I’ve been having all kinds of weird health issues lately.

About two months ago, I got whammied by severe fatigue, headaches, back pain and a weird, persistent watery sensation in the back of my throat — with a bit of fever thrown in.

About a month ago, I began experiencing severe discomfort in my lower abdomen, making it difficult for me to sit or otherwise bend at the waist without cussing.

And last night, I suddenly felt severe pain and pressure in the center of my chest as I was working in my home office. After five minutes or so of this, I struggled down the stairs and told my wife we needed to seek medical attention.

What the fucking hell is going on? My primary physician, a dogged medical Sherlock, has been determined to find out.

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As a tech journalist in recent years, I’d periodically serve as a guest host on the Minnesota-based Minnov8 Gang Podcast with regular hosts Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.

That was fun, but the best part came after the show.

Steve, who is a whiz with image-editing software, would often insert my likeness into hilarious graphics that echoed a topic on the day’s program or something memorable I uttered as the episode was being recorded.

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My parents made Christmas magical for my siblings and me, generously showering us during our Puerto Rico childhoods with thoughtful gifts, for which I’ll always be appreciative and grateful.

Sometime during my pre-teen period, though, I grew weary of the materialism and issued a good-natured edict to Mom and Dad: If you want to give me something for Christmas, make it a book, just one hardcover book, nothing more.

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It’s the holiday season in Minnesota, so this tech-head naturally compiled a gift guide comprised entirely of products with strong Minnesota connections.

Soon after posting that article, Chuck Joiner had me on one of his MacVoices gift-picks episodes (with fellow Minnesotan Charles Edge), and I mentioned several of those Minnesota products.

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Package theft or “porch piracy” is a major problem, particularly during the holidays, as just-dropped-off parcels are snatched from doorsteps by thieves who often shadow delivery trucks.

I recently covered this sinister trend in a set of articles that was well received on TwinCities.com.

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I talked iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 on Fox 9’s “The Jason Show” with Jason Matheson.

TidBITS editor Adam Engst, appearing on TWiT’s MacBreak Weekly podcast after an Apple press event, gave props to his team (including me). It is nice to be appreciated.

My wife and I  always look forward to our St. Paul neighborhood’s block party on National Night Out in August — and never more so than this year after the heartbreaking shooting of St. Paulite Philando Castile during a police traffic stop.

Philando worked at the J.J. Hill Montessori school, which is less than a block from my house, and less than two blocks from the section of street where our block party is always staged.

Because of the shooting, our neighborhood is continually erupting in antipolice protests. As I write this, another demonstration is about to start at J.J. Hill. The governor’s mansion, a site of sometimes-violent protests, is just a few blocks away.

It has been a trying time, which made our party all the more important. It was therapeutic.

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This bizarre-looking trophy is the St. Paul Pioneer Press newsroom’s “News Hero” award.

It is awarded weekly to a news worker or workers — such as reporters or copy editors — for awesome journalism.

I hadn’t been anointed thusly until recently, when I jumped on the Pokémon Go craze and wrote a series of stories about it.

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Philando Castile, the St. Paul man shot by a cop during a traffic stop, won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

I’ll be reminded of him every time I walk onto my porch, look to the left and see the J.J. Hill Montessori school where he worked, less than a block from my home.

All is quiet now in my ‘hood after many memorials and protests — including those in front of the governor’s mansion, which is just a few blocks away.

I am left with the many pictures I took during all the tumult. The three shown here are the ones that will stay with me the most.

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I often refer to my house’s roomy front porch as my “third office” because I do a lot of work out there during Minnesota’s all-too-brief summers.

It seems criminal to hole up in my Pioneer Press cubicle, or in my home office, when I can do my work amidst fresh breezes, whispering trees, tweeting birdies and alluring odors from my wife’s nearby gardens.

For years, however, I couldn’t get my porch-workstation arrangement exactly right.

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