This is the last day of March. It's the last Wednesday & trashday of the month. It's not been an easy month. It wasn't as rough as February, but it had a lot of tension. I'm ready for it to be April. Then again April will start with our 2nd COVID vaccination.
Goodbye March, you could've been a lot worse, but you could've been a lot better. Here's hoping for good things in April.
Cya...
By late Winter, early Spring, my tolerance for the dreary, dismal or gloomy has mostly been spent. After yesterday, this morning's greyness is a bit overwhelming. Hopefully it'll lighten up. I don't feel that well & it'd be nice to see sunlight today.
The rest of the week will be busy for us. We have errands, bill handling, shopping, visits & vaccines until Saturday. That's a lot for us. I'd appreciate it being brighter.
That's all for now. Take care.
Cya...
This will be short. I have to go shopping. I filed my benefit renewal online this morning. That crap always leaves me nervous. I don't think I screwed up, I checked it over repeatedly. But, until I hear back, I won't know if it went through or if they need anything else. I hate renewal time. It's not like they don't already known everything about me. It really feels like a practice in agita, stress & anxiety.
Cya...
The new month is about to start & we're getting things ready. We had the 1st mow of the year yesterday. It was needed, but I still hated it. I hate the noise & all the yick it kicks up into the air. I did the 1st yard spray of the year, more yick. We'll deal with the Winter bushes soon.
This week will begin bill paying & monthly errands. Tomorrow I have to file for renewal of benefits for my assistance, medical & the like. On Thursday, we'll go for our 2nd round of COVID shots. Past that, the month should be a go.
Sorry for no articles. I found some this morning, but they were all behind paywalls. Maybe the topics will pop up later. I understand the need for revenue. But those paywalls make it difficult to stay up to date on just about anything.
Take care.
Cya...
I did something rare for me. I actually got 8 hours of sleep last night. I'm usually around 7 to slightly over. Sometimes I get less. A night or so of getting less is OK. After that, I start feeling off quick. The strange thing is 8 hours of sleep always leaves me waking very groggy. It takes me quite a while to actually feel fully functional.
I woke to brighter skies, but they clouded over quickly. We have more rain chances. After that last round, we passed our monthly average. These grey skies don't mix well with being groggy.
Maybe some people are meant to get 8+ hours per night. I don't think that's true for all of us. Unless I'm sick, it always feel like too much. I'll be normal here in a bit, but that much sleep, grey skies & allergies are a lot to move past in the morning.
That's all for me. In your life, the things people tell you that you need, like 8 hours of sleep, may not always work for you. That's OK. Figure what does work & stick to that. It's your life, it should be livable for you, not others. Take care.
Cya...
As a researcher, I realize the importance of demographics & the need to examine a diverse population for any study. However, the core of any study should be the inherent focus. For this blog, the area is direct, HIV.
IMO, for years now, too much of HIV research has been divided. Again population diversity is vastly important, but not at the expense of the totality of the study. While there is still some research at the wholeness of the issue of HIV/AIDS. Much of it, if not most, has been divided. It's now a matter of ethnicity, nationality, economics, sex, gender, etc... Again, these are factors in any study. But a study over HIV in poor, Black, transgender women living in mid continent Africa shouldn't prevail over other studies. Yet, often I see articles that specifically divided overwhelming other research.
HIV research isn't the only thing we've fractured. Almost every area of research is now like this. News reports are filled such pieces. We've left the macro for an almost entirely micro viewpoint. Both are necessary.
My blog is about HIV. Yes, I am more interested in articles that affect rural areas like where I live. But, I don't expect every article to be like that. It's nice to see a non-metro perspective every once & a while. But of all these divisions, I'd say being poor & rural probably trumps most of them when it comes to HIV. So, write about your specifics, but don't lose sight of the big picture.
Cya...
It's threatened to rain all month. We've had some, but not near our averages. That's getting handled. It started raining just after dark last night & got heavy. We had some serious thunder claps. They knocked out electricity once. According to the charts, we had between .5 - 1.5" before midnight. I'm leaning towards the middle. We've had more than that since. We passed our monthly rain average.
That's all for now. I overslept & am running late. I'll finish up & get around. Take care.
Cya...
I looked for articles this morning & thought I saw quite a few. I didn't. What I actually saw were a bunch of repackaged, slightly rewritten rehashes of old topics. Reiteration of important topics is a good teaching method. Still, most articles now are just restatements. They usually promote existing meds, approaches or ideologies.
I have no new articles to discuss. Today is trash day & we're still waiting to find out about our 2nd part of the COVID vaccination. Other than that, we'll check mail & maybe run an errand.
Take care.
Cya...
I never like Springtime allergies, but they're not usually this rough on me. My roomie, the cats & myself are all reacting much worse to allergens this year. I don't know if the pollen levels are worse, we're just not used to after being cooped up or something else entirely. I do know the whole house has felt poorly due to them this season. Mowing has begun in the area & that was not a fun day. Hopefully, it'll lessen or we'll get used to them. Until then, it's allergy pills, tissues, ibuprofen & hot tea.
