The forecast for this evening (it’s just gone 4pm at the moment) is for gale force winds, heavy rain, dangerous wind gusts and I’ve even heard “category 2 cyclone” warning. It’s been fine most of the day but the sky is darkening to the west and the wind is picking up. Airlines are delaying flights and cancelling some because the head and side winds are gunna be fierce!

That means we’ll almost certainly lose power tonight so I’ve been working out what preps I can make.

One problem for me is that I need my CPAP machine to sleep, so no power = no sleep. May as well not even try. However, I’ve got a small UPS so I’m charging it up at this moment and it’ll power my machine for at least a couple of hours, I think. All my lights are low power CF lamps too, about 8W instead of the old 75Watters.

Otherwise, my laptop is fully charged and will be good for about 6hrs at low power use. If I lose mains, I can watch DVDs and even BluRays on the laptop. That’s not low power use, though, so it’ll run down faster.

I’ve also got three torches and spare batteries, plus more C batteries are charging up now. The fridge will stay cold for many hours even if the power goes off so food won’t spoil. In any case, I’ve got tinned soup and stews in the cupboard, so I won’t be hungry, and a block of the darkest chocolate I could find to provide the endorphins if I need ’em.

I’ve also bought a six-pack of Caffrey’s Irish Ale cans which don’t need to be real cold, and a 3L cask of red wine, so I won’t even run out of grog!

So send ‘er down, Huey. I’m ready. The only hard part will be getting Minnie to come inside.

Of course, I’m sitting here in my T-shirt and shorts with the door to the outside open and enjoying the smell of rain. Just imagine if this was a snowy country where you could literally freeze to death! No danger of that here.

As I said, last night I had to do without solid food for dinner, and it’s worth noting what I felt. I was hungry as hell, and only had a Laksa packet soup containing soft, flat rice noodles which slide down with no effort.

But the cravings! I seem to crave carbohydrates or salty, crispy things like pretzels or nuts, which I couldn’t have. My upper body and shoulders were crawling with tension, craving this hit of carbs or fat or whatever it is.

I never eat sweets or chocolate but I had a chocolate slice in the cupboard that I’d bought for a guest and I’m afraid a big bit of it got consumed last night (not all of it – there’s some left over!) As I ate it, I could feel the warmth coming over my shoulders and scalp as the tension eased away.

So I dunno. Musn’t eat fatty, satisfying foods. Musn’t drink alcohol, or sweet things, or cheese … It is so hard.

My weight increased by 0,3Kg overnight, but I got almost no exercise either yesterday, due to the weather. I’ve lost 1Kg since last Tuesday, though.