Waging war

The gods were against me today, oh were they ever. Practically right from the get-go I was feeling the need for a run, a good, long run to clear my head of the frustration filling every spare spot in it, but of course, I’m not yet back on the road, so a run was out of the question. But I figured, hey, a nice brisk walk on my lunch break might do the trick, sure it was cloudy out, but clouds never stopped anyone, right. So I wolfed down my lunch, looked out the window, and the skies were no longer grey, they were now black, with huge water-balloon-size raindrops pelting down. I didn’t really care to fight with my umbrella today, so a walk was also out of the question. But then I thought, hey, my condo’s equipped with a gym, maybe I’ll head down there tonight after work and muscle the frustration out of me. But noooooooo, I ended up being stuck in traffic for two-and-a-half hours – did you get that? TWO-AND-A-HALF HOURS!!! and there wasn’t even an accident that I could see – by the time I got home, it was already 7:30, and the only thing I wanted to do was curl up and veg out!

Ok, so the cause of the frustration: When I switched over to the insulin pump two-and-a-half months ago, I had two companies to choose from Medtronic or Animas, and I chose Animas mostly because its software was advertised as being Mac friendly; something that rarely ever happens with diabetic products. I was verbally told by the sales rep that it was Mac compatible, and the Animas website lists it on several pages as being Mac compatible.

And yet, the software doesn’t work on my Mac, which has the required operating system and tons of ram space. It won’t even download.
So when I complained, they sent me a new disk, thinking that was the problem; it wasn’t. When I complained again, the tech guy led me to believe that this was the first he’d ever heard of something like this happening with their software, and that it appeared to be a problem with the Leopard system, and that they would have to figure out a workaround … turns out, though, that several other people have experienced the same problems with the software, according to several of the insulin pump forums I’ve read, and they, too, have complained just like me.
I waited a month before complaining again last night via email, in which I stated that while they may not think a month is a long wait, it is for someone who was clearly told that this product was Mac compatible. A tech from Animas called this morning and assured me that their software was Mac compatible and that they would be sending me out another disk. And I said, well no, it’s not Mac compatible, and you’re just wasting your disks by sending them out. If it doesn’t work on my computer, and you haven’t done anything to improve it, what good is it to send me the same product? He just kept repeating himself, like a broken record, “We’re going to send you another disk. We’re going to send you another disk. We’re going to send you another disk …” He did finally admit that the software wasn’t compatible with Snow Leopard, but he said it was with Leopard, but couldn’t tell me why it wouldn’t work with my computer. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! It’s time to wage war, I say, war!
Hence, the need for a run.
Now, while I may not have been able to run, or go for a brisk walk, or lift weights in the gym, the day was not a total loss. At some point in the afternoon, a bar of Cote D’Or Belgian chocolate (one of my favourites) magically appeared on my desk … and just after I had read a great article in the Globe and Mail about how an ounce of dark chocolate a day will keep the heart disease away. Yum!

I LOVE PRESENTS!!! And this was the second surprise gift I received this week; earlier in the week I got a fondu pot (a throwback to the ’60s) in the mail from my great girlfriend Katie! Thanks guys! You rock!