July is not my favorite month. I know it should be, with the sunny, warm (humid) weather, Fourth of July fireworks, barbeques, and skirts and sandals.
But it’s not. July is now my least favorite month because it’s the month where I have so much going on it drives me insane (if Erik can live with me through July, we can handle anything).
First, as most of you know, I’m going to Indianapolis at the end of the month for the Roche Summit. Fabulous right? Well, it also turns out I’m going to Chicago for BlogHer on behalf of one of my clients (I’m not actually going to the conference, but I’ll be in the area). After work is over, I’ll be spending Saturday and Sunday hanging out in Chi-town for a little mini-vacation (and possible meet-up! Stay tuned for details!).
Now, if this was it, I’d be set. Awesome plans, right?
Well, it turns out, I’m also moving. My roommate is moving out to live with someone else and while I could find another roommate, life in Hoboken isn’t exactly everything I imagined. My apartment is actually a lot further from the train station than initially imagined and it takes me about an hour to get a work each morning. Did I mention I work three miles away? Yeah, dude.
So I am moving. To New York City. Which makes sense because, yeah, I kinda moved across country to live there. Might as well do it now! I’m looking at apartments, feeling things out. Apartments are a bit more expensive than Hoboken, of course, but not astronomically. We’re talking $100-$150 more. Which won’t make a much of a difference because I won’t have to deal with car insurance because I’m….
SELLING MY CAR!
That’s right. My little red Ford Focus is going bye-bye. It’s been a great car, actually, but maintenance is a bitch and I’m glad I won’t have to worry about buying new tires anymore. Hello, subway system! So, in addition to Indianapolis, Chicago and finding an apartment, I’m also selling my car.
Oh yeah, and did I mention all the furniture I have in my apartment? Like my wonderful red couch? Probably going to say sayonara to that as well. Sigh. It sucks because it’s SUCH a nice couch but I really don’t think it’s smart to keep dragging it around with me. I may keep it in storage for awhile, but I’m still thinking about it. Ideally, I’ll find someone who will let me bring it, but it’s doubtful so we’ll see.
So that’s my July.
That’s why I hate July.
The nice thing about blogging is that even if I disappear for a week, my blog and all my readers are still here when I get back. When I started blogging, it was nearly four years ago. I’ll celebrate my fourth anniversary next month, on July 12. I didn’t know many of the other diabetes bloggers, and I actually didn’t really read that many either. There was Amy and Kerri, Sandra and Shannon, and Tek and Violet and a few others who don’t blog anymore. When I started blogging, it was a way for me to rant about diabetes and harp away on things I hated about the disease. Now this blog has become so much more. It’s about my life as a whole – not just this one little aspect of me that people seem to so quickly associate me with. And for good reason too! I spent most of high school and college as one of the leading online “uncertified” diabetes experts, working for Diabetes Station, then Diabetes Teen Talk and then dLife. Whew!
But now blogging is about what I feel social network is really about: people… experiences, culture, learning, exposing myself to things that I don’t always get in my day-to-day life sitting in a cubicle at work. My dad (hi Dad!) always associated blogging with being like a little soapbox where people, some of whom have no idea what the heck they’re talking about, can rant and rave all day long. And this is true, technically. But I think the real usefulness of blogging isn’t coming from the fact I talk about how much I waking up at 74 mg/dl (and how gulping down 2 tablespoons of honey before hopping in the shower really isn’t all that) and how doctors are annoying or strangers on the street are rude or how I don’t like having to remember to clip my pump onto my jeans when I’m running late for work.
The point is that all of this has made it a lot more fun and enjoyable to grow as a human being, and that learning about experiences (diabetes or otherwise) has made me, I think, a more thoughtful and curious person. Blogs, Twitter and Facebook allow me to communicate directly to the person, and more often than not, you get a response! That’s pretty amazing, considering just a few years ago, the most you could get was a letter to the editor which elicited zero response.
I don’t like talking at people. I like talking with people. You see that comment button at the top of this post? You should click on it sometime. Tell me what you think. Even if it has nothing to do with this post. Or, if you’re shy, write me an email. I always write back.
