#1991 Something in the Water
Something in the Water
Brie Amazoned a glucose meter, forgot about it, then poked her daughter's finger for fun: 595. Three other girls on the swim team have diabetes too.
Jump to a moment
- Nothing was alarming on its own. Weight loss that everyone called growing, bathroom anxiety at a new school, mood swings, gassiness, constipation, and a kid swimming two and a half hours a day six days a week who never put on any muscle. Brie kept telling her husband something felt off.
- She ordered a glucose meter off Amazon because she wondered whether her daughter was metabolizing food properly — she was not thinking about diabetes at all. The package sat unopened until one Monday night at bedtime. The reading was 595. Everyone else in the house tested in the 80s and 90s.
- Four different people asked her why she tested: her husband, the on-call nurse, the ER, and her own daughter. The hardest part wasn't the number — it was being treated as though finding it was the problem.
- Three other girls on her daughter's high school swim team had type 1 last year, and three girls in her eighth-grade class have it now. That coincidence is also the reason the family landed inside a group of people who already understood.
- She asked her endocrinologist to pin down exactly when it started so she would know when she began being a failure. A year later her daughter's A1C is 6.3, she has gained back more than thirty pounds and grown two inches.
- Tandem Mobi with Control-IQ+ — Tandem's smallest pump, with its newest algorithm
- Eversense 365 — One insertion a year, with unlimited data sharing through the Eversense Now app
- Touched By Type 1 — Annual conference, D-Box, Dancing for Diabetes and local kids' dance programs
- Bold Beginnings Series — Built for exactly where Brie was a year ago — the newly diagnosed questions, answered plainly
- Juicebox Podcast Pro Tip Series — Management fundamentals with Jenny Smith, episodes 1000–1025
Every word of the conversation
Welcome and Sponsors0:03
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Meet Brie2:27
Well, here I go then. I am Brie. I am, the mother to a... Well, this is funny. My kids just started, school this week.
So my daughter who is going into eighth grade and son who just started fourth grade, and I've been married somehow to... For seventeen years. Not somehow against him. He's amazing. I'm just, like, thinking doing the math, and I'm like, really?
Seventeen years? That's why
I come
that that could be.
I I was following you. You were like, you know, I can't believe we've been married for seventeen years already, but it really did come out. Like, I don't know how I've allowed this man to stay in my house this
long out of my mouth, I could hear it, I was like, yeah. No. That sounds that sounds a different way than I intended. So
Anyway, nice guy. Couple of kids, fourth and eighth grade. Yes. What are you, like? I
am 42.
Okay. That's fine. I didn't know you're a professional person. That's fine. I didn't add in the four years of college.
I'm sorry.
Yes. Yes. Good call. Yes. And that is a a good point.
Professional wise, I do work full time. I work in... I've spent my career in nonprofit management, currently overseeing fundraising at a large nonprofit here.
Wow. You must Minnesota. You must make tens of hundreds of dollars a year.
Yes. Mhmm. Well, know, it's all good for the heart.
Well, no kidding. Right? I don't know one person that works, does work like that that doesn't feel great about their job. They always
They
talk about how they don't have any money, but they do. They're always like, I I love the work. I gotta get out of this.
The difference is... Yes. The difference we're making is... Yes.
Yeah. I wanted to buy a sofa and found out that was not economically feasible. So
Well, there's the buy nothing page on Facebook.
Oh my god, Brie. Are you a... Are you on people's front steps taking lamps?
No. I'm actually absolutely not. I'm horrible at buy nothing. I'm bad at all of that. I don't do Facebook marketplace.
I wish I would. People... It's an art that I wish I had. My friends are amazing at it. I'm not on people's steps.
Right? No kidding. Some people who are just like, where'd you get that, you know, art deco piece? And they're like, oh, yeah. That from a lady who needed a pack of cigarettes three towns over.
No kidding. It's amazing. Amazing. Exactly. Exactly.
I just like... When you're down... I won't say this because there might be... Anyway, we'll skip through that. Okay.
So
So that's my intro.
I haven't self censored myself in a while, but I was like, no reason to annoy a bunch of people all at once, Scott. We'll probably do it later in the podcast. Why do it in the first three minutes? That doesn't make any sense. This, these...
Of these two little children, which one of them has diabetes?
So my daughter has diabetes. Oh. And she was diagnosed... Will be coming up on a year in twenty eight days.
Oh, wow. You still have good energy.
Do I? I've had a lot of coffee.
I was gonna say, what what what happened? What... Are you ignoring the child completely? How come you don't sound tired? How's she how's she doing?
Oh, not well.
Yeah. No. No. She's... Yeah.
She's doing horribly.
Yeah. We don't talk to her. That's how I ignore the problem. She lives in a hole in the wall. So...
No. Wait. So tell me... Let's go back through it a second. She's diagnosed just a year ago.
Is there is there diabetes in your extended family or reasons why you might think this was gonna happen?
Yeah. So, my extended family, I'm going to say a very cryptic, like, I don't think so. I, both of my parents have passed, unfortunately. So it's one of those things where it's like, you know, if they were around now, I would really kinda poke at that and be like, are you sure? Did, you know, did you have a cousin or something, that that had diabetes?
But nobody in, like, our immediate or would it be my immediate extended
Hey. Hey. Both your parents are both your parents are gone?
Both Her Parents Are Gone6:27
Both my parents have, yeah, passed away. My mother passed away in 2008 at 55 from... I mean, ultimately, from cancer. Oh. Yeah.
She had lung cancer, went into remission, and then it came back, and then spread to her brain. And she passed away in 2008, and then my father passed away in 2020 at four. He was diagnosed diagnosed, not diagamost, at
Sorry. There's something ridiculous there's something ridiculous about you saying that in the middle of, like, a discussion of your parents' death. I don't know why.
It's so it's so classic. This is something I do. I'd be like, what? And then I threw in this... Yeah.
Telling this heartfelt... Oh, my my poor mother. By the way, was she around cigarette smoke, or was she... Is it genetic?
Yes. I mean, she was definitely somebody who, like, smoked when it was cool to smoke of that age Yeah. And, you know, and then stopped, when she was older. But, she also... It...
It's interesting. Who knows? They're also... She grew up, in an area that is known for kinda high radon areas as well. That could be a factor.
Ironically, her parents both, smoked up until, like, the day they died, my grandma, until, like, her nineties, so that was interesting.
Your grandmother... Talking to your mom. She's like, she gave up. Yeah. I...
Yeah. Yeah.
Right. No. She was just like... Well, she was actually like, well, this is ridiculous. You know?
She should've tried smoking through it. I think it was...
Yeah. Yeah. Your biggest mistake was Quentin. Okay. So, yes, back to the diagnosis Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. For my father. Right. So he was diagnosed with Lewy body disease or sometimes called Lewy body dementia Uh-huh.
Which is a disease that impairs, you know, physically, mentally, behaviorally, often early diagnosed as, like, Parkinson's or early dementia, but it's really something that impacts your whole body. So, ultimately, you know, he got sick with pneumonia and ended up passing away from that,
but due to
complications from that.
Brie, this story, everyone in their forties has been putting money in their four zero one k was like, what am I busy saving this money for?
You just
you just bummed out a bunch of people. They're like, ugh.
I know. I know. But still but still do your four zero one k.
Yeah. Yeah. Because with your luck, you'll live forever and be broke.
Right. Exactly. And, also, we know you kids spoke into your nineties and live, so I
don't know. Yeah. Why... Don't be such a baby. My grandma did it.
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What lesson do you wanna take from this?
Listen. My my buddy's grandmother, I've said this before, but it it it begs saying again. Like, we'd go visit her every once in a while. She was living on pound cake and cigarettes. That was it.
She'd get up in the morning. She'd have... She'd smoke all day and pick at a piece of pound cake throughout
the day. And that's just what's sustaining you throughout the day.
Oh, she made it forever on it. It was crazy.
Yeah. Okay.
What do you know?
Lupus, and a Meter She Never Threw Out11:24
Here we go. So no diabetes.
So no no type one, you're saying?
No type one. My mother did have lupus.
Okay.
So that, is something. I, while I believe this is not considered an autoimmune disease, I think maybe it's considered autoimmune, activity. I had gestational diabetes with my son. Oh. So there it's...
And and that was interesting. That came kind of out of nowhere. I had, you know, none of the the risk factors or anything that would point to it. I had failed the first glucose test that you that you do, and I remember even the midwives were like, oh, yeah. That's probably just a...
You know, you'll do the longer one. It's so unlikely that you would have it, and then it came back. And they're like, oh, yeah. Well, this is why we test people. And they're like, we don't we don't know why, but you have it.
And, and then the day I gave birth to him, it was gone.
Did they tell you that is an indicator for something for you down the line perhaps? Or
I... You know, they had said at that time that it could be, like, I could be more susceptible to type two Mhmm. Down the line. I I feel like they had also said that maybe my son would be more susceptible to diabetes, but then another pediatrician told me that wasn't true. So I don't know.
Oh, pediatricians, they're just above dentists. So you should... By the way, that's from a pediatrician. My buddy's a pediatrician. He's like, I'm not I'm not a doctor.
I'm a pediatrician. Yeah. And then he goes... And and he points to his father who's a dentist, and he goes, he's really not a doctor. And I was like, okay.
I'm like, okay. I mean, your words, not mine. Well, if I was you, I'd start drinking GLP right now. Have you started putting it in your food? Do you spray it in the air in the house just to...
You know?
No. No.
No. You're like, no. I'm gonna risk it, Scott.
I'm good. I did do the, you know, the antibodies test. My son and I both did after my daughter was diagnosed, we came back clear, which I know is not a a given, but,
what a peace of mind. I'm saying if I was you, I would do whatever I could to mitigate my type two exposure.
Oh, the type... Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So, nevertheless, that's between you and Jesus. When you said my my parents died, unfortunately, I thought, I wonder if they were hit by a truck full of chickens because that would be unfortunate. That would be. No. You you had a worst story.
So do you think about your longevity since your mom went young, or do you do you kinda... In your mind, do you tie that to her cigarette smoking?
Oh, no. I I I think about my longevity, yeah, quite often. I think almost... I I... Well, I've told my therapist before.
You know, I'm like, I've written myself off at, like, 50. You know?
My moose done.
Yep. Yep. We're getting there. I know. And...
But also... And then, you know, turns out every time I go in, yeah, I'm pretty healthy. So, yeah, I'm I'm all good.
That's awesome. Well... Okay. So what did we see with the diabetes? Like, was it, I mean, pee peeing, drinking, that
kind of stuff? Yeah. I mean, do we... Do you want me to go back to the hindsight or to the
Oh, oh, no. Yeah. Tell me about your guilt that you tell the therapist. What about the hindsight? Yeah.
What Hindsight Looks Like14:52
Yeah.
Yeah. Ahead. Yeah. Let's go through that. Mhmm.
You know, like, if I think back... So she was diagnosed, like, a month into school, seventh grade year. If I think back, I I can think back to fifth grade, and, you know, who knows? I don't know why I or I'm sure many other people feel the need to, like, tie to an exact date. You know, when she was in the hospital, like, I asked the endocrinologist.
I was like, can you tell me exactly when this happened so I can know when I started being a failure? You know? Like, it was like that sort
of Gotcha.
Feel. Why do we need to know? And they're like, no. We can't really.
They're like, six months. How am I gonna beat myself up and torture myself if I don't know exactly when to start it?
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Give me more to ruminate on, please. I'm not doing enough.
But if I think back to, like, fifth grade, I I remember a specific time when she was going on a ski outing, and you had to weigh yourself to, like
because of the plane? Wait. What?
No. It was for the skis. I don't know.
I know
it. So I know. I I don't know. I don't get it, Scott. I grew up in Minnesota.
Everybody skis, and I don't. Something about the type of skis, I I don't remember. Okay. And I just even remember, like, ugh. Like, you know, I just don't like anything about, you know
Skiing? Getting
cold. Weighing in, yeah, in the cold. No. I have no idea why I'm here. I don't like anything about the idea of weighing, right, like, especially with kids.
But she did, and then I was like, oh, that's interesting. That was lower. But also... So she's a swimmer. She swims club and was swimming a couple days a week.
And I was like, well, you know, she's super active, so that's probably why. And I was like, but this... You know, that's interesting. And and she's tall. Right?
Bathroom Passes and Mood Swings16:34
And she keeps getting taller. Okay. So then, you know, hindsight also throughout sixth grade, She was very concerned about, like, going to middle school, starting to pass classes, you know, all the time throughout the day, and having time to go to the bathroom. And I was like, well, you know, I'm a high functioning anxiety individual, so I get that. Right?
Like, I probably also would think through, you know, what are my bathroom opportunities throughout the day? And, you know, am I gonna make it in this five minutes of passing time? I hadn't really paused and been like, well, how many times are you going to the bathroom? You know? And they're carrying around water bottles.
I'm like, oh, she's probably well hydrated. It wasn't until, like, the summer heading into, seventh grade that now I can think of sometimes some some really, I'd say, big, like, mood swings. She'd get... And she's just, the sweetest kid, kindest. Just everybody knows her as, like, the sweetest, kindest kid.
