Tuesday, July 14, 2026

It's a fucking "Badge of Honor"...?

I have been on Rybelsus tablets since January. Good results; A1C now normal (below 6.0), weight has been steadily dropping. No side effects. The medications have been running about $55 a month after insurance.

End of June, my PCP called in a new prescription. Waiting... waiting.. waiting... note from pharmacy "It will be another week before the pills come in", then a letter from the pharmacy that Rybelsus has been discontinued by Novo Rordisk and replaced by Ozempic tablets.

"...The semaglutide franchise is changing up its branding as Novo Nordisk, seeing the cultural phenomenon that has become Ozempic, is retiring the Rybelsus name in favor of its better-known brand.

Meet the “Ozempic pill,” a newly tweaked formulation of Novo’s Type 2 diabetes tablet Rybelsus, which is slightly smaller and uses a new coating and eschews its former badge... “The Rybelsus brand won’t be carried forward but the tablets will continue under the iconic brand of Ozempic,” said Ed Cinca, SVP of marketing and patient solutions at Novo Nordisk... "For better or worse it’s a brand icon and I wear this as a badge of honor in how the Ozempic brand has grown,” Cinca explained"

The "badge of honor" replacement will cost me 3x what the original Rybelsus tablets ran me (after insurance). Same fucking company. When I go on Medicare (next year) it will be 6x the cost of the Rybelsus, if I had no insurance, we're looking at $1,200 for a 30 days supply.

Perhaps Luigi was onto something?

Fuck.

Your Daily Meme

Monday, July 13, 2026

The Tiverton Farm Report for July 13

We have...

Dragon Fruit!

I've been (seasonally) schlepping this beast of a plant in and out for at least

8 years! This is the first time fruit has developed! I found 3 so far!

The Cat Chronicles - July 13: "The Box" edition.

Etta and Goldie

Our Friday errands to BJ's Wholesale Club usually end with us bringing a box home for Etta. Her "perfect" box is thin cardboard, tall walls with a front opening.

They last a few weeks before going into the recycle bin for the Tuesday trash day.

The past several weeks, the pickings have been slim (we know her preference). The look of dejection on her face when we would come home empty handed was bordering on heartbreaking (she'll take it out on a Walmart bag).

Saturday, we took a ride to Ikea and I found this:

I could not resist. Brought it home, put it together, and she promptly high-tailed it out of the living room in terror... Until she realized that Goldie was too big to fit in the entrance.

This is MY domain!

All is right in the world again.

Missing Lilo; she was the property "supervisor" - good company. Always watching what we were up to, inspecting projects in progress (loved when contractors would be in working on the house). Always right there. Goldie is... trying. When he first moved in, he stayed glued to the indoors. Now he does his dawn patrol, and if I am doing something outside (weeding, gardening, etc.), he will follow me around.

Usual position...

Then he comes back in and sprawls. He is learning to NOT get under my feet when I am working in the kitchen, understanding what the word "MOVE!" means. The two of them are getting along, though I have to feed them separately - she's picky, he's a front-end loader. He'll buzz through his plate in about a minute then come looking for more. I give Etta 10 minutes to pick through her plate before letting him have at it.

Wednesday, the two of them are going to meet with a new vet who is located considerably closer to our home (12 minutes away as opposed to 45), and they offer vacation kenneling services (future consideration).

Onward!

RIP - Sam Neill

New Zealand actor Sam Neill, known for ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Piano,’ dies at 78, his family says.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Sam Neill, a smoothly elegant and versatile actor whose career moved from art film to blockbuster as he dodged velociraptors in “Jurassic Park” to playing Holly Hunter’s husband in “The Piano,” has died. He was 78.

In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Neill died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor’s social media page.

I think of the roles he has played, and I cannot think of any other actor who could have played them. Exceptional, and quite the loss.

Rade