Tuesday, 17 October 2017

By on October 17th, 2017 in personal

09:39 – It was 33.6F (1C) when I took Colin out at 0645, mostly clear, chilly, and breezy. Our first real frost of the season is forecast for Wednesday.


It seems that I have some sort of lung infection. Before I went to the doctor yesterday, Barbara said she suspected walking pneumonia, which is the old term for an atypical pneumonia (one not caused by the usual suspects).

Barbara called Alleghany Family Practice and got me an 11:15 appointment, with Dr. Ambler. We signed up with the practice a year or so ago and both of us were assigned to him. I’d never seen him, and Barbara had seen him only a couple of times. She said he struck her as a good doctor.

He’s young. Mid-thirties, I’d guess. He and his wife, also an MD, moved here last year. They’d been practicing on an Indian reservation out in the Pacific Northwest, but decided that wasn’t where they wanted to raise a family. They were looking for a small-town, rural environment, which they found here.

Dr. Ambler seemed in no hurry at all. He spent probably 20 minutes asking me questions and checking me over. I weighed 181.4 pounds. My blood pressure was 130/80, which he said was fine given how I was feeling and where I was sitting. My pulse-ox was 97. (As he was using the clamp-on pulse-ox meter, Barbara said we needed one. I told her I’d get one on order.)

After he listened to my lungs, he said there was definitely something going on and he couldn’t be completely sure what it was without running CBC and Chem-7 panels and getting PA and lateral chest x-rays. He set those up while we talked, and then said he wanted to start me on antibiotics. The conversation went something like this:

Him: “Have you had any problems with your joints or tendons?

Me: “Oh, boy. I hope that doesn’t mean you’re going to give me Cipro or some other fluoroquinolone.”

Him: “I was going to prescribe Levaquin. Is there something else you’d prefer?”

So we talked about that for a while. I suggested doxycycline. He said that ordinarily that’d be fine, but there was quite a bit of resistance to it in this area. I asked if amoxicillin/clavulanate would suffice. He said he’d use it in cases of aspiration pneumonia (upper lobe), but what I had was lower lobe. He suggested azithromycin, which I agreed to. He also wanted to co-dose with a 3rd-generation cephalosporin. So I ended up with six 250-mg tabs of azithromycin, two to be taken the first day and then one per day for four more days, and 14 200-mg tabs of cefpodoxime, to be taken bid for seven days.

On our way out of his office, they drew blood to run the panels and then we headed across the street to the hospital. He’d set up the chest x-rays, which I got. While we were signing in for those at the front desk, I noticed a stack of those multi-color drug discount cards. Why not? I grabbed one for each of us and asked Barbara to try using it at Walgreens when we picked up my prescriptions. It worked, at least for the cefpodoxime. With just our insurance, that one would have been $84. With the discount card, it was half that. Still pretty outrageous at $3/tablet, but a lot better than $6/tablet.

As I expected, the effect was immediate. By yesterday evening, I was breathing a lot more freely, and wasn’t nodding off every few minutes. I probably should have just taken the levofloxacin, but the side effects scare me, in particular because they can be delayed weeks after one finishes the course of treatment.

65 Comments and discussion on "Tuesday, 17 October 2017"

  1. SteveF says:

    cephalosporin

    Isn’t that made from whales? I’d certainly hope you’d refuse it.

  2. Mike G. says:

    You are right to be scared by fluoroquinolones, Other than those side-effects in the scary black rectangle warning, they can seriously mess with you in other ways. In my case, Cipro seriously altered my mental state (insomnia, de-personalization, de-realization) after only three days in. All for an ultimately non-existent infection. Never again unless there were no other options.

    .mg

  3. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    And the nasty side effects of levofloxacin et al. are particularly pronounced in men 60 and older.

  4. nick flandrey says:

    I had a big reaction to the levofloxacin. Racing heart, anxiety, and other stuff. Didn’t take another dose, got cured with a different AB. Doc seemed surprised when I called and said I REALLY didn’t like the reaction and could I have something else please??

    n

  5. nick flandrey says:

    “made from whales? ”

    mmmmmm, tasty whales…..

    n

  6. nick flandrey says:

    ” Florida Governor Rick Scott declares state of emergency ahead of white nationalist Richard Spencer’s speech at the University of Florida

    Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency ahead of a speech white nationalist Richard Spencer is scheduled to deliver at the University of Florida on Thursday.

