Yesterday was a busy day. I went to Tesco in the morning - where there was good news in the whisky department. After Tesco I did a lot of work on my PC. It included making up a web page for February, and also a sort of pictorial page documenting my journey to and from Romford on Tuesday. That can be seen here. In the afternoon I "attacked" the book shelves in my back room. It was a very hard decision to make, but I threw out a load of hoarded papers that contained much useful information. After wielding a damp cloth, and a bowl of hot water with some Dettox in it, I ended up with some mostly clean books on cleaned shelves. The job is not finished, but I made enough progress to encourage me to finish the job sooner or later. My day ended with me feeling a bit sad, but it was for different reasons that I ended up having a bad night. All the details, including my improved blood glucose level can be read by clicking this LINK.

  Yesterday morning was dominated by my strange quest to see how long it might take to get from home to Romford, and how long to get home from there. After that I did a short walk to and from the pub where I  had a very nice, very warm drink with Angela.  The skittish squirrels I saw in the park suggestion the mating season is almost upon us, and, probably in my imagination, a very positive change is coming over Angela. I ended up sleeping through a lot of yesterday afternoon, and got no real work done, but it was a nice and busy day. The full version is HERE if you care to click on it.

  I am writing this very late in the evening. Today has been a busy day. Yesterday was less busy, although I did walk 2.57 miles for my daily exercise. The second half, after a very pleasant interlude in the pub with Angela, was done in icy feeling torrential rain ! I was successful in being careful enough with what I ate to get my blood glucose level back to a good figure, but maybe not to lose any weight (but at least I should have put any on). The full story, with picture, is right here.

  Not that much happened after I finished writing the 1,942 words that made up yesterday's ramblings. I seem to be writing more and more each day. The full version of yesterdays ramblings includes pictures of dinner, and how I ended up eating all the wrong things yesterday. Then there is how the book I have been reading has influenced my dreams. It also includes the good news that I got my correct drugs from the pharmacy this morning. I also speculate about what I might do today. Read all about it by clicking on the link right >HERE<.

  I was not keen on going for a walk yesterday because the weather was so grim. Plus I didn't think Angela would be in the pub on a Friday, but I sent her a text to say I was going to be in there anyway, and she quickly replied that so would she. We had another very nice hour together, and she seemed to have enjoyed it more than usual. Information was revealed that there could be a very tiny chance that we could meet tonight, but I won't be holding my breath. Yesterday was another day where my diet went completely to pieces. I can't wait for a sunny day to make it more bearable. The detailed version of this précis, plus pictures of fire engines in the grounds of Lewisham Hospital can be seen here.

  Yesterday included a few unexpected things that included the saga of my attempt to get the correct drugs from the pharmacy (that I explained yesterday). Angela sent me a selfie, and posted another selfie on social media - but a bit unexpected. I stayed at home until it was time to go out for my late Thursday afternoon drink. I had my usual three pints before heading home via the Sainsburys Local shop by Catford station. The cold night air made me feel a bit wheezy. The warmth indoors cure it very quickly. That, and stuffing myself with salads and sandwiches made me reluctant to go out to the open mic in The Catford Bridge Tavern (if last night was the correct date). I stayed in and had an early night - and ended up getting possibly over 9 hours sleep. All this reported in a long winded way, with pictures, plus some thoughts about what I'll be doing today, can be found by clicking right here >HERE<.

  Yesterday was a weird day. You might think that I explained most if it yesterday because I ended up finishing writing so late yesterday, but there was much more to say. There was what happened when I met Angela at lunchtime. What I ate, and how this morning my blood glucose level was very satisfactory, but how I have not dared to weigh myself. There are some notes on an excellent film I watched last night, and finally the continuing saga of trying, and failing to get my complete repeat prescription from the pharmacy this morning. All that, plus a few pictures, here.

    Yesterday morning started with a shopping trip to Aldi. My legs felt a bit stiff, but I felt basically OK. I can't remember what time I went out, but it was while there was still just enough misty cloud to make the sunshine slightly diffuse. By the time I had done my shopping the sky was fully blue, and the sun was blindingly bright. It was completely different to what the forecast lead me to believe the day would be like, although as I noted above, it was still very cold.

