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Long Time No Blog
Sep. 8th, 2021 12:00 amSorry about the lengthy silence, and WELCOME to the optimistic new reader. I’ve been very sick. Not Covid. I had what you might call Americanitis. American readers can probably skip the following, as it’s probably happened to most if not all of you too, and you Canadians and other dang furriners, just follow along as best you can; the American medical system is so insanely complicated that a lot of Canadians are flabbergasted when they hear these stories.
I take a medicine called Januvia that helps control blood sugar. With GoodRX, a prescription discount card available to anyone, it’s $575/month. With Anthem, a for-profit medical insurance, it’s $275/month. (I think all our insurance schemes are de facto for-profit; people forced onto Obamacare have told me it covers virtually nothing, and its main value is to get your foot in the door at the doctor’s office [most doctors won’t even look at you if you don’t have some kind of insurance card]). Still with me? Good. With a “loyalty “ coupon from the manufacturer of Januvia + Anthem, it costs $5.01/month. My coupon ran out, no big deal—you call the 800 # and the contracted phone-answering employee gives you this year’s computer codes which you in turn give to the pharmacy, and you’re back to the $5.01 cost. But THIS year, the pharmacy could NOT get their computer system to take the codes. Every day for 3 1/2 weeks, I’d call the coupon people, get the codes (there are several different versions, we tried them, the pharmacy would unsuccessfully try to get their system to take it. Whether this was because of the pharmacy having a lot of new employees or a system problem, I don’t know, but the result was the same, my sugar climbing higher and higher, even though I was continuing to take my insulin (funded by a wonderful lady whom I can’t thank enough!). FINALLY a lady at the pharmacy, may the Lord bless and keep her forever, got the computer to take the codes. I now have my medicine and am catching up on what piled up during 3 1/2 weeks of exhaustion and brain fog.
In The last year I’ve lost 80 pounds. I’m sorry I can’t tell you how I did it; all I know is as I get old my appetite diminishes. What I can tell you for sure is, not only are my pants too big, which doesn’t surprise me, they are also too long, which don’es. So I am hastily shortening pants before i gets cold around her. AND, as if all that weren’t time-consuming enough, I just spotted a bug š n the kitchen. It looked like a lightning bug, but what bothered me is it ran for cover, which lightning bugs usually don’t do. I’m going to assume we have roaches, although I don’t know how since we’ very careful about not bringing paper sacks in. Anyway, you know what that means. Scrub the kitchen andSonkitten’s computer area down every day, to eliminate forgotten crumbs, and vacuum theeverywhere thoroughly every other day. In view of all this time-consuming stuff, I’m postponing long thoughtful entries till 1Kcto er. I’ll still put up quickie links and such. I apologize, but at least you know I won’t be wallowing in glorious idleness during September; I’ll be working my cute little kitten butt off. Will also post updates. After thorough cleaning, if we see any mo bugs, we’ll get a cat unless Sonkitten ‘s allergy doctor says not to. sure is, not only are
I take a medicine called Januvia that helps control blood sugar. With GoodRX, a prescription discount card available to anyone, it’s $575/month. With Anthem, a for-profit medical insurance, it’s $275/month. (I think all our insurance schemes are de facto for-profit; people forced onto Obamacare have told me it covers virtually nothing, and its main value is to get your foot in the door at the doctor’s office [most doctors won’t even look at you if you don’t have some kind of insurance card]). Still with me? Good. With a “loyalty “ coupon from the manufacturer of Januvia + Anthem, it costs $5.01/month. My coupon ran out, no big deal—you call the 800 # and the contracted phone-answering employee gives you this year’s computer codes which you in turn give to the pharmacy, and you’re back to the $5.01 cost. But THIS year, the pharmacy could NOT get their computer system to take the codes. Every day for 3 1/2 weeks, I’d call the coupon people, get the codes (there are several different versions, we tried them, the pharmacy would unsuccessfully try to get their system to take it. Whether this was because of the pharmacy having a lot of new employees or a system problem, I don’t know, but the result was the same, my sugar climbing higher and higher, even though I was continuing to take my insulin (funded by a wonderful lady whom I can’t thank enough!). FINALLY a lady at the pharmacy, may the Lord bless and keep her forever, got the computer to take the codes. I now have my medicine and am catching up on what piled up during 3 1/2 weeks of exhaustion and brain fog.
