Things have changed a bit in the latest revision to the forecast, or changed a lot compared to yesterday's very gloomy prediction for today. The latest revision has extended the sunny spells to last from 10am to 1pm, although it looks like once the sun is a bit higher in the sky the sunny spells, or even full sunshine could happen very soon. The rain, originally said to start at 6pm in the early forecast, is now due to start as early as 4pm. The afternoon temperature remains at the originally predicted 12° C. Tomorrow could also see 12° C. The chances are the forecast for tomorrow could change beyond recognition tomorrow, but at the moment the prediction is for rain from 10am until the end of the day (and beyond).

   I am racking my brain trying to think of another example of what I am sure has been happening a lot recently, but I cannot think of anything, although I am sure that the day turning out completely different to expected has happened a lot this year. Yesterday morning's trigger point was a message from Angela - a good message !

  I had not long finished writing when I decided that if I was going to Aldi, my most likely plan, I could just have a quick flannel wash instead of a full shower. With that in mind I started the process of hand washing a couple of t-shorts and some underwear, actually quite a few pieces of underwear because I have been a bit lax in doing my laundry on these dull and rainy days we have had so many of this month. I got everything soaking in detergent when I heard my phone chime.

  It was precisely 10am when Angela sent me a message. She said she had just had the all clear about a potential medical problem, and would I like to meet in the pub at lunchtime. I replied in double quick time "YES".  At that point I had to finish the laundry that I would otherwise probably not gone back to for hours, so I could clear the bath, and have a shower. I also had a shave as well, but I didn't think I would have time to wash and dry my hair.  With hindsight I probably had plenty of time, but fortunately my hair was not too bad.
  I left home at about 12:15 - which was a lot earlier than I needed to - but the prospect of seeing Angela excited me, as did the blue sky and sunshine.
  This is the view I have been trying to take the last couple of times I walked in the park. Only yesterday were the conditions perfect. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the sun was going full blast.  It is a shame my new phone's camera has flattened the picture a lot. It has come out a lot less vibrant than how my own eyes saw it.
  I discovered a new view I don't seem to have noticed before, with some nice golden coloured trees. Once again the camera view is less vibrant than real life. The trouble with modern mobile phones is that they are infested with so called Artificial Intelligence. It tries. far too hard in my opinion, to make sure the whites are not too bright, and the blacks are not too dark. In the case of the picture above it would have been better if the blue sky were allowed to be slightly over exposed so that the picture was a lot more dynamic. It would make the blue a little less blue, and that would be a shame, but all those golden leaves would glow, and the grass would probably look greener and brighter.

  I got to the pub about 25 minutes early, and had almost drunk my first pint of Guinness when Angela arrived (and had a second pint on the table waiting for me). Angela seemed very pleased to see me, and of course I was really pleased to see her. The first thing was discussed was her potential medical problem. It seemed that it had been going on for 4 or 5 months, and it was the worry about it that made Angela so snappy when she was asking me to go to her wedding, and I couldn't give a definite yes. It would seem it was the same when Michael didn't reply to her message for three days, and she got very huffy with him.

  It seems it was the ongoing worry that was the reason why she told me she was going to stop going to the pub on Wednesdays in a message at the start of this month. I don't think I consciously realised it, but sub-consciously I probably realised it was not just that she was cross about my indecisiveness about going to her wedding next June. It was why I didn't badger her about it because I was sure that sooner or later she would be in contact again, and also why I left clues that I was still going to the pub every Wednesday so she could make her own mind up.

  Of course the other thing was that under other circumstances she would have wanted to keep meeting so she could badger me about going to the wedding. Actually it is not her style to badger, but of course the subject soon came up, and I took the opportunity to get in quickly that I probably would be going to the wedding, but I had to emphasise that anything cold happen between now and next June. I think that after her medical scare Angela was very agreeable about that.

  I also told her how the last, and I think only wedding I attended as an adult, was not a great occasion for me. I didn't know what was going on most of the time, and although there were a handful of people I sort of knew there, the vast majority were family and friends I had never met, and in most cases I didn't even know if they were relations of the bride or groom. Somehow it felt a bit hostile, and I felt very lonely.

  I am unfortunate that I can feel very lonely in a big crowd - even if they are people I see regularly at gigs (as a for instance). I "know" them, but I know nothing about them. The one terror I have about going to Angela's wedding is that not only will I feel alone, I will feel extremely alone, and I won't be able to tell anyone about it because it all concerns losing Angela. Our Wednesday lunchtimes could continue after she is married provided she continues to work beyond retirement age, but with their combined marriage incomes she may not need to continue work, and than I will truly have lost her.