And at home sometimes, I mean, just very angry, angry at her brother. It would, like, kinda spike, and then later she'd feel awful about it, which then was even worse. Right? She kinda wanted to just stick around home more often. And then she was having some, hopefully, she won't listen to this.
She's gonna hate this. But some, like, GI issues, like some gassiness. Okay.
She was farting a lot, you're saying?
She... Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. That's fine.
And I went to... We brought her to the pediatrician, and I just said, like, I don't know. You know? Like, she's in middle school. Like, what do we do?
Like, we gotta... She she wants this. And she did ask a lot of questions about, like, you know, do you go to the bathroom often? And, you know, she did talk about how she does go to the bathroom, but they were cons... You know, more on, like, the constipation side.
But she did talk about it. She gets up to pee, and, she just didn't seem too concerned, the pediatrician. I had also flagged, you know, I'm like, she keeps losing weight, and she asked some questions. And she's like, well, you know, she's growing, and she's still, like, within the, you know Mhmm. The norm of growing.
And, you know, she's tall and, very active at that point. She had joined our high school swim team, so you could start that, in seventh grade. So she was swimming, like, six days a week, and this is, like, a year ago now that I brought her in. Yeah. And then she was like, yeah.
You know, we... We'll just put her on some sort of, I don't know, Metamucil or something like that. Yeah. And maybe that will... And I was like, alright.
Interesting. I just had this, like... In the back of my mind, I would... And I would tell my husband. I was like, something just feels off.
Like It's a little...
A lot of little things.
A lot of little things. Right? And, also, I'm like, she she eats all the time. Right? She eats and drinks all the time.
And she's just... She's so... And she's, you know, thin. And then other people would be like, well, yeah, she's a tall, thin, young woman. You know?
And I'm just like, ugh. And I hate commenting on that. I'm like, I just don't know that everything's just that everything's okay. And... But she seemed okay.
Right? I mean,
she went practice.
Tell me something, though. Is is this, like, a real, like, you sitting down hammering through it thinking this all doesn't add up, or is this just your anxiety telling you there's always problems. This must be a problem too.
I would say it's... There's always problems. This must be a problem
too probably
at that
point. You're like, I'm I'm also worried about 19 other things, Scott. Like, in that moment. Like, the
Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay.
I mean, like... Yeah. I mean... But I do have, yeah, a million things all the time going on. I had just...
You know? Like, I, like, diagnosed our dog with a thyroid issue and then brought her into the vet, and they were like, oh, yeah. She sure does. I was like, see? You know?
So, like, it's it's it's horrible for, you know, high functioning anxiety to be like, see, but I was right.
I told you.
I'm basically clairvoyant. Yes. So... But, yeah, little things piecing together. It's just like...
She seems so tired after practice, and it's like, well, she was also practicing two and a half hours a day. So, like, I mean, I'm not swimming that much. Like, I'm not swimming at all, but I would be tired. And I was like, so that makes sense. Right?
But, also, I was like, at some point, shouldn't she be putting on muscle? She did do, like, this girl's after school weight training thing and, like, no muscle. And I was like, yeah. It's just... Is she just burning more calories?
And then I was like, is there something about... And this sounds so stupid. Like, is she not metabolizing food correctly? I remember I... This is what I told my husband.
I was like, I'm just concerned about her weight. And should we bring her to, like, a sports nutritionist? Like, is she just not getting enough calories of what she needs? Because, like, I'm nervous. She's doing all this activity,
and like...
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like...
Except she's gassy, and she can't go to the bathroom. Like... So the... These are not exactly the outcomes you're expecting for the activities that she's involved in.
Right. Exactly. Fair enough. Exactly. You know?
And I was just like, yeah. I just... And and she's so tired. But, also, at that point, you know, she just started school, and she was practicing. And then she started, like, getting up during the night, to go to the bathroom, and then I could hear her, having a, like, a glass of water when she would get up.
And I could kind of write that off as well because I was like, well, they really... At swim, they push you to drink a lot of water because kids don't realize they're sweating while they're swimming. So I'm like, well, she probably also has to pee because she's full of so much water. And I just had this, like, inkling in my head. I'm like, you know, maybe we should just test her blood sugar.
Alright. Where does that come from? Where does blood sugar come from? Because you're gestational?
Yes. So I still had a reader from gestational diabetes. My best friend also has a child who was diagnosed, oh, four or five years ago as well. But still in my head, this is so bizarre for me to think now. It feels so dumb because of all the knowledge I know now.
I thought I could test her blood sugar, but I did not think anything about diabetes. I was like, and maybe that would be an indicator of something about how she metabolizes food, which... Yeah.
Oh, that's fascinating. You thought to test your blood sugar, but not to check for diabetes.
Right. I wasn't thinking that that, like, one would... I mean, I knew it had something
to do with what they call an idiot savant, I think.
Oh, absolutely. Right? How stupid did... You know? Like, how did I just admit this on this podcast?
Like... Yeah.
Also, that's what I am, so I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So So we're in good condition.
Right. Right. Yeah.
Just for Funsies, I'm Gonna Poke Your Finger23:19
So I looked one night for, like, my glucose meter, which I still have, you know, like, nine years after having gestational diabetes.
Why would you throw it away? Hey. Why would you throw it away, Brie? You might need it someday.
You might need it someday. Ironically, I couldn't find it. So then I was like, well, you know what? I could just Amazon one. So I did that, and then I forgot about it.
And then one night, it was a Monday night, I'm going out to the car to get something. Everybody's getting ready for bed. You know, my daughter's normal night. She's brushing her teeth. My husband's reading to our son, and I see the Amazon package.
Was like, oh, that's right. So I open it up, and I was like, hey. Just for funsies, I'm gonna poke your finger. And I did, and it came back $5.95. Oh.
I was like, well, that can't be right. So I send a picture to my best friend, and she's the most amazing person in the world. And she's empathetic and just, like, a wonderful support system. So happy to have her in my life. And she's...
But she's also a person, like, she would... You know, back when Oprah's on TV, like, she'd tear up at, like like, a commercial for, like, a preview of Oprah. Right?
I cried the other day because my son picked up his baseball glove. Go ahead.
Yep. Okay. See? Yep. That's how...
And I'm kinda like I'm like, here's this wall. Right? I'm like, here's me making a joke talking about my dad's dying diagnosis. So we're... Like, so I reach out to her, and she's like, you you have to test again.
And she gets, like, real serious. Right? She's like, wash your hands. Test again. So it did, and it came back five ninety.
And I was like, well, this has to be wrong. And I test my husband and my son and myself, and we're all, like, you know, eighties and nineties. And I was like, well, crap. So then I send it to her, and she, calls me and, you know, is very serious, which is just not like her at all. And I I can't sense any emotion in her voice, which, again, is is not like her.
And she's like, you're gonna go to Walgreens, and you're gonna get these ketone sticks. And I was like, what the hell is that? So I'm telling my husband, and he's like, what? And I was like, I don't know. I'm just...
You know, Nicole thinks it's, I said her name. She's okay with it.
Okay. I Hey, Nicole. What's
up? Yeah.
There you go.
She's gonna love that. She loves the show.
Oh, okay.
Big fan. I went and got these, and then, I mean, it came back. Like, I I had my daughter, you know, do it, and it looked, and it was super dark. Right? And then I sent it to a friend, and she calls me.
And she's like, you need to call the online nerd... The the on call nurse, and you need to prepare to go into the emergency room. And I was like, what is happening? Like, she's just brushing her teeth. So I tell my husband, and he's like, what?
And then he's like, but why did you test? And I'm like, oh, well, I can't go through this right now.
If we stop looking for problems, Bree, there won't be any problems. I've tried to tell you a million times. Don't look at the bank account. It's fine. Exactly.
Is your husband one of those guys? Like, why are you looking?
Well, you know, I think he's more just like... What... I I think he was, like, scared by it.
Like Son. Yeah.
Yeah. Like, why why? You know? Like, it... We're...
Like, you know, like, in an eerie way. I do think my daughter, especially in the initial days, was more like, why did you? Because if you wouldn't have, we'd just be going on the way she had been because she just had been. Right?
Like I understand.
Calling the On-Call Nurse26:53
She she adapted to, you know, however she was feeling. So I called the on call nurse, and I explained. And they're like, well, how long has she had diabetes? And I was like, she doesn't have diabetes. And they're like, oh, well, why did you test her blood sugar?
And I was like, I I don't know really. Like, I just
I wasn't sure if her body was metabolizing food. Okay?
Right. Yeah. I mean, I'm I'm starting to, like, word vomit all this stuff, and I was like, you know, and I thought she had, like, lost some weight, but, you know, the pediatrician said it was kind of okay. Like, you know, like, I... Just all of this.
And they're like, okay. Well, I need to call this into the on call doctor. So then they call me back. It's, like, nearing, like, 10PM. And they're like, well, who's your endocrinologist?
And I was like, what's that?
What's that? Yeah.
And she's like, who does she see for her diabetes management? And I was like, oh, she doesn't have diabetes. And she's like, what what are you calling about? And I was like, well, my best friend told me her blood sugar's five ninety five. That's real bad.
And she's like, oh, yes. Well, why did you... You know, and do do you have one at home? And I was like, well, yes. Well, kind of.
I couldn't find it, so I Amazoned one.
You know? Like, I'm just worried about the the whole thing. I don't swim, but the kids do. And she's tall, but I don't like when they comment on her weight.
You know? And they... Some people of a certain generation are like, oh, you're so tall and skinny. I'm like, ugh.
Oh, you got a thin one. Good job. Yeah. Yeah. I know.
Exactly. And she's just like, okay. Okay. Well, typically, this is a pretty concrete sign.
I can't diagnose you over the phone, but trust me, this kid's got diabetes. Okay? Well, you know what's the saddest part of this story aside from your family's tragedy is that I wonder how many times the person on that phone takes a call from someone who has established diabetes whose blood sugar is 600. Yeah. I bet you that happens a lot.
I think of that often now too because it's terrifying. Yeah. It's terrifying to me. It's terrifying to me to think about how long she had been, you know, at that level. I mean, I...
I'm I'm thinking her high activity and swimming two and a half hours, six days a week probably got her down. You know? Long do you think it
was going on for before that day?
I don't know. I mean
Weeks? Months?
At least weeks. I I... I'm I'm guessing, like, it started escalating during that summer.
And you feel guilty about this? Oh, yes. But you just... I mean, listen. That was a...
First of all, you used up your whole podcast explaining that, but it's okay. And I... Because I liked listening to you go through it, and I'll tell you why. Because I didn't see you do anything wrong. Like like, from the ex...
From the aspect of a person who has no knowledge about diabetes, who's not a medical professional, who has no reason to know about any of this, you had reasonable concerns. You pressed towards doctors. You continued to ask questions. You proactively bought something to check on something with. You immediately contacted another person who had some knowledge you didn't have, and you went right to a doctor.
What did you do wrong?
Yeah. I mean, I know. Like, logically, extract.
Let it go, Elsa. I mean, that's the end. Yeah. Right? It go.
You seen those have you seen those edits where they take Frozen and then they cut out... Like, they bleep out certain words, and it sounds like they're being incredibly sexual with each other? It's very
How have I not seen this?
I see everything. Incredibly funny, I just wanna say.
I'm sure it'll pop up on mail.
Especially with the snowman and, like, the the vaguely gay, like, guy. You know what I mean? They're talking and every. It's really fantastic. Alright.
So, anyway, check it out if you don't. If you're not using Instagram the right way like I am watching... I... By the way, I still don't know how I even saw that. I was like, why is this in front
of me? I just... I'm sure it'll pop up.
Yeah. I I sometimes think my algorithm's like, that's enough reptiles for you here. And, like, it pushes me to something I have no interest in. And then and then suddenly, I'm like, this is fantastic.
Oh, yeah. I got one the other day that was like, here's some... Here's a spell. And I was like, oh.
Wait. To, like, turn something into a toad or something?
Well, kind of, but more... I mean, I think it was more like if somebody in your life is... Well, you know, like... And I was like, oh my gosh. Does does Instagram think I'm a little witchy?
I I I don't understand my wife's algorithm at all. She spends so much time watching judge Judy yell at people. It's hard to put into words.
I kinda like that too.
And then sometimes she'll, like, do it while she's falling asleep, but then it just keeps... I'm like, Kelly, how many times are you gonna listen to that video? And she... Oh, I fell asleep. I'm like, well, I'm still listening to it.
So
I've got it memorized.
Could you stop? And and why would that girl do what she did to those people?
So Yeah. Exactly. Now I'm invested.
Anyway, I... My my feed's more like reptiles and people street fighting and getting tased. I do like watching a person get tased.
Oh, okay.
I like how they just fall over. Nevertheless, that's between me and Jesus. So did you have actual conversations with your daughter? Like, was she like you did this by figuring it out, or is that she pissed?
Why Would You Test?32:24
So... Sorry. My cord got tangled there. So, you know, my daughter was, like, super confused going in. Like, we went to the emergency room.
And even then, like, I was like... Before that, I was like, tell my husband, we've got, like, an ER that's, like, less than a mile from our house. I'm like, I think we should go to the children's specific one and talking it through. And he's like... And I was like, but nothing's really gonna be wrong.
