Welcome back, old friend

...or should I say, ENEMY!

I reconnected my insulin pump last night, and used it all day instead of my insulin pen.

Surprise, surprise, my sugars were between 14-17 mmol all last evening. I went to bed with my sugars still high-ish and woke up this morning at 3.2 - mmm, juice rarely tastes that delicious!

Anyway, after a day of elevated sugars, I concluded that it was a bad site and changed it a few hours ago, priming a few units into the new site AS I inserted it! In the case that my body is clogging the infusion set within moments of insertion, I'm not going to let it have the chance. I also started my basal insulin.

My sugars have been gently falling, so I'm keeping a tight eye on my sugars. I'm not sure whether that's still from the dinner insulin (3.5 hours old) or from either the priming or basal insulin from the new site. I'm hoping it's one of the last two so I can be sure that it's working. Nothing would make me happier than going to bed tonight knowing that I have a reliable infusion set going on.

For anyone wondering, I'm using the Sure-T set with the 6mm steel needle. Old school, I know, but it's quite comfy and I LOVE the short tubing!

I'm ready for a diabetes revolution! My latest A1C was 8.4, and that's simply not good enough. In fact, it's horrible. I'm doing everything I can to not feel like a horrible person - my essential laziness and apathy are putting my health at risk, and I just haven't been able to care (for longer than I'm willing to mention).

I've emotionally fought the issue of type 1 and type 2 diabetes through my formative years, being bitter that there's a similar condition out there that can often be avoided, or at least managed with healthy diet and exercise...

But look at me - I'm obese and lazy!

My TDD (total daily dose) of insulin is easily double what I should need for my weight - meaning I have hardcore insulin resistance, to the point that even if I wasn't type 1, I would have type 2 diabetes.

It's a catch 22 - the more insulin resistance you have, the harder it is to lose weight, for a bunch of reasons: 1)Insulin promotes fat. 2) The efficacy of insulin is greatly influenced by exercise (in complicated ways); it's extremely difficult to maintain stable sugars while exercising for me and I often have to use either food or insulin to correct.

It is depressing and ineffective when you have to intake more calories than you burn in order to keep your sugars stable! It's not just me, Kerri at SixUntilMe recently wrote about her struggles, and she's much fitter than I!

Long story short, I have an appointment with my endocrinologist on Monday and I'm going to broach the topic of introducing Metformin into my diabetes regime. It's a drug that is normally used for type 2 diabetes management, addressing insulin resistance rather than actually taking insulin. I'm hoping that this will help me to reduce the amount of insulin I'm taking. Also, if (as I suspect) my problems with new infusion sets is due to insulin resistance, my dreams would come true if the drugs solved that problem!

Anyway, I'd love to hear some feedback from any diabetics out there. I'll keep you posted!

Michael Reviews Things!

Today's review:

Lillian Alling

Have you heard of John Estacio? If not, click on his name and check out his website.

[Mini review: The website needs some attention... The angled headshot with cheezy background - it's not really helping! Also, the opera section of your website doesn't even mention your newest opera, and the "upcoming concerts" section starts listing things in Sept. 5/2009]

Anyway, he recently premiered an opera called Lillian Alling here in Vancouver. I was lucky enough to have been treated to the dress rehearsal as a birthday present from a delightful theorist friend of mine.

The Story (Spoiler Alert!)

While I'd never heard of her, Lillian Alling is an intriguing character. Here is a website about her. She is a woman enshrouded in mystery: she came from Russia(ish) and lands in Brooklyn looking for Josef, her lover. She repeatedly tells the tale about how they met in Russia and he said he would marry her, and how her life is bound to his life. Long story short, she walks to North Dakota, then Vancouver looking for this chump. Along they way, everyone tells her what a playa he is and tells her to give up, but she doesn't. You're left wondering, 'why is she so frikkin' naive?!' Some guy falls in love with her, and follows her all around. She feels she can open up to him and then reveals that she's not naive, she's a vengeful wench! The man she seeks isn't her lover, he's the man that killed her family, and I bet you know what she wants to do to him...

So she does, badda-bing badda-boom - bad man dies.

Oh ya, all of this story is nestled inside a side story about an old lady and her middle-aged son who is moving her into the city after a life out in the wilderness (ie. cabin). Surprise, surprise, she's the old version of Lillian Alling, having changed her name etc. Apparently murder is ok, her son doesn't even get mad when he finds out his mom is a killer... oh well!

Really, I liked the story - and the use of the story within a story.

The Music

Mr. Estacio writes good shit. I think he's onto what Opera needs - good solid accessible, but not boring music. At first, I wasn't really hearing the connection between the music in different sections, but as the opera went on and actively listened, it was building a sound story for me. It was a great balance - some kitschy stuff like a coney-island quartet singing when she arrives in Brooklyn, but there were some really well-crafted pieces:

My favourite scene was with the telegraph wire men - singing beepity boops, and all that fun stuff. I'm likely oversimplifying, but it expressed some really refined, yet broad wit.

