~o~
Up at 6.45 after a reasonable night. I seemed to be lying there awake for ages but wasn't. More like shallow dreaming. Lower back pain as usual and a runny nose. My upper chest continues to feel thick. Having to clear my throat at frequent intervals. Unhealthy stove dust, ash, smoke and gases? Or it's all the tap water I keep drinking.
Butterburs look more colourful in bright sunshine.
There is a story on the DR news website. About the huge difference in survival rates of the Danes. Depending on wealth. A country which only pretends to enjoy the greatest equality. Particularly where health is concerned. Published in a major new survey by a Danish University.
The country was divided up into parishes. The chances of surviving to 75 being reduced by up to 81% for some areas. Compared with only 13% for a wealthy area. The lower educated being particularly susceptible to early death. Smoking? Obesity? Poor housing? Drug abuse? Stress? Diet? Lack of physical activity. Their type of employment?
Every new bunch of politicooze promises to fix the problem. If only empty election promises actually worked in reality. The Danish news is constantly discussing the appalling waiting times for treatment. With many exceeding the legal time-wasting allowance. So that many patients are able to get quicker private treatment at taxpayer's expense. Every new hospital build runs years late and billions over budget.
Either Windows or the FF browser is broken. I can't do a simple swipe, Copy and Paste! Paste is greyed out! I have tried repeatedly. It's Firefox! Copy and Paste work as normal in Chrome on editing my blog. Ok. I Refreshed Firefox. Normal editing service has been resumed.
8.15. Time for a walk. 63F/17C in the room. I won't light the stove. There should be free heat from the greenhouse later. BTW: Don't buy BAY digital thermometers. They eat CR2025 button cells! I bought half a dozen of these thermometers and spend my days replacing the batteries. My digital thermometers, which use AAA batteries, last for years between battery replacements. BAY obvious chose button cells to allow a thinner body.
9.15 Back from my walk. I made it to the village. I haven't walked that far in some time. Cold on my hands but I was warm in a jumper and fleece jacket. Lots of birds about. I saw my first wagtail of this year. Sharing the ridge of a roadside house with a noisy sparrow. Though the loudest voices at this time of year are usually the chaffinches. There was a very strange sound from a larger bird this morning. Hiding somewhere in the shelter belt of trees to my west. Alarm call or song? The nearest song/alarm online is a Willow Ptarmigan. How likely is that? It had to be a large bird for so deep a range. I have heard thousands of pheasants over the years and it certainly wasn't one of those.
10.00 38F/3.3C. It is determined to be sunny today. Light easterly winds suggest a ride. No phone call from the supposed buyer of my big green dome. Nor any other response to my Facebook advert.
10.30. Off I go.
14.30 43F/6C. Returned from a freezing 67km/42 mile ride. I headed north. Leaving at about 11am by the time I was ready. I hoped I would avoid a cold headwind. I was wrong. There was a headwind every inch of the way. Regardless of my direction of travel. A lovely ride though. Mostly on narrow, rural lanes. Deliberately so, to avoid main road traffic.
Luckily I took a warmer pair of gloves. Even then, the well padded GripGrab gloves weren't really warm enough. So my hands recovered after the change but then became cold again. I should have taken the split mitts. It was daft not to take them. Nothing comes close for warmth.
Following the same idiotic optimism I wore thin socks and my lightest trainers. So my feet became steadily colder. Without any means to alter the situation. It's not as if don't have masses of room in the panniers. I took a spare jumper and warmer, medieval cycling cap but didn't really need the jumper. I should have changed caps but didn't want to stop just for that. After a while I forgot I had it with me.
I wore a pair of thin, stretchy trousers over padded DHB racing shorts. Probably ten years old by now. I had decided to leave the tights off today. So I stayed comfortably seated until about 50km. Then became progressively more saddle sore. Pee stops helped to relieve the discomfort. Since they gave me a break from sitting on the B67. The tights must increase friction by adding more layers.
I chewed my way way through four micro Korny bars, but didn't touch the mini apple juice cartons. I saw loads of birds of prey. A buzzard circling over every copse and wood. Plovers having an aerial scrap. Perhaps a courtship routine? Whooper swans nestling beside many flooded fields. A jay flying ahead of me until it veered off. Kestrels hovering.
I must have got colder than I realised. I am suddenly feeling really cold. So l put on on a jumper and fleece jacket. Plus a warm cap and thick socks. I can't have my afternoon nap in my warm bed because I am full of lunch! I have changed into thermal tights and fleece trousers. Still feeling cold.
18.00 I waited until after 17.00 for a nap. Felt much better afterwards.
Dinner was fish fingers and chips with peas. It was that. Or [more] toast!
~o~
No comments:
Post a Comment