Now I know who has been ringing my doorbell at odd hours. And @steveolivas thinks he has wildlife issues.

Took this innocent looking dude to the vet today for a glucose curve. He has recently become diabetic at 15. Refused to eat his food at the vet so they couldn’t give him his insulin & do the test 1/ I was busy so MrB went to the vet where they put him in a room with the cat to see if he could get him to eat. He even brought some other food. Still refused. Appointment rescheduled. Brought him home & still refused food 2/

A thread. People are asking why I left #Alaska a place and people I had grown to love. There were several reasons & as people preparing to transition to retirement we needed to make a go, no go decision. What follows is a list of some of the why. 1) State Budget. The fiscal situation in the state is unsustainable & there doesn’t seem to be any will to actually fix the problems until there’s nothing left & then options get ugly quickly. Rank & file citizens have all sorts of perceived quick fixes like an income tax,lottery

They have costs to pay like mortgages and taxes. Do you think you’re entitled to go to the grocery store & be given free groceries for 18 months because the Govt mandated it? How long before there are no grocery stores. Landlords are selling properties like crazy

https://twitter.com/scottymax/status/1431391267733184515

making rentals in short supply. I know 4 people, 2 of whom are medical doctors who were homeless or nearly homeless because they couldn’t find rentals because landlords were selling out or they couldn’t evict non-payers to free up units. 2/

Sounds like what many on Twitter are clamoring for in the US. If you think it doesn’t come with a loss of freedom & you don’t mind being forced into labor of the govt’s choosing this is for you. You won’t be sitting on your couch at home collecting a check giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/ac… And you’ll also be told where you can live & can be tossed out on the street at will.

A thread. Friday morning we take off on our Alaska to Florida driving adventure. I know some like to follow along when we take big road trips so I’ll use this as the thread & will pin it for easy access. Retirement here I come! Got to do a trial run to Anchorage. It’s remarkably quiet in here.

Some insight into my decision to retire (a thread). This is an interesting use of statistics. Here is another fact: These numbers are for student credit hours only. At Mat-Su our headcount is up 9.1% while everyone else’s is down considerably meaning we have more students taking fewer classes each. Not surprising in the current environment for a commuter campus. This rather slanted news story comes out the same week the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) went to the Board of Regents to make the case that the Mat-Su campus receives 2/

I’m not an MD, but you can’t throw a biscuit at my house at a family Thanksgiving dinner without hitting one so I have access to experts. I want to dispel one piece of COVID-19 hysteria: If you’ve already had it, you can get it again so you shouldn’t feel safe. 1/ There is evidence emerging that the antibodies developed following infection may be highly protective. This is great news because the only way a vaccine would be effective 2/ sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/t…

Something to consider: What if Russian interference in U.S. elections is not about U.S. elections, but a way to push international cyberspace policy? Hear me out. 1/ 2/ For years Russia has been pushing for international rules policing cyberspace. China has aligned itself with these efforts.