So far today there has been more sunshine/sunny periods/spells than was shown in the forecast at 6am this morning. The latest revision starts from midday, and has just turned midday as I type these words. It says midday will be cloudy. Maybe midday has only just started, and things could change during the next hours, but it is still sunny, and the clouds still seem thin with plenty of blue sky still visible. 1 to 3pm are shown as sunny, and then it might get dull. At 6pm there could be a shower, but it should be dry afterwards. The temperature prediction has been reduced by a degree to be just 24° C this afternoon. Tomorrow will probably be a lot cooler. The day will be overcast, but dry until mid morning. After that the chances of rain increase a lot.
 
  Yesterday was a good day. At least I think it was, but perhaps I should have doubts because I don't think I did anything memorable enough in the morning to actually remember what I did at all ! Maybe it was just the afternoon that was good. The afternoon involved drinking, and of course that is generally good.

  There are times when drinking is not much fun. As I have mentioned many times in the past, Jodie, my beer tasting companion, often spends more time on her phone than speaking to me. Yesterday was no exception, but what made yesterday good was that most of the beers were very nice.
  These were three of the beers we tasted yesterday. I seem to recall that Jodie was not so keen on the Satan Gold, but that was fine because that meant there was more for me (we share a bottle between the two of us, and so I often never get a full taste of the beers). I was a bit disappointed with the Cassis (blackcurrant) beer. It was good, but not excellent. The Rodenback Alexander was one of those beers where the more you taste it, the more the flavours come through. I would have been happier with a full pint of it !

  As I mentioned yesterday morning, I was, ideally, supposed to be taking it easy on the beer yesterday. Unsurprisingly, that didn't happen, and to make matters worse I had a few shorts as well. Even worse than that was that at least one of those shorts was a sugary liqueur. That liqueur was from a bottle I bought ages ago, but for some reason had only been half drunk. I was a Polish, vodka based liqueur with an orange and spice flavour. Having tasted it again after many years I wonder why I hadn't drunk more of it. It was probably because of it's sugar content, but in small quantities it seems to be safe.

  Jodie left just after 6pm, as usual, and I got my dinner together. My dinner was a special choice on several levels. I wanted something very safe sugar wise after some of the drinks being a bit sweet. I also wanted something light which would hopefully (and did) not cause any bottom trouble this morning - which was very important when wanting to go out so early in the morning. I had two cans of Tesco, cream of chicken soup (just 0.6gm of sugar per half can).

  I must admit that I think I might have preferred just one can of soup because two did seem to fill me up a bit to much. Fortunately it all settled down before I went to bed. I found a bit of comedy stuff on TV last night, and in the end I didn't get the early night I intended to have. Maybe that didn't matter because I seemed to read a lot before I felt ready to turn the light out and try for sleep. It seemed to take some time before I finally fell into a deep sleep.

  I didn't seem to sleep very well at all last night. Being woken by a scam text message about a failed parcel delivery didn't help matters ! I almost wonder if some of the dreams I had could be classified as nightmares. Probably not as they weren't pure terror - just deep confusion and disorientation. One dream involved being driven to a woman's house (a woman I know) for no apparent reason. I only saw her once from 30ft away, and I don't think we even spoke. After I think I may have stayed there all night I wondered why I was there, and why I didn't go home. Eventually I was offered a lift home by someone I hardly knew. As the car started the dream ended.

  This morning I wanted to get up at 6am so I had plenty of time to get myself ready to go out at about 7.45am. I think it was probably around 5.45am when I woke up, and thought "oh no, I don't want to get up this early". I pulled the duvet around myself, and maybe I fell asleep for a few minutes, but the need for a pee, and some sort of subconscious discipline, got me out of bed a few minutes before 6am.

  It was a bit like getting up for work, although in those days I used to set my alarm and get up at 5am. 5am once felt "normal", but now 6am feels very abnormal, and that is despite usually getting up around 6.30am. The big difference is that this morning I was working to a schedule. On almost any other day I could stay in bed all morning if I chose to do so.

  One thing I was concerned about was that I would be checking my blood glucose extra early, and without the benefit of drinking any water to replace any water lost in the night. I needn't have worried because the reading I got of 8.3mmol/l was the same as the last few days, and is less than most of my end of month averages. Maybe another couple of hours, and a pint of water could have given an even lower reading, but I am happy with the reading I got.

The sky was only just starting to light up as I had my shower, but it was only just daylight when I walked through the park to the hospital. I arrived more or less on the dot of 8am when hey were due to open, but they had already started letting people in when I got there. It turned out I was number 14 in the queue. They didn't start the vaccinations until about 8.30am - rather later than expected. It was about 9am when my number came up. I did everything I could think of to speed the process up. I kept my answers to the questions asked to a minimum, and didn't volunteer anything extra.
  I was out the door about 9:10am. I didn't go straight home, but detoured via the pharmacy where I ordered my next repeat prescription. I said I would probably pick it up Wedneday afternoon (on my way home from the pub after a drink with Angela. They said it would be ready by then. I then went straight home, and metaphorically put my feet up for 30 to 40 minutes before going out to Aldi for yet more shopping.

  I managed to accumulate quite a heavy load to lug home. It included a 12 pack of Ukraine beer. I think it is another beer made in another country (maybe even England like the last one) under the supervision of a brewer from Ukraine.  Once again some of the profit on the beer goes to help the Ukrainian people. I also bought a bottle of "English Vodka". I am contemplating giving it to a vodka expert, i.e. Angela, for her opinion of it, but maybe I might open it and test it first.

  I don't think it was the vaccine itself, but getting up and out extra early, plus all the rushing around, means I am now very much looking forward to an afternoon nap !