The Corner Booth

My cell phone rang, and when answering it, an unexpected and very interesting piece of news came my way not too long ago. Before I knew it, things would be changing. On a trip up to Michigan recently, I was relaxing on the couch in my parents' living room when that cell phone call came in. Being in Indy now for close to a decade, it's always nice being able to visit the home-state. A draw-back of these visits, though, is that they're usually short and a whole bunch is packed into just a few days. This time, it was only the Riley Dog and I making the five-hour trip from the Indy area to the Detroit area. Able to work from home or anywhere, I took care of business as usual during the work-hours on Thursday and Friday. Then it was time to visit with family and friends. So when Saturday afternoon rolled around, it was nice not having anything specific to do. My parents went out for a bit on errands and I took some time to hang out and rest my mind by catching up on ...

We all need a little perspective sometimes. Mine came on the heels of a week of diabetes conference activity and advocacy talk, and it was a reality check that slapped me upside the head while screaming at me about how much bigger the world is than diabetes. One phone call was enough to remind me that, in the grand scheme, diabetes isn't that big of a deal. Really. There are a whole lot of worse conditions and diagnoses that trump the "incurable but manageable" classification of diabetes any day of the week. Especially those that carry the terminal disease tag. I've been living with type 1 diabetes for most of my life, going on three decades. But I have no idea what kind of hell and devastation is involved in many other disease states such as Lou Gehrig's, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and more. No clue. Given that, I'm lucky to be living with an autoimmune condition that I can keep "under control" for the most part and not be stopped fro...

Not too long ago, I was driving somewhere. Don't ask me to remember where, because I don't recall the route or what Point A or B might have been. All I know is that at the time, it was a bright sunshiny day and I had an urge to hear some Tom Petty. Fortunately, I'm a Petty fan and have several CDs with me in my vehicle. So I put one in the player to crank up. Clip Art Source . Sadly, the CD player at that moment decided to eat my music and wouldn't play. And I couldn't switch to other Petty CDs, or even eject them to try again. Pretty much, I was SOL. That door to listening to Tom Petty at that moment in my drive appeared to be closed. I wasn't happy. Then, something profound happened. Well, maybe it wasn't that profound... but it certainly felt that way at the time, and given all the other stuff happening in my life. Switching to FM and a classic rock station, I came across the introductory notes of the very song I had been hoping to hear ...

Are those CGM farm animals alerting farmer to a Low?! I found myself singing this song recently, while sitting at my kitchen table: "Lantus in the leg. Lantus in the leg. Hi-ho, the derry-o, a shot of Lantus in the leg." Go on. Sing along. You know you want to. Now, I can't tell you What the Fructose a dell or derry-o even are, sine I'm not a farmer and I didn't care enough to Google it. But I do know it's a catchy tune. So that's all there is to it. (Humming to myself... Snapping my fingers to the beat.) Now, just imagine what it'd be like if Old McDonald Had a D-Farm...

Totally don't care what the carb-count on this is... It's damn hot outside, demonstrated by my recent Tweet on Thursday: "Mental image of vanilla ice cream cone (from fair earlier in the week) melted into a messy puddle as I stepped outside into the 100+ degree heat. Total buzz killer." So, stay cool. Enjoy some ice cream BECAUSE YOU CAN ( assuming it hasn't melted in your hand or dish because of an extreme heat wave... ) Avoid those ice-cream haters and blamers. Oh, and have a Happy Friday and good weekend. Peace out.

We went out for breakfast one morning recently. As with many places, this particular breakfast establishment had a trio of sugar substitutes sitting on the table along with that white packet of plain old sweet sugar. A pink one. Another blue. A third one yellow. One Sweet N' Low. Another Equal. And one splendidly Splenda. Only one contained these words: "Suitable for people with diabetes." Now, I have no clue as to whether the others are or are not just as "suitable" for People With Diabetes. I'm not even really sure What The Fructose ( see what I did there...!?!?! ) that even means. But I examined them all, and the Splenda was the only one that said it. So I swiped it and took it home. I'm not one to even use sugar substitutes - or anything for that matter - in my coffee or beverages. I just thought it was funny. And worth writing about. Having no opinion about the science or safety or validity of any of the three, and putting my endorsement ...