Cya...
Another Monday is here & we'll head out shopping in a bit. I'll have to shower before that. Otherwise, there's not much going on today. It looks like it'll rain later. We're seriously short on rain totals for the month. We'll need to make our next vaccination appointment this week. I'll start checking later today. That's about it for now.
Take care.
Cya...
It's a bright morning. It's warming up & the 30 degree overnights seem to be gone. I'm hearing a lot of birds & flowers are blooming outside. Spring is definitely here. There will be things I'm not overly fond of this season, but I do like the light & warmer days.
I know the lawn mowing & yard yick is right around the corner. The bugs are ramping up as well. But it's shining & I'm not cold. Soon, the blankets will be washed & stowed. The house shoes & jackets will be back in their off season places.
Yes, there will be yuck, but there will also be sunshine. I'll try to look at the flowers & not the green pollen mess. I'll try to focus on the birdsong & not the mowers. I won't always succeed, but I'll try.
Take care.
Cya...
It dipped down near freezing last night. It's still chilly, but at least the sun's shining. Other than some allergy yick, this morning's going well so far.
Windows seems to have settled it's update issue for now. We'll see how long that lasts. It's the Spring Equinox. Happy Ostara.
It's been over a year since COVID started. It isn't anywhere near as handled as it should have been. At least progress has been made, no matter what some asshats have tried & are trying to pull.
Take care.
Cya...
Windows updates are screwing up my morning again. They never work like they're supposed to & end up eating all my time. This is it for now. I hate these damned updates. After that, I get to go shopping.
Cya..
According to this piece & others. The Oklahoma State Department of Health has created a new Rapid Start & PrEP program. They sound promising but are bit vague.
The program will run through county OSDH offices. A Nurse Practitioner will handle the cases. If the person is negative they will be put on the PrEP side. The rapid start aspect is to get those who are HIV+ on meds & receiving care within 3 months of diagnosis.
There are about 7,000 HIV cases in the state. If you add those in that don't know they are infected that number could be considerably higher. The articles don't go into detail where treatment will be handled. It'd be great if this was handled at the health department. That'd mean a lot less travel. Right now, there are only 2 places in the state. Tulsa is 2 hours from me & OKC is over 3 hours away.
Another detail left out, was cost. How much & who's paying. This will be expensive & many can't afford it. Unless there are monies to handle this, I don't have hope for the program. Even at my worst, I never qualified for anything directly from Ryan White. If I hadn't been declared disabled & put in medicaid, I'd be without medical coverage.
I hope this program succeeds. The state needs it. Maybe eventually, I'll have other options besides Tulsa. That'd be nice. Right now, I'm doing well with them, but that could change. Without another option, I'd be stuck.
Cya...
This is going to be brief. Storms woke me up throughout the night. I didn't sleep that well & now it's dreary. I feel a wreck. Hopefully, this will pass as the day does. Luckily, I just have trash & a couple of errands today.
Take care & Happy St. Patricks.
Cya...
It looks like March is going to be my hardest month again. It's sunny at the moment, but it looks like most of this month is going to stay dreary & threaten storms. We need the rain, but I need more light. Springtime is really getting to be the hardest on me in regards to light levels & SAD.
After Winter, I'm out of reserves & need more light. For me, March is a fairly foul month. If it's not weird weather & rain, it's the return of bugs & grass. If I'm going to be harrassed by bugs, it could at least be bright. I could deal without needing blankets & still hearing lawns mowers.
Rant's over for now. Take care.
Cya...
I'm not taking great to this time change, Spring or allergies this year. I've felt off all weekend & woke up late. We have to go shopping soon, so this will be short.
There are articles about other drug makers vying to be the next company to come up with the 2nd long lasting, injectable for HIV. It's expected, but the info is still newish. It's a good thing, that means more competition to make a newer array of meds.
That's all for now. Hopefully I feel better today. At least the sun is shining.
Cya...
I didn't feel well yesterday. I woke up dehydrated & never really got over it. I went to bed early for me. At least that gave me a bit of a boost for this morning. The time changed last night & we sprang forward an hour. That'll mean more afternoon light.
I meant to write about having COVID arm. It seems the vaccine, mostly Moderna, is giving people a rash or redness about a week after the shot. The bumpy rash lasted about a day. It's still pinkish around the site. The skin feels a little thick. If that's the worse I get from it, I can handle that.
Stimulus checks are rolling out. Some people have already got them. Even if the money doesn't solve every issue, it at least lets people know that some do care about what they're going through. Here's hoping COVID ends soon.
Take care.
Cya...
I've read a few articles over the cost effectiveness of universal testing. They've speculative at best. But, I generally agree with their conclusions. Yes, it would be expensive. Yes, it would require maintenance. It would require monitoring & would be ongoing for the foreseeable future.
However, something like this would get a grasp on just how many people are living with HIV. It would let those people know they are +. It could be used to bring about a slow end to this illness.
It would be very expensive, but less than the constant, ongoing treatment of those living with HIV, now & in the years to come. Universal education, testing & treatment is the only way HIV will end.
