BIKSS and I are in our 50s. We met in 1988 but it took us 24 years before hooking up in 2012. We moved into a DD/lg dynamic a year later. In April 2015 some shit hit the fan. We took some time off but eventually found a new us.
I used to live alone except for a few shifting years when my folks moved in then out, then after dad passed on, mum moved in again. Now that she too has passed, it's just me, one carer whom I've decided to keep on, and my tenant.
He lives with his family. This is us.
I managed a quick dinner with BIKSS last night - it was an early one, before the dinner crowd started streaming in.
This place came recommended - it was on the tv shows and in the food guides... but we were kinda disappointed with it.
The Bun Cha (top middle, accompanied by the greens and vermicelli bottom right) was indeed the best we've tasted, possibly even better than the one we had in Hanoi.
But everything else, while the pic looks decent enough, wasn't *actually* delicious. In fact I had to chuck some chilli and garlic sauce in the pho to make it palatable... and even though I'm a HUGE fan of any spring roll - even the cheap ones from the makeshift pop up stands that have NOTHING except carrots and turnip in them - I could only handle these ones after they had been soaked in the Bun Cha dipping sauce.
ACTUAL conversation - "Dump the springrolls in the Bun Cha gravy... it tastes much better when you can't really taste it."
BIKSS (after 2 minutes of letting his spring roll float about in the Bun Cha sauce) - "Oh you're right, this is MUCH better".
This is not a conversation that should have taken place re: springrolls.
They were out of baguettes so we couldn't try the Banh Mi, but I have a feeling we're going to head back there again one of these days to try and get some - and possibly order the Bun Cha again.
BIKSS asked if we should maybe try something else next time, and I said well no - we know the Bun Cha's good. If we try something else and it turns out horrid (and we're not very optimistic about the baguette either) then we're very likely to never go there again and we would have wasted an opportunity to have one last Bun Cha.
I know I'm making it sound like I can never have it again but the fact is, it's not very nearby, and it is a little on the pricey side. So to go all the way there for a $15 bowl of grilled pork and vermicelli doesn't seem very logical to me. Now if there were OTHER things there worth going all that way for, then maybe we'd invest the time and money... but not for just ONE item on the menu.
Besides, they're on the Eatigo app so we'll always only have to pay half price!
In these times, one needs to save money where one can.
And speaking of these times, I meant to post this video a couple days ago but kept forgetting.. so here's Trevor Noah interviewing Dr Fauci with REAL information about Covid 19.
(I posted the video here but it wouldn't show up so you're probably going to have to click the link to watch it on Youtube.)
I've gone everywhere by public transport all my life.
LIKE THIS
Except for a couple of years when I had the one boyfriend's van and another bloke's car to drive ... the rest of my life has been buses and trains - both of which use a transit card that you tap when you get on and then again when you get off.
BIKSS took a bus back to my place with me last Friday.
His tappy-card didn't have enough value in it, so I dug out some coins for his fare and chucked it into the money slot after which the driver made the ticket machine spit out a piece of paper for us.
Then I tapped my own card and we sat down. Not long after, we arrived at my stop.
As we were standing at the exit door waiting to alight he very sweetly turned to me and gestured something which translated to:
"Have you got your card ready to tap out?"
I'm sorry but at that moment I laughed so hard and then I couldn't stop teasing him about it.
This is me on any bus / train
Me. Me who has taken millions of rides on buses and trains...the girl who has her tappy card thing in her phone case because she carries her phone in her hand at all times - because my phone is my watch, sometimes my wallet, often my preferred mode of entertainment when commuting, and almost always my only source of information - from news to google to gossip.
I'm one of those people whose other half never has to chide for not having her phone with her...
Without my phone I. Am. Naked.
My tappy card thing is in my phone case. I put it there years and years ago because when it used to live in my wallet I would sometimes get on a bus then realise I'd forgotten my wallet.
BUT I NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT MY PHONE.
So I moved it to my phone case. See the picture now?
Now that that's explained...
I can text and tap the card at the same time.
I can talk on the phone and tap the card at the same time.
