Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[THE_WIZARD_]

DSL...stick to topics you know something about...

...in other words...just STFU...

[CGVT]

You are right, there are many better sidekicks, but I talking Haggins vs Goode. It is Festus by a mile. Of course, Chester of the radio era has both beat.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I know, you're tired of COVID talk so that explains the degeneration of the discussion here to the likes of Krystal (my wife loves them), Denny's (used to be good in the 60s now sucks) and other eateries that won't make any reasonable diner's list of must go to. I am sorely disappointed that Linesman has not chimed in and mentioned Big Boy - had absolutely the best special sauce on their burgers ever.

Now back to my PM version of COVID talk that you've all been waiting anxiously for ........

I'm all about providing great information to my readership and this post is about that. As places we live start to re-open, you obviously want to know where it's safe or not safe to go. Of course, I've done the scholarly research for you. Forget reading the entire study; no link provided you'll just have to go with this and trust me:

This study investigated the aerodynamic nature of SARS-CoV-2 by measuring viral RNA in aerosols in different areas of two Wuhan hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak in February and March 2020. The concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in aerosols detected in isolation wards and ventilated patient rooms was very low, but it was elevated in the patients’ toilet areas. Levels of airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the majority of public areas was undetectable except in two areas prone to crowding, possibly due to infected carriers in the crowd. We found that some medical staff areas initially had high concentrations of viral RNA with aerosol size distributions showing peaks in submicrometre and/or supermicrometre regions, but these levels were reduced to undetectable levels after implementation of rigorous sanitization procedures. Although we have not established the infectivity of the virus detected in these hospital areas, we propose that SARS-CoV-2 may have the potential to be transmitted via aerosols. Our results indicate that room ventilation, open space, sanitization of protective apparel, and proper use and disinfection of toilet areas can effectively limit the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in aerosols.

What does this mean to you in practical terms:

Stay out of places that are crowded like elevators, public transportation even busy stores or restaurants where those people that don't put their grocery carts back in stalls provided, among other shit behavior, don't give a damn about how they behave in busy stores and restaurants during the Pandemic...... and I'm sure Wiz has none of that in his establishments.

Where you sit inside in a restaurant, should you choose to try one in your community, can be important in avoiding exposure. I'm assuming the proprietor has the basics in place. I'd also look for places that are spacious and are actually set up to be that way. If proprietors were cramming people in to begin with, he probably doesn't have the space to space out the tables anyway. Carefully consider if you want to enter places like that. Beyond that, sit upwind of identifiable ventilation and close to a wall. If there's a big crowd inside or waiting, I'd forget it for now.

Public bathrooms. First, they are poorly ventilated small spaces with potential for super-contaminated high touch surfaces ..... but for this article about aerosolization of this thing, there's evidence that SARS-COV-2 RNA particles are retained in stool. Norovirus is famously transmitted from vomitus and stool when a toilet is flushed. You inhale that stuff and boom, standby for massive illness. As well, when shit is flushed and it aerosolizes, it lands everywhere and if you touch those places, then inadvertently touch your face before washing your hands (you touch your face on average 23X/h so, yeah, good chance you will do that) you increase the chance of getting infected. Some are thinking the same for SARS-COV-2. Don't risk that these fuckers are right. Avoid public bathrooms and for old farts like me, empty your bladders before you leave home and keep your beverage intake down while you dine. Return to your normal consumption of drink when all of this is over.

I'm not backing the idea of staying away from gyms although the conventional wisdom is that yep, you should steer clear of them. Of course, I'm constantly looking for reasons that I'm not involved in risky business by entering a cycling studio and huffing and puffing near other people for 30-50 minutes. Know that I gave up cycling outdoors long ago when it became too dangerous to do so. It's even more dangerous now and in the areas I reside it's totally unsafe. So, it's indoor cycling or it's nothing. Here's what I've come up with to be safe; my wife thinks I'm nutz but I'm past 6 classes now over about two weeks and, look, Ma, no COVID. You be the judge. After all, it's your ass:

First, the studio owners where I cycle have published sanitizing and spacing protocols mandated by the state required to be in place before re-opening. Standard stuff and those are a given. Beyond that, ........

I've got the studio scoped out so I know where the air intake vent and the AC vents are and have a bike that I get to early that's in front, against the wall and where any circulating air, including mine, is moved away from me. I also aim a floor fan that's close to my bike towards me and angled up towards the ceiling. I've read all the past technical studies on how airflow in crowded spaces can seed the influenza virus to large numbers of patrons. It's being applied widely to SARS-COV-2 situations. I've applied that knowledge to where I'll be cycling and ride a bike in a specific location to optimize available ventilation accordingly. Also, the virus does well in very dry air, below 30% humidity and very wet air, above 80%. The studio I ride in in GA is cold as shit when we start and supposedly stays dehumidified throughout the class. Some big corporate cycle studios like Cycle Bar, where I will ride in FTL when they open on 5/25, have installed HEPA filters and UV systems in their AC systems. Expensive but proven effective in significantly decreasing airborne virus transmission (I've seen the studies - trust me, again).

I where a mask when I enter the studio and spend as little time as possible in places where people congregate to grab-ass before the class. Because I get there early, usually 30 minutes early, I ride for 30 minutes pretty much alone then do a 45 minute class to get an hour plus of cycling in. I remove the mask when I ride. The two studios I'm currently riding or will ride in recommend masks but don't require them.