Tuesday is Flag Day. And I almost forgot about it... But I didn't. So, this is the chance to show off an awesome skin cover for my Minimed insulin pump. Cool cover created by Medtronic's SkinIt . Here's another view... All in the palm of your hand.  And another... With stove and egg timer in background...   And so it is. This is one of many options that existed for a pump skin cover, but weighing all the options and realizing this skin would pretty much be visible to everyone - even strangers - most of the time (since I wear my pump on my belt), the patriotic design is what I went with. So, my trusty Mimimed 722 (a.k.a. The Don of Rage Bolusing) gets to show off the patriotism online, just as is now done each and every day as it hovers on my belt-line. Being all " U.S.A., U.S.A ." and such. There you have it. Happy Flag Day. And upcoming Fourth of July, in like four weeks.

That end of the week time is here again, so here we go with another round of Friday Fun! Here's some random, but good tidbits, from the past week. Here we go: Ok. This isn't "fun," but it is important. So it leads the list. News of a disappointing encounter with a U.S. Senator came from D-Mom Moira McCarthy this week and spread quickly in the Diabetes Online Community and Beyond. But soon afterward, the incredible feedback to the situation prompted a response that includes an upcoming May meeting with Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts. This is an awesome example of the influence advocacy and social media can have. We will listen intently for how this meeting goes, and hope that it's not a one-time example of this lawmaker listening. Oh, and do you STILL wonder what the impact of social media is in today's world? Well, this is a must read about how social media played a part in informing and probably saving lives when tornadoes tore through Alabama recently....

Today is Friday. I have a lot on my mind. But too much to write about or even comprehend. So in my stead, I give you Shadow.  Yes, that is pump tubing on my head. No. I'm NOT happy about it.  Taking a break from her Plotting for World Dominiation, Shadow imitates what this coffee-saturated and sleep-depraved week of deadlines is doing to me. Some diabetes, much is not. Too much going on, too little time to process it. Tapping my energy, stealing my words, blocking my writing mind. So that's all. See you Monday.

Just a quick moment reflecting on a great Thanksgiving that brought many blessings of every sort. Hope yours was great, as well. I made it out for the early-morning shopping scene on Black Friday, and since we have family in town we're just enjoying that company. And the blood sugars are mostly cooperating, which is another blessing to be thankful for. So, hope all's well for my faithful readers and I'll look forward to re-connecting once the longer holiday weekend comes to an end!

Happy Halloween 2010! Overall, it's been a relatively un-eventful but very relaxing and fun Halloween in the Hoskins' Hoosier Household. We didn't dress up this year, though that's almost not even something to consider nowadays since there's no question I can compete with the cool crayon costume that I sported as a 5-year-old back in 1984, marking my first post-diagnosis Halloween. But it was great seeing all the little kids come to the doors, and it's always fun to see some of the cute outfits and see some neighbors so excited about the fun for their families. We did pass out candy, and of course, I decided to test it and enjoy some myself - just to be safe! It didn't throw my sugars off ( too much ). That was the end of a fun weekend with a few D-related adventures and surprises. On Saturday, Mike Durbin from MyDiabeticHeart and his girlfriend were passing through the area and stopped by the house for a quick, impromptu D-Meetup! It was a great ...

A thought to remember in an age when we spend more time blogging and emailing than we do in regular conversation:   "Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar. " - Edward R. Murrow     

No time for my chatty-typing fingers to engage you today. I'm off to the dentist's office for a dreaded appointment. Thanks to the wonders of D-enduced periodontal disease, this should be a visit full of poking, prodding, pain, and likely some bleeding. Great times. Not looking forward to this visit. Or the next more painful one. I see soup in my future. Maybe Easy Mac. But, I digress. That's all fodder for a future blog post. In the meantime today, talk amongst yourselves. Flap those online gums in the blogging world. And remember to brush and floss.

Sometimes, pictures speak 1,000 words. This Is It, in a Nutshell. Here's to hoping we can all keep it together long enough to matter. Or at least long enough to make it to a time when a Blog of Substance can be summoned from the depths of the mind. Here's to hoping for better Health, ongoing D-Living, and Everything Else that's tapping time and energy. We go on...

Over the course of five days recently, Minimed Customer Service has been a regular part of my life. 151 minutes of my life, to be exact. Little more than 2.5 hours. Can't say how much of this was On Hold Time, but I'd venture to guess most of it. As a result, I've become very accustomed to the company's On Hold Tunes, to the point of knowing how the system often quips in with an automated message affirming how important you are as a customer and that someone will be "right with you." Through all of this Holding different tunes play in the background. An instrumental of Solitary Man may be streaming through my phone speaker, but that's not what I hear: Nope. To me, it's the Jeopardy theme music, taunting me as my fingers quicken their table-tapping pace. As the frustration grows, Eye of the Tiger begins playing in my head as I feel a Rocky Balboa-like adrenaline surge. Blood starts boiling and I'm ready to start...

