Today a friend picked up from me two care packages for the ICU nurses...one box of goodies for the Surgical ICU and the other for the Medical ICU, with an understanding that both are for the NIGHT shift. Her son is the co-director of the SICU, and will deliver them tomorrow.
The two packages are identical and include:
Home made chocolate chunk brownies Home made soft gingerbread cookies Trail Mix Cheddar Fish Crackers Mount Hagen Fair Trade, Organic, Freeze-dried instant coffee 3 flavours of Nutpods almond and coconut creamer Gold Bond Softening Hand Cream with Shea Butter A well deserved thank you card
Four decades of neglect and deprivation cannot be undone in a short period of time. When we moved to Florida in 1977, they were still in the process of "privatizing" public services (hospitals, clinics, transit) to evade equal access requirements. Previously segregated facilities that served minorities were discontinued as inadequate. That what remained was inadequate for everyone was overlooked. Our children went to the public schools. I got to bear witness first hand as parent, volunteer and guardian ad litem for wards of the state. After seventeen years, I had to get out and moved to Georgia. Georgia is not much better than Florida was then. Our metropolitan area has some of the highest COVID deaths in the nation. My guess is a lot of depressed people have a death wish.
That's all so sad. Everyone with compassion and intelligence needs to move to Vermont. The state gov't is opening up land and trying to attract businesses, and I'd sure like the folks moving here to be the compassionate and intelligent sort. You are all welcome.
NASA said that “ground teams plan to fire Webb’s thrusters at 2 pm ET” today, according to a press release. For all intents and purposes, this delicate procedure will be the final hurdle on telescope’s month-long journey. Once cleared, the Webb will be able to use minimal fuel to remain in its orbit for good.
Unlike past JWST milestones, NASA won’t be conducting a live stream of mission control. Instead, the agency will be hosting a teleconference at 3pm ET once the burn is successfully finished.
The space navigators’ job isn’t over. Even with gravity’s help, Webb must make tiny, periodic adjustments to keep itself in orbit around its Lagrange point, known as L2. The forces of other celestial bodies—Earth, the moon, even planets as far as Jupiter—will tug at Webb, and without any intervention, the observatory would drift off. Richon and her team plan to conduct a small maneuver every three weeks to keep it on course, but that schedule could change. They’ve never had an object like Webb near L2 before, and they’ve yet to learn how exactly the spacecraft will behave there.
Webb will remain in its carefully maintained place until it runs out of fuel, about 20 years from now. When its tank gets low, engineers might command the observatory to push itself into a higher orbit, to make sure it doesn’t crash into any objects closer to home. If that happens, Webb could remain in orbit around the sun for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. It would no longer be yoked to the Earth in the same way, but its mirrors and scientific instruments could keep working, and Webb could still phone home . . . Wow!
Wow indeed! the idea that it could still be sending in observations for centuries is amazing. Of course it will be grossly obsolete by then, but if small amateur telescopes can contribute, why not an obsolete Webb?
This is the stuff dreams are made of, and the very sort of endeavour that keeps me fascinated with science. It must be wonderfully satisfying to be a part of the teams that made this happen and keep it going...!
A nice day here; no fog to speak of, and clear sky. It would be a good day for gardening (as yesterday was), but I have a Zoom hearing this afternoon. For which I better start reviewing documents before long.
How much snow did you end up with? Do you have to shovel it, or do you live where it's taken care of for you? I've been shoveling our area and my neighbour's walk, as she just turned 90. We're looking at maybe 2-3ft of snow this coming weekend, so I'll sure get my exercise.
Hard to tell how much new snow. Maybe 4-6 inches? Normally Marcus shovels, but this morning someone did it for us. Marcus thinks it may have been his friend Bill.
listener: So the city of Chicago only gets one representative? Doesn't seem quite right.
Prior to the current redistricting there was one extremely convoluted district that connected the predominately Mexican-American area with the predominately Puerto Rican area. This ensured there would be a Latinx representative. The two areas are now separate, which is allegedly the reason two (non-Latinx) Democratic incumbents got thrown in to the same district even as the legislature was aggressively gerrymandering to favor Democrats.
How Japan has controlled Covid without lockdowns. [Click] [Japan] has had about 146 deaths per million people in the pandemic so far. The United States has had about 2,590 deaths per million. This has been accomplished by asking people to avoid the three C’s: closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings. They are also accustomed to wearing masks during flu season and whenever they have a cold. But 146 deaths per million compared to 2,590?
NYT: A Shrinking Band of Southern Nurses, Neck-Deep in Another Covid Wave [Click] “The exodus of medical workers during the pandemic has been especially brutal for the small, nonprofit safety-net hospitals where millions of Americans seek care.”
ReplyDeleteToday a friend picked up from me two care packages for the ICU nurses...one box of goodies for the Surgical ICU and the other for the Medical ICU, with an understanding that both are for the NIGHT shift. Her son is the co-director of the SICU, and will deliver them tomorrow.
DeleteThe two packages are identical and include:
Home made chocolate chunk brownies
Home made soft gingerbread cookies
Trail Mix
Cheddar Fish Crackers
Mount Hagen Fair Trade, Organic, Freeze-dried instant coffee
3 flavours of Nutpods almond and coconut creamer
Gold Bond Softening Hand Cream with Shea Butter
A well deserved thank you card
Four decades of neglect and deprivation cannot be undone in a short period of time. When we moved to Florida in 1977, they were still in the process of "privatizing" public services (hospitals, clinics, transit) to evade equal access requirements. Previously segregated facilities that served minorities were discontinued as inadequate. That what remained was inadequate for everyone was overlooked.