I can do ANYTHING I need to do on my phone and tap the card at the same time.
Tapping in and out of buses is muscle memory for me. I don't even THINK about doing it.
So when he made that tappy-card movement and raised his eyebrow I was a bit amused and bemused.
"Did you, Mr I Drive Everywhere I Hardly Take A Bus That's Why I Have No Money In My Transit Card, just remind me to get my card ready to tap out? Oh, dear me, why, however have I managed to get on and off buses all these years... everyday too... to go to work and back without having Daddy to remind me to get my tappy card ready... It's terrible having to remember it all on my own, everyday, TWICE a day, and I have to take TWO buses each way too!"
We had a good laugh about that. He was really just being Daddyish and sweet. But it was still hilarious!
If I had to go to the store and get food supplies for a month, this is probably going to be what my list will look like.
1. Oats - for granola, for granola bars, for oat crumble... for just plain ol' cooked oats.
2. Barley - barley water is great for health, and once the grains are cooked, they make a great base for salads, or as a rice replacement.
3. Flours - I would get some regular all purpose for making pancakes etc for mum and of course Rye flour for my crispbreads. I would probably also get Almond flour cos #ketobread.
4. Apples - did you know they keep forever in the fridge? Like forever!
5. Cocoa powder - for drinking and baking.
6. Stock cubes / powder (aka bouillon cubes) - soups and stews are a breeze with stock cubes!
7. Any number of sauces / pastes for cooking.
BTW - where I live, "sambal" comes in many many forms.
And Thai chilli sauce isn't the ONLY chilli sauce.
Oh, and the colourful text you'll be seeing is just, you know, to break up the monotony.
First, there are now fatalities from COVID19 where I live. It's not a huge number, but we do have quite a crowd in the intensive care unit at the moment.
A lot of our citizens are coming home. And a number of them are coming from High-Hit areas. Hang on. I don't know many areas that aren't high hit. So ok, fine. We're getting loads of imported cases from returning students and what not.
This isn't as worrying as the un-linked cases as this means at any one point the number can blow up and we'd have more clusters. And those are harder to isolate and treat.
The 14 day stay-home mandatory isolation thingamajiggy is a good thing. Anyone who comes thru immigration HAS to self quarantine for 2 weeks.
That gives me some hope at least.
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My boss was a bit worried as he had a sore throat and some generalised pain over the weekend. As did I. Altho I'm convinced mine's caused by the heaps of chocolates and chips I've consumed since I went to the warehouse sale that lasted Thur to Sun.
Yes, I know. You're screaming at me right now. Those of you who missed the earlier post where I announced our gallivanting are no doubt appalled at my behaviour. (I'm sure those of you who DID read that post have all but given up on me by now...) Stay home, she says. Stay safe, she says. Um. I was careful to go during NON peak hours, in the scorching heat of the afternoon sun. Um, we stayed away from other people. There were thankfully no cough-ers and snifflers. And besides, mum would get cabin fever if I didn't take her out. (Hides under the table to avoid all the rocks that I'm sure you're throwing at me right now for taking mum out...)
Right. Um. So I bought a LOT of chocolates and chips, most of them at more than 50% off. Then I went again on Friday. With my colleague and her sister. And picked up more stuff. BIKSS went on Saturday without me. And then again on Sunday WITH me. And now we have enough chips and chocs to open a little store. But we wont. Because these are essentials for staying home. And staying safe. And getting fat. As I was saying... we were both feeling a bit under the weather over the weekend (me and my boss, not BIKSS) but I suspect it's from mental stress and worry as well. Sleep did us both good. We both felt normal-ish today at work, so for now we're not going to think about it too much.
I think the approach to this is really that we can't do anything about it besides doing what we do to stay safe... so beyond that, there's no benefit in worrying or panicking.
But having said that... I feel like I'm constantly swinging between WORRYING and 'WHATEVER'
THIS IS EXACTLY ACCURATE -
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Of course this wouldn't be a COVID post if I didn't link anything to it. OR add a video.
So here's today's video. And if you haven't seen the last few posts... please please PLEASE spend some time looking at the links and videos I've been posting over the last week because way too many people have been spreading rubbish on their social media and I wanted to help sort out the verified scientific stuff from the sensational clickbait bullcrap.