Right? And he's like, yeah. You might as well just go to the one closest to our house. And I was like, well, that's obviously the wrong answer. I'm gonna go to the further one.
Sorry, buddy. Wrong again.
Don't even know why why I wrote
the mortgage and stop trying to be involved in other stuff. Okay? There you go.
It's just like, okay. He's like, I still have no idea what's happening. And they... You know, we get to the ER, and I, you know, get up, and I'm like, oh, man. There's so many kids in here.
This is gonna take forever. And then... I'm like, yeah. So they told us to come in. Her blood sugar is five ninety five, and they're like, how long she had diabetes?
I was like, she doesn't. And they're like, why would you test? I'm like, why are you yelling at me?
Why is this happening again? Why? Why why is my husband sitting in that chair thinking, when are the Vikings be good again? Because I know that's what he's thinking. And by the way, tell him the answer is apparently never, but go ahead.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. So he is a Packers fan.
But Oh,
you have
to be. At some point, you gotta give up. Right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. We're used to this episode. Also, you're going through this... It is really interesting. Like, you're confounding the number your daughter has and the situation she's in confounds the expectation of the health care professional.
Professional. And so this... They start asking questions because they don't understand you were diagnosing something they imagined. Anyway, I think it's pretty obvious. But but the second or third or fourth time somebody asks you, it's really
Right.
You're like, what the hell? Come on.
Yeah. In my... You know, like, I think how I'm replaying it in my head is is different. If we looked back, maybe the woman at, you know, admission at the ER was... You know, had a halo above her head, and she was just like, welcome.
And so, you know, it's great that you came. Instead in my head, I'm like, why are you yelling at me? I don't know. I did it.
And can we just It's not my fault. I didn't do this. Okay?
Do we cut too? Like, why is everybody so mad at me? And they got her back right away, and at that point, took her blood sugar, and it just said high. So they said it was over, you know, they just knew it was over 600. Did a couple tests.
An A1C Over Fourteen34:48
Her a one c came back to greater than 14. And they said, alright. We're gonna admit you to a hospital, in a different town over where the, in... Endocrinology department was, and, you know, you have diabetes. And she just...
My daughter just, like, broke down. I mean, she was terrified. She's like, what? Like Yeah. I mean, I went to school today.
I... You know? Like, I was just getting ready for bed. Like, why did you do this? Like
Yeah. That sucks.
What is happening? Is she
is she in a better mindset now? How long did it take her to get to it?
Yeah. I mean, I think all things considered, she's she's always been doing great. Right? Like, I I think she's incredibly responsible, I mean, to the point where I did try initially. Like, we had to try to take some more things from her because I didn't want her to get, you know, fatigued.
And she was doing... I mean, she was tracking really well with, like, the injections. We got on a Dexcom, like, that following Monday, Omnipod by the next month. And I'd say she adapted very well, but she still... It...
It's gotten less so now, but, I mean, definitely, like, periods of anger. Right? Like, you can... You know, like, the days where it's like, oh, two pods in a row failed or, you know, something where it's just, like
Yeah.
So odd that she's just like, I hate this or, like, her sugar would be high during school, and she would text me and be like, my blood sugar hates me. And I was like, oh.
No. That's not hate you. Yeah. What do you do in that situation? Be...
The other day, I actually... I was sharing this with you before we started recording, so you have odd context for this. But Arden, like, texted me in the morning. She's like, can you come rub my knee before I get up? And I was like, oh, that sounds like fun for me.
So I I went in, and I was, like, rubbing her knee, and her pod appears to just... It just shuts off. Right? Yeah. And she's like, ugh.
Like, why? And, like, it was just... Like, she's immediate... Like, why does this stuff happen to me and, like, that kind of stuff. Right?
And I picked it up and looked at it, and I said, Arden, this Omnipod lasted for the full eighty hours.
Oh.
It shut off after you woke up in the morning, not while you were asleep.
Yeah.
And, and you have time before you have to go to your next thing to change it. I was like, honestly, like, this is kinda perfect, isn't it?
Yeah. That's the dream.
Yeah. You know what I mean? I was like, this all worked out exactly as you hoped. You got to sleep through the night with a good blood sugar and ride a pod out to its last possible second, and it's expired at a time which apparently you weren't prepared for because it sounds to me like you're not, like, forecasting this stuff ahead. And, no matter how many times I've asked you to do that, it doesn't seem like that's what you're doing.
It's fine. And and yet it... It's still fitting into your life, but it was interesting. She didn't... Like, I said, Arna, a lot of things are about perspective.
And I said, a lot of stuff just went right for you just now. I said, I think it would be beneficial for you to look at this as all the things that went well. I understand that it stinks contextually that you just woke up, and I gotta change this pump and everything. I was like, but you're gonna take your dog outside while he's running around outside, fill a pot up, and put it on. Yep.
You know? And then that was it. We didn't talk about it anymore, and everything was fine. But my point is is that even when something went really great, it felt like, ugh. Come on.
Yep.
Yeah. And so when stuff's not going great, how much double or triple ugh. Come on. Isn't that?
Yep.
I would imagine a lot. You
know? A lot. A lot. Yeah. Absolutely.
I mean, I just... I feel like I spend a lot of time, like, validating and being like, yeah. I mean, like, that does... It it it does.
It does.
It sucks when your pod starts screaming in the middle of class, and, you know, you don't want the attention anyway. That's a raw deal. I will say... I mean, so this is interesting. It's lovely, and it's odd.
Something in the Water38:52
So she actually, so on her swim team... So coming back to the high school swim team, which the doctor cleared, they're like, oh, yeah. She could go back, like, next week. I was like, what? You know, she's got this disease.
And they're like, we want... You know, whatever is making her happy, we wanted to make sure that we're... You know?
Trying to facilitate that. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, diabetes needs to adjust for how you're living, your life. So there were three other girls on her swim team with diabetes last year.
What the hell? Maybe you gotta get them out of that pool. What's going on with the pool?
There's something in the water. Right? So...
Oh, what a great title for your episode. Oh. There's something in the water.
That's
There's something in the water. Good job. Well to go, Brie. Yeah. Look at you contributing to the to the back end process of the podcast.
Well done.
Well done. So, yeah, I mean, that was interesting. There was one, who was a senior and then two other girls in her grade. So right now in her eighth grade, there's three, girls at the middle school, with diabetes.
No kidding. Is it is it built on a, like, an ancient burial ground, or is it, like, like, in that poltergeist film? Or what what... Do do you have any context for that? Is it always been that way?
I mean... So one of, one of her friends was diagnosed, I think, four or five years ago, but then another, like, as a baby.
Oh, but you're in Minnesota too. It's a bunch of Nordic people? Like, yeah. You got a lot of those, like, from, like, Norway, that kinda, like, part of the world. Right?
Oh, yeah. Those those people have a lot of autoimmune issues because they're so pale. I don't know why. I just made that up. Sorry.
I'm not dropping things.
I was like, that is true? We are really pale. My daughter's very pale.
Are you very pale?
I am very pale. Yes. Freckles the whole night.
Yeah. Your vitamin d?
Oh, yes. Of course. Yes.
Okay.
Yes. And my daughter is taking vitamin. She had a big deficiency this past year too.
I bet. Yeah. I bet she she had a number of deficiencies after being diagnosed.
Right. That is not the... That wasn't the standout story this past year, it turns out.
Did she put weight on after, getting insulin and everything?
She Gained It Back and Grew Two Inches41:11
Oh my gosh. Yes. Yes. Like, quite a bit. She was, I mean, she was down to, like, one ten when she was admitted into the hospital.
She's currently, I think, like, in the mid, like, one forties. Yeah. She's she's grown two inches.
How tall was she when she was diagnosed?
Five three.
She's five five now. Why are you calling her tall? Because she was young?
She's always been, like, on the tall end of her, like, age.
You think five three is tall? What do you... Where where are you at?
Well, no. For for her age, she was. She's always, like, the, like, 90, whatever.
Alright. Was she literally taller than her friends?
Yes.
Okay.
For a lot of them.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
She was in, like, the 90... Well, I think she's in, like, the ninety first percentile for, for height now.
Well, being a Viking isn't what it's all cracked up to be, apparently. No. Five five five's a a reasonable... How tall are you?
I'm five eight.
Oh, look at you. Husband? Yeah. Oh, your husband's... What is he?
Like, five ten?
He is six feet.
Six. Like, a real six or the six with shoes? It's a
good question. As it was coming out my mouth too. I was like Yeah.
Six with
shoes. Driver's license 6 or is that
a Yeah. I've... Yeah. I'm five ten too. Woo hoo.
And so, my wife's like, you're shorter than me. I'm like, that's not true. And and then Orton's like, it's
a can't be true.
100% true. Okay. Alright. I got it. How about the boy?
Is he, popping up? Or
Yes. Yes. Yeah. He... Two...
What is he? He's, maybe five one now. He also is in, like, the 90 whatever percentile.
So Okay. But he's in, like, fourth grade.
So He's in fourth grade. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I gotcha. Alright. Okay.
It'll be fine.
So we'll see. Yeah. We'll see if she... If it slows down now or or what. But to your point, I mean...
And that hurts my heart too. Like, I think her body was so starved for, everything.
God, Brie, are you worried that your daughter's not gonna achieve her full height because you didn't figure out her diabetes faster? I How... No. I was gonna... Because how many days a week are you seeing that therapist?
Because not enough is the answer, if that's what you're thinking. You're okay?
You're okay? Yes. No. No. One one day a week.
Thank you. She's amazing. No. I, I would prefer for her to be five eight. I'm just kidding.
I have no idea. I I just
need her to be taller, Scott. Yeah. No real reason.
Full tall potential. No. I do not care. For me, it was more of, like, you know, was it just like her muscle was being taken? You know?
Was her body so depleted that then when she started on insulin and the... And it was like... I mean, because it goes back to where I was just like, it's just weird. It feels like stuff isn't sticking. Right?
Like No. I hear what you're saying. You're probably right, by the way. I mean, not in contextually, you weren't right, but, like, the... What was the end result?
Like, stuff's going in, and she's... Her body's not building the way it's supposed to. It's because she was, well, in fairness, it's because she was dying. And so, like, yeah, that takes a lot out of you dying, apparently. So...
But... And you figured it out. Now she's good, and she's on her way. Right?
Right. Which is things I say now. I was like, yeah. Turns out she wasn't... You know?
Yeah. I don't know. Oh, she's just tall and thin. She's a beautiful girl. Was like, she was dying.
Thank you very much. But
Yeah. Well, it's interesting, isn't it? Like, what... There's a tipping point you... Where you don't see it, and then all of a sudden, it's just
Yeah.
It's so obvious to others, not to you. Yep. And then, you know, it's just a... It's how it happens. You know?
Yep. Oh, exactly. But you had asked earlier how she, you know, how she's doing. I think, oddly enough, with that, you know, what's in in the water, scenario, you know, unfortunate that she's got people around her with diabetes. Unfortunate for her.
But, also, it meant we kinda launched into people who get it Mhmm. Having that around us, including for me, my best friend whose son has diabetes as well.
Before because you don't know your daughter.
Until... Before my daughter. Yeah. And I had spent years being like, man, she... It's like a part time job she has, keeping an eye on this.
And I thought I had empathized, and I obviously did not until I was in it. And then I was just like, holy shit.
People talk about that a lot, about, like... I had a woman on... Was diagnosed later in her life, but her sister had diabetes growing up. And she's like, have terrible guilt about not understanding what her life was like.
Oh, it's so much.
Yeah. It's interesting, isn't it?
It's so much. Yes.
Well, I mean... Okay. What's she managing with? She have a CGM, I heard you say, a pump?
Yes. She's got a Dex Com and Omnipod. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I think she's...
Again, all things considered, she's managing great. We just went through this past month, like, some some hormone changes. So, you know, it's definitely Mhmm.
Fear in your voice. I just want you to know. Yeah. Yeah.
You know? Which is what I was chalking the, like, temper tantrums up to be, like, a year ago.
Wasn't that then. But Wasn't that. Now it is?
The Binder Doesn't Cover This46:36
But now it is. Now it is. You know, it's it's it's always changing. I think, you know, for me at the hospital and then the first appointment, they give you this binder, and I'm just like, alright. I'm gonna be the best diabetic parent ever.
Right? Like, I've read this thing front and back. And then when, like, it doesn't follow exactly, and I'm like, what what do you mean? I'm doing exactly the thing. That's been a real growth opportunity for me this past year.
You know, being
like A real growth opportunity?
A real growth opportunity.
What what part is the growth opportunity? Accepting that the information's not everything you need or that you didn't have it together the way
you thought? That I... No. I mean, I obviously had it together, Scott. No.
I'm kidding. I think it's the... Like, you can do exactly what, you know, you're quote, unquote supposed to be doing. Right? Like, very type a.
I'm like, well, yeah. Here's here it is, and here's the settings, and here's what we've seen the patterns do. So I'm gonna adjust the carb ratios to this. And then, you know, two days later, things can go completely awry and not for anything you might be able to exactly pinpoint to.
Figure out.
Yeah. And I think, you know, I've I've had to adapt to that. And, I've had to adapt to, like, sharing that with others too because people just kinda automatically assume if you don't know, right, that they're like, well, so how is this? Is it just super manageable now? You know?