A trend is afoot. You must have seen it. It's pretty obvious. At least to those in the Diabetes Online Community who frequent the Twitter World. Not a day goes by (usually) that Bacon or Cats aren't brought up in some form, and while it's sometimes random, there is often a connection to Diabetes specifically mentioned or implied. Blogs. Vlogs. Videos on YouTube. Tweets. Photos. Random Internet articles and Google searches. All portray a simple reality consisting of Three Themes: 1. Bacon Rules. There's no question there. (We must honor Ninjabetic , the Almighty Bacon Lover and Connoisseur!) We have the concept of Bacon Cupcakes. Gifts of Bacon Toothpicks. This AWEsome video about Bacon Rockets , and a Rap about Bacon . Twitter's even ventured into the arena of creating Bacon Avatar Tributes. Wow. 2. Cats Are Everywhere . They seem to frequent our Diabetic lives. We've latched on to the Colorful Daydreaming Friskies Cat Mingling with Pilgrim Turkeys and...

You may have guessed it based on previous posts stocked full of movie quotes.. but in case it escaped your attention before: Yes, I'm a Movie Buff. Love a good flick. Love quoting them. Classics like Caddyshack, Breakfast Club, Godfather Trilogy, Back to the Future Trilogy, and Scent of a Woman. All greats. Really, anything with Al Pacino in it is a necessary movie to own in my world. Gangster Pacino is especially liked, in roles such as Michael Corleone, Carlito, and you got it.... Tony Montana. Pacino illustrates the point of this current post: "Say hello to my little friend..." Yep, that's from Scarface. The Movie. Classic role. Good stuff. Violent, but good. Gave new life to words such as, "cockroach." Of course, Scarface has become the name of my Paradigm pump. Without a cool name like Master P or Elvis or anything smooth like that, I've now dubbed it: Tony P (Paradigm) a/k/a. Scarface. You can see why this is from the photo, I'd venture...

So here it is. Feb. 1. Another Day. Another Birthday. This time, I've reached 31. Yep. I'm an Old Man.... Old Man Hoskins. There It Is. Yeet, I'm still alive and kicking. Triumphing. In a month, I'll celebrate my 26th year of Living With Diabetes. And holding strong. Relatively no D-Complications, minus a little foot-tingling and neuropathy here and there and minimal signs of retinopathy that aren't anything to stress over and seem to appear and disappear between eye-doc appointments. No special plans, as the birthday falls on a weeknight. A Monday, of all days. A full day of work, followed by a JDRF Outreach meeting in early evening. (Stay tuned for updated JDRF-focused blog in the coming days!) Following that meeting, I will probably head home to watch the DVR-captured eps of Chuck and Heroes, catch Jon Stewart, chat it up with Suzi, and likely get to bed at a decent hour for a full busy Tuesday, followed by the same type of Wednesday. Maybe a nice Devour D...

Life's been crazy nuts lately. Work Deadlines. Back to Back Meetings. Writing. Reporting. Planning. Diabetes Rollercoasters. Everyday Stresses. Sleepless Nights. Mental Exhaustian. You name it... The whirlwind has engulfed everything, leaving little time for life's pleasures. Like Blog Reading or Humor Writing. No time to be Off Cooking Bacon. No comfort from My Ninja, Lance. Obvously, it's time for a break. Right. Now. So, here's to the end of a crazy tornado week and what will hopefully be a great weekend of sleep, catching up, and just relaxing. Without Tax interfering with my becoming a mental jello-bowl with plans to just Veg Out. Seriously, it's needed. About all I can muster up the mental strength for right now are some movie quotes from classic flicks. The classics, in which I'm able to recite half-asleep and even in a state of Low Blood Sugars. This isn't the Master List and only represents a snapshot tainted by my current mood and exhaust...

Seriously, too much is happening and it's all way to mind-engulfing. Deaths of diabetics. Blame. The slacking PR and Press world. Ponderings of what type of diabetes is considered "tougher" to live/learn with. Came up with a handful of blog posts to write, but somehow failed to muster the fortetude to fully write any of them. Just too much going on. I'll probably get to them before long, just not now. My creativity is tapped. To steal and mend a classic movie quote:  "The money's gone, the brain is shot. But the liquor we still got." Well, my sleep is gone and the brain is shot, but the good happy thoughts I still got. So that'sd what I'm going to spend some time with, before getting back on the blogging bandwagon. Tapping some happy images to guide you through this hiatus. Hopefully they brighten your day a little as they do light up my world. I'm off to bury myself in work deadlines, deal with my plastic pancreas, and handle whatever ...