  On a more positive level, there was some very good news. Angela told me that Brian Bath, guitarist for Kate Bush when he was a lot younger, guitarist for the KT Bush (tribute) band, and guitarist for The Life Of Brian, and also Back To The Fray, is having a 70th birthday party on Sunday. It is going to take the form of a jam session in The British Oak pub in Blackheath. Like the Liz Vass memorial gig, it will probably include people has has played with over the years, and that is definitely going to feature Miranda, Angela's daughter. It has been so long since she has sung in front of a band, and I am really looking forward to it - even if it does mean a long walk in the rain to get there.

  All too soon it was 2pm, well actually a little after it, and it was time to walk Angela back to work. It must say something that the walk was just like hundreds of previous walks. It was like nothing had changed in the 3 weeks that I didn't see Angela. It is probably just my fevered imagination, but I still think here is some sort of (supernatural ?) bond between us that is difficult to break. When we got back to her office she said she hoped to see me on Sunday, at the birthday party gig. I asked if we would also meet next Wednesday, and she said she would let me know. I think there is a good chance we will meet then, but it seems plans can change with little advance notice.

  I was walking home with three pints of Guinness sloshing around inside me, but I seemed to keep up a good pace. I did have a short breather when I called on Michael to tell him the good news. I didn't feel too bad at all when I got home, although I was close to desperate for a pee. I fancied some lunch, and decided to finish off the last of the oven chips. It was quite a big portion that had to be cooked in two batches, but it was probably still a smaller portion than most chip shops serve.

  It must have been gone 3pm by the time I had stuffed myself with chips, and with the effects of three pints of Guinness, I thought I deserved a good snooze. It wasn't a great snooze because I seemed to become half awake during it, and hearing myself snoring. I think I shifted position slight, and I presume the snoring stopped. I woke up feeling rather muzzy, and with it being dark outside. I had just enough time to transfer the pictures I had taken in the park to my PC, and select and edit the three I used before turning on the TV.

  It was fortunate I had pre-cooked my dinner or who knows what I might have eaten. My dinner was two chicken thighs cooked in chicken stock with mange tout. I think it was a pretty healthy sort of meal. It was also not a very big portion, but mindful of the big portion of oven chips I had eaten earlier, I managed to not eat any more yesterday. Having turned off the 9pm showing of QI on Dave, because it seemed like a recent repeat, I was in bed by 9.30pm. I was feeling very tired, and fell asleep before 10pm - at least I think I did.

  I slept well, with just a few interludes to go for a pee, until 4am. From then on I slept really badly. The reason was I was having mild nightmares. I would then spend some time awake analysing them. Some were blatantly about fears of Angela's wedding, and others were probably about it too, but in a more symbolic way. I can only recount one single fact about these symbolic dreams. I actually had two dreams that included giving someone a black crows feather. It didn't seem to have any obvious significance in the dream - it was just something I was doing, or at least I think it was me doing it, but maybe it was someone giving the feather to me. That could possibly have been the case, and my logic for it is that if a white feather is a symbol of cowardice, then a black feather must be the opposite. It is sort of annoying that my brain makes these ideas up without explaining to me what they mean.

  So from 4am I spent ages sometimes not quite asleep, and sometimes not quite awake, with my brain going ten to the dozen. After an hour or so I did start to get some long periods of sleep. By 6am I was tempted to give up and get up, but with sunrise still 90 minutes away I stayed in bed, and got a few bits of sleep now and then. Finally I could stand being in bed no longer, and got up. It was still dark grey outside, but the eastern sky was starting to light up.

  After two morning of very high, and extremely high blood glucose readings, I was most happy to find the half hearted precautions I took yesterday worked, and once again proved that it was dinner that was the biggest influence of my blood glucose readings. This morning it was a very satisfactory 8.1mmol/l. I wonder if I can match or better that tomorrow ? Possibly not because one thing I plan to do today is to go to Aldi, and who knows what terribles I might buy there.

  The latest instance of things changing all of a sudden was just this morning. I have been expecting a delivery for some time of a beer advent calendar. The last (and also the first actual) notification said it had been shipped, and was due for delivery on Monday. That could have put a crimp on anything I might be doing on Monday (although probably not*). At about 7.23am I got a message to say it would be delivered today between 8:07 and 9:07am. It arrived at about 8:35am.

  * There is a good chance that I will be spending quite a few hours in my "digital darkroom". I expect I'll go "shutter happy" at Brian's birthday party gig on Sunday. That is on the assumption that it is done as a sort of jam session with different people playing with Brian, and I will be wanting to capture them all, but in particular I expect I will take many pictures of Miranda so I get at least one excellent shot - fingers crossed.

  Oh, other change of plan is that there are trains running today despite most operators being on strike. I think Thameslink drivers are a different union or something, and have had, and presumably will be having different strike days. This means there are trains from Catford station today, but not from Catford Bridge. It still means I can't get to Petts Wood, and their Xmas lights ceremony today because the trains to Petts Wood are driven by Southeastern drivers, and they are on strike. I think there are three bands on their live music stage, and it is usually a great photo opportunity, but not this year.