Have you ever had a date circled on your calendar and you spend weeks anxiously waiting for that day, whether it’s a birthday or an anniversary, and then the day comes and you COMPLETELY forget that you were waiting for it to show up?
Well, this week that happened to me.
Last Sunday, while I was away in Minnesota, I passed the two year mark of living on the East Coast. Who knew?! The reason I found out was because one of the Executive Assistants here at work emailed me this morning to wish me a happy anniversary. That’s right – I started work at my company FOUR DAYS after moving across the country. That’s dedication, folks.
Having moved to New Jersey is certainly not something I ever expected to do. Planning on moving to New Jersey is like planning on moving to, I don’t know, Guam or something. It’s not really on someone’s “I NEED to live here list.” But honestly, it’s not so bad. I’m pretty close to New York City (well, helluva lot closer than when I lived in Oregon) and I’m close to other East Coast cities I love, like Boston and Philly. I still loathe humidity, and snow, and sales tax, but hey, I don’t have to pump my own gas! It’s also where I met Erik, who is, in my opinion, pretty awesome. New Jersey may not be the most attractive place to be in and around Newark Liberty International Airport, so I can see how people flying in and out think the Garden State is a misnomer, but drive just an hour north or south or even west and you’ll see some really pretty towns and countryside. And the people, while a little brash sometimes, mean well.
I’m not sure I’ll stay in New Jersey forever (oh God, please, no), but for right now it’s a nice place to be. At least until August. When my lease is up. And then, who knows, maybe I’ll actually make it to the Big City.
For the past couple of years, one of my more identifiable traits is the fact that I love to meet bloggers.
Love, love, love.
I would do it for a living if I didn’t actually need to work full time to support my drug habit (i.e. insulin). But since I do have that habit to keep up, my ability to flounce around the country all willy-nilly is basically relegated to my vacations and/or business trips and/or how far my car will carry me in a weekend.
So when my boyfriend told me that his nephew was getting married (his nephew is the son of his half-brother, who is many, many years older than him) and that I could go with him to the wedding in Minnesota, I jumped at the chance. To meet bloggers, of course.
I made the arrangements to meet with a few bloggers at Mall of America, which is not only centrally located (well, kinda) but it’s also a stone’s throw from the airport, making it a good pitstop before flying back to New Jersey after the wedding weekend.
Scott Johnson – yes, the Scott Johnson – picked me up from my boyfriend’s brother’s house and we drove to Mall of America where we met up with Amber, Heather, and my friend Bob from Diabetes Station (I’ve known Bob since I was 16! I’ve know him, Betty and Scott Strumello the longest… they were there when I graduated from HIGH SCHOOL. I was a kid!) and his daughter, Sandee.
OK, before I continue, I want to say 2 things about Scott.
1) The dude has blue eyes. No, like blue eyes. I thought they were brown. Or… something. I don’t think I’d ever seen a close up picture of Scott before and, like, woah. Surprise.
2) The dude is tall. See picture below (wait, not yet! I’m not done with the story yet!).
3) He’s really nice. (OK, so that’s three things, but yeah whatever).
When we got to the mall, we quickly found each other, and then divided again so we could all find something to eat (although I was coming from a crazy brunch so all I had was a salad since I was suffering disastrous blood sugars). Even though this was the first time meeting everyone – and even though I was the lone East-slash-West Coaster – I still felt very comfortable and we had no problem getting into even the nitty-gritty of how difficult it is to live with diabetes and how we’ve managed to cope through the years. We talked about infusion sets, and we talked about diabetes educators, and our diagnosis stories. We even spotted a teen girl wearing a Cozmo! See – we’re EVERYWHERE. Muahahaha…
We were at Mall of America for about three hours, and then Erik and his mom arrived to retrieve me and take me away to the airport… ::sniff::
It was a wonderful time and when all was over I gave everyone a big hug because when you’re a diabetic, you’re family. End of story.
Me, Scott, Bob, Sandee, Heather and Amber.
