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My Three Words of 2010

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

I have been extremely busy since the end of the year up until just the last couple of days.  I was either sick, spending time with my family up north or just doing regular holiday type things.  During this time I decided to step away from the computer and take a break, just get away if you will.  I have been catching up on e-mails that I have just been flagging that I wanted to go back and read.  I subscribe to Chris Brogan’s blog.  He writes great material if you are into the whole social part of social media.  He came up with his 3 words for 2010, as he has done over the past few years and this has inspired me to do it as well.  In today’s blog on here, you will read about how these words affect my personal life.  On my business blog today as well, I am writing about how these three words affect my business.  If you would like to read that as well, go to my Chris Stocker Inc blog.  Now, onto the three words: growth, dedication, health.

Growth

When I sat down to think about words that could describe what I want to either accomplish or work at this was one of the first ones that popped into my head.  Even though I have been 6′ tall since the 8th grade and haven’t grown since, well not vertically at least, that’s not the growth that I mean.  I want to grow as a person, a human being.  Over the years I have caught myself saying to myself, “how would you feel if somebody did that to you” and I look back at situations and feel horrible.  Whether it is yelling at a customer service rep over the phone, it’s not their fault, they are just doing their job, or getting impatient at an elderly person driving in south Florida (for those of you that live here you know that’s at least once before every stop light!), or even being short or rude with Amanda or family or co-workers.

In 2010, I want to work hard to not be that type of person and to grow into becoming a bigger and better person at heart.  Be more considerate, take others feelings into affect more often.  I don’t want this to sound like I’m some inconsiderate prick right now because that’s not the case, but there is always room for improvement and that is where I want to be.

Dedication

What’s the point of having goals and setting benchmarks if you don’t have the dedication to stick with these things. How are you to lose weight when you can’t dedicate 30 minutes a day to exercise or eating a healthy meal.  In 2010 I plan to work hard at dedicating myself to tasks that I put my mind to, no matter what it is.  Exercising, work, business, relationships, anything.  There is no more laziness in my life.  Sure there will be things that I have to give up, but what I gain from them will help me get back what I am missing.  What do I mean by that?  Here is a perfect situation that usually happens every day.  I have two options, watch tv and spend time with Amanda or work out and be healthy.  If I make the decision to work out then I am losing out on that 45 minutes of spending time with my girlfriend.  Well in the long run, by working out and spending that 45 minutes to exercise, I am saving myself who knows, maybe 1-2 days or even months added onto my life in order to spend more time with her in the future.  Dedication is about being able to see the long term goal and pushing yourself to get to it.  Knowing that what you are missing out on now will come back ten-fold in the future.

Health

I think this word pretty much summarizes the entire thing.  This year I have set some goals for my diabetes, in regards to my weight and A1C.  With plans that I have worked out already, this should be manageable.  Becoming a healthier person will make me happier, feel better about situations and I feel grow as a person.  I will need dedication and growth within myself to get to this healthiness that I am seeking.

As you can see all three of these words fit together in the end.  Do this exercise yourself if you haven’t already.  Also, like I said if you would like to see how these three words relate to the other side of my life and how they all interact with each other than check out my other blog as well.

Have a great day everybody.

Getting Serious with Wii Fit

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

On Saturday I decided to set up my Mii character for the Wii fit. My girlfriends mom wanted the Wii fit Balance board for Christmas so that is what she got. I wanted to start losing weight and getting back into shape but we just moved out of the condo so I no longer had the free gym to go to anymore.

Why not use the Wii fit then? I wasn’t sure how I was going to utilize it so I went through every game, exercise, stretch, a strength and made a plan. I made a simple plan. Do 3 options from every category. This is a total of 15 exercises whether it be yoga, cardio, or strength training. I jump rope for about 10 minutes total and also do abs or about 10 minutes. It’s taking me about 45 minutes to complete everything.

I’ve started to eat better as well. Smaller portions but eating carba and protein and lots of fiber. I’ve been eating a snack at night peanut butter sandwich with some sort of fruit whether it is a banana or strawberries or kiwi, something to get that sweet tooth satisfied. It’s been working just within the 3 days of doing it. I feel a lot better already. I’ve been doing it at night so I’m wide awake until Bout 2 am again but it’s allowing me to catch up on a lot of stuff. I just cleared out 60 emails last night dating bal to Thanksgiving.

