The month's over & it was mostly meh. Nothing about it was the worst of the year, but none of it was great either. At least it's ending on a sunny day. Normally we'd have plans but we handled most of today's stuff yesterday. We had to go out because mail not running on Monday. All that's left for today is getting trash to the curb.
That's the end of May here, hope your's went well.
Cya..
Due to the weird weather, the lawn hasn't been mowed as regularly as it normal. It wasn't super high, but some extra smelly things grew up. When the man nowed, it stunked. This morning, it still smells.
My roomie, the cat & I spent yesterday dealing with the aftereffects of the yardwork. My eyes, throat & nose hated me. I coughed & finally sneezed myself into a slight nosebleed. Grass is OK from a distance. I'd rather not have it up close, too much pollen, stink, bugs, work & noise.
Still recovering from the mowing. We have some errands today, that should've been handled yesterday, but it was a mail holiday. So, today it is.
Cya...
They're back. I found a few articles that sounded interesting this morning. Each piece was behind a paywall. Most didn't even give the 1st paragraph or an abstract. Unless you were already subscribed, it would've been a blind buy. It's possible other sources may cover the matters in a bit. Maybe next time, there won't be any paywalls.
Take care.
Cya...
It's being an uneventful end of May, at least for me. There aren't any big plans for the holiday or things needing done immediately. It's a sunny morning, that's nice. Things that haven't arrived yet, hummers, dragons or bunnies. I guess the rabbits chose another yard. There've been a few possums about. So far not much else in the yard.
The locals haven't been too annoying with the holiday. Just some idiot who likes whiny, country rap. A bad combination in any form. But no lighter fluid ridden grilling has happened yet. If that's all there is, that'd be good.
That's it for now, take care.
Cya...
I think most people would rather be led by religion or rhetoric than science. Both the previous things are somewhat cultish & what they state is fairly set in stone. Science at its core should always be evolving with exposure to new information & current events. Religion is a dead thing, a fossil made of old ideas . Science is dynamic. It's adapting, adjusting & refining as it encounters new or further phenomenon.
Do you want a rigid life where the rules are engraved in granite, then religion's for you. If you want to move forward, however frustrating or frightening that may be, look to science. There's the old line, "To boldly go..." Star Trek had ideology & science, not religion. Where the federation got into trouble was when it relied to heavily on it's own rhetoric instead of adapting to the situation.
You have a choice, move forward or stick your head in the sand. There will always be new information, findings, discoveries, formulas, etc... For better or worse, even after decades, new finding still emerge about HIV meds.
But with that new info, they can adjust. That's the way of science. It won't bring the comfort of absolute certainty. But it can give the assurance, it's probably the best currently available & it'll keep looking into the matter. Science isn't a short race with a finish line. It's a long haul, marathon with goals along the way. Passing mile markers doesn't end the endeavor.
Cya...
This is the last Friday in May 2023. We have to go shopping & may run some errands. Other than that, we're mostly finished for the month. There wasn't much for articles, but it's the end of the month for them as well. There's a lot up in the air at the moment & it's a holiday weekend, maybe are holding off until next week.
That's it for now, take care.
Cya...
It's brighter here this morning but not really sunny. This looks to be the rest of the month. There won't be much happening here today.
Last night was annoying. We were set to watch the last of a series & the cable box screwed up. I spent nearly 45 minutes on the phone with an incompetent representative. She accomplished nothing & tried to set a tech appointment for nearly a week away with a 10 hour window of a tech possibly showing up.
I finally unplugged everything & waited a while & then replugged. Suddenly there was the show. Half over, but it was there. Normally, just a quick unplug & replug will reset the box. I don't know what was happening, but something wasn't working. Then the show ended badly.
It'd been nice if the month ended in a decent way. Take care.
Cya...
There've been a lot of generalized reports about HIV cases in the US being on the decline for the past decade. I'm not interested in the specifics here, just the side notes. They said too many people aren't on PrEP. Maybe a lot of people can't be on the med. Maybe they can't afford or tolerate it. Is it possible they'd rather rely on a much more affordable & less risky condom? The CDC sounds like an ad agency for PrEP.