Of course it's opera, so there were some fantastically orchestrated swells that took you along that journey of Lillian's across the great prairies and the rockies.

Basically, all of the exciting things I've been interested in doing in my own opera, were already masterfully done in this one. I need to look into other contemporary operas, but it seemed like the balance of recit and aria in Lillian Alling was quite far from what I'd been thinking of as traditional. The majority of the opera was in a hybrid dialogue which mixed the flow of recit with the lyricism of aria... ish. The distinction between dry and accompanied recit was out the window, (thank goodness), and it was often hard to find the distinction between the dialogue and the 'song'. Often I would realize they were singing what would classify as a duet/aria, but I couldn't pinpoint when it had started because they had been recit-ing just before.

The Other

This was a sizable world premiere, and Vancouver Opera didn't disappoint! The set was fairly high-maintenance, but was impressive: basically one main formulation with a truck that entered and exited right in the middle, from under the bulk of the mainstage.

There was a video-integration element which was ok, actually, no, I don't think it really did much... It was about a 5-15 minute section (I hate trying to judge time) where there was no real stage-presence. The orchestra was the main focus, and the only visual was the video which had recorded images of Lillian climbing on rocks, etc. For me, this seemed like an interlude which, in really old opera, would feature a ballet scene. I would have preferred to see dancing.

Oh ya, The Performing

I thought the orchestra was very strong, which is very refreshing compared to my last few live opera experiences...

The singers were great - some standouts worth mentioning:

Judith Forst, as Irene (Old Lillian Alling) - her diction should serve as a standard for the care that needs to be taken when singing English!

Colin Ainsworth, as Kristian, the farmer's son - a great tenor voice! The one true aria in the opera, and he ran with it. It was Ainsworth's aria that reminded me, 'hey, this IS opera!'

I really wish that I could scream to the heavens about how great Frédérique Vézina was as Lillian, but I can't. It was dress rehearsal night, so I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume (I really hope) that she was marking. I hate to be a bitch (no, I love it), but I was disappointed with how weak her voice was, but yes, I'll assume she was saving herself for the big night.

In Conclusion

All in all, I was heartily impressed with all aspects of this performance. After what seems like a long line of minimalist operas, I'm excited to see that opera can be comprehensible, engaging, emotive, beautiful, and exciting without lowering itself to the common denominator.

I really hope that this opera gets toured around and performed in many places - and when it does, you should go see it!

Michael Reviews Things!

This post:

Hilroy Notebooks

If you grew up in Canada, you likely used a separate Hilroy Exercise Book for each subject in elementary school. This review starts off with points for invoking nostalgia!

The reason I bought these notebooks is because I've been dissatisfied with the other notebook options out there. Coil bound books are obnoxious to write in and ripping a page out leaves that tacky side of feathery ripped paper. The tape bound books are unreliable. When I saw these ones in the store, I was excited by the simplicity of their design.

I'll be honest, I don't have anything negative to say, so here are my favourite elements:

Colour Variety

Blue, pink, green, and yellow

They're GREEN

They are part of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and feature Certified Fiber Sourcing.

Map of Canada

When I asked my American friend if he used these notebooks growing up, he pointed out "There's a freaking map of Canada on the front!" It has the up-to-date Territorial divisions which were missing when I was in elementary school - they were so behind the times back then!*

The map is only on the 32 page variety; there is a healthy blank space on the 80-page type so you can draw a picture of your own, or maybe it's a test to see if you can draw the map yourself from memory.

32 or 80 Pages

These are perfect sizes. 80 is good for taking notes in my seminars and 32 is a great size for individual projects or just to carry around with me for notes of interest.

Life Organization

On the back of the 32-page books, there is room for you to fill in your class-schedule information and final examination schedule.

Simple, Reliable Design

This could be seen as a slight weakness, but I like it. for a 32 sheet book, there are 16 pieces of lined paper (twice the needed width) folded in half, with a cover and then stapled to hold it in place. As a result, if you rip a page out, the opposing sheet will also fall out - this is something I remember from childhood. Nevertheless, if you conceive of the book as one notebook, not to be disassembled, it will stay that way for you!

Affordability

While a coil-bound hilroy notebook costs between 3 and 5 dollars, I got 3 80-page exercise books for $2.10 and 4 32-page exercise books for $1.60.

In Conclusion,

These little notebooks are fantastic and I highly recommend them to everyone!

*N.B. I am fully aware that the territory of Nunavut did not appear until after I finished elementary school...

Michael Reviews Things!

This post's topic:

Grand-dad's Birthday!

and

Jenn and Sean's Wedding!

