Today has almost started off warm, although my thermometers say closer to 13° C than the forecast 14° C. Also it looks very wet outside, and at the very least it is a fall of drizzle. It is forecast to be dry until 5pm. If reality and the forecast meet later there should be sunny spells from 1pm until sunset. From 3pm the temperature may drop to 12° C, and then strong winds and more rain will raise it to 13° C again. The latest revision shows strong winds only for 8pm. The temperature will continue to fall through the night, and tomorrow may start at just 7° C. Sunny spells from as early as 9am through to sunset should keep the temperature about the same, but clear skies tomorrow night will see the temperature dip to just 4° C by Friday morning.

  It seemed like I had done almost nothing yesterday, but looking back at my bed when I got up, I remembered that I had been modestly productive until early evening when I have to admit I only had one thing to show for it, but more about that further down the page.

  After I had finished writing, and had my usual rest after it, I very slowly sprung into some action. I washed my hair, and had a shower. Once I had finished washing me I got out my big builders buckets, and put some laundry in to soak. Once I had dried myself I started a new, and well overdue job. It was to change the sheets, pillowcases, and duvet cover on my bed. It was essential to strip the bed down to mattress no matter what I did.

  The old sheet was just sort of laying on the mattress protector, and the mattress protector itself was starting to slide off the bed ! On the assumption that the elastic straps that should hold the mattress protector in place had lost their elasticity over the years, I used strips of duct tape to anchor it in place (hopefully). After replacing all the smelly and wrinkled linen, I was looking forward to going to bed yesterday. The only slight problem is that I had used a fabric conditioner that I don't really like. Mostly it is that the alleged "fresh" smell seemed far too strong.

   After a light, and slightly late lunch, of rice crackers and cheese, I had another rest, and then got back to the laundry I had left in soak earlier. It was a fairly big load, or seemed to be, but it was only one t-shirt, one pair of lounge pants, and maybe half a dozen pairs of underpants. I should have been able to do the three rinses and the fabric conditioner non stop, but I was saved by a strong desire for a pee 2/3rd of the way through.

  I had my pee, and wasted a bit of time on the internet before getting back to the laundry. I did the last rinse, and the fabric conditioner, and then I hung it all up to dry on the big clothes horse in the dining room. I got the drying off to a better start using the fan heater on low. That was almost everything I did yesterday, but there were a few other things I did, and one of them was cooking my dinner.

  It was a bit after 5pm when I opened up the freezer compartment of the old fridge. There was still loads of ice in there, but I think most things had defrosted. That included a packet of microwaveable chips, and a bag of spicy chicken wings. I tipped out the bag of spicy wings onto a roasting dish, and put them in the mini oven/grill. I was a bit concerned that it did seem they had defrosted. Even the microwavable chips were no longer frozen solid.

  The chips only took a few minutes to cook in the microwave. I assume it was because they were halfway between frozen and thawed that a few almost burned, and a few were looking a bit pale. With the foreknowledge that microwave chips are very inferior to real chips, I found they were still "sort of" enjoyable with some slat and vinegar. I had given the spicy wings about 35 minutes of cooking time instead of the recommended 25 minutes.

  I wanted to be sure those wings were very well cooked because I was worried that they could be starting to go off after being partly thawed for a day or so. I started eating them very carefully, checking for hints of nasty tastes or smells, but on the surface they seemed OK.  They probably were OK in that respect, but they seemed quite greasy, and it was quite a big portion. Later on I would have doubts about just how safe they were.

  I watched a fair bit of TV last night, although for a while I did not pay the TV much attention. I can't remember what inspired it, but I decided I would top up the battery, and do all the updates that had accumulated since the last time I had switched on that laptop. I found the battery to be completely flat, and that had allowed the backup battery to discharge as well. I had to set the correct time and date before I could continue the boot up process.

  Once booted up it took some time before it announced there were 154 updates I needed to install. Fortunately it is a quick process (unlike a Windows computer with all the reboots they have to do). I guess it took about 20 minutes until all updates were done, and I could continue to work as they installed. With that done I could shut the laptop down, but leave the power supply charging the battery.

  Through all this time my guts were playing up. If I hadn't eaten those semi defrosted spicy wings I wouldn't have considered something like food poisoning, but that was uppermost in my mind. I was sort of waiting until it got so bad that I threw up. It did feel like that could be a possibility a few times, but I was fairly sure it was just acid indigestion because those wings were so greasy.

