OK, so I haven't written anything for a little while and I guess I need to. Two weeks ago Wednesday, Mellini and I drove over to Brooksville(?! I know!) for our medical exams to ensure that we are healthy enough to emigrate to Australia. Doctors have to be approved by the Australian government in order to provide this service, and such doctors are few and far between. I think there are maybe five for the entire US. The doctor in Brooksville is a very nice man from India, from Hyderabad (at least that's where he went to school), and he has a quiet and gentle manner and is quite friendly and forthright: just about what I might want in a doctor.

Before we got to the doctor's office, we had to fill out extensive personal histories as well as 20 page questionnaires asking such detailed questions as whether our great-great aunt's cat had diabetes or gout or the ague (which is totally fine because we're trying to move to someone else's home and they can be as careful as they want about who they let in and who they keep out; I'm really totally good with that; the Australians seem to make a lot of good decisions when it comes to protecting their population from various hazards). Mellini was good enough to drive us over and back, so the drive over to Brooksville went pretty quickly from my perspective.

Once at the examination, we started by donating some of our precious bodily fluids. Then we had our reflexes tested, reflexes I never even knew I had; we were weighed and measured and I'm proud to say that even WITH a potbelly I'm still within the normal BMI range (I used to be off the height/weight charts, but no longer) and the giraffe said that I'm 6' 5"; our ears and throats were examined, our hearts and lungs were listened to, and blood was drawn for analysis. Now, I don't wish to speak I'll of our doctor because, as I said above, he is a very nice man, very knowledgeable and has a great bedside manner; he's a very good doctor, I'm sure. However, he's not a phlebotomist and he did stick me rather roughly when he drew blood and wiggled the needle around in my vein after it was in. I wasn't sore afterwords and I didn't bruise at all so no harm done, but MAN that hurt!

After we were done with everything they could do to us we had to drive further into the wilds of untamed Brooksville to get our chest x-rays to make sure we're not tubercular and then return with our films to the good doctor so that he could check them and make his recommendations. He showed us the films and explained his readings of the films as he made them which was (again) very generous and a great kindness to two meganerds like me and my darling wife. I'ts really neat, but kinda creepy, but really more neat that creepy to see an x-ray photo of yourself. I've only ever seen thoracic x-rays of myself: maybe I need an x-ray protrait done, 3/4 view maybe? Anyhow, the x-rays were pretty much fine and so, four hours after we began, we were done. Except for paying the bill. All $800US of it. Moving to another country is EXPENSIVE! Who knew?

Next installment: when snotties attack.