A couple of weeks ago, I went to the doctor for the 1st time in a while. I went primarily for my bad allergies, but I also mentioned the time I woke up in the morning and it felt like I had twisted my right ankle. The doc said it might be gout, so they ran some labs. And they confirmed it. Oh, and gout is hereditary. Thanks, dad.

It's not at full blown status yet, not like how when my dad or Vince gets it, they can barely walk. So far, I've had it easy. But just yesterday, I started feeling the effects. On Saturday night, I had maybe 4-5 beers, then Sunday afternoon, I had one pint at the Stadium Pub while watching the Giants game. Maybe 30 minutes after, we leave and walk around the area, and while we're walking, I feel slight pain in both my ankles. I didn't twist them or bang them into anything, so I'm assuming it's gout, because apparently beer is not good for gout. Good thing I'm not that big of a beer guy to begin with. I mean, I like beer, but I'd rather do the hard stuff (shots) or mixed drinks.

So now I have to actually start monitoring this, like watching how much beer I'm drinking, along with my red meat intake. And I also have to watch out for crab, lobster, clams, oysters, and shrimp. I call BS.