Some Good Advice

As you may know, I love the absurd. Absurd situations and stories make me laugh out loud, so I love finding these treasures in my inbox. They are often not intended to do so, but let me explain.

I'm a member of several online groups, and there is always a tidbit or two that amuse, irritate, and even inform me. This tip was shared in a support group for diabetics, with all earnestness of someone who really believes this. Now as you read the following, put yourself in the shoes of the wait staff in a restaurant as they draw straws, "Who gets to take the crazy person at table 8?"

Several weeks ago someone asked if there was some way to test to make sure you were given diet coke and not "regular" coke in a restaurant. In the September/October issue of Diabetes Self-Management Magazine, they address that issue. They say to to buy the dip-sticks designed for checking for sugar in the urine from your local pharmacy. Whenmoistened with a drop of sugar-sweetened soft drink, the dipstick will register sugar by changing color. However, if it's diet, it will not display a color change. I don't remember who asked about this before but thought it might be of interest to anyone who can't tell the difference just by taste and wants to make sure they are getting what they ordered.

Perhaps the person who wrote this really believes that it is good advice. And maybe, if this person wants to go to such great lengths to make sure their drink is diet, more power to him or her.

But perhaps, just perhaps, one could just inquire about said drink, and maybe just send it back and ask for another. Perhaps, if this person is the type given to such paranoia, they might consider ordering water with a twist of lemon. Hey, what a concept.

But looking at it from my own corner, as someone with diabetes, it took me years to get comfortable with doing a blood test with my meter at the table - which is one of the unfortunate requirements of my own treatment. But let me tell you, I'm not ever EVER going to be taking out a pee stick - even an unused one - at a table in a restaurant just to see if a Coke is diet or not.

And I think that good advice for anyone not wanting to be called the Crazy Person at Table 8.

Contributed by Jamie Naessens

A Little Autumn Honesty

Allow me to climb briefly aboard my soapbox to proclaim the official beginning of Fall. No it’s not because the temperature last night dipped to 6C (43F) or because the flowers have given up flowering for another year.

It is because today, for the first time this season, my day was interrupted by somebody ringing our doorbell who claimed, like all his energy pedaling brethren to be bubbling over with the sincere desire to save Jamie and me dollars and more dollars on our energy bill.

Do you experience a similar fall phenomenon at your house? If so, maybe you’d like to join me in wondering about something.

How is it that all of these energy hucksters can save us the same bucketful of money?

Sure, they claim they can. But can they all be as sincere as they claim?

If some of them are truly ready to save us more money then the others, then those others must not be as sincere as they claim. Either that or they are not trying hard enough.

Let’s set the record straight. What they are trying to do is to sell us something. I have no problem with that just as long as the person doing the selling is ringing neither our doorbell nor our phone.

Oh, and one other thing.

When somebody is trying to sell something and I’m on the listening end, do you know what I hate more than anything? I hate it when the seller in question says that he/she has rung my doorbell or phone, not to intentionally intrude on my busy day, but because he/she just wants to save me money.

Really? Ok, good enough. Every one of these door-to-door dealers has my best interest at heart.

Now, having conceded that point, please allow me to offer these door-to-door and phone-to-phone sales folks my own concern, with only their best interest in mind of course.

After having my work interrupted today by the first of many who will offer to perform cost reduction miracles on our energy bill, I especially want to save these energy pedaling guys and gals some real energy.

Please do not expend the energy that it will take to ring our doorbell or our telephone. You may be selling energy nervana and I wish you well, but I’m not buying.

And you know what? I suspect that I am speaking for most of the good people who are reading this. If so, please join me up here on my soapbox. There’s plenty of room for everyone.

Oh, just one small thing, up here on my soapbox, unsolicited sales pitches are not allowed.

Contributed by Larry Naessens