    Hmm, wonder what special powers that gives the police, and what normal behaviours are suddenly illegal.

    Also, nice to see that TPTB consider ONE MAN a state wide emergency. That’s ‘speaking truth to power’ no matter how f’d up his message might be.

    n

  7. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    “I had a big reaction to the levofloxacin. Racing heart, anxiety, and other stuff. ”

    You and a lot of other people. I keep about five courses of levofloxacin on hand, but consider it an antibiotic of last resort. As in, “nothing else I have works, and I’m pretty sure the patient is going to die unless this levofloxacin does the trick.”

  8. wrt pulse oximeters: *Aviation Consumer* just did a writeup of pulse oximeters for in-flight use (see http://www.aviationconsumer.com/issues/49_9/accessories/Pulse-Oximeters-Too-Cheap-to-Ignore_7112-1.html; I think it’s paywalled). Their favorite was the $14 FaceLake FL400 (http://amzn.to/2zuxa1z), which is what I got for my airplane.

  9. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    I just ordered this one:

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5Q1Q27/

  10. Greg Norton says:

    He’s young. Mid-thirties, I’d guess. He and his wife, also an MD, moved here last year. They’d been practicing on an Indian reservation out in the Pacific Northwest, but decided that wasn’t where they wanted to raise a family.

    Rural WA/OR are so desperate for doctors that *I* get email from recruiters. Even if we were interested in leaving Texas (yeah, right), serious money is never on the table. Both states are technically bankrupt, and most Obamacare plans in both states are thinly-disguised Medicaid.

    The headhunters are wasting their time with me, but some of the mail, both physical and electronic, is fall-down funny to open and read. Pendleton — “a bedroom community of Portland”?!?

  11. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Barbara mentioned that both of them had graduated from UNC School of Medicine in Asheville. That med school opened in 2009, so both of them are probably early- to mid-30’s at most. My guess is that they were in some sort of program for placing physicians in underserved areas, but didn’t last long on the reservation.

  12. Greg Norton says:

    That med school opened in 2009, so both of them are probably early- to mid-30’s at most. My guess is that they were in some sort of program for placing physicians in underserved areas, but didn’t last long on the reservation.

    If they grew up anywhere in NC, rural WA/OR would definitely be a culture shock, especially an Indian reservation.

    Plus, maybe they are too young to have ever seen the show, but anyone going into one of those “underserved area” programs expecting “Northern Exposure” should realize that the town is actually a Seattle exurb located about 45 minutes further down the freeway from Costco HQ.

  13. Ray Thompson says:

    mmmmmm, tasty whales…..

    Had whale meat when I was in Norway. Considered a delicacy and expensive. Our hosts were being the best they could be and the effort was much appreciated. But I will pass on whale meat. Tastes like fishy venison and the texture was not good at all. Much prefer reindeer meat in Norway.

  14. ech says:

    My guess is that they were in some sort of program for placing physicians in underserved areas, but didn’t last long on the reservation.

    You can get some of your student debt forgiven for each year of practicing in rural underserved areas like reservations.

    As for the pulse oximeters, it’s amazing that they have come down in price so much. They were still experimental when my wife was in anesthesia residency in the early 80s.

  15. Miles_Teg says:

    I’m usually around 120-130/70-80, but I take several meds for lowering BP. Usually they measure BP sitting down but occasionally standing as well. Don’t know why. I think standing is supposed to give a lower BP.

  16. OFD says:

    Glad to hear that RBT is mending nicely with the meds. It sucks to have trouble breathing, as most of us here know by now.

    Wife is worried that the “new” med I’ll be taking will result in moodiness, short fuse and depression, which she’s already seen more than enough of in me. I told her I know what to look for and be ready for and I know better how to deal with it nowadays. But we’ll see. Just looking to buy time to lose weight, do exercises and chiropractic, etc, and I have another appointment with the lone chiropractor down at the White River Junction VA Med Center on Friday. That will eat up at least half the day and I may use a wheelchair this time to get to and from the actual site within the complex; don’t feel like toppling to the cement again and having another concussion.