Are you in a good pattern? Everything just kinda
You got it all figured out now. Has it regulated? Has her has her diabetes balanced out?
Yeah. You know, we're thinking, like, there's this perception from some people that's like, oh, she's on a pump. That means it just does everything. Right?
Like, knows the Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Mouth, and it just knows what to give you. So, you know, also adapting to, you know, educating people along that as well.
Who Actually Needs the Education48:26
You bother with that? You you you... What do you mean? You mean family? Are you talking about extended family?
Yeah. Yeah. More family. I think, I'm starting to bother less with it. Is that a saying?
Yeah. Sure.
Because I'm like, it... Does everybody need to know? I don't know.
I don't I don't care what anybody knows. I'm fine. Yeah.
I Right. I... You mean, I think I need to come on on on that side.
I was standing with a friend the other day, and he's like, well, I was gonna get that, but I'm... I, you know, I I don't think that would be received while I'm trying to, like, talk around somebody's details. But they were like they were like, I don't think that would be received well where I work. And I thought, oh god. I I would never even think of that.
You care what other people think? Was like, oh,
that's a perspective.
Yeah. I guess that's one way to do it. I don't... I couldn't possibly care less. Yeah.
But I I don't know. Like, I don't... I've never been compelled to explain it to people. Like, I really don't care what people think.
I mean, that feels healthy. I think
Does it? I mean, it doesn't seem antisocial to you where I'm like
I I know. I mean, I go back and forth. We did, like, a diabetes, walk here this this summer, you know, and part of, like, the fundraising and everything. I was posting, and I was just really on this, like, track of, like, you know, people need to be educated more. And then sometimes I'm like...
Or... I don't know. Is that something I need to take on? Does everybody need to be? Who's everybody?
Everybody?
Yeah. Who's everybody? Where do I stop? Why is it my job? How much of my life am I gonna give away to it?
How much of my, like, my, calm and and Yes. Mental health am I giving away to, like... Listen. And then where do I stop? What else don't people understand?
What else don't I understand? Oh, no. Who... You you know?
Right. Exactly. Where are my blinds... Blind spots to everything else?
I'll I'll tell you I'll tell you what we told my wife during COVID. Stop watching the news.
Oh, yeah.
K. The world's still gonna move on whether you know what you think you know or you don't know. I don't know how to tell you. You're not in charge of any of this, just so you're aware. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Was rough. But even moving forward, like, same thing. Like, it's...
It was that. Then later, she's like, oh, you're right. She stops watching it. And then it's five minutes later, my son's like, are you watching political news now? Like, why are you doing that?
Like, you're not in charge of this. You you know? Like, stop stop filling your head with, like, the... Like, thinking that your knowledge will... Like, I don't know what's happened to all of us.
I guess the Internet. Like...
But I know.
No one cares what you think, and no one's listening to you and stop. Like, just go live your life. Yep. Compost your food. That'll be a nice way for you to spend an hour.
Take your banana peels out. Put them in a pile with some grass clippings. Yeah. You just... You don't know about that because the ground's frozen where you live eleven months of the year, but other people do stuff like that.
Also, why wouldn't you move? I mean, dear lord. You live
I know. I... So both my older brothers are still, in this state as well, and I will comment to them, because I love them so much. And often, I'll be like, you know, don't move because of you. Right?
And, like, I love my nieces and nephews. And, like, are you worth it? Are you worth it this year?
Could you idiots go somewhere warmer, please?
It's freaking freezing here.
I know. Football team. Why would they bring in Carson Wentz when he was cooked? The Vikings make no sense whatsoever.
One big heartbreak every... Except for women's sports.
What do you got going on there with the women's sports?
Oh, the links are great.
What's that? What's that? Basketball?
Basketball.
Yep. Alright. That's awesome. I like that. I'll tell you.
The only thing I know about women's sports is I love the, I love the blonde girl who seems to push people around and act rudely.
Oh, Sophie. Yeah. Yeah. She's awesome. That's Sophie Kanell.
Yeah.
Yeah. She's funny. I don't know if I care about it in context of basketball, but I do like it in the context of everything else. Yeah. She's good.
And that one girl shoots like crazy, but it's hard to build a whole league off of her, isn't it? Yes. Yeah. That sucks.
I also... Because we're in Minnesota, should say we have an amazing, women's hockey team as well at the frost.
Oh, hockey. Yeah.
Yep. Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
You're almost Canadian, aren't you, honestly?
Basically, we're like... Yeah.
I mean, Okay. Well, alright. I mean, I'd get the hell out of there very quickly if I was you. I just don't understand what you could possibly be thinking. My...
When my brother moved to Wisconsin, he's like, you know, they have plants where they melt snow here? And I was like, leave immediately. Okay. He's like, no. They're trucking the snow somewhere and melting it into the lake.
And I was like, oh my god. Yeah. Get out of there. Yeah. I mean, bizarre.
It it would be like if you were like, oh, are we in a cabin where these Jason movies were filmed? I'm like, back in the car.
Back in the car. Those, first of all.
Yeah. Not not if you're gonna get murdered in the cabin. You gotta go.
Yeah. The summers, though, are beautiful. Amazing.
I mean, whatever. How long are they? A week and a half?
It's, like, days. But
What are lake flies? Do they live in Minnesota?
Lake flies?
Yeah. That's the thing my brother talks about in Wisconsin all the time.
Mayflies?
Maybe. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. I can't. Yeah.
Well, again, I don't know what you're doing.
I grew up in a town that mayflies, they would come, yeah. There would be a snow plow would have to come out to get them, off the bridge that crosses from Minnesota into Wisconsin.
I am telling you that if people would listen to me, I would gather together four or five families. I'd go buy 20 acres somewhere, put houses on the four corners of it, and just get the hell out of here. Yeah. But people don't listen to me.
Yeah.
Yeah. So it's
I'll think about it. Yeah. You'll think about it. Summers... Yeah.
I mean, they are incredible. It's fun. You know? Like, you think of, like, scary Sundays, like, of work. Like, our summer's, like, one big scary Sunday.
What is... Wait. Scary Sunday. What are you saying?
You know, like, scary... You okay? Scary Sunday is like, oh, the week's about to come.
Oh. Ahead of me. Oh, you have that... Let's talk about that for a second. I'll start with this.
Your mom anxious person? Were the were the cigarettes for the anxiety? Probably.
Okay. She would never have said she was an anxious person.
No. I'm asking you.
Yeah.
Yeah. She was Yeah. Okay.
Yeah.
And then... And you have the same thing? You and her are pretty vibey like that?
Yes.
And what do you do instead of the cigarettes?
Sweary Needlepoint and a Boxing Gym54:42
Well, I've taken up, well, so I garden in the summer. Like, I mean, I just... It's like flowers everywhere.
And then
the other forty nine years? Not working. I work a ton.
Yeah.
And then in the winter, what I've started doing is some, some sweary needlepoint.
You're doing needlepoint with curses on it?
Yes.
That's awesome.
And that's what I do instead of smoking.
And that... And and that's what you do. I mean, I'm being serious. Is that what you do?
That is what I do. I also, I belong to a boxing gym. I go boxing.
Well, that's good. You're trying to get your, like, get your energy out in other places.
Yes.
When when you don't do those things, what's that look like for you?
I mean, because I'm just so busy. I mean, it's like kids, sport. I mean, I'm I'm usually just moving around. It's like coming from work, going to a swim meet or a football game or anything. So I think, you know, I'm just
Are you really busy, or is the anxiety making you feel like you need to move like that?
Oh, it's a little column a, a little column b. I am really busy, but also if we had a weekend where we're sitting, I'm like
You're okay with that too?
Oh, no. I'm I'm not.
Oh, you're not?
No. My husband's good with it. He's, like, catching up on shows in the morning, and I'm like, well, it's 08:30. We're halfway through the day.
Come you haven't how come you haven't waxed the linoleum yet? Yeah. Has anyone wiped the walls down? The what? Exactly.
Okay. Well... Okay. Exactly. You're you're proper crazy.
I like that. And now did that fall on either of the children? The boy?
Not so far.
Not so far. The daughter? Not so far.
Not so far.
Which one of them has your personality?
Oh.
It's usually flip flopped. It's usually the girl gets the dad and the boy gets
the girl. Actually think you're right. It is. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah. Well So we'll see.
Keep an eye.
I'm a very masked anxious person, very high functioning masked headstand.
Like it. You said it earlier, high functioning anxiety. What does that mean? Did did did people would just call you, like, if it was, like, thirty years ago, like, she's so type a. She gets everything done.
Like, is that kind of thing?
Yes. Yeah. Totally.
Okay. Do you like that about yourself, or do you wanna sit down and catch up on TV shows?
I think I'd like to get to a point where I'm catching up on TV shows Mhmm. At at some point. It is interesting. It's like I start thriving when there's a lot of chaos, and, I think that was cool up until, like, I hit 40, and then I was like, well, this might not be
Tired? Yeah. I don't wanna do this anymore. Yeah. Okay.
So, your thyroid okay?
My thyroid is okay. Awesome. So far.
Yeah. So far? No celiac? No. No.
Else? No, no vitiligo? Nope. Nope. Okay.
Alright. Just this thing.
Just this thing.
And your impending death, which you think is coming sooner than later.
Yeah. No. I'm getting I'm getting better about that.
Good. Is your husband just like the chillest? If I met him, would I just be like, oh, this is a very relaxed guy?
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, if I'm to a fault on one side, he's kinda, like, way on the other end.
Are you pulling each other to the center or no? Is your gravity not that strong to
get We are when I let it happen, and I don't just
take anything. Honest, Brie. That was very honest.
Well, yes. I'm working on it. Yeah.
So you'll come to the center when you let it happen. He comes to the center because if he doesn't, you will be very angry at him. Truth. Okay. Yeah.
I understand how everything works.
Yeah. Truth. I'd I'd need to be more aware and be like, oh, yeah. So there are things. Like, here's some things that we can do together instead of like, well, or I could do all the things.
Yeah. I I shared with you before we started that everything that everyone else wants supersedes whatever I want. Mhmm. And then if there's ever time left, I'm allowed to do whatever I want. But, usually, they're all done with me by so I get to do it by myself.
Yeah. Yeah. I got it. Yeah. I hear you.
Well, this is interesting. You're not gonna have more kids. Right?
No. Mm-mm.
No pets? Oh, yeah. A cat?
I have a dog. Mhmm. She is amazing. Yes. Her name is Jane.
She told me it's okay to use her name. And she... I've been nervous the whole time. She's... Because she is such a potato, and she's usually sawing logs next to me, but I think I think we
escaped it. Been chill. I'll tell you what. The idea of, like, you thinking, I understand being worried about where the bathroom is, like, fascinated me earlier. I've...
I don't think I've ever once in my life wondered where there's a bathroom.
Really?
I mean, we live in America. There's one somewhere. Don't you think? It's like it's like when we leave the house, and my wife's like, well, are we prepared? I'm like, well, we have a credit card, and this is The United States, so everything should be fine.
Okay. Wild. So you're not just, like, walking in mental mapping, you know, like, alright. So when I have to go, there's the bathroom, and that would be the plan. You're just,
A Man With No Plan59:35
like Tuesday. Happens? It is Tuesday at 11AM. And on Thursday at noon, my wife and I have slated ourselves to get in the car and drive twelve or thirteen hours away to just randomly look at houses. I don't...
I haven't packed a bag. I don't know what I'm bringing. Oh. I don't have any houses picked out to look at.
Oh, wow.
I am gonna see a realtor on Saturday.
Okay.
I just assumed she'll have houses to take me to. I don't I don't worry. I I have not booked a hotel. I'm not sure if we're gonna do the drive straight through or stop.
Okay.
I don't know where I'm driving to.
Okay.
I couldn't possibly care less about any of those details.
I love this
for you. It's all gonna be fine. This does this make you nervous?
Absolutely. It's my nightmare, but I do love this for you.
It's my nightmare. But, Scott, you're going to die. Is that how it feels? Like, I'm gonna be fine, by the way. I'll be back on Monday.
Oh,
yeah. You are gonna be fine. I think in my head, it's like, how are you having the fun? Like, isn't it much more relaxing to know the plan? And then you're like, we got this all set, so we have the plan.
And I do know, again, like, logically, what you're saying is all correct. I get it. Yeah. Like... Yeah.
I also have notes. Like, the realtor goes like, are you, like, ready to put an offer on something? I'm like, what? No. I was like, no.
I'm just coming to look around. I'm trying to get an idea of, like, an idea. Yeah. And and having said that, I could easily get on this podcast next week and be like, hey, guys. I'm moving.
I bought a
house. Guess what? I bought a house.
And, like, we're we're leaving. We're... I've... I told my kids to get out. My house has been sold already and will be gone.
Like, I wouldn't... Oh god. Planning for it? Yeah. No.
No. No. I don't I don't understand what you're saying.
Okay.
Everything you like about this podcast is not planned. Wow. Nothing. Nothing's planned. You know how I talk about a whiteboard that I have?
Yeah. It's like... It says 2024 at the top of it.
Okay. I
mean, I don't know if you know it's 2026. It's almost 2027. I sometimes look at it, and I think I should change that. And I go, oh, why? It doesn't matter.
