And so once again...

And so once again I have ridden through the desert on my horse with no name (Ok... this time it was a rental... and Lisa handled the driving part)...

Once again I have reason to be cocky...
As some folks know we took a trip out to Cali to see family. Sadly one of the reasons for the trip was my mom is not doing so well and we really needed to visit her. On the happier side Lisa got to spend some time with her family. My plans during this part of the trip were to eat guacamole, write, and drink soda until I mutated into a Minotaur... well sadly... no Minotaur... But the eating guacamole and writing went really well. Figure for the size and line count of the notebook I was using I should have gotten about 25 pages done on the trip. The actual score was closer to 60. I got no less than three good story ideas on the trip (with one over 50% complete...) and have made progress on the two non fiction items I want out by the end of the year; the rough draft of the one was completed just before we left and the the other is just waiting for cover art and printing. We brought a copy of a book Lisa is published in on the trip with us (an actual hard cover copy of the book. Not even a galley, an actual production copy! (congratulations Lisa)).

Lisa's sister Marisa read a teaser story for the novella (anticipating the teaser will be up on WMS before Thanksgiving. The novella will be out next year (under the current plan)). And Lisa's committee has given her verbal and email OK to propose (but she does wonder why she has to route a physical piece of paper around to get signatures for an online program).

Now, none of that has given the reason I have to be cocky (Ok... Author who will be published this year married to a published author who will be a Doctor next year... got to give myself that one...). The big reason I'm cocky is I made it through a long, stressful trip without using a single drop of insulin and with my highest blood sugar reading being a 143 (normal range is 80-120 they won't  even really use the word diabetic until 130 or 140...). So getting through the trip with numbers that low was really good. But they aren't all good days...

And once again... there's drama...
Lisa almost didn't want to go to work last Thursday. It turns out is was kind of a premonition. Somebody (and I can't even blame one of her coworkers because it was on another floor) managed to flood a bathroom on a floor above the ITRC, so they had work crews trying to clean up a flood right across from her office. It was pretty major in that they ripped up the base board from a fairly large area and stripped the insulation out of a room across the hall. As of this afternoon the the drying fans are still going. The worst part is that the @#$@#$@#!!! people they sent to do the work the first day were too dense to realize there were people trying to work in the offices around them, so they were noisy and rude.

Once again there are things on the horizon... Lisa will be heading off to not one but two conferences in the near future (I'm not going (trying to get work done). So, if the city burns down while she's gone... )). We're both up to our eyeballs in writing, research, organizing and trying to edumafy people. But, those are items for future posts...

Once again... I get to say "But wait! There's more!"
Once again... I get to put up a video!



Once again... Information Society (One of my favorite bands from the late eighties / early nineties) has released  new album.

Actually the album was released last year and I missed it... which is weird...
What is weirder, is that parts of the album actually fit with my novella which was started last year... before the album was released... There will be more about this and how the album relates in future posts here and at WMS...

And once again...that's it for this week...
Until next time... Forget Minotaur! Next year, one of Davy Jones' pirates from Pirates of Caribbean!

And He Drew his Cane Like a Samurai Sword

Yep, me again!

Short one this week but a couple of cool things...

This is what happens when you have a few supplies on hand and a need to relax! This would be the much famed (at least in my own mind) cane scabbard. Yes, I will be using this thing while riding Alley Hawk (no I haven't named the scabbard yet (or the cane)). Yes, I really can do an over the shoulder draw with this. Actually it draws better over shoulder than from the hip. Yes, I've tried both.

Will I actually be wielding my cane while riding...I'll let you draw your own conclusions on that.

In other news...

I have done it! As of Friday I am off insulin and doing just fine thanks. So... Thank you to those who had faith in me, and those who prayed for me. For those of you dealing with old info, it can be done . For the 'professionals' that told me I couldn't do it... How's it feel to be wrong? (Hey I was told by enough people I couldn't do it, that I can afford to be cocky!)

In other other news...

Lisa continues to work on her dissertation. She's teaching multiple QM classes and has been doing some live online training for them (yep... live online... don't ask me how that works...). She also got word today that her copy of the book her chapter is published and is in the mail and coming.

