09:19 GMT

  Yesterday was horrible, but maybe only up to mid afternoon...maybe. There was a bit of brightness first thing in the morning, but the sky seemed to cloud over in mere minutes, and then the rain started to fall. Most of the rain was fairly light, and some was just drizzle, but it was dark and cold, and the rain was very persistent. The forecast said it wouldn't stop until 7pm, but there may have been a few brief spells without rain a bit before that. During the middle of the day it seemed like it would never stop ! I suppose it was not that cold, but a maximum of just 13° C for a couple of hours didn't feel like much.
  After yesterday's doom and gloom it seemed double nice plus that this morning features non stop sunshine for a few hours, and then sunny spells almost to sunset. The day started at just 7° C, and the sunshine should warm it up to 13° C by 1pm. After that the temperature will dip a couple ofn degrees, but by 11pm it should be back up to 13° C....then te rain starts again. That rain may stop in the small hours of tomorrow, and tomorrow will/may start grey but dry. From 9am until midday there will be light rain or drizzle, but the afternoon may be mostly dry. The temperature may reach 15° C, and even under a grey sky that may not feel too bad.

  Yesterday's rain had a profound affect on me. In basic terms it meant I didn't really do much, and in less basic terms it still meant I didn't do much at all. I certainly did not go out in that non stop rain. That meant no pub at lunchtime, and no shopping after. It also meant I missed my first chance to try my new leather jacket out in the rain.

  As I was writing yesterday's "electronic blog" (this thing you are reading) I felt more and more miserable.....well, maybe miserable is the wrong word. I guess despair was closer to how I felt as I saw the rain falling outside as I was writing. I think the worst aspect was that it was mostly light rain, but it just kept on falling like it would never stop. Although the weather forecast can't really be trusted to even get the date right, it said the rain would last until evening. The look of the sky seemed to confirm that.

  My original plan was to go out in less bastard rain in my new leather jacket, and walk to the pub. I did come close to it, and I even considered just walking around the block so the rain could wash the leather in the hope it would finally kill the slightly sweaty smell of it. It is fading now that it has been aired, and worn for a few hours, but I feel sure a walk in the rin would speed things up.

  One reason I decided I would definitely not go to the pub was that it is so hard to do up the coat once it has been fully unzipped. I can see over my gut enough to see the ends of the zip, and should be able to attach the two halves, but every time I lean forward to do that the leather seems to billow outwards and block the view. That is so annoying, and it would be quite embarrassing to do that struggle in the pub. I may have had to walk home with the coat open, and the would go against what it is for.

  After I had finished writing, and had my usual short rest, I had a shower because I thought there was still a chance I might go out. I had thought of forgetting the pub, and just go shopping in Tesco, but I couldn't be bothered to do even that. Maybe it was depression or maybe it was despair. Perhaps it was both and something else as well. Who knows ? In an effort to do something useful, I put what would have been my bath towel after the shower, but seemed to be smelling a bit stale, in to soak in bio detergent.

  During the course of the day I did return to that towel several times, and those included during some commercial breaks while watching TV in the evening. I managed as many as 10 rinses before giving up for the day. Wringing out what I would describe as a medium sized bath towel is rather hard work, and 10 rinses was not enough to get the rinse water staying mostly bubble free. As happens too many times, I will have to finish it this morning. Fortunately just another 4 or 5 rinses may see the job done.

  Before I started watching TV, starting with the 6 O'clock news, I passed the time with a mixture of snoozing, reading my book, and reading some stuff on my PC. There was one interruption as I stopped for some lunch. It was two slices of almost plain cheese on toast. I added some mixed herb and seeds "BBQ dressing" before I grilled the cheese, and that made it nicer, although I always seem to forget how even plain cheese on toast can be so delicious.

  The afternoon could be described as relaxing, but ultimately it was often boring despite having a few distractions. The same was true after dinner when watching TV. I can't seem to remember if it was before or after dinner that I had a snack that got out of control. I opened up a packet of "Cheddars" that had been in the cupboard so long that they must have been coming up to their "best before date", and possibly after it.

  They tasted fine, and apart from a couple at the end I started eating them from,  they were still nice and crispy. They are very moorish, and I found I was absently minded reaching out for another and another. I had no intention of eating the entire pack, but that was what I did. When I think of it, it must have been before dinner because I had originally thought my dinner might be more than the frozen fish pie ready meal, but after that I made a point of eating nothing more.

  My evening's entertainment was drawn from the usual TV programmes I usually watch. The last was Have I Got News for You, and I think I yawned for most of it. It finished at 11pm and I went straight to bed. I had brushed my teeth during one of teh commercial breaks, and once the TV was off I could get into bed, turn the light out, turn over, and in probably less than 10 minutes I was fast asleep.

  My sleep was interrupted a few times by the need to get up and have a pee. It was also interrupted for a short while after waking up from a dream, and trying to think about what I had just dreamed. It is not always possible, but I like to try and work out what inspired my dreams. The closest I could think of an inspiration was the evening's Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, but it was still a bit vague - even when a few tiny bit of the dream might have matched things in that episode.

  I dreamed I came across a woman, maybe in her early 30s, who said I used to write to her. She was quite tall, and slim, but not very attractive (maybe a bit too tall). She also had something like a speech impediment. My thought was that maybe she had been born deaf, and only learned to speak later in life. She didn't seem to be deaf in the dream, but still her speech was odd, and it made her sound like she was stupid of something.

  She seemed to like me a lot, and produced a sheaf of hand written letters that she said had influenced her to like me. I looked at a couple of the letters, although I only read a few random words, but somehow it did seem to be in my style even if the writing itself was in perfect joined up script - something I have never managed in my life. She dropped one letter, and I stooped tp pick it up. As I did so I wondered just how much she liked me, and so I stroked the bottom of her leg as I stood up. She didn't flinch, or complain, and if anything she seemed to get a thrill from it.

  It seemed like a good omen for the future, but like so many dreams, I woke up before things could go where I was imagining they might go. I guess I was wake for maybe 10 minutes considering not just where the idea for the dream came from, but also imagining what might have happened if it had been real life. Then, maybe, the thought came to me that I was wasting valuable sleeping time, and I fell asleep again. If there was a follow up dream it left no memory as far as I am aware.

  This morning was one of those semi rare mornings when I went to the toilet after waking up, and did not on a large pee, but also a hefty, and a bit uncomfortable poo.The best thing is that I shouldn't have to worry about needing a poo later (although In would not completely rule that out). The worst thing is that even with that big poo and big pee, I have put on some weight again. This morning it is only 100gm. Even another small pee might have changed that to a loss of 100gm.

  Despite the feeding frenzy of Cheddars, my blood glucose is not too bad this morning, but it was nothing to celebrate either. The Contour meter read 7.7mmol/l - just about good, but nothing exciting. The GlucoRX meter read 6.1mmol/l, and that is rather good. The GlucoFix meter read 7.1mmol/l - just a tiny bit short of being a fraction better than good. That all adds up to a very average average !

  There are several things I have to do this morning before I can enjoy an afternoon with beer tasting with Jodie and (probably) Michael. The first,after I have had a short rest, is to finishing rinsing the small bath towel and get it hung up to dry. With that done I can have a shower. After that I will take a walk to Tesco, and assuming the have a few staffed checkouts open, and there is at least one without a gigantic queue, I can get some essential shopping in. If not, I will have to go to Aldi tomorrow morning.