This morning started at more acceptable 10° C, but it is a very dull, and very wet morning. We have had heavy rain that started sometime in the early hours. It does seem to have stopped raining as I write this, but the forecast promises more heavy rain until 11am when it should change to a few hours of light rain. It may be dry after that, but at just 12° C it is going to feel very chilly under a grey sky with not even a single ray of sunshine expected. Tomorrow may start with some mist, but after that has lifted/dispersed it should stay dry until midnight. There may be two hours of sunny spells at 5 and 6pm, just as the sun is setting, and so almost worthless.

   Maybe the good thing about today is no pictures of Underground/tube trains. In fact no pictures of anything because although two significant things happened yesterday, they were not exactly photogenic, although I could have taken pictures of bottles of beers !

  I managed to start getting myself ready to do stuff without a long rest after I finished writing yesterday's piece. I think I we preparing to wash my hair, and have a shower before 11am - and that is quite early since I fell into very bad habits. I managed to regulate the temperature of the shower head while washing my hair, and mostly it was at a good temperature. When it came to my shower I could do nothing to regulate the temperature as I showered, and once again the water ended up tepid, or maybe one notch under tepid when I finished.

  Other temperature regulation was to put the heater on full blast while I was in the bathroom so I could come back from my cool ending shower into a nice warm room. It seems like a big switch has been thrown, and we are now experiencing the start of winter. It means I'll be using full power on the heater more and more. It only seems like a fortnight ago I was not happy with having to run the heater for long periods just on low. Now I can see myself burning up the kilowatts more and more until next spring is well under way. This is how my large credit on my electricity bill is going to disappear far too soon.

  I turned the heater back to low when I got back to my bedroom. I would rely on the hair dryer for some extra warmth for a few minutes. Once my hair was blown dry I got dressed ready to go out.  My destination was Aldi. I could have gone to Tesco, and got most of what I bought from Aldi there, but it is always good to check what Aldi might have in stock, and indeed I did find at least one "New" thing. It was a chicken biryiani ready meal.

  I bought some fruit (apples) and vegetables (cauliflower and broccoli) plus some meat and cheese. I managed to stuff my rucksack (after going through the checkout) with four 2 litre bottles of Diet Coke, and two 750ml bottles of Spanish lager. The latter seemed to be new to me, but later in the afternoon Jodie said we had had it before.....except she was convinced that last time it was brewed in Italy, but the bottles I bought yesterday said in plain black and white that it was brewed in Spain.

  My rucksack was obviously very heavy, and I had two shopping bags that were well filled, but nowhere near as heavy. The walk to Aldi was mostly in full sunshine, and it did feel warm in my coat, which was done up before I left home until after I got home. It was close to a pleasant walk. Walking home was a bit slower with all the shopping I was carrying, but it didn't seem to tax me that much. I will admit that by the time I was home I was feeling hot, and maybe that helped reduce some possible aches and stuff.

  After putting my shopping away I had some lunch. It was a very small (3 inches across, or maybe even less) vegetable quiche, and a same size vegetable frittata. Both looked identical, but the bottom of the quiche, but not the sides, was pastry. Both were equally undesirable - not exactly nasty, but heading in that direction. I think I regretted eating them when I could have eaten something a bit healthier, as much as I regret wasting the little money they cost.

  I was quite surprised to find that after eating my lunch, I still had over 2 hours to wait until Jodie arrived for some beer tasting. It was a great excuse (not that I needed one) to lay on my bed and read, and to have a short snooze. Apart from putting the heater on full blast in the dining room, and doing a couple updates on the dining room table computer, there was something else I did before Jodie arrived, and I can't remember what it was !

  Jodie arrived, fully dressed for winter, at about 3.30pm, and then spent ages preparing and cooking her lunch. I opened a can of beer, one that wasn't under Jodie control, and started drinking while I waited. That beer was one of Aldi's own customised cans of Brewdog IPA, and having had one before, was of no further interest by Jodie. Most of the beers we both tasted were OK, although there was one fruit sour that we had opinions about at the opposite ends of the spectrum - I thought it disgusting, and Jodie thought it was wonderful !

  After Jodie announced she had drunk enough (because she would be drinking more with Alan in an hour or two) I opened one more can. It was a hazy IPA, and it was not nice. I used some sugar free lemonade to to make a 50-50 shandy, and it was a lot nicer to drink like that. I must admit that after Jodie left I poured the rest of it down the sink. I put my dinner in the microwave to cook, and went up to my bedroom.

  I expected to see Star Trek, but I forgot it was a Sunday, and the TV schedules are different. Sky Arts, which often comes to the rescue on a Saturday, were showing the musical opera Phantom Of The Opera. Out of curiosity I watched about 5 minutes of it the last time it was shown. Yesterday I didn't leave it on for more time that it takes to quickly change channel. The musical may be great for some ears, but for my ears it grates, and grates horribly !!

