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Triple points days are always a good excuse to shop at Nordstrom.  Here’s a better one:

Love just about anything Vince Camuto. Special on his stuff. Find new spring looks from Vince Camuto at NORDSTROM. Free shipping and returns on every order.

Yeah, I returned that Lenovo.

And have my Sony for sale.  I’ll post the ebay link when it’s up.

I’m working on reducing stress, for example, when traffic is heavy, I’ll “help” 18 wheelers get in the other lane.  It feeds my “helping” impulse, and distracts me from the traffic.  Probably better than my counselor’s suggestion of pulling out a device and playing an audiobook.  Should probably pull over for all that.

For I have a plan for service dog rejection.  If we’re in a low crime area and the police aren’t busy I’ll wait up until 20 minutes – maybe – to let a cop tell you that you are wrong.  At any rate, I’ll smile sweetly at you and probably NOT come back.  I will find a supervisor to tell you that you are wrong, and start shopping somewhere else.  You are NOT the only store in town.

However, for the others – the law says we’re allowed.  I don’t mind a bit of you remove obstacles out of our way so we can accomplish our task quicker.  I don’t mind of you want to visit with her and pet her.  I am flattered if you think “are you training another one”.  It happened to day.  I also don’t mind helping you by making the screaming kid stop – yeah that happens a lot.  I was at a grocery store today and there was a little boy very unhappy who had just been put in a cart.

I smiled at him, pointed at Dulce and said “see the puppy”.  He forgot all about what was making him scream.  Told his mom that we did that all the time (we do).  Win, win for everyone.

And back to my point – if in my stress I can see someone to help, someone to make a bit happier, I’ll do it – it lowers my stress level.

Try it.  It’s fun.

I’m not saying yet, that the girl in Phoenix was a scam artist, but I lost contact with her once a local media outlet reached us.

So I’m glad people didn’t donate.

However, I will say that I have been I contact with an agility person who was interested in DAD training, she claims to have steroid diabetes, which is a thing, according to the internet, but it sounds like as long as you are on the meds that caused the problem, you won’t be diabetic.  Disclaimer, I’m not medical personal, and got that off the interweb.

I’m suspecting that individual just wants to fly her dog free to competitions. Apparently that’s a problem in that space, as it has been under discussion.

I’ve heard about DADs, not being trained properly – that state of Texas has too.  Both forms of training: symptom detection and behavior.  One sad case, just days after the family got the dog, it ran out of the house and got killed, hit by a car.  A church had done most of the fundraising for the dog and they were devastated.  I’ve worked a lot of those type of behavior issues, and frankly the family probably wasn’t trained properly, but I wasn’t there.

Heck, even my husband and one of my former students are skeptical that Dulce alerts.

The Neopro patch for Restless Leg Syndrome had given me absolute fits on being compliant.  I finally found the answer, writing the date of the packets when I open a new one.

Pillpack gave me the idea, since they put your meds in packets – can’t wait until they can start shipping to me.

I have been blogging on this blog since FEBRUARY 2003 – if I do the math right, that’s 11 years of blogging.

I started blogging because one of my life goals has been to write a high school computer science book. This would be a good time, but I digress.

One of the reasons I’m amused because I’ve seen references to log time diabetes bloggers who have blogged since 2007 and another since 2005?

Now I don’t always put a post out every week. Some of them do, either they are professional writers and have set themselves a schedule or blog for another reason to keep themselves out there. I just blog when I have something I need to journal, or when I have something to say.

Another reason I’m not as well known as that I am a very non typical member of the DOC. I’m a type 2, and I’ve found that most of the diabetic online community are Type 1, and are suspicious of us Type 2s. I also do some other odd things – I have an insulin pump and CGMS AND a diabetes alert dog.

The interesting part is that I have met some of the DOC in person. Scott and Tara (the other blogger I know of with a DAD).

Another reason I’m not part of the DOC, is that the tweeting part takes place on Wednesday night exactly when I have a long standing “girl’s night out with the dogs”.

So yes, I’m still here and I still blog.

Thinking seriously of that textbook now.

Was at the gym today, and the ladies next to me were speaking Spanish.  At one point in their conversation, they were talking about perro pequeño – the good news is that diabetes is the same word in both languages and blood sugar sounds similar – glicemia.

So I can usually tell if they got it right.  By the way, diabetes alert dog in Spanish is: diabetes perro alerta which is also easy to spot in a conversation.

About stress.

Did something stupid yesterday, offered to help someone.

She didn’t want the help, probably doesn’t need it, and probably pulling a scam.

Won’t be doing that again.

I still think Jadzia is real, she came to me through a site and I am genuinely enjoying working with her.

Three weeks ago I started training Bo to rest his head on my foot while he was in a down stay.

via raisingbo.blogspot.com

I honestly do know what I haven't thought of training this — I attribute to my previous stress level.

Here's the first training session.  http://youtu.be/SeUNVrtT8IE

My insomnia counselor wants me to spend some time thinking and writing about independence, since it is a value that is important to me.  Probably the most important. 

Independence is why I have been working on getting a service dog for someone else:  http://www.gofundme.com/Servicedog4jadzia – she also has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ServiceDog4Jadzia

I have always tried to keep a certain level of financial independence.   I worked in high school, and had very high paying jobs.  I put myself through college, through scholarships and working in the summer for Kelly Girl (yes back in the day), and did exceptionally well financially.

Every course I took in high school, especially electives were aimed at getting financial independence, and my major was picked partly for that reason.  Plus I really like computers.

I continue to keep my skills honed and ready to go so I can change jobs, locations, etc. whenever I want.  I don’t very often.  Even my career choice is aimed at given me some independence – pension and insurance.

As a teacher I hope to give my students that same guarantee of independence.   I’m constantly telling students where they go to continue learn more and make money, especially the web mastering students, and I am constantly urging them to go to college.  Anyway they can.

One thing I would like to do is give Jadzia some independence.    I haven’t met her, but she’s worked hard.  She graduated from high school and has done work as a model before her health went south.

Service dogs give independence, and I am constantly working towards giving others independence with service dogs.  That’s why I challenge people who restrict access and I teach other people “the rules”, as a Home Depot employee told me today.  I found that very amusing.