I I have everything I needed. It's got a list of my advertisers so I remember to do the right thing that I'm supposed to do because I've signed contracts with people, and it seems important to, like, do what you say you're gonna do legally. And then, there's a note up there that says Arden is my favorite child. It's written in Arden's handwriting, in case you're wondering. I have all the stuff that I went through with Jenny and Erica for the last couple of years that all went the way I expected it to, and I'm still building off of that stuff.
So I don't really need any new ideas for that just yet. Oh, there's a note down there from, like, two and a half years ago that I should probably get the rights to my book manuscript, but I don't really care. And
Oh, dear.
Yeah. I don't give I don't give a shit. It's fine.
No. It's good.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's really... It really doesn't matter.
I know there's something I said I was gonna do this week, and I remember on Sunday thinking I should write it on a piece of paper so I don't forget. Yeah. Yeah. Come back up again. And then when I do it, that'll be the right time to do it.
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. And if it doesn't, it probably just took care of itself.
If if if things don't happen, they didn't matter. Yeah. Oh, woah. Yeah. What...
Right?
Woah.
Okay. You know how people say that, their doctor's office... Like, I don't know how other people's doctor's offices do this, but they'll send you a bill before they run it through insurance.
Yep.
Right? So you you get a bill that says pay us $75.
Yep.
And I always, and this is a rule, throw that bill away at least twice before I pay it. Okay. Because eventually, it shows back up and it says, don't owe them anything. Yeah. Or it shows back up and says, I owe them $75.
And I think, I've seen that a couple of times. I'll pay that. And that... That's my system for that. Okay?
Because I started paying the bills on time, and then I'd get a... I... Then the doctor's office would call and be like, we owe you $75. And I'd be like, keep it? Like, you know, can you can you give me, like, a credit?
I'll be back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Can you just
put it on my tab?
Oh, no. No. No. We're gonna send it to you. The federal government sent me $11 the other day.
I was incensed. Ins... It was in an envelope on a beautiful check. It... I mean, I know for sure it cost
more than was a beautiful check.
I... It was. It's got... Yeah. Have you ever seen a check from...
The government doesn't send you money very often, so it's hard to figure out what they look like. But there's a... It's got, like, color through it and everything. Yeah. I know somebody's making, I'm gonna guess, 50% more than they should to do the job that sent the checkout.
Right? There's probably 17 people in that department. Probably cost them a thousand dollars to send me back this $11 that ten days later, owed them again.
Yep. Yep. Yep.
And I was like, what is... I I don't... Just if we... Of this... I don't know how to explain life to you.
Most of this is just minutiae to keep people from killing each in the streets. Okay? They were just trying to keep people busy. And I get it, but I'm not getting involved in it. But you can't suck me into your little matrix.
Any part of this.
No. I'm not getting involved in your little matrix thing where we all pretend we're doing something. I know what's really happening. I got food, and I'm warm. I'm good.
Okay? I travel through other states. Once in a while, I see things concerning. I don't go back that way again. Like, that's all.
Like, I go... That that part's not that's not for me right there. I don't go there. I've told my story about the time my car broke down, and there was a shooting across the street while I was waiting for the tow truck guy. Uh-huh.
You know what I do when I drive past that exit now? I go faster. That's all. I go... That's not a place I anymore.
That's that.
Live and learn.
Yeah. My car breaks down now again there. I'll stay on the highway. Yeah. That's fine.
I'll hang out out there. Or... By the way, it's just a car. I'll walk. Like Sure.
Yeah. I ain't dying for that car. That's you... I I wish I could give you some of this.
Yeah. Me too.
All you anxious people, I would love to give you a tiny bit of this. Like, get in the car and drive to another state that you randomly chose because the Internet said it might be a good idea.
Yeah. That's wild. I love it. Okay.
Well Where would you move to if you were gonna move?
I... See, that's the thing. I have no idea. I gotta get out more.
I'll help you. Ready? Yeah. Warmer or colder?
Warmer.
Okay. South. You just said south. I'm gonna move south. Okay.
Do do your politics matter to you? Do you need to be around people who agree with you?
Yes. I would prefer.
Okay. And you're in Minnesota.
Mhmm.
And you're Caucasian. Mhmm. And you have a job and you went to college. Mhmm. Alright.
So you're a democrat. You don't have to say. I just got it. Don't worry. It's fine.
And, and then... So I'm gonna put you in South. Let's go south. You would probably do well in, certain parts of North Carolina. I could put you in certain parts of Tennessee.
I could put you in certain parts of Texas. I could put you, I mean, there's... Would would you like to live with some old Jews? You could go to Florida.
Sure.
Yeah. Okay. Alright. Like, there... Usually Okay.
I'll go pick one of those places and leave. What are you doing? Okay. How... Do you do you work from home?
A couple days a week.
Oh, this job you gotta go to.
I know.
Have you considered starting a podcast? No. So Kelly's like Kelly's like, you know, people can't just move. I'm like, I can.
I sure can.
She's like, well, I have a job. And I was like, well, brothers, she's holding me back, Brie. Like, I... I'd get the hell out of here in two seconds if I didn't care about Kelly and all.
Oh, and there are nonprofits everywhere. So
Oh my... What kind of nonpro... You don't have to give me details details, but what kind... Like, what's the overarching part?
Oh, I can. It's a children's museum.
Oh, that's lovely.
Yeah. I've worked in the disability sector. I've worked in animal welfare. So I
Wait a minute. You work in you work... Hold on. You live in Minnesota.
Mhmm.
Your your... Is your husband, like, independently wealthy? I don't understand. How are you paying for those kids in that house? I...
Swimming sounds expensive. What's going on?
Swimming is expensive. I know. Well, you know, I I would say Minnesota does a great job of making sure people are compensated equitably. It is nonprofit, so you don't get things like, bonuses or stock shares, but salary is is pretty common.
Salary is good. It's holding me up.
That's enough.
Well, I mean, if you want people to do work like that, you can't underpay them and then ask them to live in San Diego. You you know what I mean?
Oh, right. Right. Absolutely.
Which I
I mean, that's a, yeah, a big thing in in, yeah, nonprofit. Cut... It's come a long way too of being like, if you're expecting the same type of role as you are in a for profit, you can't just... And the same talent, you can't be paying people that.
Yeah. You could be doing another job is the point.
Yep. Either
you'd be good at and successful, they gotta accomplish. Alright. Well... And this thing... So you need to be near this children's museum.
I do.
Well, this is gonna ruin our our exodus idea.
You can't know. Unless
I leave
at some point.
Unless you leave at some point. Oh, I see. Is this a is this a negotiation move right now through a podcast? Unless I go.
It's a Minnesota passive aggressive note.
And then good luck with what's her name running the whole thing.
Yeah. Exactly.
She's drinking. You know? I just wanted to say. Good luck. Good luck.
I really wish... I... Do you think I could start another podcast where people come on and are more honest? I I want people to come on and be like, I work with a woman who is drunk all day long, and then I wanna talk about that and their life. That...
This diabetes thing is holding me back too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I kinda like that. There might be something there. Weren't there, like, books years ago where people would just, like, sent... Was that post secret where you'd, like... This is when I was growing up.
Okay. What is it?
People would, like, send, like, letter or would just be, like, honest things. Like, they'd write and be, like, I wronged to this person by blah blah blah. Oh. I think this was a thing.
Oh, I would love that.
Could do that in podcast form.
Oh my god. Is someone not doing that already? Am I ahead of the curve on that? Do I
I don't know.
Do I owe you a producing credit now? Like, what's going on? I mean, I'm not gonna... I don't wanna get involved in in cutting the money up with you. Yeah.
You know? So some of these podcast ads pay $10. You know? So you don't wanna... I don't...
I mean, I... After taxes, I'm gonna owe you $3.75, and then and then and then I gotta write the check. And then as you know
say, I don't get bonuses, not profits. A $3.75 is a $3.75.
Yeah. I'm taking it. You... Can you sell that to me? I'm definitely...
I'm not gonna do what the government does. I'm definitely sending it to you digitally.
I can do it electronically.
Yeah. You're not getting a colorful check from me with a picture of Thomas Jefferson on it or what... By the way, it's on my... But if the federal government can hear me, it's on my refrigerator. It's not even enough money for someone to deposit, and I'm pretty sure I could deposit it with my phone.
And still and still, no one's been like, hey. Let's get to that. Yeah. You sons of bitches. Like, why would
they send you a letter asking if you received it.
Why would they send me $11 back? Unreal. Like, it's not even, like... You know, when sometimes you get a 0.25 in a check or, like Yeah. Or...
My my wife has this little thing at her job. It's this tiny bit of little, like, money that we moved from one account to another one, but she moved it one day and it left behind, like, 37¢. Like, seriously. And then every, like, once a year, they send a note that the 37¢ has grown to, like, $4, and they want... And they wanna disperse it.
And she keeps... She's like, listen. Stop doing this. Let's just close the account. Keep the money.
Leave... Because she... For, like, literally three times, she's had them cut the check. But in the time they cut the check, they always Yeah. It grows again by a couple more.
Oh, that's hilarious. They can't make it stop. Stop this madness.
My great grandchildren are gonna receive 37¢ from this thing for, like, rest of time. No one knows how to stop it. Wow. And that's my point. Is that someone's job?
Yep. That minutiae that's meaningless.
Yep.
I don't know. I don't know how I got on that, but it's very bothersome to me.
Yeah.
Just everyone go home. Can you just let the computers take over? I'm a... It's enough of all of you already. You're doing it wrong.
I can tell for sure.
You're doing it wrong.
Yes. Let's see if the computers can do it right. And if not, we'll just all blow up. I mean... But, like, this isn't working, clearly.
So, I mean, I saw people fighting in the street on Instagram yesterday. Yes. That is where my algorithm is right now as I've mentioned earlier. When the cops started pepper spraying, it didn't make anybody leave. And I thought he just hit that guy in the face with bear spray.
You're staying? Why is... I don't understand why there's still people standing around. No one has common sense. It's it's ridiculous.
Like like,
just wild.
If someone gets pepper... Manhattan, they shot a lady in, Times Square yesterday. Sorry. Left turn. So she clearly, was not a stable person.
She's got two knives, one in each hand. She stabbed a man and killed him, a man in his sixties. She stabbed another woman, and she's in in, you know, terrible condition. They they they get around. They're in Times Square.
I mean, you can imagine it from the Spider Man movies. It's pretty accurate. Okay. Like, so she's out on one of those wide sidewalks like Wolverine. I don't know why I'm doing so much Marvel right now, but she's got two knives in either hand.
That was my Wolverine reference. She is not particularly adept with the knives. There is party that makes you think, like, I think they could just smack her with her hand and she'd fall. But, like, fair enough. She's holding two knives.
She's already killed somebody. Like, you know, this is the new situation we're in. Yep. They're trying to talk her down. It's not going poorly.
Like, the video gives you the idea of, like, hey. They might get... I think... I... I'm watching a video where they're gonna talk tonight.
Oh, no. Then she starts, like, snickety snag moving them all around. That was a Mallrats reference. And, like... And now they're going all over the place these knives, and she starts moving forward.
Now in fairness, not athletically. Okay? Like, it... There is an argument to be made that someone could have came up behind her, just snatched her over on her ass, and it would have been over. But instead...
And god bless him, and I'm with him. That guy pulled a gun out, and he was like, boom boom. I ain't doing this. And, like, he's like he's like, I ain't getting stabbed by your crazy ass, and she's gone now. And so, anyway, this is very tragic in the...
Maybe a thousand different ways. That's not why we're here to break it down. I I lay this out for you because there's hundreds of people standing around while my man is popping caps and no one runs away. I'm like, what are you all doing? He's shooting her.
Leave. Nope. Everyone's got their camera out. You could see 95 different views of this on on on Instagram, on YouTube now. And all that tells me is there's 95 people that don't have the good common sense to run away when someone's shooting a gun.
That's I saw. That's all I saw. I was like, you're unbelievable. Anyway, I'm done with all of you people. I'm gonna let the computers take over and see what happens now.
I... It's gotta go better than this, don't you think?
I do think. Okay. I also need to point out that Mall Rats was filmed in Minnesota.
It was at the Mall Of America.
Was it?
Yeah. But it... Because it
was Was it Mall Of America or Eden Prairie Mall? I don't know.
Oh, no. It was Eden Prairie.
Okay.
Yeah. Because it was closed down, and so they filmed it there. You're right. Look at you. What'd you watch?
The Laserdisc, extras on that?
Oh my gosh. I I I don't... I do not know. I do not know where that Mallrats knowledge came from. I...
You just made it, and I was like, oh, that's right. Are you not minutes since I watched that. Maybe we should do that tonight.
Are you not a Kevin Smith fan, but you just know Mallrats?
I'm a Kevin Smith fan. Yeah.
Alright. You prefer
That had to have come out, like, what, in the '90... Nineties?
God. I'm, so Mallrats. When did I get married? Why am I asking you? I
You wouldn't.
How did I just ask you when I got married? I got married thirty years ago, '96. So Okay. '96 or '97, I was at... Oh, here's a story known of you now.
