Kentucky has allowed early voting for a couple of years now...

Kentucky also has one of most watched races in the country, between incumbent Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, and current Attorney General David Cameron (who is Republican, and very much in the Trump camp). Beshear is seeking a second term in a Red State, and there's a good chance he will get it. He's very popular across politics, due to his handling of the pandaemic and also natural disasters, including tornadoes and floods. I have no doubt that if former Matt Bevin, a Repbulican [and in my opinion, a dangerous nutjob who should not have been governor ever], had been in office, more Kentuckians would have died of Covid-19. Daniel Cameron would make history, however, by being the first Black governor in the Commonwealth's history.


You can probably determine how I voted from my shirt.

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