Um... by the way... Don't count me out on that one. I will have one (if not two) books out by the end of the year. This is happening. One book is self published and is two pages, a cover and a check to the printer away from being published. The other one still is in rough draft but I've got three images (including the one for the cover) left to take and the writing isn't bad. (Now as for that %#$%#!!! novella....)

Well that's about it for this time...
Except...
Lisa's published...
I'm publishing...
Yeah...
This had to happen...



Original video, by the artist... From back in the day when MTV actually played videos and you couldn't just whip one up on your home computer!

Probably taking a week or two off from the blog due to publishing stuff and other issues (but no promises...). So if we get a chance to post sooner we will. If not, see you in three.

Back on Rubber!

This week I've been on a bit of a hiatus from doing fiction... My novella needs eyes other than my own to edit it and I got jumped by several other projects that I will talk about in this post. Typically if I put in a video it's at the end of the post (or close to it...) but, this time it's going at the top because it kind of describes the week.

So a big thank you to... well, this one has been attributed to three different people besides the makers of House and The Dandy Warhols (who own the song...). So thank you to Dutchie88, Spoenk, ZdenekLU, the makers of House, the Dandy Warhols, and the people who actually read this blog (you deserve thanks too...). And here we go...



First off this week... a bit of actual medical science! I'm down to three units of the long acting insulin and zero (0) units of the short acting on a daily basis. If I can bring the sugar numbers down a little bit (and not very much!) I can skip the insulin completely. So I've been figuring out how to do that. Fortunately I have several weapons I haven't dragged out yet!

Words N' Stuff!

I'm currently engaged in two different diabetes related writing projects (which I won't talk too much about here because I don't want to give away details that could cost me). One is filling a niche that no one seems to have noticed and the other is an improvement on already existing stuff. The second one is pretty close to being released so I'll talk about it more when it hits the market. Yep... me making money with my words... scary ain't it?

Food!

Two myths I would like to dispel right away 1) diabetes means you have to avoid sugar... No, you have to control your intake of carbohydrates including sugars and starches. And I can still have them I just need to watch how much. 2) you can't eat Asian food if you're trying to control carbs...

This is fried rice. I made it. I ate it. I lived to tell the tale. The reality is there are a lot of things in Asian (particularly Chinese) cooking that you do have to watch. There tends to be a lot of corn starch and sugar in that stuff. But, if you cook at home you can control the sugar and starch levels and you actually know how much is in there so you can know how much you (or the diabetic you love...) can eat. and in this case I've cut down the rice and upped the protein and non starchy veggies so people watching carbs can have more than they think they can. And, because I use good spices it tastes good too.

Metal!

On the subject of making stuff I've also been working chainmaille. This week I finished the son of the chainmaille belt. This time it is lighter and went together faster because I used about 55% rubber rings, which are lighter, faster to work with, and stretch to fit the buckle without having to pull out rings. The belt will also stretch to fit waist lines (or so I thought...). The son of a belt looks great, but the rubber rings stretched more than I thought. When the belt is actually tight enough to wear it's got even more left over belt than the original (which I made when my waste was 4-6 inches bigger....). So that one is not exactly a complete success (but I did make a cool thing...). The mark 3 belt is already in the planning stage (more steel, less problems (I hope!)) and the mark 2 will live on as part of another project.

Specifically the Mark 2 belt will live on as a component of a chainmaille scabbard for a cane. No pictures yet because it isn't done, but soon. Why would I want such a silly thing? Well that will be revealed even sooner than the pictures.

Words and metal!

Another of the writing projects is that I'm writing up (and will soon be selling) patterns for chainmaille projects. I'm only going to make a buck or two per copy on these, but hey that's a buck or two I didn't have.

Why I want that scabbard...

This actually ties in everything above (except the rice...)
I've been working on one of my biggest weapons to fight the blood sugar, and get rid of that last three units of insulin. This is also the $15.00 project Lisa talked about last week... I recently went down to the DI store and bought a BSO (Bike Shaped Object) which I have been working on...

It was a BSO because the shifters, the brakes, the chain, the tires... they all didn't work.
Well, the tires were actually good, but one of the tubes needed to be fixed. The chain was recoverable and now works fine. The shifters... well... the front shifter and derailleur work just fine (with a little adjusting maybe). The rear shifter lever needs to be replaced (but the derailleur seems to work just fine...).

