"I'll have the catfish plate and a small soda please." The corner Mediterranean grocery/restaurant, Vine Ripe Market, always has great food. From gyro and skewered chicken to trout, tilapia, catfish, salmon, shrimp, lamb,all the yummy stuff you can't find at the local burger house.

The bubbly girl at the counter asks, "What kind of drink would you like?" I tell her I will have a diet soda. "Really!?" was the following shocked statement from her lips.

I guess she was expecting the usual call for Pepsi or some other flavored soda. I didn't know what to say. The possibility of explaining about my diabetes flashed into my head, or if I should just play it off as normal. It was a simple interaction, but it weighted on me for several minutes after. Did I react the right way? Should I have explained to her why I chose diet? Was it any of her business? Maybe next time I'll just roll with it and make light of my love for sugar-free drinks. (READ MORE)

iStockphoto

Three days, or until the insulin is all used up - that is how long an OmniPod is to be worn for. Before pumping, I was unsure if the scheduled three day replacement interval was going to be a nuisance. I even pondered the idea of trying to sneak in an extra day on the pods- so long as there was enough insulin stowed away in them. Well, that notion, along with a little of my patience, consistently scurries away when I near the end of a pod cycle, and the three day itch sets in. (READ MORE)

I had a very curious and unexpected conversation at work recently. An amusing person that I work with, who I'll refer to as "The Random Talker", will pour out mouthfuls of directionless information at the drop of a hat. I'm talking about a totally un-sequestered menagerie of anomalous comments. This time, however, something struck home with me and we had a more meaningful, if not still awkward conversation.

Random: "Sometimes I get really angry and confused when I don't eat enough"

Me: "Oh really, I know the feeling,"

Random: "I become hypoglycemic, but I bet you don't know what that is, do you?"

Me- (Sounding like a know it all): "Ya, your blood sugar drops, and you can get sweaty, hungry, nervous, jittery, not a good feeling" (READ MORE)

OmniPod

There was the researching, and the chats with the doc,. There was the mental tug-o-war between my daily injection comfort zone and my need for more flexibility, and now, like the quickness of a self-inserting cannula, I am pumping insulin by way of the OmniPod. (READ MORE)

Turbo Squid

It has been three years, seven months, and fourteen days since I was first sitting on that powder keg in the emergency room. I sat with my parents as my blood sugar was checked for the first time and the diagnosis was made. As plain as day, the doctor said the string of words I had never known before that time, type-1 diabetes. (READ MORE)

Philipp Schneider

Over fifteen percent of San Diego County's population of 2.9 million has been evacuated from their homes due to impending threats of fast burning fires. The San Diego Charger's home field, Qualcomm Stadium, as well as local shelters and hotels are being filled up as a safe-haven for relocated San Diegans. More than 1,300 homes and businesses have been set afire by the wind propelled wildfires and containment in some areas is still zero percent. (READ MORE)