Maintenance

One of the things I promised to do at the beginning of the year was to get a medical checkup. I had been lucky the last few years, since the companies I worked for required mandatory annual health checkups for all employees. Not only did the company pay for it but also let you complete the tests on a weekday. So you got a day off from work, to attend to preventive maintenance (diagnosis is more apt I guess) of your body. I did not think much about this perk until the time came for me to put this on my list of things to do. I thought about getting a checkup done every once in a while but did not get around to doing it. And two years went by, three if you look at the actual date of the last company paid checkup.

Fortunately, events transpired to throw all my excuses out the window – a diagnostic company came to the colony I live in and offered complete blood test and ECG, very conveniently on a weekend and at 40% of the list price. Then came cancer awareness week and women’s day which prompted the neighborhood hospital to offer the other diagnostics I was interested in, at a special price, for a whole week. So I could not argue on time, cost or proximity. The only battle then was with priority. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am equally guilty of prioritizing everything else while putting myself last. So I thought a paradigm shift was in order and underwent all the tests, no matter how unpalatable the experience (anyone who has undergone a mammogram will share my view). Results are in and as put so succinctly by the 3 idiots, “aal izz well”.

All this happened along with some minor problems with my car, an accelerator that behaved like a stubborn toddler, refusing to move when you first start the engine and gears that were a little hard to shift. With the onset of the hot summer days, I wanted to ensure that the air conditioning worked adequately. The list was long enough to require a trip to the garage for servicing and I promptly prioritized it. Now that the car is back and the owner/driver has also been given a clean chit, look forward to seeing both of us on the road.