hwan.com

So I underwent a physical examination a few weeks ago (June 17th) and received the results today. Overall my health seems pretty good: Glucose plasma fasting 4.8 mmol/L (3.6-6.0 is normal, 6.1-6.9 is impaired, >6.9 is "provisional diagnosis of diabetes mellitus") Creatinine (a measure of kidney function) is 83 mmol/L, which I believe is normal. Bilirubin total: 11 umol/L (normal < 23) Urate: 371 umol/L (200-440) Cholesterol: 4.33 (desired: < 5.2) Triglycerides: 1.38 mmol/L (< 2.3) HDL cholesterol: 1.31 mmol/L LDL cholesterol calc.: 2.39 mmol/L Vitamin B12: 337 pmol/L (possibly deficient if < 150, probably if < 110) Ferritin: 165 ug/L (80-300 is normal, Iron deficient if <12) Sodium: 141 mmol/L (135 - 145) Potassium: 4.6 mmol/L (3.3 - 5.1) Chloride: 100 mmol/L (95-108) Alkaline phosphatase: 46 U/L (40-129) AST (Aspartate transaminase): 29 U/L (<37) ALT ( Alanine transaminase ): 1.55 mIU/L (0.35 - 5.00) Hemoglobin: 143 g/L (135-170) ...

Well, it certainly has been a while. Am I still passing through a cleansing fire? I certainly feel my mind is not entirely there. This past weekend my girlfriend and I went to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a short drive from Toronto, though it's made much longer by traffic. We stopped in St. Catherines, which I liken to a somewhat less classy Waterloo. Oh, of course, we drove through the fields of wine country, which, if you skip actually going inside the wineries, can be done in nearly a day. The stretching verdant fields of grapes is much like you'd imagine, and a rewarding sight. The next day we walked about the downtown proper, the sidewalks teeming with tourists. All of the eateries we tried were overpriced and staffed by disinterested teenagers serving uninspired, bland dishes; thankfully we brought some sandwiches for picnicking so not all of our meals were complete disappointments. We saw Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard , which was billed (seemingly to me) as a comedy...