Day 4716

Another physical exam is in the books. The doctor agreed that I appear to be in pretty good health. Hopefully today's blood test results won't prove him wrong. I've been debating for weeks about whether to get another Covid booster. I told the doctor that if I haven't gotten Covid by now, I probably wasn't going to get it. I've flown on lots of completely full planes and attended crowded events at the space center during the past several years and never caught Covid. 

When the whole pandemic started I was out at a McDonald Observatory star party where hundreds of strangers came up to look through my telescope. Little kids would cough on me as I attempted to explain what they were looking at. "Hey, I'm good," I told myself. The doctor told me that he felt exactly the same way until he finally caught Covid himself last month. He now feels like everyone in the world is eventually going to catch the disease.

I got the shot. I got a flu shot in one arm and the Covid booster in the other. Piece of cake I thought for most of the day, since I initially felt nothing. Now the arm with the flu shot is starting to hurt. I think I remember the same thing happening last year. At any rate, I'm done fretting about this for the moment. I've done what I could.

On November 22 I always used to go down to Dealey Plaza and listen to all the conspiracy theories about a second gunman on the grassy knoll. The place was a circus with lots of old timers who witnessed the event first hand hawking weird little self published books and pamphlets espousing their own personal theories. Most of these people are dead now. I don't think many people come down to Dealey Plaza anymore. For most younger people, November 22 is just something in a history book. Some of them don't even know who Kennedy was. I still remember the day vividly. I was going to high school in Alaska at the time. Someone came into my English class and told the teacher what had just happened. We were all stunned. Since there was no Internet or satellite broadcasts at the time, we didn't see video tapes of what had occurred until several weeks later.

Other than today's physical exam, it was just a normal day. I even ate my regular breakfast of shredded wheat and fruit when I returned from the doctor's office. I took another long walk in the park because I was too lazy to get in the car and go to the gym. I could do this walk in my sleep by now. Every day is exactly the same. I usually do pretty well for the first several miles and then my feet start to hurt. By the time I return home I'm wondering what I was thinking to attempt such a long walk. My doctor thinks walking is great exercise though and encourages me to keep it up.

I tried one more time to see if there had been any Thanksgiving cancellations at our favorite restaurant. No luck. They aren't even answering their phone anymore. Oh, well. We've still got a place to go that has decent reviews. I hope the weather isn't terrible. Now there are thunderstorms in the Thanksgiving forecast.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4325

I now have a flu shot in one arm and a covid booster in the other. The rest of my exam this morning was fairly routine. The doctor always asks what medications I am taking, even though he was the one who prescribed them in the first place. He listens to my breathing with a stethoscope, tests my reflexes, asks a few questions, and then a nurse comes in and draws my blood. The whole process doesn't take very long and it is always the same. I hope doing this every six months keeps me healthy, but life is full of surprises. 

The doctor never told me that I would need gallbladder surgery this year. He did ensure that I got excellent care while I was hospitalized though. You can't ask for more than that. I still believe in preventative medicine. That's probably why I have so many exams every Fall. I still need to see the eye doctor, the dermatologist, and the urologist. There's that Colonoscopy/EGD procedure coming up soon as well. I guess I'll have to add one more doctor to the growing list of people keeping me alive.

I had to fast this morning because of the blood work. No breakfast today. When I got home from the doctor I was hungry and fixed myself a ham sandwich. It's hard to believe that I used to eat lunch every day. When I worked at the ad agencies, lunch was a big deal and we ate a lot. It's amazing that I never gained weight. I'd certainly gain weight if I ate three meals a day now. Breakfast and dinner is plenty these days. Sometimes I don't even feel like dinner.

It rained a lot last night and there was a very small roof leak in the office. The pumps worked well, so hopefully there isn't still a ton of water on the roof. I need to get up there and sweep the remaining standing water away. Now that it's cooler, the water just isn't going to evaporate. I hate going up on the roof now. I'm getting older and it seems much harder to climb up the access wall than it used to be. I guess I've got an excuse for a few days. My arm hurts from the covid shot. I was wondering if both arms were going to hurt, but it's only the left arm. I feel nothing from the arm that got the flu shot.

Last night's rain must have brought a cold front along with it. It was much colder today. I had to wear a light jacket on my long walk. The leaves are starting to drop, but I don't think we're going to get much Fall color. The leaves that were turning red last year are only turning yellow this season. The pelicans certainly seems to know that the seasons are changing. They are on the move now. When they first arrived at the lake, they just sat on logs for weeks at a time. Now they are swimming and flying around. They move around in large groups and usually the double-crested cormorants follow them. The pelicans always seem to know where the fish are and the other birds take advantage of this.

I really need to decide on a roofer and go ahead and replace the roof. I've been disappointed in every roofer I've interviewed, but the situation is just going to get worse if I keep ignoring it. I'm really getting tired of these leaks. I wish I'd never bought a house with a flat roof. I guess I'll never learn though. Every house I've ever owned has had a flat roof. 

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day