Brief Messages or Announcements – Page 24

Xylazine More About Death Than the Walking Dead

The recent news stories about xylazine-adulterated fentanyl (also known as Tranq) describe it as turning users into zombies because it causes skin necrosis. This can lead to abscesses which may require amputations.

Even more important, it can kill users. Xylazine, which is an animal tranquilizer (hence the name “Tranq”) is said to be available for free in some locations. It has been reported in the eastern states, including Pennsylvania and the availability has been moving steadily westward across the country. The Iowa Office of Drug Control website has posted information about it.

Connecting xylazine to zombies may be a way to get people to pay closer attention to this dangerous substance. That’s ironic because it doesn’t make users just look like the walking dead—it causes death. Xylazine-laced fentanyl overdoses can’t be completely reversed by naloxone because xylazine is not an opioid.

Dr. George Dawson wrote an excellent blog post describing the scientific details about xylazine and its deadly effects in April of 2022.

Those who make this drug know exactly what they’re doing. It’s one thing to sell it on the street, which itself is a terrible thing to do. But if it’s true that it is available for free in some places, then something other than the profit motive is at work.

Ugly Juggling So Far

I thought I’d make a video on the progress I’ve made so far in the last 4 months with ugly juggling. Man, it’s ugly; I’m still lunging and grabbing and making faces. But I’m also getting a real good workout.

Psychiatric Times recorded my After Hours video via Zoom this morning. It won’t look like my progress YouTube show at all, but it was a lot of fun. They’ll need to edit the thing because I talk too much. It’ll have to go in a queue after that, so I have no idea when it’ll be available.

I’ll keep you posted.

Jim on a Winning Streak on the Bigfoot Cribbage Board

Ever since we got the Bigfoot cribbage board, I’ve been winning. If you believe in lucky streaks, I’m on one. However, Sena wins most of the time when we play on the jumbo cribbage board.

Is it the Bigfoot cards? Is it the Bigfoot pajamas? Sena was so overwhelmed she put her house slippers on backwards.

My reward was to put together more knockdown furniture.

Iowa Snowstorm Aftermath

We got 10.5 inches of snow from the storm yesterday, according to National Weather Service statistics. It was in the single digits and about 3 below zero with the wind chill this morning. We had to shovel one more time. It was slippery because there was ice on the driveway and sidewalk underneath the snow.

Yesterday the snow plow plugged our driveway and the curb ramp. We managed to get the driveway cleared. I had to clear the curb ramp this morning.

Then the plow came through again. But he didn’t plug the ramp again. Instead, he carefully scraped around it—maybe because we were outside watching him at the time. Thank goodness for small miracles.

It’s chilly but sunny. The ice is melting. The forecast says it’ll be icy next Wednesday. Furthermore, there is more snow coming next Thursday. That’ll make 3 Thursdays in a row that snowstorms hammer us.

What is it about Thursdays?

Fluffy or Heavy Snow Tomorrow?

We’re going to get another several inches of snow tomorrow. Whether it’ll be a heavy, wet or fluffy snow is apparently up for debate among weather forecasters. We definitely got the heavy stuff last week. I made great snowballs for juggling.

We’re going to be shoveling it, fluffy or heavy and wet. Sena noticed I was “flinging” snow from my shovel last week and wishes I would not do that. It’s a push-plow type shovel and I can’t get enough snow in it to lift a heavy load of the stuff.

But I will try not to fling my snow. We’re hoping for the fluffy stuff. If it turns out to be heavy, I might juggle more snowballs. We’ll see.

Our New Front Door

We got a brand-new front door today. Of course, because the old one had to be removed, it got a little chilly in the house. We didn’t mind because the new door is handsome and has pearl privacy glass.

We were always a little uncomfortable with the clear glass sidelight and door windows on the old door. Anybody could peek inside.

The tradesmen got here at 11:00 AM and were done by 3:00 PM. We turned the furnace off because the door was off-for several hours. It wasn’t a terribly frigid day, but we still had to put jackets on. Outside it was in the 40s for the most part and only got up to the low 50s. It got down to 64 degrees inside.

The color of our new front door is grey, a color that is thought to be dignified, intelligent, and balanced.

Doorways also are said to represent transitions or passages from one stage of life to another.

One thing our new front doors says is that, at this stage in life we feel a whole lot better when nobody can spy on us.

Big Mo Blues Show KCCK and MayRee’s Hand Battered Catfish

I heard John Heim (aka Big Mo) on KCCK talk at length about MayRee’s hand battered catfish tonight. There was much more detail than usual. I can’t remember all of them. One I do remember is that her joint is on the corner of Highway 6H and Snowflake Road-sort of.

MayRee will give you a choice of 3 beverages that sound like a crazy cross between a soft drink and white lightning moonshine or something. One flavor is “clear” and another could be something like pumpkin spice, but I probably misheard that.

I got a comment from a blogger, Everyday Lillie. She has not heard of nitrates in catfish but appreciated the information.

MayRee cooks them with “manic delight.” They are really something, I guess.

I heard this Sonny Landreth piece tonight on the show.

Snowstorm Today Perfect for Deer Zoomies and Snowball Juggling!

Today we got a fair amount of snow dumped on us. It gave the deer the zoomies. They ran around in it like they were having a lot of fun.

It was a heavy, wet snow. So, we took some time out from shoveling so I could make some snowballs and try juggling them. It didn’t work so well about a month ago when the snow was in brittle clumps. Today it worked pretty well, after I got the hang of shaping the snowballs.

We made videos. Enjoy!

More Ugly Juggling Tricks

It’s way past time for more ugly juggling tricks. I’m working on a few and my skills wax and wane, a lot like delirium. It fits.

Behind the back, under the leg, 1-UP 2-UP, over the top with juggler’s tennis, and using a different color ball (orange) for the trick ball are the highlights.

It’s pretty ugly.

Dare to Discover at University of Iowa!

There’s been enough bad news. How about some good news? Have a look at the Dare to Discover campaign at The University of Iowa. It shines a light on young researchers who dream big. And that’s great for all of us!