This must be avoided at all costs

The classy fans of the classy school of Michigan have decided that creating a fine fermented beverage with the namesake of their favorite coach was a good idea. This is an excellent example of why critical business decisions should not be made whilst drinking heavily. Those decisions are best left to an eight-ball of cocaine and disco lights.

Click to make larger, then show to your friends for a good laugh

I can only imagine this being similar in flavor to Lake Erie wine, which tastes of concord grape jelly mixed with Barbasol. Also, not entirely dissimilar with being a Michigan fan, the day after partaking excessively - you want to kill yourself.

I certainly hope this isn't the beginning of a trend of Sports Heros meets Alcoholic Beverages. If someone made a bottle of "Woody Hayes Fume Blanc" I would gladly purchase a case of it, and break each and every bottle over the heads of those responsible for dreaming up this idea.

'Twas the Night Before Kickoff....

Press play and enjoy whilst reading



(HT: O.S. of edsbs.com for the gem of a song)

Football is upon us. Like a slow molasses drip, or sitting in church quietly, or reading anything by Dan Brown - time is at a stand still and does not seem to pass.

Real football starts tomorrow.

If 2008 is anything like 2007, I fully expect to be able to drink gallons mescaline during the course of the season and still have it all make sense. Last season was bizarro football. It was opposite day. It was Bea Arthur posing for Playboy. The rule of the day was that there are no rules. As the Silver Surfer said whatever that forgettable movie (Mediocre Four?) was: "All that you know is at an end."

-An above average, but not spectacular Ohio State team makes it into the BCS Championship game.
-A two loss LSU team wins the SEC and the National Championship Game.
-No team was ranked #2 for more than 2 weeks.
-A 9-4 Florida team hoists the Heisman Trophy.
-Notre Dame loses to Navy en route to a 3 win season.
-Stanford beats USC
-The team that was voted #1 at the end of the season was he underdog for the National Championship game.
-Duke still sucks (hey, some things never change)
-Kansas is invited to, and wins a BCS game.
...and it all started with Appalachian State beating Michigan.

These are just the high profile examples of the season that was.

Tomorrow starts with the tempered dish of South Carolina vs NC State, or Baylor vs Wake Forrest, but it's real god damned football. And that means Ohio State is only a couple days away.

Here's to 2008, the Orange Bowl is 127 days away, but real god damned football starts tomorrow.

Update-a-palooza

Vacation time got the better of me. In the past month I've been on a week long trip to Ohio, a weekend trip to Reno, 10 days in Virginia Beach, and now another weekend trip to Reno. It's summer time, no one reads blogs anyway.

The trip to Virginia Beach was a great time. It was for my wife's family reunion, and it was really great catching up with people that we hadn't seen for quite some time. We took the kids to the beach or the pool daily, and Ms Corrine even ended up with some tan lines, despite the hourly slathering of sun screen.

I swear, the ocean made this. It was a sign.

After a week in VA Beach, Anne went home with the kids, and I went up to Fairfax to meet the people that I now work with. It was a short trip, but it was great to put some faces with names that I hear on the phone, or chat with on Sametime. The reigning comment was about my height. I think the GNR group is one of the shortest groups of people I've ever worked with. I felt embarrassingly tall while I was around them.

Now it's on to Reno for my Brother-in-Law's wedding. Which will be more family time and more good times.

That's my update and excuse for not writing in a nutshell. I'll write more later.

And for those of you who may be uninformed, "Connor is a baby."

EDIT: Bartomeo pics are now up - you can see them here

Continuous Glucose Monitoring System - a first review

I got fitted with a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) today. I've had it on for 6 hours. It's been working for 4 hours. It's already changing my life.

Before I get into that, let me rewind to 4 weeks ago. I am an avid reader about diabetic technologies, and have heard about the CGMS coming from several companies. Being a bit jaded, I decided that this was another technology that would come and go, and be a great idea that wouldn't last - as has happened to many good diabetic technologies.

I filed this technology in the "unicorn" bin - you know - the one that just will never exist no matter how bad you really want it to. I get sick of testing. I get sick of wondering if I have enough test strips. I get sick of sore fingers. I get sick of running out of test strips when I'm away from home. I get sick of just NOT KNOWING what my blood sugar is.

The last is the worst part. The neurotic feeling of "something feels off - is it my sugar or is it just because I'm human?" I test. Everything's fine. I feel a cold coming on. I test. The weather is dramatically different than yesterday. I test. I want to go to the gym. I test. I just got back from the gym. I test. I'm tired and want to go to bed. I test. I wake up in the morning. I test. I ate something that I don't normally eat. I test. I'm thinking about eating. I test. I ate 2 hours ago. I test

If you think this is repetitive, it's because it is. It's habitual. Testing is a part of everything. Physical activity, weather, eating, pre-eating, waking, going to sleep. Everything has a test associated with it. It's ritualistic. Nothing goes by without triggering an urge to test. I have to remind myself that I've tested in the past 2 hours, so everything should be fine.

It *should* be, but it isn't always. But testing more than every 2 hours is expensive, even with great insurance. So, I ration the tests. Unless I'm not feeling well and I can confirm it is blood sugar related, I have to hold my self back from testing. It makes me nuts - not knowing. Having blind spots. Not seeing trends well.

From the first time I heard about the CGMS, I thought it was amazing, inspiring, hopeful... it was the Barak Obama of technologies for a diabetic. It was what I wanted more than a pump. I know how insulin works in my body, so pumping was always only of marginal interest to me. If anything it removed the social stigma of pulling out needles at a meal with people that I've just met. The only compelling reason to get a pump was to make other people feel better. Not me.

But the CGMS... that is life altering. For those who are playing the home game and aren't familiar with the CGMS, it's a small sensor, about the size of three quarters stacked up, and it contains a small needle. This needle and sensor is "infused" into your skin and taped in place with medical tape. The sensor then transmits a signal every five minutes to a receiver which gives you an instantaneous readout of your blood sugar. There are only 2 times a day that require testing manually, and those are for calibration of the sensor. That's it.

I read about this and immediate wanted to read "user reviews." The initial reviews were compelling. The people who had them for trials didn't want to give them back. People who were issued the first releases of them couldn't wait to upgrade. People who had upgraded espoused the virtues of the latest revision.

That's it. I'm sold. This is a proven technology and it's exactly what I want (it's been out for over a year now). I need this.

I spoke to my doctor about this, and he referred me to a different doctor. I explained to him, that I wanted a pump with an integrated CGMS. He explained the benefits and problems with the pumping approach. Truth be told, I couldn't care less about the pump, I really want the CGMS. I need the CGMS. I have a neurotic need to know what my blood sugar is at all times, and must have the CGMS.

So, I've had the CGMS inserted into my abdomen now for 6 hours, and I've had to remind myself 8 times that I don't need to test right now. I just need to pull out the receiver and look.

I will have this CGMS for 1 week (it's a trial while my doc helps me figure out my carb to insulin ration - better carb counting, basically). I've had it for 6 hours, and can't imagine giving it back. If it weren't for the fact that I know I'll have one of my own in a month, I would never give this back. I'd steal it and move to Canada where I can get infusion sensors for free.

I've had this for 6 hours, and I'll never have to not know what my blood sugar is again.

This is life altering. This is a good day.