I was on a roll with the whole blogging everyday business, but the last couple of days have been crazy busy! My best friend from high school was in town and I played tour guide with her, her boyfriend, and my boyfriend. We saw quite a bit of Manhattan and boy were my feet tired! I’ll have a longer post tomorrow. Until then, here are some Tuesday tidbits:
A few months ago, I lost the charger for my transmitter. For those of you unfamiliar with the Minimed CGM system, there are four components: the sensors (which are little sets that you change every so often), the transmitter (which is clipped onto the sensor and which you reuse, because it houses your blood sugars), the inserter (which is a bigger version of the inserter used for pump sets) and the charger (which keeps the transmitter powered).
The transmitter has an internal battery, not AAA batteries like my pump, so I have to charge my transmitter every time I change the sensor. Without a charger, the transmitter eventually stops working.
Guess how much Minimed charges to buy a new charger?
A hundred and fifty buckaroos.
!!!
When I spoke to the lady at Minimed, she told me that if I couldn’t find my charger, I could wait until June when my warranty ran out. When my warranty ran out, my insurance company (in this case, United Healthcare) would most likely pay for me to get an entirely new system – transmitter and charger together. Not really necessary since my transmitter works just fine, but I thought, if that means I don’t have to shell out $150 for a piece of blue plastic, I’m all for it.
When does my warranty run out, you ask.
June 1.
Guess what month it is?
So I gave Minimed a call yesterday and I was all, “Yo, I need a new charger! Here’s all my info.” And they were like, “Yo! You need to talk to this other person.” So I was like, “OK.” Transfer “Yo! I need a new charger! Here’s all my info the last person asked me for and now you’re asking me for” “Yo! You need to talk to this other person.” Ahem. OK. Transfer “Yo! I really need a new charger! Here’s all my info that the first and second person asked for. Are you sure I shouldn’t just email the entire department with my address, birthday, phone number, social security number and the name of my first pet? Would that save time?” “
Finally, I got in the hands of someone who could help me, and who said that he set me up with what I needed.
I got another call this afternoon from Erin (hi Erin!), the same representative who helped me out last fall when I went on the CGM, and she told me that it was likely United Healthcare would approve the new CGM (hallelujah!) and that we were just waiting confirmation. I should hear something in the next day or two. But I am thinking everything is set and I should be CGM-bound once again sometime mid next week, just in time for my trip to Minnesota so I can finally show off the Minimed CGM system to people once again. You have no idea how embarrassing it is to have people ask if you’re on the CGM and have to say, “Well… kind of…”
And no, I didn’t ask about the $3,024.50 charge that I’m still getting from Minimed because United Healthcare can’t get their act together. I’m at the point where I don’t care anymore. It’s not like there’s a warrant out for my arrest or anything, so as long as they don’t come asking for my insulin pump, I couldn’t care less.
I’ve discovered one more thing that makes me feel like I’m a New Yorker.
Being on a list.
Last week, I saw a girl I follow on Twitter, @jvettorino, tweet about a contest to win tickets to see Mandy Moore in New York City. I have been a Mandy Moore fan since high school. I loved her last 2 albums, which were a stark departure from her bubble-gum pop persona.
Of course, I immediately clicked over to the website, The Round Table, and looked up what the deal was. This music blog was giving away 5 tickets to see a show that you could otherwise only get into if you bought Mandy’s CD and were one of the first 200 people at the door. I followed the instructions on the three ways you could enter: leaving a comment, tweeting the post and putting a link up on my Facebook page.
On Monday morning, I anxiously waited to find out who won. I even sent a DM to Jackie, asking her when they were going to be announced. Less than an hour later and I found out I was one of the winners! Me and one guest were going to see Mandy Moore in concert for free! Jackie told me they were sending my name to the organizers and that I’d “be on the list.”
The next day (yesterday), Erica and I met at Union Square, grabbed a quick dinner at The Diner – a cute restaurant on the corner of 14th and Ninth that had good food, cheap margaritas and loud music, then walked over to the Highline Ballroom. After security checked our IDs, we went upstairs to the venue. At the top was a group of incredibly blond, pretty girls who were there to check names and take tickets.
“I’m on the list,” I said. I gave them my name, but I could see it on the sheet (being at the beginning of the alphabet helps) and pointed it out for the girls. They crossed my name off The List and Erica and I went in.