Ut-oh Almost Out of Infusion Sets

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

Ut-oh, those were my exact words when I went to put in a new infusion site tonight.  You know why?  Because I only have less than one box left of them.  I used to have a lot when I worked for that supply company last year.  I will never call them or use them for supplies ever, not just because of the way I was let go from them, but for other reasons as well, so I’m not sure where to call.  I am getting set up with my Cobra some time next week.  Let me get into that quickly as well.  I was expecting to pay almost $600 some dollars a month for Cobra, wow was I wrong!  The statement came in and said that it is about $300 something a month, but with the new law that came into affect, I am only responsible to pay for 35% of it, so you can do that math on that.  I was extremely happy about that.

My questions will come once I get Cobra.  Does it act just like my old insurance or is it a whole new insurance, so my supplies and insulin come from a different place again?  I haven’t had to order pump supplies in almost 2 years so I don’t remember how to do it.  I might go straight through Medtronic, but I’ve had nothing but headaches from them and bills that I never expected, so I’m not sure if I want to do that.

Well once I get it all set up on Monday, I will figure it out.  I just need to get some more infusion sets before it is too late.

Have a great weekend everyone.

My top 10 goals of 2010

Chris Stocker

Does anybody use the term resolution anymore as in New Year’s Resolution?  I stopped using that term because resolutions are always broken.  Instead I started to use the word goal because to me they are more achievable and I can set smaller goals to get to one big goal.  here is a list of my top 10 goals for 2010.

  1. Lose 40 pounds
  2. Be a better person
  3. Test blood sugar more often
  4. Grow my business
  5. Be more active online
  6. Travel to 3 new cities
  7. Lower A1c every quarter
  8. Become a larger community voice for diabetes
  9. Spend more time with JDRF
  10. Do whatever I can to help cure diabetes

Feeling Better Today

Chris Stocker

Today is the first day that I felt somewhat normal.  I am not going to say that I felt perfect because that would just be a lie.  I was very careful with what I ate today because I am just tired of feeling like crap and being sick.  For breakfast I had a granola bar and then for lunch I had a 6 inch oven roasted chicken breast sub and felt fine during the day.  Today was my first day back to work since December 23, so I knew that was going to make me feel like crap as well.  Oh yea, I didn’t drink any coffee at all.  And for the record, I drink 10 cups between 8-5, so this was a big difference for me today.

I just finished eating dinner about 30 minutes ago, spaghetti and a garlic stick.  I am trying not to eat anything that will mess with my stomach that much, like greasy, dairy, spicy food.  Hopefully I can’t tell you how it all turns out before this post is over because than that pretty much means it wouldn’t be good.

Now, onto other things.  I am extremely tired right now.  First day back to work, no coffee, not a lot of sleep last night, so much stuff to do tonight, and my body is just drained!  My head hurts from the work.  I also think my body is a little weak from getting over food poisoning and eating less today as well and from being drained of energy, have I said that I’m completely drained right now?

Time to get off the computer and watch the Panthers for the first time in almost 2 weeks.  I will eventually get my “internet” legs back and be able to be on Twitter and read other blogs and do all the fun things that I once did.  Until tomorrow, have a wonderful day folks.

Just Got Back From PA Today, Not a Great Start to New Year

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

Well today is my first day back to south Florida.  My trip home was good for the most part, however the end of it was not so great.  Starting New Year’s Day night, I felt a little sick.  I thought it was just a sinus cold so I took some Claritin and went to bed.  Halfway through the night I woke up and my body ached so bad, so I thought it was just the uncomfortable bed that I was sleeping on.  In the morning, it was even worse, and to add to it, I felt like I was coming down with the flu.  You know the symptoms of the flu, so no reason for me to get into it.  The highest my fever ever got however was 100.6.

This lasted Saturday, Sunday, and still going on today.  My flight on Sunday was delayed which meant that there was no way that I could catch my connecting flight to West Palm Beach, so I had to come back in the morning and catch a different flight to Charlotte and then to West Palm.  My stomach feels a little better, but everytime I eat, it starts to feel the same exact way.

I am almost 100% convinced that I had some sort of food poisoning from some cold shrimp that I was eating on New Year’s Eve.

I don’t know, all I know is that my New Year has not been off to a great start.

Merry Christmas Eve

Chris Stocker

Well I want to briefly take the time to wish everybody a Merry Christmas.  I probably will not be online at all tomorrow because I have a lot to do not just with Christmas, but having to pack and get things together because I am going back home Saturday morning.  Well, I will be back online most likely on Monday, so see you all then.

How Many Hours in a Lifetime Wasted On Hold with Insurance Companies?

