Unless my maths is letting me down 49 divided by 7 is…..7. Seven weeks then since my diagnosis. It seems like so much longer than that. During that time I have learned much about myself and about life in general. So….another odd thing that a threat to your life should be the catalyst to learn so much about it!

Back in work and there is a strange atmosphere. There were some sudden departures yesterday and our small company is even smaller. Enough said.

My hospital admission letter arrives. I am to go in at 4:00pm on Wednesday 22^nd August to prepare for the operation on Thursday which will take between 4 and 6 hours.

I am struggling to get a blood taking appointment at Rugby St Cross but finally select 9:10am tomorrow as there are no evening slots available.  I’ll work later to make up the time. I have to have no fewer than FOUR phials of blood and one of urine sent off to Coventry. This getting insane. Two of those, however, are for the Genomics Research guys.

Lesley is out at a meeting so I cook some dinner and have a bath. Afterwards my mood is introverted and reflective. I am feeling a little fatigued this evening. The mood swings for no apparent reason have been catching me out and making me grumpy and irritable with others. I am starting to get used to them now and adjust accordingly.

Out for a morning bike ride. Just a quick spin around the village. The temperature is now much cooler and pleasant.

Doing some tidying up. I find tidying up tiresome and tiring. Probably not the only one to be honest!

On the way to Princethorpe we stop and I buy a new Rosemary plant. I used to have two, but the long desperate winter finished off one and the mercilessly hot summer saw off the other. I need a Rosemary plant, it being one of the symbols of the radical 17^th Century Leveller movement. Lesley manages to get a bottle of dogbeer as a treat for Pippin the Spaniel

The last afternoon and evening spent with Andrew and Sharon. The mood varies between jovial and sombre. Andrew asks if I am still interested in going to Silverstone next Sunday to the 6 hour Sports Car race. I consider it and say yes. It is ages since I’ve been to an international motor race and I have loved Sports Car racing for literally decades unlike Formula 1 which I find tedious and uninteresting. This race is part of the World Endurance Championship and will feature many of the cars which took part in the Le Mans 24 hour race. I want to go for old times sake. Over the past century long distance Prototype Sports Car racing has pioneered many of the advances we now take for granted making our cars safer and easier to drive (including the rear view mirror!). It is my belief that as the rules evolve it can be an essential part in making non fossil-fuel cars better and more practical. I think it can be a component of a Green future. There is nothing quite like a bit of competition for powering technical advances.

Andrew had also ordered a pair of tickets for the Wales vs South Africa Rugby international in Cardiff in late November. I pay him for my ticket.  It is an act of faith!