My doctor is pleased with me.

In fact, he was almost ecstatic. When I saw him last October, prompted by vague chest pains (that turned out to be mostly acid reflux), my total cholesterol was 204, and the LDL/HDL breakdown was 137/37. In other words, the total level was marginal, the LDL ("bad cholesterol") was too high, and the HDL just barely made it into the good range.

This time, under the influence of drugs (Lipitor, though I've since switched to the cheaper Zocor), thirty pounds lighter, and eating a better diet, the total was 116, and the LDL/HDL was 61/42. The LDL seemed to be the cause of the most joy--though it may not hold that low with the drug change.

But today is for celebrating. I'll go back in 3 months to check it again.

Devil cat

Must try to Photoshop some devil horns onto a photo of Fish, for use on posts like this one.

This morning Fish surpassed himself. First, he managed to reach up to the dining table and hook a paw over the edge of my cereal bowl, tipping damp cereal and milk into my lap, onto the placemat, and on the table and floor. Once I had that cleaned up (during which time the cereal got to the "almost too soggy to eat" stage) and changed pants, I moved to the living room sofa, as the floor was still drying around the table. (OK, so there's only one spot at the dining table that is clear enough to eat at, and that's where the wet floor was. Shifting Stuff to eat elsewhere was beyond me.)

I settled down with the remnants of cereal, coffee, and a halved hard-boiled egg for the rest of breakfast, and went back to reading on the paper. I looked up in a minute, and Fish was licking the salt off the plate beside the egg--I'm sure he just hadn't gotten around to trying the egg itself. I yelled, he jumped, the egg plate went splat onto the carpet...and I abandoned the paper and spent another 10 minutes cleaning up.