Friday, July 20, 2012

Pump Vacation

I had the realization today that I haven't taken a pump vacation in well over 2 years. For about 750 days in a row, I've had this thing tied to me:
usually out of sight, but never out of mind.

Sure, I take it off for showers, swimming, sex, but it only adds up to a few hours a month.
It may only weigh a few hundred grams, but my insulin pump is one of the weightiest parts of my life.

I feel like I'm speaking very dramatically about it, which is a sure-fire sign that it's time for a pump vacation!

As I may have mentioned in the past, my biggest struggle in life is with apathy. At certain points, I've worked hard to adjust levels on my pump, etc, but I could not be further away from that at the moment. Going back to Multiple Daily Injections (MDI) will be great for reminding myself of the benefits I get from the insulin pump.
Or, maybe not.

Either way, I'm looking forward to tomorrow - waking up naked, untethered: nothing but me.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Michael Reviews Things!

This posts topic: Seattle, Washington.

After living in Vancouver for almost 3 years, I finally made my way down for a weekend trip to Seattle. I went with my lovely friend Michelle, and we had a thoroughly delightful time.

Blurry, but that's what you get when
I'm the photographer!
There are many things to review, so I'll just approach them haphazardly.

Boltbus: A new option for Vancouver-Seattle-Portland transportation at very low rates. The seats looked nice in black (faux)leather, but it was impossible to get comfortable. As a fat man on a bus, I'll take the blame on this. For each bus trip, they offer one 1$ fare, which my friend got. Otherwise, you can't complain at $10. Both directions, the bus was punctual down to a minute or two: incredibly impressive for international bus travel!

Singer, Jeannette d'Armand: A mutual friend connected us (both diabetic musicians) when she heard about my opera about diabetes. We had a great talk about diabetes, working as musicians, and life in general! In addition to being one of the awesomest people to drink whisky with, she's a phenomenal singer. If you haven't already browsed her website, do it, then check out her CD HERE.

The Whisky Bar: This is where the three of us went to chat. As you likely know, I love rye, so I was excited to see the decent selection of Canadian and non-Canadian ryes. Then I was sad...
After Michelle returned for the third time saying that they 'didn't have that rye available', I went in to chat with the barkeep. When I went in, he recommended a rye that was half the price of the ones I'd requested, and it was no better than any bar-rye you could get at any old bar in Canada. Certainly not sipping grade, I'll tell you.
Other points to note... there was no table service and no food. The patio was nice, and we got some great people watching done. The general atmosphere was something that I quite enjoyed: a specialty whisky bar without any pretensions.

US Liquor Prices: LIES! People have been telling me for years how cheap alcohol is in the states, but that was not my experience. Sure, you can buy cheap bottles and cans from the corner store, but bars in downtown Seattle did not offer the bargain-basement drinks I was expecting. In fact, they were about the same price as Vancouver bars!

The Space Needle: Oops, I forgot to care.




Gum Wall (aka Bubblegum alley, though not the original):
Gross.
I can sorta see the appeal, and the shop that sells gum must make a killing, but really...?!?
I'm surprised they don't have spinoffs, like 'Used Condom Lane'...





Seattle Shopping: I suppose this is more a sign that Vancouver and Seattle are equivalently metropolitan, but there weren't really any stores that we don't have up here. I even spotted a Vancouver staple (John Fluevog Shoes) downtown!

We stayed at the Sixth Avenue Inn: It was decent, for an savings-oriented hotel. Pretty standard for a hotel, the beds were incredibly comfy upon first lay, but it didn't take long to realize that the beds were far too soft for a decent sleep. There was no pool, but we entertained ourselves by watching episodes of Frasier on TV - in real life, the Space Needle is off to the side of downtown Seattle. Some dumb-ass in the room above us overflowed their tub or something, so use of the toilet in a seated fashion gave us a gentle drip reminiscent of autumn rain... not able to offer a better room at 2am, they brought us extra towels and gave a slight discount at checkout.

I'll end with a rave review of the Belltown Pub: We attended both of their happy hours because... well, we ate and drank there for a very long time. The service was friendly, the drink and food prices were quite reasonable, and they atmosphere was great. Most tables had a random set of trivial pursuit cards, and some even had built in board games. Upstairs, they had shuffleboard, foosball, and pool. They had another lounge area with big leather couches and guitars on the wall that were for people to use.

Me with Connan. I promise you, he was
not nearly as frightened as it appears.
As I understand to be common in Seattle, they had a dog-friendly establishment; about a dozen dogs made their way in and out during our stay.
It was delightful!

With last call at about 1am, all the bars in Seattle kick everyone out precisely at 2am, so the streets fill up with drunks. I can't remember the last time I was in such a thick crowd of people. A little unnerving, it was also exhilarating. I didn't get to try one of Seattle's infamous cream cheese hot-dogs, but I'll try to get around to that next time.