    Pahtly sunny and quite breezy again so fah; foliage sorta disappointing due to unseasonably late warm temps, so they say. But we’ll take it. We need to top off the oil tank but will keep using the wood stove exclusively as long as we can, and only kick on the oil during any brutally frigid and Siberian steppe wind days.

    Wife’s knee somewhat better today but she’s still trying to do too much stuff around here, despite my protests. I may attempt loading the car with rubbish and making the dump run later; we’ll see.

  17. SteveF says:

    I told her I know what to look for and be ready for and I know better how to deal with it nowadays.

    Exactly. Once in a while something will come up where my wife or someone else will express concern that I’ll become irritable and prone to violence. I’ll say, “Don’t worry about it. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about killing someone. Practically every day I resist the urge.” This does not reassure them.

    I may attempt loading the car with rubbish and making the dump run later

    Good luck with that, but I’ve never found a dump that’ll take daughters, especially when they’re still kicking and screaming.

  18. lynn says:

    My pulse-ox was 97. (As he was using the clamp-on pulse-ox meter, Barbara said we needed one. I told her I’d get one on order.)

    Yes, your blood oxygen needs to be at least 90 %. I have seen mine at 83 during the second heart incident, normally it is 96 to 98. My Dad lives at 95 with his leaky St. Judes heart valve that just turned 20 years old. This is close to the model that I like (I got mine at Walgreens and it is yellow):
    https://www.amazon.com/Acc-Rate-Fingertip-Saturation-batteries/dp/B00SCPB9KU/

  19. MrAtoz says:

    It’s another great day as President tRump drives Libturdians crazy. Harvard Professor comes up with a crazy way to get Cankles in office. Obama hacks crying foul. Cankles breaking her toe. lol! BJ Klinton rumor he slammed Cankles book and they haven’t talked for months. lol! I’m loving it!

  20. SteveF says:

    > Harvard Professor comes up with a crazy way to get Cankles in office.

    Another one, recently? Link, please?

    The rest, yah. It’s like putting a bunch of retarded people into a cage and letting them fight and scream and sit in a corner and cry and throw poop. I think I probably ought to feel bad about enjoying the spectacle, but I really don’t.

  21. Greg Norton says:

    Harvard Professor comes up with a crazy way to get Cankles in office.

    Paul Ryan isn’t *THAT* stupid … is he?

    My guess is that, if the scenario came to pass where Ryan ended up in the White House, he’d install Kasich as VP.

  22. Harold says:

    An astounding 41f this morning on my commute.
    Was 72f same time Friday. We are enjoying the cooler temps.
    Wife is working on a novel, YA Romance, and is in alreay 22,000 words in. She has her inspiration and just can’t stop. Hope it turns out well. We could use an author in the family.

    Last night I was feeling poorly, had nasal drip and the nose didn’t feel “right”. Took my nasal spray the doctor had prescribed last time and by bedtime I was feeling better. Seems all good today.

  23. lynn says:

    Before I went to the doctor yesterday, Barbara said she suspected walking pneumonia, which is the old term for an atypical pneumonia (one not caused by the usual suspects).

    A friend of mine posted on Facebook recently, “I walked into my Doctor’s office with a cough and walked out with pneumonia.”.

  24. lynn says:

    I may attempt loading the car with rubbish and making the dump run later; we’ll see.

    I take it that you do not have regular trash service to your home by the frequency that you mention this ?

  25. lynn says:

    “What Wi-Fi Security Problem? Windows is Already Patched”
    https://www.thurrott.com/windows/141672/wi-fi-security-problem-windows-already-patched

    “You may have heard about a massive new Wi-Fi security vulnerability. But if you’re using Windows, you’re all set: Microsoft already issued a patch that fixes the flaw.”

    What, me worry ?

  26. SteveF says:

    Wife is working on a novel, YA Romance

    Give a holler if she needs an editor — developmental, copy, whatever. For not-yet-published authors my policy is “we can work something out”, which normally amounts to “if you make enough sales, send me some money”.

  27. lynn says:

    > Harvard Professor comes up with a crazy way to get Cankles in office.

    Another one, recently? Link, please?

