MMR: Nothing to Say, Nothing to Write

As you may have noticed, the Lounge has been silent lately. As a matter of fact, it’s been, what, 4 weeks since I posted anything? I guess you can say this is a mirror of my life right now. Boring, uneventful…nothing new going on. Nothing noteworthy, anyways.

But, seeing as it has been 4 weeks, I figured that, at the very worst, I could come on here and give a quick Q’s Life Update…just to get something up, and maybe that will rekindle the writing fires and get this blog moving again. July only saw 2 blogs posted by me…which is my lowest output for a single month since November 2007 (which had 0 posts). I can’t remember the last time I’ve had so little to say. But, such is life. I can’t be in the middle of everything all the time.

So, my life over the last month. Well, it has been dominated by medical stupidity, a small lifestyle change, and work. So, let’s get going with this boring tale.

Back during the last week of June, I was feeling particularly crappy. I was having trouble sleeping, sensing shortness of breath, tingling in my extremities, weakness throughout my body…and just generally shitty. These are not good symptoms, though…they can actually be something serious. I called my doctor on Friday July 1st, and he was out of town. But the PA sent me for some bloodwork after taking a glucose test and seeing that it was slightly elevated. So, yeah, the fear was diabetes. Turns out, I do not have diabetes, yet…but it is a bit high, and worth trying to counteract. However, a slightly elevated blood sugar would not cause my symptoms.

While I was waiting for the results of the blood test, I ended up going to the emergency room that Friday night with chest tightness, more shortness of breath, and more tingling sensations. The addition of the chest tightness could signal heart disease or whatever, so I didn’t want to fuck around with it. I got in, and they ran all the tests (EKG, Chest X-Ray, a plethora of blood tests), they gave me some nitrates, etc. Turns out, my heart is exceedingly healthy. Also, my cholesterol numbers are phenomenal. Which is great, but it still didn’t tell me what was going on.

I actually feel kind of stupid for going to the emergency room that night…being as, looking back, it wasn’t that bad. But I panicked. And now it will cost me (my out of pocket costs for this trip to the ER is 2 grand…which is only ¼ of the total bill…obscene). So, after all of this, nothing was accomplished. My heart is healthy, I’m good on cholesterol…they found a slightly elevated blood sugar…but otherwise, things seem to be working well (as they fucking should…I’m only 27).

However, due to the elevated blood sugar, it was time to change things up a bit. So, yeah, since then I’ve been doing the whole “diet change and exercise” thing. It’s pretty easy, actually. I just changed the way I shop, and the way I eat. Instead of pizza every week, and Panda Express, and burritos all the time…it’s chicken, and fish (lots of fish), and corn and sweet potatoes. Turns out, this stuff is delicious too…and way better for me. Instead of two giant meals per day, where I’d consume between 3000 and 4000 calories a day, I’m having three meals a day, tracking what I eat, and am consuming 1600-1900 calories a day.

Eating breakfast again was a ginormous help. I’m way less hungry at lunch, and can have just a small lunch now. It’s really changed things quite a bit. Cooking for myself is also a new adventure, as I’m actually a fairly decent chef, and come up with some delicious concoctions. I’ve also been going for 30-40 minute walks in the evening…every night. Just that little bit of exercise has helped tremendously. I’ll have to step it up at some point…but for now, its working. I’m 26 days into this, and I’ve lost 26 pounds. So it’s a decent start. The key will be keeping it up…and not getting bored with it or discouraged when I stop losing a pound a day…and sticking with it til the finish line. We’ll see how it goes. I suspect I won’t talk too much more about it. My weight loss attempts don’t make for interesting reading (or writing).

Other that those annoyances, I’ve just been working. Work has been up and down. I’ll be quiet for a few weeks, then insane for a few weeks. At one point they were looking to get us a manager to run the office here and be the main corporate point of contact…so I threw my hat in the ring for that one. Nothing has come of it, though. I haven’t heard one way or the other, and we still don’t have a manager, so who knows. It would be nice to get some sort of promotion. I’ve been here for 3 years now, and I haven’t gotten a sniff of a promotion or pay raise, despite taking on many responsibilities that were not actually part of my job description. I’ll probably have to start looking for new employment soon if this keeps up. I can’t live on this meager salary forever.

Anything else going on? Um, I’ve been playing in my golf league. I was in the hunt for season MVP for a while…but I sucked last week, so that dream is dead. My house’s lease is up at the end of September…and this time, for sure, we will be moving out. Which kinda sucks. I mean, as I discussed last paragraph, I have a meager salary. I cannot afford to live in this area in my own place. It’s just not feasible. These guys are the last of my friends in the area who needed roommates…so when they are gone…shit. Anyways, my move will probably take me home for a few months while I sort shit out. I’m not entirely pleased about it, but it is what it is. It’s not that I don’t love my parents, or can’t live with them; living at home is not a burden on me at all. It’s just…I kind of loathe the idea of being the 28 year old still living at home with his parents. It’ll only be temporary, ideally, but still…not exactly the best way to prove that you are all grown up and adult-like…not the best way to attract girls (yeah, I’m living with my mommy and daddy…not exactly the woo factor)…not the best situation in general. But, at least I have that option while I search for the next living situation (or a raise so I can afford my own place…which would be ideal). We’ll see how it goes.

Finally, looks like I’ll be going to Disneyland the weekend right before my birthday (so, September 29-October 2). I’ve wanted to get back there for quite some time now, and this was a good opportunity to do so. So, yeah, that should be fun…and is something to look forward to.

I guess that’ll be all for now. I’ve rambled on enough. Here’s to hoping I have something interesting to write about soon! Cheers!