Day 535 – Surprising screenshots

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty good day. I pushed myself (on doctor’s orders) to see what I could get done, and I got quite a lot done. Yes, I am suffering a little bit today, but nowhere near as much as I would have expected.

I’m almost – almost – daring to hope that I’ve turned a corner.

I put my watch on for the first time in weeks, mainly just to keep an eye on my heart rate (doctor’s orders again), and well, wow, look at this:

A whole dog walk round the block, sure, but the steps! The steps!
That’s the first time I’ve even come close to that figure since I got this damn thing. I really wasn’t aiming for anything, so it was a huge surprise when I spotted it.

Other points: 72 resting HR is still too high, but that’s why I had the watch on. 150bpm is also still too high, considering I didn’t actually do anything strenuous (yes, you guessed it, doctor’s orders). And the stress level, well that’s always a bit of an outlier on the days that I watch United play.

Although…

Wow. Amazing.

We’ve been waiting to spank someone for about 18 months now, so this was long overdue. And yes, it was “only” Peterborough, but we’ve been drawing to “only” Luton and losing to “only Huddersfield” recently, so this was really great to watch (if a little stressful for at least the first 51 minutes) (see above).

But aside from the result – even better than the result perhaps – this was a cohesive, skillful, positive, enthusiastic, even occasionally awe-inspiring Blades’ performance. Just look at the quality of those goals. JUST LOOK AT THEM!

I’m almost – almost – daring to hope that we’ve turned a corner.

Day 532 – Positives

After being diagnosed with “Post-acute Covid-19 Syndrome” or “Long Covid“…

Early reports suggest residual effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection, such as fatigue, dyspnea, chest pain, cognitive disturbances, arthralgia and decline in quality of life.

Yep, all of that, and more.

…earlier this week, I was also given a battery of blood tests and another chest x-ray. I got my results back today and (aside from the actual symptoms mentioned above), I am the picture of perfect health. Every single result bang in its appropriate reference range bell curve. If you’d seen these results from a science experiment, you’d think that it was made up like all those Ivermectin trials.

And the CXR, while not being quite so perfect, did show a marked improvement from my last chest x-ray a month or so ago. So, with new drugs and a new plan moving forward, I’m feeling much more hopeful that I was last week. And even yesterday.

And – in another positive moment, I had my best meal in 2 months last night. I still can’t smell or taste anything, so any chef hoping to impress me has a pretty difficult job on their hands. But some bacon-wrapped chili poppers with BBQ sauce from the Village Bicycle had a surprising effect. While not being able to taste chili (at all), I can still get the burning effects of it (this also goes for the cooling effect of mint/menthol). And while that’s not perfect, it’s better than nothing. Because believe me, by this time, pretty much anything is better than nothing. Add in the combination of different textures within the poppers and I was having a good evening and then suddenly…

…did I just taste that BBQ sauce?

Well, no. Not really. But nearly. I did get a weird burnt orange taste, briefly. And that’s more than I’ve had in several (or more) weeks.

Add that in to the fact that I’m sitting outside editing photos* (and blogging) in the sunshine, and… well.. things finally seem to be improving and I’m totally here for it.

* yes, I’m going to have to do them all again this evening.

Day 527 – Steps

Just a quickie:

This sounds positive. I have a good record with this – or rather, I did. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I haven’t managed to get in my 10,000 steps since being home to this damn virus. Things have obviously slipped a bit since then and it hasn’t even been worth charging my watch up, let alone putting it on.

But I do plan to get back to it as soon as I can.

Day 523 – Hey, Gregory Kitching, I had my second jab!

Great news for everyone (but most especially Gregory Kitching), is that I had my second Pfizer jab this morning. Beagle-eyed readers with better memories than me might recall that I my first jab was also Day Zero of my Covid experience (it’s ok, Greg, it was unrelated to the jab). I’m fairly sure that, while there might be some mild side effects, I won’t be going through that again any time soon. Thank [Deity].