Mallrats, Jersey Girl, and Calling Out Sick1:16:29
This is interesting. Okay. So I'm working at a credit union. Okay. And I'm doing collections for them, but it's a credit union, so it's like friendly collections.
My day is basically spent, like, calling people going like, Brie, you didn't pay your car loan. And you're like, I didn't? I'm like, no. And she's like, oh, can you move it out of my checking account? I go, sure.
That was it. It was... That was what collections was at this place. I had done credit card collections before. That was horrendous.
That was my husband has cancer. My house is on fire. I don't care if you don't send $36 for coming and taking your sofa. Like, that was not good for my soul. I was good at it, though.
So I got out of that. I got into the friendly collections. And one day, I was sitting there contemplating my life, thinking about throwing myself out of a window because this was my life, and I really did not like it Yeah. For a number of different reasons. And they're on the Internet because the Internet was new, and you could just use your computer at work, and nobody knew you were doing it because Sure.
Yeah. It was awesome because nobody... IT wasn't really a thing.
Yeah.
And so I'm on the Kevin Smith message board, and Kevin says, hey, guys. This, this afternoon at my comic bookstore in Red Bank, New Jersey, I'm filming the DVD extras for Mallrats. Oh. And you can come out and, you know, hang out while I'm doing it. And I thought, oh my god.
So many people are gonna do this. I can't believe that I'm older now, and I have this dumb job, and I can't go do this thing. And then I called my wife, and I said, hey. I'm gonna go tell my boss I'm sick. I'm gonna come home, get changed, go to Red Bank, and check out and check out this thing.
So I go up to my boss, and I go, hey. I don't feel good. I'm going home. And he's like, yeah. And I'm like, yeah.
I don't... I'll be... I'll I'll probably be fine tomorrow. And and I left. I drove home.
Took me, like, twenty minutes to get home. I changed clothes real quickly. I grabbed my camera, and I drove to Red Bank, New Jersey, which is about an hour from my house.
Okay.
Okay. I get to Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, the old location, not the new location. And I get there, and I am a little... You know how you hear me say sometimes, like, I'm a little ahead of the surfboard sometimes? I'm a little, like...
Right. Well, I'm literally the only person there because the the immediacy of the Internet didn't really immediacy the way it does now. So so I'm probably one of 20 people who saw it and one of one person who was like, oh, I'll just call out of my job, risk my livelihood, and drive across the state. And so Yep. And so I did that.
And when when I get there, the guys are like, hey. What's up? And I'm like, I don't know. Kevin put it online that this was happening. Like, I thought there'd be, like, a thing, and they felt so bad that I was the only one that showed up that instead of making me stand outside, they let me in.
Aw.
So I came into the closed comic book store, and I was there with the film crew and I met Jason Lee that day. Do you know Jason Lee?
Yes.
Mhmm. I met, I met Kevin Scott Moser, who's Kevin's producer back then. Scott Scott, like, made the last, Grinch movie now. Like, these... You know, like, the...
You know? Who else was there? Brian Johnson, who still makes that podcast, What's Up Steve Dave with Walt Flanagan, who was also there. Kevin was there. Bunch of...
It was just it was like, Jason Muse was there. It was great. Right?
Oh, this is crazy.
Yeah. Yeah. So I was in this little, like like, very small space while they filmed all of the extras the Mallrats DVD. I was the only I was the only outsider that was there, and I was taking pictures the whole time.
No way. Yeah.
And later, I shared the pictures with Kevin, and he has them now and, like, all that stuff. And so, like, I was there for hours upon hours, and then eventually, it just became, like... You know, like, you you know, when, like, your your, like, your niece and nephew and their... You know, and your brother, like, they don't leave on Christmas. And Yeah.
And you're like, they're gonna figure it out in a minute get the hell of here. Right? Like... And so I had that feeling. Like, I'd been there too long.
And I I I... I'd gotten... You know, these are... You know, it's a... It it it was a very private thing that I was just led into.
And I just, like, said the people I was... I was thinking I was talking to Jason Lee at the time. I was like, you know, I've been here long enough. Like, this is really awesome. Thanks, you know, to everybody.
Like, I looked up at Kevin, and I just waved, and I said thank you, and he gestured to me and and said thank you back. And then I I just left. That was that was it. So I'm the only outsider that was at the filming of the Mallrats, the extras on the DVD.
That is a crazy awesome story.
Yeah. I have a lot of stories like that. But Wow. Yeah. I'm not gonna tell you about the time I was on a prop plane with Stuttering John from the Howard Stern show, but, that'll be for another time, maybe.
Anyway, it's that kind of attitude that gets you to Tennessee on... I don't know. Maybe we should move south.
Yes. Alright.
And why circle. And why I don't have anxiety.
Okay.
So I'm sorry.
I like it.
The... I... How much does that... Does it impact your life?
I mean, it's, I mean, ironically, I'm pretty successful Mhmm. Because of it
Okay.
Which, is not like, you know, pro ad... Pro anxiety. But think just over the years, it's been, you know, how to take that for the good, and then trying to to, like, reset, right, and take time to also take a breather
Okay. As well. So you so you you you manage it then?
Oh, yeah. Mhmm.
Okay. And, does it hold you back in any ways?
I don't think so. No.
Okay.
Yeah. I know this sounds like a ringing endorsement for, for anxiety, but it really does... I mean, I don't know. Like, you'd seen, like... See, like, Inside Out too?
Yes. You know, with, like, anxiety in there. Like, I feel like that... Like, you think, like, oh, somebody who has, like, a ton is walking around, but they're probably, like, looks like a mess, right, or is just, like, all over the place. And it doesn't interest, like, a lot, you know, in...
Internally. But I, no, I feel like I
You do okay with it? Well, so Yeah. I... So when I tell people I don't have anxiety Yeah. I think I I think we all have anxiety.
Oh, sure. Absolutely.
I'm just not like... I I don't sit around thinking, like, where's the bathroom? And what... You know, like, that... Like like, I'm not worried about things.
Right. But I would also tell you that last night at 10:45, I was like, I guess I should stop working now. Yeah. You you know what I mean? Like, I was like, okay.
Now now is probably a good time to stop working.
Yep.
And then I got in bed, and I was like, oh, there's still other things I would like to do. Yeah. Yeah. And... But but I'm still able to just close my eyes and
go sleep.
To. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
But I am a 100% upset that sleeping is a part of being human. I hate that my life is only going to be, you know, eighty years long, hopefully, right, like, kind of vibe. Although my wife says we're all gonna live to be a 100 now. Oh,
cool.
Yeah. I mean, she seems to know something, but I I mean, she, you know, she could be dead now. I haven't seen her in hour and a half. I don't know. You you know what I'm saying?
So I mean, that'd be crazy if I was just I know. It's like, if I got on here tomorrow, and I was like, remember when I said my wife said we could live to a 100? She was dead in the kitchen. Oh, shit. And now and now all the, like like, the anxious people are like, you can't kid about that.
I can. I'm not in charge of when my wife dies. Do you know what I mean? Like, I
don't Yes.
Yeah. I I can say whatever I want. Like, I'm not in charge of the universe. So Yep. But but at the same time, I have to have, like, a low level of, like, really focused, valuable...
I mean, you can call it anxiety, but, I mean, I have a feeling of, like, I wanna keep moving forward. I don't wanna stop. I'm Yep. I'm... I love sitting and watching television, but, I mean, I don't do it.
Right.
You know what I mean? Like, I... If I put a baseball game on, I'm doing something else.
Something. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm not gonna just, like, watch a baseball game. Like, that's crazy. I tried to find the mole rats pictures for you online, but I apparently also took pictures for Kevin at something called vulgarthon ninety eight. So you can...
Okay. You ready? You can go to viewaskew.com/vthon98/images.html, and there is a list of pictures that I took. I mean, they're... God.
They're so old.
Oh, this is crazy.
Look at... Are you looking?
I'm trying... Was it view
Oh, okay. Hold on. Know you're gonna look. Give it a second. Viewaskew.com Okay.
/vthon98/images.html. And when you get there, you should see something that says beautiful pictures from Scott Banner.
Oh, no way.
Yeah. I took... I guess I took those in 1998.
So That's crazy.
Those images got to Kevin because he he has a film festival that I get... They call Volgathon. Actually, if you look at the little Volgurathon, like, logo at the top with all the people, those are all photos I took in there. So way. Really?
Yeah. Yeah. I I remembered, like... Yeah. I remember taking all these pictures, but they're not the ones from the Mall Rats DVD, which I guess aren't online anywhere.
Sorry. And so I used to take my camera with me for stuff like that and took a bunch of pictures, and I had a lot of them. And it was back before the Internet was the Internet, but Kevin was really, like, on the Internet. Like, a lot of what Kevin Smith did, like, informs a lot of how I think about running my community around diabetes. So...
Yeah. So... Because he had, like, a web board before that was a thing. He was talking he was talking to people online back when you were like, oh my god. That guy's a movie director, and he's online talking to people, and that's very strange.
So I took all these pictures, and I got them developed. And I had all these great photos, so I sent them an email. And I was like, do you want them? And they said, yeah. We would love them.
You know, how do you wanna get them to us? And I said, I could just bring them to your office. And so I took a day, and I drove out to the office. And I ended up there, you know, just there with the office person or whatnot, and nobody else was there. I dropped them off.
I said thank you. And as I was walking out, Kevin and Scott pulled up, and I think I could say this now. Like, Kevin was driving, like, a Jeep, like, Cherokee, I think. Like, it... Like that.
And they were on their way to Pittsburgh to make dogma.
Oh, no way.
Yeah. Yeah. They were literally leaving. Like, that... They came to the...
They came there to do something, and then they were gonna drive to Pittsburgh to film Dogma.
Wow.
Yeah. And so I just kinda walked by, and they... He's... He recognized me enough because I'd been to a couple of events. And he waved, and I I I I...
Your pictures are upstairs. And he said, thank you. And then later, if you look at if if you look at the one on that list that's just called Scott Mosher on the big screen
Yes.
So for a long time, that photo, Scott Mosier had that photo. And before Kevin
a cool photo.
Thank you. And before Kevin was married to the woman... To his wife, he was dating a woman who is in one of these pictures. I don't remember which one. But I took a photo of of Kevin's girlfriend that he actually had in his, like, in in his, like, in his possession that he used.
Oh, that's crazy.
Yeah. So... But their Internet, you know, wasn't quite the same as it is now.
Yeah. I love these. They're just, like, captioned links.
Yeah. Just... Yeah. It's not the way the Internet works anymore. Like, you have to click on a link to get to a photo, and it
I love it.
Yeah. It's pretty... It's it's a fun time. Like, we... Me and my friends used to go and do stuff like that all the time.
But, nevertheless, that that was pretty much that. I love that. Sorry.
Please are great.
'98... Hold on. 2008... '18. Oh god.
That's twenty eight years ago. Well, listen. There's a... There's something to be learned in that story somewhere because I was collecting debts for a for a credit union. Yes.
And I was like, this isn't right for me. I don't... This... I know this isn't right.
Yep.
You know? So if you're doing a job you think isn't right, don't just quit it, but, you know, keep trying.
And now you're best friends with Kevin Smith.
Well, I'm not. But, I do believe that if he and I saw each other, he would recognize me as that has happened to us a couple of times throughout my life. So at one of those events, he he was very... He was really lovely. Like, he...
You know, as you filed into the theater to see... He'd stand outside and say hi and shake everybody's hand going in and everything. He's just really lovely. And, you know, after we'd done a couple of these film festivals, like, you know, every year, I, one day, like, know, was going into one of them, like second or third or whatever, and I started feeling old. Like, know I mean?
Like like, maybe I shouldn't be doing this. You know what I mean?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And so he's... You know, we we come face to face. He goes, oh, hey. How are you? And I went, good.
And I said, would you do me a favor? And he said, sure. I said, if I ever show up at one of these and you're thinking, yo, man, you're too old for this, would you tell me? And he goes, yeah. If you promise to tell me.
And I went, okay. And we kinda had a moment left because I think we're about the same age ish.
Yeah.
And and I... And we laughed, and I went in. And, you know, maybe, like, four or five years later, we were somewhere, and he recognized me again. I guess this is a good time to tell you that my wife and I were extras in Jersey Girl.
Oh, I love Jersey Girl.
Yeah. And so, you know, at the end when they do they do Sweeney Todd
Yes.
At the school play?
God, that's good.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Look at you.
So there's those moments when everyone's horrified and stands up and starts clapping.
Yeah. So
I... My wife and I, we were there for... We were... Oh my god. Alright.
Yeah. I guess... Do you have time?
Yes.
Alright. So I come to my wife one day, and I'm like, hey. Let's go be... So my wife and I were extras in private parts before we got married. Okay.
I guess to get the Jersey girl, you... Sorry. You gotta get the private parts story. So my wife and... It's the summer before...
It's the summer that we get married. Okay. And I and I said, hey. Howard Stern is filming an outdoor scene of private parts in Bryant in Bryant Park in Manhattan, and they need to fill the park like it's a concert. And I was like, we should go.
Like, it's just a day of, like, hanging out and standing in a crowd and Sure. You know, watching and everything. And she, to her credit, it's not a thing. My wife's not like... Like, back then, that was not her vibe.