I recently went to Winnipeg for a few big events involving my friends and family. Both events went off without a hitch - here are the details:

On Sept. 25th, my Grand-dad turned 90 years old! My mom and her brother organized a big ol' family dinner that brought together all the disparate family members. She and one of her brother have a long history of being less than pleasant... specifically with each other, haha! Anyway, almost everyone from the 4 generations was there with only two exceptions: grand-dad's sister who is locked up in an old folk's home and my sister because she had to work until 3pm when the dinner started at 5, and she lives 8 hours away.

It was an understated evening. I only ever see most of those people at Christmas time and it's always mild-to-moderately awkward, which I enjoy. This time, it was much more intense. I wish we were a more extroverted family- then it would have turned into a brawl, or there would have been screaming or slapping. Not my family - it's all subtle, underhanded, and spiteful - just the way I like it.

The dinner was fantastic, but I don't recall much about the details. There was chicken with some kind of creaminess and carrots and potatoes.

The next weekend, my friends Jenn and Sean were getting married. I was invited to the stagette, which was an all day affair. I was there for the brunch and a delightful plate-painting experience. We went to a do-it-yourself art studio and we all decorated plates or bowls for the bride. This reviewer thinks this was a fun and creative way to spend time with

the bride and bridesmaids and female relatives....

[Tangent - Davey... where the hell were you?!? Lord knows I'm not very manly, I'm pretty sure I lost 90% of my testosterone because of that day...]

The ceremony was beautiful - I showed up exactly minutes before the processional. The vows were heartfelt and entertaining. They should have been miked, but I heard enough of them to know they were good!

The dinner was also good, but there was no choice (unless you got the veggie option, presumably). It was chicken florentine - come to think of it, that's probably what I had at the other dinner, too. Taking the cake, though, was... the cake(s). The wedding cake had two types therein. The first one I had was quite nice, but the best thing ever was the second cake option: banana cake with 2 types of icing - peanut butter cream and chocolate. That's right ladies and gentlemen, you missed out!

The open bar was a welcomed addition, that I sadly

missed at the previous weekend's birthday party. Nevertheless, I behaved myself much more gentlemanly than I have at previous weddings, but that's a whole different story. A highlight of the evening was when they had a fireworks display honoring the parents. It lasted about 10-15 minutes, which is better than any Winnipeg fireworks I'd ever seen. Even more exciting was the fact that I got a sparkler.

I felt a little like I was put at the wrong table for the dinner. I had a wonderful time, but all of the people I was sitting with left soon after the dinner - the table behind me was the fun table, playing drinking games to pass the time of the speeches... Nevertheless, I had a great time and danced the night away!

Long story short, I had a wonderful time in Winnipeg - it's always nice to have reasons to celebrate; keep 'em coming, friends and family!

Stay tuned for the next installment of:

Michael Reviews Things!

A lot to be thankful for

As a child, I hated the part of Thanksgiving where you went around the dinner table, or at school when you went around the classroom and said what you were thankful for. I would usually come up with some kind of smartass remark, or something so predictable that it never even registered with me as sincere. I guess, with that childlike innocence, I lacked perspective and didn't even realize how thankful I should have been!

This year, I went to two different dinners and we never really talked about how thankful we are. I kinda missed that tradition, or some incantation thereof. One of the questions on a dating profile I recently filled out was about my favourite holiday. Earnestly, I answered Thanksgiving: it's not about religion or materialism, it's practical.

So now, excuse me, but I'm going to get a little clichéd and list off some of the things for which I'm thankful this year.

I'm thankful that I have such a great group of friends here in Vancouver. We formed instant friendships as soon as we wrote the placement exams and as a result, I never felt 'alone' in the new city. As the year and summer went on, I met friends and roommates of friends and expanded my circle well beyond the confines of school.

I'm thankful to have a growing community of friends around Canada and the states. Every year, it seems the landscape changes. Whether I'm going home to visit, or traveling to somewhere new, friends are usually not far away!

I'm thankful for family - near and far! This last visit home solidified my relationship with my parents; I was truly a visitor in their home, and not just the same son I was before I left home. I'm getting closer with my second and third cousins who live in Vancouver; they are wonderful, fascinating people and I'm glad to have that family connection!

I'm thankful for my health. While I may not have the most ideal diabetes control, I'm very fortunate to have the drugs and resources that are available to me.

I'm thankful to be so fully immersed in music - as a student, a teacher, a composer, a performer, and an audience- and to be pretty much able to support myself with what I'm doing. I know that this may not always be the case, so I am overjoyed at the breadth of experience I am currently enjoying.

There are many more things for which I am thankful, but those are the big ones I wanted to mention.

Oh, wait, of course I can't forget:

I am thankful for my blog. It helps me remember things that I would have otherwise long forgotten. More importantly, I love my readers! Thank you all for your loyal support!

Michael Reviews Things!

As part of my never ending, never successful, search for increased readership and blogger popularity, I'm going to do what a lot of successful blogs have done:

Reviews!

The first installment is:

My map bag ® Vancouver map bag.

