Raraweez's Blog

Air travel and diabetes

2009-06-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a letter I sent to the Transportation Security Administration (tsa-contactcenter@dhs.gov) today:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I write this note with hope that you can help clear my confusion about travelers with Type I diabetes.

I was screened today (Monday, June 22, 2009) by TSA Ford (and others) at Terminal 4, D Concourse at Phoenix Sky Harbor.

As a Type I diabetic, I wear an insulin pump, which generally does not alarm as I walk through security.

As per usual, I walked through security, and my insulin pump did not set off the alarm.

The agent saw the infusion set on my arm and asked me what was on my arm.

I explained to the agent that it was my infusion set for my insulin pump.

The agent asked to see my insulin pump, and I showed her.

She then advised me that I needed an "additional screening."

Screening agent Ford came to retrieve me and my belongings for my additional screening.

Confused, I asked the screening agent (Ford) why I was selected.

The screening agent (Ford) advised me that there is now a new law that requires all diabetics with insulin pumps to endure additional screening at all gates at all airports.

As I travel almost every week, I can see that this is going to present a problem for me.

Is this new law actually true, or was agent Ford mistaken? I cannot seem to find this new law online. In fact, the TSA website indicates that "TSA's checkpoint security screening procedures for persons with disabilities and medical conditions have not changed as a result of the current threat situation." This is from the following site: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/ ... index.shtm

I appreciate any assistance you can provide, if only to direct me to the full text version of this new law!

Thanks,
Kara Stiles

A personality test that didn't suck

2009-04-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

And so it turned out to be true, too.

Main Type	Overall Self

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

On Norton AntiVirus

2008-10-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan of Norton Anti-Virus. It makes even the simplest task (opening a browser window, for example) incredibly slow.

The only thing worse than having Norton Anti-Virus on your machine is experiencing the process by which you *remove* the malicious beast.

I wish to thank Dave Taylor for providing the instructions on Norton's removal.

Next time someone wants me to fix their computer, I'll flatly refuse if it's been infiltrated by that fiendish Symantec devil.

On Privacy...

2008-09-03T00:02:00.000-07:00

I'm a member of many groups and organizations in my community. In one or more of these organizations, I am responsible for hiring a number of individuals on a regular basis.

Most members of these communities use online social networking sites to stay in touch.

Social networking sites can be fun and productive - I use Twitter to post what I'm "up to" which merges into my Facebook status so all of my friends, colleagues and other organization members can find my location at a conference, see what I'm working on, know when I've posted new photos on Flickr or Picasa or if I'm just having a really interesting travel day. Those who read my blog enjoy run-on sentences with hyperlinks, too.

These sites are also pretty cool for locating long-lost high school friends and neighbors who have moved away.

Having just watched a "friend's" rather violent and trashy video post on one of these sites, I wonder whether it is my responsibility to act as a responsible employer and do something about it, especially because this individual is directly responsible for small children in a medical setting.

Let me be clear: This is not just a silly drinking video of individuals acting stupid (somehow, those can actually be funny). This is also not a video I was actively seeking - it was posted as a bulletin. Three times.

In the posted video, this individual (my "friend") is brutalizing another individual for "Talking Shit." At first I thought it was a nasty Jerry Springer clip, until I recognized the individual and realized that the video is quite a proud moment for this "friend," as it's been broadcast to me three times.

Do privacy laws apply? Some research indicates not. More research indicates so.

Two conflicting articles is enough for one night, plus, they're old, and so probably no longer good (I'm really missing my LexisNexis ID right now).

So, what if an individual invites me into his or her personal social networking space? Not just that, but broadcasts disturbing footage of clearly despicable behavior and actively encourages me to watch it...three times?

I suppose it would've been best to just not accept the "friend" invitation had I known how wretchedly this individual was likely to behave. Tonight, my immediate action was to delete this "friend" from the list of individuals who claim to know me. And I'll probably leave it at that, until the next hiring round, when I'll start lamenting again about this.

