2 Kinds of Crashes

Crash 1: The car.

I rear-ended the nicest old guy on the way home from a job interview the other day. I'm fine, he was fine, and our cars, for the most part, are fine and completely driveable. He was an older guy, in his 70's, and I knew things weren't going to be too rough when I asked if he was all right, and he responded, "The better question is, are you all right?" He was sweet and reassuring, even though I hit his nice-looking, most-likely-new car. As for my car, the front bumper cover is kind of scraped-up looking and has some holes where the front license plate holder was popped out. The garage says it'll be $650 to replace it, and I've got a $500 deductible on my insurance. Of course, that's $500 that's a little difficult to come up with right now. His Cadillac had even less damage, just a bit of a scrape on his rear bumper cover. It was a bit nerve-wracking, of course, but this guy's genuine niceness and humor was very calming, and I ended up driving off smiling.

I realize later that I'm lucky I rear-ended his car and not some big SUV. My front bumper hit the middle of his rear bumper, but had I run into a car that was much further off the ground, like a Hummer or one of those big Toyotas that people are driving these days, I might have caught my hood and really screwed things up.

Crash 2: The blood sugar.

Last night was a lot of fun. Matt and I went to our friend Mike's to play Spades, as we often do these days. It was a fun night of drinking and smack-talking, as usual. However, Mike didn't have any diet Coke, which is what I usually drink when I'm over there. I'll usually have one with rum or vanilla vodka, and one without anything. I still wanted to have a drink, so Mike busted out his bottle of meade. Matt and I had never had it before, so it seemed like it would be fun to try it. I liked it--kind of white wine-y with a honey aftertaste. Yes, I said honey. You can probably guess where this is going. Before bed, my glucose level is high, 286, so I correct. I should probably stick with the old standard beverages.

Matt gets up to get ready for work at 6am. I feel strange, and check again. 71. I chomp on 3 glucose tabs, thinking 4 will probably raise things a little too much. I go back to sleep. I wake up at 11. (Yes, having no job has its perks sometimes.) I feel strange, and check again. 71. Again.

Isn't it always weird when you get 2 identical readings in a row, hours apart, especially after you treat a low?

Off to Integrated Diabetes tomorrow! I can't wait to report back to all of you about it.