So, I've developed a bit of a man-bag fetish these last few years. I fully acknowledge that it is a purse, but I like the term 'man-bag'. I always need to carry my diabetes essentials around with me, and those just don't fit in pockets comfortably

The bag features a map of [Insert City Here] and comes with a dry-erase marker so that the wearer can:

-give or get directions within that region

-circle their home address on the map to encourage stalking

-I'm blanking as for real, functional uses...

The store I got it from wrote on it in permanent marker "I'm on sale here" for promotional in-store use, but when I was shopping, it was the last one left, so I got it for 5 dollars! I think the retail price was about $15.

The cons:

As I should have expected, it was pretty cheap. Within a week, the plastic map started to crack. Unfortunately, my apartment is just off the side of the map so I can't even use it for those above purposes.

The pros:

It's a great conversation starter and an interesting concept. One Friday night on public transit, a kind, inebriated gentleman informed me that he had a map fetish, and he would be happy to release some bodily fluid on it.

The permanent marker is pretty kitschy and fun.

In conclusion, I have pretty low standards and this man-bag meets those standards.

Keep posted for the next installment of Michael Reviews Things!

I'm still kicking...

I just wanted to post an update to let you all know that I'm not dead.

My time in Winnipeg was nice, but wholly unproductive. I left my macbook charging cable in Thompson, so I didn't really have my own computer for the rest of the trip. I used my parents, but all my work was inaccessible. Now that I'm back, I can use my roommate's powercord, but I'm still limited in function.

I've been playing catchup all week. I'm trying to get 3 weeks of work done for my lesson today, but I'll be lucky if I have what resembles one week. I feel lazy.

I've had a dating profile up on plentyoffish.com for a while now, but nothing came of it. It was fun for online browsing, but I didn't put much effort into it. Recently, I've decided to take it more seriously, switched to a new site called OkCupid and I've lined up a few dates. There are three guys I've been messaging that I will be going on dates with in the next week or so, starting with tomorrow. I haven't decided exactly how much detail I will be putting on this here blog, but I'll try and keep it interesting for you!

Other than that, not much is new.

Birthing Day!

I'm in Manitoba.

Winnipeg was decent - nice weather, friends and family.

I came in especially for my grandfather's 90th birthday. He was happy to have so much of the family in for the event and the dinner was delicious. Also, it was deliciously awkward and tense - I LOVED it! At the same time, I'm beginning to tire of the same old family tensions. Can't we all just get along?!?

Speaking of good family times, I'm up in Thompson visiting my sister. It's a 7-8 hour drive from Winnipeg - eek! I will be here for less than 48 hours before heading back to Winnipeg for wedding-ish stuff. Apparently, my phone is completely useless up here - no 3G coverage means the phone does nothing! I suppose it's refreshing. Now that I've wasted time troubleshooting, I'm sure that nothing can be done and I can enjoy my time sans-cell!

Anyway, I had plan to get things done this trip, but that's out the window. I'm just going to enjoy my birthday and the rest of the trip.

happy birthday, world!

It really doesn't feel like I'm back in school; it's the second or third week back and I've only had one one-hour class, and I'm still having meetings to organize the year... I am doing lots of work though, I already have a 25-minute presentation due on Monday.

Also, I've been spicing up my SSHRC proposal. It's the same project as last year - an opera on the topic of Type-One Diabetes, but I'm working on making it much stronger. By the end of tomorrow, I will have gotten comments from 5 different professors with different thoughts on how I can make it even stronger.

Tomorrow is my first lesson of the year and we'll be talking about my proposal and thesis plans, so I'm very excited to get it all underway!

For Garry

One of the things I miss about playing for dance classes was the improvising. I would just play freely - not worrying about being original or even terribly creative. When I improvise at the piano, I feel like it's the easiest way of expressing myself.

Below, I'm posting an improv I recorded this evening. I recorded it on my Yamaha Silent Piano, so it's midi, but impressively so. I'm actually quite happy with how the tone sounds, etc.

Anyway, there's a reason why I'm posting it. I was recently informed that a dear family friend, my uncle Garry is losing the fight to cancer. His kidneys have shut down and he's moving into palliative care. His wife sent out an email, to which I wanted to reply earlier, but I just couldn't find the words.

So, when words aren't enough...

http://michaelpark.ca/site/ForGarry.wav

Back to School

Well, it's that time of year again; the summer is over and it's back to the books!

This is 21'st year going back to school, so I'm pretty good at it by now. Luckily, school supplies have gotten a lot easier over the years.

Since I use the same materials all year round, I don't need to make a special trip to the stationary store, in fact, I have pens and pencils galore!

Textbooks are a thing of the past. For my classes, we are assigned readings each week from a wide variety of sources, each of which are available online through journals, or in the library to photocopy.

