Ok, I know this blog is supposed to be all about diabetes. But show me a Type 1 who isn't addicted in some form to their favorite Diet Soda Of Choice, and I'll show you a liar. *
I myself prefer Diet Dr. Pepper above Diet Coke. But I will take a nice cold DC any day of the week, and if you say "Is Diet Pepsi OK?" you will get a "No, please bring me some water." Which always makes the server die a little, because, you know, tips.**
So...Diet Coke has 4 new flavors. Ginger Lime, Zesty Blood Orange, Feisty Cherry and Twisted Mango. To be fair, my store did not have the Mango one. So I will not include that in my review. I got 2 cans of each, one for me and one for my husband, who drinks more Diet Coke than I do. His opinions are included.
First up:
Ginger Lime
Expectation: I love lime in my DC. I love ginger. I will love this.
Reality: I cannot taste the lime - like at all. There is a stronger ginger flavor, and while I do love me some ginger, it tastes a bit like someone just added ginger ale to your Diet Coke. So actually, this would be great for sick days, when you need some ginger ale to settle your stomach, and diet ginger ale can be hard to find sometimes. But oh, how it tastes so good when you are throwing up or nauseated. (Don't forget to check for ketones in that situation, folks!) But this? Really really needs more lime. Pass.
Husband: I have a theory that ginger and lime are ALREADY in the flavor of DC. They had the correct balance, and here they just screwed it up. Do I have to finish this can?
Second in line:
Zesty Blood Orange
Expectation: I was looking forward to this one since I do like an orange slice in my DC. If you want to watch your server do a double take, ask for DC with orange instead of lemon or lime. (My brother in law taught me that)
Reality: This does NOT taste like DC with an orange slice in it. This tastes like someone went to the fountain drink dispenser at your favorite restaurant and mixed the Diet Coke and the Fanta orange. If you like Fanta orange, or you like the taste of mixed flavors that your 10 year old makes himself at the cool soda machine, you will like this drink. Again, I will pass.
Husband: Can I just drink regular Diet Coke? This is bad.
Third up:
Feisty Cherry
Expectation: I generally hate cherry sodas, so I don't see why this would be any better. I expect to hate it.
Reality: Yep. Blech. Bad.
Husband: Tastes like someone mixed Diet Coke with grape soda. Worst of the bunch. The "feistiness" is terrible.
I am less excited to try the Mango one now. I will still try it, you know, in the interests of science, and my friend who tried them today says she'd drink it again, so maybe it's the best one of the bunch. I kept googling to find out when these were going to hit my area, and no dates were ever given, but I did read that these were invented to appeal to La Croix drinkers.
So I bought some La Croix to try, and well, these are not going to appeal to La Croix drinkers. La Croix drinkers are the same people who order club soda and lime on airplanes. La Croix has very little flavor, but isn't bad once you add some sweetener. I myself added Truvia, feel free to dump the real sugar in, should your pancreas oblige.
I don't know WHY the good people at Diet Coke didn't call me to test their flavors. Or anyone in the Type 1 community, really. I make much better drinks at home, just with Torani syrups. Squeeze a lime, add some coconut syrup - yum. Splash of vanilla - divine. Or again, just squeeze a little bit of an orange into it. Delicious.
Am I giving up Diet Coke? Not even a little bit. Am I going to buy these again? Not even once.
The new can is cool, though.
*They're like people who say they aren't Journey fans. Liars, all of them. I grudgingly admit there might be a few out there, but Type 1's do take their diet soda seriously.
**Water is better for you. I know this. But it is not that tasty.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Fun Facts, Gifs, and Collections
So..I've been dealing with Medtronic lately.
Yeah.
Fun fact #1: Medtronic gives a $500 credit if you send back your old pump within 60 days (90 days? 30 days? Some vague amount of days). It's a sneaky way of making sure you only have their equipment to deal with.
Fun fact #2: I did not send back my old pump. In fact, after a month of wearing the brick that is 670g, I put my Tandem T:slim back on. I couldn't do the Medtronic anymore. Too big. Too bulky. Too clicky.
Fun Fact #3: They charged my credit card $523 for my sensors, and as it turned out, it was covered by my insurance, and so I should have been charged bupkiss. (Does anyone say bupkiss anymore?) So - I owe them $500, they owe me $523. I emailed my rep about this, and got crickets.
Fun Fact #4: They started calling me to collect that $500. I would pick up the phone, and then get put on hold, and that just didn't fly with me. Well today they finally picked up after they called me (seriously, like, what?) and what followed was probably the greatest conversation I've ever had with a medical device company.
"Is this Heidi?"
Yes it is.
"Ok, let me pull up your account, oh it looks like....did you ever send back your old pump?"
No I did not.
"Oh, well that's what this is - you need to send that back honey, and that's why this went into billing."
"Yeah, I'm not going to do that. I am wearing it. I like it better.
(This blew her ever loving mind.)
"Wait, what? You like the old pump BETTER?"
Yes.
"Well, then what are you going to DO? This is considered a bill then. Do you want to set up a payment plan for this?"
No, I'm not paying it. You guys owe me money for the last shipment you sent out. If you refund me the $523, I'll pay the $500.
(In my head, I answered the 'what are you going to DO' question with "Sell the whole system on ebay" but I did not say that). (Nor will I do that.)
(Frantic typing)
"Are you talking about the shipment sent on 12/29?"
Yep, that's the one.
"We haven't received your insurance payment yet, you need to look again, and at where it says 'patient responsibility.' What does it say in that line? Does it say $523?"
