Weekly Ephemera #55

• To my surprise the painters/drywallers showed up on Wednesday.  The hole in the living room ceiling has been fixed and several water spots (caused by the condensation issues we had) were touched up.  On Monday they will finish the job when they paint the living room ceiling.  I wish this had been finished two weeks ago.
• I had my semi-annual blood draw this week.  Setting it up was a bit strange.  I called to make an appointment and I was told I couldn't get the blood drawn until I met with the Doctor.  I asked the person what I would have to talk about with the Doctor if we didn't have blood test results.  She consulted the Doctor and ... they authorized me to get my blood drawn.
  
  After my blood draw I checked the results on the health app our doctor's office uses.  All results were there except for my blood sugar numbers (A1C and Glucose) and my PSA.  I met with the doctor the next day and she said "oh yeah ... I should have asked for those."  Fortunately the blood drawn a couple days earlier was still 'good' and they could do the additional tests she had omitted.
  
  The results, by the way, were pretty good.  My lipid numbers (cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, HDL, etc) were all in the normal range with a few of the numbers being the best I've ever had.  My A1C was 5.7 ... at the bottom of the prediabetic range.  I was hoping it would be in the normal range ... so close.  My glucose number was 100 ... the high end of the normal range and better than last time.
  
  Overall my numbers are moving in the correct direction.  Yay me!
• As for our Camino planning, the one thing I hadn't figured out was how to get from the Paris airport to the train station.  A little search came up with a couple options - The metro train or a taxi.  The metro was by far cheaper than the taxi option but it would take twice as long.  Also, as I was trying to figure out which metro trains I needed to take and where to change trains, I became more and more confused.  Not a good feeling when we will be in a strange new city.
  
  I am slightly concerned about how much time it will take to get off the plane, pick up our checked bag (containing our poles, pocket knife, liquids, and other items forbidden in your carry on bag), and go through immigration.  If it takes too long and we use the slower transportation method to get to the train station we risk missing the earlier train.  If we miss it, it would delay us by a couple hours and possibly arrive in St Jean Pied de Port in the dark.  I decided that the faster and less confusing, but more expensive, solution would be to take a taxi.
• I walked once last week.  I walked 11.9 miles (19.2 km) the day before my blood test hoping to burn off some of my blood sugar.  The painters showing up stopped me from walking any more this week.
  
  I usually don't walk the week before I start a long hike so I will not be walking this week.  This will give me more time to pack, worry, and battle my pre-travel anxiety.
• To distract myself a little I've been binging "Columbo" reruns and I went to the new "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" movie this morning - a very good end to the GotG series though I found the comedy a bit too heavy handed at times.