09:52 GMT

  This morning it is wet, and the forecast says it is going to be wet all day long. The only semi good thing is that only light rain is forecast. This afternoon will be a whole degree cooler than the last 5 or 6 afternoon. Just 9° C. It looks like it is going to be quite chilly tonight with just 5° C at midnight. It will still be 5° C tomorrow morning, and it is going to be another wet start. It could be dry my midday, and the temperature will reach it's peak by then, just 9° C.

  Yesterday was a good day - although mostly because I went out shopping again. The rest of the day was pleasant, but nothing exciting. Although I did think I ate a bit too much. It seems that was not the case when I did my usual morning health measurements.

  It is impossible to describe why, or even how, but I seemed to feel quite good by yesterday lunchtime. It was a bit cold,but dry. It seemed everything was in place to finally go out to Poundstretcher to buy a few useful things. One unusual thing was that I could not be bothered to have a shower before going out. I brushed my teeth, but otherwise I relied one a squirt of deodorant to make me feel not offensive. It is tricky to tell if you are stinky, but I felt confident that I wasn't too bad.

  I tried to keep my speed down as I walked to Poundstretcher, and I mostly kept a slower walking pace. I took the precaution of having a single squirt of TNG spray to ward off any angina type pains. Maybe it worked, or maybe I didn't need it. I didn't seem to need to stop once to get my breath back on this occasion - unlike when I went to Tesco a few days earlier. My walk, albeit a little slower than I usually walk, seemed to be almost normal. I know it is impossible, but it does seem that lots of resting seems to allow my faulty heart valve recover in some way.

  Once in Poundstretcher there was quite a few things I wanted, and some things I found I wanted when I saw them sitting on the shelves. Top of my shopping list, but over 2/3rds through the store, was a loose leaf binder to put all my beer order receipts in. This is partly as a reminder of what I have ordered in the past (not that I have ever consulted previous orders when ordering more beer), but mainly to try and make it easier when Jodie demands to know where I bought the beers so she can include that info when logging the beers in her Untappd social media like app.

  One find was big-ish containers of instant noodles that I had not seen before. I bought one of each flavour. I had the "Hot Chicken flavour" for my breakfast this morning. It was not bad, but I suspect it was past it's use by date because the noodles didn't seem to fully soften - it was as if boiling water was not good enough, and they should have boiled for long in the microwave or something. It also might just be that the noodles are not designed to get too soft. I'll make a more definite decision when I have had one or two more, but today I feel I won't be buying any more.

  Other stuff I bought was some bottles of cough mixture to replace the old stuff I used when my Covid cough was getting a bit annoying. I like to have such things ready for use in the future, and it was very handy to have cough mixture ready to use when I had that covid cough because I would not have wanted to go out and buy it at the time.

  I could not resist getting some chocolate bars and some flapjacks. provided I have had a full dose of Mounjaro, which I haven't, I find I have some immunity to high blood glucose when eating such naughty things. At the moment I have to eat them with a side of guilt !

  Walking home, carrying a modestly heavy single shopping bag was not perfectly trouble free, and I did make a couple of pre-emptive stops, but at no time did I actually get and chest pains. On the other hand I was nowhere near broken as a Lime Bike I passed on the way.

  I considered several ways in which the back wheel came to be as broken as it was, and in the end I concluded that maybe it had been tossed from one of the upper levels of the multi storey car park. If you click on the picture it will show a much larger picture where the damage is more easily seen.

  In one respect it was harder to keep my walking pace moderate. I was looking forward to my lunch. It was a Tesco triple cheese sandwich - there half sandwiches with different cheeses or fillings. I have to admit it was as tasty as I hoped. I still had a naughty flapjack after it as a sort of dessert.

  There was only one thing to do after lunch - have a snooze. If I recall correctly, it didn't take long before I was in a deep sleep laying on top of my bed. It is hard to say how long I slept, but I think it may have been a couple of hours. I find such snoozes come really easy at the moment. Some of it is following the instinct of being old, but some may be because of my faulty heart valve. I guess that causes a drain on my energy in ways I am unsure I understand.

