Ambergris

Note my emphasis--this is unrelated Malaria. A case of locally acquired malaria has been confirmed in Maryland, the state Department of Health said Friday. The person was briefly hospitalized and is recovering at home. The agency declined to give more details about the person except to say they live in the Washington, D.C., area. They did not have a history of recent travel outside the US or to other states where locally acquired malaria has been reported. Nine cases have been reported this summer in Florida and Texas, the first in the US in 20 years, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. David Blythe, director of the Maryland Department of Health’s Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Outbreak Response Bureau, said at a briefing Friday that the new case involves the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which can cause more severe illness than the strain in the Florida and Texas cases, P. vivax. EMPHASIS ADDED Marylanders who have unexplained fever or other malaria symptoms such as muscle aches, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea should check in with their health care provider, Blythe said. Malaria spreads through bites from the Anopheles mosquito. Most Americans who catch it do so overseas in areas where the disease is more common, such as in Africa. In the years before the Covid-19 pandemic, about 2,000 cases were reported annually in the US, mostly travel-related, the CDC says. Maryland has about 200 travel-related cases each year. “We have not seen a case in Maryland that was not related to travel in over 40 years,” Maryland Department of Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott said in a news release. “We are taking this very seriously and will work with local and federal health officials to investigate this case.”

Maybe this will be the impetus for them (and you) to move together somewhere. Although maybe not to Central Asia.

In some places, feeding them is legally the same as owning them, and you can be held liable for what they do. Also for hoarding, if you have more than the local limit. I'm trying to work up a new budget. My plans are all on hold right now.

Nail polish remover removes superglue. Soak like it was Madge's Palmolive.

PM and I are going to an Italian restaurant with a reputation for lovely desserts to have a mutual "not exactly our birthdays" lunch with the big puppy. Little puppy might go with us or might stay with H's son. I always ate summer trombo when it was summer-squash sized.

Thank you. The day doesn't matter. Nobody actually knows what day I was born.

There are a lot of videos out now, including one by a youtube guy with a lot of videos I quite like, arguing that MSG is wholly harmless. People have quoted --not him, but people saying exactly the same thing, often in exactly the same words-- after making me dog-sick by sneaking it into my food to prove I would not react. I also get horrible stomach-aches from cherries, one of my favorite foods, and from other completely natural things that are generally regarded as safe. When I hear people argue that people like me are either reacting psychosomatically or have a political agenda, I want to put poison ivy in their salad and see how they like it. Because, like millions of other people, I would find it completely harmless, so I don't see why anyone in the world should be whining about getting to eat it without warning that it's in the food.

He might want to get better, and he might be ready to move on to what's next. I have a friend whose wife moved into hospice yesterday. Even if you've been on the outs with someone, and they've had some pretty rough times, and even when you've been expecting it, this is gut-twisting news. My heart aches for them, as I know your heart aches for your neighbors. Remember to take pictures of things like that before you clean them, so GS can see the results of his actions. Otherwise your statements could sound like the grownups in a Peanuts cartoon: wahwah...wawahwawahh.

Thank you

I've had a really quiet day, which is what I wanted. No puddles all day, either (knock on wood). Both cats are giving me extra affection, of the "are we forgetting something, Mommy?" sort, but joke's on them...we are out of cat food and out of the kind of tuna that seems safe for the older cat, and the shopping trip was postponed to tomorrow.

I fought for two years and then wrote off over $40k just in personal property...not counting the roof, which was another story. And you wouldn't believe the shortcuts they started taking with the construction there at the end. I sincerely regret not getting a lawyer.

Caught puppy trotting by with something...peculiarly unmangled. Yay!

That part of the hill is too steep and rough and overgrown for me. Part of it is maybe a seventy degree angle. Or maybe it's just close to sixty degrees, because those angles would be all the same to me. The street below is a good three stories down, maybe more. What goes down is just gone. Housekeeper has tied some of his chew toys to trees to keep them in reach, but only one has not been removed (or destroyed) already. The tennis ball was destroyed (skinned and torn in half) in a few days.

I'm using a magnifying glass with my distance glasses and typing one-handed. My reading glasses, which are what--two months old? a month and a half? have disappeared. They were the last thing I took off before bed. I know because I went to bed early with my phone in my hand, talking to a friend, and put them on the chair/table beside the bed, then had to take my shoes away from the puppy and put those on the same bed, then put the phone on top of the shoes and worried about the glasses getting knocked off in the shuffle. Well, the shoes and phone were there this morning. Glasses, not. Housekeeper spent an hour and a half combing the house from one end to the other, including moving every item of furniture in the living room and emptying my purse and both backpacks, but --nada. Current theory is that the puppy took them, and they went down the hill like her toys tend to do. She's a baby, after all.

In older times, leprosy was an umbrella term for several things, including hidradenitis suppurativa (do NOT look this up--you will regret it) which to this day is only partly and/or barely controlled with the most complex medical regimens. It's hereditary, but at least isn't contagious. However, if it's uncontrolled, the victim carries any number of secondary infections that are contagious.

