Mind the doors

I just got stuck in a tube train door! I reached the platform at Old Street Station, and seeing it was the right sort of train, made a bit of a dash for it. It trapped me in a painful metal and rubber embrace and refused to let go until several fellow passengers had got hold of my shoulders and dragged me into the carriage. Unfortunately my editor, Louise was left on the platform and now I l don't have anyone to talk to on my way home! When I say "talk to", read "share my embarrassment"!

My cold is now approaching ferocious. I haven't been this wiped out by an illness for some years. Today was our first session editing Metro The Musical and at about three o'clock, I was feeling so lousy that I broke all my own guidelines on treating diseases, and rushed to Superdrug to dose myself to the rafters with Lemsip. Sadly, it doesn't seem to have done any good.

The cold wasn't helped by my not sleeping a wink last night. Or was it that my cold actually prevented me from sleeping? I've entered a vicious circle! A million things were darting through my mind...
I'm very sad to report that within the last two weeks, two of my close friends have had miscarriages. It's terribly upsetting, but I suppose the older we get, and the longer people leave it before trying for children, the more likely these sorts of things are to happen. I suppose it's better to have no child than a child born with terrible problems or birth defects. They say that a woman can become incredibly fertile following a miscarriage, but it's no consolation. I'm so bitterly upset for them both and hope with time, there'll be better news and beautiful babies will be born.

Pepys walked from Redriffe (or Rotherhithe) to Deptford 350 years ago on this date, and rewarded himself with a plate of meat. His vows for lent had lasted precisely 24 hours! What a surprise!

He went to a candle auction. The Navy was selling off a load of its old stock, and this method was deemed most likely to make a decent amount. A pin was driven through a candle and bidding continued until the candle burnt down to the place where the pin had been. The person who'd placed the most recent bid, won... Pepys was amused at how much people were paying for what was essentially old tat!

More rumours were circulating about the King, and whether or not he'd secretly married, or at the least got himself engaged. There was also talk that a navy fleet had been assembled and was about to head south, but no one knew why. It seems bizarre to me that Pepys himself was in the dark on this front, but there were wheels within wheels within 17th Century politics!