So, do I have a duty to address this in the employment arena? Would the law back me up if I tried? Is it ethical, even?

I suppose all I can do at this point is post a blog, and hope that others who are thinking about posting trashy videos of themselves think twice before broadcasting indecent material on these sites.

My real wish is that people cease engaging in disreputable activities, but truly, what you do in your personal life is your own private business. Kindly keep it that way, please, and out of my face.

Another note to US Airways Customer Support

2008-08-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

I completed the US Airways online customer service form with the following text. We will see how they respond.

August 7, 2008

I just wanted to let you know about something I witnessed on this flight. I was in seat 2D. The flight attendant in first class seemed rather unfriendly and at times, downright angry. While I will not inundate you with the details of her unpleasantness in-flight, I will share with you something she did that absolutely broke my heart.

I watched her verbally abuse a deaf man while he was boarding. The US Airways first-class flight attendant on flight 232 from DTW to PHX on August 6, 2008 became angry with this deaf man because he was carrying his small child's carry-on in addition to the his own two carry-on bags. The first class flight attendant berated this poor man for having too many carry-ons, even though he tried to explain to her that one of the bags belonged to the child behind him (I could see the child directly behind the man). Despite the fact that the man was deaf, the flight attendant continued to point at, yell at and further demean the man until he finally understood and gave the third bag to his small child. The child had some difficulty carrying the bag, but according to the first class flight attendant, the child had to carry the bag as per flight regulations.

I will continue to report such incidents as I continue to see the staff members on US Airways treat passengers poorly. I sincerely hope you escalate this issue to someone who can address this problem that is clearly beginning to surface more and more frequently.

Suave's response to the Symlin Pain...

2008-07-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

Here's what Suave has to say, and I have to agree:

Yes Symlin does burn like none other. You can feel it going into your skin and its like little globs of lava that are pretty painful.

Symlin Week 1

2008-07-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

This is an email response to inquiries about my Symlin experience. I sent it to the Camp AZDA DC Google group:

I like how we can use this list as a forum for Symlin and other drug experimentation. Let us continue to do this!

If you're not interested in taking Symlin, feel free to delete this email. It's lengthy and probably boring for you. Here is my week 1 report.

I have taken a more conservative approach than Suave has with the Symlin experimentation. I've been on it for almost a week now. I have been really scared to go low (and I don't want to experience an hour of lows like Suave) and so I was purposely keeping my blood sugar high while trying it (and by "high" I mean 140 to 170).

For the first three days, I tried doses between three and six units. I almost barfed at six units.

I experience a mild bout of nausea at 5 units, which lasts about two hours, but that is also the dose that keeps my blood sugar completely stable within 2-3 hours after eating.

So I'm going to stick with 5 units per meal for the next few days. I've also discovered that if I take insulin 20 minutes AFTER eating, the blood sugar ride is really really smooth. I do not need to square or dual wave as long as I wait 20 minutes after eating before taking insulin.

The nausea should soon subside, and my near perfect blood sugar control after only 6 days of using Symlin has really impressed me thus far.

Symlin BURNS at the injection site. Worse than Lantus. Suave, do you experience the same?

Here are my reports. You can assume the following conditions:

1. I have decreased my basal rates by about 10%

2. I take 5 units of Symlin exactly TEN MINUTES before a meal

3. A meal is defined by as at least 30 carbs or 250 calories

4. I start feeling nausea 5 minutes after injecting Symlin. Nausea persists for 2 hours.

5. I eat the meal.That takes about fifteen minutes.

6. 20 minutes AFTER I eat, I take insulin. I do not decrease my meal bolus.

