What it's like to have the machine that keeps you alive die while you're on vacation

I'm about to tell you a story about the major disaster which affected much of my decisionmaking on my week-long vacation to Santa Fe. I just got home to LA, and the situation is now resolved. But it was super fucking annoying!! I didn't mention it in any of my other posts because I was waiting to learn how it would actually resolve. I know a lot of people whose lives depend on access to medicine. I know fewer other people whose lives also depend on the machinery and software used to dose that medicine. Insulin pumps, pacemakers, and other crucial, always-on medical equipment are crazy useful but also contain the possibility for insane frustration and resentment. I've been pretty honest over the years that I value having an insulin pump, but that I also hate the manufacturers and designers of every pump I've ever used. If you introduced me to any person who has ever designed an insulin pump I've used, I would probably punch them in the face and cuss them out in front of their children.…