Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Under the Tree


 

30 comments:

  1. So far...

    6.8% of Illinois residents have gotten Covid.

    4.9% of Ohio residents have gotten Covid.

    4.4% of Massachusetts residents have gotten Covid.

    4.1% of Californians have gotten Covid.

    3.6% of West Virginians have gotten Covid.

    0.95% of Vermonters have gotten Covid.

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  2. Kentucky 5.13%

    Florida 5.3%

    Maine 1.26%

    New Hampshire 2.4%

    New York 4.25%

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  3. Covid-19 hospitalizations in California are double the summertime peak seen earlier in the pandemic, threatening to overwhelm the system [Click] Southern California to receive 5,000 body bags and 60 morgue trucks; and they’re whooping that we got one per cent of the vaccine necessary to treat everyone in the state.

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  4. A good thinkpiece, from The Atlantic:
    We’re Never Going Back to the 1950s. [Click] How the coronavirus massively altered community. The alluded comparison to the late 19th Century isn’t developed, unfortunately.

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  5. VTcases: 6009-5923= 86
    2143active
    105deaths(+5)
    Recovered 3680 (+96)
    Hospital 30(+10) ICU 6(+2)
    Tests 246,029 (+772)

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  6. My first reaction was, "Why would anyone want to go back to the 1950s?" But when he talks about the increasingly fragmented and partisan nature of the news media he is implicitly comparing things to the 1970s, not the 1950s when newspapers were routinely partisan. (I could mention Chicago's four newspapers of the time.) And speaking of bowling alleys and movie theaters as building community doesn't relate to my experience. Indeed, judging by what I see on news and social media, I would think that people today have a much more common entertainment experience than was true then.

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    1. This was intended to post as a reply to the Atlantic article.

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    2. The author's photo would seem to indicate he is far too young to remember the 1950's; maybe he thinks "Leave it to Beaver" is an accurate depiction. I sure wouldn't want to go back to the 1950's.

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  7. OHIO; COVID cases 584,766 and 7,777 deaths.

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  8. Replies
    1. The cause of death was almost surely stroke or heart attack. He may possibly have tested positive for Covid-19, but if he was actually dying from it he would have been far too sick to board the plane.

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    2. Whatever he died of he DID have Covid-19. He was given mouth to mouth and after his body was removed they simply used wet wipes to wipe down the plane and then continued on to their destination ON THE SAME PLANE.

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  9. Want to Blow Up Trump Plaza? [Click] The mayor of Atlantic City plans to auction off the chance to literally blow up and demolish the former Trump Plaza and Casino as a fundraiser for a local Boys & Girls Club.

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  10. Well, we’re going to have different Christmas than expected. And this has nothing to do with Covid. After a chest symptom and a couple of stress tests, Wil will be having angioplasty on Tuesday. We are a little stunned and so grateful he caught it. He walks 3.5 miles every night, but began to notice discomfort in the uphills. He mentioned it to his doctor at his annual checkup and, here we are. The tests indicate blockage. Hoping it’s a simple procedure, not multiple blockages and stents. But oh how we wish he didn’t have to go into a hospital these days. And we suspect I cannot accompany him, but we’ll know more tomorrow.

    I will have to drive him home. What do people do who have to wait most of a day but can’t go Into the building? It’s a good thing we live only a half hour from the hospital. But many heart patients here come from upstate New York. There aren’t even any museums or restaurants open, and it’s very cold out. We got down to 6°F last night and it was 19°F yesterday.

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    1. BTW, we aren’t telling family or friends about this beyond the immediate family, until after Christmas.

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    2. My best friend knows, and I feel okay mentioning it here, because one needs somewhere to say the words, and you are already a confidential group. Thanks for listening.

      We made It to 65 unscathed, at least.

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    3. Best of luck! My thoughts go with you and Wil.

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    4. So glad he mentioned it to his doctor. So many men would try to tough it out, big mistake.

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    5. Thank you!

      He almost didn’t mention it, because it wasn’t a strong symptom and it wasn’t often. But he’s an engineer, and his curiosity made him ask.

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    6. We told the kids tonight. They all took it well.
      I was especially impressed with the one kid who knew he was having the second stress test. Poor kid waited all day for the update, and when he asked, “So how are you, Dad?” My silly husband quipped “I’m dyin’.”
      I think maybe for half a second the poor kid believed him! But we expect all will go well.
      The irony is that neither of Wil’s parents had heart issues, while both of mine did! But then, his Mom died at 61 of pancreatic cancer and his Dad died at 66 of brain cancer. But maybe if they’d lived long enough...
      His siblings speak of age 61 to 66 as “the scary years” and the one (of 10) siblings who died (8 years ago) also got pancreatic cancer at 61, and died at 63.

      It’s a good thing I have made our own (olive oil) mayo and clarified our butter, for several years. Maybe that bought Wil a little more time of health.

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    7. Gee. Sorry to hear about that, glad to hear it's well on its way to being taken care of. Wil gets points for mentioning it to his medico. It wasn't so long ago that there were no ways to identify, to quantify, or to treat the problem. I can't speak from personal experience, but I have the impression that placing a stent is often an outpatient procedure--no overnight hospital stay. (Which decreases the chance of hospital acquired infection of any kind. Among the folks in my family who died relatively young, it was due either directly or indirectly to infectious disease. I have a little atherosclerosis, just enough that current guidelines say I should take Lipitor, and that sure did lower my cholesterol (which was in what used to be considered the normal range for my age). I expect things will work out just fine. Keep us advised, when time and inclination permit.

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    8. I had a stress test on general principles when I turned 40; boy, did they make me sweat! That was the hardest workout I ever had.

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    9. I hope they have some place warm for you to wait.

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