Recent Comments

Here are the last few comments on the blog. Please remember to read the comments and privacy policy for the blog before jumping into a discussion.

Comment on My Obsolete MacBook Pro by wzrd1 July 19, 2020 22:09
In reply to <a href="https://epidemiological.net/2020/07/19/my-obsolete-macbook-pro/comment-page-1/#comment-6593">René F. Najera, DrPH</a>. I swear by it and frequently enough, at it. 😉 It does what I need it to do and I don't have to worry about software licenses, for the most part. At the end of the day, that's what counts the most, getting function out of hardware.
Comment on My Obsolete MacBook Pro by René F. Najera, DrPH July 19, 2020 21:21
In reply to <a href="https://epidemiological.net/2020/07/19/my-obsolete-macbook-pro/comment-page-1/#comment-6591">wzrd1</a>. I dabbled in Linux for a while, when I was poor and could only afford old laptops that I would re-build and sell cheaply with some Linux distribution that allowed people to use the web and some version of OpenOffice (or LibreOffice). It's not bad. A lot of my techie friends swear by it.
Comment on My Obsolete MacBook Pro by wzrd1 July 19, 2020 06:42
I had splurged, while stationed in Djibouti, for a 2009 model, their last 17 inch model. It's in storage, alas, I killed the motherboard with a glass of after dinner Sangria. Still toy with getting it fixed, once the whole world starts working normally because leaders stop misleading and listen to their SME's for a change. Had a similar 15is inch model, that was stolen by burglars, leaving me half-macless. OK, entirely macless, got some notebooks for cheap and installed Linux on them. Afterward, I figured I should've kept dual boot of one Windows 10 machine for companies that stubbornly refuse to write for anything not OS X or Windows. Never had a Mac with a Retina display, but then these days, I barely personally own retinas. 😉 Growing older sucks, but not as much as not living to grow older!
Comment on What You Need to Know About COVID-19 Right Now (mid-July 2020 Edition) by wzrd1 July 17, 2020 14:02
In reply to <a href="https://epidemiological.net/2020/07/16/what-you-need-to-know-about-covid-19-right-now-mid-july-2020-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-6587">René F. Najera, DrPH</a>. Honestly, without trebling the cost of our schools, I have no idea how one could gin up a school that is safe from contagious diseases being passed around like they were candy. Kids aren't exactly the most sanitary creatures on the planet!
Comment on What You Need to Know About COVID-19 Right Now (mid-July 2020 Edition) by René F. Najera, DrPH July 17, 2020 10:48
In reply to <a href="https://epidemiological.net/2020/07/16/what-you-need-to-know-about-covid-19-right-now-mid-july-2020-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-6585">wzrd1</a>. If I had it my way, schools would think very long and very hard about reopening. They don’t seem to have good plans. They had ten years since the last pandemic to plan this out. It is very worrying that institutional memory is not more than ten years old.
Comment on What You Need to Know About COVID-19 Right Now (mid-July 2020 Edition) by wzrd1 July 17, 2020 04:32
A few notions. First, yes, the virus is somewhat massive, but snot is a tad more massive and carries multiple viral particles. Still, one would need another article to explain that even halfway to casual readers, so I get it. PCR, great for finding sequences - it'll even detect dead viral residue shortly after an infection is over, again, a technical niggle, not a really big deal. They did PCR for my test, while I was hospitalized for hypoxia, requiring 5 LPM to maintain a preferred SPO2 level. Bloody thyroid decided to throw a storm, BP was hypertensive crisis on steroids, pulse akin to a rabbit's pulse rate, lungs had modest infiltrates and atelectasis, just to avoid boredom. I'll not go into suspected AAA, which previously was modest dilation. So, essentially, to Goober things down a lot, a type of CHF. And literally, the words, "Thank God it's only CHF" did depart my lips, to much mutual jocularity, given the context. I've lost around 1.5 - 2% SPO2 level, largely I suspect, due to anemia that was also noticed and I have a lab full of tests to ascertain where any red cells are being lost or destroyed, alas, my car is toast and I'm still looking for a cheap car to replace it. Still, maintaining a 95 - 98% SPO2 for a 40 year smoker is respectable. Get the RBC levels up to more normal levels, it'll likely spring right back. Yeah, that virus would fold, spindle and mutilate me, my wife being diabetic and having her own medical train wreck conditions, the same. Masks for sure for us! The models I finally selected and received have a pouch to add an N-95 filter, should that improbable necessity ever arise and honestly, I don't anticipate intubating anyone again. I am concerned as to vaccine candidates as well, what naturally helps eliminate infection appears to be a fairly high molecular weight antibody, which had a worrisome low half-life and reinfection had occurred in multiple, well documented cases. I have some grave reservations in that area. What good is a vaccine, in a low compliance environment, that lasts at best, a pair of months? Checked with our daughters, down in Delaware County, PA. There are precisely one of three chances that the grandkids are going back to a prematurely opened school. Slim chance, fat chance and no chance. Any official that objects, I'll happily have a short talk on a long subject and my infamous NCO glare remains an ability of mine that quailed civilians and even superior officers. That and an artful tongue, well, they'd regret being born and I'd have to call 988 for them, on the way out of the door. I also saw mention online of a store manager having an argumentative customer, who refused to mask, then ripped the mask from the store manager's face, to spit in it. Given my risk profile, I would consider such an action attempted murder and react accordingly, with every military skill I attained over nearly three decades of service. The minimum is one elbow going the wrong way and one knee going the wrong way, if a weapon comes out, the individual