In BBC world that could be some sunny spells starting from 11am (although there is no hint that it could happen yet). The Met Office predict thick dirty clouds all day long. Both say it will be a dry day, and both agree that this afternoon will be no warmer than 12° C.  Tomorrow may feature grey skies all day long. No rain is forecast, but it may be a degree less cold than today.

  Yesterday started far better than the dull and dreary weather. By mid afternoon it took a turn for the worst, and it was bad on a number of layers, but a bit of it was quite good. The explanation of all that comes later, but at this stage I can say the badness has it's roots in the day before yesterday.

  Yesterday was another day when I slept late again, and it is something that is becoming a habit since the clocks changed from BST to GMT. The funny thing is that the change to GMT was to give extra daylight in the morning. I guess I slept through over an hour of extra daylight.

  It wasn't until almost midday when I had a shower, and then got dressed to go out shopping. I was originally not sure I would have the time for it, but it turned out I had plenty of time, and later I found I had even more time. I went shopping in Aldi rather than Tesco. It seems odd how both supermarkets carry almost the same core groceries, but both have things that the other doesn't have. I am glad that I live in a place where the two supermarkets are only a 5 or 6 minute walk away.

  One thing I definitely wanted from Aldi was a small pack of persimmon fruit. I had a look at what they had in the little supermarket on Catford Bridge, and their Perssimon looked to be almost going rotten. I think I have seen them in Tesco, but only now and then. I also found positively labelled Cox apples. The last lot said Cox on the shelf label, but were only described as English apples on the bag. They were not very nice - the real Cox apples were very nice.

  I'm getting slightly ahead of myself here.... The walk in the gloomy daylight to Aldi was not enjoyable, and I even felt a few hints of developing angina when I got there, and I was partly short of breath, or at least breathing quite deeply. I think I made the right decision to wear one of my thicker coats, and doing the front up. I didn't unzip the front until I was home in the warm again. I didn't seem to feel too warm even inside Aldi.

  After I had got all my shopping, and there was enough to fill my rucksack and two shopping bags, I had quite a weight to carry home. I must admit it felt like hard work, although I didn't have to stop for a breather, and I if I normally walk at about 3mph, I suspect I only managed 2.5mph walking home. It was very nice to get home and drop my bags. After I had put away everything I had bought I started on some lunch.

  Lunch only made use of one thing I had bought from Aldi, and it was a small pack of ham. The previous day I had bought a loaf of sliced Polish sourdough bread (0% sugar !). My lunch, at the end of cooking, was cheese on ham on cheese on toast. That may sound like a lot of cheese, but I was using pre-grated cheese and what seems initially to look like a lot, soon melts down to quite a thin covering. It was very tasty, and I expect I'll do the same today.

  It was not too long after eating, and having a rest that "events" started to happen, and they had their roots in the day before yesterday - Wednesday. On Wednesday I started the day constipated, but fairly close to the time when I went out to the pub I finally managed to have a poo. It was a whopper, and a bit uncomfortable to pass. I decied then and there that I would take a couple of laxative tablets when I was back from the pub. The suggested does was just one tablet.

  Yesterday morning I seemed to go almost OK, but once again it was rather dry. It wasn't until about 2.30am yesterday when those laxative tablets really kicked in. At first it was a fairly normal poo, albeit rather large. Maybe half an hour later I was back on the toilet, and this time it was a lot softer, and there seemed to be a lot of it. From then on I had to make as many as three more visits to the toilets, and the last, just minutes away from when I was expecting Jodie to ring my doorbell, was so sudden that I thought I would have an accident as I rushed to the toilet.

  I think I may have invented a time machine ! The only way I could have produced so much poo yesterday afternoon was if the final one was actually my breakfast this morning passing through before I had even ate it ! This morning I do seem to feel better for a good clear out, but yesterday I was feeling the after effects for the rest of the afternoon. I didn't exactly feel what I could describe as sore, but I felt strange enough that it was putting me off my beer.

  Jodie arrived a bit later than expected because she decided to come here via Lidl - a store that I have avoided for many years when they decided to go 90% self checkout, and the last time I went there it was only because someone else defiantly stood at a staffed checkout until they opened it. Without that I might have just dropped my basket on the floor, and stormed out. These days it is alleged to be a bit better, but it is now a bit beyond my range for a comfortable walk.

  When Jodie arrived, at nearly 4pm, we had a few beers. Jodie definitely didn't like one of them, and I couldn't say that any were specially nice, but they all seemed quite drinkable. As soon as Jodie arrived I sent Michael a text massage to say we were starting to drink if he wanted to join us. he replied he was having trouble at the care home where his demented wife is staying, and that he had no idea when he would be free. I expect his wife was trying to get rid of him, and was getting upset because he wasn't going, and then because she was upset he thought he should stay longer instead of going........