  With hindsight I realised it was of n great significance, but I thought I was also constipated as well. Maybe I was in a way. I certainly don't recall having a poo earlier in the day, but it must have been around 9pm when I finally managed to go. It was really just a matter of patience rather than try to force the issue (although I did try some of that as well). Went I went it was far from spectacular. A poo just sort of slipped out. It was neither big nor small - I guess I might call it medium.

  I had hoped having a poo would help a bit, but I don't think it did all that much except make me feel happy that something had happened. I had to take a few doses of antacids to help calm the top end of my guts down, and they did not give complete relief. For that I just had to be patient - and not be too bothered about getting to sleep in the early hours of the morning again.

  It was all made worse when I noticed I had an update for my desktop computer as well. It was just one update, but it was a big one - a new Linux kernel with some supporting files. It probably took around 15 minutes to complete, and when finished it was one of the very few updates that mandated a computer re-start. I had to save and shot down everything running on the PC and restart it. That took a time because a few things needed changing on the first start after the new kernel was installed. Once it started I suppose I didn't have to do it, but I restored all my programs again, and that took a few more minutes.

  My stomach still felt slightly queasy, but it was feeling a lot better by then, and I tried for sleep. If I recall correctly, it was after 3am. I got into bed and thought I am never going to get back to sleep now. It may have seemed longer, but I guess that in reality I was fast asleep 5 minutes later. I was still getting up to pee about every two hours, but I managed to sleep through to almost 8am this morning. I know I had some interesting dreams, but I seem to have forgotten them now.

  After getting up I was sure I would be having another poo, but nothing happened. I was concentrating so much on the idea of a poo that I almost forgot to have a pee. I had to go back 5 minutes later for both. After weighing myself I was happy, but also a bit surprised to see I had lost 200gm. That is not a lot by itself, but I try and remind myself that if I could do that every day for a month I would lose a good deal of weight. Sadly it never seems to happen like that.

  My blood glucose readings were not great, but mildly good this morning. After re-doing one of them they produced quite consistent results. The Contour meter read 8.7mmol/l - a bit higher than desirable, but still sort of OK. The GlucoRX meter read slightly better at 8.6mmol/l. The Sinocare meter gave the highest reading, but it was still in the same sort of area at 8.9mmol/l, although that is only just under the level where I would mark it in light pink as a sort of early warning of oncoming danger.

  This morning my blood pressure is identical to yesterday, 113/47. That is perfectly good, but not as good as I can usually manage. I guess there is a bit of stress involved. This morning I need to get cleaned and polished prior to going out for my usual Wednesday drink in the Jolly Farmers. One bit of light stress is that I have only just started believing that next Wednesday will be Xmas Day, and the Jolly Farmers is (I think) closed all day. I think she may be working in there on Saturday, but today is effectively my last chance to give Ayse (my favourite barmaid) a Xmas card.

  That reminds me of another thing I did yesterday, although in truth it is more like something I didn't do. I managed to intercept the postman as he passed my house. I already knew from previous chats with him, that the last part of his round is to empty the local pillar box. I asked him if we could pretend he had just done so, and gave him all my Xmas cards that I was posting. He was happy to take them from me, and that save a short walk.

  After my lunchtime drink I have stuff to do before I get relaxed for the evening. If nothing else I need to get the last stuff out of the old fridge's freezer section, and mop it out. All that is left is just vegetables, and they will be well defrosted by then. I don't think I will try and save them. In the new fridge, with it's three shelf freezer section, I can stock it with more frozen food, including a selection of frozen vegetables.

  As well as removing the remaining ice from that old freezer section, there is a big puddle in there, and it will be even bigger this afternoon after I have left the door open. Once that is dried out I can move the fridge a bit more and sweep out more fluff - probably. I might see if I can shift a few things around to make a wider path from the front door to the kitchen for when the men from Argos wheel the new fridge in some time tomorrow.

  I must admit it does bother me that they could arrive as early as 7am. It must be years since I have been up and dressed, ready to receive visitors at that time. Of course sods law says they will arrive just as me, Jodie, and Michael are just reaching peak drunkenness during out afternoon beer tasting session. It would make life a lot simpler if they could mesage me to give an approximate delivery time tomorrow, but I don't think they do.