In The last year I’ve lost 80 pounds. I’m sorry I can’t tell you how I did it; all I know is as I get old my appetite diminishes. What I can tell you for sure is, not only are my pants too big, which doesn’t surprise me, they are also too long, which don’es. So I am hastily shortening pants before i gets cold around her. AND, as if all that weren’t time-consuming enough, I just spotted a bug š n the kitchen. It looked like a lightning bug, but what bothered me is it ran for cover, which lightning bugs usually don’t do. I’m going to assume we have roaches, although I don’t know how since we’ very careful about not bringing paper sacks in. Anyway, you know what that means. Scrub the kitchen andSonkitten’s computer area down every day, to eliminate forgotten crumbs, and vacuum theeverywhere thoroughly every other day. In view of all this time-consuming stuff, I’m postponing long thoughtful entries till 1Kcto er. I’ll still put up quickie links and such. I apologize, but at least you know I won’t be wallowing in glorious idleness during September; I’ll be working my cute little kitten butt off. Will also post updates. After thorough cleaning, if we see any mo bugs, we’ll get a cat unless Sonkitten ‘s allergy doctor says not to. sure is, not only are
Better Late Than Never
Jul. 30th, 2021 07:34 amIntelligent industrial policy returning!
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/07/industrial-policy-coming-into-vogue-after-china-cleans-us-clock-by-using-it.html
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/07/industrial-policy-coming-into-vogue-after-china-cleans-us-clock-by-using-it.html
Night Life In Kittenville
Jul. 29th, 2021 12:33 amThereās a raccoon barking in our front yard. If you donāt live where raccoons are commonāare there any houses for sale in your area?āthey (the raccoons, not the houses) sound a lot like youād imagine a tiny seal would sound. Raccoons have a lot bigger vocabulary than many people realize. They bark, growl, screech, hiss, and Iāve read they chirp at their babies. though I have not heard this and donāt know anyone who has. I canāt imagine a mama raccoon letting you get close enough to her babies for you to hear any chirping. but a number of naturalists seem to have managed it. Maybe they were hiding in blinds. The naturalists, although I suppose the raccoons could be too. I rather like the idea of the two sides hiding from each other, with someone emitting the occasional sound to enliven the game. Being a raccoon canāt be all that exciting, and being a naturalist waiting for the raccoons to do something is probably even less exciting, so if they entertain each other, good on them.
The barking has stopped and the raccoon has apparently gone on his raccoonly way. Trash night is tomorrow; maybe he got the days mixed up and was barking in disappointment about the lack of trash cans, although pickings are slim anyway. everyone on this street has been here long enough to know you have to have good tight can lids. Sonkitten, for one, would be affronted if a raccoon, or anything else, got into one of his precisely lined-up trash cans. He takes his trash seriously, does Sonkitten. He makes sure they are EXACTLY 3 feet apart, as the contractor instructs, and gets mildly annoyed if the trash-truck-picker-upper-thingy knocks one over as it sets them back down.
The barking has stopped and the raccoon has apparently gone on his raccoonly way. Trash night is tomorrow; maybe he got the days mixed up and was barking in disappointment about the lack of trash cans, although pickings are slim anyway. everyone on this street has been here long enough to know you have to have good tight can lids. Sonkitten, for one, would be affronted if a raccoon, or anything else, got into one of his precisely lined-up trash cans. He takes his trash seriously, does Sonkitten. He makes sure they are EXACTLY 3 feet apart, as the contractor instructs, and gets mildly annoyed if the trash-truck-picker-upper-thingy knocks one over as it sets them back down.