   The picture above shows just how blue the sky was at 12.40 in the afternoon, and the picture on the left shows just how cold it was at 12.47 - just 4.0° C. My new winter coat didn't feel too hot at that temperature !

   Yesterday caused a bit of a paradox. I like walking in bright sunshine. I find walking in the gloom depressing. On the other hand I don't enjoy walking in a heavy coat. On top of that I just didn't feel like walking because I was feeling slightly stiff and aching. Under different circumstances I would have forced myself to walk in the knowledge that the walk itself often cured the reasons not to walk.

  In some ways yesterday turned out to be quite productive in both physical and metaphysical ways - assuming you can call experimenting with operating systems on an old laptop metaphysical. All the details, and why this is being published so late in the day are partly explained in the long version of this that can be found by clicking here.

 


  I am happy to say that I didn't feel nearly so bad yesterday as compared to the weekend. I managed to get out for a walk (which was annoyingly 0.01 miles short of a nice round 2 miles). I am also very happy to say that I met Angela in the pub at lunchtime. Apart from doing a bit of laundry I did very little for the rest of the day, although I did spent some time playing with my old, recently updated, laptop - interesting, but maybe not ultimately useful. It was extremely cold in the night, but I was warm enough under my duvet - and to my surprise that didn't end up with me jarring my chest. It is probably too soon to be definite, but I am wondering if my recent flare up is one the wane. As seems to be case for this year, the full version of yesterday, and this mornings events can be read, and pictures looked at, here.

   I continued to feel rough yesterday, and a long walk did not appeal to me. I did end up going out, but only to Tesco. That ended up with eating stuff which was naughty, but nice. I didn't expect it, but I had a fairly productive day. As well as shopping I did some laundry by hand. I made a significant difference to my back room in my long term project to rehabilitate back to a dining room. Finally I managed to update my old laptop from Linux Mint 16 (I think) to Linux Mint 19. Bluetooth audio streaming now works, but the inbuilt WiFi adapter no longer works. The full story can be read on it's very own page for the day by clicking here.

   I just had to get out into the sunshine yesterday even though I didn't really feel like it. I went for a short walk, and suffered a fair amount of discomfort for it. My three old "war wounds" decided to have a flare up - they had been threatening to for several days. I ended up doing just a 1.23 mile walk before giving up, and going home to put my feet up. So severe was my situation that it effected my eating ! The full details of why my day was not a good day, and why maybe today may not be a good day, can be read in the full version of today's blog right here.

    The view through my back bedroom at 8.45am. In the foreground steam from next doors central heating boiler swirls across the picture like fog. All the shed roofs are covered in frost while the rising sun lights up the back of the houses on the left with a golden glow.

  Yesterday was a day spent trying to work out if my cold was really over. It wasn't completely over, and in the evening I was distracted from the cold by another malady - something like Dysentery ! During the late morning I took my new coat for a walk to the shops. It was comfortable at first, but as expected, it ended up like wearing a portable sauna. The other thing of note is that I washed another pair of jeans yesterday. Washing one pair was exceptional, but two in two consecutive days must be an all time record. The long version of all this waffle can be found here.

  The highlights of yesterday were that my cold was sometimes worse, sometimes better, and mostly sideways. After a good and bad night it does feel I have passed the peak this morning. I managed two achievements yesterday. One was to go shopping in Tesco without feel that bad. I didn't cough much, and my nose behaved itself until I was fumbling to get my key in the door. Once indoors I could drop my bags and give my nose a big blow before it dripped onto my shirt. The other achievement was to wash a pair of jeans. I am at the stage where, with one or two exceptions, I don't have to fear those jeans shrinking a bit when washed. I did have one anti-achievement. I bought some reduced price, and for Catford Tesco it was a big reduction, wraps from the sandwich shelves. I bought three packs. Ate them all for lunch, and ruined my blood glucose control. The long winded version of this précis, and other stuff, can be read here.

