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Wednesday 1st
April 2020
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08:31 BST
Yesterday still felt very cool despite
there being a mix of sunshine and sunny spells.
The morning and evening were particularly cold,
but the afternoon, where the temperature rose to
10° C for a few hours, was merely cool.
Today started with a
thick frost that is now only melting under the
clear blue sky and sunshine. The latest
revision to the forecast says the sky should
stay clear, with non stop sunshine, until
11am. After that there should be a few hours
of sunny intervals, until a veil of clouds
turns the sky grey. For all that sunshine the
afternoon temperature may only reach 9° C, but
the afternoon should stay dry. At the moment
the prediction is that tomorrow could get
almost warm with an afternoon temperature of
13° C, but it will come at the expense of grey
skies, and no sunshine at all. There will be a
very small (8%) chance of a shower sometime in
the afternoon. It seems we have to wait until
Sunday for a run of good weather.
I started yesterday not knowing quite how I
felt. This is not unusual, and could be said to be
very normal now. On the other hand to say I didn't
have a clue how I felt was not strictly true. I
did have a sort of unquantifiable feeling that
maybe I was feeling better, as in not so ill. The
best indicator for this, although it took some
time to realise it, was that I became a lot less
sensitive to cold. For instance, the day before
yesterday, spending any time in the kitchen was
painful. It felt like many muscles were going
stiff and contracting. The weirdest thing was that
it felt very shivery, and yet I didn't seem to
shiver. All that happened without apparently
showing a fever. Yesterday the kitchen was
probably no warmer, and being in there was just
merely cool feeling.
There were two other things that were
better yesterday. The hay fever-like itchiness in
my nose seemed to have become ignorable much of
the time. I can't remember when it might have been
noticeable or not there yesterday when I think
about it today. It seems hard to remember a
negative. Another thing that was almost not there
was the feeling, but strangely not always actual,
wheeziness. I particularly noticed that had
changed when I went up the stairs while chewing on
a chunk of cheese. I was able to keep chewing, and
do all my breathing through my nose. Normally I
would be taking in a little extra air through my
mouth at the top of the stairs (but only a tiny
extra - I would be a long way from gasping).
I had contemplated going to buy more from a
shop yesterday, but in the end I decided I needn't
do that until today (and maybe tomorrow). I still
have quite sufficient food to feed me, although
not always in the variety I prefer. For instance
my lunch was stewed steak with broccoli. It was
pleasant, and quite healthy, but less enjoyable
because I felt like I wanted something else. I
didn't know what that else could be. It was case
of using what I had in a logical way - for
instance using the broccoli before it started to
deteriorate.
I did allow myself one treat....well a sort
of treat, yesterday. I thought I had better try
and find the back of my small freezer to see if I
had any fish fingers hidden at the back. There
were none, but there were two packs of "Ice
Popsicles" - alcoholic ice popsicles !
The trouble with these popsicles are that
they contain a lot of sugar, and it is best if I
use them really sparingly - maybe just one a week.
In consequence they were not forgotten, but
conveniently ignored. Yesterday I decided to treat
myself to one - a Prosecco and Peach flavoured one
as pictured on the left. After being in the
freezer for possibly 18 months they are
deteriorating. Not actually going off, but they
contents are separating into different layers.
I have three more Prosecco based popsicles,
and I think I have a box of 4 gin based popsicles
(I didn't open the box to check if one or more had
not been used already) to use up one day. There
are two problems with this. The first is that they
are not that enjoyable because of the missing
ingredient - hot summer sun - and the second is
all that sugar. Yesterday turned out to be a day
where it was very unwanted.
My social isolation continued yesterday. I
have had no word from Angela for a few days now,
and I didn't even hear from Patricia. I did sent
Patricia an audio message with what limited news I
could think of, but I didn't get a reply. The
lockdown in Argentina, where Patricia is, is being
very strictly enforced by the police, and it
appears that even leaving the home for exercise is
forbidden. She does have a very big garden (it is
in a very rural area), but faced with the same
view day after day, and nothing happening, it is
hard to think of things to say.
I did hear from my friend Lee
yesterday - another long rambling phone call. He
thinks he has definitely caught a dose of
coronavirus. He lives with his elderly parents -
both very high risk people by age and infirmities.
His answer is to confine himself in his bedroom -
except when he is staying at some mysterious
friends place - friend who is not his official
girlfriend ! He doesn't actually sound very ill,
but maybe that is because he tells me he now
regularly baths in Dettol !
Last night I carried out my "threat" to
treat myself to a takeaway. For health reasons it
had to be a shish kebab - grilled meat with salad
- but I still had a yearning for fish that fish
fingers would have satisfied if only I had been
able to buy any. The kebab restaurant was one that
had probably started life as a chip shop, and they
still sold fish and chips - proper chips - not
"fries". I could not resist ordering cod and chips
(as well as kebabs for later). It was about 6pm
when I placed my order, and the delivery time was
estimated to be 7pm. I was rather pleased that
they still offered free delivery, and their prices
had not increased. I did note that many places
have increased their delivery charge a bit, and
possibly increased their prices, but I didn't
check their menus to confirm this.
It was actually 6.50pm when my delivery
arrived. My cod was huge, and my small portion of
chips would have fed an army. The cod was
delicious, as were the chips until it got to the
point that I tried to force more down when I
became satiated. I finished all the fish apart
from some small bits among the chips, but I left a
lot of chips. I threw them onto the garden after I
had eaten enough. This morning there is not a
single chip or bit of cod left. I suspect a fox
may have had a nice dinner in the night.
Predictably enough, those chips, once the
enzymes in my digestive system did their business,
caused a huge spike in my blood glucose level.
Having that popsicle earlier on just made things
worse. That sugar spike may have been the cause of
another night where my pillow got soaked in sweat.
I can't offer any reason, but I don't think it was
a fever this time. This morning all my indicators,
including my weight, were good except for my blood
glucose. That hit 10.5mmol/l - well into the
danger zone. I am going to have to do something
about that today. I need to fast for most of the
day, and I need to do some physical work. It
doesn't feel like a good day to do a walk around
the park, although that would be the simplest way
to burn off a bit of energy. Maybe I will, or
maybe I'll choose the more productive option of
doing some work in the garden. The trouble with
the garden is that in the cold and damp I tend to
end up with aching muscles.
During the course of writing this I took
some time to reply to an email from my sister.
Like many, she and her husband have been taking
this enforced leisure time to do some home
improvement. Out of all possibilities for
calamities during this pandemic, their one is
running low on paint. I can tell my sister is from
the same stock as me - it is best summed up by the
cliché - "keep calm, and carry on". It could also
be written "if it happens, it happens, but until
then nothing changes". I would add my own personal
feeling about these things - things that are
different are interesting. It made going through
my quad heart bypass good entertainment - a point
of view that most can't believe, but it probably
speeded up my recovery a great deal according to
one of my doctors. Well speeded it up until I got
cocky and damaged the repair/healing of my rib
cage in some unknown way.
It is now getting quite late in the
morning, and I think the thing I'll do next is to
have a nice shower. After that I think I may do
what little laundry I have. It is surprising
how few clothes I get through when not going out
or seeing anyone. What happens after that is
anyone's guess, but I have a definite plan for
tonight. I shall separate all the meat from the
salad in my kebabs, and give the meat a zapping in
the microwave before combining it with the salad
again. It is not going to be perfect, but it
should be quite sufficient to thoroughly enjoy
kebab for dinner !
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