Seeing is believing, so keeping my eyes healthy and functioning is a worthy objective. My visit to the ophthalmologist yesterday didn’t reveal any negative surprises. I can’t see shit out of my left eye–not even the big top line on the eye chart–it’s all just a blur. So, the infection I’ve been treating with antibiotic eyedrops since last week has cleared up. The left eye exam didn’t show any retina damage. The eye doc said I could schedule a cataract removal surgery at my leisure, but it wasn’t currently something to worry about. I may see about getting some prescription reading glasses to avoid going under the knife laser for as long as possible.
Next up was a visit with Dr. Jo. After receiving my chelation injection, she went to work on removing the skin tabs on and around my eyelids. I wasn’t sure what that would involve, but it was much more unpleasant than I anticipated. She used a local anesthetic, which dulled most of the pain, but it was a slow process, and I have lots of eye boogers. After an hour of discomfort, Dr. Jo finished with my left eye, and I told her we could do the right eye next week. I’d had enough torture for one day and had no secrets to reveal.
I’m not looking forward to the next session. The things I endure to stay gwapo.
When Dr. Jo finished with me, it was after five, and I had skipped lunch, so I was hungry. Time for a visit to Sit-n-Bull. My diet aspirations aren’t all that strict. I try to achieve my goal of fewer than 1800 daily calories and avoid sweets and other unhealthy options most of the time. At least so far, I’ve been losing weight with that approach. Being hungry and having banked the calories I didn’t consume for lunch, I almost convinced myself that I was justified in satisfying my craving for a roast beef dip sandwich. But before ordering, I checked my app to see how many calories that would cost me. The sandwich alone was more than 500, so I nixed that idea and went with this instead:
I had a couple more drinks (it was my gin and soda night) at Wet Spot to ease the pain, and then we headed home to watch episode six of “Squid Game.” I was surprised to see so many regular characters killed off this time (my favorite survived). There are three more episodes to go in Season One, and hopefully, it will begin to make more sense to me by then.
I didn’t do the Wednesday group hike, and Dr. Jo told me to avoid sweating today, so I’m suffering from a walkaholic withdrawal right now. We have a special hiking event tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to getting back on the trail.
I’ve booked rooms and paid for two Hash events in La Union next month (Feb 7-9 and Feb 28-Mar 2). And I’m in the early stages of planning a trip to Da Nang, Vietnam, come June. Yep, I am finally getting off my lazy ass and preparing to reengage in the travel portion of my retired life. It helps when you have a girlfriend who likes to get out of town. I’ve promised her a minimum of one excursion each month.
And another journey that is ongoing:
Today’s installment in The Story of My Life is a post about a weekend in my new Itaewon life. I visited a bar called Sweet Caroline’s, which would become one of my favorites, and began meeting fellow expats. I mentioned that I was avoiding the bars with lady drink pressure, and this exchange with my then-wife in the comments made me smile:
Carol: You could be the loneliest person ever created, and yet I would highly recommend you avoid buying drinks for pretty or even unpretty Korean females! Get my drift?
Me: yes, dear, I get it…
Carol: Sorry baby, it was the hormones talking. Of course, I meant every word of it.
Good times, and it is nice to remember those long-ago days.
Here’s a travel memory for today:
And keeping with the travel theme, today’s YouTube vlogger takes us along on his visit to Alona Beach in Panglao, Bohol. Bohol has been at the top of my list of places to see in the Philippines. I hope to accomplish that soon, maybe in March.
And now for the daily dose of humor:
And now I have.
My apologies!
So, I am changing things up and staying close to home today. Neighbors Jeff and Vina are having a gathering at their place, and we will be attending. Thanks for spending some time here at LTG.
Well, you got the skin tags (not tabs) off, so that’s a good thing. They’re often caused by obesity/and or diabetes. Make sure they don’t grow back!
Do you really think reading glasses will help with blindness? The doc needs to understand how serious the situation is. Unless you’re okay with functioning with just one eye. And I’m not clear on whether the doc was sure you’ve got a cataract in there, or whether he was just hypothesizing.
Some roast beef and gravy, with coleslaw and salad on the side.
I hope that roast beef wasn’t as dry as it looked.