Cya...
Windows used to mostly limit its updates to a regular schedule. I miss that. Now, it updates whenever it wants. The problem is, some updates are just bitchy. They get really annoying when they won't just go through.
There's talk of another HIV vaccine going into development. I don't discuss these much. The information complex & most often overly vague. If & when, a vaccine looks to have promise, I'll post about it. Until then, I'll keep watching.
Take care.
Cya...
It's overcast & we have rain chances for the weekend. We need the rain, but I still need light. Maybe rain will get the smoke out of the air.
It looked like there were a lot of articles. They were all restatements & rehashes. I'd rather see no articles than rehashes. Admitting there's currently nothing new is more acceptable than trying to repackage & spin old stories.
Take care.
Cya...
Short post, yesterday should've & could've been a fine day. It started out well. When we returned from doing errands, the sky was hazy & orange. Someone was doing controlled burns in the area. The smoke was intense. It was not an easy day for breathing, seeing or just about anything else.
It left us feeling fairly off & I'm still not great this morning. I'll post more tomorrow. Hopefully, the burning is over for now.
Cya...
Someone asked for my opinion of a singer yesterday. I didn't know much about the person or their work. They told be some alleged info about the performer & I told them I didn't know anything about it. This morning, she informed me this morning she had gotten the name wrong. Didn't help me out any, I still didn't know the artist in question.
I asked my roomie about it. I had the wrong info about an artist. I should've Googled it 1st, but it wasn't important to me. In a limited chain of conversations, I conveyed inaccurate information about this singer. If this can happen with something as mundane as rumors about a singer, what about more serious things? This is where communication breaks down, rumors get started & conspiracies develop.
The info I was given was about the wrong person. It was only "talk" about the actual singer. None of it may have been accurate at all. Still, it travelled to & from me & I became a chain in this misinformation. It was that easy. Be careful with your "facts." Not only can they be wrong, they could be about some entirely different person, thing or situation.
Cya...
The 1st full week of March is over. The beginning of the month is always busy, but this was a bit much. We had our normal routines, as well as getting vaccinated & 2 delayed appointments. Both of our appointments were originally been set for an earlier date. It would've been easier on us, if they'd happened when they should have.
It's all handled. We can deal with the rest of the month as it comes. The forecast calls for a midweek warm up & then back to seasonal temps. There's a chance for more rain. We could use it, but I could use the sunlight.
That's all for now, take care.
Cya...
PS - The little blue flowers have been back in the yard for a couple of weeks. They're always the 1st sign of thing s getting warmer & brighter.
Our busy week is over. All the beginning of the month stuff got handled. Somethings are a little off due to February being a short month. We've handled bills, trash, errands, appointments & vaccinations. Today, we do nothing. I'm still a little spent & could use the day to catch up a bit.
Take care.
Cya...
I've need to get, we have to go shopping. We had our 1st vaccinations yesterday. My arm is a little sore & I'm tired. So far, that's about it. We have to go back the beginning of April for the next shot. Then it's a bit before we're considered immunized.
I didn't notice any articles. That's it for now. Take are.
Cya...
I saw a couple of pieces that should've been interesting. The 1st was over a conference at Boston University over sexual delayal, condom use & stigma. Could've been a good read, but it basically discussed the fact the conference had happened, not what was discussed.
Thee next was a piece titled a resistance primer. With that title, it should've been an informative piece concerning HIV meds & drug resistance. Could've been very helpful. But, it turned out to be barely 10 paragraphs of general info. So, not very useful.
It's another busy morning for us. We have some errands & then we get our 1st COVID vaccination shot I still need to get cleaned up. This is it for now.
Cya...
I feel like crap this morning. I hate waking up in the dark. Fortunately, the sun is rising, I have a telemedicine appointment soon & then a morning full of errands. Oh joy, not.
I've seen articles for a couple of days about HIV controllers in the Congo area of Africa. These people have HIV but their bodies are naturally controlling the virus to keep it from escalating. Researchers are studying it, to see if it can help others. At this point, the whole situation seems pretty vague. I'll post more if I see it.
I have to get around. Take care.
Cya...
Other than house stuff, I don't have anything to do today. My roomie has an appointment & we're both busy the rest of the week. There'll be appointments, trash, shopping, bills, vaccinations other errands. That's busy for us.
Had an very un-fun thing happen. Got a letter from my car insurance. They're closing up shop. I've outlasted another car insurer. Once, I find out my end date, I can start looking for new overage. This sucks.
It's a chilly morning, but at least it's bright out. That helps. Take care & may March treat you with kindness.
Cya...
It's the beginning of the month, so all that business is back in the mix. We have a lot of appointments to handle this week. We'll be ready for the weekend.
It's also the beginning of March. The forecast shows the last hurrah of colder weather this week. It'll be cold, but it's still Winter until the 20th. Spring has already begun for the meteorologists. Daylight Saving Time starts in 2 weeks. I'm already seeing little blue flowers across the yard.
Hello March, please be a good, easy month.
That's all for now, take care.
Cya...