And then there were the brakes! Some nearly intellectually gifted person tried to fix them and messed them up... The fact that I was able to figure out how to fix them with a minimum of swearing suggests that the previous person wasn't quite as smart as he/she thought.

I do need to fix that rear shifter, but the bike is a bike again! And now I'm coming up on the level two issues; like the fact that the handle bars need to be better aligned with the front wheel, it needs a rack, I'm really out of shape...

Actually that last one is how the defeating the blood sugar levels (getting of insulin) and the cane scabbard fit into this... Two of my big weapons for dropping these last three units of insulin are losing weight (they tell me that a 5-10% weight loss can have a major impact) and getting more exercise (which helps the body use glucose in spite of insulin resistance...). Unfortunately I'm me and and sometimes my knee or back hurts (this is where the video fits in...). Dr House has a cane mount on his motorcycle... I couldn't figure out how to mount the cane to the bike conveniently so I decided to mount it to me (in the scabbard).

The bike (now dubbed 'Alley Hawk' (why must I name everything?)) is a part of my diabetes fighting regimen, a project, a story, and something to have fun with (and occasionally swear at...). It kind of ties everything from the post together and brings us back to the start.

So... One more video. This one is by Ghost Dog and the song is by Sabaton. In addition to being literally about one of my favorite WW2 battles it describes where I feel I'm at with the fight with my diabetes.



You can guess for yourself how this fits in. I've actually found several ways it symbolically fits. One that helps it tie the post together... let the Japanies (who eat a lot of rice) stand in for the high blood sugar. And the Americans, well that would be telling wouldn't it.

That's it for this one (more to say but I've said too much).
Till next time. Make, do, just don't get into too much trouble (I'd hate to miss the fun!)

A Finished Project

It has been a while since you heard from me.  Patrick does a great job of entertaining you with our projects and updates.

It is finally cooling down a bit here - it was very hot, although seeing as I work in the basement of the library, it really wasn't that different for me - at least M-F.

I finally did complete a project that had been sitting near the sewing machine.

I had made one for Marisa's birthday... (my phone does not like to take clear pictures - or perhaps it is me.  The outside fabric is the same for both mine and Marisa's - even if the colors look way off.)

But I had used Christmas money to buy a full set of bamboo dpn (that is double-pointed needles for the non-knitters), and they needed a home.  So I finally finished mine.  There is still room for some more - perhaps hardwood, or metal, or some other pretty needles that decide to come home with me.

It rolls up nicely!

 

And there is a pocket!  I will eventually need a needle gauge that fits in here, as the full set of dpn's only has markings in mm instead of US sizes like I'm used to.

I also finally used my birthday money and bought a hand-thrown knitting bowl.  It is larger than I expected, but it works nicely for the larger sizes of yarn.  I still have my other little bowls to handle the smaller ones.

 At the end of June we ventured up to Rexburg to attend the Temple.  The Idaho Falls Temple is closed for renovations until next year.  Afterwards we headed to The Hickory for some lunch and were greeted by a flock of little ducks!

Patrick is doing really well.  The "new" eating has actually not been that difficult and has been enjoyable to visit the Farmer's market on Saturday to pick up some local lettuce for salads each week.  Granted we still eat enough salads and lettuce wraps that we still buy lettuce at the grocery store as well, but it is nice to have all the fresh produce around as it is the right season.  We did not plant a garden or pots this year.  It was just one more thing too much. But rest assured we still have many projects to keep us busy.  You'll be hearing about a recent $15 purchase from Patrick in the weeks to come.

I still have the dissertation staring at me.  I have gotten approval to move forward by 2 of the 3 reading committee members, now to find some more motivation!  I have also been doing more with Quality Matters and I do enjoy that work.  It gets me teaching, facilitating, and helping other create quality courses.  I have just begun facilitating the first introductory workshop offered in China!  It is all online so I don't have to go anywhere.  I have a wonderful co-facilitator and a wonderful support team to help with translations and applications specific to the Chinese educational system.  Quality Matters is in other places internationally, but this is the first where the language is more of an issue.