ReplyDeleteOur children went to the public schools. I got to bear witness first hand as parent, volunteer and guardian ad litem for wards of the state. After seventeen years, I had to get out and moved to Georgia. Georgia is not much better than Florida was then. Our metropolitan area has some of the highest COVID deaths in the nation. My guess is a lot of depressed people have a death wish.
That's all so sad. Everyone with compassion and intelligence needs to move to Vermont. The state gov't is opening up land and trying to attract businesses, and I'd sure like the folks moving here to be the compassionate and intelligent sort. You are all welcome.
DeleteFigure they will be planting palm trees along the streets of Burlington any time soon? [ducks]
DeleteLOL! ....no.
DeleteWe'll have Sugar Maple, Birch, Oak, Beech and Evergreen...
And the snow is non-negotiable. We do have skis, snowboards, ice skates, snowshoes and sleds, though.
We also have Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and more good Reps!
DeleteSnow is real pretty on top of a mountain at least forty miles away. . .
DeleteNASA said that “ground teams plan to fire Webb’s thrusters at 2 pm ET” today, according to a press release. For all intents and purposes, this delicate procedure will be the final hurdle on telescope’s month-long journey. Once cleared, the Webb will be able to use minimal fuel to remain in its orbit for good.
ReplyDeleteUnlike past JWST milestones, NASA won’t be conducting a live stream of mission control. Instead, the agency will be hosting a teleconference at 3pm ET once the burn is successfully finished.
Astronomy’s Most Dazzling Era Is About to Begin.
DeleteThe James Webb Space Telescope is now 1 million miles from Earth, and almost ready to scan the cosmos. [Click]
The space navigators’ job isn’t over. Even with gravity’s help, Webb must make tiny, periodic adjustments to keep itself in orbit around its Lagrange point, known as L2. The forces of other celestial bodies—Earth, the moon, even planets as far as Jupiter—will tug at Webb, and without any intervention, the observatory would drift off. Richon and her team plan to conduct a small maneuver every three weeks to keep it on course, but that schedule could change. They’ve never had an object like Webb near L2 before, and they’ve yet to learn how exactly the spacecraft will behave there.
Webb will remain in its carefully maintained place until it runs out of fuel, about 20 years from now. When its tank gets low, engineers might command the observatory to push itself into a higher orbit, to make sure it doesn’t crash into any objects closer to home. If that happens, Webb could remain in orbit around the sun for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. It would no longer be yoked to the Earth in the same way, but its mirrors and scientific instruments could keep working, and Webb could still phone home . . . Wow!
Wow indeed! the idea that it could still be sending in observations for centuries is amazing. Of course it will be grossly obsolete by then, but if small amateur telescopes can contribute, why not an obsolete Webb?
DeleteA couple of backgrounders from Auntie Beeb:
DeleteJames Webb telescope parked in observing position [Click]
James Webb: A $10bn machine in search of the end of darkness [Click]
This is the stuff dreams are made of, and the very sort of endeavour that keeps me fascinated with science. It must be wonderfully satisfying to be a part of the teams that made this happen and keep it going...!
DeleteIt snowed here yeaster day and was still (or again) snowing this morning. I think it has stopped now.
ReplyDeleteA nice day here; no fog to speak of, and clear sky. It would be a good day for gardening (as yesterday was), but I have a Zoom hearing this afternoon. For which I better start reviewing documents before long.
DeleteHow much snow did you end up with? Do you have to shovel it, or do you live where it's taken care of for you? I've been shoveling our area and my neighbour's walk, as she just turned 90. We're looking at maybe 2-3ft of snow this coming weekend, so I'll sure get my exercise.
DeleteZoom hearing cancelled, so on to gardening. Extirpation of weeds, and maybe grafting, on the menu. Just the right amount of snow.
DeleteHard to tell how much new snow. Maybe 4-6 inches? Normally Marcus shovels, but this morning someone did it for us. Marcus thinks it may have been his friend Bill.
DeleteDemocrats make surprising inroads in redistricting fight.
ReplyDeleteOne can hope!
DeleteIt all still sounds so tentative.
I'd prefer for there to be some law that districts can't be drawn in contorted ways. It ought to be whole towns or counties.
listener: So the city of Chicago only gets one representative? Doesn't seem quite right.
DeletePrior to the current redistricting there was one extremely convoluted district that connected the predominately Mexican-American area with the predominately Puerto Rican area. This ensured there would be a Latinx representative. The two areas are now separate, which is allegedly the reason two (non-Latinx) Democratic incumbents got thrown in to the same district even as the legislature was aggressively gerrymandering to favor Democrats.
Judges Greenlight Special Grand Jury In Trump Probe [Click]
ReplyDeleteHow Japan has controlled Covid without lockdowns. [Click] [Japan] has had about 146 deaths per million people in the pandemic so far. The United States has had about 2,590 deaths per million. This has been accomplished by asking people to avoid the three C’s: closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings. They are also accustomed to wearing masks during flu season and whenever they have a cold. But 146 deaths per million compared to 2,590?
ReplyDelete