Clear skies in the night meant a very cold start to today. The forecast said just 6° C, but two of my thermometers said it was closer to just 5° C. We only just avoided a frost by a couple of degrees !The good news is that the sky is still clear, and while it is very cold outside, full sunshine shining through my bedroom windows is already warming the room up. The full on sunshine may only last until 11am, but the afternoon should still see plenty of sunny spells. The temperature should peak at 14° C, or even possibly 15° C.  Tomorrow may start at 8° C, and there should be sunny spells during the morning. The afternoon may be mostly dull, but the temperature should rise to 14° C. From 5pm onwards it will probably get wet, although on from light rain.

   Almost my entire morning yesterday, was dedicated to waiting to hear when my box of beers would be delivered. I really did very little except read and wait after I finished writing. I actually got the notification that the delivery would take place between 14:54 and 15:54 before I had finished writing.

  Even though I knew the limits of when my beer delivery would take place, like waiting for any delivery, I cannot relax properly, and I can't seem to want to get distracted by other stuff. So basically I did nothing until my beers were delivered at just before 4pm. Nothing included not bothering to wash, and not bothering to have any lunch, although I must confess I did scoff two small (35gm) packets of plain crisps, and a handful of salted peanuts.

  It was a relief when I finally spotted a van pulling up near to outside my house, and a man bringing a big box to my front door. The picture on the left, taken by the courier as proof of delivery, shows me about to pick up the quite heavy box - not using approved lifting techniques ! Actually, looking at my stance, it does seem I was bending my knees a bit more than bending my back. Maybe I do these things automatically without realising it. I must have been trained well during my apprenticeship in 1971 !

  Upon inspecting my order I realised I could have made a few small changes then, and in the future.  There were beers in their that I had expectations of being nice enough that I should have bought two bottles of them. I did order two bottles of a Greek beer with the idea it might impress Angela and her son who both like Greek stuff. On the other hand, I might have ordered two bottles of a barley wine in the expectation that it would be wonderful - it wasn't.
  It wasn't a pure barley wine, but some unholy mix between imperial stout and barley wine. I have been lead to believe that the Cyrillic (or whatever) writing on the label translates to "made in England", and indeed this stuff was brewed in an English brewery from "traditional recipes".  It seemed to have a warm urine sort of smell, which was a bit off putting, but it tasted OK, albeit an odd taste. The 10% alcohol gave it a nice feel when in the mouth, but I was not over impressed with the taste.

  I guess I also expected it to be a darker colour. Overall I don't think I would recommend it beyond "worth a try", and my feeling is that mixing Russian imperial stout and barley wine is not a good idea. It was the only beer I drank yesterday, and mainly because I am always conscious of Jodie whining that "I didn't save any for her" 0 which is a very lopsided argument. She has tried hundreds of beers and never saved any for me, although she does usually bring beers with her for out Sunday and Thursday afternoon beer tasting sessions.

  I drank that beer while reading stuff of the internet (mainly https://www.theregister.com/). I must say that until the publisher of the The Register were taken over by an American company it was all about computers and stuff, but now it includes far more boring stuff about financial things, although still about technology companies. Fortunately it still covers stuff about some of the more interesting space stuff.

  It was about 5.30pm when I reheated the Singapore Fried Noodles that were part of the takeaway I had ordered the previous day. For one thing I was feeling hungry, and I was feeling like I couldn't wait to start eating it for the sake of eating it, plus I hoped eating it early, at about 5.45pm, might lessen the chance of late night heartburn.

  I had ordered two portions of Singapore Fried Noodles the previous night, and it was because the first time I had tried them I thought they were wonderful. Last night's portion seemed not quite wonderful, and I swear it was different to what should have been it's twin, cooked at the same time. Somehow it seemed less flavourful, and maybe it was slightly more greasy. I still enjoyed it, but maybe I am less keen to order any more from the Noodle House. For one thing they are very expensive when ordered via Just Eat.

  I gave up watching TV when Star Trey: Voyager ended at 8pm, and went to read my book in bed. I had put my heater on low many times during the day because it was feeling very cold while I was so idle. Once I started to eat I turned the heater off. By the time I went to bed it was starting to feel cool, but under the duvet I felt fine. I was intending to get to sleep by, or even before, 9pm, but once again I was inconvenienced by heartburn.

  That heartburn/indigestion was an lot milder than the night before, but I still had to get up and sit in my desk chair in front of my PC while a couple of antacid tablets (Rennies) helped reduce the discomfort. At that point I turned the heater on low because it was not very warm in my bedroom by then. I lost track of time, but I think I may have gone back to bed an hour later, and I felt OK enough to finally fall asleep. If I recall correctly, I turned the heater off before I got back into bed.

  Once asleep I must have had a lot of deep sleep because I don't remember much about the night. I think, but it sort of feel dreamlike, that I got up to pee a couple of times. I do remember just a few seconds of a dream - for obvious reasons. I am unsure if it was at a pub or at some sort of private party, but Miranda (singer and daughter of Angela), and a friend, had decided to dance topless, but otherwise wearing black frilly underwear on top of a table).

  This morning there was the usual good and bad news. I still have not had a poo, and I wonder if I am constipated, or it is just running late, but after a good pee I found the scales saying I had lost 300gm since the same time yesterday morning. The good and bad also includes my blood glucose readings. Two meters, the Contour and the GlucoRX meter gave OK readings, 8.4mmol/l, and 8.6mmol/l respectively, but the Sinocare had a very different idea. I tried it twice, and both times it gave a terrible reading of 10.1mmol/l - well into the danger zone. I can only imagine that it is reacting to some chemical in my blood that the other two meters react differently to.

  Oh well, at least my blood pressure is still excellent at 104/44. The big question now is whether I can improve on anything today. This morning is bright and sunny, albeit quite chilly. It tempts me to think about going out, possibly on a train ride, with a camera, but this afternoon may only feature sunny spells. That could still be good, but there is always some doubt about it.

  I think I am sure that I will go out today, but I suspect it will be no further than to Tesco. There are some things I need from Tesco, although if it wasn't for their stupid self service checkouts I might have preferred to go to Iceland. Another thing I should probably do today is to do some laundry. I am starting to fill the washing basket, and there is probably already too much to do in one session. maybe that should make it imperative that I stay in (apart from a shopping trip) and do something useful for a change.

  Before I forget, I was in touch with Angela again yesterday. I asked her if her pain was any better yesterday morning. Her very curt reply of "it is worse" was enough to convince me the poor girl was in terrible pain. She later messaged me to say that she was expecting a call from the "CNS". I am not sure what CNS is, but she later said she had had that call (or was it a visit ?) and her medication had been altered/changed. I have yet to find out how she feels today.

  I just checked https://www.allacronyms.com/CNS/medical, and it seems likely that CNS, in this setting, refers to "Clinical Nurse Specialist".

  One interesting bit of information is that next Tuesday she goes to hear the result of the biopsy, and also to hear what treatment is being planned for whatever the biopsy revealed - which may not actually be a cancer. She said that her daughter, will be going with us. I am unsure if "us" means Angela and her husband, or is just incorrect grammar for Angela and Miranda. It seems strange for both her daughter and husband to accompany her, and I would imagine the hospital would encourage three people crowding into a possible small office. It may be possible that her husband may not be going with her, and sometimes it does sound like he is providing little or no support - after all, why does she need to confide in me ? Another curiosity is that on a well known social media website, her husband is not listed as one of her friends ! (Although he does list her as a friend !).