And when I'm having a hard time, Patrick is always good about finding something to pick me up.  Last week he gave me a happy Wednesday present :)  I love my new little purple boxes!  Now to find what is going to go in them!

Well, that is it for this week.  Other projects are in the works and I'm sure you get to hear about Patrick's new one(s) next week!

Mid-range Goals...

Ok... so... not only did Lisa not post, but I'm a week late...It is all for a good cause however.

As you may have guessed from the title this post is about mid-range goals that aren't quite where you want to get to, but a sure sign that you're on your way...

First up on our hit list... While I was in the hospital last month the lowest my insulin dosage got was 20 units of long acting each day and a sliding scale of short acting before meals. Then, they put me on a steroid for others stuff they needed to treat and the long lasting went up to 40 units and they added 3 units per meal to the short acting... Well, as of last Wednesday I'm at 18 units of the long acting and haven't used the short acting in weeks... this is a mid-range goal because I wanted beat where I was in the hospital at a minimum. I really want to be using zero (0) injected insulin, which is a lot harder and will take more work. In the mean time I've gotten the long acting below it's previous lowest point and that feels pretty good (I'll be dropping to 15 units tomorrow if all goes right with the numbers...)

One of my other goals is to drink more water and (gasp!) less soda. To do this it would be nice to have a way to carry water with me. True I could carry a bottle of water like a normal person but, well, anyone who knows me can see the problem with that! (hint: normal?) I could also go the military route and carry a canteen, but I already did the military thing with my medical pouch insulin pouch and first aid kid med vault so that one is kind of played... After I got out of the hospital I started my MK1 chainmaille bottle carrier (you can go back and look (it's a couple posts back) but please don't, it didn't work well...) but now I have the:

The Mk2 (this one is configured for a 20oz bottle). And:

The MK3. This one is the one I intended in the first place, I just had to experiment with a new material (rubber rings) to get the tension to hold the bottle right. So, I finished the goal of making a neat new water carrier (which is it's own goal of making stuff and an mid-range goal in the process of drinking more water (now I actually have to drink the water...)

We also survived our first, post hospital, trip away from home last weekend. This is a major step, and a mid-range goal, because figuring out schedule away from home and eating in restaurants is harder than working and cooking at home (from a carb intake and being in control of my schedule perspective...). This one gives me confidence for bigger trips later on.

I've also finished an editing pass on my novella (mid-range goal) and it is progressing toward publication (long range goal). I have also started writing text for a non fiction book I was planning a month and a half ahead of schedule (some parts are ready to go, but for others the research part is dragging...)

No, I haven't forgotten about Lisa (actually she's supposed to be working on her dissertation right now... but, she's reading blog posts instead (not really complaining too much (one of them was mine!)). She has also been asked to do some teaching in what I understand to be the QM organizations first entirely non English speaking class, and to teach in a webinar series they're doing (now if we can get her back to that dissertation...).

Actually I can't rag on her about that too much... Lately her thought process has been like mine... For those who have seen this before I'm sorry (I like it and think it's worth a repeat...). If you replace the word "rum" with the word "carbs" this has been my brain trying to work on writing the last couple of weeks...



(Note: I really wouldn't  try to attach any character in the video to any specific person, real or imagined... (and thanks to Andrew Van Vlear for a great video...))

Well, that's about it for this week. Till next time "Where have the carbs gone?"

Gains and Losses

Well you win some and you lose some, and some times you win by losing!

This last Thursday I succeeded in losing my 'super hero socks' which is a win because now I can take showers again! (much to the relief of, well pretty much every body).

We also won by 'losing' the battery on our seven year old weed eater (it died). For about $15 more than a replacement battery we got a new weed eater (which is cutting better than the old one (even though the old one has the better replacement cord and the new one has the cheap line that came with it out of the box). The new one also came with a new, better charger that has auto shut off! This has really sped up doing some of the yard work.

I am also continuing to lose weight (which is a win unless you count the fact that I am too small for my relatively new suit coat and really need to think about buying new, smaller pants).

Of course sometimes when one person loses others lose too. Like when the person on the Tor book printing line 'lost' just over thirty pages of one of the books I ordered with birthday money... I lost too because I had to send it back and get a replacement (which delayed my reading the book).