I'm glad I get to avoid all of the newness that I had last year - meeting new people, getting used to new profs, navigating new buildings, learning a new city. This year, I'm settled into Vancouver and UBC. I know pretty much what I need to know to make school happen; it's just like I'm picking up where we left off in April.

I was almost worried that I was going to have to switch my sleep schedule back to something more normal, but the only class I have scheduled so far is at 1pm. I shouldn't brag, but that only scheduled class I have this term doesn't even start until the day before I fly to Winnipeg, so tomorrow seems like an exceptionally arbitrary date for 'back-to-school' celebrations. However, that's how it's happening, so Hooray!

Happy Belated Anniversary!

How appropriate.... I missed my own 5-year anniversary.

I was supposed to have a big exciting post on the 29th, but I didn't, oopsie!

In other news, the summer is officially over now; Vancouver has been cold and rainy for the last two or three days. Along with all of my school friends in Vancouver, I'm working on assignments and things to get ready for the new school year. I fell behind on my plans for productivity (no surprise there) so now I'm scrambling to get as much done as possible in the next few days.

When I start school, it's going to be intense - from today, there are only 3 weeks a few days before I head to Winnipeg for a big ol' birthday and a wedding. A major scholarship deadline happens while I'm out of town, so I have to have it submitted before I leave.

There are, however, some good things going on. I did a super fun photo-shoot the other day; it was partially just for fun, as I'll be superimposed onto the inside of a piano, but I should also get some decent headshots out of it.

Also, one of my good school friends has returned to Vancouver after a summer away.

Anyway, I can't really think of anything else to say, so toodles!

Old Yearbooks

As I mentioned earlier, when my parents came to visit, they brought everything that was mine from their house in Winnipeg - books, cds, photos, etc. I'm in the process of putting things in appropriate places and I just stumbled upon some old yearbooks...

Middle-School Michael was a horrible, horrible person! In

1995-96, I went through and defaced dozens of pictures and wrote some pretty damn mean things.

Teachers - I suppose this isn't surprising, I scratched out a bunch of faces, drew boogers coming out of noses and wrote, "I'm a monkey" beside one teacher who I can't even remember having for anything...

I never went to middle school with my sister, but some of her friends were in the grade above me. On these young ladies, I drew mustaches and boogers.

Even my own friends were victims of my douchery. At the time, I was really close with 3 guys, 2 of whom I still keep in touch with. Ironically, it's the guy I fell out of touch with that I must have been with when I was writing/drawing these things because his yearbook picture simply says, "I'm cool". One of the guys had long hair and we always m

ocked him for it, as well as other things - I lengthened his hair and blacked out some teeth on his picture. Finally, I feel the worst about what I wrote next to one of my best and oldest friends - "I suck at the trumpet". We and the friend I was writing this with all played in the trumpet section together and were always competitive. I know I didn't really mean it (he was really a very good trumpeter), but I do feel bad for writing it, so I'm sorry Jon!

I also feel bad for making fun of the fats and the gays.... Karma - that's why I got fat! haha

I guess I had gaydar back then - I drew a women's haircut and the words 'tee hee hee' around one student who was particularly effeminate and has since then come out. I also hate that I so stereotypically made fun of the fat kids. I was so insensitive and I apologize to everyone for everything!

Anyway, here's an old picture of me from the '95-'96 school year. I would have been in grade 7 and I was about 12 years old.

Hiking and Diabetes

Yesterday, I went on my fourth hike since moving to Vancouver.

Armed with juice, snacks of varying GI values, lifesavers, and 60% of my normal basal dose, it was a well-behaved diabetes day. My sugars were higher upon waking (11.3), so I corrected and pre-dosed for my breakfast, which I ate nearly an hour later. Sugars were stable for the drive out and I started the hike at a comfy post-meal-pre-exercise level (9.0).

After half an hour, I was out of breath and out of shape, haha. Sugars were dropping and I was juicing. After this bit, a pack of lifesavers and a few handfuls of trail mixed saw me through the next 2 and a bit hours to top of the hike with sugars staying in a very happy place (4.8-6.5).

The above picture was taken from the Elfin Lakes. Calling it the 'top of the hike' is a little misleading, it's the end point, but not the top. You can actually call this hike 'uphill both ways'. The first half was about 65-35 (uphill-downhill), and the opposite when you turn back around.

I made my classic hiking mistake... "Surely my sugars won't spike from lunch because they've been evenly dropping while hiking...", but that's stupid. Lunch happens while you've stopped moving so your sugars sure do rise with the food!

[I know in normal life, I should alway dose at least 15-20 minutes before a meal, but I rarely actually do... On this hike, the difference between dosing before eating and after the sandwich would have made a huge difference.]

Starting on our way back, my sugars were 13.1, but didn't stay there long due to some corrections I planned on counteracting later. It wasn't even half an hour before I was under 10, at which point I had a granola bar and some lifesavers which kept me stable for the rest of the up. The last half of the hike was stable and good!

