I’m on a Roll

Yesterday, I drove to the doctor for my PSA blood test. I was expecting to wait the usual 15 minutes but to my shock there was not a soul in the waiting room. I checked in and a minute later the blood drawer called me back. Total time from beginning to end: 7 minutes.

I am about to send some US savings bonds in for redemption. For tax purposes, I want to send some in 2026 and the rest in 2027. This will require two notarized redemption forms. I didn’t want to make two trips to the notary so I called the Treasury number on the form and got my second shock of the day. After about five seconds navigating the usual “Press 1 for this and 2 for that” menu, I received the following message: “Your expected wait time is zero seconds.” No way, I thought. Immediately a voice came on the line and a pleasant man greeted me. In less than a minute I had my answer : a notary’s signature is recognized for this purpose for six months. Problem solved.

This morning my phone pinged. My PSA test results were ready, less than 24 hours after my blood was drawn. I went to the doctor’s patient portal which I accessed with my four-digit code (easy peasy) and saw my results. My PSA score is 3.8! That’s normal for someone half my age and the lowest score I’ve had in years. I attribute this medical miracle to two factors. First, as I said in my last post, I stopped riding my upright bike and switched to my recumbent for the last three or four weeks. Also, the day before the test we had torrential rain so I didn’t ride at all. (My wife and I went to see The Odyssey instead.)

When she heard the PSA test result, my wife said that if I want to stay cancer free, I should buy a recumbent trike. I wonder if my health plan will cover it.