This morning there are nice sunny spells. I know this because the forecast says there are, but it seems no one bothered to tell the real weather because it is actually quite grey outside. There are patches of white cloud between the grey clouds, and maybe one of those will open up and let a few rays of sunshine through - but I am not holding my breath waiting for it to happen. The afternoon is forecast to be dull, and like yesterday there could be some rain in the evening. The afternoon high will probably be no higher than 9° C, but it could always be less. Tomorrow may start and end warmer than the middle. From 7am to 8pm the temperature may only be a chilly 7° C.  Most of the day may feature light rain.

  Yesterday was one of "those" days. What one of "those" days actually is will be revealed as I describe my day, but a good starting point is that my right elbow and shoulder, the barometer function on some of my thermometers, and the weather forecast all agreed that rain was on the way.

  I got up yesterday, and my right shoulder and elbow were both very sore. While I was writing this electronic diary, yesterday morning, I put on both an elbow support bandage and one for my right wrist. I couldn't think of any way of supporting my shoulder in a similar fashion without rendering it immobile - and that would put a right clinch on the day. Some Ibuprofen seem to provide the best relief, but was far from a cure.

  Yesterday was one of those days where I didn't need to do a thing, although there were several optional things I could, and did end up doing. Once I finished writing I saw nothing wrong in going into intense lazy mode - if laying down, reading a book could relaly be judged as very lazy. It didn't seem to be long before it was lunch time, but before I sorted out some lunch I put three t-shirts into soak in detergent, and in doing so I, all bar one item, emptied my laundry basket.

  My lunch was two wholemeal cheese and onion rolls. Apart from a long lingering taste of onion, even after brushing my teeth (and tongue), they were very tasty. After eating it was back on my bed for a bit more reading. I am sure I closed my eyes for a while, but I don't think I actually had a snooze. Having said that, I did have a lot of difficulty trying to convince myself that I was tired in the late evening as I tried to go to sleep for the night. Maybe I did snooze too much during the day.

  Before I went back to my laundry there was another thing I did, and I did it before it became important. I paid off both my credit cards. It may have been because I used a different card for a beer order last month, instead of my usual card, but one card seemed to need a smaller than usual amount to pay it off, and the other slightly more. I think the two combined was less than most months for some reason. I thought I had spent a lot more on Amazon, but on reflection it was just a couple of orders that barely went about the £35 spend to get free delivery.

  Having seen how little I had spent (at least I hope it was less than usual), and bearing in mind my electricity account was well in credit (although I think I will have burned a lot of that credit since the weather got a lot colder this month), I decided it was time to order another big box of beers. This time I made sure I went over the £100 to ensure I got free delivery after the value of my discount had been taken off the grand total.

  This time I was after Xmas/Winter beers. Some are very unhealthy, but very, very, very delicious - and that is three "verys" again one. So it must be good. In total I ordered 20 bottles, and all but a couple are "seasonal" brews. Maybe half are English, and the rest most from Germany or Belgium. I have a feeling that many, mostly the English ales, will not meet with Jodie's approval, but she can drink her own nasty sour fruit beers.

  After ordering the beers I went back to the t-shirts I had left soaking. Fortunately the detergent they were in had not gone cold and slimy, although it probably had fallen a little lower than blood temperature. Three big t-shirts were easier to wash than 10 small pairs of underpants, although the t-shirts did need a more strenuous wringing out. If anything, the stress of doing that may have improved, or even cure my aching elbow and shoulder.

  I did the whole process non stop, and it sort of felt good when I had them hanging up to dry. Once again I did the drying in the dining room with the fan heater on low until the evening when I switched to just a desk fan which was far, far cheaper to run, and probably safer to leave unattended overnight. This morning they were all nice and dry.

  Dinnertime was not far away at this point, and like the day before, I had a snack to tide me over until it was time for dinner. It was a mostly a healthy sort of snack of what was described on the label as a "Giant Jaffa Orange", but before pealing it was possibly a tiny bit smaller than the "big" oranges bought from one of the smaller international supermarkets. Once I had managed to get the thick peel of it seemed a fair bit smaller. The other thing i had was a nice "red apple" with a chunk of cheese.

  Maybe it was an hour later I had my dinner. It was one single item, and maybe the earlier fruit had primed me correctly to make that one single item seem sufficient. It was the Tesco chicken jalfrezi I had found on the reduced price shelf on Friday. To be honest it was not very nice, and I don't think it had anything to do with it probably being a single day past it's sell be (possibly use by) date. The rice seemed gritty, the meat seemed tough and tasteless, and the curry sauce was just not Indian enough.

