Wow ! The latest revision to the forecast changes a few things. The sunny spells for 11am have now been replaced by an 80% chance of heavy rain, and midday and 1pm a 40% chance of light rain. The sunshine that is happening now as I type this should not be happening according to the latest revision. Maybe it is going to be one of those days when the forecast is not even worth the paper it is printed on (so to speak). The temperature forecast is usually right, and that predicts a brief high of 10° C, but 9° C is more representative for the middle of the day. Tomorrow is currently looking a bit like yesterday, a mix of sunny spells and showers. I suspect that is how today might actually turn out.

  I did two very important things yesterday morning, and they were things I really dislike doing. The first was to pay my credit card bill. I find logging on to my bank to be really repellent, and actually phoning a bank is even worse, but that is what I had to do as well. To my great surprise the latter turned out far, far better than I ever imagined it would be.

  I had to phone the Tesco Savings Bank to activate a new bank card. In the past it has been activated by using the new PIN number that is sent separately. I assumed that I would get bogged down trying to answer security questions that I couldn't answer. The reason I would not be able to answer then became apparent once I got through to a "member of staff". After asking a few things I could answer she moved on to security question, and exclaimed "you've never set up any security stuff for your account".

  Under old banking regulations the new layers of security were not needed, and so none were set up. That is why I couldn't answer any security questions, and why I couldn't remember any of them - there were none. It sounded like this was very common for older accounts like mine, and they have a procedure for it. I can now expect a temporary special PIN number sent to me, and I can use that to identify myself to set up this new layer of security. I have to admit it turned out to be a painless phone call in the end.

  There was one of potential reason to do a bit of banking, but I decided to ignore it. EDF energy have little imagination compared to The London Electricity Board. Until EDF took over I paid a fixed standing order that was adjusted once a year. The amount I paid each month was too little in winter, and too much in summer. At the end of the year it would all balance out except for a small error, and that error was the trigger to adjust my monthly standing order for the forthcoming year.

  Everybody was happy, but EDF demand their last penny instantly ! If I don't pay them a certain amount by the end of the month they will send the Spanish Inquisition round to visit me. I was quite pissed off about the last bill that arrived a week ago, and I ignored it until I felt up to logging on to my bank, and sending extra money. It is lucky that I stopped to read the bill a bit more carefully yesterday. The amount the were demanding, on pain of death, was actually just £2 more than the payment which went out last week (and would have been deposited in their account just as they were printing my bill). If they get stroppy about the £2 owed (which they will because it is computer and that would demand even a single penny) I will have to gently remind them that my gas bill is currently £75 in credit !

  The main even yesterday was another Thursday boozing session. It was a good one, and despite not drinking any more than usual (and possibly less because of a slightly late start), and the beers not being unusually strong, I seemed to get quite drunk. I can't even put the blame on an empty stomach because I ate a few naughty things before drinking. Maybe it was something else - maybe tied in to the fact that I had an unusually explosive visit to the toilet when I got up this morning.
  These are three of yesterday's beers. They are from the Bavarian "And Union Brewery" - https://andunion.co.uk/pages/our-beer. Two strange things - It seems odd that the name begins "And". I assume that in Germany it takes on a different meaning. The other oddity is that they have identical English and German web sites, although the German one presents an English language version once it detects you are from an English speaking country. There is a slight worry that the dot co dot uk website could be a fake designed to harvest credit card numbers, but it looks OK on the face of it.

  Among the other beers were a few more from the Samuel Smiths brewery. One of then was a wheat beer, and it was surprisingly nice. Some wheat beers can be almost soapy and unpleasant, but Sam Smiths seem to have found a good recipe. It is rare for an English brewery to brew wheat beer. Another beer of note was a smoked beer from Germany. The last smoked beer I had was brewed in Scotland (I think), and it was rather nasty. The smoke was of burning tyres, and the smoke was used to smoke the barley. In the German version rocks are heated up in or over a wood fire, and the hot rocks are thrown into the brewing beer - possibly at the wort stage to get it up to temperature for the yeast to start working. It is a method that imparts a much nicer, delicate, wood smoke flavour to the beer.

  Once again I have to mention that each bottle or can was split two ways between myself and Jodie. It allows us to taste more different beers, but on the negative side it doesn't allow us to savour a good beer properly. That is a negative thing for me, but Jodie is addicted to a website called Untapped (https://untappd.com/), and gets her kicks by recording all the beers she has been drinking. She even checks to see what she has drunk to avoid drinking the same beer twice ! That is a bit loopy in my opinion.

