09:10 GMT

  Yesterday started with the road outside looking wet, but there was no rain until about 6pm, and that was only light rain. The afternoon temperature was 11° C.   It looks like there was rain during the night because the road looks wet again. It is currently about 8° C, and the afternoon should reach 11° C. Like yesterday the first rain today could start at 6pm, and although the clouds are shown as black, only light rain is expected to fall.  The rain, still staying very light, is forecast to continue through the night, and with a few dry hours, through most of tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon could see 12° C.

  Yesterday had it's ups and downs. I did get to Tesco, and that was good. The afternoon beer tasting session was not good. Inn the middle I had a snooze or two, and dared to eat some forbidden (while I am not taking Mounjaro) foods - and I almost got away with it.

  By the time I had finished writing yesterday, it was getting a bit late. I had intended to get back to the two towels I am hand washing, but I didn't want to start the morning feeling knackered because I decided I was most definitely going out shopping for the first time since being discharged from hospital (and possibly before the recommended time). Even if I had got the bath clear of the big buckets I do my laundry in, I was still not sure that getting my "groinal area" "wound" dressing wet if I had a shower. I just had a strip wash with a soapy flannel.

  I felt clean and fresh in all the most places, and so ready to go out in public. Now I must admit I had some doubts about how walking to Tesco might be, but in fact it was fine, and so was the walk back again with a fair amount of shopping. Actually it wasn't quite as good as that. I didn't get any chest pains, but weeks of little use meant my legs were very stiff, and in an ideal world I would have liked a sit down (or even a lie down) when I got to Tesco.

  There is no where to sit in Tesco, and I didn't expect to. I just did little walks between places where I selected stuff to put in my shopping basket.  I was wary about getting too carried away - particularly with regard to weight. I still managed to select enough for quite a large bill at the checkout - maybe I convinced myself that lots of little things weighed less than a few heavy things - or some such silly idea.

  I started off selecting a few (full price, sadly) sandwiches, and then got a couple of bottles of hot pepper sauce. This was despite expecting a delivery of 12 big bottles to arrive today, but on the other hand, I wanted some yesterday, and I had emptied my last bottle the day before.  I ended up with quite a bit of frozen food. That included two lots of ice cream, some very hard to find on the freezer shelves mixed Mediterranean vegetables for roasting, and sweet potato chips.

  There were a few other things I put in my basket before I got to the drinks section. I was tempted to try and lug home 4 two litre bottles of Diet Coke, but I though that might be pushing my luck, and only bought two bottles. I was mindful that the walk there was so easy (apart from aching legs) that I could do another shopping trip today if needed. It might even be enjoyable, and definitely good for my legs.

  Although I had limited the amount I bought, it was still a fair amount to carry. Having said that, it seems so easy to carry heavy bottles and stuff in my rucksack. Like going there, I walked non stop going home, and I didn't even have to slow myself down too much. I felt quite good about it.

  Once home I put most of my shopping away, but I left out a couple of sandwiches. They would be my lunch (originally it should have been some of the left overs from my Kebab order the night before). After stuffing myself with one pack of sandwiches, and one meatball and feta wrap (interesting, but not as nice as hoped), I had a lay down. I did not have enough time for an uncontrolled snooze, but I think I had a short one.

  After that bit of rest I had to prepare for the beer tasting session. Mostly that meant washing up the beer glasses, but I also did a little bit of extra housework like taking out the rubbish bags to the wheelie bins. I also disposed of a ages-past-it's-use-by-date fish pie. I opened it in the garden, and tipped it out halfway down the garden. It definitely reeked when I opened it. I still hoped that a hungry fox might do a clear up job on it. I think that partly happened well after dark. I did see a fox in the darkness of my garden late last night. I also may have seen the fox vomit up what it had eaten, but it was too dark to be sure.

  The beer tasting session was with just Jodie, but Alan did send me the picture on the left. It is for upcoming gigs at The Bricklayers Arms pub in Beckenham - the tiny little pub that gets far too crowded even if an only mildly popular band plays there. In reality, there is really only room for man and his banjo to play there.

  On the 21st of the month I see there is another Life Of Brian gig. Now I would love to go to that - if it were anywhere else. The last time there played there I went out of my way to see them, but it was so crowded that I never even made it to the bar, and spent a teetotal night in a pub. The lighting was so dim that my camera would not focus most of the time. The best pictures I took were on my mobile phone, but with it's long exposure times, many of the pictures were bright enough, and sharp enough except for a lot of motion blur. If I go on the 21st I may just stick to using my mobile phone, but to be honest another dry night in a pub does not appeal as much as I would love to see the band.