   There have already been some sunny periods this morning, and with luck more will follow. It is a shame that the afternoon may only be 8° C apart from a very brief excursion to 9° C. At least it should be a dry day. Tomorrow is currently forecast to be lightly overcast, and with the temperature reaching 9° C for most of the afternoon.
  My cold worsened yesterday, and I ended up eating and drinking all sorts of stuff that raised my blood glucose higher than is desirable, although it seems my pancreas, after resting a lot, is possibly a bit more efficient to fight these (hopefully) brief peaks of excess consumption. The worst thing about my health was my cough going from just an occasional tickle to something that badly disturbed my sleep. All the details, or at least as many as I can remember in the full archive that can be found here.

   Today marks a change in the weather. This morning started off almost warm, but wet. As the day progresses the cloud will apparently thing out, and the temperature will drop from 11° C to just 5° C by midnight. The latest revision changes things a bit. The afternoon temperature may be a very slightly improved 9° C, but the window in the clouds that may allow some sunny periods seems to have moved, and will now start an hour later - which means the second hour will be after sunset, and so is not relevant, although there may be possibilities for a colourful sunset. Tomorrow is forecast to start and end very cold, although probably a degree or two above where frost might form. The afternoon may see 8 or 9° C, and sunny intervals are possible through daylight hours.
  The summary of yesterday is quite simple. I walked to and from the hospital for my appointment with the dietician. It went extremely well, and I was praised for my blood glucose control, and also my weight loss. I thought the latter was happening rather too slow for my liking, but the nurse thought it impressive. Soon after getting home from the hospital I went out again to walk to the pub in the hope of seeing Angela. I later learnt that she was off sick. On the way home, after drinking just one pint of Guinness, I began to feel ill myself. It seems I have come down with some sort of bug - similar, but somehow a bit different to the common cold.

 There some times today when there is a credible chance of rain, but the forecast says it will be dry. Unlike yesterday it will be fairly mild with temperatures of 11° C in the afternoon, but under what seems likely to be a dark grey sky, the temperature will probably hardly be noticed. According to the latest revision there is now a 75% chance of rain at 9am, but apparently no rain will fall ! The rain is being reserved for tomorrow morning - which will apparently start at 11° C, but it may quickly cool to just 8° C by the afternoon. It seems a trifle optimistic, but there could be a glimpse of sunshine before sunset tomorrow.
  There is very little to tell about yesterday. I stayed in doing very little - at least very little of a physical nature, possibly nothing, but I did spend a lot of time going through my old diary entries picking out any records of past walks to add to my spreadsheet of walking achievements. Back in 2011 I was doing lots of walks during or after work. I have already told how I finally managed to order my new 3 year Senior Railcard yesterday. What I did not expect so soon was an email !

 So far, the forecast for today has been almost right. The change from heavy cloud to light cloud seems to have happened a bit early, and while the cloud cover is still 100% it is now slightly lighter than gloomy. Once again a rain free day is forecast. I hope that it more reliable than the forecast for yesterday. It is probably going to be quite a cool day with the temperature no higher than 8° C - and the latest revision says it won't hit 8° C until midnight ! Most of the day will be only 7° C. Tomorrow is currently forecast to be mostly heavily overcast, but dry. It may also be a bit warmer with much of the day predicted to be 11° C.
  Today marks the start of a new format for these pages - assuming the plan I am making up as I continue to write works. The basic idea is to try and keep the size of the monthly pages (i.e. January) down to a more sane size. To do this I have to try and only copy a précis of today's events to the monthly page, and then provide a link to a copy of each daily page with the full, long winded version.

 ..and so, a précis of what's been happening. Starting with yesterday. The highlights of yesterday include eating, drinking and sleeping. My morning was spent doing housework, and while I was putting some rubbish in the wheelie bin I was spotted by my neighbour Michael. He suggested we go for a drink in the afternoon - which we did. In the evening I decided I would have a takeaway for my dinner. I had been drinking, and so the obvious thing was a kebab...or two, large kebabs. Booze and a full stomach made me feel sleepy, and I was in bed, and asleep by 10pm.

  This morning I had a major triumph. I managed to renew my 3 year Senior Railcard. I had to do it by a long phone call, but the order has been made, and hopefully it will arrive in the post before my current railcard expires on the 9th. I am not sure what I'll be doing for the rest of today.