Tuesday, March 17, 2020

And....Indiana is CLOSED.


So is most of the United States...and a lot of the rest of the World.

Oh...you're all looking around yourselves now, eh?

I guess you have already noticed that there isn't any toilet paper...or Kleenex...or hand sanitizer...or wipes.

And it is sad to see the realization on the faces of those who really really did believe that this was not true...just a hoax..not a big deal...when they face the reality that it is a HUGE deal. Is very much real...and is now actually affecting them and their everyday lives.

I get the chaos and panic and the runs on gun stores.

I really do.

They have been repeatedly lied to...they are scared...this is "end times" for some of them.

I get it.

 Now we all have to be prepared, but not hoard or panic.

If firearm ownership makes you feel safer...fine...but let's not go crazy, people.

(...I've seen the lines...)

and yes...I know this is "Murica"...but the quarantines, closed businesses and limited hours are not to "...take away your rights...", people.  They are hopefully going to help limit this pandemic. Help slow down community spread. Help our healthcare system and hospitals not to be overwhelmed and force the triage we are seeing happen in Italy right now. Where doctors have to make the decision who gets care and who gets gurney'd out in the hallway to die.

Save lives.

Slow down the panic buying of the past week.

Nobody needs THAT many rolls of toilet paper, okay.

(...but Halloween next year should rock!)





Combining my self-isolation with Spring cleaning and a few projects I have needed to get done...and never made the time.

It is kind of relaxing.

Peaceful.

This is
Day 6 for me. 


Some of us saw this coming early on...and prepared. At present I could go at least 2 months without having to leave my house or do without. 

At the end of the month I'll replenish anything I have used/need.
Insta-Cart is awesome.

Our restaurants, bars, gyms, casinos, libraries, schools, et al are closed. Carry out and delivery food is still available in a limited fashion.

For those who are still using the talking points of this being no worse than the cold or a flu...I want to explain the difference to you...

This is Covid-19.

You know how easily transmitted a cold is...how it seems once someone you know gets one...everybody has it?

(....parents of school age children are intimately familiar with this concept...)

Well this spreads just like that...so easily transmitted...from droplets...off surfaces...everywhere...

But it is unlike the flu in that the mortality rate is from 10-30% higher.

And here is why...

The common flu virus stays basically in our upper respiratory system.

We have developed over many years (and maybe many vaccines) a kind of herd immunity to them. Our body recognizes them and begins the fight with pre-existing antigens/antibodies as soon as they arrive.  Most of us don't even know the battle has been fought.

Some will develop symptoms during this battle. We call that

Getting the Flu

and will feel horrible as their body fights it off.

Still a great many will lose the battle- and die every year.

Despite our vaccines and antigens/antibodies . 

Despite our medical care.

Now, let me explain how Covid-19 is different than The Flu.

Remember those receptors?

The little things sticking out a bit like broccoli florets all over our ball...

With Covid-19 the receptors do not attach themselves in the upper airway.

They slip like a key in a lock into our lower lungs...and attach there...

Since this is a new virus we have no natural built up immunity and there is no vaccine...so our body (lower lungs) views this as an intruder to be violently attacked...it literally does not know what to do with it..so it throws everything it has...a cascade...hence the high fevers...the fluid from the immune response gathering in the lower lungs and inflammation...eventual pneumonia.

This is why it is most deadly in the elderly...those with pre-existing conditions...and the immuno-compromised...but has also killed those from the recent death of a 21 year old soccer player in Spain to many 30-40 year old smokers...and seemingly healthy 40-50 year old doctors and nurses. 

The only demographic that seems to be fairly unaffected by this virus is young children 1-9 years old.

Perhaps their lungs are stronger/less scarred?

The global mortality rate seems to be around 3.4% right now...given the current numbers,

*the common flu mortality rate is about .01% 
Last year nearly 34,000 died of it.

It is easy to disregard things that are new...not understood well..downplayed.

Often these things are mocked or as we have seen in the months leading up to this...misinformation spread.

This is something that came out recently...and perhaps the best I have seen since the closing of practically everything:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/03/17/closing-argument-war-against-coronavirus-cpt-vpx.cnn

And every one is getting it now...Tom Hanks...Rita Wilson...Edris Elba.


(...rumor has it that Chuck Norris came in contact with it....and now the virus is in quarantine for 14 days...)

From this





to this- Worldwide




In a little over 1 month.


Don't Panic...Be Prepared.

Stay Home &
                   Stay Safe...