It is certainly a wet start to this morning, but it mostly seemed to be drizzle. As I write this it looks to be brightening up a little bit. The latest revision to the forecast shows 3 hours of sunny spells starting at 11am. The rain could start again at 3pm, and then continue through the night. In the latest revision a thunderstorm is shows for 10pm ! The highest temperature we can hope for may be just 14° C. Tomorrow may start bright, and the evening may be dry, but between there could be a lot of rain, and once again, even a thunderstorm is possible. The temperature may hit 14° C, but perhaps only for one hour, and 13° C might be more representative.

   Another very late start to my day today - I had a generally good day yesterday, but a terrible night ! I didn't really do much for most of yesterday because I was saving myself up for the evening. I didn't even have a shower until almost 3pm. The highlight of the day was the first day of the three day beer festival event in The Catford Bridge Tavern.

  I'm not sure if I was terribly excited about the beer festival, but somehow I seemed distracted enough not to eat much. My breakfast was the usual instant noodles, and my lunch was just 4 Marmite flavoured rice cakes with cheese and sliced tomato. The tomato was one of the big ones that seem to lack any sweetness, and in theory are better for me. I didn't eat again until after I had finished boozing.

  I got to the pub at 5pm, and I expected to see Jodie and Alan there, but it was another hour before they arrived. Luckily I was spotted by someone whose face seemed slightly familiar. He knew my name, but I couldn't think what his name was. After he bought me a beer I finally confessed that I had no idea who he was. He told me he was Steve Meredith, and that I had photographed his band (or the band he was in at the time), The Carlottas in The Catford Ram in 2015. Oddly enough, when looking at the photos I took on that occasion I didn't seem to have taken any snaps of Steve playing bass. Maybe he was like some bass players, and hid at the back.
  The poster for the event said there would be more beer than the three hand pumps, and these 7 casks on a rack at the end of the bar. I suspect that actually meant that they have more stuff to put on when these run out. I started on the Peckham Pale Ale (top left barrel), and it was probably the best beer I had. I did make some very, very simple notes on the beers I tasted.
Peckham Pale Ale - good !
360˚ Bluebell - Sussex best - not that nice.
Choppy Irish Stout - rather nasty (had overtones of cold coffee about it).
Bellesville - Picnic Session Beer - fairly nice.
Malster Mash - sort of nice.
All the above were full pints, but the last, The Malster Mash was just a half.
  These were the beers on the three hand pumps. As per my vague tasting notes above, the beer on the left, the Picnic Session IPA was quite nice. The Bluebell, Sussex Best Bitter, was not to my liking. I never got to try the beer on the right, but I hope it might still be on if I go again today - which I would like to, but maybe won't go.
  From left to right, Steve, Alan, and Jodie. Prior to Jodie and Alan arriving, I had been drinking with Steve on a small table in the other part of the bar, bit with 4 of us we moved to a bigger table, and had barely time to sit down when the head barman said he had to move the table before the band set up. Being further away from the band was probably a good thing, although I had left before they had even done a sound check.
  I think the band may have been a 12 piece. The were The Jumpstarts, and played Ska music, and I don't think any of us wanted to hear them, although it is possible that Steve may have stayed to appraise them from the point of view of a bass player. The band itself had the usual drum and guitars, but also keyboards and brass instruments. Not really my thing at all !

  After my 4 and a half pints I was feeling like I had drunk enough on a part empty stomach. During the day I seemed to have a stomach upset, and was feeling very slightly queasy before I even got to the pub, although a brisk walk to the pub had me feeling thirsty. I didn't seem to feel drunk at all when I left the pub, or even later, but I did feel hungry. I went to the fried chicken shop on my way home, and rather than buy a pile of greasy chicken and chips, I opted for two chicken burgers.

  With hot food cooling down as I walked home I walked as fast as I could. I made one probable tragic mistake. I didn't do my coat up, and the cold night air soon had my chest really aching. i was in a fair amount of pain when I got home. I almost wondered if it might be the return of Angina, and the way it seemed to mostly go away once I got home might have suggested it was Angina, but getting in the warm might have been a simpler explanation for the pain fading.
  Although I was in the warm, I couldn't relax too much because I had noted that there was a very bright, very full looking moon in the sky when I got home. Instead of sitting down to eat my supper I grabbed my Nikon D610s camera, and a 300mm Sigma lens (the biggest I had), and snapped a few shots of the moon. I then went out to take a few more when I realised I had used a very high ISO rating, and my pictures looked a bit grainy.

