It is interesting that the BBC forecast for today shows black clouds, and almost non stop light rain until almost sunset. The Met Office say a few showers, but most of the day will be dry with light/white clouds. Once again the BBC say a max of 15° C, and the Met Office say 16° C. Both forecasters agree that tomorrow will be dry with a lot of sunny spells, and the temperature should reach 16° C.

   Yesterday was one of those days where I put my entire energy and attention on waiting - waiting for my latest beer delivery. In case it should arrive early I quickly got in a shower, and washed my hair. I thought I might possibly go out if the delivery was early enough.

  Apart from the shampoo and shower, I did just about nothing of any great consequence all morning, and a little way into the afternoon. After my shower I did put in two t-shirts, a pair of lounge pants, and a couple of pairs of underpants in to soak, ready for my attention later. I also ended up having a small snack for lunch - something I was trying not to do, but I thought 5 hot Pepperami sticks shouldn't do much harm.
   It was about 2.30pm when my beers were delivered. It was 12 bottles of The Hogsback Breweries A Over T barley wine. A over T actually stands for "Aromas Over Tongham" (the village where the beer is brewed), and not the more obvious arse over tit - which could also be true for a 9% beer.

  I have to admit it was a very daring order. I am not aware of ever trying beer from the Hogs Back brewery before, and the write up for this beer/barley wine was very "floral". I wondered what the reality might be. It was little more than 5 minutes after it being delivered that I opened a bottle and tried it. It was wonderful, and everything I hoped for. I'm sure that even a single bottle, on a slightly empty stomach, left me a little tipsy for a short while.

  A little later I forced myself to go to the bathroom where my laundry was now soaking in almost cold water (and detergent). When bending over the bath to agitate the clothes in the detergent, I felt my chest start to hurt a bit like angina, and maybe a bit more like heartburn. I think it may have been muscular in origin, but I have no idea what the process was. What I did wonder was if I was going to finish the job.

  Fortunately, every time I stood up to wring the clothing item out, the pain went away again. Also fortunately is that the pain was just annoying rather than too painful. I found I did the three rinses, and the conditioner, wringing out everything between the stages, to actually be fairly unbothersome. That is to say it was a bit boring, but didn't seem taxing, and the pains never lasted once I was standing up. I hung it all up to dry on the big clothes horse in the front room - where it still is as I write this. It may just be feeling cold, but it may still be slightly damp.

  One reason it might be damp is that the front room, and also the dining room are quite cool. I think the problem is that my neighbours on the other side of the wall in those rooms are away. Normally I seem to benefit from their powerful central heating. I hope they come back from their holiday soon !

  After that burst of energy, and probably the barley wine earlier, I felt a bit peckish, and could wait for dinnertime. I had two small (35gm) packets of crisps to satisfy my cravings. I did manage to resist adding to that. I had considered a big chunk of cheese to go with the crisps, but I decided resistance was not futile !

  I also decided that what I wanted for dinner was something known to be good for my blood glucose levels, and possibly useful for possible weight loss. Being nice and tasty was another requisite. I could have knocked up something low sugar and low calories, but the nice and tasty was tricky. I gave in and ordered a couple of chicken shish kebabs - one for last night, and one for today.

  The delivery arrived while I was watching Star Trek (I think it was Deep Space Nine). The first chicken shish kebab seemed a bit small. On the plus side the kebab shops menu allowed me to select what sort of salad I wanted - basically everything except cucumber. It was delicious (after adding my own chilli sauce), but I didn't find it filling at all. My only option was to eat what should have been tonight's dinner as well. It seemed zero effort to eat two portions, but I did feel full enough at the end.

   I was worried that the kebabs, plus extra chilli sauce, might have repercussions when I went to bed. Fortunately I only got a possible hint of heartburn, and a couple of simple Rennies tablets killed even that hint. Later on, while I was asleep, the chilli sauce did make me sweat a bit, and once again my pillow got damp. I had spent a fair time reading in bed until I was interrupted by a phone call from Lee.

  He wanted some advice, although mainly he just waffled about all sorts of rubbish. In the end I tried to tell him a long boring story, and either his phone battery went dead, or he got bored and hung up ! It was more like 10pm when I got to sleep, instead of the more intended 9pm.  It seemed like I probably slept well. I half remember some dreams, but the images I can remember are such a jumble that I don't think there is anything to describe now.

  I woke up just before 6am, and decided that was too early. I managed to fall asleep again, but not for long. I was awoken again by agonising cramp in my right leg. I had to leap out of bed to put some weight on my leg to make the pain go away. From then on it seemed pointless trying to get more sleep. The next thing was my usual first visit to the toilet. I did a nice big pee, but no poo (and I still have not, but it may not be long now).

  My choice of dinner, and partly regulating what I ate earlier in the day, definitely worked. In fact it seemed to work better than should be possible. I seemed to have lost 700gm this morning, and that takes my weight down to nearer the low weights I had been achieving before it all seemed to go wrong. I still suspect there was a medical problem rather than eating too much, but what that medical problem was is a mystery, but it did seem to affect my blood pressure and blood glucose as well.

  This morning there was good news about my blood glucose measurements. It would have been nice if they were even better, but it got off to a fair start with the Contour meter that read 8.6mmol/l. That was a little higher than I would have liked, but not untypical. The GlucoRX meter gave a much better reading of 8.0mmol/l, and the Sinocare meter agreed with that exactly. All three average to 8.2mmol/l, and that is pretty good.

  My blood pressure seems to be back down to my more typical readings. They haven't been a lot higher, and have been mostly in the "Optimum" area for ages now. This morning it was 106/47, and that is almost identical to yesterday. Last month I had several readings a little higher, and on one morning the systolic pressure went as high as 123mmHg, but even that is still in what my blood pressure meter says is "normal".

  The main event for today will be my usual lunchtime in The Jolly Farmers pub. I am looking forward to my usual two pints of Guinness, and possibly a third pint depending on how I feel, and what entertainment there is. If I believe the Met Office forecast I should be able to get there, and back, in the dry. If it should be that the BBC weather forecast is correct I will get wet. At the moment it seems that the Met Office is proving to have a forecast closer to reality.