October Monday Stuff...

 

Its the last Monday of the month.  There'll be shopping & maybe some errands.   I called in my meds this morning.  Dovato has to be ordered, so it'll be midweek before I can pick them up.  I'm still chipping away at the yard work & Winter prep.  I'm taking this slower.  Maybe I won't do myself in this time.  

Fall's bringing changes in light levels, temps, pressure, etc...  It's making it hard to sleep.   Allergies are still thriving & making breathing scratchy.  I don't handle any seasonal change well.  Add to that, the time change happens this weekend.  I hate that.

October's wrapping up.  I doubt I'd need both hands to count the places I've seen with Halloween decorations.   Store's holiday sections are smaller than last year.   There probably won't be much, if any, of a cheap chocolate day.  We at least watched the Great Pumpkin last night.   That may be it for our halloween.

Take care.

Cya...

Rough Day...

 

My bad night before, made yesterday very hard on me.  I was spent before I even got started.  Shopping left me drenched & huffing for breath.   This weather needs to move out, but the forecast has it here for up to another week.  Every time the heat is supposed to move on, it just stays.   I need to sleep, stop being soaked, be able to eat more, breathe easier, etc...  This Summer has sucked.

I'm of the belief that HIV should be treated mostly by your primary care provider.   It's been here since the 80s, surely the basics could be handled in house & only involve a specialist on occasion.  The problem with that is, out of 200+ medical schools, net searches say only about 15% teach a comprehensive program detailing HIV & other common infectious diseases.  That's maybe 30 in the US.  The rest teach a very cursory blip about the matter.   Maybe in the medical field, outside of pharmacy, took the matter more seriously, we'd be further along in this fight.

That's all for now, 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...

Another Wet June Morning...

 

June has been a lackluster month again.  It could've easily passed April with the rain, storms & gloom.  I guess sunny Junes are a thing of the past.  I wonder how wedding traditionalists feel about that.  A July wedding it is then.  

We've got shopping & that's about it today.  I'm glad.  It's hard to get motivated to do anything with this dreary weather.

That's all, take care.

Cya...

Maybe Warming...

 

It may finally be getting warmer & staying for a while.  There aren't any 50s currently in the forecast.  I can start opening windows & cleaning blankets.  Of course warmer temps come with their own issues, but I typically handle those better.

There wasn't much for articles this morning.  That's been an issue since orange stain came back & will probably be the case for some time.  I think that man & his ilk have every intention of setting the fight against HIV back to the 80s.  

That's it for this morning, take care.

Cya...

Missing Articles...

 

There haven't been many articles in a while.  Those that do get posted are mostly rehash & restatements.  This happens sometimes, but this time is different.  The dearth of HIV news seems to be due to a single factor, funding.  

Ever since tRump started screwing with monies that weren't his to handle; treatment, testing, outreach & research have begun to wither.  It's not just HIV, many areas of medicine are feeling it.  While the orange asshat may have led the charge, it's congress' fault for not doing more.  

Let's be clear, if you support tRump, MAGA, MAHA or  their other enablers, you are part of the problem.  You are helping to harm people.  Don't ever consider yourself a good person.   You're a vindictive twit who wanted to hurt people who weren't like you.  Problem for you it that things like this don't stay contained.  It will eventually take you with it as well.  Enjoy the ride.

Cya...

Last Warmish Day...

 

It's supposed to be seasonally warm today.  Then it's supposed to nosedive until the start of next week.  We're supposed to get below 0°.  No one needed that.  It certainly wasn't wanted in this house.

Articles were limited again this morning.  I'm not surprised.  Attentions are focused on the weather, Florida's ADAP BS & the orange asshat.

That's about it for this morning.  Take care.

Cya...

Busy December Morning...

 

We have errands & shopping this morning.   Then we have to take trash out for a postponed pickup.  That'll happen next week as well.  After that, we're heading to a friends for a bit.  This will wrap up the holidays for us.

Yesterday went well.  It wasn't our normal, but, it could be a new part of our holiday to bring my roomie's stepmom along.  None of us many people left in the area.

