The weather was much improved yesterday, although the morning did seem to be a bit too cool for t-shirt and shorts (but I went out like that anyway). There was the occasional glimpse of the sun in the morning, but most of the sunny spells were in the afternoon. Even in the afternoon there weren't any times when the sun felt strong, but the  sunny spells probably helped to push the temperature up to 18° C - not exactly warm, but still fairly pleasant.
       

  Only this morning will feature blue skies and sunshine. If the forecast is correct it will all be over by 10 or 11am. The BBC says sunny spells will resume by 6pm, but the Met Office predict a dull day from midday onwards. It should stay dry, and the temperature will probably be the same as yesterday, 18° C. Tomorrow should be a lot brighter with chinks of several hours of non stop sunshine. It should reach 20 or 21° C.

   Yesterday was probably a good day. I had two short outings wearing nothing but t-shirt and shorts, although I have to confess it was probably a bit cool, and draughty for bare legs ! A very bad late evening (and a bit into the early hours this morning) sort of balanced the books to make yesterday a more neutral day, and with hindsight, not so good.

  The first important thing yesterday was to go to visit the vampires, up in the eaves of the group practice building, to give what turned out to be a single tube of blood for a test of my blood glucose handling. There is always a very slight worry about what the "official" measurements will turn up, and a reasonable prediction that no matter what the figures actually are, if I see the less than supportive nurse, she will automatically say they are too high, and that I am not trying hard enough. Only death, with zero blood glucose will satisfy her.

  The very slight worry about what the results will be was far outweighed by the discovery that I had a mild stomach upset yesterday morning. I had to make 3 or 4 visits to the toilet, and each was tending towards diarrhoea more and more. That in itself was no bother - except it was getting closer and closer to the time when I had to walk to to the group practice building to see a vampire (aka phlebotomist). I finally felt comfortable enough to make a fairly fast walk, and arrived with one minute to spare.

  I was happy to find that I was seeing a very good phlebotomist. She had no trouble finding a good artery, and got the needle in almost painlessly. She very mildly scolded me when, after the blood flowing a bit more freely than expected, I said I was on blood thinning medication. Apparently she could have used a finer needle if she had known. The real surprise was how quick it was. It seemed like I waited for ages to see the phlebotomist, and it seemed like she did the blood drawing very slowly. When I checked the time, after leaving the place. I had only been in there 15 minutes.

  I took a little more time walking home, and rather strangely I felt that I had been more affected by the walk home that the walk to the vampire cave. I don't think it was any angina pain, but my legs, and particularly my ankles were feeling stiff and sore-ish. I rested, but not feet up resting, for maybe 20 minutes before I went out again, This time it was to Tesco to get some salad ingredients, and a special sort of treat to reward myself.

  I guess it was about 11am when I walked to Tesco. It didn't feel like it had warmed up since going out before, and it still felt draughty around my bare legs and arms, and even through my t-shirt. The previous time I went to Tesco it seemed bright and warm enough to make the walk enjoyable, but yesterday I didn't enjoy it at all. I might have even got a hint of angina after breathing in the cold feeling air (it was probably only just 16° C, and that shouldn't really be called cold).

  As well as two more bags of mixed salad leaves,plus some baby plum tomatoes, I also bought some supposedly healthy stuff like a bag of small apples, and a (string) bag of small, easy to peel, oranges. I also though I would treat myself to two small pots of coleslaw, and potato salad. My special treat, for having got my blood sample out of the way with hopefully good results, was another reduced price quiche. It was from the Tesco Finest range, and so should have been good and tasty.

  After getting home  with more stuff than I have listed - I had additionally bought two 2l bottles of sugar free cola, and 3 cans of beer - I got my lunch cooking. It was the Tesco Finest extra mature cheddar with not very smoky bacon quiche. To hopefully maximise the flavour, I followed the heating instructions of 20 minutes in the oven at 190° C. Maybe it did bring out the flavour a bit more, but it seemed to ruin the texture. Instead of being almost chewy, the egg had gone very soft - just short of being runny. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as hoped, and I was definitely glad I had bought it with about £1 knocked off the price. The full price for a not luxury item would have annoyed me.

  Having stuffed myself with the whole quiche I didn't feel like doing much - and I didn't ! I quietly laid on my bed reading. At one time I let my eyes close, and I may have had a snooze. I certainly wouldn't have stopped myself dozing off, but I don't think I did.... As 3pm approached I changed into my drinking trousers, and went down to do the little final touches to the kitchen, and dining room, ready for some boozing.

