Yesterday could almost be described as a sunny day, but there were a few times when the sunshine failed. On the other hand, rather than say it was a long series of sunny spells, many of the hours in the day seemed to have uninterrupted sunshine for that full hour - or so it seemed to me. The temperature easily reached the forecast  21° C, and possibly a degree or two more.
       

  Today is a big disappointment. A day or two ago it seemed like today could be the start of some summer days, but that started, and finished yesterday. Today has started with some nice sunshine, although it is a couple of degrees cooler than expected. The latest revision has changed the drizzle shown for midday to light rain, and then it is light rain all day long until it is possible we have some thunderstorms from 8pm for a few hours. The temperature will peak at 19° C by late morning, and after midday it starts to go down again. Apart for the thunderstorms, and an earlier start to the rain (11am), The Met Office agrees with this forecast. Tomorrow is no longer the warm sunny day once promised, but it looks like it will be almost non stop light rain with the temperature peaking at 20° C at the end of the afternoon.
 
   Yesterday was another day that started well, but ended up terrible. I didn't seem to start yesterday roaring with enthusiasm, but I had had a reasonable sleep, and felt capable of doing "stuff" - up to a limit. That stuff included washing my hair and having a shower after ignoring the shower for the two previous days.

  Once I was dried and dressed I felt sufficient enthusiasm to go to Tesco. There was nothing I really had to get, although my Diet Coke was getting rather low, and a couple of bottles was top of my imaginary shopping list. I also wanted a couple of ready made salads. I got one plain one, and another of the chicken Caesar kits because they do seem rather nice. My main downfall was seeing a lonely Tesco Finest cheesed and bacon quiche on the reduced price shelf. I also found some Maggi branded instant noodles marked down from 65p to 38p. I had them for breakfast this morning, and I can see why they were reduced in price to clear them out. They were not very nice at all !

  I did seem to spend a lot of money in Tesco, and it wasn't on food. I noticed they had lounge pants back on the shelves, and I bought a pack of two. Sadly it was the same as the last pack I bought (last year ?) - one black and the other grey. I would have preferred one to be navy blue, or even both to be navy blue. The other expensive item was a pair of trainers. Of course in the world of "branded" trainers they were very cheap. I bought them because they looked sort of nice, and gave the impression that they might be a slightly wider fitting than many.

  I think I was lucky enough to walk to and from Tesco mostly in sunshine, but it didn't seem to feel over hot when carrying stuff. Although my t-short had a damp patch or two when I took it off. On this occasional I was getting the start of some mild angina pains, and I was more than happy to get home again. I think I was back to normal in just a few minutes after getting home.

  After putting my shopping away I tucked into the Tesco Finest cheese and bacon quiche. Even with the price reduction I think it was over priced. It just was not as tasty as hope for, and compared to the super cheap Iceland cheese and bacon quiches I had earlier in the week, it was almost tasteless.I am very sure it was not supposed to be a single portion, but I chomped through the whole thing, and felt full enough to need a snooze after finishing it.

  I am not sure if I did snooze, but I certainly laid on my bed, and read for maybe half an hour, and maybe more. Sooner or later I had to force myself to do, or at least finish what I had started straight after my shower - a medium amount of laundry left to soak. It was two pairs of lounge pants, and 4 pairs of underpants. It was not exactly hard work, but I did find it more boring that usual, and I was very happy to finish the job, and get it all hanging up to dry on the big clothes horse (plus desk fan).

  One little thing I did around midday was to contact Jodie to say there were trains running yesterday. It turned out that she had been confused by announcements saying no trains to Lewisham yesterday. Engineering works stopped them going via Lewisham, but they could still take the fast route direct to London Bridge. Jodie replied to say that she would be over, and hoped it would be OK for her to arrive a lot later, and leave later.

  There was method in Jodie's plan. It was to avoid the football match yesterday. She intended to meet up with Alan after the match had finished sometime after 8pm. She proposed getting here about 5pm (it was actually about 5.30pm). I said yes, and then I passed quite a few hours just reading. After Jodie arrived she mostly selected some of the lower strength beers in the fridge because she had had an 11% beer with her lunch !

  Oddly enough, most of the beers Jodie selected were almost pleasant, and in one case actually pleasant. One was a hazy IPA that was definitely very hazy, but it was surprisingly nice - albeit with a sort of grassy taste. Jodie almost always eats while she is drinking here, and yesterday I decided it was my turn. I have been having dinner earlier lately, but yesterday I had it late at around 7pm.