Seriously, thirty pages! Take a look...

It jumped from page 6 to page 39...

Of course there are some just plain wins too. The other day as I was celebrating my 'lose' of my super hero socks I decided to get something silly for Lisa. I found some cheap 'taco plates' that made her laugh (win). And then this happened...

(also a win...). Of course Lisa had to try to 'out healthy' me, so this happened...

So, she's going to be around for a while longer (another win) (Note: she still has sour cream on there she just hides it better!)

One of the other things that I've tried to do is drink more water and less soda (hah! that might result in blood in my caffeine system, that can't be a good thing...). Of course I can't just have a bottle of water like a normal person (ok... I can...but I don't want to...) so this happened...

The chainmaille water bottle. Ok this is where it gets complicated kids... It's a new design I invented myself (win). It didn't work the way I planned (Lose!). But in the process of figuring out how to make the design more what I wanted I have an excuse to buy the rubber rings I've been wanting to play with (Win!!!). The mark 2 (in the works) will have a strap. The mark 3 (which happens when I get the rubber rings) will fit tighter to the bottle in ways I like better. The rubber rings will also go into a remake of my chainmaille belt (making it lighter and more colorful as well as stretchy).

Lisa really is working on her dissertation (win). She got out a statistics book and everything... of course the mere presence of the book rendered college students two doors down unconscious (actually also a win (when they're asleep they can't park like idiots...)).

Part one of my novella I'm working on is pretty ready to go. Part two is taking a lot of work at the moment but moving, but it' getting there. I have full confidence in my ability to sell books! (which results in royalties (super dollar sign win...!).

Well that's about all the wackiness for this week (WIN!!!!! (sniff sniff, yeah for you guys...I was having fun (Oh wait! I still bet to bug people on my other blog (WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Ok... actually I forgot one uber wacky thing I found this week...



That absolutely preposterous little tank is an FT 17... it is a tiny cramped two man number that can be taken out by an M2 heavy machine gun (I'd like to say 'lose' but keep in mind that it is the first modern style turreted tank... back in '17 nobody had ever built one before (heck mass produced cars were really, really new!) so it was really a win!). Compared to the British things that took an eight man crew and weren't much better armed or armored it was actually not bad.

Have a good week. Lisa should be writing next week and if not I'll be back in two...

Catching up

My second post this week... you'd think I'd shut up by now, but writers gotta write.

Ok, I said Lisa or I would be putting up a post about what's going on around here so that's what I'm doing...

Starting with Lisa's stuff. Lisa just finished teaching a live online class. Which she really enjoyed. She is also getting ready to propose her doctoral dissertation (lots of that going on next month. She is also going to be doing back to back conferences this fall (flying straight to one from the other). I think we're both grateful that she's just presenting and attending and not being in charge of them!

As for myself I am bouncing back from my 'vacation' at the local hospital. Yes, I'm dealing with diabetes. I am also amazing the local diabetes educator with my ability to handle and understand it (you'd think people would catch on when you tell them you have an MA and are a research guy, but no you have to educate the educator some times...)

For those who don't know there are two kinds of insulin long and short acting. Yesterday I made it through the whole day without needing the short acting, and most of the week I've only used it once a day as opposed to the three or four times a day I was needing it initially.

This whole adventure has also had an effect on my loosing inches if not pounds (Actually from max measured weight I am down over a hundred pounds...) a couple weeks before this whole mess we bought me some new pants as the old ones were getting too loose (in some cases ridiculously loose) unfortunately/fortunately with recent events including changes in diet the new pants are getting close to being as loose as the old pants. This is definitely a case where winning is more by definition than any clear cut line...

I have also apparently started a fashion trend (I know, I know, in what reality, but there it is...). When you are dealing with diabetes you need a kit to keep your stuff together and so...

Being the person I am I headed to the surplus store! Current style utility pouch in black; it fits everything I need, can be attached to just about anything, and has attachment points where I can attach other things  to it (like my new cell phone case which was originally a grenade pouch...). Apparently using this kind of case was a new thought to several people, including the diabetes educator I talked to today, but it was well received.

Ok, one more thing and then we'll leave the "D" word behind... A week or two ago I was morning the demise of the film camera. Mostly because film canisters were such nice little storage containers. Meet the test strip container...