won't survive to regret that unfortunate decision. One upside is, in this township, we do have community policing, so no law enforcement is about to come in guns blazing, but more likely to ask WTF, Wiz? We're known to them, largely due to community policing and simple proper human values endemic in that department. We arrived in the area, literally, flat broke. An officer arrived, asked a few questions, told us where to park where an objection would not be logged. Then, took us to the market to get a few snack items and water (I had a little food left and was starting my new job at the time in a couple of days), to only return an hour later with a friend to give us more provisions. Two days later, I got a pay advance to cover lodging and food. Since, on relief again, PUA relief, so I'm bringing in nearly as much as I normally earn and food bank excess items I put at a local cheap hotel's vending machine and watched a brisk exchange Pollyanna trade ensue. Note to self: Put more food up there tomorrow, while out to get necessities. Interesting York County, PA observations. A few weeks ago, Rutters customers were an average of 2/3 unmasked, despite company guidance (and refusal to enforce mandatory mask usage, as apparently, they don't enjoy property rights that every other individual or corporation enjoys within the Commonwealth. Yeah, copped out and became objectionable as a risk location for us), now, it's well over 2/3 masked. So, the fear of infection, if not God, has infused itself within them. A month ago, wearing my mask earned me dirty looks in a Rutters, now, nary a glance. Still, the majority of food purchases are from a Giant supermarket that's only two miles away and I've got a fine collapsible shopping cart. Enforced pedestrianism isn't a chore for me, despite needing a cane to prevent a fall if one knee collapses, it simply keeps me in shape! Did it in Louisiana, when my alternator failed on my first week on the job. Hope to keep on doing it when I'm 80, at a minimum, working on a billion years here. 😉 Although, I'm scratching my head, why does Giant manage to enjoy sufficient property rights to enforce mandatory masking of customers, while Rutters does not? Oh yeah, prostituted "will". Trust me, Rutters has heard my views and knowledge, via never confirm, nor deny some things. 😉
Comment on The Parent Ren, Part XIII: Passing on Some Knowledge by wzrd1 July 17, 2020 03:09
There likely will be an impact from the virus on the children, especially if a school is opened too early and the students lose teachers. We had that when I was in high school, when not far from our school, a popular teacher was in a motor vehicle accident, was trapped and burned to death in front of horrified students and bystanders. Or, when in elementary school, a classmate jumped out from between parked cars, to be struck by a moving vehicle, killing her. The nun gleefully explaining how doctor was picking pieces of skull from her brain (no, I'm not joking). Can you estimate my level of respect for said miseducators of students? Or again, in high school, a popular artist, literal genius and sports player was car surfing in the parking lot, when a student stepped in front of the vehicle, forcing a sudden stop and he was propelled by momentum, to the unforgiving ground, to die later that afternoon. The driver, a devout Hindu and inseparable friend, separated from his best friend by the stupidities of youthful inexperience and the hardness of the ground. And I learned some new vocabulary words after that nun did her horrific storyguessing, when Mom had a few words with her and Mother Superior, the choicest of words learned in her youth in the "Projects". Some of which I had already learned from Mom and Dad, during arguments and they cleverly spelled the profanity out. Being dyslexic, Mom mercilessly drilled me in phonics and that rather returned to bite them both, to much mutual hilarity. I learned the phrase "Hoist by one's own petard" much later, but fully comprehended the meaning from that experience.
Comment on Someone Yelled Something While I Was Out Jogging Today… by wzrd1 July 15, 2020 00:29
In reply to <a href="https://epidemiological.net/2020/07/13/someone-yelled-something-while-i-was-out-jogging-today/comment-page-1/#comment-6577">René F. Najera, DrPH</a>. Somehow, I've missed the slogan. I'm, especially after a report of a store manager that had a mask ripped off the face and spat upon, "Unmasked at direct and literal peril of your existence". The best is to have multiple jaw fractures, the worst, ever watch "The Avengers", when Hulk met Loki? Fairly close. That virus will kill me and my wife, screw such self-entitled bastards and welcome to trying to harm a veteran. But, my cane walking ass won't stick around to take credit, that wouldn't be the purpose, simple survival and get the food and provisions that I walked two miles and change to acquire.
Comment on Someone Yelled Something While I Was Out Jogging Today… by René F. Najera, DrPH July 15, 2020 00:08
In reply to <a href="https://epidemiological.net/2020/07/13/someone-yelled-something-while-i-was-out-jogging-today/comment-page-1/#comment-6576">wzrd1</a>. I think the deer was covered in deer flies. They were definitely winged creatures. I like the new slogan: Mask it or casket.
Comment on Someone Yelled Something While I Was Out Jogging Today… by wzrd1 July 14, 2020 13:12
The deer, looks like a few ticks, and a tock. Although, the only reason I'd yell is to offer water or to warn something is in the bushes. After all, it could've been a bear and you'd both frighten each other. 😉 Yeah, that ain't what happened, but it should've been. BTW, ran into a bit younger deer the other day, returning from Rutters maskless store, a bit scrawnier and obviously younger. It took off for no good reason, I wasn't going to ask it for a passport or even a Visa card. 😉 I also run into wild turkeys, gotta watch out for them, they might flounder taking off and break themselves on my head. Still, from 2/3 of customers in Rutters being maskless, the number now masked has increased to 2/3 in the past week. I guess some are figuring out that it's a good thing to not wake up dead from coronavirus.