this time of year, if one of us bike commuters happens to arrive at work while one of the other bike commuters is locking up their bike, we give each other grimacey little sideways clint-eastwood smiles and micromillimetre nods. we don't make eye contact or conversation. reason: we're all thinking privately 'oh god, let them fk off before the snot gets out.'

yesterday enviro can said visibility was 100m through much of the day. bet that was down to 20 or 30 today. it's still very neat, but breathing it isn't doing me a whole lot of good overall. had something that almost veered into a retching coughing fit by the first light on the way home. breathed more carefully after that and stopped trying to sing fairytale of new york until i was a bit more warmed up. no further problems, phew. somewhere between 5 and freezing again, probably.

knee/leg hurting again, a little bit. mcgyvered myself a pair of extra knee covers to go under the pants out of a chunk of old fleece that's been lying around this morning, and it really did help but it still gave me aggravation coming up the bridge. i think i have to stretch it all day, every day, from now on. it does seem to help, but only if i do it enough.

nothing interesting in the health club today, but one woman was holding forth to another woman in a way and a tone that made me really really really want to pad out of my cubicle to stand dripping water and giving her the Fascinated Stare small kids do so well. manners so bad you could almost admire them as a kind of art form. didn't do it because it was cold out there.

songs: fairytale of new york, the pogues; ax big mama, ry cooder; never going back again, fleetwood mac.