City wildlife

 My friend Don has this game he plays while we run.  He tallies points for animals he sees during the run.  We mainly see squirrels so for he and I it is 50 points per squirrel, but there is no real point to the game.  I tell Don that the point of the game is to be able to know if we saw more or less wildlife on our runs so a day we get 500 points, then another day we get 300 points we know there was less wildlife the later date.  Still no point to the game and I guess running makes you crazy and come up with squirrel games like this.

The last run we were on coming down the home stretch I yelled at Don to stop, and he came to me wonder what was wrong.  Maybe low bg's, tore my medulla oblengada, or just needed a walk brake but he came back to me real quick to see what was up.  I then pointed out the baby nutria in the creek and wanted him to see them.  We both took out our phones and snapped up some pictures and I asked him how many points nutria should be.  Don said 40 points so for that day it was a 580 score.  Not too bad.

I always tell people that getting outdoors doesn't have to be a 1,000 mile drive to nowhere with a 50 mile hike and a week off of work to be an adventure.  You can have an outdoor wildlife adventure in any city at any time, you just have to be there to see it.  With diabetes the best way to prepare for anything is to do sample tests like getting your gear together and going out on a city trail with buddies and testing your meter, snacks, diabetes bag, or whatever to see how it holds up.  Then when you get back home make the adjustments and try it again.  So the next time you are flying, driving across the country or playing the squirrel game with your running buddy you can feel comfortable that you and your gear will make it through to see the baby nutria at the end of the creek.

Not the best caramel, but still good

 I told you all about finding this diabetes low blood sugar gel's at Walmart a while back and last weekend after the ADA 5k they had about a gazillion of these things they were giving away for free.  So you know what I did, I loaded up my bag with a good amount of these suckers and had them on stand by for any low BG.

 There were no low BG's for me to test this new flavor over the past week so I took some for our www.insulindependence.org dawn phenom event.  Where we currently are running a solid 8 miles and I like to have something to keep the bg's in a good place during the run.  Last time I had the mandarin orange flavor which was to die for but at the ADA 5k all they were giving out were caramel flavor.  The funny thing with anything caramel flavored is it can be too sweet or to chemically tasting.  This was a little bit on the chemical after taste.  Not that the flavor was horrible but I would rather have something more natural tasting if I were to be picky with my low bg supplements.  Since these were used as a running additive I would say they are probably a 3 out of 5 syringes on my patented diabetes camper scale.  The consistency is great for running, unlike the brand "GU" which is way to thick and alot of other gels have odd flavors and still are a bit thicker than this stuff is.  I still liked having these along rather than a normal person's gel but still like the mandarin orange flavor the best.

The free packets came with this "raise low blood sugar fast" booklet which I totally was expecting a coupon in the back.  Once I looked through the book I found no coupon for me to save some money on my next batch of mandarin oranges.  I was talking to my friend Jeff, who is a type 1 cyclist and he was telling me how he only likes the "quick sticks" for working out and low bg's.  I pondered this and found out that I personally like different treatments for different sports and types of lows.  The level life gels are great for running which the quick sticks would be difficult if you had little to no water on the run, but they are great for riding.  Now backpacking I usually do alot of chewy things to keep my mouth moist and ears a popping so gummy worms and starburst are great for the trail and I like to stick a glucose tablet in my cheek (like a diabetic dip) to slowly absorb the sweetness along the trail.

Why do small things make me sad?

 Last week I was packing up all my gear to head off for work and the last thing I did was close the zipper on my diabetes test kit bag.  Then it happened, my hand pulled away with the zipper pull still in it and I was devastated.  This just ruined my day, and I know you are all out there reading this saying: "He is the biggest wuss, and dork" because the zipper pull on my bag broke.  I would completely agree with you and others have told me that I get attached to inanimate objects.  Just something inside me (maybe the little diabetic baby in me) gets sad when my gear wears out.

 I have had this bag for something like three years and it is the right size, shape, and has been through alot with me and probably what gets me down is the fact I have to go out and find a new bag to replace this one.  This bag came to me courteous of my endocrinologist who helps me not just with my diabetes but my weird way of living life.  She knows that when it is time to give me a new meter she gives me two because I always brake one or something happens to one.  She knows that the bag the meters come with will be tossed in the trash so she keeps a stock of random bags from vendors to help me out.  This was an Eli Lilly bag made to carry like needles and insulin bottles but has been great as my meter bag.  The bag still works just I need to start looking for another one.

I stole this picture off another blog I love to read: http://dixiecritter.blogspot.com/ so stop by his blog and tell him the diabetic camper sent you.  This is just the funniest welcome home picture I have ever seen.  Not sure if this is staged or real but either way I give it two facebook thumbs up, a hash tag, and one of those disturbing sideways smiley faces.  I think all soldiers should have to report to "Booty" at some time in their lives.