on the yellow jersey with a stunning win which increased his lead over Cadel Evans to 1min and 35 seconds – the other great news was that his team mate Chris Froome was second in the time trial and so moved up to third in the general classification – he would be second now but for a puncture on stage 1 that cost him a minute ! It is unbelievable to have two Brits in the top three in the Tour! For supper we had Pork Cutlets with Lyonnaise Potatoes with Cabbage and Carrots and then settled down to our last night without TV.

This morning after freshening ourselves up we shot across to the hospital on the far side of Marbella,it know takes less time thanks to the new tunnel, to see the Consultant for the results of my X-Rays and tests; the news was good, in fact very good as the very small stone in my right Kidney does not require any treatment – leave well alone was his opion as all the tests are positive and my Kidneys are working as they should, I’ am going back in December for updates on the X-Rays and have some more Blood and Prostrate tests as an ongoing check up on a six monthly bases. Great news and a relief ! This afternoon I was able to watch the Tour de France stage 10 – from Macon ( Another one of our favorites ) to Bellagarde over 194kms – the first stage in the Alps – the last climb of the day was over the ‘ Col du Grand Colombier Bradley Wiggins comfortably retained his lead of the Tour as the Frenchman Thomas Voeckler won the stage – see the pictures above. Tonight we are having ‘ Albondegas ’in my now famous Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti and then I ‘am going to have a play with my new toy – the TV !



Thought for the Day;



Success is not counted by how high you have climbed but by how many people you brought with you.



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