Me (29M), her (24F). We'd been together about six months and one afternoon I called her landline to see what she wanted for dinner (I was cooking at her place). No one answered so I left a message (ah, the days before mobiles). When I got there, she apologized for not answering and said she'd been in the shower. Her flatmate was like, "What are you talking about? You fell asleep on the couch -- I was in the shower."
Anyway, she laughed it off like it wasn't a big deal but I was like: why would you lie about something so trivial.?Just, out of hand. That was the moment I knew I should leave so I promptly stayed another six months before she cheated and broke my heart.

It had been several months into what I thought was a wonderful relationship with my dream guy. He was everything I thought I had wanted, romantic, sweet, attentive, and caring. He wrote songs for me and left them on my voicemail. He sent flowers to my job.

This was before cell phones. He was a musician. We had great s*x, wonderful kisses, and he was always there for me. However, something still felt “off.“ I couldn’t quite put my finger on it so I asked for a sign. I asked God for the truth to be revealed to me. My intuition was never wrong and I needed some way of knowing what I needed to do.

A few weeks later one evening he called and we talked on the phone. Again, this was a landline phone. In those days you had to leave voicemails on house phones. So, we talked for a bit and then he had to get off the phone quickly. I didn’t think anything of it, we said goodbye and hung up. I went about my place doing different chores.

Later when I picked up the phone to make a different phone call, I heard that dial tone that lets you know you have a voice message. This was back when the dial tone would make a certain sound when you picked it up if you had a voice message. It was kind of weird because I had not received a phone call after his call. My phone had not rung at all so I was curious where a voice message would’ve come from.

I entered my code so that I could retrieve my message. It was odd when I heard his voice on the message. It was even more odd when I heard the voice of another female talking to him on the message. My phone had recorded their conversation!

Apparently his hurry to get off the phone with me was because she had been calling into his phone. And somehow the phone system thought that it was a three-way call and instead of hanging up his line, it had recorded their entire conversation on my line! Aha, you’re caught! I heard him speaking of his plans to pick her up to rendezvous. And from her tone, and words, they had been more than just friendly previously.

This was more than a sign, more than a red flag. It was proof. And yet, worse still, I recognized the other woman’s voice. It was someone I knew.

Needless to say, I was hurt and disappointed. I was betrayed. I cried. But I also could not help but be relieved that I had gotten a concrete answer. Undeniable proof of my “weird feeling“ about the relationship.

In my pain, I was grateful for the undeniable proof. I was resolute and the next day I calmly invited him over. When he came to my place, I told him I wanted him to hear something. I retrieved the message and handed him the phone so he could listen. And then I stood and watched his face as he heard the recording on my phone. He was very puzzled and asked what that was. I told him about my asking for a sign and about what the phone must have apparently “accidentally“ done.

Needless to say, I broke it off with him in that moment. It was one of the strongest a-ha moments I’ve had. But there have been others in my life. Those were not related to romance much to my relief.

The parathyroid gland sending out PTH to ask for calcium is like a mom telling her teenage son to pick up his socks off the floor. If he does it the first time she asks, everything is good. If she has to ask a second or third time, she’s going to raise her voice. And if she keeps asking and the socks stay on the floor, she is going to scream at the next person who walks into the house and forcibly take their socks. Your parathyroid glands will steal eventually calcium from your bones.

We got taught: shockable rhythms are like WiFi. What do you do when it doesn't work properly? You reset it.
If there's a signal but no connection? Shock.
You don't shock a good rhythm (WiFi) that works (sinus rhythm).
You don't shock a rhythm where the box has been turned off by the wall (can't be reset) (asystole).

When I explain diabetes I say “insulin is like the bouncer at a club” and with diabetes the bouncer forgot to show up to work so everyone (glucose) is waiting outside the club (the cell) and can’t get in.
And yes, now when I hear “I don't see how you can hate from outside the club. You can't even get in” I think of diabetes.

Family doc—Explaining why cholesterol can be so high in someone who has hereditary high cholesterol (familial hyperlipidemia). It’s like you are at Costco trying to find a parking space but you just keep driving around but cannot, for the life of you, find a damn parking spot. Your lipids can’t find a place to park, so it just stays in your blood with nowhere to go.

From 1 to 10, 10 are you sure, 10 is like a bear is pulling you apart and eating your insides while you're still awake….. suddenly their pain level goes from 10/10 to 6/10… 🤷‍♀️