Okay? I don't know if it's her vibe now, but she is going to Tennessee with me on Thursday. So maybe I got her eventually. Yeah. The crazy thing is is we had to get on a train into the city, get off, walk, go get our tickets to be there the next day, and then leave, and then come back the next day and do it again.
Wow. So we we, after work, got on a train, like, rushed into the city, rushed to this production's, like, place that they had set up, got our got our tickets. They checked us, made sure we were... I mean, what that meant. We were standing up, and we...
Two eyes on our head, I think. And, like, you know, and they were like, come back tomorrow. Be here at this time. So we were up in the city. I mean, it's, like, four hours to get in the city, get the tickets, and get back out again.
Then we went home, went to bed, got up super early in the morning, and then went back and spent the whole day there. Oh my god. I'm gonna tell you the story. Uh-oh, Kelly. Here we go.
So we get there, and if anybody's seen private parts Mhmm. It's It's
been a minute, but,
you know ACDC is playing at an event that Howard's, like, I don't know, ceeing, and then his wife goes into labor there. And that's how they get from that scene to, like, the hospital scene or whatever.
Yep.
And so you're there all day while they're, like, you know, filming things. People are talking. You can't even hear what's being said on stage, and then all of a sudden ACDC starts to play, then they stop, and they start... It's over and over again. And this park is full of people.
Right?
Yeah.
And at one point towards the end, Gary comes out. Gary, I guess, would be Howard's producer. And he says, hey, everybody. You know, for this for this take, we just want to invite any women who'd like to, you know, unburden themselves of their tops to do so. And I think, oh my god.
What a great day. We've had such fun, and now I'm gonna see boobs. Like like like, what a what a lovely nightcap to this this this event. You know what I mean? And I'm, like, looking around thinking, like, I wonder who's gonna do this.
And when I turn, my wife is taking her bra off under her shirt. And I'm like, woah. Wait a minute. You're not doing this, are you? And she goes, I'm gonna get up on your shoulders.
And I was like, what's happening now? Because not her vibe, not a thing in a million... If you would have told me right then and there that the devil was gonna pop out of the ground and kill me or Kelly was gonna take her bra off, I would've went, oh my god. The devil's coming. Okay?
Like, I mean, I... There... I had no way to know this.
Yeah.
She's like, I'm gonna do this.
Gosh.
And I'm like, okay. Like, where are you at now? Like, we're just... Like, we're not married yet. Like, I mean, I'm not in charge of her.
I'm like, oh, okay. So she gets up on my shoulders, and ACDC's playing, and the cameras are panning around. And Kelly grabs her shirt and, like, whips it up over, like, your head. You know what I mean? And you all don't know my wife, but my wife's got substantial boobs.
Okay? And so and so I'm like, what's... Like, I could see people on the stage that were like, oh my god. Like, thank you. Like, you you know what I mean?
Well, this this is also kind of a humble brag for me I'm seeing now. But, like, but I didn't mean it that way. And so, she's she's told people, by the way. Is not a secret.
Good for her.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, anyway, like... So now you're, like...
You're... You're just, like, the whole time after you do it. Like, once you do it and it's over, you're like, oh, and then you realize, oh, this could be in a movie. Like, in a major motion picture in, like, like, you know, like... And you're like, oh, I probably have done...
I probably shouldn't have done that. So by the grace of god, in in... For reasons I don't understand but very much appreciate, as the camera pans around in the movie and you see my wife, as she's pulling up her shirt, it cuts away to another view. No. Yeah.
You don't really, like
Wow.
You don't really see it. And and, like... So she got the experience of doing it without the necessity of being, you know, on camera without her shirt on.
Okay.
Anyway, we
had I'm happy for that for you for right now since you just told that story.
Yeah. Also, my wife's got, like, a, like, a real adult job now and everything. And so... And... But but, nevertheless, like, I don't know.
We were... Listen. I married that... I tricked that girl into marrying me. She was, like, 21 or 22 when we got married.
Like, I mean, honestly, she shouldn't have legally been able to buy a car. Like, I knew her back then, but, you know, whatever. And so, anyway, we had been extras in the private parts. And then Kevin got online and was like, hey. I need extras for a crowd scene for Jersey Girl.
And it's a one day thing, and you just... You know, it was like, I don't know, an hour and a half from our house by car. She was like, whatever. So she took a day off from work, and we drove down. And the the day ends, and they say, everyone in this room, we need you back again tomorrow.
Yeah.
But we're like, no. You... This was one day. And and Kelly's like, I took a day off from work for this. Like, I have, like, a real job in the city.
Like, my wife had, like, a real, like, job at that point. You know? And she's like, well, I'll take off one more day. She takes off another day. And on the second day, they get done, they go, listen.
You guys are up front. We really need you to come back tomorrow. Oh, no. We spent five days
What?
In the auditorium of a middle school in, like, South Jersey. But in those five days, we got to meet... Ready?
Oh my.
Ben Affleck. Yep. Oh my gosh. We got to meet George Carlin.
What?
I had a long conversation with the DP of the movie who is, like, an incredibly... Like, I think Milos Forman or something. Like like, some incredibly, like, famous, like... I have to look to to find out who it was at this point. A really great conversation with him.
We met... Oh my god. Who else was there? I'm I'm gonna go through the list because
Liv Tyler?
Yes. Liv Tyler, we met. We met the guy who's, like, in office space that everybody loves, who's in all kinds of stuff that people like. God. What is his name?
Oh, Steven Root.
Oh, yep. Yep.
Mike Starr was there. We met so many famous people. Like, it was it was insane.
That's awesome.
Yeah. It was a great week, like, once it was over. But while it was happening, she's like, I'm gonna get fired from my job. And, like... And no kidding.
At some point, we thought she is going to get fired from her job. Yeah. But we persisted. She missed a week of work.
Oh my gosh.
It was the worst miss... Like, she was so mad at me. And, like... But at this... And meanwhile, for those of you with anxiety, it didn't matter at all.
It was fine. Okay.
So Yeah.
Like... Yeah. Absolutely fine. Did not matter at all. Nobody got in trouble.
It didn't matter. We had a great time. Oh, the cinematographer, Wilmos Sigmund. He was just, like, really... Like, he had shot a bunch of cool movies.
Yeah. And so, like, he got to talk to him, about all the movies he... He's... He shot close encounters of the third kind being one of them, the deer hunter, like, like, continuing... I...
I'm I'm on his page now. Like, he shot a lot of really great movies, like, things that were just, like, you know, iconic. Anyway, like, it was a... You know, we got to see Kevin and Scott, like, do all this stuff. But more importantly, my wife and I are literally front and center in a lot of those cutaways in that scene.
So if you watch
I have to go watch.
If you watch Jersey girl, we are clapping in the front.
That is so cool. Yeah. Your life is so cool.
It's not, really. But, like, I've just... It really isn't. I just... Periodically, I see something cool.
I'm like, oh, I'm gonna go do that now.
You just shared, like, three epic things.
Did I? Alright. Yeah. I won't tell you about the time I flew to Albany with Stuttering John on a private airplane, though.
My gosh.
But how does these how do these things happen? You just gotta be open to stuff. Like, I... I'm not a person who's, like, living around, like, like, fantastic things that are happening all the time. You know what I mean?
Like, I just... I see an opportunity, and I just go, oh, that's an interesting thing. We should try to do that.
That's cool.
Yeah. Alright.
That's cool. That's not gonna happen. Lesson for the day. Plan plan less.
Yeah. I'm gonna What are you doing? Like, you're... I mean, how's it going, all these plans? You know what I mean?
Well, not meeting famous people. Yeah.
It's awesome. Anyway, that's... It's been a long time now. And most people listening to this who are under a certain age are like, I don't know who Kevin Smith is. I mean, like, Jason Lee.
Like, yeah, man. Like, my name is Earl? Like, come on. You know my
name is
Earl. Yeah. Yeah. And if you're older and a hippie now, Jason's just a guy on Instagram taking pictures with, like, a Polaroid camera, like, selling books
or something like that.
Yeah. I mean, I just had so many really cool experiences from That is cool. Not caring and just doing stuff. Yeah. You know?
So, anyway
Alright. I get it.
Alright. That's enough. We're done. Oh, your kid, like, you know, diabetes. If...
You know, whatever. We didn't really get back to that, but, you know, I assume she's okay.
Six Point Three1:42:03
Whatever. She's good. She's great. Yes. No.
She is good. She's... Last time we were at the doctor, she had a a a one c of 6.3.
Oh, awesome.
Yeah. Oh, well,
let's take a half a second since it's gone so long. Yeah. Podcast helpful for you?
Oh, yes. Yes.
Oh.
Yeah. How did I not say that at the beginning? So of the community that we came into, I mean, I heard from so many people just right out the gate, including one of the moms, of one of the girls on swim team with diabetes, my best friend, and then some other people as well had just said, you know, right away, check out the Juice Box podcast and the Facebook page because it's super helpful. My best friend actually said, like, you know, take take a few days because she knew that she was... That I was bound to, like, jump into things to just take it head on.
But she's like, you know, read the stuff you're gonna read from the doctor and... You know? But when you're ready, jump in because it's a super helpful
Oh, I'm glad. Resource. Did you find it overwhelming at first? I just got a note from somebody the other day. It's like, looked.
I can't... I don't know where to start.
I did only because of my own, like, how can I absorb everything so quickly?
Okay.
But then I found... It must have been... I think there was a post that, like, kinda said, like, we're gonna hit it. You know, start here
Yeah.
When I looked back into into post.
So Okay.
That's awesome. But, of course, I wanted to be like, how can I do the very, you know, best and right things right away? So for me, it was more just like, how can I get it all in my head?
It's personality driven for you. You were always gonna, like, put that kind of effort into something.
Absolutely. Yeah.
So that's the thing.
Medicated, and Not Cheating1:43:46
I should also say... So back to me saying I'm... I manage well with diabetes. I'm also medicated, so let's let's give a nod to that. Or not diabetes, with anxiety.
I'm not medicated for diabetes.
What are you using? What what... What's working for you?
I'm on a fun mix right now that is Zoloft and Wellbutrin combo. Apparently, call it Welloff.
Well... Oh, that's... People are lovely sometimes when they come up with things. Yeah. Wait.
So depression?
In, yes. And I and, I know. Hard to believe. Right? Because I'm just
Were you before, or did the diabetes push you there?
Before. Before. Before. Yeah.
Okay.
No. This is all. And, ugh. Yeah. Yeah.
I know. I don't even tell you this. But, you know, in Minnesota, it's also super dark for a ton of time, and there's the seasonal aspect really gets to people too,
which... Yeah. I told you about my wife's boobs. You can tell me about your seasonal affective disorder.
I was just saying Fair. It would be, like, you know, more of a case that I need to leave. But
So you, it's a little worse in the wintertime?
It is. Yep. Yep.
Okay. And how does it... Without the medication, how does it present? Like, how do you feel?
I'd say just like a constant dread.
Okay. That's Just that's fairly terrible. But we constantly impending doom. Before your mom passed, did you feel this way?
I think it picked up probably around then, but definitely, like, sinking back as, a kid, on, like, the anxiety side, I definitely had some anxiety then. But on the depression, I'd say more. So
Listen. Not that not impending not that impending doom doesn't paint a picture, but, like, what does that mean? Like, you get up in the morning, does it feel like, why am I bothering?
Or Oh, yeah. No. So not like that. That's it. Yeah.
That does paint Yeah. That that picture. Or just like... I know. You know, just like you ever felt, like, a heaviness?
Like, ugh. Everything... It's like it's just so much. And not like you don't wanna be around or anything, but I don't know. It's just like a heaviness on your shoulders all the time.
So it's like
You don't wanna end
You know, what am I finding joy in?
You don't wanna end your life, you were about to say, but you didn't say that. Okay. You don't have that feeling.
Yes. No. No. No. No.
No.
But... Yeah. But at the same time, what's the point Right. Everything is just what?
It's another day. Yep.
Really? Okay.
Yeah. That's not how I feel now.
And that's not how you feel now?
That's not how I feel now. No.
Now you feel like
Just normal normal annoyance with everybody. Just kidding.
Scott, I just look at pictures of people being shot in in in timeshare, and I think, why aren't you all running, you freaking idiots? Like... Okay. Well, I think that's a a reasonable level. Your husband noticed a difference?
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
Such that he would tell you about it or just that he looks less scared?
Yeah. I think I am. Probably less scared. No. I've told them before.
I mean, like, during times where I've been like, I am. I'm just feeling bummed out. And I think it's tough because, I mean, with a lot of mental health things, like, what people think one would look like if they're, like, depressed or something, you know, it's like, oh, they're shut into a room and won't come out. Not like, oh, there's somebody who's social and... You know?
Yeah. I'm at a children's museum making a thing. I'm like,
yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And I and love laughing with people and every...
Right? Like, it's just a completely... Yeah.
Are you telling me that we don't know what people are going through?
That's exactly.
Yeah. Turns out. It sounds like a thing Oprah would have said.
Turns out.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm glad you're doing it. How long you've been using it?
This has been a couple years now.
Okay. Cool.
So... Yeah.
Listen.
It's good.
Better living through, through science.
Yeah.
Yeah. I'm I'm, like, literally... I I mean, my my life has been saved by, like, you know, by JLPs. So Yes. I I mean, I don't care.