The other point was that even though the overall numbers were down some at risk groups were still higher than average. By at risk groups they referred mostly to Hispanics & Blacks. For decades people have fought against HIV. A lot of effort has been aimed at non-White communities. What more can people reasonably do? If these 2 groups don't wish to take care of themselves, what can be done about it. Maybe educate others these groups are less apt to play safe. Oops, that probably wouldn't go over well, even if it is fairly accurate.
Cya.
Conservatives have made it very clear they hate most nonprofit organizations that provide assistance for anything. That goes double for anything that involves people who happen to be of color, poor, Gay, etc... If it's an organization providing aid to these groups on matters of housing, food or medical republicans tend to despise them.
Why? They want 2 things, money & control. They say nonprofits cut into corporate gains. They also are concerned these organizations might be giving assistance to "those people." Republicans want to ensure corporations get their money as well as control who gets what aid. Being anti nonprofit is part of their hate agenda & a means of furthering WASPy agenda.
They scream it's to save the children, to protect their kind of people & to ensure financial viability. What it's really about is simple hate & control. Conservative groups hate anything that doesn't walk, talk, look & think like them.
Expect to see more nonprofits lose funds & have to close. It will get more difficult to find aid or any kind. There be hoops, hurdles & cattle chutes to get any kind of assistance if republicans get their way. Most people will go through all this only to be told, "We're sorry but you didn't meet our criteria for assistance." Then they'll laugh as they walk off form those in need.
Is there anything more vile than a American conservative?
Cya...
So far, this morning is going OK. It's reasonably bright out even if not really sunny. It's not raining, it's not gloomy. That's a step up.
We have to go shopping in a bit. That's about it for this morning. It'd be nice if Walmart wasn't too much of a pain. It's been weirder & busier than usual the last several times we've been there on a Monday.
That's all for now, take care.
Cya...
Not a great morning. I got woke up to some noise outside. When I went to the bathroom, I saw the modem light was just blinking. I unplugged it & replugged it, then nothing. It didn't reset, it just went dark. I tried the plug in other places & nothing. I tried the router cord & it worked. I had another power cord, so I replaced it.
By the time I got to bed, I was awake. Then every idiot in my neighborhood had to start making noise. My neighbor likes to start his truck at all hours of the night & early morning. It wouldn't be so bad, but he lets it idle & occasionally revs the engine. The noise is annoying.. Then something went running across the porch knocking stuff about. That was probably a squirrel or a clumsy bird. Either way, it was loud. By 8, I gave up & got out of bed.
On top of it all, it's still dark out after getting 2" of rain yesterday. I hate mornings, the almost always suck. Hope everyone else's day goes better.
Cya...
It seems 2023 is set on sucking. I'm sure some people have had some good points this year, but the most I can say is some days didn't just utterly suck. It's closing in on June & you could probably count the days of full, sunny brightness so far on a single hand. There have been days that started bright only to crap out later in the day.
We probably won't get any really sunny days until it's so blazing hot we won't be able to enjoy them. 2023 if your aim was to suck, you're succeeding. There really aren't good years anymore, not even good months. It seems a few pathetic minutes or maybe an hour is the best you get.
I've got every light on in my room & it's still damned dark. I hate this. The best I can hope for is that some damn perky people drown while looking up at the clouds. My good moods are just about as rare as sunny days.
Cya...
Nothing's going on here, IRL or on the net. At least it's somewhat bright out this morning. Who knows how long that might last. Some regular plans had to be altered this week. So here we are with a day of nada.
Alterations is a big concept around here lately. I talk to my roomie & others online about changes they're trying to make. The biggest thing going for them is that they have a plan. Equally important is they're willing to modify & alter that plan as needed. When you're trying something new in your life or even newish, it's a learning curve. Your initial plans, methods, goals, etc... may all need reexamining & possible alteration. Some approaches might work better than expected or not at all.
Too many of us are unwilling or incapable of asking for help. A lot of us see needing help or any little set back or misstep as failure. Life is nothing but a series of failures, runs of trial & error, attempts until we get it things where we need them. It may be easy or it could be monumental. Just keep trying to move, even if it's only by the tiniest of bits.
I'm not trying to say I'm expert at this. I'm not. I barely do anything anymore. Definitely not a lot of new endeavors. Whatever ever you're striving for, I wish you well.
Cya...