So here's Dr Rohin Francis with his explanation of why it's better to bring the hammer down hard NOW rather than wait till it's too late.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I also wanted to post my reply to a comment from another post which I think is important - on the topic of wearing gloves / hand-coverings etc.
Morningstar posted a comment saying she had heard suggestions for people to use dog poop bags when gassing up their cars. I know everyone is thinking of very innovative ways to keep the virus at bay these days. And I think the logic is that if your hands are covered, once you pull OFF the covering you will be safe and won't get C-germs on your face (yes I'm calling it that) cos they are now left on the covering / gloves instead of your hands.
But I'm not sure that people are VIGILANT enough about pulling off the gloves before moving on to touching other things... and it would not be feasible to change gloves everytime you touch ONE thing anyway. So as long as you're touching thing-1 and then touching thing-2 with the same gloves, you are already be transferring C-germs from one thing to the next.
This, in essence, just means that whatever you would have touched with your hands, ie. all 20 things from the minute you've left the house, you would now still be touching, only with your hands-in-gloves.
SO if you JUST DON'T touch your face with your hands from Point A to Point Whatever... NOT wearing gloves will not put you at any greater risk IF you wash your hands the minute you're done and back home and before you DO touch your face again.
BUT if you're going to be touching your face WITH gloves on anyway, then it would have made NO difference whether you had them on or not.
I don't know how to explain this clearly it seems, and I find myself going around and around so I'll just leave my comment-reply here and hope and pray that you all get what I'm getting at:
Fondles23 March, 2020:
The issue with the covering of the hand, is that sometimes people use a covering and then get complacent.
Not to be alarmist, but is that little gas refill door on the side of your car sterile? So should you throw the poop bag after holding the pump handle, but before shutting your gas refill tank door? If there was a germ on your car you would then pick it up AFTER throwing the poop bag away.
Or do you shut the little door then chuck the poop bag? But then that might mean you've transferred corona stuff from the pump to the car.
The rule is basically - do whatever you normally do when you're out and about WITHOUT TOUCHING YOUR FACE. And the minute you're in a safe space (inside your car, in the house, in a restaurant, wherever that you're not likely to be touching MORE stuff), wash your hands immediately or use a hand sanitizer... and STILL DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
The only time you're TRULY safe is right after you've washed your hands. Or sanitized them. No glove or bag or covering is going to protect you because the covering is just going to now be an extension (surface-wise) of your hands.
If I get a pair of gloves on and take some money out to pass it to you. I would have to throw those gloves before touching anything else with them or I would have transferred any germs from the money to the next thing anyway.
Unless one can guarantee that one absolutely WILL NOT touch their face when they have gloves on, it's still likely that a ticklish nose will get rubbed, a stray lock of hair will get tucked behind the ear, or a drop of sweat will get swiped away, glove or no glove. These are automatic actions most of the time.
Staying vigilant is about conscious effort, not a pair of gloves.
I hope I didn't upset you... I just want the focus for everyone right now to be on hand washing and NOT TOUCHING their face.
Gloves and other coverings are quite redundant without those two basic rules.
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The world is panicking, I know. And so was the sister. (BIKSS is surprisingly coolheaded about reminding me how she gets when I lose my cool dealing with her annoying texts).
She told me that I should stop mum's caregiver from going out on her day off. And if I didn't and anything happened here that COULD have been prevented but WASN'T because I didn't do what was right, then don't count on her to help us out.
What? So if (knock on wood) one of us got sick how would she know if it could have been prevented or not - and more importantly how would she know if it would have been avoided had I locked my caregiver up at home? Pffft. NO LOGIC.
And I cannot handle NO LOGICitis.
Besides, it's against the law for me to 'cancel' her weekly day off.
And I cannot keep her at home if she wishes to go out - the sister's other suggestion was tell her she doesn't have to do any chores but she should stay home.
All I can do is give her masks and hand sanitiser, and arm her with information and knowledge.