You don't feel like you're cheating anybody by taking your medication?
No. I mean, I'm a big science person. I have a... Went to college. I have a science degree.
I, like, I... And I think that's also where I sometimes struggle with, like, ambiguity or, like... You know, when I say logically what you're saying makes sense. So I don't know why my insides are feeling different. You know?
Because, like, mathematically, this tracks.
I'm I'm just, like, I'm interested. Stun is not the right word. I'm interested that so many people will hear, you took a and you're healthier now, and they go, oh, you're cheating. But That's interesting. Nobody says, oh, you're depressed and you took something and you're not depressed anymore.
Nobody goes, oh, you're cheating. Didn't it? Yeah. When your heart stops pumping correctly and you have to take a pill to bring your blood pressure up a little bit, nobody goes out. You're cheating.
It's interesting. Right. Yeah.
Oh, you got the flu shot.
Oh, what are you? Cheating? You Cheating. Just get the flu like everybody else and see what happens. Let the chips fall where they may.
What do you mean your heart doesn't work as well? Then die.
Yeah.
I... I'm fascinating. Anyway fascinating. Anyone who says that to me... Just so you know...
Just so you're out there, you know, anyone who says that to me personally, I immediately deduct, like, 20% of my respect for you. I think, wow. You're incapable of thinking this through. That's fascinating. So That is fascinating.
Yeah. Yeah. What are you cheating exactly? Like, you know what I mean? Like, Google things.
What do you... Why don't you go get a book and read it? Stop cheating.
Yeah. Stop cheating.
Yeah. Yeah. You. Why don't you... Hey.
Listen. Get in a wagon and go find California. Stop cheating, idiots. I bet you'd all stand there and watch that lady get shot. I'd be halfway across the Hudson River if I saw somebody pull out a gun.
Goodbye. Gotta go. Gotta go. I'm not getting shot. I gotta get out of here.
By the way, god bless Mental health is a serious thing. This poor woman was clearly
Yeah. That's very sad.
Yeah, Struggling. So Yeah. And that... It's a shame that this happened. I'm not saying otherwise.
Also, it's a shame that she stabbed and killed a man. So Right. Yeah. I mean, you stab people, you're probably gonna get shot. Yeah.
I just wanna say. Yep. Yeah. All things said. All things all things like that are gonna happen for sure.
The... What do you do when you have the brothers and you have that feeling? Do you go to them and say, hey. You guys feel like this too? Do you...
You're doing anything, or do you not talk about it?
Oh, we talk about... We're we're actually, we... All three of us have, some mental health journeys of similar, anxiety Mhmm. As well. So...
Yeah. I mean, that's nice. We can bounce off and and just know if there is a period of time where, like, man, this is just hitting me hitting me hard, or, you know, my doctor recommended going on this. Have you tried that?
Give this a whirl. You you watch the kids together? Like, are you looking for it in your kids?
I am pretty hyper looking at it for my kids. Yeah.
But then what do you do, though? Like, because, Brie, like Yeah. So you you have the experience of your lifetime, and you know and you know all the time you struggled and then what helped. But I guarantee you that if I said be proactive about it, get ahead of it, you'd think, well, I don't wanna give them medication if they don't need it.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
Right. If they don't need it. I mean, I think if it's it's acknowledging, you know, if there is, you know, things that just talking through. But I'd say if it if it got to the point where I think it was... Oh my gosh.
I can't come up with a word for it, like inhibiting their day or, you know, like preventing them from doing something or their quality of life. I would I would encourage therapy. I mean, that's not something I started until a couple years ago, and I never really thought it would help. I'm like, what am I just gonna talk to somebody, and then I'm gonna... You know, that's gonna help.
But it does. It helps process some things. It helps name things. Helps validate things. And I think sometimes there's a lot, it's helpful to have it not be, you know, somebody super close to you as well.
It's... It helps for somebody to say something to you who's not super close to you?
Yeah. Or just voicing or, like, a soundboard. And I was thinking, like, with the kids, I would say if they needed it, sometimes not talking to a parent is great, turns out.
Well, yeah. I mean, you gave her diabetes by testing her blood sugar. I remember the story. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, yeah, I mean, it's it's it's right up there with... You know, if if your if your son or daughter is pitching, you... You're not the one that visits the mound to tell them that they... That they're, not throwing strikes. You you send somebody else you send somebody else out or that turns into, like, a a screaming match.
Every time my son goes up to pitch.
You're like?
I'm like, I can't. Yeah.
See, you know, it's funny when people would say, aren't you nervous when your son pitches? I go, no. And not because I thought he was great, just because I was like, this... None of this matters. Do you not know none of this matters?
Totally. Yeah. Again, logically, also what I say.
This... None of this matters. I I always think it's interesting that of the... Literally, like, dozens and dozens and maybe hundreds of kids that my son played baseball with from the time he was three years old till the time he graduated from high school. Most of those people, if you would have talked to them at some point along the line, would have said to you, oh, my kid's gonna play in college.
And Really?
No. Oh, no. Everybody at some point or another believes it's happening. Right? And there's kids that some of them had the opportunity to or the skills, but it didn't work out or whatever.
I would say of the maybe four, five, six kids that, like, of those hundreds, you know, that we knew really close, and then maybe another another 20 that, you know, we, you know, didn't know well, but, like, I, you know, like, I I know the kid went off and played here or there or whatever.
Yep.
You never in a million years, based on my attitude, would have thought my son would have been one of the kids because I didn't do any of the things that people were saying. Yeah. Like, they were like, this is so... I remember somebody saying one time, this is really important, and I went, no. It's not.
Yeah.
This this isn't important at all. I was like, this is practice. You're practicing right now. Like
It's youth sports.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
This is
this is meaningless. Like, you're trying to stay in it long enough to see if you're actually a good dis... Like, choice once it's time to make the choice. Yeah. And they had it in their head that, like, winning when they were nine or 12 or 15 or whatever was gonna make or break it.
My son sucked. Like, not sucked. He was skilled, but he wasn't
Yeah.
He wasn't producing all the time like the bigger kids. But I was always like, well, that's just because they're bigger. Like, his his skill when he gets bigger will balance out, and then that's exactly what happened.
Yeah. Yep.
That's all. Like, you you know, like, it's... Sometimes you just have to have the courage to trust that what you know is gonna happen is gonna happen.
Right.
Maybe maybe you guys can see where some of the podcast comes from now. But, like, you know, like... So, anyway, those people, they... And they beat their kids up on the way, like, emotionally and physically. And kids are having surgeries and
Oh my gosh.
Screaming and yelling and crying, and it just It's
so sad.
Yeah. It's terrible. But, anyway, what's gonna BLB? I think there's a song that starts out Yeah. Yeah.
That's all. Alright. Listen. You and I... I'm not even gonna make this two parts.
I'm just leaving this all together. I love this. Your your episode's gonna be two hours long.
It's good.
It is.
You should go back and just title it word vomit because I feel like that's what I did.
No. I talked way too much in this way. I'm gonna... I will totally get yelled at online for this. Have you not seen the reviews?
He... People say oh, it it... There's a great review of the guy. The woman's just like, he talks too much. He he...
Have you never... I made a song out of it. Have you never heard this?
Oh, the song. No.
I did just...
Yes. The... You put it to the... Yeah.
That was hilarious. Yeah. Broadway. But, like, at at one point in in her review... By the way, I just assume it's a her.
I could be wrong, but it Oh, I I think I know. And so, it's... He talks too much. He talks too much. And then there's this line in it about, like, he he...
You say something, and then he tells a story about himself or something like that. And I thought, oh, I I definitely do that. But, like, is that bad? It's a podcast.
I don't think so. Yeah. I don't think so.
What do you think people think podcasts are?
Right. I mean, that is...
Yeah. Don't know. This is you and I talking on the phone, and they're listening.
Right.
Yeah. Yeah. I I... A podcast is not... Like, I don't have you...
Like, you're not a you know what I mean? Like, it's not it's not like I've have on the leader of the World Bank, and I'm like, explain world economy to me, and I just shut up while you talk. Like Right. That's not a podcast. That's me recording what you know about the world's economy.
This is a conversation. I mean, I was making words up. Yeah.
I... Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember back when you were trying to describe the passing of your father Yeah.
Two hours ago.
Two hours ago, and he's diagonal.
He's still dead. Yeah. Yeah. I'm so sorry about your mom. I...
It must have been terrible. I mean, you you... You're lovely to share that and and talk about... I was looking at a photo of my mom, while you were telling your story about hers. I will tell everybody the thing I've decided to do my mom is the photo I have up is her...
It's her senior portrait from high school. Aw. Because I just feel like it's before I knew her, so I can look at it without getting too sad. Yeah. It, like, reflects her, like, when she was at the beginning of her life, and she had, like, nothing but, like, you know, time and opportunity.
I love that. I love that. Yeah.
Absolutely. I don't like to see her when she was sick too much. Plus my phone my phone is great at putting up pictures of my mom while she was struggling. It's Yeah. It's fantastic.
It's like, remember this? And I'm like, I I do remember chemotherapy. Thank you.
Yeah. Exactly.
Yeah. Awesome. How did this happen? Why is that the photo you chose? Yeah.
Yes. Thank you. So Let's put it in a collage. Great. Thank you.
Exactly. It's also... It's before it's before life hit her. It's before my dad was bad or... Like, you know what I mean?
Like Yep. I die... If I'm gonna think about her, I I wanna think about her like that. So
I love that. I actually, somebody from, that I'm friends with on Facebook that was friends with my mom growing up will send me photos occasionally when she'll see them, and she'll be like, oh, here's your mom and I in high school. You know? Like... And I'm just like, wow.
It's so lovely, right, to see that and be like... Yeah.
Yeah. That's what I do. Life. I say hi to her sometimes, like, under my breath, like, you know, or, like, if something goes really well one day. The other thing that I've I've started doing is that my mom didn't drive, so she couldn't come to my house as much as she wanted.
And and I have a lot of, like, flowers planted around my house. So, like, as they bloom, I would take pictures and send my mom the flowers.
Aw.
And, obviously, I can't do that anymore because she died and left me here. She abandoned me. And and I... So I send them to my brothers instead. I and I text them, and I was like, here's the picture of this flower that mom would've gotten today.
Yep.
You know? And then I just... I... They never answer me back about the flowers. We talk about other stuff back and forth, usually not about the flowers.
So Yeah. Anyway
I'm sure they
I don't know. They might think I'm an idiot. They might be like, I've seen these lilies last year. I'm like, I know, but they came back. You don't wanna see them again?
Did you expect them next year?
Yeah. That's all. Trust me. We're we're gonna go to a... My my brothers and I are going to a concert together in a few months.
I think we, like, don't do usually, and everybody is, like, super excited. So
Aw. Yeah. That's fun.
Yeah. We're gonna head out to Vegas and see... I'm... We're gonna see Metallica in the sphere.
Oh, no way.
That's awesome. Yeah. It's gonna be pretty cool.
I bet you're gonna meet somebody famous again too.
Well, listen. We might be getting to the point where maybe somebody will meet me and think, oh, I met somebody famous.
Oh, true.
Yeah. Full circle event.
Full circle. You are the famous person.
I just... I'm really only famous in diabetes events. My fame doesn't translate outside of them. So
Well, I think that's something.
Once or twice on a bus. You know what I mean? But
Oh, that's cool.
Alright. Hold on a second. I really do genuinely appreciate you doing this with me. I'm not sure what happened today. I think it's the knowledge that I'm not recording for a few days.
It's got me chatty. So thank you. I really do appreciate this.
And you got me after being off of work for a few days.
So Oh, you're relaxed and rested?
Yeah.
Awesome. Did you take the day off for this, or are you supposed to be working?
I'm going I'm going in.
Alright. Well, I apologize to your employer. Although, you know... Shut up. How many people are trying to work in your children's museum?
Leave her alone. She's doing a great job. Right, Brooke?
I love my job. Yeah. You're great.
Give her a raise too. By the way, you've said nothing bad about your employer all. But still, I think you deserve maybe 10%.
Well, thank you.
No. You're very welcome. Hold on a second for me. Today's show was sponsored by Tandem Diabetes Care, the Eversense three sixty five, and Touched by Type one, who you can learn more about on Facebook, Instagram, and at touchedbytype1.org. Head now to tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox and check out today's sponsor, Tandem Diabetes Care.
I think you're gonna find exactly what you're looking for at that link, including a way to sign up and get started with the Tandem Mobi system. I'd like to thank the Eversense three sixty five for sponsoring this episode of the juice box podcast. And remind you, if you want the only sensor that gets inserted once a year and not every fourteen days, you want the Eversense CGM. Eversensecgm.com/juicebox. One year, one CGM.
If you or a loved one is newly diagnosed with type one diabetes and you're seeking a clear practical perspective, check out the bold beginnings series on the juice box podcast. It's hosted by myself and Jenny Smith, an experienced diabetes educator with over thirty five years of personal insight into type one. Our series cuts through the medical jargon and delivers straightforward answers to your most pressing questions. You'll gain insight from real patients and caregivers and find practical advice to help you confidently navigate life with type one. You can start your journey informed and empowered with the juice box podcast.
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