The Anonymous Widower

Do Vitamin B12 Injections Make You Drowsy?

For the last couple of days I’ve been feeling a bit drowsy.

  • The physio at my fitness class possibly noticed it on Friday.
  • I certainly had a good siesta on Friday afternoon.
  • This morning I went back to bed after the Ocado delivery at 06:30 and slept for an hour.

Google AI gave this answer to my question.

Cyanocobalamin is a form of vitamin B12 that is used to increase vitamin B12 levels. It is available in a variety of forms over the counter as a supplement and by prescription as an injection or nasal spray. Some common side effects may include headache, feeling weak or tired, and nausea.

I certainly didn’t have any headache or nausea. But then I rarely have the first and only have the second, when I see Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin on the television.

According to the BBC, we have been having unusually low atmospheric pressure for this time of year.

So I also asked Google AI if low atmospheric pressure can make you drowsy.

Google AI gave this answer to my question.

Yes, low atmospheric pressure can make you drowsy. This is because low pressure systems, often associated with stormy or cloudy weather, can lead to decreased sunlight exposure, which can disrupt the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm) and increase melatonin production, the hormone that promotes sleep. Additionally, low pressure can reduce oxygen saturation, potentially causing fatigue.

As my now-retired GP felt I was badly affected by low atmospheric pressure, I’ll go along with that!

As that GP and myself felt that low atmospheric pressure drew water out of my body and made me dehydrated, I asked Google a supplementary question – Does dehydration make you drowsy?

Google AI gave this answer to my question.

Yes, dehydration can definitely make you feel drowsy. When your body is dehydrated, it doesn’t have enough fluids to function optimally, which can lead to fatigue and drowsiness. Dehydration can also cause a drop in blood pressure, which can reduce blood flow to the brain, further contributing to feelings of tiredness and sleepiness, according to A.Vogel UK.

I’ll go along with that.

Conclusion

Did the combination of the B12 injection and the low atmospheric pressure combine to make me unusually drowsy?

It’s certainly a possibility.

The more I ask Dr. Google questions, that he passes to his computerised assistant, the more I like and trust the system.

 

 

August 2, 2025 Posted by | Computing, Health | , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Brain 1 – AI 0

Ocado left me with a bit of a problem this morning, in that they delivered a Marks and Spencer’s Chilli Con Carne without the packaging sleeve, which contains all the cooking instructions.

I decided, I should eat it tonight, whilst I was still sure, it was within its sell-by date.

But after about twenty minutes searching the Internet, I still hadn’t found the instructions.

But my brain was shouting at me, from the depths of its memory.

  • Take away the sleeve. – No need for that!
  • Piece the film.
  • Microwave for two mins thirty seconds.
  • Stir the meat.
  • Microwave for two mins twenty seconds.
  • Wait for a minute.
  • Serve and eat.

It certainly tasted as normal!

My brain certainly came out on top in that skirmish!

June 28, 2025 Posted by | Computing, Food | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Name Your Poison!

The weather is hot and my cardiologist, GP and physiotherapist are advising me to keep hydrated.

This picture shows what I’m drinking.

Note.

  • The 500 ml. bottle of beer costs £1.25 or £0.0025 per ml.
  • The 330 ml. can of Diet Coke costs £4.75 for 8 or £0.0018 per ml.

The prices are from Ocado.

Tapwater is not much cheaper.

 

May 13, 2025 Posted by | Food, Health | , , , | Leave a comment

What A Difference Eight Days Makes

Every week, I usually order a Marks & Spencer gluten-free spaghetti carbonara in my weekly Ocado shop.

I order it for these reasons.

  • It is gluten-free and I am coeliac.
  • I can cook it easily in the microwave.
  • I can also eat it directly from the tray it is packed in, so if I’m careful, I only have to wash up the fork, I ate it with.

But above all I like spaghetti carbonara.

Last week, I didn’t eat the spaghetti carbonara, that was delivered last Saturday.

So I had two spaghetti carbonaras in my fridge for supper tonight, which are shown in these pictures.

Note.