She has kindly agreed to only take half the day, and even then will stay away from buses and trains and only meet her ONE friend who lives nearby and they shall wander on foot to picnic in the parks within the vicinity of my home.
She is being very accomodating and very kind.
And I'm grateful.
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Before I leave you, if you haven't yet subscribed to the WHO's Whatsapp Bot Service (NOT its official name), feel free to CLICK ON THIS LINK which will take you to their page... where you can then click on the button at the bottom of the page --
And then a new chat will open up in your whatsapp app on your phone (or browser if you have the app installed on your computer too), with the word "hi" pre-typed for you in the text field.
Hit enter or send the "hi" and a list of options will be sent to you (like this) --
...from which you can make a selection (I typed and sent '1' for latest numbers) and information will appear magically on your screen --
(They look different 'cos one is a capture off my iphone and the other is from the lappy)
Right. That's all.
Also, I have a new bag. And a new belt. And a new hat. But those pictures will have to wait - maybe tomorrow.
1. Jz - this one's for you - I know it's not a Spock meme, but you'll be able to appreciate it I'm sure.
2. For all of us who grew up on Disney
3. No. Just no. This is NOT a good idea ok?
4. This is true. Stay home.
5. So much for working from home...
6. Got this from BIKSS over the weekend.
7. And this one was sent to me by an Aussie friend.
And this next one is a post to remind everyone to be safe but stay connected with loved ones and make sure you're not feeling isolated. PLEASE reach out to someone if you need a voice on the line, or drop me an email if you'd like to chat.
Now that we've got some good places to find real updates (Youtube channels... news agencies we trust...) what about some practical things we can DO right now?
I *WAS* going to do an A to Z but decided that was too much.
So here are just a few things that everyone should be doing -
If you HAVE to go out, make sure you WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water often, failing which make sure you have hand sanitiser with you.
AND MOISTURISE! Dry skin creates lots of cracks for viruses / bacteria to snuggle into and set up shop.
OK next up, I want to address the use of gloves.
Some people have expressed dismay at store workers not wearing gloves when packing up their purchases.
Now unless they discard the gloves after every customer's items are packed and don't touch any bills, cash, coupons, paper bags, plastic bags, YOUR shopping bags, or the cash register when wearing said gloves with which they will be handling YOUR items, it's pretty much useless.
If you ABSOLUTELY MUST BECAUSE YOU'RE PARANOID, when you reach home, dump everything on a designated table, run off to wash your hands or shower, then come down, wear your OWN gloves, grab a disinfectant wipe or a wet cloth (cos you don't want soap on your cereal boxes...) and wipe down everything, as well as the counter that the stuff has been sitting on, remove your gloves and throw them inside out.
Now see how it's almost impossible to clean everything down?
This is why the safest thing is just to WASH YOUR HANDS and don't touch your face.
The virus dies when it's not in a host. Eventually. Yes, we don't really know HOW long it's going to take. But as long as you're not transferring it ONTO YOUR FACE... you're pretty much fine.
Don't PANIC if the store people aren't wearing gloves.
Should people who are going into stores be wearing gloves? Or simply taking hand sanitizer and using it periodically, resisting face-touching during the trip, and washing hands as soon as possible afterward?
Morse: Either is fine. Many stores now provide dispensers with hand sanitizers. The problem with gloves is that people may unthinkingly touch their face with their gloves, defeating the whole purpose, or contaminate their fingers when they take gloves off. The most important thing is not to touch your face unless you know your hands are clean. This often takes a surprising amount of conscious effort, to become aware of this habit and prevent it.
Hedberg: I don’t think gloves are necessary, and wearing gloves doesn’t change the need for proper hand-washing. Washing hands appropriately, and using hand sanitizers when hand-washing is not possible, is recommended. If you go out to buy groceries, washing hands when you get home is certainly important.
It also addresses questions regarding unpacking, putting away groceries and bags that the groceries came home in.
This one is ANOTHER GOOD ARTICLE (Please note that it does mention disinfectant sprays but it also says to wipe down with soap and water first... more on using sprays below...)