  The second pictures were a lot better, but photographing the moon is not that simple even with a sophisticated camera - in fact it is possibly harder. The moon is a lot brighter than it might seem, and the black sky around it can trick the camera to really over exposing the picture. I've learnt to take several pictures with slightly different settings, and choose the best. I think the picture above is good enough.

  It was very nice to chomp through my chicken burgers. One oddity is that the buns looked smaller than I remember, but that is a good thing because the buns are made from quite sweet white bread. After eating I prepared the photos I have shown here, and then headed for bed. I read for a while, and then tried to sleep. I seem to think I did gat maybe half an hour's sleep before I woke up again feeling very uncomfortable.

  My chest was aching a lot, and I hoped it was just the scar tissue flaring up after being chilled as I walked home, but it soon became obvious it was more than that - it was also heartburn. It was sometime before I realised that, and only because I could taste those chicken burgers every time I burped - and I was burping a lot. None of the beers I had drunk earlier were fizzy, but the Diet Coke I was drinking at home was. Even so I am still unsure how my stomach ended up full of gas, but I do know that is another pain that cans seem like heart pain.

  I had a terrible night. I didn't fancy taking any painkillers because I would have to wash them down with fizzy Diet Coke. I did have a couple of antacid tablets, and they did help, although they needed washing down with a small sip of fizzy diet coke. Every time I sat up in bed, or got out of bed, I would give off a string of burps, and each one would reduce to discomfort. I did wonder if I was going to vomit, and maybe if I had it would be a good thing, but it didn't happen.

  It was gone 3am, and I had had very little sleep, when I took another couple of antacid tablets. They seemed to do the trick, and apart from some lingering soreness from the inflamed scar tissue, I was comfortable enough for some sleep. it wasn't for another couple of hours until I got some good feeling sleep - and one good feeling dream.

  In the dream I had used a nice, but unknown shower gel. After the shower I had used a deodorant spray found in the back of the cupboard. These facts were remembered facts when the dream started. I walked into a pub, and a few woman I seemed to know said I smelled really nice. One woman reacted even more. She grabbed me, without releasing her hold on her boyfriend, and started sniff my chest (which for some reason was bare). She was so overcome with the pleasure of the smell she was nuzzling my chest, and with the one arm she wasn't using on her boyfriend, holding me really tight. It was all very, very unlikely, but very, very pleasant !

  After my terrible sleep I had a bit of a lay in this morning. It was nearly 8am when I got up, and checked my blood glucose readings. They were terrible ! The highest was a very dangerous 11.1mmol/l, and the other two were around 10.6mmol/l. I am almost at a loss to know how I came to have such high readings. I could blame one or other of the beers, or I could blame the buns the two chicken burgers were in, but neither really seems feasible.....but the two together maybe.....

  One further possibility is if I am fighting some infection. Maybe my inflamed scar tissue could be a reason, or maybe my "very active" digestive system was the result of some bad food or something. I definitely went to the toilet (for a poo) a lot more than would seem to be usually needed - it was a complete clearout.  That was reflected when I weighed myself this morning - I was 600gm lighter than my usual weight. Of course the weight loss could also be the result of eating less than usual for the past few days.

  This morning I definitely feel very tired, and my chest is a bit "ratchetty" (clicking and popping when I make certain movements), but is not sore except for an occasional twinge. The worst thing at the moment is that I feel very hungry, but I dare not eat while my blood glucose is so high. I will check it again around midday, and maybe it will have dropped. If it has dropped a fair bit then maybe that does shift the blame to to late night eating of those chicken burgers.

  I foresee my having a very lazy day today. I originally thought that maybe I would go to the beer festival again late afternoon/early evening, but maybe that is not a great idea. On the other hand, if I hear others will definitely be there I could be tempted. Maybe I should save myself for Sunday night when there is also an open mic session, but if tonight, or tomorrow night, I fear I will have to steer clear of the fried chicken shop.