There are three more episodes to go in Season One, and hopefully, it will begin to make more sense to me by then.
What’s not making sense? I mean, I get that the villains’ motives might seem inscrutable, but surely you can at least guess at some possible motives. Well, maybe the mystery will drive you to watch until the end. Don’t let Episode 7 ruin the series for you, though. A lot of people complained about that episode, with its distractingly bad acting and poor dialogue.
I’ve booked rooms and paid for two Hash events in La Union
Do the locals pronounce it the Spanish way, i.e., “lah oon-YOHN,” or do they do it the sloppy American way, i.e., “luh YOON-yuhn”?
Congrats on the caloric expenditure.
re: dialogue with Carol
Did you have a roving eye back then despite being married? That would explain a lot re: serial marriages.
Good luck with your other eyelid. Here’s to no more skin tags.
That eye tag removal does seem painful. Hope the second time around is somewhat better.
And yeah, I am with @Kevin on getting a second opinion on that left eye. Seems pretty serious to me. You are looking to get out of town? Maybe combine that with a visit to a recommended eye clinic, either in the PI or abroad.
Also, your calorie tracking inspired me. I decided to do the same thing as I wanted to lose a few pounds. Like you, I’m not too anal about it, but I do find that just keeping track of the calories helps to prevent me from having the third or fourth helping of sweets, etc. LOL. So, thanks for the nudge.
The “story of my life” link didn’t work. Took me the Vlogger video.
Brian, yes, I’m going to get a second opinion. This doctor did a good job fixing my right eye a couple of years ago, and I suspect I have a similar cataract issue…he just said I could get the surgery done at my leisure. What bothers me is when I asked about glasses, he agreed it was an option but didn’t bother to have me fitted for a pair.
Good luck with the calorie counting! I agree a benefit is that it makes you think BEFORE you eat. Sometimes I even make smarter choices.
Fixed the link. Sorry about that!
Kev, oops! Well, tabs wasn’t a typo at least; it is what I’ve been calling them, and you are the first to correct me. Thanks! Dr. Jo says tags can be hereditary, and my mom had them; then again, she was also diabetic.
Okay, I may be guilty of some hyperbole–I’m not totally blind in the left eye. When I close my right eye, everything is blurry to the point that all I can see is the background light and shapes. I couldn’t read the eye chart at all and could barely make out the number of fingers the technician held up from six feet away. The doctor did diagnose a cataract and said I could schedule surgery whenever I wanted it. But yeah, his flippant attitude was a bit off-putting.
The roast beef was tasty, what little there was.
I’m definitely watching “Squid Game” to the end. I thought the VIPs in episode 7 were off-putting, and it was sad to see my favorite contestant go in episode 8. I’ll watch the finale of Season 1 tonight. I just don’t understand how it all works…an island with a high-tech complex and hundreds of employees engaged in murder and mayhem. There have apparently been many iterations of the games, yet no one has ever defected and reported what’s happening. The authorities have never been suspicious about the island activities or wondered about all those people who have gone missing. Who is funding the operation, and what do they gain from it? Episode 7 implied that the elites gamble on the outcomes, but surely this is about more than that. Anyway, I have your review queued up and ready to read after tonight’s episode.
As to the pronunciation of La Union, I conducted a test to find out, asking Swan the name of the province where Bauang is located. She said it the Spanish way. Me, I’m an old union man, so I will pronounce it accordingly!
Did I have a roving eye back then? I was married when I met Carol. So, she knew what she was getting. I eventually learned my lesson. Jee Yeun is the only wife I never cheated on.
No comment on my every day/everyday sentences?
I had to find the relevant post. Good usage, but still no why. This is the thing you keep avoiding. If you can’t explain it, you haven’t mastered it, which is why you’ll continue to make the same mistakes over and over. Richard Feynman made that clear: to show understanding of a topic, you have to be able to teach it back to me. And without Grammarly for help.
A Fart is that the title?
hahahaaaaaa….lol….what a poem.
Ouch! That eye looks awful…🫢
Btw, the eye isn’t as bad as it looks, and is healing fast.
Yes, that odor was the fart poem. I admit, it stinks!