Speaking of which: Leprosy cases in central Florida account for nearly 20% of national cases. What to know Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal Updated Fri, July 28, 2023 at 9:10 AM GMT-5 Rising evidence is pointing to the possibility that leprosy has become endemic in the southeastern U.S. with Florida being named among the top reported states. In a recently published research letter regarding emerging infectious diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Florida is witnessing an increase in leprosy cases lacking traditional risk factors and recommending that travel to Florida be considered when conducting leprosy contact tracing in any state. Leprosy, which is scientifically known as Hansen's disease, is a chronic infectious disease that primarily affects the skin and peripheral nervous system. Malaria in Florida: Though malaria cases are waning, you should still take precautions, Sarasota County says The number of reported leprosy cases across the country has doubled over the past decade, according to the CDC. Citing data from the National Hansen’s Disease Program, the CDC says there were 159 new cases reported in the U.S. in 2020. Nearly 70% of these new cases were reported in Florida, California, Louisiana, Hawaii, New York and Texas. Florida stands out in the report for two reasons: Central Florida alone accounted for nearly 20% of the total number of cases reported nationally and several new-case patients in central Florida demonstrated no clear evidence of zoonotic exposure or traditionally known risk factors.

Pulled a half a pot of soup out of the fridge and a couple of plates of leftovers out of the freezer, cut things up, combined them all, and put them to simmer. Now I'm watching the puppy and escorting her out the door to walk on the rain-wet ground...often. Today has been basically devoted to that. She has still puddled the ceramic twice. So long as she stays off the unsealed wooden floorboards in the bedrooms, we'll be ahead of the game. (Don't want to shut off the bedrooms because cats nap and hide in them.) I had thought this would be a flea-bath day, but it's a little chilly so far.

The Canadian Press Tue, July 18, 2023 at 7:13 p.m. ECT SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — A southwest Florida county has document a seventh case of malaria, state authorities said. The Florida Department of Health reported a new locally acquired case of malaria in Sarasota County during the week of July 9-15. That's in addition to five cases last month and one case in May. Sarasota County and Manatee County directly to the north have been under a mosquito-borne illness alert for nearly a month. The area is located on the Gulf of Mexico, just south of Tampa Bay.

If the material is particle board, no. That stuff is not durable and begins crumbling shortly after being moved.

I've had some orange mints that didn't do much for me, and others that were delightful. I just pulled out the weak ones (mostly) for today's tea or fish or whatever and encouraged the strong ones. I kept buying new ones when I'd pinch one at a nursery and find a great, strong scent. The plants would grow wild through my yard and get weaker or stronger here and there. The only mints I've found locally are what was called apple-mint, which didn't have much of a minty or apple aroma for me, and another spearmint and a peppermint, the last two of which I was given starts of but accidentally gave to PM when I thought I was giving her half--and she gave them to someone else. Oh well. Since my 2020 illnesses (that my medical records say was not Covid) although much of my sense of smell is back, it's not evenly back. The dog poop smell that turned my housekeeper's stomach is something I only noticed when she mentioned it, and I barely caught any raw-meat aroma around the pig yesterday. People sometimes exclaim over mint aromas that I find quite vague. I used to have one of those "extra" senses of smell, so I don't know what to say anymore. I have made a lot of sun tea and will again when I get the right jar for it, but here I mostly either simmer a potful of ingredients until the aroma is right (for me, which is different now) and filter it into a heat-safe little pitcher or for leaves and blossoms I bring the kettle to boil and pour it over, then steep that until I remember and circle back to check the color and all for intensity. I don't worry about keeping it hot. Once it's steeped enough, I can add hot water to bring it up to drinking temperature.

I always dried mint in hanging bundles on the back porch, or on paper plates in the attic crawlspace. Does any chocolate flavor actually come through for you? It always disappointed me--unlike orange mint.

Hope the stone is gone. Today was a pig-cook that started at 7 (when they slit the pig's throat). I left after it had been going for ten hours and only about ten people were still hanging out. Today was also the blessing of vehicles day at the church, and the priest was nice enough to come by after mass and bless the housekeeper's car, her son in law's truck (both magnets for trouble) and a relative's car even though these were all people who skipped the mass to eat pig and drink traditional beverages. The blessing included opening the hood to sprinkle the engine, although I was not close enough to hear what was said. A large chunk of cake was sent out to the priest, which he divided between his two altar girls.

Found the phone. Then went to a three hour, forty-five minute high mass in which some thirty-five or forty tenth graders renounced Satan and all his works and otherwise confirmed their baptismal vows, with their godparents flanking them. I sat in the back with the bioparents, who were basically along for the ride. It was interesting, as the guy on one side of me was responding in Spanish, the great-grandmother on the other side was responding in Latin (loudly--I think she was making a point) and I was going from English to Latin to Spanish depending on how off-guard the need to talk caught me, and one of us (I pray not me) smelled strongly of cat urine. This is the first mass I've seen where the offerings included bread, in the form of a loaf (possibly a "chonta" loaf and what looked like cookies, carried up the aisle by one couple, followed by another couple carrying a bottle of wine and a basket of fat purple grapes, then another couple carrying a large basket of local tropical fruits, then another couple carrying "viveras" or "vivendas" which appeared to be boxed groceries or dry goods in a laundry basket, then another couple carrying another kind of food I forget. I was wondering if these go to the priest or the visiting priest, or if there would be a raffle later (not that I saw) or if they would be distributed to the poor. It's still a mystery. I was interested to see that the passing of the plate in this case consisted of the passing of a deep cloth bag (held open by a wire hoop) so that no one could see what anyone else dropped in. This pleased me, especially in a congregation where some people seemed to be wearing the only clothes they had and others were rather comfortably off. And the place was packed.

I put my phone down somewhere other than its "place" and am waiting for someone to call me--hopefully before the battery dies.

I have wanted one of the electric pressure canners since I saw it on Rose Red, partly because it has the smaller capacity. I figured I might be able to lift and maneuver it without help, while I need a helper to use a manual canner--unless I want a big chance of damaging my back and shoulders, and probably dropping the thing.