  That dinner was a very simple recipe of a couple of grilled quarter pounder burgers, and a microwave in the bag rice. The rice, an "Uncle Ben's" chilli rice was presumably rice to go with chilli because it had no chilli in it. It was flavoured with cheap old cumin, and while not nasty, it was not exactly nice. That can do much better ! The only problems with that dinner was the timing, and maybe a little bit too much hot pepper sauce to perk it up a bit.

  Jodie left at about 8pm, and caught a bus to Bromley where she knew of two bars who would not be showing the football match. She would be meeting Alan in Croydon (I think) after the match was over. Meanwhile it felt almost time for my bed, but I stayed up about an hour in the hope that the effects of my dinner would settle down. They didn't, and as soon as I got into bed I was still burping the taste of that rice and burgers, and I was rapidly getting heartburn.

  I did seem to get a little bit of sleep before I woke up again with my chest now aching rather a lot. It was getting on for 3am before I got any real sleep. Unlike the previous night I didn't seem to be peeing every 2 hours or less. In fact it seemed I wasn't peeing much at all during the night. However, at around 2am, of all stupid times, I did have a poo ! At a little after 5am I woke up and my room felt cold. I did have a pee then, and I turned the heater on low. From then on I slept so soundly that I didn't wake again unto it was almost 7am - which is late for me.

  I was going to attempt to describe a dream from last night, but while I can remember some snapshots from it, I can't seem to think what it was all about. The aim in the dream seemed to be to illuminate some pictures, and it almost seemed like the pictures could be lit up by feeding them electricity. Initially it seemed to need a mercury arc rectifier (1950s technology). I can remember that rectifier starting with a bright flash. I also remember some mistake that caused the rectifier to burn out. The big glass globe went brown inside ! That is about the only facts I can remember.

  When I got up I needed a pee, as usual, and despite going at 2am, I also did a small poo. Unfortunately it seemed like I had put at least 100 gram back on when I weighed myself. Oh well, it could have been worse. It didn't make my morning any better. Apart from missing a lot of sleep, I may have slept awkwardly because I felt quite creaky when I got up, and I also had a hangover like head ache. That has almost faded out now as I write this.

  I thought I had got very lucky when I checked my blood glucose. I pricked my right index finger, and could only squeeze out a very small bit of blood. It was enough for the Contour meter, and that gave a fantasticly low reading of 6.3mmol/l. That was almost certainly because the blood flow was so poor from the small hole in the callused skin of the index finger. I made a deeper prick and tried the other two meters. The GlucoRX meter gave an initial reading of 9.0mmol/l. I couldn't believe it was that high, and so I checked it again, and this time it was 8.7mmol/l.

  That was still a bit higher than I hoped for, and obviously much, much higher than the Contour meter. Fortunately the good thing about using three different meters is that if two approximately agree, then that is most likely the true amount. The Sinocare meter read 8.0mmol/l, and at that point the idea of two in agreement went out the window. All I can say is the Contour meter reading was a fantasy, and that my real blood glucose level was somewhere in the eights - neither good nor bad.

  Even my blood pressure measurement went wrong on my first attempt. At the very end of the reading the Velcro strap came loose. It is possible it caught the correct reading as that happened, and if so it was a very low 90/41. I tried again, and this time I put a little pressure on the Velcro strap to stop it coming undone. After I mess up like that I would expect my blood pressure to rise, and maybe it did, but it was till very good at 100/43 - nicely in the "optimum" area.

  When I bought my new shoes in Tesco yesterday, I was under the disbelief that today would be warm and sunny. I had visions of taking those shoes out for a walk - partly to start breaking them in, and also in the crazy idea that they might be unusually comfortable. As I write this it is now quite grey out, and the first rain may not be long in arriving. I definitely do not want to take my brand new white shoes out in the rain on their first day.

  I am very inclined to write another day off on account of the weather, but I might get brave and go out in an older pair of shoes, but if I do I doubt it would be to go further than the local shops, and even then only if I can find a break in the rain. It is probably time I had a rummage around Poundstretcher, but it is not essential, and I may just lie on my bed, seizing up, and  quietly reading for much/most of the day. Hopefully I can control my appetite while doing so.