Today’s vaccination experience was so much nicer than the first. Warmer, quicker, friendlier, closer to home, SO MUCH better organised. 22 minutes in and out versus the 5 hours of sitting in a soulless, freezing cold warehouse last time. If you are in the Southern Suburbs (and I know that you’re not, Gregory Kitching, but do I have many other readers), I’d highly advise pre-booking a slot at the Discovery Vaccination Site in Newlands. Seamless and smooth.

Assuming you need a vaccination, of course. I don’t think you can turn up there just to spectate.
But then who would want to do that, anyway?

For those who are interested (probably including – but certainly not limited to – people like Gregory Kitching), my first vaccine batch number was FG3064, while my second was FG4421. I’m not sure how many doses are in a batch, but it’s certainly great news that they’ve got through 1,357 batches in just 6 weeks. I make that 226 batches a week or more than 32 a day. Amazing numbers hey, Gregory Kitching?

Oh, and on the subject of Gregory Kitching, he asks the following question:

I do love your mask, Greg. Very cool.

However, unless anyone is enough of a moonbat to think that there’s some sort of nanobot or 5G chip in the vaccine, then this was clearly very much about the virus. Quite how you think 0.3ml of voluntarily-injected fluid could “control” someone is beyond me. Even the infamous “truth serum”, Thiopental Sodium needs 10x that amount (intravenously, nogal!) before it can have any effect, like making you admit that even though you try and portray an image of being a big, hard man, you’re actually a bit scared of needles and the ANC.

Not that I have any examples of anyone like that, of course.

Indeed. But let’s step back for just a moment.

The Epilogue:
While I can take a strong dislike to some people, I really wouldn’t wish Covid-19 on anyone at all. What it’s doing to people all over the world is truly awful, and at the moment, I wake up each morning knowing that I’m probably going to hear of another friends’ hurt at the loss of a family member.

But, if you look at the mask/hand image above and you answer with the lower legend, I’d strongly advise you to reconsider and go and have a look at this site, which is sadly full of stories of people just like you.

And sure, I know that I’m not going to change the minds of any dug-in, HARDCORE: I KNOW THE SCORE guys like Gregory Kitching, because even showing interest would be seen as “a sign of weakness”, but I’ve already managed to talk 6 ‘vaccine hesitant’ people into getting jabbed, and maybe I can add a few more to that.

It’s free, easy, pretty much painless and OH, SO WORTH IT!
Go get vaccinated today. Thank me later.

Day 520 – Some viral stuff

Not “wildly popular on the internet” stuff.
Sorry if you came here for that. (But then, why on earth would you?)

No. Just some links to recent Coronavirus-related stories and studies.

Why did Ivermectin become so popular?
Ben Collins finds a tangled web of horse wormer and… er… cash.

Teeny-tiny study suggests Pfizer jab is good for 12-15 year olds.

Clearing up the confusion on Israel’s hospital figures.

The bottom line is there is very strong evidence that the vaccines have high efficacy protecting against severe disease, even for Delta, and even in these Israeli data that on the surface appear to suggest the Pfizer vaccine might have waning efficacy. This is clearly evident if the data are analyzed carefully, and agrees with all other published results to date from other countries.

Terrifying story of a teacher spreading Covid in California. Study.

A total of 27 cases were identified, including that of the teacher. During May 23–26, among the teacher’s 24 students, 22 students, all ineligible for vaccination because of age, received testing for SARS-CoV-2; 12 received positive test results. The attack rate in the two rows seated closest to the teacher’s desk was 80% (eight of 10)

If you are sick, stay at home. Isolate.
And “isolation” doesn’t mean “go for a hike on the mountain because you are bored”.
Yeah. if you’re reading, I saw that.

How respiratory viruses get spread. A nice back-to-basics overview.

Who knew?!?
Risks of nasty things happening after vaccination pale into insignificance when compared to risks of nasty things happening after is you get Covid-19.
Big study in Israel.

Oh, and finally, please say hi to C.1.2 – South Africa’s new variant!

Leading the world in terrible things once again. So proud.