This season has been a bit disappointing.  Beyond the stress brought by the asshat in orange, there just was so little umph put into the holiday.   The most decor & music I witnessed was at IHOP yesterday.   Even when I was very anti-holidays, I still enjoyed the lights.  There so few of them this year.

I hope your holidays are going well, take care & be kind to yourselves.

Cya...

Nothing For Eve...

 

For quite a while I hated on the holidays.  Then I grew indifferent to the idea.  My roomie & I had our own things we did & it was fine by me.   For years, I tried to avoid the holidays, now it seems like they're avoiding me.

I watch holiday specials with my roomie.  I probably wouldn't on my own, they're a little too nostalgic at times.  The specials, the songs, the season all seem like hollow promises.  Maybe they were a well meaning trick & eventually we all figure out it's a show.  But the suggestion that there would be good times, friends, family, food, presents, songs, lights, etc... never seems to hold up.

They say it's better to have experienced some things once & then lost them, than to never have had them at all.  I don't agree.   Even with the few good times with my family, the happy holiday events & other moments of seasonal joy, I think I'd rather not have known them.  Now, I have to deal with the reality of it all.  I was a little kid & it wasn't real.  I could've lived without that.

Even though I can enjoy holiday specials, I can see the damage they do & unkept promises they made.  There isn't always tomorrow to make your dreams come true.  You probably won't be rewarded for being good.  The twinkling lights will go out.

Sorry to be a downer, but this year's been weird & rough.  The only light's I'm seeing this year are ours & I just can't seem to get lost in them like I used to.  I've tried listening to the music & I just get annoyed.  This isn't holiday hate or even avoidance.  There just isn't anything there & that feels wrong on a lot of levels.  Even when I avoided holidays, they were still there.  Now, there's this weak, politicized, commercialized suggestion of what used to be.  I feel like I've been sent on a snipe hunt for Christmas.   But, you can't find what doesn't exist.

I'd like to think next year will be better, but things have been going downhill for years.  I doubt another year will make a difference.  This isn't bah humbug, it's just nothing.

For those celebrating, may it be grand time with lights, laughter & song.  

Make some memories.

Cya...

Next To Last Friday...

 

There's only 1 more Friday left in 2025.  There's less than a week until Christmas & not even 2 weeks left in the year.   I've said it a lot the last few years, none of this feels like the holidays.  The sparkle, wonder & anticipation of the season is just gone.  I doubt I'll live to see it again.  It might pop in small bits or places that put on a show like Silver Dollar City, but I think the twinkle has left the building.  

My roomie has a lot on her plate today.  So, shopping will need to be handled a bit quicker than usual.  She'll handle her family event this weekend & we'll do whatever we're going to next week.  We'll see what that turns out to be.

That's it for now.   Take care.

Cya.

Less & Less...

 

There's only 2 weeks until Christmas & not even 3 left in 2025.  Every year there's less of the holiday season.  The stores start pushing sales in October, but few are decked out or playing music.  The local Walmart  has no decorations up & I haven't heard a single holiday song.  I mostly haven't heard any music there.  There haven't been any bell ringers or even Angel Trees.

It's not just the stores, it's TV as well.  There aren't many holiday specials shown.  Most are on cable/pay channels.  There's are many specials that haven't aired in years.  I see pictures of local parades & calling them lacking would be an understatement.  My neighborhood has never been really lit up for the season, but there used to a few.  Now there's only 1 house & I can't see it because of a neighbor's giant, work trailer.

I'm not much for the holidays, but the lights, music & cheer made this season better.  It made this part of Winter tolerable.  I guess it's just a bah humbug world.

Cya...

Last July Monday...

 

It's going to be a hot ending to a hot month.  The temps & weather have been about the only things I've had to write about.   Other than some cat issues & the rare article, this has been sort of a bust month for posting.  

It'd be nice if the weather had been a little less on, but things could've been worse.  They have been in other parts.  We didn't get the higher temps or the massive flooding.  There's that at least.

It's a shopping day.  We'll do that & check the mail.  The it'll be back inside.  Take care.

Cya...

Goodbye June...

 

This is it for June 2025.  I can't say it was a great month.   The weather hasn't been pleasant & we lost another cat.   No, this wasn't a fun time.

