Middle Age

I've been feeling really shitty the last couple of weeks which came to a head on Thursday with being just plain sick to the stomach. I took Friday off work sick (I don't take much sick leave so I never feel guilty). I went to the doc yesterday and he attributed most of it to lack of fitness so he decided to do some standard health checks. I had an ECG and went back this morning after fasting for a blood test. The ECG was fine. Taking blood proved to be difficult. The vein in my right arm collapsed after getting about 1ml of the red stuff. He moved to the other arm and I'm sure he used a garden hose to pierce the skin. It frickin' hurt and I managed to stifle the first word that came from my mouth so he didn't hear it.

He made a comment about keeping an eye on the heart when you get to middle-age. What the f***?!?!? He asked how old I was, to which I replied 34. He said middle-age starts at 35, but caucasians tend to say about 45-50. He's Chinese. He mentioned that Asians think of middle-age as 35 which makes sense if you think the average age isn't too far past 70.

I mentioned I have one year then and he told me to live my life while I can. I have a new found respect for the Doc. He has a good sense of humour if you catch him on the right day and quite dry compared to most of the Chinese folks I've worked with in recent years.

When I got home, Joseph met me at the door and asked if I "was all better now?". I said that I was feeling a little bit better and he then asked "did you get a lolly?".

Enjoy the free sweets from the Doc and the flavoured antibiotics while you can, son. The pills taste foul when you get to middle-age.