~o~
Saturday 27th, 37F/3C. Dry and bright, but misty, with a smudgy sky. It could reach 13C later. Warmer weather ahead.
Up at 7am after a much better night. Only one visit to the fire bucket at 3am. Woke at 6am but slept for another hour. Still coughing but not as badly. I have to shop today. Or it's mackerel on toast again. And nobody wants to see that.
My Chief Medical Advisor has recommended I have a chat with a pharmacist. Just to see if there are any over-the-counter meds for treating my prolonged "man cold." Probably wise advice. Given that I have just finished the last of a vintage pack of Strepsils. Without any obvious effect. Let alone any improvement. My sick bed remains far too heavy to "take up" unaided.
There is a trillion dollar industry to treat coughs and sneezes. Ibuprofen is recommended by the least sales oriented "medical" website. The list of reasons to avoid included several of my own. Blood thinning aspirin, etc.
I completely missed the sales advice of most websites. Not only did they want to push their sponsored products. They wanted me to fill out a two page questionnaire. "Allowing" me to avoid automatic opt-in. Before planting lifetime cookies anyway.
I closed each and every one of them. Why didn't the corrupt legal-sleeze numpties? Who make up these silly rules. Demand automatic opt-out as standard. With opt-in for cookies only for the cringeingly gullible or the cripplingly naive. And all those who would cheerfully volunteer their bank details. To any passing stranger. Who "seemed nice."
A pleasant day for a drive to a nearby shopping village. Occasional sunshine and warmth made a very pleasant change. On the advice of The Royal Physician I obtained some horse tablets from the pharmacy. Keen to get some immediate and beneficial effect ASAP I popped one into my mouth. Whereupon it started to fizz violently. It embarrasses me to admit. That I was not carrying my tunneling electron microscope in the Morris today. So I was unable to decipher the submicroscopic text, printed on the box.
Other than some vague reference to dissolving the offending tablet in half half a glass of water. This lack suddenly gained some considerable importance. As foam began to issue from my every orifice. Fortunately I was within reach of a supermarket toilet. Where I could promptly consume the aforementioned measure from the tap. Of course I had crunched the tablet first. Just to ensure adequate distribution. As you do.
On my return. From the assorted detours required. By the continuing, district heating, expansion inconveniences. No weekend work notwithstanding. I was greeted by my nice neighbour. Who was offering a free, conducted tour of their newly assembled chicken run. I had earned this lengthy tour by having loaned them my outdoor stepladders. The better to reach the dizzying heights of the newly caged, outdoor area. And not a moment too soon! Judging by the Red kite circling overhead. No doubt in slightly premature anticipation of a spot of lunch.
I was also introduced to their stock of immature birds. Their supplier had promised multi-coloured eggs and a variety of races and who was I to argue? I easily recognized the plumage of a juvenile, short tailed, European buzzard and several very unlikely, blackbird crosses. So it all looks very promising.
We stood outside in the gently warm sunshine. Admiring their rolling acres. Which separate their plenty from my wholly inadequate. We enjoyed a long chat about the neighbourhood and their dreams. As I continued to practice my appalling sense of humour, in English, on the unfortunate pair. They have proved very forgiving so far.
It was odd to see Chez Hovel and the other disgraces to 21st century civilization. From a different viewpoint. After nearly three, whole decades. It's odd what one never knows one has missed. And will probably never miss again. The immigrant hermit's hovel does not improve from new angles. Much to the contrary. Nothing a free-falling airliner could not cure, free of charge, in a few, brief moments. Though painting a large cross on the roof might well be considered a trifle ambitious.
13.00 55F/13C I had better have some lunch. An afternoon trip into the village is in order. My carefully prepared shopping list was returned to the pad for additions. On realising I had missed out a few, but vital essentials. Where, inevitably, it had safely remained. As I drove further afield to ensure stocks. Only to return half satisfied. Those who watched me search every pocket repeatedly. Outside the shops. Was proof enough that there resides an idiot in all of us. It is just that some of us enjoy a considerable excess of the same.
15.00 57F/14C. Bright, warm sunshine and a breeze. It is the bikers' day out. They're everywhere! Safely back from the village restocked and replenished. I feel okay but I am still coughing on and off.
21.00 Raining. Dinner was chicken, mushrooms, peas and chips with gravy. Helped down with a beer. Am I learning to live dangerously? Or just an idiot?
~o~
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