Chris Stocker 2 Comments

You know how there are all these studies out there and all these dumb little facts?  Well I have one for somebody to figure out.  The average amount of time in a lifetime that a diabetic waits on hold with an insurance company.  I’m guessing I can save pretty much half of my life this way.  Today was worth the wait however.  I had to first call my insurance company and find out the phone number to my mail order pharmacy.  My insurance had switched in November, the day before I was fired, and I still have coverage through them, so I wanted to get an insulin re-order before that time.  It took the guy on the phone 20 minutes to basically just give me the phone number to the mail order pharmacy.

Once I called them it became better.  I spoke to a lady who walked me through the whole process.  She recommended that I have my doctor call in my prescription because she said, “in all honesty, the fax will get tied up in an incoming box until probably tomorrow.”  For once, somebody at an insurance company told me the truth about something.  She will probably lose her job for saying such a thing.  She gave me a phone number, fax number, what exactly to have the nurse say to the person on the phone, everything.  After having a nice discussion with her, I then called my doctor’s office.  I explained the situation to her and explained why I missed my last visit and why I don’t know the exact date of my next visit.  I will explain that here tomorrow, it’s kind of interesting believe it or not.  Anywho, I asked my doctor’s office to call and leave me a voicemail once this was all completed, well I received the voicemail, so I am happy.

The only scary part is that I am going to PA next week, so I asked for the insulin to be delivered there.  Which now I regret because I have enough insulin for about a month, so I could have just had it shipped here and stored in the fridge.  Now I have to have it shipped into the freezing cold weather, and then bring it back with my on the plane.  It goes into my carry on, so it is going to take up a pretty fair amount of space on there, so we shall see how that turns out next Sunday.  Well, time to sign off for the night again.  I need to try and get my posts done in the morning again instead of 10:00 p.m.

It Feels Good to Feel Normal Again

Chris Stocker

Wow, this may be the first time all month that I have blogged in two consecutive days.  It is cold down here in south Florida, about 50 degrees.  I know that is nothing compared to the northeast where I am from, and where I am going next week, but for being down here, it is cold.  But it is a good cold, not a bad cold.  What do I mean by that?  It is nice to sit outside, exactly what I am doing right now.  I am sitting out back at Amanda’s house in a screened in patio typing up a blog.  I am away from Monday Night Football, away from the Panthers hockey game (which is taping, so I haven’t escaped it completely), and just relaxing in the nice outdoors of her 1 acre lot (for those of you who live in south Florida, you know the annoying condo / highway life that exists everywhere else).

Today was a long day at work as well.  It was tough and hard on my brain because I was doing things that I don’t think I ever did before in Excel.  As a consultant, I am open to doing pretty much whatever is needed by somebody, you have a question and if I have the answer, I do it.  Right now I am doing data analysis for Volvo Aero Service (pretty much sell jet engines and parts.)  There are a lot of parts and a lot of numbers that go along with jet engines, so it can be a little stressful getting the numbers into the correct places.

How has this affected my diabetes?  Not bad at all.  I have gotten back into a normal way of life, working 8:30-5:30, eating lunch at the same time, eating dinner at the same time, being more productive with my life and back to testing my blood sugar once an hour or two hours at most during the day.  I am eating better at breakfast and at lunch, dinner I am still trying to work on.  I don’t eat fast food breakfast anymore, like I did pretty much every single day at my old job and I don’t pay for coffee anymore, which saves me between the two about $75 a month.  I lost a little weight, but put some back on this past week because I was very stressed out about moving and getting out of my old house and into my new house.  I will get into that blog tomorrow.

Until then, I am signing off tonight.  Oh by the way, you may not see me tweeting as much, but I am still there in heart, I am reading, but not always posting.  I can easily read tweets during work, but I don’t always have the time to write something and then I just usually read them at night, but by that time it’s too late to respond to them.  I am finally back to living a normal life of a diabetic.

Done Moving, Finally Can Relax

Chris Stocker

I am all moved out of my old house and for now am living with my girlfriend’s family until after the new year.  Reason being is because our closing date isn’t until after the new year, but I am going back up north for the holidays so it’s not that bad.  Moving was so hectic because I had to move things into storage, so I was not only packing but trying to back things in ways that some would go to storage and some would go to the house.  Obviously my diabetes stuff was going to the house, but not all of it because I have so much random crap that I don’t really ever use anymore.

I still feel that I put things into storage that I may have needed, but anyway onto more important things.  I’ve posted recently that I am working again doing some consulting work.  Right now it is only 25 hours a week for this client and obviously, no health insurance.  My insurance expires at the end of December, so tomorrow all I care about doing is getting my insulin re-ordered before coverage runs out.  I am also supposed to get my COBRA information tomorrow.  So all this stuff that I have to do tomorrow and Tuesday, it never ends.

Have a great week everybody, hopefully it’s a short week for you as well.