    Rush was talking about the article this morning:
    https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2017/10/17/while-hillary-reels-from-her-personal-911-insane-liberals-plot-to-intsall-her-as-president/

    Here is the actual article, “How Hillary Clinton Still Can, and Should, Become President After the Trump-Russia Investigation”:
    http://www.newsweek.com/hillary-clinton-president-lawrence-lessig-post-686077

  28. MrAtoz says:

    Thanks for the link, Mr. Lynn. I got busy doing actual work. Harvard is going cray cray.

  29. MrAtoz says:

    Here’s a link to:

    US judge blocks latest Trump travel restrictions to the US from eight countries

    How can this not be immediately shot down by SCOTUS? Does not the President have the authority to do this? Ofukstik did and not one tear. That guy in HI needs to go.

  30. SteveF says:

    John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.

    On a related matter, the President can suggest to the House that they impeach an official, in this case a judge who is blatantly disobeying the Constitution and Supreme Court rulings.

    Alternatively, Trump can authorize unlimited immigration from wherever he likes, but restrict them to Hawaii. I kind of like this one, myself. Issue visas with “unlimited stay in Hawaii authorized; not valid elsewhere in the United States”.

  31. OFD says:

    “I take it that you do not have regular trash service to your home by the frequency that you mention this ?”

    There is but we don’t feel like paying for it when the dump/recycling center is just down the road and I can chat with the guys down there; previously a fellow ‘Nam vet with the Corp of Engineers in the Central Highlands back in the day and a former Lt. Col., and the other guy who builds custom AR rifles for people out at his secured mini-fortress in the sticks. The first guy is now a state rep and on the board of our local medical center, and the second guy got major haht trouble and hasn’t been around in ages. Now it’s some younger guys but they’re friendly enough and it kills some time outta the day while running other errands. Wife also finds used books there for herself and other odds and ends.

    “Alternatively, Trump can authorize unlimited immigration from wherever he likes, but restrict them to Hawaii. I kind of like this one, myself.”

    Ditto. While also putting the screws to those assholes out in Kalifornia, and the big cities in Oregon and Washington, somehow.

    While John Harvard continues to spin in his grave.

  32. lynn says:

    Thanks for the link, Mr. Lynn. I got busy doing actual work. Harvard is going cray cray.

    You are welcome. I am trying to avoid legitimate work. Of which, I have enough to last me ten lifetimes. Maybe 100 lifetimes.

    Something is very wrong with the so-called intellectuals in the USA. Specifically universities such as Harvard. It is past time for a purge by the administrations but I doubt that it will happen.

    EDIT: This person publicly has embarrassed the university and its faculty. It used to be that the prof would be put out to pasture over this, moved into emeritus status at the least. Instead, the incompetent prof is now celebrated. Kinda reminds one of the emperor and his new clothes.

  33. ech says:

    Harvard Professor comes up with a crazy way to get Cankles in office.

    It’s perfectly Constitutional. It’s also politically impossible. A lefty fantasy.

  34. Greg Norton says:

    For OFD — MacDill Freak Show News (Courtesy of Polk County, FL Sheriff Grady Judd):

    http://sptimes.com/news/military/macdill/marine-colonel-on-temporary-duty-at-centcom-arrested-in-polk-prostitution/2341375

    “We had to call the government and say ‘Hey would you like to come get your leased car ’cause your colonel is on the way to the county jail,”

    I guess the Muslim Brotherhood sleeper agents are reserved for the Generals.

  35. OFD says:

    No doubt. Higher-level brass gets the good stuff.

    Just to note, however; this sorta thang goes on around a lot of big military bases and has for as long they’ve had big bases. Hookers, dope, booze, you-name-it. Sounds, though, from previous descriptions of the goings-on down there, that it’s kinda mixed in with the local civvie population and the politics.

    Further note: at least one of the other guys in my vets group refers to non-combat veterans as “civilians,” and a new guy who showed up a couple of weeks ago calls them “earth people.” I get that there’s that distance between us and regular folks but don’t often feel the need to remark upon it or dwell on it. We’re home now and we gotta make chit work here with regular peeps, like it or not.

  36. paul says:

    The radio that was installed of the mast to replace a 10 years old or so Motorola Canopy looks just like a Ubiquiti PowerBeam right down to the logo. I watched them take it out of the box, out of the plastic bag, from a brown box but it was labeled, just not for retail.

