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What the Hell Happened to Nebraska?

I grew up in Nebraska. Then I escaped to New York. When I lived in Nebraska, it was a pretty good place. North Loup. Scotia. Lincoln. The University. Bob Kerrey. We had stamina, hard work, and a future, and we were kind to each other because we believed in the Good Life. Then, over the last 30 years since I’ve been away, something broke, and a red-hard Republican named Pete Ricketts, decided to ruin the state in an ego-driven run for the governorship just so he could ultimately become a thug in the Trump Covid-19 Death Cult along with Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott. Thankfully, there are still some sane people in Huskerland who can use their power to do goodness — as in getting the Nebraska Covid-19 Dashboard reinstated:

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The Genius Cutthroat Thuggery of Apple Fitness+

When Apple announced their new total workout app — Apple Fitness+ — I was stunned at the sheer audacity and cutthroat thuggery of the move, and I was never more proud to be a dedicated Apple fanatic and loyal Apple Watch owner. Apple isn’t aiming for Peloton with this subscription App release. No, Apple is aiming to kill off the Nike Training Club, Centr, FitBod, Sworkit, Strava, Adidas Training — and all other exercise and fitness Apps — and, perhaps, even one day, MyFitnessPal. Yes, Apple is going to knock out the small fry competition with their big, giant, footprint, and they’re doing it because there’s gold in them thar fields: One Workout App to Unite Them All!

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Aura Rungs of the Oura Ring

I have heard wonderful things about the Amazing Oura Ring for a long time. If you care about your health, and if you want to track HRV — Heart Rate Variability while you sleep — then one of the only consumer-facing items you can add to your health assault arsenal is, the Oura Ring! Yes, the Oura Ring gives you rungs of an aura of invincibility because you begin to learn things about the way your body operates — especially while you’re sleeping — that others, without the ring, cannot know. The Oura Ring has a battery, is Bluetooth enabled, and it communicates with your iPhone to update your Apple Health vitals — and it does all this via three LEDs in the ring that read your heart rate, movement, and temperature.

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Pro GMO

As a two-decades long Vegan, I do my best to eat the right things, live the right way, and participate in the right fights. I am, however, confounded by the anti-GMO reactions of some people who claim to want to live a better, healthier, life. GMO — Genetically Modified Organisms — has been the prime directive of the food chain in America, and the world, for centuries. The anti-GMO-ers remind me of the anti-vaxxers who refuse to recognize the successful results of science, and technology, only because the facts do not support their paranoid worldview.

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Apple Watch Series 3 and White Noise Elevated Heart Rate Notifications

I am loving my new Black Stainless Steel LTE Apple Watch Series 3. I bought the first Apple Watch, skipped the second series, and now updated to get the wireless LTE connection with Verizon. One of the new features of the Apple Watch Series 3 is to track your heart rate to alert you when your heart rate is abnormally elevated so you can take action to calm down, or to seek medical attention.

Imagine my dismay to learn I had over 41 elevated heart rate notifications over a two day period! I was never alerted to those multiple notifications, and I was concerned!

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On Being AWOL: End of an Era in Pau

The second contributory fact for my 80 day absence was the premature closure of Mr P’s family house in Pau.  Mr P’s aged aunt’s health had deteriorated  to a stage where she needed more in-depth care than his equally elderly mother could provide.

We have always been aware that this situation would arrive in the near future — but were caught napping when it rapidly loomed upon us out of the blue and we had to take a dash to France.

Finding a suitable nursing home for elderly people is difficult at the best of times — finding one that accepts patients with Alzheimer’s, and provides compassionate understanding care for them, is even worse. Luckily, we had the help of one of Mr P’s brothers who took care of most of that for us . A deal was struck he would sort out their aunt and we would sort out their mother.

A suitable residence was found for their aunt, not far from where the brother’s family lives — which would enable him to visit her whenever he went to see his daughter and granddaughter.

We then had the task of packing up mother and her possessions and returning her to the apartment in Lisbon.

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