  A bit later I got a message from Jodie to say she had been shopping, and her train would be getting to Catford Bridge at 3.42pm - not that late, but late enough that I poured myself a strong lager to while away the wait. When Jodie arrived I found she had been to Borough Market near London Bridge station, and had bought some very smell vegetables. In particular she had bought a big bunch of thin asparagus spears that were well past their best. I don't know if it was specifically those, but there was a sort of pig bin smell all the time Jodie was here.

  To my surprise, Jodie was very keen on one of the "beers" I had bought in Tesco. It was a cherry sour (not really beer by my definitions). As expected, Jodie loved it, and I thought it was disgusting. I had a few tastes of it before pouring the rest of mine in Jodie's glass. On the other hand, I ended up drinking most of the other beers I had bought. Jodie should have liked them, but it was more a case that she had already tasted them in the past. On the other hand, maybe she remembered than as nasty tasting cloudy beers - but 75% less nasty than the cherry sour beer.

   I can't remember what time Jodie left. I think it was a bit later than usual, and she was taking an unfamiliar route for her (although I am sure she has done it before). It was to get a train from Catford station to Peckham Rye station where she had to cross to the other platforms where she would be meeting Alan who had come up from Norbury, and then they would get a London Overground service from the same platform to go to Highbury, and ultimately a craft beer shop.

  Once Jodie had left I prepared my dinner. It was to be a special salad. Onto a pile of mixed salad leaves I added some baby plum tomatoes (cut in half), some cut and boiled new potatoes that I had prepared earlier, a sprinkle of crispy fried onions, a sprinkle of oil and balsamic salad dressing, and possibly excess amount of ready grated cheddar cheese, and the final crowning glory of a dollop of coleslaw. It was all rather tasty, and maybe it might even been moderately healthy. I followed it with two small, easy peel, oranges.

  There was nothing on TV last night, and I think I ate my dinner reading some technology news stories on the internet while I ate, and for a bit of time afterwards. It was still light outside (thus before 9pm) when I went to bed to read. I may have read for an hour before turning out the light, and trying for sleep. I seem to recall a slight sensation of heartburn at this point, but did my best to ignore it, and I managed to get to sleep.

  Perhaps I should have delayed sleep until a couple of Rennies quenched the start of what was quite bad heartburn when I woke up an hour or two later. I felt quite dreadful. Some of that dreadful turned out to be a continuation of my morning stomach upset. I think it was around 2am when I went to the toilet, and squirted out some very soft poo. Meanwhile I had taken two does of antacid tablets, and still the heartburn was not fully cured.

  I got to wondering if it was truly heartburn. The burping and stuff strongly suggested that was all it was, but the final cure was some 300gm of soluble aspirin in water, plus two Paracetamol tablets. I am sure I dozed off for short periods while suffering from that heartburn, but it was around 3am before I managed to get any more good sleep, and even then it wasn't that good. I did manage to finally sleep through to 7.25am - later than usual.

  Soon after I was out of bed I went to the toilet for another splattery sort of poo. That, and what I did at around 2am still didn't seem enough for the day, and it is probable I will need another visit before the morning is out. I did weigh myself after after the toilet, and before breakfast. I seemed to be at least half a kilogram heavier than expected, and I don't know if all of it is true weight gain, usual day to day fluctuation, or if I have half a kilogram of poo still waiting to come out !

  My salad, with a few dodgy/unpredictable ingredients, must have worked as hoped, perhaps even better considering the big quiche I had for lunch. This morning two of my blood glucose measurements were very good, and the third was not so good despite doing that one twice. The Contour meter gave a very satisfactory reading of 7.7mmol/l. The GlucoRX meter was even better with a reading of a rather good 7.3mmol/l. The Sinocare meter, despite two attempts, gave a much higher, although still basically OK, 8.4mmol/l. One other aspect of my health is my blood pressure. The first reading took it just into the "normal" area, but a second go, after trying harder to relax took it into the coveted "Optimum" area.

  It was my original belief, before I checked the forecast this morning, that most of today would be bright and sunny. Evidently I was wrong. We lost the sunshine a little while ago now, but I can still see a few blue patches of sky, and so the sun might peep through one later. On the other hand I can also see some quite dark looking clouds. I was originally thinking of going out somewhere with my camera - maybe with the walk taking precedence, or maybe with the camera, and picture taking be the prime goal.

  I feel less sure about going out now. If I become very convinced that my stomach upset is truly over, and I won't have to be racing to the toilet again, I might consider taking a camera for a ride on a train. I still want to get some snaps of Colindale tube station before it is closed for complete refurbishment in early June. It should be a priority target, but I know I am just going to make the day up as I go along - in or out !


 





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