Good health - lets have some

Spent a long but enjoyable (sort of) day driving through the shires of England and Wales yesterday. I began the day in Oxfordshire and drove into Buckhinghamshire and Berkshire to visit a small hamlet (it wasn't big enough to be called a village) where a good friend now lives. I'd never been there before but it was just up the road from Ascot and although it was quite posh there were some very, VERY nice big houses with one or two normal, ordinary size houses there (my friend lives in one of these). The sun was shining and it was a quintisential early spring day. My friend was not at home, out at work probably, I'd just popped in on the offchance reaaly as I was vaguely in the area. So back across to Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Somerset before going into Wales - I don't know which county Cardiff lies in. Then after a exceptionally boring meeting where I virtually said "hello" and "goodbye" and nothing else I drove home the long way: Herfordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Staffodshire again, Cheshire and Lancashire. I stopped a few times to have a bite to eat or telephone home (it Valentine's day). I enjoy driving long distance alone - perhaps I should be a lorry driver - as it gives me time to think. Its not like gardening or Tai Chi though. I can focus my attention on the traffic and the physical actions of driving while my mind wanders over anything and everything. I thought a lot about myself, I've been feeling older than my fiftytwo years for while now and perhaps I am not fully recovered from the recent flu like illness I had. It began when I shaved first thing in the morning. I shave every day but I never really examine my reflection usually because I am pulling faces as the razor moves over my face. There must have been something though because I stopped shaving and had a good look. As I have Addison's disease I am the proud posessor of a year round tan. In winter I look as though I've been abroad or fresh out of a tanning salon. In summer I go quite dark and can look asian. The reason I stopped to look was I have two pathches of white skin one under each eye that I haven't had since I was healthy when all of my body was white. I have "panda eyes" in February. I am also diabetic so are the white eyes a symptom of uncontrolled blood sugar or a sign that my liver is packing in? Or is my heart about to stop? (I have felt real sustained pain in my heart several times this year)Perhaps I need more exercise - that is to say more exercise than the nothing I do at the moment. I have a restricted diet but I cheat without thinking about it so it couold be elevated blood sugar. I looked at the food available in the various motorway service stations and it seemed that my life is set up against the normal way of life. It was very difficult to find food and drink that catered for my requirements. There was too much sugar and too much carbohydrate in just about everything. So after a good long think I decided to try a detox, no alchohol, less caffiene, more water, more fruit and green veg and more exercise. I will also go and have a personal MOT done. (A MOT is test carried out on all British cars over three years old, it is also an all round medical check up for everyone over the age of fifty). Then its light exercise followed by heavy exercise as I get fitter. As long as my heart holds out I'll live long enough to draw my pension!

I stayed overnight at my daughter's house in Oxford and she told me that she was coming to visit us on the first weekend in March. This means that the next three weekends will be spent with family. I know that I should relish the time with spent my family - I love them all - but when I am going to get some quality free time with my wife and my garden?

I spent a long time thinking about my son and daughter's difficulties. Why did they both look outside their marriage for a little happiness? Was it boredom, vanity or desperation that led them to wander or just the natural programming to continue the species? In Blackpool on every night of the year the bars and clubs are full of single and married people who are out without their partner and either on the pull them selves or ready to be pulled should they meet someone who is available. Also in business situations there are times when socialising that sex can be offered and if you meet the wrong person at the right time then mistakes can be made. There are people around who just don't care about vows, their own or others. Twenty years ago I knew a woman, lets call her B, who was married and worked in the same building as me. She went to the pub every time we did usually at lunchtime but occaisionly in the evening. She was tall and slender with long red hair and very pretty. She was a good laugh and her way of saying hello was to put one arm around you, kiss you full on the lips and unzip your trousers. If you couldn't pull away quick enough (if the pub was crowded for example) her hand was inside your pants and she took a firm hold of you giving you marks out of ten. This woman was having an affair with two people in my office (neither of them was me) even though she was happily married. While messing around with another may be fun or even exciting it merely infaltes your ego and encourages you to continue. The fact is that this kind of messing around can ruin lives. I know that my son and daughter have given themselves a fright and now realise the full implications of their actions. I hope they both can salvage their relationship and return to a happier life together.

I mentioned the alarming woman above to illustrate that, while I've never had an affair, I'm not holier than thou by any means, I'm as fallible as anyone. (I was a nine apparently! She called me "Bwana").