When we got to the car at the end, we celebrated with Apple Strudel, and then another when I realized my sugars weren't moving upward at all. It's a good thing I got my friend to drive home because I really needed those 70 carbs of strudel... 2 hours later, my sugars were still stable at 7.3!

The evening sucked - I didn't drink enough water so I was suffering from heat exhaustion. It baffled me because I didn't sweat anywhere near as much as I usually do on hikes, and I drank a good 2 litres of water. PLUS, there was no sun, whatsoever... maybe 15 minutes of sun the entire day. It was cloudy the whole time... but now that I think about it, my transition lenses were dark the whole time, meaning that there were some UV rays sneaking through! Also, I passed out early on, before I had taken my nightly Lantus... I woke up at 4am feeling not so hot, but my sugars were only at 11.4.

I am feeling great today, a little stiff, but it's all good!

Oh ya, the reason I was focusing on diabetes today was because my friend (and fellow hiker) Jim was asking about diabetes management things as they related to hiking and exercise. I answered his questions to the best of my ability, but there really aren't enough answers. Sometimes my sugars go up after exercise (like at lunch time), other times, they go down after exercise (back at the car) and I haven't been able to identify the pattern conclusively.

I've been more active this year than I have in years, and I'm getting better at managing diabetes in relation to it. The first hike and the first few Kung Fu classes were disasters where diabetes really got in the way. I've improved in as much as diabetes causes mild to moderate hiccups, and I look forward to the days that I do things regularly enough that diabetes is a natural, non-influential part of my exercising!

What else is new...

As I predicted, there was a problem today. While I am in no way surprised, I am very disappointed.

Telus's online system has been in shambles for the last month. I suppose it IS too much for me to expect that the company that provides my cellphone and internet service be able to maintain a functioning website and customer database...

Last night, I was naive and let myself get excited. I had trouble falling asleep - partially because of the excitement, but also the heat... When I woke up, it was like a nine year old's Christmas morning - ripe with anticipation. Sadly, today was the day that Telus told me that Santa was fake!

I was assured that tomorrow will be the day, but the excitement is gone.

For those of you who are wondering, I am fully aware of my vanity, but I'm embracing it!

Well, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't have a thousand comments of congratulations on my thousandth post, but I'll survive...

BUT, just in case you feel badly about missing the opportunity, there's another milestone coming up in two weeks - my 5-year blogging anniversary! I'll probably be a lot more reminiscent for that post than I was for my thousandth, but you never know!

Anyway, I should know better than to get excited, or say anything, but tomorrow is going to be the day that I am finally finished with my Blackberry! I've decided to get the HTC Desire Android smartphone. I've double checked with two separate Telus agents that I will have no problems getting this phone tomorrow and there is one being held for me at the store. I don't think there is anything else I could possibly do to ensure this goes smoothly, but it's Telus - I'm sure there will be some hassle!

"But I thought you had decided on the iPhone, Michael..."

Good memory - I had come to that decision before the fiasco, but I've been forced to wait.

During the time, I've had time to re-evaluate my smartphone needs.

Spite

While I initially placed all the blame on Telus, and though I have in no way diminished my disappointment, I see that Apple is also to blame, dropping the ball a few times on the iPhone 4 issue. While the reception thing has been blown way out of proportion, it still shows that they released it before it was really ready. Also, they short-supplied the Canadian market to create more excitement and desire- it worked on me at first, but since I had to wait, I see the douchery for what it really is.

New Competition

Before the whole fiasco started, there really wasn't any competition available through Telus. The only decent Android phone I was considering was the Motorola Milestone. It was good on paper, but it as big and bulky and had a sliding keyboard that wasn't really any use to me and it was just ugly - too industrial for my tastes. During the waiting period, since July 30th, Telus released the HTC Desire and because I couldn't get the iPhone, I looked into it. The specs looked good and after extensively reading the reviews, it seems that it is in direct competition with the iPhone 4. The consensus out there seems to be that they are both phenomenal smartphones and it comes down to a matter of preference.

The Idea of Android

I certainly wouldn't call myself anti-Apple - I love my mac, but I've always had reservations about the iPhone. Last year, when I was first looking at smartphones, I was naive and didn't research enough. I didn't think the price difference between the iPhone and the Blackberry Storm was worth it (boy, was I wrong). On a deeper level, there was something in me wanting to avoid the iPhone. Maybe it was the idea that all the cool people had them (I still hate conformity), or maybe I was resisting the big-box entity.

When I first read about Android phones a year and a half ago, the idea excited me - an open source platform across multiple companies. Mumbly mumbly, I'm happy to be supporting Android and the open-source ideals!

Impatience

I suppose that since I've waited so long to change my phone as it is, I shouldn't mind waiting another week to get the iPhone 4, but I just don't want to wait anymore. This isn't a serious deciding factor, but it does have its place in my mind.