It's like the film canister, but a little smaller and with a lid that's attached so it's a lot less likely to get lost. Small parts storage is becoming easier again!

Also in shop news... Check this out...

Both of these have exactly the same number of rings. They are the same basic ring pattern and expanded at the same rate. The difference is in the one the right I put each expansion ring on the previous expansion ring. In the one on the left I put the new expansion ring on the ring next to the expansion ring. Small changes in what you do and how you do them can result in significant effects in the eventual form of what you're doing. This doesn't just go for rings or any other craft item, it counts for thoughts and words too. So there is a neat shop item and an object lesson in one swell foop.

Yes, this is where I'd write about what I'm writing, but I'd rather be writing than writing about writing (got that?). But there is one other slightly insane project that's creeping in this week. It is one that I could use some comments/advice on... (Ok, sorry the "D" word is coming back for a minute) One thing I noticed in the last week or two and had confirmed officially to day is that there is no such thing as an actual diabetes support group here in town... so what does the slightly insane guy do? Start thinking about starting one (or at least causing one to be started). This is a condition that has real effects on people and there loved ones, so I think having some sort of group could be valuable. Unfortunately 1) my mind is kind of reeling about what the group should look like (what kind of activities, where and when to meet, who to get involved) and 2) I've never put something like this together before... So I'm asking anyone out there who has experience with diabetes (their own or a family members) what kind of things would you want in a support group? I am also asking for advice from anyone whose ever built a group of some sort (doesn't have to be a support group... could be a club, a council, an association, what ever). If I'm really crazy enough to do this thing is there any advice you can give on things to do, avoid, watch out for, etc. Comments are happily accepted here, or you could email me at psknewone @ yahoo.com (yes, if I set up the group it needs it's own email, but I haven't gotten there yet!). I appreciate any suggestions and advice.

Yes, this post has mostly been about my stuff, but Lisa is doing good stuff too (and she can add something more to talk about more of her stuff if she wants to!). I think this is about it for today. Maybe next time I can write about rocks, or buttons, or something else that doesn't make my brain hurt... see you soon.

Man do I wish this was what it looked like!....

It would be so much easier to explain some event of the recent past...

You know, Patrick was just off having a little blast!!!

The reality is the grenade is disarmed hull that's a shelf display (as long as our home teacher doesn't steal  it...) and the bag is polishing powder squired on the same trip a couple weeks ago.

The reality picture for this week is this...

Those would be my hospital bracelets and the piece of tiger's eye that I used to cut them off fairly shortly after I got back into the car (would you believe they don't let you carry knives in the local hospital?)..

Yeah, there are changes and there are going to be changes but there are things that don't change either:

1: My testimony of Heavenly Father and the Savior are here, strong and true.

2: The adventures continue... It's just some of them aren't the ones we planned on (guess what they never are!).

3: Words still mean stuff (Hmm plug for my other blog?) and I will continue to be writing about things that are important (to me at least!) and continuing to pursue that publishing dream.

4: Making things and doing things is a must (why just exist when you can create (lots more to come on this)

5: (hey if you don't get something out of this on your own I can't help you)



Now you just make what you want to/can out of that last one...

For those who haven't heard I was diagnosed as diabetic last week along with a big scary hospital adventure that I'm not talking about too much right now (at least until I can access what Lisa's been saying to people (and what they've been saying) and so on (at least in part not sure what to tell people (do I add detail or issue a rebuttal?)). I am out and doing better. I will say that I also managed an ulcer (I was right better to give 'em than get 'em), an antibiotic allergy, and a sinus infection in the same run (can't do anything simple can I? and Lisa adds "What about the vasculitis as well?"). Like I said not going to talk too much about this right here and right now (but in the appropriate place and time...)

Lisa is still working on that doctorate thing... at least one of her committee feels she's ready to move on to proposal stage and then do her research. As far as writing goes for me, events have slowed me down but I'm putting words on paper and screen again! The novella is in edits, several stories in the works and non fiction stuff is "in process" (in other words writing is going on but I don't want to talk about it right now).

More to say on more things, but this post is taking way to long today and there are things to do and places to be... more to come...

till next time...

keep the faith