Then I went to get a physical, and to decide if the doctor I was seeing to day would wind up as my new MD. Yes I think she passed muster. She was not as hurried as most, and even though not as ready to take her time discussing things as I would prefer, I decided I will try her at least a few more times. She gave a fairly good physical as compared to others I have had in recent years. She did the blood pressure thing, the visual examination (eyes, ears, nose and throat), the heart and lung check with stethoscope, the hernia check, the gloved hand thing (ouch), asked me when I last had a colonoscopy if ever (which was recent so I do not need another one- thank you very much), checked my weight, told me to lose weight, to cut back on junk food, to exercise, and to cut back on drinking alcohol (although I do not drink much, I guess she felt it best for my BP, which by the way was fairly decent, meaning not high, but not perfect). Of course she also drew blood for the regular slew of tests. I have to wonder though, don't doctors even ask when you last had a chest x-ray? I had one about a little more than a year ago, and it was okay, but that was not a routine check-up. I have not had a chest x-ray in a checkup in many years, are they passe?
After all that I stopped at Dick's Sporting goods. I had a $40 gift card that was burning a hole in my wallet since Christmas (smoldering slowly anyhow). I picked up a pair of Vasque Trail Running Shows, marked down from $89 to only $19.99 plus tax, that are pretty decent looking and fit like a shoe should fit. I checked online for the regular price, and quite a few places had them right at $89.99, none anywhere near $19.99, such a deal! Too bad they only had one pair that fit me, I wanted to buy a pair in another color. They are supposed to be top of the line trail running shows according to the Vasque site at: http://www.vasque.com/products/m-amp.cfm. That is where the pic came from (no copy right notice on that page,a dn it is free advertising for them so I think it is considered fair use), exact same type/color I picked up today. Not a bad deal at all from what I can tell. Now if they last 6 months to a year, or maybe even 2 years, of my heavy weight pounding/running - I will have gotten my money's worth.
As for them being trail running shoes, I don't run on trails right now, but they will probably do on the treadmill in my office gym, or out and about in my neighborhood. Otherwise they will also make fine footwear at the firing range; so they will go along good with the 100 rounds of Remington 12 gauge target ammo I bought to shoot trap. I just showed them all off to Brendan, and he liked both purchases, especially since he was the one who gave me the gift card. I asked Brendan if he remembered how much was the value of the gift card; and he said $40 - just like I had thought. So another bonus today was when the check-out clerk at Dick's told me it was worth $50, and I got change back. About the only way it could have been better at Dick's today would have been if they had told me I was the 10 gazillonth customer, and they had lots of free goodies for me like a nice over and under shotgun, and a nice bass rig, and maybe a nice Goretex rain outfit. Who knows, maybe tomorrow, but I won't hold my breath. What I really look forward to is going to the range with Brendan, later this month hopefully, to shoot some trap or skeet. This first day of Spring, or partial one anyway, was an overall very good day for me, and being that the temps were in the low 50's, with sunny skies made it even nicer. Here is hoping you all had a nice day too.
All the best,
Glenn B