In case that email I sent them didn't make it clear, I REALLY don't like being told that I can't buy something when I have the product in front of me and the money in hand. As a result, Apple has lost my business, and I will be buying a phone that will cost 80$ less, so SUCK THAT TELUS!

Actually, that's enough reason right there - denying both offending companies the profit that they could have had AND saving myself money - I think that's a good thing all around!

Ok, I'm done blabbing for tonight. Hopefully, I will have exciting news tomorow.

Also, I'm meeting with some collaborators for an exciting video project that we have in the works!

Guess what today is.....

That's right, it's my one-thousandth post!

I've always dreamed of the day that my number of posts would catch up to my number of followers, but it appears I've been working in the wrong direction since post number... 2. Anyway, I owe a big thank you to all of my loyal readers and for you, I have a special treat - videos of my latest, and possibly most entertaining compositions to date!

I'll give you some background so that you're not completely confused and/or frightened. One of my best friends in Vancouver, who recently moved away, had a roommate who was very open and expressive when it came to her... lady times. Quite a while back, we got it in our heads to write some inspiring songs to help her deal with it. Margy wrote six inspiring poems in a fit of poetic inspiration one night; I was only able to set one of them to poetry until very recently. In the week before Margy was to leave, we knew we needed to have the pieces performed. Margy's boyfriend set one poem to music the day before the concert, and in the hour before our special guest was to arrive, Margy and I each set one poem to music! With only a few minutes of rehearsal, the performance came together seamlessly and here are the videos to prove it!

[Videos removed due to privacy concerns]

As you can tell, we had a lot of fun writing and performing these pieces. The audience, consisting of our special guest and my parents, were very amused.

In other news, my parents have been visiting me for the last week and I have to say that they've been such great sports. For the first few days, there were 5 people living in a 2-bedroom apartment. They put up with this ridiculous, if not mildly offensive, performance AND they came to a kung fu class at the beach, worked really hard, and had a lot of fun! In conclusion, my parents rock!

All in all, things are fantastic. I know I have had my doubts over the years, but I have no intention of stopping my blog! I'll always strive to improve and keep it exciting for you, my loyal readers. In case you don't believe me, here's some balloons as proof!

Last of the Triple Digits

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!

You are currently reading my 999'th blog post.

I'd write about all my accomplishments that have seen me through the last 999 entries, but I just don't want to. Milestones are important and exciting, but I'm not all that excited about this one.

The next one, however...

Post #1000 is going to be fantastic, a celebration like the world has never seen! Exclamation marks galore!!!

Times are good here in Vancouver. My parents are visiting from Winnipeg, so I am filled with familial joy. The fact that I am sleeping on the couch is less than ideal, but I'll suck it up for a week. We currently have 5 people staying in out little 2-bedroom apartment, so I am looking forward to having the place completely to myself next week.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy family time, and spending time with my friend before she leaves Vancouver forever...

aww, now I don't want to end on a sad note, so here's some happy news:

Along with my parents, came my music library! I'm so happy to have my favourites at my fingertips again. This also means that I get to explore my options for additional shelving of the book variety.

Anyway, goodnight and I will see you next in the land of 4-digit numbers!

Dear Telus

Well, it's been quite a while since I've ranted, so here we go! Below is a letter I sent to Telus outlining my dissatisfaction.

Dear Telus,

I would like to voice my extreme dissatisfaction with the customer service I have been receiving from Telus. There is a huge disconnect between the in-store representatives and the telephone representatives. I understand that in BC, the stores are independently run, an inherent flaw in the manner in which you do business. I regularly get conflicting information from these two sources, and neither seem willing to cooperate with one another.

Here is my background.

One year ago, I bought the Blackberry Storm from a location in Ontario. I was told that it was comparable to the iphone, which soon became clear that it was not. In addition to massive weaknesses in Blackberry software, the touch screen has been unreliable and problematic. With my increasing dissatisfaction, I have made it clear that I wanted to change my handset to an iPhone.

I was told there were two options:

1) Buy out of my contract and upgrade at the 3 year pricing. At 20$/month, I could not afford this option.

2) Send my phone in for servicing 3 times and Telus would make me an offer for upgrading my handset.

This is the option I chose.

Since everything was under warranty, this should have not been a problem, and should - in theory- have been free.

Since I had moved to BC, I couldn't return my phone to the original location. I used the swap program, but had to pay a 50$ charge from the Telus retailer for some type of shelving fee. I was happy with the swap program, the phone was slightly more responsive, but not much better. I was encouraged to install the 5.0 software, which I did and gave the phone an honest chance. It was slightly better, but not enough to rectify my dissatisfaction

When I next went to swap my phone, I was informed that the swap program was cancelled - the reasons have been explained to me multiple times in full; I understand, but am sincerely disappointed in this decision.

As a result, sending my phone in for repairs cost me 60$ each time for a loaner phone, in addition to a credit card deposit. The first of the two times, I was even charged 35$ to cover the location's mailing costs!

