There was no mist that I could see at 8am, but there was ample evidence of recent light rain, and it looked like there was heavier rain during the hours of darkness. Most of today is going to be a bit, or very gloomy with rain expected from 3pm. Some of the rain, maybe a lot of it if reality agrees with the forecast, will be heavy rain. Once again the temperature should reach 11° C as a sort of apology for an otherwise appalling day. The warmest hours of tomorrow will be just after midnight. By 9am the temperature will have fallen to just 6° C, and it will pretty much stay there for the majority of the day. It looks like Xmas day will be a complete washout with rain starting at 9am, and continuing until a short break at 6am the day after tomorrow.


  I was feeling reasonably OK yesterday. The aches from my chest, a result of getting it chilled the day before, hadn't gone away completely, but were only bothersome now and then. As the day progressed, but probably fairly early in the day, it seemed like my doubts about the quality of my sleep the night before, were foundless. I didn't seem to feel sleepy during the day, or even at night ! Even the constipation problem I may have mentioned sorted itself out rather completely !

  Despite not saying I was sleepy during the day, I did lack a certain amount of get up and go. I finished washing the two towels that had been soaking in detergent for over 24 hours, but I had to force myself to do it. I was slightly concerned about what it might do to my dodgy chest. I think I mentioned yesterday that it could be kill or cure. Thankfully it was more biassed towards the cure direction.

  After hanging up the towels to dry I cleared all the computer stuff off the kitchen table, and then I decided it was time to lay down and quietly read. I think I put the book down for 10 minutes, and closed my eyes. I expected to have a snooze, but I feel certain I didn't, but it was one of those times when it was so routine, and nothing dramatic was happening, and there was nothing to really form any memories.

  It must have been midday when I thought I had better have a shower because I was expecting company. Once I was dry and partly dressed I set about setting up the dining room table, and washing and drying glasses, ready for a beer drinking session.

  Considering I am mostly immune to Xmas, and usually treat it as a sort of boring Sunday, all the xmas cards, and the lights did give the table a sort of Xmas look.

  It was Michael who arrived first, and he was followed by a slightly grumpy Jodie who became considerably more grumpy when she smelled, just about when she first stepped through the front door, that Michael had brought some crackers with really strong garlic sausage in them. Jodie really hates garlic, and after an hour or so she asked that I open the window to let some fresh air in. Fortunately there seemed to be little wind yesterday, and so we didn't all shiver.

  Jodie cheered up a bit after the window was open. We had a few nice beers, and a few that were not nice - although it depended on who was giving the description. Jodie's taste buds have really veered towards the more acid or sour types of beer, while mine still mostly prefer traditional English ales - although not completely. I do know that since getting what must have been Covid, just a few months short of 2 years ago, I am finding some types of hops a little too bitter for pleasure. Then again, I always did dislike Youngs and Shepherd Neame beers because I thought they were too bitter and too hopped.

  Michael left first at a little after 5pm. Jodie left an hour later. She was getting a train to meet someone at Elmers End to go to a gig in The Cavern Bar in Raynes Park. Before Jodie left I asked her to go through all the beers in one of the beer advent calendar boxes. I wanted her to select all the beers that she was not interested in so I would have a selection to drink over the long boring weekend. I think it ended up as 10 small cans. I might, or might not start them tomorrow. I could start them today, but I don't feel any rush to do so.

  I had a cunning plan for my dinner. I would eat lots of high fibre soups. One was a can of lentil soup, another was a lentil and bacon soup. I topped them off with a chick peas in a tomato based "soup" which was meant to be a side dish (I think). The idea behind this overload of fibrous stuff is partly because I enjoyed it, and partly because it could do it's worst today because it is unlikely I will be going anywhere or seeing anyone.

  There was also the idea that if I had a really good clear out today I would be comfortable to go out for a very early morning walk tomorrow morning. I think it was last year that I put on my warmest coat (with hood), and started a walk before dawn. It was an act of defiance, although in defiance of what has yet to be discovered. It was sort of fun though. If I do it tomorrow it very much looks like I might have to do it in the rain, and maybe I might chicken out because of it.

  I seem to have got into a rut where I can't get to sleep until much later than desired. This was the case last night. In many ways it doesn't matter, but in at least one way it does. I like to go to sleep early because I am bored - particularly at this time of the year when the days are so short. There is also the fact that I seem to have trouble having getting up late. Last night I was ready to go to sleep at 9pm, or even half an hour earlier. When I say I, I mean the concious part of my brain, the unconscious part said "rubbish" and kept me awake until almost 11pm when I seemed to fall asleep so easily I didn't even realise I had fallen asleep until I woke up.

  Once I did get to sleep I had a mostly trouble free night. I woke up a few times, as usual, but I don't recall any trouble getting back to sleep again. However, this morning I did seem to stay asleep until almost 8am - that is late for me. I think I did wake at around 7am, but it was one of those mornings where turning over, and closing my eyes did send me off to sleep again. On the whole, at least theoretically, I did get a good night's sleep. In reality I have some doubts after being awake for a few hours.

  This morning my blood glucose, that magic figure that should dictate my whole day, was down to 8.7mmol/l from 9.2mmol/l yesterday morning. It really means I should be taking some care over what I eat today, but I have already treated myself to three pieces of cheese on toast this morning, and it was very nice. Each piece, sliced off the end of a round loaf of bread was probably about half the size of a typical sliced nasty white bread (Sunblest !).

  I have no plans for anything today, but I do have a few thoughts of possible things to do, or at least one thing. I'll probably set up the old PC on the dining room table so I can copy/digitise a few more old VHS tapes. Another thing will be to copy the big mpg files of that PC's hard disk to a portable hard disk. I can then use my new, far faster PC to convert them to smaller mp4 files.

  There was one tape I transferred recently that was called "The History Of The London Underground". That inspired me to look on Amazon to see if any of these titles are now available on DVD. I did find "The Story Of The London Underground", and decided to buy it. Amazingly it was delivered yesterday. Until I saw the two side by side I thought it was a DVD version of the VHS tape I had, but with hindsight it is obvious that "The Story..." and "The History..." are obviously different. The DVD is a much more modern, much slicker, and professional recording - probably made for TV showing (on The History Channel maybe). For all that professionalism they still made the sort of mistake I make when typing too fast.....
  Note the spelling of Transport in this screenshot of the end credits ! Of course the rest of the recording (calling it a film or movie doesn't seem right....it occurs to me I should be calling a documentary....oh well). was all nice and bright and sharp - including some old archive footage, but maybe too much of it is modern, and it should have included more archive material - even if of poor quality.