Doctor's visit NSVs

So I work for a megolithic huge Fortune 500 multinational corporation that has cornered the market on industrial-strength shoelaces. The company is very wealthy and recently exercised its options on some French war bonds (as a favor to the reigning queen of France) and so this quarter we were able to achieve a second corner on the market (two more corners to go!).

That's neither here nor there -- what it means for me is the company has VERY generous health benefits, as my insurance covers myself, my wife, my kids, our two Luxembourgian schnauzers, and a few of the neighborhood kids who spend a lot of time in our back yard.

One of the benefits is called a "wellness reward". The insurance will give me $250 for just showing up at the Dr.'s office for an annual check-up. Naturally this is a pittance compared to my weekly salary, something I would throw out the window of my Bentley while passing through a distressed middle-class subdivision, but hey, as Grandma Nehushtan used to say "cash be cash", so I trotted on down to the good old primary care physician, Dr. Chan, for a look-see.

I hadn't seen the gentleman since 2007. He was shocked -- shocked! -- that I had lost a great deal of weight. He said he DID NOT recognize me at first. My bloodwork had come back with everything -- two pages of unpronounceable medical words and cryptic abbreviations -- in the healthy range. He was very complementary, asking how I did it and whatnot.

He asked about exercise -- check. He asked about healthy food choices -- check. He asked about B12 -- check. I even taught him a new phrase: "Calorie Budgeting", about which he said "I like the way you put that."

Sweet it was.

Good doctor, nice doctor., Chinese doctor. Just an example of how nice he is -- Dr. Chan once told a patient he had six months to live. The patient couldn't pay so Dr. Chan gave him another six months (*boom-chi*).

Anyway I had figured my health was on the right track but didn't know for sure that the details would be so good. My main motivation was and is vanity... but it's nice to know that this 49-year-old carcass is fixed & fit inside & out.

Thanks, Dr. Chan!