ANOTHER THING THAT'S IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT ARE AEROSOL SPRAYS
I know there are a bunch of disinfectant sprays out there that promise to kill viruses. And they probably do. But if you're going around spraying that on table tops and doorknobs, then all you'll be doing is PROPELLING the virus particles all over up in the air and giving them a better chance (second chance) of landing on your face.
If you want to use an aerosol disinfectant, wipe surfaces with soap and water first, but that seems like a two step process when I prefer one step processes. So, instead, spray a generous amount onto a wet wipe / wet tissue, then wipe down the surfaces.
I also use hand sanitiser liquids (not the gels) to soak up a wad of cotton and then proceed to wipe down doorknobs, laptop keyboards and table tops with that.
COTTON HOLDS ON TO LIQUID REALLY WELL.
Ok. That's all I wanted to say about gloves and aerosol sprays.
Now.. where was I?
Oh yes. One other thing you CAN do that will help is writing a journal.
Not only will it serve as a reminder of this time (when you look back on it at some point in the future) but if authorities (in my country we do a really good job of hunting contact-tracing) need to call and warn those you've been in contact with over the last week or if YOU want to tell your friends, then at least you'll have a record of where you've been and who you've seen.
I don't know about you guys but if I had to rely on my memory alone, we'd all be doomed.
Remember - symptoms start typically around day 5-7. A person is infectious a day or two before symptoms begin. This means if I'm sick-ish on a Monday I would probably need to tell the people I met on the Sunday and Saturday past to watch out.... And I most likely caught it from someone on the Monday to Wednesday the week before.
I wouldn't be able to figure out where I was or who I saw a week prior. Would you?
Write it down. Everything you do. Everywhere you go.
Or make a text journal with your partner or bestie. I keep my chat with BIKSS archived so that I can check on any day / time where I was only because I tell him when I'm going from one place to another. To keep him updated, as well as to keep a record of my whereabouts.
I also do this with a group of gal pals on a group chat.
Right now, nothing is excessive. Everything you could be doing to help yourself and your family will be proactive and preventative. And that's always a good thing.
Here are some videos that I've collected over the last weekend -
Enjoy and be informed.
First, a video from the Medlife Crisis youtube channel by Dr Rohin Francis.
I posted one of his videos in a previous post, but here he is again in an ITV news interview (18th March).
This is also a good informative video by the same doctor (posted some time ago on the 6th March - so it may not be as up to date, but there are still some good explanations in it).
Next up: Angela Merkel: Coronavirus address to the public [includes english subtitle] - posted on 18th March.
This is long, but good and clear. Comes with English subtitles.
Here's the link to the other virus-handwashing song that was linked in the video above.
I also found a Dr Mike video on NOW THIS NEWS "Why Closings Are Necessary During the Coronavirus Outbreak'. You might have already seen all this if you've watched his other videos. But here it is in case you haven't:
And finally, this message is relevant to all of us, wherever in the world we are.
Meanwhile, as always, stay home and stay safe everyone!
In one of my recent posts I linked some news articles about the swans and dolphins returning to Italy's waters, as well as Japan's deer sightings.
Seems it may not be what it was made out to be.
The National Geographic says :
"These reports of wildlife triumphs in countries hard-hit by the novel coronavirus got hundreds of thousands of retweets. They went viral on Instagram and Tik Tok. They made news headlines. If there’s a silver lining of the pandemic, people said, this was it—animals were bouncing back, running free in a humanless world.
What *IS* real is that social distancing really can help limit the spread of the virus. So I urge you all to share and re-share and encourage your friends to share and re-share this graphic:
In where-I-live we've just received news this morning of our first fatalities. This saddens me and makes me a little more worried. Just a little.
Mostly I'm still staying home and not doing social things. I have my chips and my chocs and I'm able to get fresh veggies from the shops near me (they're open 24 hours so I can go in the middle of the night when it's not crowded at all) and while I don't think I'll be going to the larger more-well-stocked supermarkets, at least we won't starve. I have lots of rye flour for making simple crispbreads, I have oats for making granola bars, and I stocked up on some Greek yoghurt during my last big-supermart run.