“I love being on a list!” I said.
Soon after, Mandy and her band, a guitarist and keyboardist, came on stage. Mandy wasn’t terribly talkative, but she was sweet and interacted with the crowd occasionally, and joked around with the other guys in the band. You could tell she really enjoyed performing her music, and the keyboardist and guitarist were clearly having a great time too, jamming and rocking out as Mandy sang.
At one point, the crowd joined in with Mandy during her song “I Could Break Your Heart.” Although I hadn’t heard the song before, it was pretty easy to catch on to the “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…” of the chorus.
The Round Table has a couple of videos online so you can watch it too!
Although the performance was short (only last for an hour), it was very enjoyable and I can’t wait to purchase her CD on iTunes (that’s why I didn’t buy it from Best Buy and get in that way – I really don’t understand why they still make CDs).
Hopefully this won’t be the last time I’m on a List. It’s fun!
A few weeks ago, I saw a post from Manny Hernandez on Twitter about diabetics needed at the CBS Early Show on June 2 (today). Living so close to NYC (and working a mere 10 blocks from the studio), I thought it would be a great opportunity so show my support and hang out with a bunch of others who suppor the D cause. I was really excited to see Lee Ann and Brenda, and may even get on TV!
Waking up at 5:45 a.m., however, was not something I was looking forward to. Ick. But I managed to drag myself out of bed, get myself dressed, run out the door, run back to my apartment when I realized I forgot my iPhone, run back out the door, get cash, get change for bus fare from Dunkin Donuts, take the bus, take the subway and walk six blocks to the Early Show all within an hour. Whew! It’s a good thing I know my way around the subway system!
Once I arrived, I met up with Brenda, followed by Lee Ann and Katie from the young women’s diabetes support group. We grabbed our T-shirts and markers to write our words on our hand. I picked “purpose” because I feel like diabetes has given me so much purpose in my life.
Katie, Lee Ann and me.
There were so many people there, actually, so it was difficult to get to the front of the rope. Then they asked some of us to go stand on the other side, but it was the side where they were only going to film for one segment – and I had to leave for work before the segment was filmed! Darn! But Cara reports that Lee Ann got on TV, so that’s exciting. I am just happy that we – the royal we – were able to get on TV and show the country our signs and our T-shirts. That was totally worth it. Plus, seeing the hosts of the Early Show and watching how they put together segments are pretty cool too, and hanging out with my D-buddies is always worth it! So I’m OK that I didn’t get on TV.
This time.
A couple weeks ago, Erik asked me what made me feel most like a New Yorker. I thought it was a great question, considering I’m not a New Yorker (I’m an Oregonian-turned-resentful-Jersey-girl), but certain things make me feel almost like a card-caring-foul-mouthed-bonafide-bitchy-Gossip-Girl. (Edit: Kidding! I don’t actually think this way about New Yorkers… though I know others who do, which is why I said it.)
1. Subways.
As far as underground mass transportation goes, the MTA subway system takes the cake at being the worst. Give the French Metro (or the D.C. one, for that matter) or the London Underground. The NYC subway system is a dirty, unventilated, crowded mess that has no seating, not enough maps, and no information about when your next train is going to arrive (unless you’re riding the L line). But. The NYC subway system is the microcosm of all things NYC. It has every walk of life, from old ladies in fur coats, to grungy twentysomethings making their mark in the East Village to The Suits from Wall Street. I love to imagine where these people are going, where they are coming from, what they’re thinking and most of all – who they’re wearing!
2. Soho
Erik and I were wandering around Soho yesterday and it surprisingly never feels that touristy to me, even though it probably is the second most touristy place in NYC (next to Times Square, that is, which also makes me feel like a New Yorker because of how insanely pissed off I get at tourists who stop to take pictures of the pretty lights IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIDEWALK. I’m like, “I’M WALKING HERE.” Some of us, you know, have places to go!). Anyway, Soho makes me feel like a New Yorker because of how rich and fancy the whole place is. Designer clothes and expensive jewelry line the blocks that make up Soho, along with the fancy restaurants, bars with opened walls with patrons pouring out onto the streets, and galleries with artwork that cost as much as a down payment on a Greenwich loft. (Second and third place: Greenwich Village and the Upper East Side, but I have spent less time there overall).