It says $0.
"ohh.....When did you get that letter explaining that bill?"
It's online. I don't get letters - processed 1/4.
"Oh, well then yeah, you should be refunded then..once we get that insurance payment, we can process your payment and apply it to this pump. Let me see if you're on auto-ship, (no way in hell I'm on auto-ship) looks like you're not. Ok, that should do it."
Thank you.
So KUDOS to them for being able to apply the payment for one order to the bill for another order. So many companies would have to do the dance of refunding, then billing again, different systems, yada yada yada. But ANTI-KUDOS to them for calling and putting me on hold, also for overcharging me by $523 in the first place, especially since I was quoted $300/something.
Also, for all the clicking. You cannot turn off the clicking. And the stupid double A battery. And the stupid software that only works with IE.
But it was fun, just to be able to tell her 'Nope, not paying it.' "yep, you owe me money' "nope, not sending it back'. There was no emotion attached, just me being in charge of the whole collections call.
Also, as to when I'm going to actually pull out the stuff they sent me and go into Auto Mode? I have no answer to that question. Maybe never. Maybe tomorrow. I thought I'd give it the old college try, just like I did with Manual Mode, see what I think, but now I'm thinking, nope.
I would have to go to training with the trainer I dislike, (I answered her text about when I'm coming in with a solid "I'll let you know") and then deal with Medtronic for the rest of my life....ughhhh. The thought fills me with ANTI-JOY. Otherwise known as IRRATIONAL ANXIETY.
For now, I'm back on the old pump. Until it decides to die. And then??? Truthfully, I'll probably do whatever I can to stay with Tandem. Which will probably cost me money. Which is a bummer. And I might switch because of it, but not today.
NOT TODAY.
Yeah.
Fun fact #1: Medtronic gives a $500 credit if you send back your old pump within 60 days (90 days? 30 days? Some vague amount of days). It's a sneaky way of making sure you only have their equipment to deal with.
Fun fact #2: I did not send back my old pump. In fact, after a month of wearing the brick that is 670g, I put my Tandem T:slim back on. I couldn't do the Medtronic anymore. Too big. Too bulky. Too clicky.
 |
| Me every time I had to click another damn button. |
Fun Fact #3: They charged my credit card $523 for my sensors, and as it turned out, it was covered by my insurance, and so I should have been charged bupkiss. (Does anyone say bupkiss anymore?) So - I owe them $500, they owe me $523. I emailed my rep about this, and got crickets.
 |
| What most money conversations look like |
Fun Fact #4: They started calling me to collect that $500. I would pick up the phone, and then get put on hold, and that just didn't fly with me. Well today they finally picked up after they called me (seriously, like, what?) and what followed was probably the greatest conversation I've ever had with a medical device company.
"Is this Heidi?"
Yes it is.
"Ok, let me pull up your account, oh it looks like....did you ever send back your old pump?"
No I did not.
"Oh, well that's what this is - you need to send that back honey, and that's why this went into billing."
"Yeah, I'm not going to do that. I am wearing it. I like it better.
(This blew her ever loving mind.)
 |
| Fun Fact #5 :I wish I were Anna Kendrick |
"Wait, what? You like the old pump BETTER?"
Yes.
"Well, then what are you going to DO? This is considered a bill then. Do you want to set up a payment plan for this?"
No, I'm not paying it. You guys owe me money for the last shipment you sent out. If you refund me the $523, I'll pay the $500.
(In my head, I answered the 'what are you going to DO' question with "Sell the whole system on ebay" but I did not say that). (Nor will I do that.)
(Frantic typing)
"Are you talking about the shipment sent on 12/29?"
Yep, that's the one.
"We haven't received your insurance payment yet, you need to look again, and at where it says 'patient responsibility.' What does it say in that line? Does it say $523?"
It says $0.
"ohh.....When did you get that letter explaining that bill?"
It's online. I don't get letters - processed 1/4.
"Oh, well then yeah, you should be refunded then..once we get that insurance payment, we can process your payment and apply it to this pump. Let me see if you're on auto-ship, (no way in hell I'm on auto-ship) looks like you're not. Ok, that should do it."
Thank you.
So KUDOS to them for being able to apply the payment for one order to the bill for another order. So many companies would have to do the dance of refunding, then billing again, different systems, yada yada yada. But ANTI-KUDOS to them for calling and putting me on hold, also for overcharging me by $523 in the first place, especially since I was quoted $300/something.
Also, for all the clicking. You cannot turn off the clicking. And the stupid double A battery. And the stupid software that only works with IE.
But it was fun, just to be able to tell her 'Nope, not paying it.' "yep, you owe me money' "nope, not sending it back'. There was no emotion attached, just me being in charge of the whole collections call.
Also, as to when I'm going to actually pull out the stuff they sent me and go into Auto Mode? I have no answer to that question. Maybe never. Maybe tomorrow. I thought I'd give it the old college try, just like I did with Manual Mode, see what I think, but now I'm thinking, nope.
I would have to go to training with the trainer I dislike, (I answered her text about when I'm coming in with a solid "I'll let you know") and then deal with Medtronic for the rest of my life....ughhhh. The thought fills me with ANTI-JOY. Otherwise known as IRRATIONAL ANXIETY.
For now, I'm back on the old pump. Until it decides to die. And then??? Truthfully, I'll probably do whatever I can to stay with Tandem. Which will probably cost me money. Which is a bummer. And I might switch because of it, but not today.
NOT TODAY.
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