  I passed a few hours last night watching a recording of The Who playing a concert in Hyde Park some years ago. It was being shown on Sky arts. The Who are one of those bands that have had some excellent songs, but I don't think I really like them in bulk. I think I have only owned one of their albums, and I would never choose to go to one of their concerts. However, the recording was very watchable, and I could always just listen to it while doing something else on my computer.

  I think it ended at 7pm, or possibly 7.30pm, and it felt like it should have been bedtime. I was certainly starting to yawn now and then. I did lay on my bed reading until gone 8pm, and then I brushed my teeth and got into bed. I read for somehing like another 30 minutes and then tried for sleep. Unfortunately, while I seemed to think I was tired, my brain had other ideas, and refused to calm down.

  By about 9.30pm I was up again, and consulting Open Street Maps on my computer. Earlier in the day I had seen something about our local river, The Ravensbourne. Somehow that reminded my of my lunchtime walks at work that was mostly alongside The River Wandle. As that river approached Wandsworth it is sent below the shopping centre and high street in a culvert. before it gets there it is sent down a new channel with effectively a right angle bend in the river.

  I had found that bend in the river once, and although I knew how I had found it, I didn't really know where it was in respect to the rest of Wandsworth, and last night, instead of going to sleep as intended, I had to get up to pinpoint it on the map. The curious things was that when I realised where it was, I found that if I had walked another 100 feet I would have ended up on Garret Lane, and known exactly where I was.

  I spent quite a bit of time consulting the map. I didn't follow the route from end to end, but I was aware of a Wandle River trail, and I did follow some of it to see where it went. I suspect it would be a very long walk, but in the highly unlikely event that my health improves an awful lot by next summer, I could be inclined to do some more exploring of the River Wandle. I also saw a few other potentially interesting routes for walks around there. Back when I was at work, and feeling fit, I often would take a walk to come home via Wandsworth Common station, and I found several interesting ways of getting there, including going past Wandsworth Prison, but I now realise I could have extended, or varied that walk a lot to see other places.

  I have no idea what time I went back to bed, and even less idea what time it was when I went to sleep. I know it seemed to take ages to relax mind and body enough for sleep, but I think I was asleep before midnight. I seemed to sleep OK, but I do (unfortunately) remember some of a most unpleasant dream. In the dream, someone, and for some very spurious reason I think it was my mum, had had a diarrhoea attack in the bath, and I had to clear it up. It was extremely unpleasant, and I didn't even have the benefit of any rubber gloves. Even the shower attachment I was using to help wash out the tub seemed to stop working. I am glad I woke up when I did.

  Once again it seemed to require very little effort to sleep late this morning. It was just after 7am when I got up. I sort of felt OK-ish. Once again, when I went for a pee I only had a pee, and despite thinking I didn't go at all yesterday, I didn't have a poo. In one respect that didn't matter because when I got on the scales I found I had lost some more weight again, around 600 grams, and my weight is now getting back to where I got it down to many weeks ago now (until something went mysteriously wrong).

  My blood glucose measurements are best described as being "Satisfactory" (the same "satisfactory" used on school reports when the teacher was reluctant to say good or bad). The Contour meter read 8.3mmol/l, and while 7.3 would have been more more what I was aiming for, it is probably a fraction better than satisfactory. The GlucoRX meter did give a good reading of just 7.9mmol/l. The Exactive meter first gave a reading of something ludicrous like 9.6mmol/l, but using a fresh test strip it then read 8.8mmol/l. I would have preferred something a bit lower, but even that is good enough. I just wish that new crappy meter could produce more consistent readings.

  Last night I not only could not relax enough for sleep, but also to get a decently low blood pressure reading. I tried a couple of times, and got systolic readings as high as 130mmHg. That is in the "high normal" region, and so OK as such, but I wanted lower. In the end I forgot to try again a bit later when I might have been more relaxed. This morning I must feel more relaxed (possibly because I have finally done a very large poo) and my first reading, just now, was a very low 97/42. That may been even lower than "Optimum" and sometimes I wonder if that is just a little too low.

  Maybe for as much as the last hour, we have had, and are still still having the forecast sunny spells. Some have been a bit wishy-washy, but at the moment it is like full sunshine. That makes me revise my thoughts - evening knowing in could be back to dullness in a few hours. I know that Jodie is busy today, and I won't be seeing her for a beer tasting session. I am now wondering if I dare put on my thickest winter coat, and go for a short walk today - maybe just once around the park. The only downside is if the cold air gets my lungs and chest aching. If I do go out, and start feeling uncomfortable I will turn around and come straight home, but it is a big IF about going out at the moment. Maybe the main thing in it's vavour is that I have nothing else to do.