  By the time I woke up it was getting on towards dinner time - or so I think because I can't recall any other stuff I might have done. I must admit it seems unlikely. Actually I suddenly remember what would have taken up a bit more time - reading. I am currently (re)reading "Mostly Harmless" buy Douglas Adams - book 5 of the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy "Trilogy". I am sure there is a bit of the book where things get terribly confusing - confusing enough to make reading it hard and less enjoyable, but at the moment I am enjoying it.

  As 6pm approached I put my dinner in the mini oven to heat up and cook- mostly browning the mashed potato on top of a cottage pie. I found it oon the reduced price shelf in Tesco, and it seems it was an excellent buy. The only thing wrong with it was that it was initially a but too hot to eat comfortably, but otherwise it was delicious. I think the minced lamb (or was it beef ?) was flavoured with (possibly) sage.

  As usual I ate while I watched the 6 O'clock News - except being a Saturday I had to watch it on the BBC News Channel. That started the usual evening of watching carefully selected TV programmes for the evening. Despite my long afternoon snooze, I felt ready for bed by 9pm. I did go to bed then, but I did some more reading. I am unsure when I put the book down, and quickly fell asleep.

  It was probably mostly the Furosemide (a diuretic) that I took, but some of the sweet things I ate would have raised my blood glucose enough to make me want to pee every couple of hours in the night. I supposed that did spoil my sleep in a way that is not quite obvious. I still found time to have two dreams that I mostly remember, Both were sort of hospital related, and one was, or should have been quite erotic.

  The dream that is of lesser interest had not real beginning or end. In the dream I had had my heart valve replaced, and to help me recover I was floated in a salt water solution in something like, but bigger than a bath tub. It was not deep enough to drown if I felt asleep, and the handy thing was that I was told if I needed a pee I should just do it while in the tub - almost total relaxation, although I don't think it was recommended that I went for a poo in the water !

  The second dream had a lot of erotic potential, but sadly I seemed to wake up or something before anything "exciting happened", although actually nothing was supposed to happen because I was supposed to be recuperating. The dream seemed to start with a long narrow staircase. I was told to go up the staircase. At the top I was told I would find a landing. Directly in front of me was a door into someone's bedroom. I was told not to go into there. To my left was another door, and I was to go in there, and a nurse would give me "cuddle therapy" in a bed. It sounded wonderful, but sadly I woke up before I had even got into the bed (dressed in my best hospital gown).

  This morning I deliberately had a long lie in. It seemed no effort to close my eyes again, and get another hour of sleep. I think I did that twice, although I did have to pee each time I woke up. All that peeing was beneficial to my weight. This morning I was 400gm lighter than yesterday. Even my blood glucose level was not too bad. The best reading was 7.3mmol/l, or just below my self set target. The other two meters read 8.1mmol/l, and while not excellent, was still not that bad.

  This morning I don't think I feel as good as yesterday morning, and there is a slight problem in that as I write this I note it has gone midday. I did have a plan to go to Tesco again, but maybe I have left it a bit late. There are trains today, although they are going to Victoria instead of Charing Cross, and so I should be seeing Jodie for another beer tasting session. When I think about it, maybe tomorrow is the better day to go shopping in Tesco. What I mainly need is some stuff for when I get discharged from hospital with my new heart valve.

  As mentioned yesterday (I think) I have booked hospital transport with another really early 5am pick up. That is on Tuesday morning. If I am lucky I will have my procedure before Tuesday morning is over. I will then have a minimum one night stay in hospital to make sure I have fully recovered from a general anaesthetic, and there are no problems with the new heart valve, or the big hole in my thigh where it started it's journey to my heart (pushed along by a catheter). All being well I could be discharged some time on Wednesday, or if not then the day after. Having easy to cook meals and snacks would be ideal, and if bought on Monday they would be fresher.

   1,923 words today.