A Ghost In A Machine
Jul. 25th, 2021 11:12 amYou must read this. Courtesy Longreads.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2021/jessica-simulation-artificial-intelligence/
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2021/jessica-simulation-artificial-intelligence/
Beavering Away
Jul. 25th, 2021 07:05 amBeavers, HĆ©loĆÆse, Abelard, and a few other interesting things! Well worth reading. Via Naked Capitalism, also well worth reading.
https://justinehsmith.substack.com/p/in-castoria
https://justinehsmith.substack.com/p/in-castoria
Sonkitten was geeking out, watching an episode of Star Trek about android Data and his evil twin, Lore. We got to wondering if an actor playing a dual role gets paid double. So we looked it up. If you are wondering tooā No, not unless he negotiates his contract that way. Normally actors are paid for the time they put in, or so say the answers we found. Now, Brent Spiner would have had to put in more time than usual, filming Dataās part and then Loreās part, so he probably did make more than usual that week, but they would not have intentionally paid him double.
Thereās A Fungus Among Us
Jul. 22nd, 2021 06:10 pmhttps://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/superbug-fungus-spread-cities-health-officials-78994818?cid=clicksource_4380645_1_heads_hero_live_twopack_hed
And itās deadly.
16 years ago I had a heel spur that, on the X-ray, looked exactly like the corner of a piece of paper. It was that sharp , and digging into my Achilles tendon, and would have eventually cut through, so I scheduled surgery so it wouldnāt end up getting it fixed in the ER at oh-dark-thirty. Today I think Iād hop about on crutches before doing that. All hospitals are dangerously understaffed, unless youāre a movie star or a Saudi Prince. Stay away if you possibly can.
I wonder what Woke people call the Achilles tendon? š
And itās deadly.
16 years ago I had a heel spur that, on the X-ray, looked exactly like the corner of a piece of paper. It was that sharp , and digging into my Achilles tendon, and would have eventually cut through, so I scheduled surgery so it wouldnāt end up getting it fixed in the ER at oh-dark-thirty. Today I think Iād hop about on crutches before doing that. All hospitals are dangerously understaffed, unless youāre a movie star or a Saudi Prince. Stay away if you possibly can.
I wonder what Woke people call the Achilles tendon? š
History In My Hands
Jul. 21st, 2021 09:07 pmI was cleaning out a low drawer today, now that I can finally stand bent for a while ( still canāt get up from the floor so I couldnāt just sit down in front of the drawer). I found a bag of steel pennies from 1943. Given their location I suspect my dad had forgotten all about them. Anyway, theyāre pretty nifty. They are just how theyāre described: pennies made of steel. Weāll probably keep several and sell the rest, so if there are any coin collectors out there, send me a message and Iāll send you a picture.
Dreamwidth should add āintrigued ā to the Mood list. Thereās a lot of intriguing stuff out there in this world of ours!
Dreamwidth should add āintrigued ā to the Mood list. Thereās a lot of intriguing stuff out there in this world of ours!
Not A Good Sign
Jul. 21st, 2021 06:45 pmhttps://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/custodians-of-the-abyss-catholicism-jeffrey-burrill-gay/
...when a writer uses the Eye of Sauron to symbolize the Roman Catholic Church and Catholics get the reference immediately.
...when a writer uses the Eye of Sauron to symbolize the Roman Catholic Church and Catholics get the reference immediately.
Band NameāThe Sexy Giraffes š¦
Jul. 20th, 2021 09:25 pmhttps://nedhardy.com/2020/12/21/how-do-giraffes-mate/?utm_source=cavemancircus.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_article
Band name and interesting article! A round of applause for Ned, please!
Band name and interesting article! A round of applause for Ned, please!
I couldnāt get the link to post, but there is now a Lambda -variant Covid. I hope that They donāt use Delta and Lambda to lock us in our houses all winter.
This shows why nobody has ever been able to come up with a successful coronavirus vaccineāthe darn coronaviruses mutate like thereās no tomorrow. A successful gene therapyāwell, we can hope. I am sincerely grateful to all those who volunteered as guinea pigs, and I hope they all survive.
This shows why nobody has ever been able to come up with a successful coronavirus vaccineāthe darn coronaviruses mutate like thereās no tomorrow. A successful gene therapyāwell, we can hope. I am sincerely grateful to all those who volunteered as guinea pigs, and I hope they all survive.
