When I was a kid, I thought people my age were an hour away from being dead!
Now that I'm this old I find that the reverse is true! My whole life I never went to a doctor for any illness, just lucky I guess! I did go several times for broken bones, thanks to Lem Motlow's old number 7!  This past week I was having some pains accross my chest and down my left arm, so I made an appointment. I didn't particularly  like the idea, but my wife insisted (she's sometimes kind of bossy), makes me think she might want to keep me around another few days. Oh yeah, the other times I went to a doctor was to get a regular two year physical for my commericial truck drivers license. (More about that later).
Well the doc's nurse was nice, pleasant and seemed to have a good sense of humor. She took my temperature, I asked if she was going to give it back, she laughed! Then she took my blood pressure! I told her she had to give it back, or I wouldn't be able to walk to the examination room, she agreed. Both were normal, which dosen't really fit, considering that some think I'm far from normal.
I got in the exam room, and stood and paced, I spent more than thirty years sitting and prefer to stand when I can. In examining the exam room, I noticed that the clock on the wall said  ten minutes to five, (wasn't sure if that was AM or PM) either way I was either late or very early, then I noticed that the second hand was jerking. I guess the battery was almost dead (not a good sign).
Doc came in, and we talked about the problem I was having, all the time he was looking at my chart and telling me that he didn't think it was a heart problem. But, he was going to have me get a chest x-ray and an EKG. I went to the x-ray room and there on the wall was a clock that said twenty minutes after four. I didn't think much about it until I went to the EKG room where another clock said twenty minutes until one. That’s when I started to worry! Think about it! If the doctor's, nurses and aides can't keep a clock or three running, what chance did I have?
Commericial Drivers License Physical's!  In more than thirty years of truck driving I must have had at least twenty. Now I'm not complaining about taking a physical, but when they use the New York Times large print newspaper to check your eyes, you’ve got to wonder! The aides do all the hard work, temp, blood pressure , weight and so on, then the doc signs the form and you're good to go.
Speaking of commericial licenses, I went into a DMV to get mine renewed one year and I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing!
There was a group of people sitting off to one side and there was an examiner giving the license test in Spanish!  In all my years on the road in this country, I never saw one official road sign that wasn't in English. The examiner was giving the test orally, because these folks couldn't read English. Wonder what STOP means in Spanish?
In another part of the same office was a group of guys taking the test orally, but in English. My mouth hit the floor when one of the questions was asked; If you're driving up a mountain and you have to downshift to reach the top, what gear do you use to go down the other side? There were at least five different answers, and according to the examiner they were all wrong. He said that you use the same gear going down that you use to go up.That examiner was never behind the wheel of a big truck!  My answer is, it depends on how steep the downgrade is, how much your truck weighs and how scared you are. Kind of makes you wonder why some of your mail order stuff takes longer than the seller says it will to get to your house.
I had considered going back to work driving, mainly because of the economy, but I'm not sure that the Knights of the road are still Knights!
 I went to Cookeville a few weeks ago. I still drive like I did when I was out there, keep to the speed limit, stay to the right, signal when I make lane changes, and flash my lights when it's safe for someone that’s passing me to come back over.
However every big truck I got near, was exceeding the speed limit, staying in the left lane, tailgateing and in general ignoring every other driver on the road.
Nah, I think I'll just hang out on my little piece of Gods land and watch my Lillies grow faster than my Butterfly bushes.
Thats fast enough for me now!