Today I turn one year older. People often act like it’s a big deal, but of course I’m just one day older than yesterday. Nonetheless, it’s a reminder of the fact that I am, indeed getting older. Of course I have other reminders of that. Like my wife, who frequently remarks at the number of grey hairs cropping up in my head.

A year is a long time. Much has changed in my day-to-day life. A year ago:

1. I was using a different computer
2. I was using a different phone
3. I was using a different camera
5. I had a different job
6. I had a different office
7. I had a different gym
8. I had a more valuable stock portfolio
9. I had fewer joint problems
10. I drank less coffee
11. I had a worker espresso machine

Surprisingly, even a few things changed outside of my personal world. A year ago:

1. W was still president
2. Hillary was the front-runner
3. Steve was still running Apple
4. Tim Russert was still running Meet the Press
5. It was very cold outside

I guess some things never change…

You could call me an Apple fan. My first Apple was the //c back in the mid 80s, and this was followed by a string of Macs. I’m currently on my 11th Mac, a recently purchased MacBook Pro. I’ve owned a Newton MessagePad 120, an Apple QuickTake 200 digital camera, the original iPod (as well as several subseuqent models) and the iPhone. Oh, and the AppleTV. And several Apple printers and monitors. You get the idea. If it has an Apple logo and my credit card is still working, I buy it.

But these past few weeks have been tough. Not tough like the mid 90s when a buffoon named Gil Amelio was doing his best to drive the the company into the ground and the news was regularly peppered with pieces about Apple’s imminent demise. This is different. Apple is everyone’s darling right now. People are switching to the Mac in droves, Apple stores are in every mall, and the marimba ringtone can be heard just about anywhere.

An Apple fan like me should be on top of the world. Then Apple announces that 2009 will be their last Macworld. That’s okay, we rationalize, it’s fine because the whole point of Macworld used to be to see new Apple products, and now you can do that at any Apple Store. Besides, Apple can have their own mini-Macworld style announcements at any time during the year. Then they announce that Steve Jobs won’t be doing the keynote. That’s okay, it’s because they’re de-emphasizing Macworld…I’m sure Steve will be back at the next unveiling.

Then, amid rumors of declining health, Steve announces he has had health problems, but it’s just a “hormonal imbalance” that can be easily treated. I want to believe this as well, though as a physician I’m increasingly struggling to find some logical way to tie in this “hormonal imbalance” to his declining health other than a recurrent, metastatic glucagonoma causing weight loss. Then, yesterday, the news got worse. A six month leave of absence for health reasons.

We try to rationalize it again: he needs the time to relax and get better (as if the his dramatic weight loss can be ascribed to stress alone). Maybe he’s just a stubborn CEO who has refused to take the medication he needs and needs this time to fatten up. Or maybe it’s worse.

What we really fear is a return to the 90s. An Apple with no unifying vision, with a steady stream of uninspiring leaders and constantly changing direction. The analysts point out that Apple has a lot of talented people on board, that Tim Cook, the COO who is stepping in while Steve is out, is an impressive manager. What makes Steve unique is his uncanny good taste combined with an understanding and appreciation for the technology. He’s not afraid of putting restrictions on technology to make it work properly. I’m not worried about the next 2 years, because I’m sure Apple has enough in the pipeline to keep the magic alive. I’m worried about what will happen after that. If Steve doesn’t make it back, I hope he’s found someone at Apple who gets it.

There’s no way I’m going to replace it with something that looks like this:

Dinner leftovers often are handy to have around the house, whether it’s for a quick snack, a easy lunch, or even the next day’s dinner. Figuring out what to do with these remainders becomes considerably more challenging when the dinner is sushi. Spicy tuna sushi, to be precise.

My wife and I were both full, yet there was still a fair amount of the spicy tuna left in the bowl. Considering the price we had paid for the high-grade fish, I wasn’t going to just throw it away. Does raw fish really keep until the next day? I just slapped on some plastic wrap and closed the fridge door, determined to worry about it later.

The next morning I became inspired. After having shelled out half of my bagel to meet the demands of my two year old in the neighboring chair, I retrieved the bowl and got to work.

It tasted…neither spicy nor like tuna. Perhaps I needed some wasabi cream cheese to give it a kick. Or perhaps “day old” and “sushi” are words that really don’t belong in the same sentence. It didn’t seem that far off from smoked salmon, but I guess it would have caught on by now if it was really the culinary breakthrough I had been hoping for.

I’ve never been a big one for New Year’s resolutions. They carry a certain stigma, namely that they will be largely unobserved after a few weeks or months. What I’m concerned about is that I may inadvertently appear to be following the herd when in fact my activities have nothing to do with the new year.

Let’s face it, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, many people overindulge in the holiday festivities and gain a few pounds. Then they resolve to lose weight and join a gym in January. Within a month or two they remember why they stopped going to the gym the previous time, and give up. Those of us who are more regular in our exercise patterns (“gym snobs”) scoff at these amateurs when they crowd OUR exercise facilities in the winter months. We give each other knowing glances, mocking these Nike-clad neophytes in their attempts to fit in.

This year, it’s not so simple. A series of injuries combined with an intense period of work responsibilities has kept me out of the gym for the past several weeks. Now that the schedule has cleared up and my injuries are at least stable, I’m ready to head back in. Unfortunately, the timing is such that my return will coincide with the seasonal migration of the unwashed masses.

I am faced with a dilemma: do I wait it out, sacrificing my own health and fitness so I can return unnoticed later in the season, or do I risk being mistaken for one of THEM.

Oh, the humanity…

I’m a big fan of myth-busting, and medical myth-busting is particularly satisfying. The British Medical Journal did a particularly good job with some popular medical myths. Take a look at Medical Myths and Festive Medical Myths.