20.10.2026

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  Tuesday 20th 45F/7.2C[8.00] Overcast with showers promised. Easterly wind gusting up to 10m/s.

 A comfortable 22C/72F in the room. Heat pump remote still set to 20.5C.  

 Up at 7.20 after a fairly quiet night with repetitive dreams. I wonder if there is any connection to watching YouTube videos? Three pillows is too much. I'll try going back to two. 

 10.20 After my chat with my minder I went for a walk. It was chilly, windy and drizzling! Cruel and unnecessary treatment! No dogs again today. 

 The neighbours' Husqvarna robot mower has everything back under control again. It was struggling the last time I saw it. Mowing a paddock that had got away from it in its absence. The mower was moving forwards just a meter or so then stopping and rattling. Now the same paddock is trimmed in neat, amazingly straight lines. 

 The kitchen has sunk to 17C/63F. So I have turned on the oil filled radiator. Just to take the chill off. The bathroom is a chilly 14C/57F. So The small radiator in there has also been turned on. I am not aiming for comfort. Just a lack of discomfort. No point in heating a room in which I spend so little time. I only use the fan heater when I shower. So only a few minutes electricity consumption.  

 Dinner is a salmon pasty, peas and chips. 

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19.10.2026 Recovery.

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 Monday 19th 42F/5.6C [8.20] Presently overcast. Sunny periods and lighter easterly winds promised.

 02.00 Getting sleepy. Going back to bed with three pillows. 

 I slept fairly well. Got up at 7.30.  Rumours of my demise are unfounded.

 8.20 Sitting in the doctor's phone queue to see whether I need antibiotics to avoid a lung infection. I am number six after the queue has dropped steadily from 16 at 8.00. I am coughing to clear my throat at intervals but without pain. 

 8.25 Down to number 5. 

 8.35 The receptionist suggested I need not worry. If I have no lingering symptoms. But to contact the doctor again if things should get worse. 

 Exercise therapy today. 

 12.30 Back home again. It went very well. No obvious ill effects from last night. I woked hard at the exercises to gain maximum benefit.

 No plans for any dinner. I still feel full and slightly nauseous. Only tea and a biscuit. Instead of my usual marmalade plastered roll with a mug of afternoon tea.

 Milky coffee and a biscuit for dinner.  Bed at 10.20 with three pillows stacked.

 

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18.10.2026 Happy Birthday Tim!

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  Sunday 18th 42F/5.6C [8.30] A sunny morning is promised. Peaking around 10-11C/5052F. Windy again, gusting to 10m/s from the east.

 Up at 7am after a quieter night. I decided to get up as I was wide awake. I put the washing up away as an exercise in self-discipline.

 A comfortable 22.5C/72F in the room. With the heat pump remote now set to 20.5C/69F. 

 No immediate plans for today. Another ride? I should have a walk. Preferably before descending into full zombie mode on YT.

 It will/would have been be my son's 59th birthday. I haven't a clue if he is even alive. No contact for over 30 years.   

 9.15 Back from my walk of the drive loop. Two neighbours were leaving in their cars. Presumably going to the bakers. No dogs or cats this morning. 

 It was really quite chilly in the wind. I went out bent over like an old man. Returned, looking slightly the less for wear. I gave the pony a handful of the special grass on this side of the fence. 

 If I do go for a ride I will have to wear one of my winter cycling jackets. Take the warmer gloves as well. Just in case.

 10.30 Back from a 10km ride to fetch some rolls. It was sunny but windy and cool. The battery dropped from 100% to only 27%. Something seriously wrong there!

 Dinner was toasted cheese on toasted bread rolls with halved cherry tomatoes. It was a lot to get through! I still felt full at bedtime! At 10.30.

 12.45 Unfortunately I had a second look at dinner during the night. While asleep I had a regurgitation and inhaled some of it. It was difficult and very unpleasant to cough to try to clear my windpipe. Without a very strong, burning sensation. So I got up and remained upright. While sipping and gargling sodium bicarbonate in water. 

 By 12.30 I had recovered somewhat and had already read everything I could find online. If it should become pneumonia my odds of survival were not very comforting.

 The advice was to ring the out of hours doctor immediately. Just to confirm my next step. Where I was advised to ring my own doctor in the morning. When I would probably be given antibiotics to avoid a lung infection. Meanwhile, the chances of sudden and severe symptoms were not something I should worry about. 

 01.00 I am still clearing my throat at intervals. The question now is how long I should remain upright. I have brought back the second pillow I had only discarded a couple of nights ago. And found a third. My low bedhead does not readily lend itself to sitting up in bed. I am incapable of pushing it any nearer the wall. 

 

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