The weather's weird. It got chilly yesterday & last night. The rest of the month is supposed to be under 90. It's also supposed to be dark & possibly storming. This could get muggy. The sun's making the clouds glow. It's rough on the eyes.
Other than handling trash & some errands, there isn't much going on here. Take care.
Cya...
It's the middle of the month & so far this it's been fairly gloomy. It's May, where's the sunlight? It doesn't have to get hot, but some light would be great.
There isn't much going on here or in the way of articles. Every once in a while I see piece about someone finally figuring out that conservatives are anti-gay. They actually hate just about anything not WASP & male. They'll use people of color, women & gays. But, those people are totally disposable once the job is done, like paper towels. Conservatives use these people to handle messes & look supportive. So yes, Virginia, conservatives really do hate you.
That's all for, take care.
Cya...
I don't know if we have Spring any more or if the season just changed so much it's hard to recognize. A ways back, the season started in March & lasted until June. The last few years have been cold until at least mid April. I didn't get blankets stowed until early May this year.
We no longer get bright, springy days with light showers & the proverbial flowers. Instead there's this dreary, cold wet season right after the frigid months. That jumps straight into hot, muggy hell. According to the forecast, most of May will be overcast, cloudy or storming.
Some people doubt climate change, but we used to have 4 distinct seasons here. Now, Fall & Spring are just road bumps between hot & freezing. There's been enough sun for me not to be dealing with full on SAD, but not enough to feel really with it. I don't need hot, but some light would be great.
That's all for now, take care.
Cya...
I mostly post about my little corner of the world. However, this piece is about people living across the globe. Each bit is about someone who's been HIV+ longer than I have. It's their tales across the globe, but 1 thing remains the same, the stigma.
Stigma changes, comes in waves, alters tactics, but it never goes away. I understnad the idea that education can lessen the matter, but can it? It's been decades & the world has all the info it needs, but still the stigmatization rages, from lies & discrimiantion to legal penalization & prosecution. Fighting stigma is a fight that can never be won. It's time to choose better battles.
Cya...
We've been having a lot of rainy patches the last week or so. It's been very humid, then very dry. My body's not liking a bit. My feet are prone to swelling during weather like this, usually nothing too bad. The worst thing for me is the morning dehydration. Nighttime storms during warmer weather often leave me dried out when I wake. The last couple of mornings, I've woke to nosebleeds from my nasal passages being too dried out. This morning's wasn't too bad, still it was unwanted & required some clean up.
This kind of weather can also lead to gout flare ups. I can't do much about weather conditions, but I can try to make sure I don't give any additional causes for a gout occurence. For the rest of it, the best I can do is to stay hydrated.
That's all for now, take care.
Cya...
It's sort of bright this morning. The sky's glowing through a layer of clouds. It's been this way all Spring, weird, contradictory weather & light. It's warm, it's cold. It's bright, 2 minutes later, it's dark. We need a little rain, it poured a foot of water. This season has been changing back & forth so much & so often it's left me feeling fairly off most of the time. The body has a hard time adjusting to all the swings. Since the weather won't pick a lane, it'd be nice if it could at least choose a road, direction or destination.
We have shoping & some errands to handle. This is it for now. Take care.
Cya...
Last evening was stressful. The power went out. It was a circuit that needed replacing. That was the same thing they said after the micro burst & it took them almost 2 days to get fixed. They gave an estimate of 2+ hours & the clock started. I hate these things. I can't do anything & there's food in the fridge/freezer that could go bad. Everytime a power issue happens there's a chance something like a microwave or computer may never work again.
We decided to head out to Fort Smith & burn some time. Luckily, when we got back the power had been restored. We mostly rely on wifi for phone stuff. We found out 5G is way slower & eats your battery. Probably not news to anyone who's being using a smart phone for longer than us.
It rained off & on last night. Then this morning the trash man came. The city street department people also came. So the trash & the brush as both gone. But, they were both really loud & early this morning. My sleep wasn't the best due to stress & noise.
It'd be nice if things would settle down for a bit. Take care.
Cya...
I got caught up in looking at other things this morning & nearly forgot to post anything. There isn't much going on today. Some plans got rescheduled. Winter cleaning has finally really begun. Hoepfully soon all the blankets will be washed & put away.
