Ah

Woke up to the dulcet tones of my glucose monitor announcing I was having an urgent low (the monitor itself said that; my phone and watch read 39, which is, indeed, pretty freaking low. [Normal's about 80-120 for a diabetic.) Then the sensor went offline, which sometimes happens during the first 24 hours within placement (I am, at least finally doing well with putting it on my arm, and I found an overpatch that actually holds the thing on that I can easily put on myself. Anyway, I ate some Meijer version of Honey Nut Cheerios with banana and rice milk, because that usually makes my blood sugar rise quickly. The sensor came back up and it was 94 within a few minutes. Yay! So glad this woke me up. That's its job, and I'm glad I stuck with it through the learning process (Dexcom sent me no less than nine replacement sensors in the first six months (each lasting 10 days). There were seven that fell off as I couldn't get them on where they stayed. One malfunctioned, probably because I hit a capillary and blood fountained through it (gross), and one I managed to bump into something and tore it right off (ouch). Each time I contacted Dexcom directly, filled out what had happened and they sent another one for free. I'm very grateful for that. There was a learning curve when I started the G6. This was harder. The G7 goes on the arm, not on the abdomen, and I'm fleshier than most of the pictures and diagrams I've seen. But once you get it on, it has more accurate readings, warms up in about 30 minutes rather than 2 hours, and has a 12-hour grace period of readings after the sensor expires before it stops giving readings. I have also learned that if you use both the Dexcom and a smartphone (and by extension a watch, which is connected to the phone), pair the phone first, not the receiver, as it takes almost the entire warmup time to pair to the phone if you don't. Anyway, I would really recommend this, just know it's going to take a while to get the hang of it.

Interesting fact (and an opinion)

In Arabic, 'Hamas' means "zeal", "strength", or "bravery". In Hebrew, it means "violence".

The portion of the Torah for this week that is read in synagogues, from Noach (the Hebrew book named after Noah in the Jewish scriptures) contains the word Hamas.

My friend, who was watching services this morning, pointed it out to me. It's getting a lot of attention on the Internet given the current events in Israel.

I just think this whole thing is a tragedy. What happened with the attacks on Jews in Israel was horrible, and unforgivable. The response, attacking civilians who are already corralled in Gaza and who have nowhere to go, the history of supplanting Palestinians [who, incidentally, are a nationality, not a religious group, as there are both Muslims and Christians who are Palestinian], so there could be a Jewish state (regardless of it being their ancient homeland) has roots going back a century-and-a-half and breeds extreme emotions and violence on both sides. And that is tragic.

My friend's synagogue has members in Israel. They are thankfully safe, and I am so glad for this. His friends from the congregation in general were shocked and expressed extreme grief at the deaths. I also heard a young man asking a lady on the bus with whom he had class how she and her family were. She said they were relieved her brother was safe, as he'd been at the hospital which was bombed, thinking it would be safer like so many. I nearly cried at her words. I can't imagine how either side feels in terms of lack of safety (even here in America there is fear of attacks for both) and the fate of loved ones. I pray for those affected on both sides who are not the instigators themselves, the ones who viciously began this war.

It's just all so sad.

Well, I'm ready for Halloween

It took me a while to figure out my Halloween costume for this year. (I didn't want to do Maleficent or my skeleton costume again since I did them the last couple of years. So I'm going to be a butterfly. It's pretty, doesn't involve makeup, is one-size-fits-all, and it didn't cost much. I just needed a black T-shirt without writing and this. I will not be in high heels. :) It does require a choker around the neck that I don't like, but it's very stretchy and got better even after a couple of minutes. It all folds up nicely. The mask is just embroidered floss, and the bulkiest item is the antennae. The colours are beautiful. I'm very happy with it. Also, there is no wire, just finger loops, so I can both put out my arms and type at my desk with no problem.

This is wonderful

Leading Byzantine Studies journal now open-access

Yes!

New form of public transit presented to Lexington

This brought up a bunch of memories and emotions

Except for the gender, this so describes the relationship I had with my father. I really love Cian's music because it touches my emotions. I hope he finds a great amount of success and continues to inspire and affect people with the power of his music.

Some videos on some of the background behind the Israeli-Palestinian War

The Israeli-Palestinian war is already full of tragedy and death

This could make it something of epic proportions.

UN Chief Appeals for Israel to Avert a Humanitarian Catastrophe

Israel evacuation order: Tens of thousands flee northern Gaza - BBC News

Years ago I heard about an intiative at my alma mater

To try to read scrolls from Herculaneum that had been chard in the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 CE. My professor, Ross Scaife, of the Classics department, is the one who mentioned it. He had been working with people from Computer Science to develop a way to read them using technology. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago, of cancer, I believe, but this would have made him very happy, I think.

Breakthrough in Vesuvius Challenge as AI reads 2,000-year-old burned scroll at UK

Now available...

The Whole Earth Catalog and other related magazines are now available online for free. Yay! It's been digitised by the Internet Archive but this is the index page:

The Whole Earth Index

Welcome to Gilead

I recognise the need to protect the unborn from the drug epidemic, but the sheer callousness of how this woman was treated-but oh, my Gods. This is wrong. Both the child and woman could have most certainly died given the treatment of the mother by the guards. She was denied care over and over and nearly bled to death. It's a miracle either survived. So who's endangering lives?

An Alabama woman was imprisoned for ‘endangering’ her fetus. She gave birth in a jail shower

I hate this

As much as I'm pro-Jewish, I am not a real supporter of Israel itself. I believe it has engaged in the equivalent of apartheid, and recent moves by the right-wing government have sparked a great deal of protest (Israel does not have a Constitution, and the Knesset, their parliament, recently took most of the power away from the Supreme Court of Israel. Thousands have been marching in the streets for months, with little coverage here in America). Neither am I a supporter of Palestine either, and Hamas has a lot to answer for, and a lot of money is funnelled in there from outside sources who do not want Israel to exist. The Arab-Israeli conflict is extremely complex with years of terror and retaliation. It hurts my heart to see death on either side. I wish we could just see peace in the Middle East. But there have been generations of hatred entrenched, and I think it might take a miracle to get the various groups to sit down and talk with one another and see their similarities amid their differences. Most people just want a better life, and one for their children. I don't understand the rest.

Hamas surprise attack out of Gaza stuns Israel and leaves hundreds dead in fighting, retaliation