The results for the last two meals are as follows:

Meal #1
starting bs: 110
ATE PASTA with spaghetti sauce
post meal bs: 124
1 hour later: 117
1.5 hours later: 94
2 hours later: 84
(I completely freaked out at this point and took three tabs because I thought I was going to go low. My sugar went up to 200. Turns out, I did not need the tabs. 1 tab raises my blood sugar 35 points, so by taking 105 points worth of glucose and going up to 200, I did something really dumb. If I'd waited another 30 minutes, my bs probably would have gone back up to 95 according to my calculations)

Meal #2
starting bs 84 (ate one tab)
30 minutes later I was 110
I temp basaled at 75% for one hour because I was scared to go low
2 hours later I was 134
Took symlin and ate carb-rich soup
post meal bs: 144
I was between 144 and 154 for the next 2 hours
After two hours, I got up to 174
Then I came back down to 114 after 1.5 hours

I drank a bunch on Saturday night. I did not take Symlin that evening because I knew I was going to be drinking. I was mildly hungover on Sunday, and I was low all day long. I would take glucose or juice and my blood sugar would immediately rise, but it would go low again within the hour. Seems like there was some residual Symlin in my body interacting with the residual alcohol and it made me low all day. I will not take Symlin again if I am going to be drinking, and I will remember to lower my basal rates for the alcohol, which I've never really had to do before.

I'm just really really scared of going low and not coming back up again, so I'm going to try and stay safe.

The French aren't rude

2008-06-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

I felt rather dejected yesterday as I returned to my hotel after traipsing about Paris for 6 hours. The French were mean to me. One store owner refused to sell me a soda because I didn't have exact change. I got into an argument with a taxi driver, had my train ticket unfavorably altered and was forced to stage a silent protest for 45 minutes at the news stand to resolve my calling-card dispute.

I searched the internet for a solution to save me from future disappointment (it was my first of six days in Paris), and happened upon How to Avoid the So-Called Rude French.

The article suggested speaking French to the French, even if only to ask, "Do you speak English?"

So I typed some polite phrases into the Dictionary.com translator, wrote the French translations on some hotel stationary and visited the hotel concierge, who kindly told me how to pronounce everything.

Armed with my new French phrases and a translation dictionary, I walked back into Paris. I immediately discovered that speaking just a little bit of French to the French turns the French into polite French instead of rude French.

...except for that news stand guy. I want to beat him with a stick, but in order to maintain decorum in France, I can't engage in news vendor beating. Maybe I can pay someone else to do it...

About my company...

2008-06-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

We work with open source, so we're used to Heisenbugs. I like the term. We should start using it in support tickets.

"Thank you for your ticket. That is a known Heisenbug. It won't happen again until you least expect it. Solving."

I guess thats kind of funny but kind of not funny at the same time.

You. Be like that. Work is fun.

2008-06-05T00:40:00.001-07:00

I sent an email to my brother to share my exasperation about time sheets, and how every time I complete one, I remember Office Space. I suppose I was poking a bit of fun at the perceived importance of the time sheet...ok, maybe they're necessary, but really...35 different time categories?

Anyhow, he had to one-up me and sent a description of his latest professional development course. Copied and pasted, I hope he doesn't mind. He's a pharmacist at an undisclosed location in the general Phoenix area...Here's Kal:

Have you heard of "FISH" philosophy??? It's based off of some fish
market in Seattle . . .
Basically, we all have to go to these brainwashing workshops where they
tell us that we have to be happy and love our jobs.
So we went to this little classroom, and they made us draw pictures of
our
Values:

Respect
Compassion
Collaboration
Excellence
Stewardship
Leadership
Integrity
Education
Accountability
Innovative

Notice that the values aren't exactly grammatically consistent?
Waaaaahahahaha. Innovative??? How bout innovation!!!!
So yeah, I had to pair up with a dude from housekeeping that didn't
speak a friggin word of English, and draw a picture of Stewardship.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.
The funniest part of it was that another group had stewardship as well,
and they drew a picture of a stewardess! It was great. Then they said,
"Well, I'm not sure what our job has to do with airplanes, but I guess
it's good . . ."
Then, we watched a short movie about this fish market in seattle. It was
a bunch of high hippies throwing fish around the market having a blazing
wasted fun time.
Then we were told, "You, be like that. Work is fun."
Good times.