  I think I found something else on some channel, but I have no idea what it was. I watched it while eating my dinner - part one. It was the "NEW" Aldi chicken biryiani ready meal. I must admit it was quite a nice snack. It had three pieces of chicken in it, and each one was just a single mouthful. The rice and stuff it was in was quite tasty, but I felt quite under nourished at the end. I ended up having a small apple, a bigger orange, and a chunk of cheese for a sort of dessert.

 I ended up watching a single episode of QI last night. I was going to watch an edition of Have I Got News For You, but I though I was feeling a bit tired. I turned the TV off, and went to bed to read. I didn't read for long before I tried to go to sleep. Two things hindered me. One was a quite mild, but still annoying, bit of indigestion. It was made worse by that old cliché - I felt too hot under the duvet, and too cool to leave even an arm outside. I had hoped to leave the heater off until sometime in the night, but I put it on not long after 9pm.

  The hint of indigestion may have been due to the fact I had not had a poo for 2 days, or maybe it was just for the whole of yesterday - I forget which. I had taken a couple of laxative tablets soon after my dinner, and at one point I wonder if I really needed them. I got up and went to the toilet. I did have a small pee, but in the other department it was still all just wind. I think I managed to get to sleep before 11pm.

  I had one notable dream last night. I can't remember the full details, but one highlight is easy to describe. It was a bit like a comic horror dream. I was with, or maybe just observing a few people exploring a cave system probably next to a volcano. We (or they) had to make a few swift moves to avoid being burning by red hot lava. Suddenly one of the cave walls started to bulge, and red hot lava, although more in the form of coals, burst through, and caught one of the people full on.

  In real life he would have been incinerated, but just like in the comics of the 1950/60s, he was transformed into a living thing made from these glowing red and white hot coals. He didn't change into an evil person, and so that may be one divergence for a comic. He tried to help one of the other men across a chasm, but of course they couldn't actually touch each other. The one thing that made me do my best to remember this was one comedic incident, and it was seen in close up. Not all the man had been converted to coals. One earlobe was still normal flesh, It became apparent that it was itching, and the man tried to scratch it with his red hot fingers, and shouted in pain when he touched it.

  I thought I remembered another dream. I am sure it was very ordinary, and maybe nothing happened. I guess that is why I can't seem to remember anything worth mentioning about it. Thinking back to my night, I am not sure of it was a good night or not. Maybe it wasn't so bad judged by the fact that though I woke up quite a few times, mostly for a pee, I can't recall any trouble getting back to sleep again. One thing I do know for sure was that from about 2am, I was sleeping fully under the duvet despite the heater being on low. It was another cold night - as most will be form now until spring.

  I am happy to say that as well as a pee when I first got up, I managed to have a poo as well. I feel sure it was nothing to do with the laxative tablets I took. It seemed wrong for that. I was also happy to have a second poo before I ate my breakfast. The net result was that this morning I was 300gm lighter than yesterday morning. Since then it is possible the laxative tablets have started to take effect, and I have had a third poo this morning. I have a feeling that will not be the last, and later ones may be explosive once those laxative tablets really take effect !

  Peeing a lot in the night could indicate very high blood glucose levels, but I think the beer I drunk is most likely the culprit. My blood glucose levels were higher this morning, but not that bad. The Contour meter read 8.7mmol/l. That is higher than I prefer, but still well clear of the danger zone. The Sinocare meter agreed with a reading of 8.8mmol/l. This time it was the GlucoRX meter that was the odd one out. It gave a very good reading of 7.5mmol/l, or spot on my current target.

  This morning my blood pressure has an unusually low systolic  pressure of just 97mmHg. It happens now and then, and I really don't know why. The diastolic pressure was a fairly common 45mmHg. Overall I seem to feel mostly OK this morning, although my bottom is slightly sore, and if my predictions are right it could be more sore before the day is over. Oh well, I guess it is a small price to pay for not feeling constipated.

  In one respect, and not a very good one, it is good that this morning is very grey and very wet, and the rest of the day will be horribly dull. It means I am not tempted to go out, maybe not even for just a short outing to a shop. This is good because after taking the laxative tablets last night, it could take the whole day to be sure that my guts have stabilised again. Just half an hour or so after the last visit to the toilet, I can feel another visit coming up soon.

  On such a filthy day I almost feel like drawing the curtains and hiding from the cold greyness outside. I think I may have to invent some stuff to do to keep my amused through the day. One such thing may be more visits to the toilet. I've just been for the fourth time, and it was not trivial. I can foresee there is still more to come. Oh well, at least I have that sort of happy feeling that I am no long constipated !