Posted May 10th, 2009 by Mike Lawson
Today, Mother’s Day, me and Olive took a trip to see my mom and dad. It was a long one-hour car drive for her, but she handled it okay.
And in the past I’ve always rolled my eyes when I would call a female dog a “him” or visa versa, and the dog-owner corrected me. But now, after spending a day with my mom, I can see why it bugs dog-owners.
For some reason, my mom kept saying, “Where is he?” or “He is so cute.” And I kept correcting her…eventually just giving up.
Why do you think it bothers dog-owners so much?
Posted May 10th, 2009 by Mike Lawson
If you happen to be a mother, and you happen to be reading this, I’d like to wish you a happy mother’s day!
I’m bringing Olive over to mommy dearest’s house.
Mother’s Day Presents this year include: A cute blown glass humming bird feeder and wind chimes. What did you get your mom?
Posted May 9th, 2009 by Mike Lawson
I went through some diabetic drama the past few weeks, and it really made me think that maybe I should have some sort of diabetic jewelry.
You know, those tacky little medical bracelets that would alert any medical professionals of my insulin-dependence just in case I was unable to do so myself.
I am particularly concerned because last week when Dan was driving me to the hospital, I said some things and was kind of acting a little drunk. Some things Dan told me I did I don’t even remember doing. So it would be helpful, I think, to have a little alert…just in case.
And then I start thinking that maybe an “insulin dependent” tattoo would be in order. I’ve see some good ones and some not so good ones on the Internet. (My favorite really is the last one in this post. Simple and clear).
What do you guys think? Tacky? And where would I put it? My wrist?
And really, if I was having some sort of diabetic-related incident that made me belligerent, and uncorporative, do you think a police officer would notice a tattoo or a piece of medical jewelry? Really?
And I know that EMTs and medical professionals are trained to look for medical alert jewelry…but I really doubt they spend too much time looking for medical alert tattoos. Right?
And I’ve blogged before (here) about my personal tattoo policy. Before I ever get a tattoo (and I’m currently tat free) I must complete a three step process:
- Come up with a design. Nothing iffy. It has to be on paper (or in a photoshop file). The thought, “I want a Chinese character” or “I’d like something that reminds me of my kids,” isn’t specific enough.
- You have two weeks to improve it. This design is going to be on you forever. In the next two weeks make changes to it. Re-design it. Use a different font. Perfect it.
- Hibernate it. Put it away, but don’t forget about it. You need to sit on the design for one year. If you still want to put this design on your body 365 days after you originally came up with it, do it.
So I guess I’ll get started on that process. It’s been pretty effective in keeping me ink-free so far.
Posted May 6th, 2009 by Mike Lawson
Are you guys familar with Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback?
Mr. D has been obsessed with sugar-sweetened sodas since I met him. When we drove to California, we had to stop at that date place and buy a few sugar-sweetened Dr. Peppers. And he’s been waiting for the Pepsi Throwback to hit the shelves for the past few months.
So obsessed, was he, that he emailed Pepsi people when he couldn’t find it at any of the local grocery stores.
The gist is this: Pepsi Throwback is a natural sugar version of Pepsi. Throwback is sweetened with a combo of cane/beet sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.
It’s called retro soda because this how soda used to be made. And then I guess it got cheaper to use HFCS…or I don’t know why soda makers made the switch.
Part of the appeal of the Throwback is the limited-time-idness of it all. Supposedly, sugar-lovers only have 8 weeks to buy the throwback sodas before they are gone forever (but will it be a “gone forever” in a McRib sort of way??).
I tasted both the Pepsi and Mountain Dew Throwbacks, and didn’t get exactly what I had expected. I was expecting a super-sweet, intense soda taste. But instead, it tasted like an almost-flat soda.
I’ve grown accoustomed to that burn-your-throat, should-i-really-be-drinking-this? feeling of soda…and this throwback concoction takes all the fun out of it. It’s the difference between a scary parking-lot carnival ride that was constructed in fifteen minutes, and a well-tested very safe ride at Disneyland.
I did some quick Googling and found out that Pepsi Throwback has 3.2 mg/oz of caffeine, which is the same as HFCS Pepsi. And drinking a 20 oz. bottle of Throwback will put you back about 260 calories…which is 10 more than HFCS.
Anyone else tried it? What’s your opinion?
Posted May 6th, 2009 by Mike Lawson
Maybe you were thinking, “Man, Mike has been quite for a while.” Or maybe you didn’t notice. Or maybe this is the first time you’ve read this blog. Or maybe you don’t care.
Anyway, last Thursday night I started feeling really sick. I thought I was getting the flu. I called-in “sick” to my 2 jobs on Friday, and hung out in bed, ocassionally running to the toilet to throw up. Saturday wasn’t any better. And then on Sunday morning I started hypervenelating and vomitting…so Daniel took me to the hospital. And it turns out that I had Diabetic Ketoacidosis – or near complete deficency of insulin.
It’s a long, embarassing story about how I got to that point…one that I’d like to pin on greedy insurance companies. But the short story is this: I went a month without insulin. And almost died.
Things are better now. I”m home, recovering. And diabetic-related materials are now covered by my insurance. And I plan on being as healthy as possible.
