An American Retired in the Philippines
Until recently, I didn’t know that two of my older siblings (Shirley and David) suffered from celiac disease. I didn’t even know they were gluten intolerant until I spoke to my sister over the phone after many years. Plenty of people suffer from gluten intolerance without having celiac disease. Certain foods give me similar symptoms, … Read more
Do you often suffer from constipation? Does your doctor tell you that your serum cholesterol level is too high? The fiber in certain foods can cause your body to discard the things that are causing you problems. I’m talking about dietary fiber, not fiber optics (although I’m sure a good snaking with a fiber optic … Read more
There are safe ways to remove earwax and there are unsafe ways. Most of the time, you should let it come out of your ears naturally. Other ways can cause more problems than they solve. Earwax builds up in the ear canal for a couple of reasons, to protect the inner ear from things outside … Read more
I had my laser eye surgery done in early 2004, so it’s been around 19 years. Surgery techniques change, and the type of laser eye surgery I had done is probably an outdated technique by now. My eyesight hasn’t changed at all since I fully recovered from the surgery. Most people tend to start getting … Read more
You’ve probably seen or heard an advertisement or two where the advertisers think words like diarrhea and hemorrhoids are going to disturb you. They quickly get to the point to spare you as much disgust as possible. I, however, am here to disgust you as much as possible. During periods where you don’t eat the … Read more
It wasn’t until sometime in 2015 that my wife, Josie, found out that gout was the main cause of her recurring pain. Well, okay, she also had other things bothering her, but they rarely caused her any pain. The Wikipedia description (from that period) said gout is a form of arthritis, caused by high levels … Read more
Litter is a big problem in many countries, not just the Philippines. It just seems more pervasive to me in the Philippines because I get to see it more. The United States was like that in the 1960s and early 1970s. I used to see empty beer bottles and cans, along with the bottles for … Read more
The most common foot odor is caused by perspiration on the feet. Most people can take off a pair of shoes and a faint odor will exist for a short period of time. Others aren’t so fortunate, when the foot odor is caused by bacteria or fungus in the skin of the feet. It’s usually … Read more
The most common type of dandruff is usually flakes of dead skin from a dry scalp, sometimes along with some flakes of dried sebum. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, as it affects roughly half of the population. The dead skin is going to leave your scalp, whether you want it to or not. Various … Read more
There are plenty of pastimes in the Philippines, including the many vices shared with people all over the world. Nitpickers can often stay occupied. Getting manicures and pedicures from nail technicians can also kill a lot of time. Nitpickers I always wondered where the term “nitpicking” came from, which means being overly attentive to details. … Read more