  Jodie said she had to go to a gig in north London after our drink, and would be meeting Alan at 7pm. That meant getting a bus and train, and getting the first train after 6pm might still be cutting it fine. She actually went for the 5.49pm train because she found Alan was already in North London, and drinking "unsupervised" ! I was finding that I was not really enjoying my beer because of my battered guts after all my visits to the toilet earlier. I sent another text massage to Michael to explain why I was expecting to stop drinking far earlier than usual, and it was probably best if I saw him a different time.

   After Jodie left I had an early dinner for a Thursday. I started off very simply with a little pile of "parmentiered" potatoes with salt and black pepper. From my experience of them I would say they were fat chips cut into half inch lengths. There was hardly a hint of salt and black pepper, and I have no idea what the small blobs of what was probably supposed to flavoured butter were supposed to do. I am not sure if they were good or bad for someone whose guts seemed to have taken a beating earlier.

  There were several reasons for having a dessert after that very simple main course. The dessert was apple and cheese, and I had a strong desire to check out the Cox apples I bought, and also to see if an extra week of ripening helped the nasty little apples that were only described as English apples. The Cox apple was delicious, and the other apple had improved with an extra week of ripening, but was still slightly nasty. The cheese was interesting. It was Stratford Blue - made in Lancaster. I got a strong impression that "Stratford Blue" was a made up supermarket name because they couldn't use the more common names for blue cheeses (whose names temporarily escape me). It was fairly nice.

  I was in time to watch full episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager last night, but I think I only half watched them, and sometimes just listened while looking at other stuff on my PC. At 8pm, when Voyager finished, I decided I would read in bed for half an hour or so, and then try for sleep. That is very similar to what happened. I think I got about 2 hours sleep before I woke for a pee.

  I did go for a pee, but there was no urgency for it, and I think I was woken up by some chest pains - half as a result of acid indigestion, and half because once again I had allowed my chest to get cold, and the operation scar tissue was playing up again. I had to get up and take some antacid liquid, and a couple of paracetamols. It was cold sitting up at my PC while waiting for the pains to subside, and I allowed myself the rare luxury of putting the heater on full. It may have taken half an hour to get there, but it felt wonderful to be beyond comfortable, and actually hot for the first time since the summer !

  The antacid liquid seemed to work, but the paracetamols didn't. After waiting half an hour I took a couple of Ibuprofen tablets. They are really good for inflammation pains, and they tend to work quicker than Paracetamols. It may have been 10 to 15 minutes before I felt ready to go back to bed. As soon as I got into bed, and turned over, I started burping. It was the action of the antacid with the stomach acid, but for a bit it felt like I would soon be feeling acidy again, but thankfully that didn't happen.

  Maybe 2 hours after going to sleep again I was awake again, and needing a pee. This was a bigger one and more definitely needed.  When I got back to bed I was stopped from sleeping by a pain in my upper right arm. It felt like a pulled muscle, but at first I thought the heaviest thing I had lifted was my own penis, but then, before I got all excited and boastful, or something, I also remembered that I seemed to have a bit of difficulty pulling up the duvet to my chin. I think doing that was the real reason for the pain, although it still seems to be a very trivial thing to cause that pain.

  I guess I was only awake for 10 or 15 minutes at the very maximum before I was back asleep. I briefly got up again a few more times to pee, and one of those was around 6am. Once again it felt a bit too early to get up, and I also had to consider the lost sleep when I had to get up and calm my chest pains down. I don't think I really needed another two hours sleep, but that is what I got !

  I had heard a few stomach rumbles in the night, and assumed that I would probably still have a poo this morning, but it turned out to be probably no more than a lot of wind. I had a big pee and passed quite a big fart, and then I went to check my weight on the scales. This morning I was a whole half kilogram lighter. That seemed good news. I wondered if my blood glucose would also be nice and low.

 It wasn't ! Once again, two of my blood glucose readings were in the OK - could do better range, and the third was in the much too high area ! The Contour meter read 8.5mmol/l - spot on my previous target before I made 7.5mmol/l my new, and rarely met target. The GlucoRX reading was a bit higher than hoped, but still OK-ish at 8.9mmol/l. The Exactive meter once again gave a completely different reading that was well into the danger zone. I am sure that 10.4 mmol/l can't be anywhere near true. At the end of the month I shall retire that meter.

  My blood pressure is a bit odd in so much as the diastolic pressure and pulse rate is very slightly higher, and I think it is because I need to go for a pee ! The actual reading of Systolic and Diastolic was 105/52 - which despite that very slightly elevated diastolic pressure is still very good.

   As I type this the forecast sunny spells should have started 50 minutes ago. There is not a hint of any cracks appearing in the cold grey sky. I think the Met Office forecast for an all grey day is going to turn out to be correct - except that I think the shade of grey of the clouds at the moment it one less than the Met Office forecast. It is still a very much sludgy sort of grey ! I had thought of trying to force myself out for a bit of exercise, even if only for a single mile of walking, but that was with the idea that we might have had at least a sunny spell or two. Now I think I'll stay in, and after such a late start to the day I am now looking forward to some lunch, and I think it might be cheese on toast again.