I have almost nothing to say about what I did yesterday because I did so little. I passed much of the time reading either a book or from my PC screen. In fact I seemed to spend a stupid amount of time on my PC. Under such circumstances it was hard to keep my mind off food. With my day starting with a rather high blood glucose reading it was important I tried to keep my mind off food. I will admit I only partially succeeded.

  One thing I ate that I didn't think I should have was the rest of the "Stax" - triangular Doritoes in a tube like Pringles. Being corn based, and not potato based, seems to make them a bit safer for my blood glucose, but I am not entirely sure why.  There was maybe a quarter of a tube left when I finished off the tube yesterday. I did manage a sensible lunch of two cans of soup.

  When it came round to dinner time I looked in the fridge and then looked at the use by dates of two lots of fish that were in there. Both needed to be used very soon, and I ended up having a starter of some grilled salmon (grilled enough for the skin to become nice and crunchy), and a main course of cod in batter. The two together were a bit more than ideal, and the battered cod could have been a meal in itself. The salmon was not a big portion, and I would probably have had a heap of peas with it or something if it had been the main part of my dinner.

  The worst part of yesterday was when Jodie phoned me up in the early evening. It started as a call about her parents. They are both very old and infirm. Yesterday she found out that her dad is in a very bad way, and is not responding to antibiotics. He is in hospital, and the prognosis is not good. That is sad, but the implications for Jodie are worse than him dying. She does not like him, and just dying wouldn't bother her in itself. The complicated thing is that with her mum in a nursing home, and racking up huge bills, Jodie have to sell the house to pay those bills.

  Selling a house is complicated enough - so complicated that I wouldn't even know how to start, but I am aware there are loads of rules and regulations involved. There will also be the hassle of arranging to dispose of the body. I very much doubt that there will be a funeral, but even getting man to dig a hole to dump the body in seems to cost a huge amount. I had a leaflet sent to me recently about a cheap, no frills cremation service, and that was over £2000. That is a hell of a price to pay for a gallon of petrol !

  Although I feel impotent to help Jodie in any meaningful ways, I do want to provide any support I can, but then there is a problem that involves what can only be called emotional blackmail. The core of the problem is that Jodie has altered priorities. She is demand that I have her parents washing machine to replace my washing machine. My current washing machine was also from a dead persons house, and failed the first time I used it. That was maybe 5 years ago. It was supposed to be a replacement for my washing machine that broke down (possibly just needing new brushes in the main motor) 10 to 15 years ago.

  Over that period of time I have become very adept at hand washing everything. In some respects I actually enjoy it. It feels like a great achievement to hand wash a load of clothes, but more than that, it is a sort of exercise. It warms me up on a cold day, and definitely seems to sort out out some of my chest pains by pulling my rib cage back into the correct shape (at least that is sort of how it feels). I have no desire for another washing machine, and no desire for all the trauma of replacing the washing machine - having to re-arrange my kitchen to get the old one out, and the new one in.

  Jodie is essentially demanding I fit her parents old washing machine so she can come over to do her washing here. I have not seen it for 20 (?) years, but she reports her kitchen is so cluttered that she cannot replace her broken microwave oven, or use her normal oven and hob, and that there is no way her old washing machine could ever be got out of her flat, and another one put in to replace it. Apparently no one can even get to the light in her kitchen to replace the burnt out light bulb ! She relies on others, including me, to cook some of her meals in our microwave ovens, and the next thing is relying on me having a washing machine that I don't want.

  I could almost report that I had a great night sleep last night, but sometime between 2 and 3am I woke up, and stayed awake for over half an hour, possibly even close to a full hour, fretting over all the problems that Jodie's dads imminent death is going to cause on so many levels. I feel guilty about resisting getting another washing machine. I shall have to try and have a chat with the two of Jodie's friends who will be charged with transporting the washing machine, and fitting it in the kitchen, plus disposing of the old one.

  I eventually got back to sleep, and ended up sleeping fairly soundly - soundly enough that I slept on well past my normal waking up time of 7am. It think it was just past 8.30am when I finally woke up, and got up. I was quite apprehensive about checking my blood glucose this morning. On top of my big dinner, and eating the last of the "Stax", triangular Doritoes, I also had two nice bottles of 6% Leffe Blonde beer. Fortunately my blood glucose had dropped to a more reasonable 8.9mmol/l. That is higher than I like, but not that much higher than my typical monthly average.

  There was a plan for Jodie to come over today after missing last Sunday's beer session, but she is busy - possibly with "family" business, but probably a gig. That leaves me free to do anything today - except I don't think I am free. I think my new photographers back pack may be delivered by Amazon this afternoon. It arrived at the Dartford depot in the small hours of this morning, and usually that means it will leave there between 11am and midday. It probably wouldn't arrive here any earlier than 2pm, and more usually something like 5pm. That means I could go for a short walk today, and if the sun comes out I may well do so.