I wish I could say something more positive about this month but I don't have the words for that.  It wasn't the worst month, but there are so many ways it could've been better.  Maybe that just doesn't happen anymore.

The back crepe has finally started blooming, the side crepe looks to soon.  I haven't seen any dragons or hummers.  We do have what appears to be a resident groundhog.    I see it in the mornings & evenings.  We don't have a garden, so there's nothing for it to hurt.  They're cute in a pudgy, squirrel kind of way.

That's all, goodbye June.

Cya...

There's Light...

 

It's sunny this morning & it could get warm today.  Maybe it'll burn off some of this humidity.  We could get more rain late tonight.  There are still a lot of chances for storms before mid-month.  We're nearly to our monthly rainfall average. 

Articles were lacking & mainly talking about cuts by the orange stain.  This is it for this morning.   Take care.

Cya...

Everything Else...

 

Since this blog was about living with HIV in rural Oklahoma I'd like to point a few things.  While most of the points I make tend to deal with that topic, often I can't find articles I'd like to discuss.  When I do find  interesting articles, they're usually very general topics, like new meds or ideas about HIV.  

In the past, if I've found pieces dealing with rural areas, they're just as apt to be overseas & therefore not very applicable to my situation.  HIV in small town America isn't a popular subject.  Even though a lot of HIV+ people came from these places.  As for Oklahoma, there's been less than an article a year concerning HIV in this state.  I've keyworded the state 19 times during this blog & only a few are dealing with articles.  The rest are about politics & COVID. 

Being HIV+ in a rural area isn't easy.  There are hardly any resources & it isn't necessarily the safest thing for people to know your status.  People often talk about the things those living rural areas should be doing, like using public transit.  What they don't seem to register is that those options are not available in small towns or countrysides.  Ignorance isn't just affecting the virus transmission, it impacts the treatment & care of everyone no matter what their situation.

Some might think that how I haven't managed to discuss more local, rural & even small town issues is a failure for the blog.  But, in reality, it is what it's always been, out of sight, out of mind.  Urban people & organizations just don't think about small towns.   It isn't writers like me who have failed.  It's the mentality of this society in how it treats everything outside a metro area, like it doesn't or shouldn't exist.

Cya...

HIV Pro Ed...

 

HIV education & awareness is the most fundamental  aspect of the fight against the virus.  Without this, there is no war on HIV?AIDS.  So why is it so few people, including health professionals, receive  adequate education about the illness?   

This piece is an overview of a survey given to emergency room nurses concerning HIV screening.  Almost half of these nurses never offered HIV testing in the emergency room.  Almost 1/3 of the nurses thought HIV screening in the emergency was of little or no importance.  Only 1/4 reported adequate education over HIV during training.  Half reported little to very little education concerning the virus during their nurse training.

Is this academic oversight, stigma or professional inadequacy?  Who knows?  It shows HIV education is lacking at every level involved with fighting the virus.  If nurses aren't well educated about the matter, how can we expect lay people to be?

Take care.

Cya...

Chilly, But Bright...

 

Woke to another cold morning.  At least the sun was shining. The weather is supposed to warm up a bit.  It'll still be at or just below freezing, but not in the low 20's.  That'll  be an improvement.

Articles mostly focused on COVID & politics.  The few that weren't, were aimed at difficulties concerning HIV in Africa.   I tend to  aim more local.  Maybe once Biden gets in things will calm down a bit.  Articles have been lacking for most of the orange tyrant's time in office.

I have a dental cleaning this week, not much else.  That's all for now, take care.

Cya...

2nd Friday...

 

It's the 2nd Friday of 2021 & the high emotion & drama are ongoing. This may not calm down for a while, at least not until after the inauguration. Even then, there's going to be a lot scars, high emotion, drama & anguish.  This last bit the orange asshat's term may be the most socially destructive event of this country's history.  It's at least in the top 10.

I have no idea when articles will return to normal.  It may take a bit.  Until then, I'll keep posting what I can.  Take care.

Cya...

Hello April...

April is here & it appears the 1st sunny morning is the trick.  The front half of the month looks to be wet & dreary.  There weren't many articles dealing with HIV.  There were a few dealing with COVID-19 & TB.  

I'll look again tomorrow.  Take care.

Cya...