  With just Jodie as a drinking partner yesterday afternoon, it was one of the worst drinking sessions ever. Jodie had all her attention on her mobile phone, and said very little. To make matters worse, I was not feeling like I was in a drinking mood. For unknown reasons, possibly something to do with one of the drugs I am on, I did not enjoy a single beer I drank. The only good thing is that Jodie seemed to notice my discomfort, and volunteered to leave earlier than usual.

  She was originally going to meet Alan in The Three Hounds (a minute or two walk from Clock House station) at 7pm, but because she is friendly with other people who usually drink in there, she left at least an hour, possibly 90 minutes early. That was quite a relief for me. I could have a lie down, and maybe a snooze, but it was so late in the afternoon, and I suppose actually early evening, that didn't seem appropriate. What I did have was my dinner. It was one packet of sandwiches and rather a lot of chocolate cookie dough ice cream. While I am not taking anything to regulate my blood sugar it was probably madness to have that ice cream, but somehow I almost got away with it.

  The drug that may have been spoiling my beer, is mostly likely to be causing bits of my body to itch. It is Amiodarone Hydrochloride. It is a very toxic drug, and has many side effects. Spoiling the taste of beer seems not to be one of them - at least not according to the Wikipedia article I have linked to. The most immediate problem is that it's formulation includes Iodine, and I seem to have an allergy to iodine when used in certain ways. The most obvious one is when used as an X-ray contrast dye.

 It causes my skin to itch, and it seems the drug is doing that as well. Fortunately it is not an overpowering itching sensation, and has never been bad enough to start scratching myself. Just rubbing seems to provide relief when needed. It is most bothersome when trying to get to sleep, but even a very mild distraction, which is just about all it is, is enough to keep me awake. Fortunately I was quite tired last night, and it didn't take long before I fell into a fairly deep sleep - for a while.

  During the night I had two things working on me. One was high blood glucose - which makes me want to pee, and the other was Furosemide, a diuretic that also make me want to pee. I woke quite a few time to pee last night. There was a positive side to it. I possibly peed over a litre during the night. That helped my weight this morning, and that pee does carry some sugar away with it.

  I had one dream last night that was a sort of metaphor. In a twisted, and not obvious way, it was about going to the Life Of Brian Gig at The Bricklayers Arms. In the dream I seemed to be something like a secret agent, or in some sort of reconnaissance roll. I had a lieutenant whose job was to prepare me, and she was very loyal. One piece of kit was a phial of gas that was for committing suicide. I was lead to where I was due to infiltrate a crowd by a woman who although never named, was obviously Angela. As I was about to enter the hostile place she told me to take extra care, because if anything happened it wouldn't just be my lieutenant who would be "taking the gas", but the woman who was obviously Angela. I woke up before anything bad could happen.

  This morning, after a good pee, but sadly no poo, my weight was actually 200gm less than yesterday. I didn't expect that. Less good, and in fact a bit bad, but only a bit, was my blood glucose readings. The Contour meter gave a reading of 8.9mmol/l, and that is only just about OK by the skin of it's teeth. The other two meters gave readings of 9.1 and 9.3mmol/l. That is still under the red line (10mmol/l) but uncomfortably high. It is was not that surprising after drinking beer and eating ice cream.

  It is still a week away until I see the nurse at the Group Practice, and then a day or two later before I get back onto Mounjaro. That works wonders to control my blood glucose, and it will be a relief to get back on it again. I might even lose a bit of extra weight - although that hasn't happened the way it is supposed to happen when taking Mounjaro.

  Today I was contemplating going for a walk to Aldi, but there is a complication. I am expecting two, or maybe even three deliveries of stuff ordered from Amazon. Until I am happy all of them are safely delivered here I can't go out, and can barely allow myself to rest. I hope I will get adequate notification that the orders are out for delivery. One will probably be delivered by my postman, and so that will be predictable. Two are being delivered by Evri, and if they are out for delivery today it might be late afternoon before they arrive. I guess there is one thing I could do today, and I should make that ought to do, and it is to finish washing the two bath towels that really only need a few more rinses before they can be hung up to dry.


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