I forgot to give a little praise to Easyjet in my first missive. When Pam and I flew out to Benidorm in January we had a brilliant captain and he was also on my flight out here last week. I don't want to spoil things for you but if the captain comes out of the cockpit before take-off, listen to him and it will be worth every second of your time! I also had one of the same stewadrs on my flight as before and, with very little prompting, he remembered me as well. He even took the trouble to come and talk to me to wish me well as the plane began to descend into Alicante airport.
For those who didn't see my Facebook post yesterday, I had my first crisis. The lead on my mobile phone charger broke so I had a dead battery with no way to charge it. I got out early this morning to try and get a new lead so I recharge the phone in the radio studio but Benidorm isn't really into mornings so I had to wait until I had finished work to get the lead. Then came the real kick in the teeth. The man in the shop showed me that I could have used another charger lead as it would fit the phone socket and work even though it was a different size and shape! Apparently the design has now been changed so newer phones can't do this but at least I know I have a backup should my or the wife's phone lead go loopy.
The radio show was a nightmare today. For some strange reason the computer decided to shut down in the middle of a song. Total silence. It threw me completely and, after making quick announcement, I dived for the magic book which told me what to do. I didn't quite get it right as the show for the following presenters was put on auto-pilot but at least I got throgh my show and the guy after me knew how to sort everything correctly. I had a few other funnies with the equipment during the show but I won't bore you with the technical stuff.
I started promoting my first sponsor for the show today and have told the listeners that I'll be at the sponsor's bar this evening so it will be interesting to see how many people come to meet me.
I was told about a karaoke host job for a couple of nights a week but the venue is way out of town. I could get a taxi there but the chances of getting one back at silly o'clock after I finish work are likely to be very slim at the best. As I don't fancy the walk of an hour back to town, I think I'll give this one a miss. I'm sure something will come up soon. There is a regular meeting of one of the Benidorm Facebook groups that I belong to tomorrow night so something might come up there. Think I'll make sure I have some magic tricks on me - just in case.
The karaoke try-out went well. A few technical issues at the start but otherwise everybody had a good time. I was shattered yesterday morning though as it has been a long time since I did a 9pm to 3am shift! I managed about 4 hours sleep before I had to go and meet the legal people to sort out my papers so I can work officially and got to the studio about 30 minutes late but they were expecting this and had set up the auto-pilot for the first hour anyway.
I'm glad I am using the services of a "gastor" as they don't make it easy for foreigners to work in Spain. All the forms are in Spanish for a start. I had to go to the police station, get the forms, fill them in, go to the bank and pay the administration fee and then go back to the police station with proof I had paid before they would look at my forms. Two minutes later and it was all over - well I've got to wait a week as they are busy but I didn't need to do anything more until I get the paperwork back anyway. I say "I" but it should be "WE" as I was accompanied by a lovely lady who works for my gastor and she guided me through the entire process. A new political party has just been elected here that are more foreigner-friendly so let's hope they make substantial changes in the system to make life easier for everybody.
By the way, Spanish banks are a nightmare! The queue was about 6 or 7 people in front of me and the speed of the cashier would make a snail look supersonic! Lack of job security seems to have had a massive effect on the bank staff.
On the nice side, I got take out by my boss yesterday. He had some things to do in and around town so he offered to let me ride shotgun and get a tour of the area. He even bought me lunch at a brilliant beach-side bar. The picture I posted on Facebook does not do the view justice and, unless you go there, you could never get a feel for the completely relaxed atmosphere of that area. If I could drive, I would move there in a breath but it's too far away for me to commute with public transport - especially if I don't finish work until 3am or whatever.
Right, that's all for now as I need to get ready to meet my adoring fans!
Adios
For those who didn't see my Facebook post yesterday, I had my first crisis. The lead on my mobile phone charger broke so I had a dead battery with no way to charge it. I got out early this morning to try and get a new lead so I recharge the phone in the radio studio but Benidorm isn't really into mornings so I had to wait until I had finished work to get the lead. Then came the real kick in the teeth. The man in the shop showed me that I could have used another charger lead as it would fit the phone socket and work even though it was a different size and shape! Apparently the design has now been changed so newer phones can't do this but at least I know I have a backup should my or the wife's phone lead go loopy.
The radio show was a nightmare today. For some strange reason the computer decided to shut down in the middle of a song. Total silence. It threw me completely and, after making quick announcement, I dived for the magic book which told me what to do. I didn't quite get it right as the show for the following presenters was put on auto-pilot but at least I got throgh my show and the guy after me knew how to sort everything correctly. I had a few other funnies with the equipment during the show but I won't bore you with the technical stuff.
I started promoting my first sponsor for the show today and have told the listeners that I'll be at the sponsor's bar this evening so it will be interesting to see how many people come to meet me.
I was told about a karaoke host job for a couple of nights a week but the venue is way out of town. I could get a taxi there but the chances of getting one back at silly o'clock after I finish work are likely to be very slim at the best. As I don't fancy the walk of an hour back to town, I think I'll give this one a miss. I'm sure something will come up soon. There is a regular meeting of one of the Benidorm Facebook groups that I belong to tomorrow night so something might come up there. Think I'll make sure I have some magic tricks on me - just in case.
The karaoke try-out went well. A few technical issues at the start but otherwise everybody had a good time. I was shattered yesterday morning though as it has been a long time since I did a 9pm to 3am shift! I managed about 4 hours sleep before I had to go and meet the legal people to sort out my papers so I can work officially and got to the studio about 30 minutes late but they were expecting this and had set up the auto-pilot for the first hour anyway.
I'm glad I am using the services of a "gastor" as they don't make it easy for foreigners to work in Spain. All the forms are in Spanish for a start. I had to go to the police station, get the forms, fill them in, go to the bank and pay the administration fee and then go back to the police station with proof I had paid before they would look at my forms. Two minutes later and it was all over - well I've got to wait a week as they are busy but I didn't need to do anything more until I get the paperwork back anyway. I say "I" but it should be "WE" as I was accompanied by a lovely lady who works for my gastor and she guided me through the entire process. A new political party has just been elected here that are more foreigner-friendly so let's hope they make substantial changes in the system to make life easier for everybody.
By the way, Spanish banks are a nightmare! The queue was about 6 or 7 people in front of me and the speed of the cashier would make a snail look supersonic! Lack of job security seems to have had a massive effect on the bank staff.
On the nice side, I got take out by my boss yesterday. He had some things to do in and around town so he offered to let me ride shotgun and get a tour of the area. He even bought me lunch at a brilliant beach-side bar. The picture I posted on Facebook does not do the view justice and, unless you go there, you could never get a feel for the completely relaxed atmosphere of that area. If I could drive, I would move there in a breath but it's too far away for me to commute with public transport - especially if I don't finish work until 3am or whatever.
Right, that's all for now as I need to get ready to meet my adoring fans!
Adios
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