I do have a high performance, N95 mask and it's not terrible. If I were to wear it and wear it properly which I do, I'd be assured of not catching anything based on the reading on this matter I've done. But when the workload/HR and respirations gets up there, the portion of the mask that fits around my nose starts to collapse and impairs my breathing - at least it feels like it does. I've practiced riding in lower HR zones and that's nice but ....... talent and other cyclists will understand.

When the class is over, I put my mask back on and leave quickly. One of the nice aspects of cycling, indoors or outdoors is the socialization. Forget it for now.

You can apply a lot of this approach I'm applying to a cycle studio - what most would consider a high risk environment - to reduce your risk in multiple other settings. It's Viral Load X Time of Exposure that defines risk of infection. You can control your place and time of exposure, probably not the viral load. But, know this: everything I read about SARS-COV-2 suggests that viral load can be high or low in airborne transmission by droplets or by aerosols but by far, viral load within these droplets and aerosols seems to be low in most circumstances we are going to face in our normal,daily lives. The reality, it appears, is that most exposures for folks like us are going to be insufficient to cause infection. This would apply to a broad range of humans, beyond us, that aren't immunocompromised in some way by age or pre-existing conditions. What proof do I have of that statement? Common sense looking at available data. The world started out with very high infection and serious illness/death rates from SARS-COV-2 that scared the shit out of everyone. After what probably amounts to around 6 months of this spreading around the globe, while the numbers of confirmed cases and deaths is unfortunately high and still going up, smaller and smaller percentages (the rates) of serious illness and deaths have decreased dramatically. So has R(O) at one time thought to range as high as between 7-10, now, in may places where peaks have passed, with or without strict mitigation and containment measures, it's at 1 or below.

We're learning how to deal and live with SARS-COV-2 mostly on the fly but humans are remarkably adaptable and innovative. Know the facts and "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead!"

[THE_WIZARD_]

ZzZzZzZzZzZzZz

[Jeff Buchanan]

I absolutely knew this was coming ......... hold your horses on Moderna's vaccine trial.

TBF, I brought up the issue that we should be skeptical of Moderna's announcement when it launched. The link provides a more detailed explanation of why than I provided Monday.

There is still good news and that is even though a small number of humans were involved in the trail that prompted the report from Moderna, it's human trials, nobody got really sick and all of them had antibodies to SARS-COV-2 after inoculation with the mRNA vaccine.

Patience.....

...... and fuck Helen Branswell at Biotech that authored this report. This bitch just caused the market to tank in the last 20 minutes it was open. You could have god-damned waited, Helen, Jeeeez!.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/19/...article_inline

[lineygoblue]

You expect me to talk about Big Boy after that?

- yuck -

[Jeff Buchanan]

ZzZzZzZzZzZzZz

I know you read it. I just know it. I can get through that thing reading it in 45 seconds and if it was my first read, I'd retain all the important facts presented there-in. But wait, your from Nebraska.

Never mind.

[Jeff Buchanan]

You expect me to talk about Big Boy after that?

- yuck -

....... and I know you read it ...... at least the first paragraph!

Really, it should be uplifting. You can go to Big Boy tonight under the right circumstances ...... and I've lead the way for you.

[lineygoblue]

Well, unfortunately,.. our Big Boy restaurant has chosen to close completely during this outbreak. No drive-up or take outs, nothing.

Speaking of Big Boy restaurants, I remember the days when "Big Boy" was preceded by the franchisee's name. For instance, nearly all the Big Boy restaurants here in Michigan were owned by Elias Brothers. So, it was "Elias Big Boy". I remember riding thru Ohio as a child and seeing that Shoney's owned several of the Big Boy restaurants, so they were "Shoney's Big Boy".

[Jeff Buchanan]

Yeah, me too. While I was reminiscing about times when I'd take my GF to Big Boy on Southfield at 13 mile, I remembered what a big deal those places were and apparently still are.

Absolutely loved their burgers. If I were to get one these days, I'd still find them pretty tasty. I got this from the Wiki web site for Big Boy:

Big Boy.JPG
Note the three layers of "Big Boy sauce." My Mom used to try to foist off on me this Roquefort cheese dressing from scratch my Dad loved. I'd insist on the Thousand Island she'd make from mayo, ketchup and pickle relish. Swear her dressing teased exactly like Big Boy sauce!

[Dr. Strangelove]

The one that was closest to where I grew up in N Ohio was a Bob's Big Boy. The ones around Columbus today are still named Frisch's Big Boy.

[lineygoblue]

I would rather BUY the Big Boy burger than be given a Big Mac for free.

The Big Mac may resemble the Big Boy, but the similarity ends there. The Big Boy is light years better. McDonalds ripped off the idea for the Big Mac from Big Boy but hasn't ever matched the taste.

Big Boy also has excellent fish and chips.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Two dams in Midland County breached. Thousands evacuated. Downtown Midland,MI could be under 9 feet of water

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/05/17/se-michigan-may-start-week-flooding-memorial-day-weekend-looks-dry/5208748002/

[lineygoblue]

Yep, that's about 40 miles NW of here. All the rivers in the area are overflowing. Farmers just planted a lot of the fields, and they're looking more like lakes than fields.

[Ghengis Jon]

The beginning of a pattern?


https://www.npr.org/sections/coronav...rusliveupdates

https://apnews.com/4ee1a3a8d631b454f645b2a8d9597de7