3. Central Park
Central Park is really like none other. It’s gorgeous, HUGE, and when you’re in the middle of it, you don’t even feel like you’re in New York City at all. Which of course, makes me feel like a New Yorker even more. Central Park is one of the reasons my newest goal in life is to move to the Upper West Side (and become a real New Yorker). I supposed it’s growing up in Oregon, but loving the city life, that makes Central Park so special to me. I love being completely surrounded by nature, but also having the luxury of doing so much people-watching while being within walking distance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Magnolia’s and Columbus Circle.
4. Ignoring the Honking Horns
Honestly, I don’t think I hear them anymore. I can walk around for hours and not get startled by a single horn honking. I think I’ve become immune to them. There are so many horns honking at all hours of the day (and night) that I think it’s pretty impossible to get startled by them after a few days of living in and around New York City. But it doesn’t mean I have any inkling of why people honk their horn. Most people are not on the verge of hitting someone else, and it’s unlikely that there are that many drivers asleep at the wheel. Mostly it comes down to impatience, which is certainly a New Yorker trait!
5. The Empire State Building
It’s the only NYC landmark that I can see from my bedroom and it’s pretty much the thing that keeps me rooted in New York day in and day out. I can see it as far away as Ridgewood, NJ on Route 17 and I can see it from my office, and on the train to and from work. It can be seen from quite a few places in New York City (though certainly not everywhere), which gives me a slight thrill to know that I can see it just by going home. When the weather is gray and cloudy, and the Empire State Building disappears into the clouds, there is something missing and the world seems a bit more… ordinary.
On Wednesday I wrote how last summer my car broke down twice.
The first time was when I took my car in to get my side-view mirror placed. I accidentally backed up too close to a pillar in our parking garage and whoops! Ducked tape only worked for so long before it would go flying off into the wind if you looked at it wrong. So I finally went in one morning to get it replace.
SIX HOURS LATER and I was finally allowed to leave, having had my tires replaced, transmission oil changed, and some silly part of my axles that had apparently snapped in half causing a very bumpy ride at high-speeds (and by high I mean anything over 40 mph). I think I also had to pay $12 to have some stupid screw replaced.
Then, two weeks later, while driving home from Boston, my ignition broke. Literally. I put the key in and nothing happened. No, I don’t mean the starter, I mean that actual ignition column would not turn no matter how much pushing I did. I’m surprised I didn’t snap my key in half. Apparently, my key was so worn down that my ignition didn’t recognize it, causing the whole thing to freeze and lock up. But I couldn’t get my key out, so the whole thing needed to be scraped. I got a new ignition column and two shiny new keys.
Now I’m faced with another conundrum. My car has been having a rough time accelerating every so often. Usually this happens when I try to speed up quickly, but other times it’s simply when I’m getting on the freeway. Which is NOT the time you want your car to choke up. I’ve made an appointment to get it looked at this afternoon. I plan on throwing as much money as it takes for this car to be in tip-top shape. Then do you know what I’m going to do?
I’M GOING TO SELL THE DAMN THING.
Seriously, half my credit card debt is from that stupid hunk of metal. I don’t use it enough, certainly not now when I have a boyfriend with a shiny red Subaru he’s in love with (it’s true, don’t deny it), and I take public transportation to and from work because parking in my town is next to impossible unless you like parking eight blocks from where you live.
I’m not going to buy another car. I’m simply going to sell and move on! When the car works, it works. It was perfectly fine last week and it has taken me all around the East Coast. Aside from a few worn-down parts, nothing actually is wrong with the car. Not the engine, not the transmission, not the alternator. Even the air conditioning works! I’m just frustrated that I spend $115 each month on insurance for a car I use maybe twice a month – if that! – as a matter of convenience. Not because I actually need it.
I’ll probably keep it for a couple more weeks so I can get my annual eye exam done and then it’s sayonara!