Zero Insulin Required

2008-06-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

The diabetics had a car wash today at 19th Avenue and Bell Road in Phoenix. It was hot, and we were exhausted. We raised over six hundred dollars for camp.

I had four bottles of Powerade Zero in my bag. It's a new drink with zero carbs; Just what a dehydrated and heat exhausted diabetic needs.

I was feeding Opie a Claritin because he was whining about his sniffles, and I offered him some Powerade Zero as a chaser for the drug.

He liked it, and asked what it was.

"Powerade Zero," I replied. "No carbs!"

Peanut chimed in and said, "I drink Gatorade G2 but it has fourteen carbs per bottle."

"So you have to have to shoot up (take insulin) for G2. But Powerade Zero has ZERO carbs per bottle," I replied.

"Yes," said Opie. "Zero insulin required."

The diabetics swarmed the rest of my Powerades at the car wash today. I should have brought more. Fry's is having a sale, so I compulsively hoarded Powerade Zero this evening.

SugarStats...revisited

2008-03-05T09:58:00.000-08:00

Changed my mind about sugarstats.com. The idea is really nice, but the graphs only display the daily average and entering my numbers and meds is too annoying.

Personality Disorders

2008-02-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

Apparently I'm moderately narcissistic.

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid Disorder:	Low
Schizoid Disorder:	Low
Schizotypal Disorder:	Low
Antisocial Disorder:	Low
Borderline Disorder:	Low
Histrionic Disorder:	Low
Narcissistic Disorder:	Moderate
Avoidant Disorder:	Low
Dependent Disorder:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:	Low
-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! -- -- Personality Disorders --

SugarStats

2008-02-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

I'm really digging sugarstats.com. I wonder if I should pay the $8.95/month for the upgraded version which tracks carbs and exercise in addition to the free blood sugar and insulin log. I put it on my parents' igoogle page. I'm sure they'll love looking at my blood sugars and insulin doses.

LOW blood sugar blog

2008-02-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy Captain Crunch. It's quite perfect in a diabetic emergency - it's got simple carbs in the thin sugary shell, and more complex carbs within.

Sometimes I stick two pieces between the upper and lower molars on either side of my mouth and crunch down on both pieces at the same time.

Reminds me of my Dad's childhood game - the strongest M&M contest.

Beechcraft 1900

2007-12-18T23:01:00.000-08:00

The Beechcraft 1900 was a nice ride from Denver to Laramie. They don't have overhead bin space, restrooms or even a flight attendant. The co-pilot performed the safety announcements. The flight was only 40 minutes. We landed, and then the captain walked out of the cockpit saloon doors and said, "Anyone getting off here?" Three of us raised our hands, so he kindly opened the door and thanked the three of us for flying as we stumbled down the steps.

So there I was, at the Laramie airport Avis-Rent-A-Car center, and the poor sweet child behind the counter couldn't get her printer to work. For twenty minutes. Not quite my job to troubleshoot her printer, so I offered to write/sign a little note indicating that I agreed to pay for my rental if she would just PLEASE give me the car - no luck - she wouldn't release the car until that fancy dot matrix printer printed a printout. After a multitude of unanswered cell-phone calls to her various supervisors, she finally decided to call Avis tech support. She spoke for a moment about the printer, waited a moment, and then asked, "Um, how do I do that?" She listened for a second more, and then reached toward the printer and clicked the little black OFF button. Then she clicked the little black ON button. Look what happened. I had a new piece of paper, AND a car.

The severe inconvenience actually brightened my day.

Flickr

2007-12-05T15:26:00.000-08:00

Apparently I've exceeded the maximum size quota for my free online photo collection, which I was forced to move from Yahoo to Flickr some time ago.

Flickr says I now have to pay $24.95/year if I want to keep my photos online.

Free stuff is not so cool when you have to pay for it.

First Blog

2007-12-02T22:34:00.001-08:00

My friend (Andrew) encouraged me to blog. It is going well so far.