(The Rye crackers recipe can be found here. I prefer this over the others that are available on the net cos I prefer NOT to use wheat flour at all. But that's your call... there are many many recipes that are pretty easy. I also don't like working with yeast so this is the one I chose.)
(I use THIS recipe for my granola bars - ok, I follow it LOOSELY cos mostly I just eyeball it. I'm using instant oats cos that's what I have, and I've reduced the amount to 2 cups. Feel free to experiment with various "add-on" ingredients.)
There's also a branch of a well known supermarket chain in the same vicinity as the veggie shops, and that's also open 24 hours. It's a small store, and not very well stocked variety wise (not much in terms of instant meals like microwave dinners or pizzas, nor do they have less popular Western offerings like mustard and ranch) but I can get necessities like frozen meats and seafood as well as tofu, eggs, breads and spreads and Asian sauces.
So we won't be starving. I just won't be having grilled eggplant, zucchini and peppers with melted cheese. Here are some things I CAN cook up. Images from the web.
I could throw some baked beans on my frozen fish steaks...
...stew some chicken with canned mushrooms... I do have some French onion seasoning packets.
And I can definitely stir-fry some easily-to-get local/Asian leafy veggies with prawns. Soy sauce and garlic here I come!
The challenge for my household is that mum can't have green veggies, beans, tomato sauce, or mushrooms. She's on a CKD low-potassium diet.
So a lot of this will have to be substituted. Or I'll cook some other stuff that she CAN eat. Which doesn't fit into MY meal plan cos I'm still no-rice, no-bread and no-noodle : all the things that are safe for mum.
Yet despite the limitations and restrictions, so far we've still been managing.
Wait, what was the point of this post?
Oh yeah. No matter what excuse you have, zip it. Stay home. Now's not the time for gourmet food and enjoying life. Now's not the time to MUST have that latte from the cafe down the street. Now's not the time for picking up that sweater cos it's on sale in a jam-packed store.
Now's the time to say OK, I can do this.
We can all make do. We can all find a way to make it work.
Today I'm sharing this food-for-my-family-can-be-challenging post in the hope that you guys will share your how-I'm-dealing-with-this-crappy-situation posts too.
Tell me in the comments below how YOU have triumphed over the inconvenience that Covid19 has caused cos I think it's good (and necessary) to celebrate our strengths and efforts collectively.
Meanwhile, stay home and stay safe.
And know that I'm proud of everyone who is managing in whatever way they can!
First, we went to a warehouse sale today, me and mum.
Yes, I know. It's "Stay home and stay safe" season, and I say that a lot - both online and IRL. But things are not AS bad in where-I-live as it is in Europe, and my heads of state seem to have things under control, mostly.
So no, it's not totally safe to go wandering around into crowded places, but I do try and get mum out once in a while so she doesn't get cabin fever. She's a bit of a social creature. She would die if she had to stay home 24/7. I just make sure I know that the places we're going aren't going to be jam-packed with hordes of people. And we go during off-peak hours so the buses aren't crowded. If we have to go somewhere involving a crowded bus or train, then either we skip it altogether or we call a car / cab.
A local snack supplier from the sister's church (and I like supporting local) reached out to friends and family informing them of a clearance sale they would be having from today through to Saturday. A lot of their shops are in airports in my country and around the region, and I think beyond the region as well, and with air travel grinding to a standstill, well, there are no shoppers shopping in airports no more.
Before all the stock expires they decided they would sell them off cheap. I mean, it's not like airports around the world will be resuming full operation anytime soon.
That's $164 worth of snackeroos... for $54!
SCORE!
After we got back, me and mum sat on the couch and sampled a good portion of the chocolates.
Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, I'm experiencing a bit of the ahem ahems right now.
I'm pretty sure it's not COVID, but still, people won't be too pleased to have a cough-er or throat-clearer with them on the same bus. I can only hope that it'll sort itself out by tomorrow.
There goes my plan of munching on chips while I write this post.
[Edit *while proofreading this post* - I got me a bag of chips after all... somewhere further down ]
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OK on to the good stuff.
So. I've heard some things, the most concerning of them being :
1) If you drink water every 15 minutes you won't get sick.
