I guess a downside to routines is engaging in unhealthy ones. Or maybe it is the genes I wear. My mother was diabetic and eventually died from congestive heart failure. Dr. Jo advises that the path I’m currently walking will likely lead to full-blown diabetes and kidney damage. Not the news I was hoping for.

Perhaps it is not too late to change the road I’m on. I must limit my sodium intake to less than 2 grams daily. That means diet discipline I haven’t been able to muster recently, but oddly enough, I now feel a strong motivation to do so. Kidney failure and the resulting dialysis would be a nightmare that would be difficult for me to endure. The memories of my mom doing insulin injections are also nothing I want to replicate. Dr. Jo has doubled my metformin dose and wants to see me again on Friday to check my progress. My primary outward symptom is the swelling in my lower legs from fluid retention. This also puts a strain on my kidneys.

So, I’m overdue on taking positive steps to maintain my health. Hopefully, it is not too late.

Went out for a bit last evening with Swan. Started at Green Room and played a game of pool for the first time in a long while and was as crappy as I always was.

We finished up at Wet Spot, where Swan chatted with her friend Aine and I enjoyed Daddy Dave’s company. We grabbed some takeout at Sit-n-Bull (I had a healthy Salisbury steak). I went to bed early as usual, but now I sleep with my legs elevated on a pillow, which is supposed to help reduce the swelling.

And so begins the first day of the rest of my life.

Quora Q&A:

Q: What was it like on your last working day before you retired? Were you happy or sad to be leaving? Are you enjoying retirement or would you like to go back to work?

A: My last day at work was all about goodbyes, so that part was sad. I knew it was unlikely that I’d see most of these people I had worked with and cared about for years ever again. When my last workday ended, I left the office and went straight to the airport, where I got a plane to begin my new life in the Philippines. That was the exciting part of my last day as a working man. I am enjoying my retirement. I still miss the people but not so much the work.

Looking back, I regret that I didn’t live in the moment more during my last years in Korea. Too much looking back in sorrow and dreaming of a better future to appreciate the life I was living at the time.

I could use a laugh or two, how about you?

Sorry for the downer of a post today. It will get better. Or I’ll die trying.