Friday 4th November 2011

Feeling a bit Down - Irrational!
  At the end of the day, when I went to be, I was feeling a little downbeat. It was hard to understand why, but I did not feel as good as I have for a while.
(1) - I felt more tired than I have for a while
(2) - I was still getting discomfort from my hip
(3) - I was having some problems with my digestive system, which caused pain when I tried to sit at my PC

It is worth here, distinguishing between discomfort and pain. My definition of discomfort is something that only intrudes on my life, when I am not actually concentrating on anything else, while pain is something that intrudes on activities.

It was a busy day.

I started with a blood test at the hospital, to make sure that the water tablets I was given to sort our my swollen feet had not caused any problems with my kidneys, while they are trying to get rid of the by-products of the chemo. I have not been summoned to the hospital, so I assume that no problem was found.

Next stop was Homebase to buy Chris a Birthday present. (Now that he has a house of his own, he can look forward to practical presents for a while).

At the end of the morning, I returned to the chiropodist for a follow-up on treatment for an infected toe nail and cracked skin. Everything was now fine and he was able to trim the nail that was infected and remove discomfort.

In the afternoon, I tried to do some work, but was forced to give up for a while, firstly for a short nap and then because of discomfort/pain in my digestive system.

Good news. I was able to complete arrangements to go to The Open Group meeting in San Francisco in February and then to have a week in Hawaii as some compensation for having to cancel a cruise in December.

I have been collecting Marriott Reward points for years, and had enough for 8 days at the Marriott Resort at Waikoloa Beach on the big island in Hawaii.

To get to San Francisco and Kona, I was able to transfer the value of the tickets from the cancelled flights in December to get to the cruise. Until I actually did this I was suspicious that American Airlines would find some conditions that would prevent it. Not only was I able to book the flights, I was able to get confirmed upgrades to Business Class in both directions. Even the booking agent was surprised that I was able to confirm the upgrades, rather than being put on a wait list.

Dinner was traditional British Fish and Chips in paper. Not health food, but nevertheless very enjoyable.

So, looking at everything that happened, this was a **good** day, so why did I feel downbeat when I went to be. I spent some time on Saturday thinking rationally, so look at the blog entry.