False.
2) Bananas have enzymes that will make it difficult for the virus to attach itself to your throat and you won't get sick.
False.
3) If you bathe in hot water / drink hot water it will kill the virus.
False.
4) If you have a runny nose then it's not COVID19 cos it only gives you a dry cough, and doesn't make your body produce mucus.
False.
Now that we've got that out of the way, here are the links to articles (some of them are from last month but the facts are still valid today...)
1. Coronavirus update: Countries around the world impose stricter measures | DW News
DW News posted this on the 18th of March. It has some pretty good information / news about what's going on COVID-wise around the world.
In particular there is a segment on the latest medical findings (starts at 3:53) which gives lots of insight as to how the virus affects an infected person - the TL;DR of it is that it will typically take about 5 days to show symptoms, and a person is most infectious just before said symptoms appear and for about a week after that. Please bear in mind these are not ABSOLUTE numbers, just the most "common" scenario.
Here's a screen capture :
2. Doctor VS Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories
And of course, a Dr Mike video.
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And finally, some of you make have read / heard about this thing called the "Cytokine storm". It was mentioned and explained in one the articles I linked above.
However, what you may NOT know, is that the strong immune systems that FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS have developed (from facing oh so many gazillion germs on a daily basis) may be the very thing that puts them at the greatest risk.
Here's an extract from a piece that was written by a senior doctor fella in my country. And it scares me just a little bit. Basically what I get from this is : if you're in healthcare, your chances of getting hit BAD are higher.
So what is this "cytokine storm" that you keep hearing about? In essence when a virus attacks a host, it is like an invasion. The virus lands on a beachhead - in humans it is usually in the throat - and starts multiplying in large numbers. When there is a high viral concentration or viral load, the virus enters the blood stream or moves through lymphatic system or via secretions, and can spread to other organs. In the case of Covid-19, it spreads deeper into the lungs where it targets a receptor called the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme receptor.
Why do some patients have a mild disease while others are warded in intensive care? This is because when there is a huge viral load, the body responds massively. In healthcare workers, our immune systems are constantly challenged as we meet lots of patients daily and are exposed to the viruses or bacteria that they carry. Our immune system is primed to deliver an overwhelming response especially in the face of a huge viral load. It is precisely this overwhelming response that may make us very ill and be warded into intensive care. So, you may not realise that our healthcare workers are under a great deal of stress during this period as our risk is way higher than the average patient's.
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How does this affect me on a personal level?
Since last Sunday I've cancelled all social engagements. Aside from work, teaching the kids, taking mum out once a week (on Thursdays which is the day her caregiver is off duty), getting groceries and other supplies (usually on the way back from work so I don't have to make extra trips out) , and meeting BIKSS for dinner (and more grocery runs - cos he has the car for the heavy stuff), I don't do anything else or go anywhere else or see anyone else.
Even that seems to already be a lot of human contact as it is. Which is why I've announced to friends that I won't be meeting any of them in the near (or not so near) future.
Besides that, eating out with BIKSS has become something of a game for me - where can we get food, "eat out" and still be separated from people at the same time?
Last night we went to a drive-thru, ordered some fried chicken, went to the beach and sat at an empty barbeque "lot" - I don't know what else to call it. At the beaches in my country there are zones where barbeque pits and accompanying tables / benches have been built so that families / teenagers / anyone can pay a small fee (between $16-$20 depending on the size and location) to book it for the day - that's from 12 noon to 4 am the next morning.
So if no one's occupying a particular "lot" by 5-6pm in the evening, chances are it's not been booked.
And dinner time's too early for the homeless folk to come and park themselves there for the night.
= Perfect for a romantic sea-breeze dinner for two on the beach. Table provided. And no, you don't have to pay to use just the table. The booking is for the pit.
And this is how we eat out during "Stay home, stay safe" season.
Or we go to really out of the way, in the middle of nowhere restaurants / cafes where we're sometimes the only patrons. Those can cost a little more tho.
Also - I'm just praying I don't get sick. As I said to BIKSS last night - if I catch it, I'll probably die.