To date, I have paid (50+60+60+35) $205 JUST to have my warranty honoured. This is unacceptable; Telus needs to rethink how their locations deal with their customers.

Recently, I was informed that my phone had come back from 'being serviced', without any paper or electronic trail of having been serviced. As the retailer knew that I needed it to be registered as serviced, they informed me that the were sending the phone back with a note indicating that there needed to be registered. Wondering what possibly could have happened to my phone in 3 weeks with no trace, I called Telus to inquire and express my concerns.

I was not willing to be pacified on this phone call, and as a result, I was made an offer which made me happy, until today when I realized that Telus does not honour their promises.

I was offered a discounted buy-out which would allow me to buy my choice of phone at the 3-year contract rate. While the representative couldn't tell me the pricing for the iPhone 4, I was told that I could get it when it was released on Friday, July 30th - today.

This seems like a clear agreement. An offer. A promise.

I looked into my phone options and decided on the iPhone 4. I registered my intention to buy it with a Telus location and they called me this morning with a phone set aside for me.

I left my apartment this morning happy, feeling like today was the day that Telus would make everything right - I would feel like a valued customer.

Before I continue with the twist, I currently feel like a second-rate customer, Telus Client Care made it clear that they have done wonderful things for me in the past and that I am being ungrateful for asking them to honour the promise I was made.

Long story short, when I went in to buy my phone, I was informed that my offer did not apply to the iPhone 4. There was nothing the location could do unless I wanted to pay full price. I spoke with 3 telephone representatives in each of the Client Care and Loyalty departments, each of which explained that there was nothing they could do - I simply had to wait. When I asked how long, I was told a variety of things: 1) just not on the release date (today), 2) on the second shipment (they couldn't specify a date or confirm that I could get it on Tuesday, when the location receives its second shipment), or 3) 4-6 weeks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not simply impatient. I've waited about 9 months for a new phone, I can wait a little while longer. It's the principle - I was made a promise and not only is Telus ignoring that promise, but they belittled me in the process.

It was explained that, due to small shipments, they needed to prioritize. They told me how wonderful I should feel that they are allowing me to upgrade my handset before my contract is over, but that people in my situation (early hardware upgrade) could only get the iPhone 4 if they have less than 6 months left on their contract, whereas I have 24. I understand fairness, but people who are at the end of their contract were likely satisfied with their handset. In my case, I may have been happy with it for a month, but my dissatisfaction has been growing for about 11 months, that's over a 90% dissatisfaction rate!

I mentioned that I understand the general principle, but I am extremely dissatisfied and asked them to make an exception. At this point, the representative got on his high horse and pointed out that my discounted buy out was an exception, so I should not be entitled to another exception!

I do not think that I am being unreasonable in my expectations and I don't think that I should be disadvantaged because Telus cannot supply the demand for their product.

The Telus location I am dealing with was happy to reserve an iPhone for me, not because I put down a deposit and am just a dollar sign in their eyes; rather, they realize the importance of customer satisfaction and making up for the previous disappointments I have incurred, This independent retailer is currently the only thing that I remotely respect about Telus currently.

This retailer made the offer to hold the phone for me for as long as I wanted, making me a priority - something Telus as a company seems to have no interest in. While the lure of spite is strong (I would be responsible for that store only selling 80% of their initial shipment), I am putting my hand forward as a friendly gesture. I have asked them to sell that phone and hold one for me from the second shipment, which comes in on Tuesday, Aug 3rd. I am happily making that phone available to one of Telus's much more valuable customers.

What I am asking in return is simple:

I want them to make it easy for me to walk into the retailer on Tuesday and buy the iPhone which will be reserved for me. A simple override of their system's self-imposed limits should make this possible.

I thank you for taking the time to read my lengthy email. There is little-to-no new information here, I have said it all before to telephone representatives and heard any number of explanations. I am beyond the point of being placated by a scripted explanation of why you cannot do what I need to be satisfied - I am waiting for action.

Sincerely,

Michael Park

Combining my favourite things is one of my favourite things! Wine and knitting are a great combination whether it be drinking and knitting, or using a knitted product to care for your favourite wine before you get around to drinking it.

To the left, you can see my latest knitting project which did exactly that. I had originally thought of making a bag, but opted for a cozy on account of the stretch of anything knitted.

I knit it on straight needles and just joined the seam at the back. I left a space near the bottom (see the next picture) so the bottle can be inserted. I thought about different ways of securing it closed, but they all seemed more labour intensive than they would be effective. I'm rather pleased with the way it turned out.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the yarn. I like the colours and they would be perfect for a nice German Riesling. I also like that the slow variegation creates large sections of colour, but the imperfect shift between the different-coloured sections drives me crazy.

In conclusion, I'm not quite sure about the benefits of a wine cozy... Wine doesn't need to be kept warm and it makes your wine a mystery! Either way, it's fun!