Have you ever noticed that if it isn't one thing, it's something else?

Okay. Enough already. It is Tuesday, June 5, 2012, and I am already worked up about a new study that just came out. You have to wonder who pays some of these research scientists. They now have established conclusively that old people have a distinct odor compared to younger folks. As if we didn't have enough to worry about. That old people smell turned out to be recognized when people were given pads that had been placed under the arm pits of a variety of age groups. Here's an interesting tidbit. Most people when they discuss this old people specific odor do so with a negative connotation. However, when given whiffs from different age groups those involved in the testing chose younger smells as being much more offensive. Why the difference? The researchers believe it has to do with the preconceived negative thoughts about aging. As for why there is a difference in odors, while they can't be certain it is believed that aging produces changes in how skin gland secretions interact with bacteria on the skin. Let me try to summarize this. Old people have a distinct odor. Young people think it really stinks, not because it really stinks, but rather, because getting old really stinks, to them. Young people smell worse but they don't notice that. And, for us who are headed for the old and smelly category, well, while aging might stink to the younger folks, they will one day look forward to participating fully in it, and, for most, for as long as they can. Let's hope we will not soon have to endure a new ration of commercials devoted to products that specifically target the 'old people smell'.

I did have my eye exam follow-up last Friday. I love it when the medical folks talk technical. Don't you? I have a diagnosis regarding a very small lesion in my right eye. It is called non-proliferated diabetic retinopathy. This means that I have a couple of blood vessels that appear to be damaged but without any associated issues, at this time. That's where the non-proliferated comes in. If it begins to proliferate that could mean trouble. Serious trouble. But, thanks be to the Lord God in heaven, it has not changed any since the last visit when this microscopic but huge surprise was first spotted. The reason they want to monitor this closely is because of where it is located. Simply put, if it were to begin leaking blood that would be bad. How bad? Very. But, again, it is stable and everything else looks okay at this time. My new appointment is set for December, unless, of course, the proverbial anything changes happens to occur. I did have about 15 minutes of sheer melt down exasperation to get the examination started. Let me remind you that I came to do a follow-up on a diabetic induced issue that could seriously impact my vision. Here's how it started: The technician announced that she needed to check my eyes. She asked me to read the eye chart. I couldn't. She kept telling me to blink. (Last time I was there they almost ran me off because I couldn't stop from blinking.) I couldn't read the chart. Everything was too fuzzy. After several minutes of her moving my head up and down, forth and back, putting my chin in and out of that little cup thingy, and her doing a little huffing on her on, she finally grabbed my glasses and left the room to go and read them on their machine. Well, what do you know? At the prior visit they had written down my prescriptions backwards on the chart and she was trying to get me to read the chart on my right eye with the lens correction for my left eye, and the chart for the left eye with the right eye correction. Ha ha, funny? Not on your life! I almost couldn't read it even after she straightened it out because by that time I could hear Ray Charles singing in the background. I know what you are thinking. No way you would want to be me. I can almost understand why.

My regular ophthalmologist is on maternity leave. She was born in India. The lady ophthalmologist filling in for my doctor on Friday was very nice. Her parents came here from China. I did check her out on the internet before my appointment. She was magna or summa cum laude at every school of higher learning that she attended including Harvard Medical School. My doctor is supposed to be back in October so I should see her in December. That's good because next time I go I might need to get my passport updated. Just kidding. I happen to think that these ladies, both in their early thirties, both with outstanding academic credentials, are exactly what this melting pot of a country is all about. At least I didn't tell her the joke about how that I thought for years that magna cum laude was a Negro spiritual until I found out different. You don't think it's funny either? The other thing I thought about was telling the technician she might start off her day by taking a marks-a-lot and drawing a big R on her right hand and a big L on her left hand. But, since she was not the one who made the mistake from my prior visit, she may not have thought it to be funny, and since she had not at that moment stopped moving my head around, I decided, given the potential outcomes, to just take a deep breath and enjoy the thought of what she might have done had I told her. But I didn't. And, we move on to the next challenge. I do hope you will have a great day and that our Great God will add His blessings to it. Amen.    ...More later.