It is about -1° C at the moment, but this afternoon could end up at +1° C !  Better news is that there could be some sunny spells this morning, and then, after a hour or so of dense cloud, there could even be an hour of sunshine followed by some sunny spells. Of course this is the forecast at 5am this morning, and by 8am everything could be different. Tomorrow morning is shown as starting very cold, -3° C, but it should see the start of things beggining to warm up. By Monday we could see daytime temperatures going above 10° C.

   I've started writing very early this morning because I got up extra early. My intention was to get up at 6am to give me plenty of time to get ready to go to Lewisham Hospital for my Covid jab sometime between 8 and 9am (and hopefully much nearer 8am). I managed to get to sleep before 9pm last night, and I seemed to sleep OK until 5am when I just ran out of sleep. Since then I have had a good shower, checked my temperature (about usual) and checked my blood glucose (terribly high). Now I'll see how much I can write before I have to leave to walk to the hospital. I'll then resume writing when I get back.

  Yesterday was a good day, or as good as good gets in these weird times. Two things of not happened in the morning. One was the delivery of the third bottle of whiskey I had ordered. It was delivered by an ordinary courier company, and there was no messing about checking my age or ID. The driver just left it on my doorstep, and watched from the road until I opened the door. He then just got back into his van and drove off.

  The other thing that happened was very slightly amusing to me. It was a telephone call from the nurse at my GP's surgery. She asked if I would like to book a Covis jab. I don't know why it was such a delight, but it was a delight to say "no thanks" and to tell her I was booked in at the hospital in the morning (this morning) for my first jab.

  The afternoon was another boozing session with Jodie. Jodie didn't check the train times and assumed the train she wanted was running, but it seems possible that service does not run when the schools aren't open. She arrived later than intended, and at my earlier request, she left earlier than she has done lately. We still managed to get through a good selection of beer. One big difference was that almost all the beers were not very strong. One was just a mere 3.8% !

  I has precooked my dinner, and so once Jodie had left I was able to have dinner at the proper time (in my little universe) 6pm. I watched some Star Trek episodes, and after the second had finished at 8pm I brushed my teeth, and went to bed. I read for about half an hour, and then tried to go to sleep. It was another of those all too frequent times these days, when I didn't think I would ever get to sleep - and then I was fast asleep, and only realised when I woke up for a pee.

 My sleep seemed fairly good until 5am when, as I wrote above, I seemed to run out of sleep. That gave me oodles of time to do a bit of this and that, and generally get ready to go for what was a very chilly walk through the park to the hospital. I arrived at the Education Centre building, that had been temporary re-purposed as the vaccination centre, at about 7.50am, or 10 minutes early. As hoped that made me one of the first to be seen, but it still meant about a 20 minute wait until I was called.

  As soon as I arrived at the building I had to put my face mask on. As expected, it was not a nice experience. I was breathing very heavily. Contrary to what is commonly said, breathing was still easy-ish, but the hot air I was exhaling was spread over my lower face, and it felt like holding my head in a jet of steam. I am sure that for at least a few seconds that steamy air was condensing on my cold eyeballs.

  After sitting quietly I cooled down a bit, and it wasn't that bad, but once I was called for my jab, and I had to start talking to answer a pile of questions, the mask kept slipping off my nose, and also seemed to slip sideways as well. It was all very unpleasant. One other thing which I knew would happen. Walking through the sub zero air outside made my eyes water, and that made my nose run. Even once I was inside the warm building I had to pull my mask down several times to blow my nose.

  I had expected the vaccination to be like getting the 'flu jab - in and out in 2 minutes (plus any wait before going in). The Covid jab, being a bit experimental, involved a fair list of questions about possible allergies, medication, and stuff. Then there was the a description of more likely side effects (there is a more complete list in the leaflet I was given). All this took some time, probably only half the 20 minutes that it felt like, and during the middle was the jab itself. I was happy that the nurse had found a sharp needle, and there were just milliseconds of mild discomfort as it went in.

  So now I have my first vaccination shot, but I will be getting the second on the 23rd April. Curiously enough I believe Angela gets her second shot in April, but having had her first a week or two ago, I expect hers will be nearer the beginning of April, and there will be no chance that we could arrive there on the say day.

  Now I have the rest of the day to do something. Just before resuming writing I had some breakfast of hot soup to warm up after the ice cold walk through the park. It has left me feeing a bit sleepy. Maybe I didn't get all the sleep I needed last night despite waking earlier than I wanted to do. I think I will lay on my bed and read for a bit, and if my eyes start to close I won't fight it. It is sunny at the moment, when the original forecast said it wouldn't be. I note the latest revision says there could be a few hours of sunny spells this afternoon. Maybe that might tempt me out for a walk, or maybe not. I'll see when the time comes.