Good Friday

Greetings Earthlings!  How are you doing in these troubled times?  I think the deaths in the wars in the Middle East, the dreadful economy and the certain knowledge that things will never go back to the way they were is wearing on me.

Yesterday we went for a hike.  First time since February 28, which was a terrible day for Jim.  As you no doubt recall, he was having significant pain in his legs.  Things are better now.  The GP put him on prednisone, which he has now tapered down to 4 mg per day.  The pain management doctor put him on gabapentin.  The gabapentin has made a difference.  There is much less pain than there was.  The theory is that there is a slightly bulging disk at L3, and the steroids and the gabapentin are helping with it.  Generally the only permanent fix for a bad disk is surgery.  Jim has done that twice now, and things will have to get SO MUCH WORSE before he does it again.  Laminectomies and spinal fusions are quite painful and require three months of recovery.  So, we're hoping that this will hold the pain at bay for awhile.  

Anyway, then we went to Costco, which was abnormally not busy.  So we got Covid boosters.  Generally Covids don't bother me, this one did.  I woke up in the middle of the night and my arm was just killing me.   Between that and the birds waking me up at 5:30 this morning, I've been pretty much of a basket case all day.  So, there was no riding and there will be no rowing today.  It'll be better tomorrow.

The cactus are starting the bloom.  The first two are from 2018, but I really like the images.  This is a Buckhorn Cholla.  

Here is a bee in the pollen.  That is a prickly pear blossom.

The ocotillo in the side yard is blooming, but has no leaves yet.

Another prickly pear in the desert.

Jim took this the other night from our back patio when the moon was coming up.  It's not bad for a cell phone camera.

Hegseth fired  U.S. Army Chief of Staff Randy George Thursday.  He also asked that General George retire immediately.  No reason has been given for this action.  Hegseth has also removed four well respected, well qualified officers from the promotion list for general.  Two are Black men, two are female.  Bastard.  Apparently there is much dissension within the ranks of senior officers at the Pentagon about these decisions.

Today the US asked Iran for a 48 hour cease fire.  Iran said nope, we'd rather keep shooting at you and your allies.

Here are a few bon mots from twitter.

Russia has supplied more weapons and support to Iran - to help kill Americans - than the Trump administration has provided to Ukraine to help it defend itself.  Russia is literally proving to be a better ally to Iran than America has been to Ukraine lately. Let that sink in.
Richard Woodruff

Kristi Noem rigging the property appraiser’s exam while governor so her daughter could get her license, killing a puppy, & giving her boyfriend a powerful job in govt while cheating on her cross-dressing spouse is not that unusual on the spectrum of Republican politician behavior.
Ron Filipkowski 

Saying you're no longer a Trump supporter is like saying you're no longer a cannibal. People might believe you, but no one is ever going to ask you to babysit their kids—or eat at your house again.
Lucifer

Other than this, I have not too much to talk about. OK, there is this.