Has anyone ever played this? Iāve had it for several years. Itās like Scrabble, but with more variety in the words you can form, and the scoring system is different. Anyway, the Easy setting used to be just that. I routinely beat the computer 50 to Zip. The Medium section was quite difficult, full of scientific words; I doubt you could beat it with only general everyday words.
I didnāt play it for a long time, due to the lack of the free 1/2 hour to 45 minutes it takes. (I was thinking about selling the house, and after cleaning about a third of it to museum levels of clean, we figured we might as well go ahead and finish the cleaning even if we werenāt going to move just yet.). The other day I played Paperback in a waiting room, and was so surprised I played several more when I got home. The Easy level is now much harder. I can still beat the computer most of the time, but no more 50-0. I donāt mind, itās still fun, but what puzzles me is the game has not been updated since Iāve had itāso how did they get in to make it more difficult? Can anyone explain?
If you like Scrabble and would like to try Paperback, several years ago the Apple version was $5, with no ads. An acquaintance tried to get it on whatever the Microsoft-type phone is called but at the time it wasnāt available for those. The real-life version was, in my opinion, ridiculously overpriced at about $50 US. And of course with the real-life version there has to be at least one other person around whoās able and willing to play; Sonkitten, for example, can play neither Scrabble nor Paperback. (We have invented our own little word game that the damaged speech centers in his brain can handle.)
Iāve been quite wordy about word games! If you know how Paperback got into my phone to make adjustments without having an update, do tell, please.
I didnāt play it for a long time, due to the lack of the free 1/2 hour to 45 minutes it takes. (I was thinking about selling the house, and after cleaning about a third of it to museum levels of clean, we figured we might as well go ahead and finish the cleaning even if we werenāt going to move just yet.). The other day I played Paperback in a waiting room, and was so surprised I played several more when I got home. The Easy level is now much harder. I can still beat the computer most of the time, but no more 50-0. I donāt mind, itās still fun, but what puzzles me is the game has not been updated since Iāve had itāso how did they get in to make it more difficult? Can anyone explain?
If you like Scrabble and would like to try Paperback, several years ago the Apple version was $5, with no ads. An acquaintance tried to get it on whatever the Microsoft-type phone is called but at the time it wasnāt available for those. The real-life version was, in my opinion, ridiculously overpriced at about $50 US. And of course with the real-life version there has to be at least one other person around whoās able and willing to play; Sonkitten, for example, can play neither Scrabble nor Paperback. (We have invented our own little word game that the damaged speech centers in his brain can handle.)
Iāve been quite wordy about word games! If you know how Paperback got into my phone to make adjustments without having an update, do tell, please.
More 21st-century Nuttiness
Jul. 19th, 2021 06:00 pmhttps://www.thecut.com/2021/07/why-adopting-a-rescue-dog-is-so-hard-right-now.html#_ga=2.257264267.1820953688.1626436205-1954368458.1608139753
But this is hurting dogs, innocent animals. A dog needs a person, to love and be loved by. Here we have dogs who had people who wanted them but are still stuck in cages because Karen didnāt think the people were good enough. In my opinion this is animal cruelty.
But this is hurting dogs, innocent animals. A dog needs a person, to love and be loved by. Here we have dogs who had people who wanted them but are still stuck in cages because Karen didnāt think the people were good enough. In my opinion this is animal cruelty.
https://goodmorningkitten.com/kitten/4861/
And the lion will lie down with the lamb..:
And the lion will lie down with the lamb..:
Pope Prohibits Masses
Jul. 17th, 2021 10:51 pmIf that aināt the quintessential 21st-century news story, I donāt know what is
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/et-tu-franciscus-pope-francis-latin-mass-pope-benedict/
Rod says alphabet Masses are okay. I want to know, what if the LGBTQETC Mass is said in Latin?
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/et-tu-franciscus-pope-francis-latin-mass-pope-benedict/
Rod says alphabet Masses are okay. I want to know, what if the LGBTQETC Mass is said in Latin?
