Maybe Another...

 

There hasn't been any significant rain here since July.  Most of the grass is brown & crunchy.  The trees are so dry their leaves are already turning brown & falling.  There might not be any left come October.  The tiger lillies have survived into September before with blooms.  This year the flowers left in late June & now even the greenery is browned.  The flowers in the myrtles & rose of sharons are wilting.

This morning I saw a flit across the backyard.  It circled a flowering bush & then landed on the power line for a few seconds before it sped out of the area.  I think it was small, probably hungry hummer.  But it was gone so quick I'm not sure.

This year has been a bust.  I've seen a couple of dragons.  I've spotted maybe 2 hummers for a few seconds.   There haven't been many of the other birds either, even the normal yard birds have lessened.   Normally I see a lot of moths, butterflies & field bees; this year almost none.  It's so dry, I saw a horsefly come to the water bowl.

To hell with denialist, Summers are much worse than they were when I was a kid.  

Cya...

Rough Days...

 

Yesterday didn't go as well as I'd hoped.  It didn't get as hot, but I was still winded from the previous days.  Ragweed's kicking in.  It & the fans are killing my eyes & nose. 

The worst of yesterday was that my digestion was trashed.  I was bloated, gassy & felt like I could get sick for hours.  It didn't happen & the pressure eventually settled, but it was rough.  I wondered if I'd drank too much carbonation, so I drank more water.

I thought, this feels a lot like when I had to stop using sugar-free cough drops.  They'd started adding xylitol & it wrecked me.  I wasn't using cough drops, but I did get myself a treat from the store we hit less often.  They're old fashion, orange slices.  They'd redone the packaging.  When I checked, they'd changed more than the plastic, they're altered the ingredients.  It wasn't xylitol, but another sugar alcohol, sorbitol.  It didn't hit me as fast, but it was very notable.   I'm not 100% sure this was the culprit, but for now, it's getting cut out. Hopefully, that will help.  If not, back to step 1.

That's all for today, take care.

Cya...   

Depleted...

 

This Summer's wiped me out & it's still here.  I'm downing fluids.  I'm sweating so much salt, my hat & t-shirts have white streaks.  I've had a couple of good nights sleep, but it's going to take more to get me rested.  There are still some hot nights coming.  My sleep is iffy under the best conditions, let alone swelter.   I wish I could live some place where the coldest it got was 60 & the hottest maxed out at 95.  It'd also need to have good mowing services & bug control.  I won't ever live anywhere like that, but it'd be great.

That's all for now, take care.

Cya...

They Stopped Talking...

 

During the 80s - early 00s, the conversation on HIV was loud & very present.  In the medical arena, in the social scene, on media, etc... In the last decade or so, they've redefined HIV as manageable & the discussions dwindled.  Articles like this piece, point out how knowledge of HIV has dropped.  It peaked in GenX & dropped drastically by GenZ.   That brought a lack of comfort with being near someone HIV+.  It also strengthened the stigma machine.

Is HIV manageable?  Yes, but only with awareness, education, knowledge, testing, treatment & outreach.  Without those & a lot of funds, the virus will surge again & possibly become more dangerous than before.

It's the media & health officials' responsibility to keep this information active.  But, it's also on you to educate & protect yourself.  There are meds for HIV, but it is still here & can lead to death if not treated.

Educate yourself, take care.

Cya...

Hot Bad Day...

 

The only thing I accomplished yesterday was getting labs drawn.   I barely got through the rest of the daily stuff.  I felt awful most of the day & I'm still feeling pretty rough.   The heat did me in.  We had a burst of rain last night.  It didn't last long & just cranked up the humidity.  Not much will be going on today.  I need to try to recover from that.  I think it's to the point to where I just don't have a good time of the year anymore.  This sucks, I used to love Summer.

That's it for now, take care.

Cya...

Walled Up Again...

 

Almost didn't find any articles & then I saw something.  It was piece about how a therapy of long dose hydrocortisone could help HIV+ women with cognitive issues.  It sounded interesting.  Too bad every version of this piece was behind a paywall.  

I understand sites have to be maintained & writers/researchers need paid.  Still, it's frustrating to see pieces like this locked away from general viewing.  This could be something someone saw & then asked their doctor about.  Most people won't get that option, because they'll never hear about it, let alone see it.

That's my bit on that.  Here comes another stupidly hot day.  I should be doing labs today, but so far there's no word on that.  It could be tomorrow.  Take care.

Cya...

What Articles...

 

Finding pieces to post about can be an issue.  For some time, there haven't been many coming out.  1st, it seemed due to normal process, then tRump's budget issues, then everything else under the sun.  Now, finding a relevant piece isn't likely on a regular basis.  Then there are the bad pieces, the paywalls & the abstracts.  

I think it's kind to call some of those abstracts.  A piece like that is supposed to be a concise, yet thorough, summation of the article & it's information.  Many abstracts now are article bio, blips of info about the piece & then a few sentences of summation often ending in ellipses.   Those aren't abstracts, they're not even a blurb.  They are so brief they're functionally useless.

Oh well, there's my articles rant.  It's hot, getting hotter.  Will be so for the duration & BTW ragweed is back, joy.  Take care.

Cya...