  Prior to drinking I gorged myself on a large packet of smoked cheddar and bacon flavoured crisps. I knew it would do my blood glucose no good, but I hoped it would give some buffering against the booze. I am not sure it did. I hadn't got anywhere near the wobbly stage, but I was "very happy" when I had my special dinner - sausage stew. It was a variant on the experiment I mentioned yesterday. It was precooked sausages cut into one inch lengths, and cooked a bit more in stock with mushrooms, and tenderstem broccoli. It was quite nice.

  I could feel a hangover coming on soon after eating my dinner (just after 7pm - later than I usually have dinner). I went to bed fairly early with the intention of reading for a while, but it wasn't long before I turned the light out, and tried to go to sleep. I felt quite uncomfortable in bed. Feeling bloated was one trouble, and this morning I would learn more about it. Eventually I got to sleep, but I don't think I slept that well.

  I woke up many times in the night...or at least I think I did. It all seems a bit vague now. I am sure I had a dream that seemed to go on for ages. As usual it was lots of dreams that seemed to be one continuous story, except it wasn't a continuous story. There were jumps in it, and sometimes the people with me changed.

  The long story of the dream was trying to get to work at some unknown place. Most of it took place on a long bus ride. The first I can remember is waiting for a bus that would take me further into London where I would have to change to a different bus. Apart from a vague "somewhere over the River Thames" I had no idea where I was supposed to go, and no idea of what bus routes I needed.

  I waited at one bus stop, and then decided there were more buses from another bus stop. When I finally got on the bus I was greeted by a woman who I vaguely recognised, but couldn't place. She was moaning that she had to wait an hour for the bus, and that she was going to be late for work. It was only as she was getting off the bus that I realised she was a secretary at some place I once went for a training course, and that I could have asked her where I was supposed to be working.

  At some point I was suddenly joined by a friend who had no idea where we were going, and didn't even recognise a bridge we were going over even though (only in my dream world) it was very famous. He mysteriously vanished, and I was joined by another friend, or to be more precise there was another friend instantly there. He was far more sensible, and said we might as well get off the bus and have a beer. It seemed that he was heading for the same place as me, and he had no idea where it was.

  It wasn't so much that we went into a pub, but more the case that the bus morphed into a pub ! I found myself alone at that point, but I went to the bar to order a beer. I decided on two halves when I saw they had a beer that was 42% alcohol. That was insanely strong, and maybe 3 times as strong as anything any maniacs have tried to brew back in the real world, but I had to try it. I couldn't decide what to have for the other half pint, and it seemed like there was no other beer actually available. It seemed a fair time to wake up and avoid the troubles of a pub with no beer except an insane one !

  I felt as if it might be prudent to get to the toilet without delay when I got up this morning. I sort of knew something was afoot, but I was surprised at the explosive outburst that happened. I had to go back for a part two 10 minutes later. I'm not sure what to blame it on. It wasn't really like food poisoning. That usually makes itself well known, but this was very mild until I was comfortable sat down on the toilet. Only then were the hounds of hell unleashed...or something like that.

  I don't think I can blame it on the beer I drank, and it would be unlikely that a packet of crisps could cause what happened. It was undoubtedly responsible for feeling bloated before going to bed, and the reason why I felt uncomfortable in bed last night, although at the time it felt more like a hangover sort of uncomfortableness. I think it is nearly all over now, and is probably best forgotten except for one possible thing.

  The beer had me peeing a lot in the night, but I also would have lost some fluid as part of my explosive outburst (and the after shocks 10 minutes later). It is possible that I was dehydrated enough to affect my blood glucose level this morning. I knew it was going to go up after eating those crisps, and at least one of the beers tasted a little sweet. It is a wonder it didn't go up a lot more than the 9.4mmol/l I measured when I got up this morning. It makes me wonder what it might have been if I were less dehydrated.

  I did have an idea that maybe I would take a blood glucose reading again after I had rehydrated myself, but before I could do that I was overcome by a strong urge to have a nibble. The hangover was making me feel hungry. I rejected several things I could have nibbled on, and settled for some salted mixed nuts. Their effect on my blood glucose is minimal even if things like their fat content and calories are very bad.

  Even after being up for a couple of hours, I still feel a bit creaky, and I still have a hangover. It is not a painful hangover, but still a hangover. Everything, even breathing and blinking, feel like hard work, or too much bother. I can't see myself doing much this morning. This afternoon there is a tint chance I could drag myself out for a walk, but it depends a lot on the weather. About 10 to 20 minutes ago we had some heavy rain, and of course the forecast has been revised again to accommodate early rain. It now seems that rain, either light or heavy, could continue until 1pm. It will be cloudy after that, but maybe dry, but still a bit cool. It seems the chance of going for a walk has almost dropped off the list of  possibilities. I don't think I have a clue what I will do today.