u/8Deer-JaguarClaw

Haven't had tonic in years, and I think it's rather sweet for me (even the light version). Might cut the next drink with some club soda as well.

Was in a minty mood this evening. Also got to test out my new ice cube molds (2" x 2").

So what are *you* sipping on?

"A drug-resistant "superbug" fungus continues to spread across the U.S., now present in 23 states. And despite efforts to contain its spread, the fungus Candida auris continues to spread across the nation, with nearly half of U.S. states reporting cases in 2026."

"Candida auris is a fungus that can spread quickly in hospitals and nursing homes and is often resistant to multiple antifungal drugs. Because of its resistance to drugs, it's incredibly difficult to treat with some health experts calling it a "superbug."

"Cases have been reported in 23 states so far this year, according to CDC data. As of July 18, 3,130 total cases have been reported across the nation, including in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin."

https://www.wcvb.com/article/candida-auris-superbug-fungus-spreading-united-states/73355906

I've personally been following this one. The CDC said earlier this year that there is no effective treatment and once you're colonized by the fungus, you're colonized for life. Here's some more info about the fungus itself.

Candida auris is an antifungal resistant yeast infection. Common yeast infections stay on the skin or mucosal tissue. Candida auris enters the bloodstream causing life threatening systemic illness. It is resistant to multiple major antifungal medications. It ends up being a comorbidities kind of thing. People with compromised immune systems, people with pumps, shunts, drains, people who are infected then have surgery or wounds, elderly, are all at risk. Once you're colonized you have it for life, and you're then at risk if you get hurt, have surgery, get old etc.

Here's the scariest part. It can spread from person to person. It usually transfers through direct contact with an infected or colonized individual, or indirectly through contact with contaminated room surfaces, medical equipment, and everyday high use objects.

"Patients who are infected and patients who are colonized with C. auris often spread it onto surfaces and objects in healthcare settings like bedrails, doorknobs, and blood pressure cuffs. C. auris can survive on surfaces and objects for a long time and spread to other patients who can then become sick.

C. auris usually remains on a patient's skin or body sites for a long time, whether or not they ever have symptoms, and they continue to be capable of spreading C. Auris during this entire time.".

https://www.cdc.gov/candida-auris/about/index.html

https://www.cdc.gov/candida-auris/tracking-c-auris/index.html.

https://www.cdc.gov/candida-auris/index.html

The fam and I saw the weather forecast 2 days ago and decided to cut our London trip a half day short to beat the incoming weather. I don't trust EWR worth a damn with any weather behind a mild misting.

NWS Link to current briefing: https://www.weather.gov/media/phi/current_briefing.pdf

Radar link I used for the pic: LINK

Link: https://patch.com/new-jersey/hopatcong-sparta/s/kj60j/nj-property-tax-relief-checks-begin-rolling-out-see-details

>On Wednesday, the first round of Senior Freeze payments began rolling out to roughly 188,000 residents. Those who filed for the Senior Freeze before May 1 can expect payments in the coming days.

>According to the state, around $220 million in property tax relief was mailed out this week. To check the status of your property tax relief application, click here.

>While payments for 2025 relief have already begun being sent, there is still time to apply for it. Using the PAS-1, a combined application, allows users to apply for ANCHOR, Stay NJ, and Senior Freeze all in one go. Even if you aren't eligible for all three programs, you can still apply via this application.

More severe storms on the way for NJ today with a possibility of strong tornadoes.

https://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day1otlk.html

My CZ70 with aftermarket wood grips. God, I love an external hammer and a decocker. If that's wrong, I don't want to be right. 😄

Link: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5975022-3rd-circuit-new-jersey-assault-weapons-magazine-ban/

This can be a heated topic, especially in the Garden State. But if you own firearms or are considering becoming an owner, this is something you may want to pay attention to.

Basically, NJ's specific ban on the Colt AR-15 (a specific model of a specific brand...which is in my view insanely stupid because it's like banning Jello brand gelatin but not any other brand of gelatin) as well as the ban on any magazine (for any firearm) that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition have been overturned.

There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not the 3rd Circuit ruling means that "high capacity" mags are legal immediately, or if there will be some kind of waiting period for it to take effect. Probably there will be another round of appeals or whatever. So maybe don't run out and buy that 50-round Glock drum mag just yet, lol

If somebody here has a fair grasp of the next steps, I'd love to hear it! I will admit I am not a legal scholar.

You may also want to check out r/NJGuns to follow this, but be advised that there is a decidedly political slant to that sub. For something less NJ-specific, but of a different decidedly political slant, maybe give a try to r/liberalgunowners

edit: spelling error fix

My daughter is trying to get Snapchat on her phone. She accidentally let the year wheel scroll too far and got the birthday year wrong by 2 years (too young). She tried to complete the account signup process, but obviously it won't let her create an account. But now it also won't allow her to try to sign up again.

When she clicks SIGN UP it just says "Sorry, looks like you're not eligible for Snapchat...but thanks for checking us out!" (see attached photo)

We've deleted the app, rebooted the phone (iphone), and the reinstalled the app. Same result.

We also tried resetting the password, but it says there's no account associated with the email she tried to use the first time setting up the account.

So there's no account but also she can't create an account. Any ideas on this one? Thanks in advance.

The tuck box is crap but that's okay. Deck looks/feels like it's never been used. All 52 cards + a joker. I'm very surprised how nice these feel. Great table players for sure. Artwork is kinda quirky (to me, anyway), which I dig.

Link: https://patch.com/new-jersey/hopatcong-sparta/s/khftj/230k-without-power-as-severe-thunderstorms-wallop-nj

Got the graphic from here: https://graphical.weather.gov/sectors/newjersey.php

Graphic shows conditions at approximately 8pm tonight. You can play with the time on the page show the forecast radar at different parts of the day. Pretty cool!

>Severe thunderstorms are back in the forecast Saturday after the Garden State was slammed with winds gusting to 60 mph Friday evening, leaving more than 250,000 homes and businesses without power at one point.

>There will be a risk of severe thunderstorms Saturday, National Weather Service forecasters said, meaning isolated to scattered severe storms are possible.

>The extreme heat and humidity could make stronger storms produce damaging winds, forecasters said.

>First Energy was reporting more than 185,000 Jersey Central Power & Light customers without electricity as of 9:30 a.m. Saturday and PSE&G was reporting 28, 537 on their respective websites.

>Morris County was hardest hit, followed by Monmouth County, but many parts of the state took a beating.

Rather than list them all here, see below for the NJ 211 web page that has cooling center information broken out by county. But I'll give you a hint: many of them are public libraries.

https://nj211.org/nj-cooling-centers

If you do not have air conditioning or cannot spend the hottest part of the day somewhere that does, please consider visiting a cooling center.

I bought some plants at Home Depot a few weeks back and somehow I grabbed the wrong plant. Thought I was getting a bell pepper (I think...I was in a hurry, lol) but apparently it's something else. And yes, I did lose the plastic stake that shows what the plant is (embarrassing, I know).

But does anyone know what kind of pepper this is? It's too fat to be cayanne and too long to be a jalapeno. I do also have some tabasco peppers in the ground, but they haven't fruited yet so I can't compare.

Thanks!