That's all for now, take care.
Cya...
Technically yesterday was a productive day. It was also very annoying & tiresome. We handled what we needed, but at every point there were irritating issues, mostly people. There were a lot of asses being shown yesterday, all of them ugly.
I had some yard work to handle this morning. I need to get cleaned up now & then get food. There might be some minor things that need tending to later. For now, I'll try to recover from Monday's muckery.
Take care.
Cya...
An errand popped up. Nothing big, just something that needs to be handled. We'll be out for a while, so we're heading out a little early. It's bright this morning. This may be the last sunny AM for a bit if all the rain they're forecasting happens. We need rain. I'm not sure we need all that rain, at least not all at once.
That's it for now, take care.
Cya...
The article I found this morning is a bit troublesome. The title is, "Gene Therapy Can Effectively Eliminate HIV Infection." The article covers the same info I did for a recent post. It discussed deactivating the CCR5 mutation & snipping the virus from the cell. The concept CRISPR has been around a bit. The method has been studied for a while, still it isn't a proven strategy. Thus far, it's been used in humanized mice.
Even though the title infers there's a cure for HIV via gene therapy, there isn't at this time. Maybe this can be made to work in mice 100% of the time. That doesn't mean it will automatically translate to any other animals or humans.
Still the title remains & many people will read that & think they can be cured tomorrow. Articles like this can do far more harm than they will inform of future possibilities. Before you write, know your audience. Albeit there was some serious jargon in this article, it was written to lean towards lay people, not medical professionals. Even though the title is technically accurate, it's click bait & a false promise. This type of writing is misleading, harmful & quite frankly disgusting.
Cya...
The 1st week of May is almost over & the starting Saturday has decided to be bright. It was nice to wake up to some sunny skies. There's a bit of overcast, but we still have a lot of rain chances in the forecast. The seas of yellow hell flowers are in bloom in the fields just outside town. They're very pretty, but they try to kill me. So, I'd rather the wind blow elsewhere.
That's all for now. House bills & errands have been handled for a bit. Take care.
Cya...
It's a grey 5th of May. So much for a bright new month. It look's like a lot of the 1st half of this month will be gloomy, great more drear. At least it's a little warmer. I'm really over the 22/23 season of darkness & drear.
That's it for now. There's shopping & errand on the list for today. Take care.
Cya...
It looks like May is going to start off stormy. As long as it's warmer I'll be happier. I'm really tired of being cold. Still, I'd rather it be bright.
There's nothing gone on today. We'll finish the house bills tomorrow. Then most of May will be settled for those matters.
That's all for now, take care.
Cya...
It'll be a bit of busy day for us. I need to get through my morning stuff & get cleaned up. Then I'll need to eat & get trash to the curb. It's also time to handle the 1st of the month stuff, errands & bills. There weren't any new articles so that's not on the table today. It's bright & warming up. This could be the end of the 40s. If so, I could finish up some winter cleaning soon. I'll give it a bit to make sure it doesn't flip back again. I've already started trying to wash things over a month ago. Maybe this time it'll take.
Cya...
This article is a bit wordy, but worth it. It's about reasearch using a dual CRISPR approach to cure humanized mice of HIV. Some points; this is research, CRISPR is gene editing, humanized mice carry human genes, cells or tissues.
While on a long acting HIV medication, this dual approach would directly attack & remove HIV from infected cells. Then it would inactivate the CCR5 mutations in these cells. This similar to what happens to humans who have been cured via transplant.
This is still in the research phase & these are mice, even if humanized. Even if this does work, they will have to ensure to impact every aspect in the body. If not, the dormant HIV would eventually return.
This may sound like the rantings of a mad scientist in a horror movie, but the science is grounded. Despite the mixed species aprroach, this may lead to a possible cure not involving some one getting a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia.
Something to keep an eye on. Take cae.
Cya...
Well May finally got here. I hope it brought some warmer temps & sunshine with it. It's bright this morning, but still chilly. We have to go shopping in a bit & this week will be 1st of month bills stuff. There aren't any out of the ordinary appointments. I'm getting a handle on the yard stuff. It'll probably be done within a week or so. Then on to the mass of blankets I need to wash & stow.
That's it's for now. Maybe Spring actually showed up. Take care.
Cya...
