Changing Places Week 145 W/C 30th November 2008

Routine and predictability sometimes irks.  We have relocated here from North London and before we knew it we had a routine and needed a diary to remind us of this weeks appointments.  A `year planner' was purchased and the plans for the coming months and up to a year ahead were diligently written in.  Tuesday this week was one of those long awaited appointments - the officials of the Town Council of Alcudia wanted to see us about installing The Light Box Bench in a number of locations.  Visual aids, presentation pack in the car and Alcudia here we come.  Just a little hiccup before we went - one of those silly accidents you have at home. A slip on a wet bathroom floor a scratch and a fall.  Take the nurofen and head for Alcudia - can't keep the dignitaries waiting.

Alcudia town was busy on their market day and it was delightful to walk around and window shop.  The Christmas lights were being erected in the square and Christmas trees needing their decorations were being installed in the market place by the city wall.  Its good to combine business with pleasure and the amble around was only marred by an increasingly stiff back.  The appointment took place in the town hall and the enthusiasm for the product was overwhelming.  We left with promises of many locations for our product and headed for lunch.

All was not right, the niggle in the back was swelling and turning a kaleidoscopic range of colours. Lunch was a non event and Alcudia medical centre then Inca Hospital was next stop.  The hospital is nearly two years old and looks very new and smart.  The waiting room for the emergency department was overflowing and the busy A&E ward was full to capacity with beds lined up against the walls in the corridor. In amongst it all there was a very efficient system going on and it only looked like chaos to the untrained eye.

My experience thereafter was fantastic, an x-ray revealed a small fracture and just to be on the safe side a CT scan to make sure that nothing was missed.  The equipment and the facilities were next generation and I marvelled at the comparison between this and the London hospitals I have known. My three hours at Inca Hospital had resulted in the use of their state of the art equipment and a full report and painkillers to take away.  The health service here is often praised by residents and tourists alike and I can quite see why - Dr Garcia Sampol and his team deserve my gratitude - thank you Inca Hospital.

Sun Search continues with its debt collecting - one day I am going to write a book on all the excuses we have for non-payment of our invoices. There are large, reputable companies here in Majorca who use every trick in the book for delaying payment.  The best this week was from a well known legal company who said they were going to take action against me for `coercion'. This because I regularly make contact with them asking them to pay a bill outstanding for months.  Companies all over Majorca have started printing on their websites and in their directories the names of Companies who do not pay.  This is in an effort to shame them into honouring their obligations.  Our bank manager has told me that he advises all companies to phone non payers every hour, on the hour of the working day to get their debts paid.  So much time is required for debt collecting - what a waste of good energy.

Redundancies and dole queues are stories we hear every day at Sun Search. This together with the natural downturn of work in the winter makes it difficult to advise those who ask us what to do.   We are currently hearing story after story of people packing up and returning to the UK.  There are always the ones that arrive full of hope to take their place but the Island changes with each group of disillusioned that leave.  This is one winter of discontent that we hope passes soon together with the gloomy weather and rain.  

The drive to Inca hospital took us past a beautiful trio of rainbows that lit the sky over the mountains. A little ray of hope perhaps in a rainy, dark landscape.  
Copyright © Sun Search Acquisitions 2008