  1. The different sizes of the two packs.
  2. The larger pack is last Saturday’s and is dated the 22nd of April.
  3. The smaller pack is today’s and is dated the 30th of April.
  4. Both packs are labelled 400 g.

It looks like the packaging could have been shrunk, but not the product inside!

I have just eaten last Saturday’s pack and have had no ill effects, despite it being four days out of date.

Incidentally, it looks like Ocado are still showing the larger pack on their website.

April 26, 2025 Posted by | Food | , , , , | Leave a comment

The Story Of An O-Ring

I have a very unusual skin, as is partly shown by these pictures.

Note.

  1. There is a scar on the back of my left hand, where I cut it on the glass bathroom door in my bedroom.
  2. But with skillful gluing at the Royal London hospital and TLC and stern words from the practice nurse at my GP’s it healed perfectly.
  3. If I give blood samples or have an injection, I don’t need a plaster.
  4. My left foot is a deeper shade of red to the right. No-one has given me a reason for this.
  5. My previous now-retired GP, always took his own blood samples, when he needed them and had smiles all over his face. Perhaps, he was proving to himself, that it was happening?
  6. I wrote about my skin before in My Strange Skin, in 2020.
  7. One therapist said unusually for someone, who had a left-sided stroke, that my left leg is the stronger.

As my ancestry is part-Jewish and part-Huguenot could it just be that only the strongest genes survived from their poor living conditions my ancestors endured in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?

My Cardiologist And His Wife, Have Suggested I Use An Emollient In My Bath

I am now adding Oilatum Emollient to my bath water, which I get delivered by Ocado.

It is not cheap, but my feet are now more made for walking.

I put three cap-fulls in a bath and lie in it for about 10-20 minutes.

An O-Ring Failure On Bad Friday

A rubber O-ring sitting in a groove on the plug, should keep the water in the bath, but as this picture shows the O-ring had seen better days.

The picture of the new O-ring shows how it should look on the plug.

On Bad Friday, the O-ring finally gave up and any water put in the bath, went straight down the drain.

A Fruitless Bad Friday

Internet searches proved fruitless in my search for a shop that was open on Bad Friday.

So I vowed to try again today.

Searching For cp Hart At Waterloo

cp Hart, from whom I bought the original bath, appeared to be open at Waterloo, so after breakfast on Moorgate, I made my way to look for the branch of cp Hart at Waterloo.

Note.

  1. Why does South London and its trains have to be covered in graffiti?
  2. Most of  it, is not even good graffiti.
  3. In my view, the Bakerloo Line should not get new trains, until the graffiti has stopped.
  4. I wandered round Waterloo for about ninety minutes before I found cp Hart, with the help of two police constables.
  5. And when I finally found cp Hart, they didn’t do spares.
  6. I tripped over the uneven pavement in the last picture. But as I usually do, I retained my balance and didn’t fall. Is that all the B12 I take for coeliac disease?

My mother always used to say, that you shouldn’t go to South London without a posse.

Eventually, I had a coffee in Costa and took the 76 bus home.

Success At Last!

To get home on a 76 bus, I have to change in De Beauvoir Town and whilst I waited for the 141 bus to take me home, I checked out the local builders merchants.

The owner was his usual self and fitted my plug with a free new O-ring.

I was now able to have a bath.

And watch the snooker.

I can certainly recommend a television in your bathroom.

Note the vertical handrail, that allows me to step easily in and out of the bath.

April 19, 2025 Posted by | Design, Health, Sport | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Trump’s Tariffs Threaten To Wipe Out UK’s Economic Growth

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on The Times.

This is the sub-heading.

Rachel Reeves could be forced to raise taxes or cut spending after the US president announced plans for tariffs of up to 25 per cent on cars

These three paragraphs add more detail.

Rachel Reeves faces having to raise taxes or cut spending if President Trump follows through on his threat to impose tariffs on Britain next week, the official budget watchdog has warned.

The chancellor was forced to announce a £14 billion package of cuts to repair the public finances in her spring statement after the Office for Budget Responsibility halved growth forecasts.

