Today we return to sunny spells. As to how long they last is one of life's big mysteries. The latest revision to the forecast says they do not start until 11am, but the early version got it right because it has been sunny since the sun first rose. Sunny spells should last until 4pm, but it will be dark after that, and so of no relevance. Today may only reach 12° C, or a degree lass than yesterday (which had less sunshine). Tomorrow morning may start a bit cold at 7° C, but there could be 4 or so hours of sunny spells to get the day going, but after that it could remain bright but cloudy.
 
  I was hoping to get in a bit of exercise yesterday, and to a limited extent I did. Upon reflection I could say I got a bit more than I was originally going to admit to. The exercise I nearly forgot was hand washing a few t-shirts and underwear. The good thing about that was that it did help to pull my wonky chest back into shape, and it was far more comfortable for some time after. Unfortunately it wasn't a complete cure.

  I guess it is the autumn weather, cold and damp, that has triggered a long, and continuing, bout of my ribs and operation scar being very sensitive, and prone to aching. Fortunately Paracetamol, and Ibuprofen, help a lot. I don't think I had to take any drugs to go out and get some shopping - my second lot of (mild) exercise. I first went to Savers to buy more drugs, plus some shower gel and stuff.

  After Savers I went to Tesco where I bought mostly "safe" stuff - things like very low sugar soup - but I did buy a few ready meals that would appear to use sugar a bit more liberally than I would like. I also bought two bottles of whisky. I was going to buy a bottle of Tesco "Special Reserve" whisky, and I had that in my basket when I noticed the strange offer was back on for Haig whisky. The 1 litre bottle was £35, or £20 with Clubcard discount. The discount made it cheaper than the 70cl bottle (which had no discounted price). It was pretty obvious which one I would buy.

  My outdoors thermometer said it was 12.7° C when I went out shopping. That, together with some sunny spells, seemed like it should have been comfortable enough without a coat. It was on the way home, but while going to the shops there was an unexpected chilly wind blowing straight into my face. That spoiled my pleasure for a bit, but otherwise it was pleasurable striding along at close to full speed without a coat. It is weird how much wearing a coat seems to slow me down, and just spoil the whole thing. Oh well, only another 6 months until summer is here again.

  When I got back home I had some lunch (it was at least half past 12). It was a ready meal I had been meaning to eat for quite a few days. It was a fish pie, and probably past it's use by date. There was one mouthful which did taste a bit like the fish was already going off. That may have had consequences later. From then on it was just a matter of waiting until the evening when I was going to do my best to go to a gig.

  I spent a good few hours of the afternoon reading the original radio scripts of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy radio series. The book is a continual source of delight because there was so much I had forgotten about the radio series. I remember far more from the TV series, and the two LPs which were based on the TV series. The books are different once again. The great thing about the radio scripts are all the producers notes and stuff. They bring it alive in a different dimension. The book seemed expensive at £12, but I don't regret buying it at all.

  I wanted to have a light and early dinner yesterday, and it was barely 5pm when I had a can of Tesco chicken soup (just 0.6gm of sugar per half can), but that wasn't enough. I followed it with a little tub of Fray Bentos meatball arribiato (or something like that). Like the sausage in black bean sauce that was from the same range, and which I tried a week or three ago, it was not very nice. That, and maybe some sort of mix of impatience and nervous energy, lead me to eat some Pringles, or rather too many Pringles by a long way !

By the time it was time to go out I was not feeling good. An overload of Pringles made my gut feel queasy, and it may not have been helped if the fish pie I had at lunchtime really was going off. There were a few times when I did wonder if I was building up to vomiting ! Fortunately it didn't get quite that bad. I took a couple of antacid tablets, and hoped they helped. They may have done, but not until it was too late.   On top of the queasy stomach I was also suffering from chest/rib/scar pains, and those got worse as my chest got cold as I walked to the station. My full stomach, or perhaps full feeling/bloated stomach made walking unpleasant. As I neared the station I began to think that it would be madness walking up the hill from West Wickham station to The Swan pub where The Heat would be playing.   I reached the station and made a firm decision that the only place I would go to next would be to home. For some weird reason I also recorded the short video on the left, that hopefully can be played in most modern web browsers. After recording that video, and getting my breath back, I didn't feel so bad, but as soon as I started walking back home I quickly realised I had made the correct decision. It felt rather good to be opening my front door, and going in the warm to rest and recover.

  I had a nice treat waiting for me at home. It was a ready roasted chicken marked down from £5 to £3 in Tesco when I was shopping there. It was to be a treat after getting home from the gig, but it seemed to be the last thing I wanted after my walk to and from the station. All I did have was a glass of whisky, and it went down really well. I spent a little time watching a really bad documentary about Blondie on Sky Arts.

  It was obviously an American made for TV documentary because it was cut so ad breaks could be inserted every 10 minutes. Sky Arts do like their adverts, but they no a British audience would tell them where to stuff advert every 10 minutes. After every break for an advert, used or not, a big chunk of the documentary would be repeated in case we forgot what we wanted. Sky Arts allowed two half hour programme slots for the documentary. A British documentary maker could have got all the relevant information, and more besides, in one single half hour slot.

  I stayed up reading after I turned the TV off, but I was still fast asleep before the band had probably started their second set. I would probably have left at the end of the first set anyway. Most of my discomfort had faded away by he time I fell asleep, and I think I can say that I slept rather well last night. I can't be sure, but I think I slept non stop for 4 hours at one time last night, and that must be a record these days.

  I suppose it doesn't need to be stated that most dreams are weird, but there is weird and then there is weird. I had one that was probably the latter weird. It was weird because it was about arguing the pros and cons of a plane that I had never been on, seen, or, considering the type of arguments I was making, flown as pilot ! I only remember scant seconds of the dream, but it was whether a certain plane was safe to fly over London. The plane had just one propeller. The person I was arguing with, and who I can't recall actually seeing, said it should have two. I argued that the engine in the plane was the finest that Rolls Royce (I think) could build, and it had never been known to fail. Quite how I fitted all that into a few second is one of those mysteries that make dreams so intriguing.

  Once again I considered that what I ate yesterday, particularly the overdose of Pringles, would be bad for my blood glucose, but again I was wrong. This morning my blood glucose was just 8.3mmol/l. I would still like to get it into the sevens, but 8.3 was low enough to take my running average for the month down to a new record low. While that may be a mental high, I can't say that I feel physically good for it. I don't feel as bad as last might, but my chest is still crunchy, and maybe my legs are rather stiff.

  Today may have been a good day for a bit of exercise, or it might have been until the sun goes in again later.  Maybe if I am washed and dressed early enough I could go for a little wander, but the main course for today should be an afternoon beer session with Jodie. We ought to be using up some of the beers in the drinks fridge today to make room for new beers next Thursday. I think we will make a start on one of the Advent calendar beer boxes then. With two already here, and another two expected there should still be plenty for the official time.