Inexplicable

Worldwide (Map) 
September 8, 2022 - 606,874,650 confirmed infections; 6,507,900 deaths
September 9, 2021 – 223,101,000 confirmed infections; 4,604,450 deaths
September 10, 2020 – 27,766,325 confirmed infections; 902,470 deaths

US (Map) 
September 8, 2022 - 95.020.850 confirmed infections; 1,049,050 deaths
September 9, 2021 – 40,601,000 confirmed infections; 654,600 deaths
September 10, 2020 – 6,360,000 confirmed infections; 190,820 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
September 8, 2022- 4,012,950 confirmed infections; 102,108 deaths
September 9, 2021 – 2,843,100 confirmed infections; 84,327 deaths
September 10, 2020 – 6,360,000 confirmed infections; 190,820 deaths

Posts from:
September 9, 2021, “Category of critter” 
September 10, 2020, “Cooperation” 

News blues

Annual Covid shot joins ranks of annual shots, such as the annual flu shot. 

Watch >>  (7:14 mins)

Dr Anthony Fauci recently said, "In the absence of a dramatically different variant, we likely are moving towards a path with a vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine."
Read more >> 

(Mary and I have appointments for our soon-to-be-annual Covid boosters and flu shots on September 26, 10:00am at the conveniently located grocery store pharmacy.)

***

If she hadn’t assumed most of her symptoms were due to long Covid, Nic Petermann’s may have received proper treatment and a diagnosis for cancer much earlier. She says, “When I went to get my pain symptoms checked out, I didn’t mention the flu-like symptoms, because I just thought that was something that I would have to deal with.” 

As with Meso Mary who discovered mesothelioma in her left lung while being x-rayed for hip pain, Peterman’s symptoms, including those that seemed to be long Covid, were due to Stage IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 
The point of this story is not to scare readers. Rather, the point is both practical – don’t rationalize physical symptoms – and philosophical - life is often … inexplicable. 

Take precautions to ensure life doesn’t catch you by surprise.

***

On war and the culture war
Putin Says Russia Has Not ‘Lost Anything’ Over War In Ukraine' (1:35 mins) Russian, with English subtitles.

***

The Lincoln Project:
Michelle Obama on democracy (1:55 mins)
Biden v. Trump  (0:24 mins> 

Sucker  (0:58 mins)

Last week in the Republican Party - September 6 , 2022  (2:17 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My bestie, Mary, whom I’m accompanying through the ups and downs of her diagnosis and treatment of pleural epithelial mesothelioma, including pending chemotherapy, is a fighter. I’m so proud of her and her clear-eyed response of what she faces. 

Along with the many facets of life with such a diagnosis, she’s re-exploring music. Currently, she’s re-enamored of Gloria Gaynor’s “I will survive…”  (3:14 mins). Mary’s favorite lines:

“I should have changed that stupid lock
I should have made you leave your key
If I’d know for just one second
You’d be back to bother me…"

That line - "You’d be back to bother me" - refers to the high likelihood Mary's meso will recur. According to medical expereince, 

Mesothelioma recurs for all patients who undergo treatment, even after the most aggressive treatment options successfully put it into remission. This happens because it is nearly impossible to surgically remove or kill every mesothelioma cancer cell. The remaining cancer cells eventually form tumors again.

This is daunting information. Mary and I are absorbing it, albeit with jokes others might find "inappropriate" or "distasteful." (To that, we say, "Hey, whatever floats your houseboat!")
Among the many milestones of this illness, is the knowledge that somehow, sometime, somewhere Mary breathed in asbestos fibers. These fibers toiled away in her lung for decades. Sheer coincidence discovered them there. (Backstory, “Oh, the irony”.) As we diligently explore the past decades for the time a DIY woman might or might not have been exposed, Mary re-explores music, too. It’s fun to listen then chat about the assorted musical eras. We're re-exploring art, too. More on that in a following post. 

***

“Heat dome” is here. Temps in parts of urban California have reached into 3 digits, even beyond 113F (47C).
Our collective future during our summers? 

Breakdowns in electrical supply. Californians currently face “rolling blackouts.” South Africans face “load shedding.” (Meanwhile, Pakistanis face epic flooding with little help in sight.)
Nevertheless, climate change denialism and deniers continue. Know your deniers as …

… they are not all the same. They tend to fit into one of four different categories: the shill, the grifter, the egomaniac and the ideological fool.

Read more >> 
Buckle up, humans! We’re in for a hot (maybe cold), dry or wet (maybe icy) ride… and we are not prepared.

***

Daylight savings times is coming – well, coming on November 6 – so enjoy the last days of summer – and welcome to fall.
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:46am
Sunset: 7:27pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:04am
Sunset: 5:48pm

***

Meet Fiona, aka Fifi. She lives in a local pond. (Those are grass trimmings from the lawn. Somehow gardeners never scoop trimming from ponds even though trimming decompose and upset the delicate balance of water. Fifi hates that!

Meet Finny and Fergy, same pond, same dread of grass trimmings decomposing in their liquid environment. 

A photographer friend recently informed me that he 
frequently uses his iPhone to create gallery-ready art.
This, due to assorted apps created for just this purpose.
I tried an app to "enhance" this photo of brown pelicans.
I'm too cheap to fork out money for apps so I get what I 
don't pay for. Nevertheleoss, a slight improvement though
I'm not gallery ready - yet!