Dimly through the mists of time and clouds of alcohol-induced memory loss I can cast my mind back and just recall that heady day back in 2009 when I published the first article on your soaraway Shoot Up. Uhm, urr, it was on 1st April. Yes, that’s right, Shoot Up is two years old today. So happy birthday us!
I started Shoot Up on 1st April 2009 after becoming jealous of the success of my wife’s blog over at stripykat.com. If she could do it, so could I! So I started off by reviewing blood glucose meters, as at the time no one seemed to give them much thought. My first review of the Wavesense Jazz seemed to go down quite well (sadly the original comments on the post were lost during the Great Database Meltdown of 2010) and so I carried on, moving on to spouting ill-informed and poorly researched rubbish about diabetes.
A chance encounter in the comments section of someone else’s blog led to me meeting my now esteemed co-writer Alison. Alison had toyed with the idea of blogging but didn’t really have technical interest to set one up and I liked the idea of having someone with considerably more experience of diabetes than me writing on the blog. This combination of geekery and experience was a serendipitous one and one that has continued to flourish.
We then encouraged guest bloggers and have been lucky enough to have some brilliant different perspectives from people like Katie, Simon, Annette, Stephen, Samantha, Mark, Shelley, Tom, Sam & Terry, which has added a great deal of value to the blog and given you all a break from our rubbish.
But, of course, the greatest contribution has been from you – our dear readers – without your comments, humour, encouragement and interest (even from you lurkers who read and never comment!) we both would have packed up and given up long ago. Writing nearly 300 articles about type one diabetes ain’t easy but with your help we’ve done it and will, hopefully, continue to do so.
So what have we achieved over the last two years? I hope we’ve been at least slightly entertaining; I hope we’ve approached diabetes in a positive light; I hope we’ve raised a little bit of awareness about living with diabetes (nothing gives me greater pleasure than non-diabetics reading the blog); I hope we’ve encouraged people to question their health care providers.
But one thing I do know for certain is that we’ve definitely created a positive and happy little community on our wee corner of the web and that’s certainly something worth celebrating!
and thanks to the wonders of modern technology you can now enjoy a very large slab of birthday cake without worrying about your feet dropping off 🙂
A second birthday is not good news – is it now time for tantrums? If I were @annette , I’d throw some, seeing that she too has contributed…
@ckoei – I don’t know what you’re talking about… /ninja edit 😉
Happy Birthday Shoot Up!
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ignore above, something went horribly wrong batman 🙁
Are you trying to break my site again Mike? 😉
Yes!
Gah!
Happy Birthday!
http://cl.ly/2Q2O0g3Y0H3h052p2C17
LOL @ckoei – I like having someone out there batting for me 🙂 Happy birthday SHoPU, long may you continue.
Incidentally, to anyone out there with CWDs – how do you tell if they’re having a temper tantrum or a hypo tantrum? Must be really difficult trying to test a kid with a screaming fit to check! Another reason why all kids should have CGMs – would make parents’ lives that bit easier, I’d guess…
In celebration I’ve upgraded my web hosting – so you can now see if you can get through the 200GB a month of bandwidth I’ve got available! Go for it chaps!
Happy Birthday SUoPU! May you go from strength to strength!
Actually, this site is hugely entertaining as well as being informative, thanks for the last two years Tim and Alison, and here’s to the next twenty! The epitome of everything that’s good about the Intermaweb.
Very happy to have found you. Very, very happy. Ecstatic. I’d like to take this opportunity *wells up* sorry, can’t go on, you know what I mean, you’re all doing very well, very well indeed!
Happy Birthday SUoPU how wonderful I’m so glad I found you. Lighthearted banter, serious discussions and a site which seems to attract people of like minded approach rather than I HAVE DIABETES IT IS NOT MY FAULT BUT ANYTHING YOU SAY WILL BE SHOUTED DOWN BECAUSE YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!!!! I was shocked by Diabetes UK forum (How naive!)
I’ve only just found this place & love it! It really reminds me of a very good BDA Young adults weekend I once went to & loved. Happy Second Birthday!!
BTW It was no 2 daughter’s 2nd last week too ;-D Coincidence? I think not…
I’m new here too and after so long it’s nice to know there are other ‘normal’ diabetics out there.
The welcome has been very warm and the site is a credit to the people who run it and contribute, and those who dip in and out with sarcasm and encouragement.
Keep up the good work 🙂
Hello. I’m new too (although a long-term lurker). It’s so lovely to have found such a sensible(!) bunch of people – Happy Birthday Shoot Up and many happy returns!
@seasiderdave – Errm… define normal… 😉
Happy Birthday guys! Love your attitude and love the site, really well done 🙂
Happy Birthday to you…. happy birthday to you! Wow almost 300 articles and you still make me laugh! A very happy birthday!
Happy birthday. I’m another newby and lurker. It’s a mine of information on here. Love the site.
@teloz – normal: not like anyone else…
Happy Birthday Shoot Up. Im an ex lurker with 33 years of type 1 under my belt along with my pump. I wish sites like this had been around back when I was diagnosed. Well done love your site.
Ok, ok. I’m another long term lurker forced to comment by Tim’s provocative remarks above…”even from you lurkers who read and never comment!”
Happy birthday, and thanks for the healthy doses of sanity/realism!
Welcome to lurkers one and all! 😀
Don’t be strangers – now you’ve set up an account do feel free to pitch in with your comments – they’re more than welcome (unless you’re like that Nazi-guy a while back, whom I had to kick and ban…!)
Any more lurkers out there? 😉
I’m another lurker, although I’ve visited a lot since discovering the site last year I’ve never posted. I was diagnosed 18 months ago at the age of 25. It’s been a steep learning curve but one this site has helped loads with.
Thank you and happy birthday! Keep up the good work.
Happy Birthday to us, I can’t believe that’s 2 years of my life I’m never going to get back. And how exciting that some of the lurkers have slunk out of the woodwork to say hello – that’s the best present ever 😉
Things have certainly changed. Two years ago when I went on holiday, it only took me a minute or so to catch up with the comments I’d missed on ShootUp. I’ve been away for a week and I think I’m going to be trawling through the site for a few hours yet!
Happy Birthday shoot up, from a ‘lurker’ in remission!