so the preliminary verdict is -- "worn cartilage"

Worn cartilage is osteoarthritis, correct?

Apparently, because of the ways that my knees are tender and the ways that they are not, the doctor says I have a cartilage issue and not, unfortunately, a tendon issue (tendons heal, cartilage doesn't). Long term: cortisone or surgery. For now, until I get back from Prague: take more acetaminophen and keep walking.

I'm strangely not bothered: compare this to twenty years ago, when the mere mention of the word "arthritis" in reference to something that was probably somehwere down the line brought unwilling tears.

I guess I've have enough time to get used to the idea.

On another front, I'm still trying to get a room in Prague, and I'm researching kennels.

And Czech is starting to make sense to me. The problem is just the memorization. I need practice. Which I will be getting, eventually.

And on yet another front: grumpy babies still lower my blood pressure.

(which at the checkup was normal, as was everything else except triglycerides, but I expected trouble there because I had dropped the niacin. We're trying some other drug for a bit).