Warm weather is back with us once again so Saturday I went to buy a couple of pairs of shorts to wear while out doing my exercise walking. At first I started to just grab some in the size I have been wearing for years (40), but instead decided to actually try some on. I'm glad I did. Turns out I have dropped a full pants size and the size 38 shorts fit me very well. A couple of months ago I wouldn't have been able to button them. I guess the effort is starting to pay off a bit. I h...

After recently having to go on medication for high blood pressure I have been trying to eat healthier, get more exercise, and generally improve my health. The doctor tells me I also have high cholesterol and has given me three months to try and bring that down to avoid going on pills for that too. Eating healthy on the road isn't easy, and it's even harder for someone who has spent the last 50 years not giving it a thought. A friend told me about a free app called My Fitness Pal that ...

I'm writing this as a way of making a commitment, sort of making it official so to speak. I am going to once again try to quit smoking. I've tried and failed before. I'm going to try again. It's pretty tough to quit while driving a truck. Smoking is so much a part of my driving that when driving I find it very difficult to not smoke. But I'm going to try. Again. I've set my quit date for Wednesday. I have between now and then to mentally prepare myself for that first very rough few days...

After I shaved my head for the Summer I noticed a large growth on top of my head. It's over an inch long. As it's on top of my head, and I was concerned it might be skin cancer, I took a photo of it so I could see it better. It doesn't look like any photos I've seen of skin cancer, but I haven't a clue what the hell it could be. I do know it's quite ugly and I'll be seeing someone about getting it removed as soon as I can afford the time and money to do so.

I have no idea.  I think everyone knows what hives are, those allergic related little itchy blisters that appear on the skin. Lately I've been getting them popping up here and there, mostly on my arms, and am finding them very annoying. I can't think of anything new that I have been exposed to that would explain them, they just seem to appear here and there and then go away, sometimes in a matter of just a few hours. Very annoying. I just got back from Applebee's and am checking up on...

My father died from depression when I was 10 years old. Shotgun. In his day and age men simply didn't go to the doctor for something like that. It was a weakness. Something to be ashamed of. The chemical imbalances that cause depression are quite often genetic. One can inherit it from one or both parents. I inherited it from my father. Yep, I suffer from clinical depression. But I won't let it kill me like it did my father. I have "those" thoughts from time to time. I remember a time s...

I took my first dose of Wellbutrin yesterday. When I woke this morning I had and still have a sort of roaring sound in my ears. As I have been dealing with a sinus problem lately that is affecting my ears (plugged ears, pressure, etc) I can't be sure if it's related to the drug or to the sinus problems. Has anyone who's tried Wellbutrin experienced something similar? If so, does it pass?

I'm just sick of myself. I'm sick of feeling tired most of the time. I'm sick of having this "trucker belly". I'm sick of coughing first thing in the morning. I just don't feel well most of the time. I need to do something about it. I had started eating healthier some months back but somewhere along the way, somewhere out on the road, I slipped back into my old unhealthy eating habits. I had cut back on my smoking too but somewhere along the way, somewhere out on the road, I slipped back i...

Oh joy. I awoke this morning to find the somewhat painful start of a cold sore on my lower lip. I've suffered from these things most of my life. While they are hardly debilitating or even mildly serious they are annoying as hell. I've tried a number of different remedies over the years to try and speed up their healing and minimize the eruption, but in all honesty none of them really work. I know that there are some prescription drugs used to treat the Herpes virus that causes cold sore...

What is it that makes some people think they are going to live forever if they just do all of the right things? Yes, it's good to eat sensibly, drink in moderation, and exercise enough to keep the body in reasonable condition. But some people have some unrealistic ideas about these things and wind up spending so much time focused on these sorts of things that they fail to enjoy their life. What could be more sad? As Samuel Clemmons remarked, I always smoke in moderation. One cigar at a tim...

I sprained my left wrist a couple of weeks ago while chaining down a load. It was the load to California in fact. It wasn't a bad sprain as sprains go, but with the constant driving and working it just really hasn't improved all that much. I can stand the pain well enough, but the weakness associated with the sprain has really been bugging me, especially when trying to work. Today while doing the detach to drive the fire truck off the trailer I grabbed the 4x4 lumber I use to support the t...

I have been suffering from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrom) since I was a teenager. I am now 42 years old. As time has passed the condition has steadily progressed from a minor annoyance to what is now at times a nearly incapacitating illness. It is far more common than most people think. Most sufferers don't like to talk about the illness due to it's rather unpleasant symptoms. Not exactly "table talk". So, what is IBS? IBS is a functional bowel disorder of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract...

As I wrote in a previous article, I have been working on getting more fit and healthy since the first of the year. My diet has become much more healthy than before. I eat, on average, six times a day now. I eat small meals and healthy snacks. This serves to keep my metabolism up and burning energy. I cut out fried foods altogether and reduced the amount of fat and carbs I take in. Note I said I reduced fat and carbs, not eliminated them. The body needs some carbs and fat to function pro...