better than I expected

Thank you for the suggestion to try apple cider vinegar. It was not bad. I thought it would be, like fermented shark. Fermented shark is something that tourists susceptible to peer pressure try when they are in Iceland under the premise that Vikings ate it. Vikings didn't eat this. When food stores got so low that this was what people had to eat, Vikings went viking. Ask Ireland. 

See my hand? I wore a hoodie with permethrin in it and pants with permethrin in it. Still, this evening I went onto the deck for a moment to take a picture for my mother-in-law and a mosquito landed on one of the few exposed inches of my hand. I hope the apple cider vinegar works. 

Memorial Day is for service members who died in active service but of course, every loss reminds one of every other loss. Someday Ukraine may honor the bravery their people are showing now with a day of remembrance. 

The EU reached a deal to embargo Russian oil. Hungary was the major obstacle so the deal miraculously exempts pipeline oil, which is how Hungary gets theirs. It will hurt Europe and was unthinkable months ago, but Russian atrocities have made it possible now. Once it takes effect, Russia's oil profits should fall considerably. 

The EU agreed to give Ukraine nine billion euros to help deal with the economic repercussions of the Russian invasion.

The British defense ministry said there are credible reports of Russian mutinies. 

Ukraine has succeeded in keeping Russia from air superiority. Ukraine has shot down at least 25 Russian warplanes, many by shoulder-fired portable surface-to-air missiles. 

There are some Ukrainian fighters using WWI guns who have decided to channel Cossack power. They have WWI vintage machine guns on old four-wheel-drive vehicles based on ones built from 1966-1971. It is a tiny two-seater that looks like a weird pickup with high ground clearance. It can ford streams. I think Kate and I have rented one for Iceland (I kid, we are crossing no streams in Iceland). It was the Soviet version of the American jeep. There is a lot of antiquated weaponry being used by reservists and militia fighters. The best weapons are going to the front, but the old weapons are basic, reliable, and relatively easy for people with no training to operate. A group is shaving their heads and wearing bushy facial hair to look like Cossacks. They were known as fierce horsemen and great fighters. A Cossack with a single lock of hair has become a symbol of national identity and a show of disdain for Russians who use the word for the hairstyle as an ethnic slur.