But the budget watchdog warned that there was a 50 per cent chance that Reeves would be forced to return with further cuts or tax rises as soon as October amid concerns that the UK’s economic outlook will deteriorate still further.

So I  will hit back in the only way I can and avoid buying any goods made by US companies.

I have started by removing any US-owned products from my Ocado order on Saturday.

March 26, 2025 Posted by | Shopping, World | , , , , | 3 Comments

Ismael Was Early

My Ocado delivery is usually booked for 06:30 every Saturday morning.

Today, the driver; Ismail was five minutes early, which meant everything was packed away by 06:45.

It was the first time, the driver had been early, although none has been more than thirty minutes after the start of the delivery slot.

C and myself, always used to do the weekly shop at Waitrose, after breakfast on a Saturday morning, in case we were going out for the day.

I shall be going out today, but I’m not sure where yet.

 

March 8, 2025 Posted by | Shopping | | 2 Comments

Ocado’s Computing Has Been Spot On So Far

I first used Ocado for my weekly shop in June last year and have used them about 30 times since.

There have been no computing mistakes.

Only a couple of substitutions have been made and they have caused me no trouble.

All orders have been delivered within the delivery window and nothing seems to have been damaged in transit.

I shall continue to keep using them.

February 27, 2025 Posted by | Computing, Food, Shopping | | Leave a comment

I Just Bought A Toilet Brush Set On Ocado

A few minutes ago, I went to the toilet in the facility in my spare bedroom and I  noticed that the brush was broken.

Since, I have bought a new one from Ocado for £4.

£4 sounds good value to me.

It will arrive with my groceries on the First of February at 06:30 in the morning.

I tend to start my Ocado order, soon after the previous one is delivered and I then have until 17:25 on the day before to get it right.

Interestingly, the payment for the order I received today from Ocado, is still sitting in the pending queue of my credit card account. I’ve also eaten one of the ready meals I bought. And very nice it was too!

I’

January 25, 2025 Posted by | Food, Shopping | , | Leave a comment

Do Ocado Save Me Money?

Probably not in the normal way, as they are an upmarket on-line shop.

A Rough Order

I generally put my rough order in on the Saturday soon after the delivery for that day arrives at about 06:30 in the morning.

The rough order is stored on Ocado’s computer, so it’s usually just a matter of choosing the delivery slot and adding a few extras.

If I’m cooking for myself all week, that usually means I will need seven meals, which could be ready-meals, something more substantial or perhaps just a tasty home-made snack or sandwich, if I’m eating out.

Typically, my order will get refined through the week and this tends to reduce the cost, as if say I’m a bit short, I might buy something like fruit earlier in the week, rather than get it delivered on Saturday.

Fruit

I don’t eat a lot of fruit, but I do have a banana every day in the morning and when I can get them, I eat a lot of strawberries.

 

Bananas and strawberries are two fruit, that are rich in magnesium and coeliacs like me,  can suffer from a lack of it. As a child, I used to bite my nails, which stopped immediately, I went gluten-free at fifty.

From my experience, I feel lack of magnesium can cause nail-biting in coeliacs.

I usually don’t order fruit online, as I feel the quality is better in local shops, that I pass.

Gluten-Free

I am coeliac, so I have to be gluten-free.

 

In my opinion, Marks & Spencer do the best gluten-free food, so being able to shop in-store or on-line is a bonus.

Bread

I don’t eat a lot of bread in a week, so I find one of Marks & Spencer’s pack of brown bloomer slices is sufficient.

Toothpaste, Soap Etc.

I buy a lot of things like these online, as I have several days to carry them upstairs and put them away.

I have a large IKEA storage cabinet close by my front door and non-perishables are stored there first, along with my beer.

Milk

Usually, a pint plastic bottle of Marks & Spencer Organic Milk ,  lasts me all week.

But if it doesn’t l can pick up another bplastic ottle, at any one of four shops within two hundred metres.

Conclusion

I don’t save a lot with my hybrid shopping at Ocado and Marks & Spencer, but I don’t throw much food away.

January 20, 2025 Posted by | Food, Shopping | , , , , , | Leave a comment