Ends & Begin...

 

As August ends, so does my year.  I'm really hoping these next few days & the beginning of the next month go well.  I'd like to close out this chapter with as little agita as possible & open the next bit on as much of a positive as I can muster.  

I'd love to tell you some grand things of being 50, but I can't.  It wasn't just about the age.  It was mostly about my situation.  My 50s weren't great, especially not 59.  Then again nothing in the current century has been that awesome for me.  I feel like I've made a phone call & been placed on hold.  Any second now, the calls going to drop & I won't be able to reconnect.  I'm tired of trying to be part of something I don't fit in & never wanted me anyway.  

So what will the 60s be like?  They'll be like this, but worse.  My life doesn't get better.  If it does, something else screws up or it's a fake out.  The people who tell you it's a privilege to get old are full of it.  Getting old is just that, getting older, nothing more & it sucks.  It should never be an end goal. 

Well there's the last Saturday of August 2026 & me being 59.  Take care.

Cya...

A Few Things...

 

The FDA has a approved a new 1 pill daily regimen from Gilead.   This piece also covers the matter.   The med is for suppressed patients who seek a simplified treatment.  

– Novel Daily Oral Tablet Combines Bictegravir, a Guideline-Recommended INSTI with a High Barrier to Resistance, with Lenacapavir, a First-in-Class Capsid Inhibitor with No Cross-Resistance to Other Existing Antiretrovirals –

– Bixlenvo Now the Smallest STR; First and Only STR for Most People on Complex HIV Treatment Regimens –

It'll run about $4,500 monthly.  It will provide another option for those on more complicated regimens.  They  the price is about average, but wow.

This is the last Friday of August 2026.  There's only 3 full days left in my 59th year.  Here's hoping it ends well & 60 doesn't start of with some level of suckage.

Finally, I saw a 3rd hummer this morning.  It was larger & slightly darker.  Unfortunately, the bushes in our yard look like it's late October, so it flit around & then promptly leave.  It was probably hungry & these shrubs had little to offer.  I haven't seen people posting any of the normal hummer pics like I used to.  I guess everybody is having this issue.  It's just too hot & dry.

That's all for now, take care.

Cya...

Slight Cool Down...

 

It was supposed to rain yesterday, it didn't.  It did cool down some though.  We still hit the century mark, but it didn't last long.  We had the AC off early & didn't need as many fans.   This might last a few days before the heat returns.  

The news says there will be a lunar eclipse tonight.  I'll try to remember to see it.  We don't have anything planned today.  I think we both need that.  It's been too hot & too many people dying, goodbye Dolly & Tim.

That's it for now, take care.

Cya...

I Knew It, But Wow...

 

The 1st part of Summer was dark & rainy.  The beginning of July was pleasant & acting like June.  Then it hit.  The end of July brought the heat & humidity.  This sweltering crap hasn't left.  It's been the hottest end of Summer we've had in years.  

There have been a couple of years in the past 5 that we never hit the century mark.  We hit 100° a couple of times the other years, but not for long.  The night's weren't staying near 80°.  But, that's been the case for over a month here.   There's only been 1 day we didn't need the AC & a few we started it a little later.  Other than that, the AC was on, followed at night by a barrage of fans.  

This will be the most electricity we've used in over a decade during a single billing cycle.  It's not just the AC.  The frig & freezer are working harder.  I have a big fan, that I hadn't used overnight in years.  It sucks power & it's been on every night for over a month, just trying to keep me dry.  Normally I just use a normal box & small oscillating fan by my bed.  All that together isn't making the room cooler, it's barely keeping me dry.

None of this has been good for sleep or staying healthy.  Both of us have been sick & struggling with this crap.  The cat looks melted half the time.  Every plant outside is dying & the animals have mostly moved off.  We need rain & cooler temps.

This has been a miserable Summer & there's a lot of hot weather still in the forecast.  That's it for now, take care.

Cya...

The Last Week...

 

The weather was odd yesterday.  It piddle rained, maybe 0.25".  It never left the 80s, but stayed wet.  It wasn't hot, but not comfortable either.  At least it wasn't 100°+ & muggy.

This is the last week of August.  The end of the last full month of Summer.  The last week of me being 59 & the closing out of my 50s.  I've been here over half a century, a over 2 decades living with HIV & I fully believe there should be some way to either request an exchange or fully refuse this existence forced onto us.  

You could probably fit every decent thing that happened in my life into a single year & every really good thing into a month.   If you took every time I felt safe, secure, happy or was truly looking forward to something, I doubt it'd fill a week.  I'm tired of paying for generations of BS, stupidity & bad choices I had no choice in that made my life.  To all of those who came before me, that had a hand in this, to hell with all of you.

That's near the end of things rant for now.  Take care.

Cya...

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...