I stewed all night about what my next move should be. I fell asleep in front of the TV sometime after midnight. When I awoke the next morning I still didn't have a clue what I should do. I'm sure the doctor would have told me just to take it easy and not worry about my position in life. That sounded real good, but then he wasn't in my position.

I mean I was about to lose the biggest part of my income, so I would be living in a house I most likely could no longer afford. The doctor had not so kindly informed me that I was fifty pounds over weight. "You either get rid of that extra weight or go ahead and order the coffin," he said. "While you are at it, stop smoking and exercise more," He saw how little I cared for his comments then added. "I'm not kidding Mr. Abba, take my advice or preplan your funeral. it will save your family the trouble."

It looked as though my whole life was about to change and not, in my opinion, for the better. I had already given up smoking. It was hard but the worst of it was over in the hospital. After five days the physical symptoms were pretty much gone. The mental part of addiction was a bitch but seemed doable.

I decided on the spur of the moment to postpone breakfast. It was my grand plan to start walking every morning for exercise. At that moment I made the first of my life altering decisions. Breakfast would be my reward for the morning walk. It wouldn't be much of a reward, since I planned to start my starvation diet that very morning. Might as well get all the body shocks over at one time.

So instead of heading out for a fast food biscuit, I made coffee. When I made coffee that morning I followed my usual plan. I put eight cups of cold water into a plastic container. The container was wider than it was tall, so that it would fit into my microwave oven. To the water I added four scoops of ground coffee. I put it in the microwave for five minutes.

I did that before I brushed my teeth, combed my hair or put on my clothes. The five minutes gave me just enough time to walk to the curb for my newspaper. Since I hadn't dressed, it was a good thing that I fell asleep in my usual tee shirt and sweat pants. It was my TV watching costume as well as my sleep outfit.

When I took the plastic container from the microwave, it was steaming as usual. I don't know about anyone else's, but my microwave heated the water to a rolling boil in five minutes. I had long ago broken the Mr coffee machine, but I still used the filter system and the carafe. I poured the boiled coffee through the strainer and into the pot on which it sat. Coffee made that way was strong but not bitter. I do hate a bad cup of coffee, even if I am an expert on them.

After two cups of coffee and a quick read of the paper I was ready to shower and dress for the day. Since I had no plans to see anyone, I wore jeans and a blue work shirt for my trip to the walking trail. I lived close enough to the downtown so that the trail was only two miles from home.

I drove my car to the park where the trail began. I knew the park well since I often slipped into it for a rest while working patrol division. Lots of cops did the same thing. That was probably the best policed spot in town after midnight.

I had never walked on the trail, so it was interesting to note the mile markers not to mention the people. That first morning I did a mile out and a mile back. I was exhausted when I got back to my car. I knew right then that the doctor had a point, I really was out of shape.

I sat on a bench near my car gasping for at least ten minutes. I continued to look around out of habit I expect. There were about a dozen people in the park even at 8am. Some were walkers like me, some were having a grand time playing with their dogs. I noticed that none of them were young. They were all on the dark side of fifty it appeared.

No one spoke to me and I spoke to no one. Still we did smile at each other as we passed. I felt better once my breathing went back to normal. I feel pretty good, I thought as I walked to the car, When I got home, I still had two cups of coffee in the pot, so naturally I drank them as I fixed breakfast.

The best way for me to diet is to count calories and combine that with food selections based on the jungle diet. I called it that because I was living on the edge of the jungle when the doctor told me what to eat and what to avoid eating.

Eggs were in, biscuits and toast were out. So I put a couple of eggs into a bowl, then put the bowl into the microwave. Three fourths of a minute later I added a piece of cheese and some fake bacon bits along with dried onion flakes. Another half minute in the microwave and I had a not too terrible and somewhat filling omelet, of sorts.

After breakfast I began thinking about my housing situation. I spent about an hour gnawing at the problem, like a dog with a bone, before I fell asleep on the sofa again.