Oh ya, my job is cool...

Lately work has been less of the "I fly on helicopters" description and more of the "I write reports and analyze data" description. And as much as I would rather be flying on helicopters, it's ok with me...you must have the dull-ish to appreciate the awesome-ness. OR...you just need the BF to remind you how spoiled you are.

For instance, this conversation from the other day...

Me: I've just been knees deep in this report-writing/plot making stuff lately, I just finished a whole section about the mission tasks we did out at Courtland.

The BF: Oh ya, like the slalom and stuff?!

Me: Ya, and this maneuver where we had to accelerate to 50 kts then come to a complete stop within 800 ft.

The BF: WHAT?! Why didn't you ever tell me about that one?

Me: Well, I didn't think it sounded as cool as a "slalom" course...

The BF: Are you kidding me, that is like going 0 to 60 except in a Chinook.

Me: Ya, I guess it is, huh?

The BF: When I ask you how your day went, these are the type of things I want to know about April!!!!

Me: .....{crickets}......

So you see, it's a perspective thing. I just needed a little reminding...

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The road to curing Type 1 Diabetes

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On any given day I feel pretty isolated with this disease - I'm the only T1D in my group at work, the only one in mission control, the only one in my family. I go through the logistics of calling insurance companies, ordering supplies, changing sites and troubleshooting malfunctions mostly on my own. Even those pesky carbs really only get counted in my brain, no group think for a meal bolus here. But there is b…

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Type 1 Diabetes - IT life.

Nine years ago (9 years ago?!), I was still waiting for the black-box-doctors at the FAA to clear my Class III medical certificate - a requirement for my then-job flying on experimental Army helicopters. To 'pump' up my diabetes-dejected ego (ha), Dave let me tag along with him for his MH-47G proficiency simulator runs. That tiny taste into helicopter flight dynamics gave me so much appreciation for him - hovering is literally the.hardest.thing, I was tense the entire time and constantly felt like I was one small cyclic movement away from losing control. Even though I knew in the back of my mind we were in a (moving) simulator, my senses got lost in the weight of the flight controls, the movement on the screens, and the hard thumps when I hovered right into the ground.

At the end of the runs I asked him how he has the stamina to pilot this monster of a helicopter for literally 15 hours straight (these special ops versions can mid-air refuel). He sort of laughed, but his answer…

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