    Yeah, I can get 20Mbps speed. So they say. My account has been changed. Yes, I was getting almost 8Mbps yesterday.

    Today, right at 3Mbps both directions. I called and Sales transferred me to Tech. Who says, yeah, you are on the 20Mbpa plan but your radio is only good for 5Mbps. Someone is supposed to come out tomorrow between 8 and noon. I did tell Tech it’s on a 40″+ mast so send two people and not George by himself like y’all did last time.

    I can’t find any version of the Ubiquiti PowerBeam that runs at a max of 5Mbps on Amazon. The slowest I can find is 150Mbps at up to 20 kilometers.

    I really hate having smoke blown at me.

  37. paul says:

    Ok, what is going on with Firefox? It has updated itself to 56.0.1 (64-bit) and most links on my Desktop are broken. Like the page loads partially. But if I drop the link onto the browser the link works.

    It’s Firefox. The EDC machine has been fine and after it updated to 56.0.1 (64-bit) today, links act the same as on this machine.

  38. MrAtoz says:

    Further note: at least one of the other guys in my vets group refers to non-combat veterans as “civilians,”

    lol! I’m a double whammy with your group! Oh, wait, when I was at the PinHeadaGon, I got a medal for Desert Storm support. Does that count? I never even picked it up.

  39. Greg Norton says:

    Ok, what is going on with Firefox? It has updated itself to 56.0.1 (64-bit) and most links on my Desktop are broken. Like the page loads partially. But if I drop the link onto the browser the link works.

    Whatever happened, they pulled 56.0.01. I just checked the About Firefox box to see my current version number. I’m on 56.0 without any sign of a pending update.

  40. SteveF says:

    at least one of the other guys in my vets group refers to non-combat veterans as “civilians,” and a new guy who showed up a couple of weeks ago calls them “earth people.”

    I’m feeling an “and they can kiss my ass” coming on, same as for the one or two who are vehemently anti-officer.

  41. SteveF says:

    they pulled 56.0.01 … I’m on 56.0

    Global Warming, I tell you. It made 56.0 swell up just that tiny bit and it broke things.

    Fear Global Warming (which is real! And we’re all gonna die!) and all its fearsome majesty! Prostrate yourselves, speak the shibboleths, and make amends and maybe, just maybe, we won’t all die. Oh, and send money to High Priest Algor.

  42. OFD says:

    “I really hate having smoke blown at me.”

    Ditto. And we’ll avoid traveling to Napa this week, too.

    “…what is going on with Firefox?”

    It has been a PITA lately; I’ve moved to the Brave browser and Quant for the searches. No problems so far.

    “…I got a medal for Desert Storm support. Does that count? I never even picked it up.”

    Should be on yer DD214; you would be welcome in our group, kemosabe. We’ll keep the quiche warm for ya!

    “…I’m feeling an “and they can kiss my ass” coming on…”

    Yeah, I hear ya. Not all of us are on the same page in the group, and we’ve had some blowups lately. And some guys who were in the jungle had severely bad experiences with officers and have nursed the grudge for nearly half a century now. What can I say? My bad experiences with people senior to me in rank mostly involved other NCOs, one of whom I tried to murder with my bare hands. Do I now have a nasty grudge about lifer maggot NCOs? Not really, life’s too short.

    I’ve got snacks and beverages waiting for the day that one of High Priest Algor’s flying dragons, from his carbon-spewing fleet of same, crashes and explodes on some remote mountaintop.

  43. MrAtoz says:

    I traded in my Toyota Tacoma for a 2018 Subaru Outback over the weekend. A pleasant experience. They gave me top trade in dollars right off of Kelly Blue Book. I got the 3.6R Touring model. I even went full lez with the Wilderness Green paint. I didn’t even know they have a Costco Car Buying discount. Plus a special $300 over employee discount ’cause they just moved to a new location. I saved over $3K on their no haggle pricing. I used that to buy some maintenance packages. I haven’t *worked* on my autos for about 10 years now. Aviators don’t like dirty hands. Must eat quiche now.

  44. paul says:

    I think the PowerBeam uses the same config software as the NanoBeam. I could be wrong. Oh wait, I was wrong once but I was mistaken about that.

    Anyway, setting up the NanoBeam, I needed hands on at each end. Once linked, one can play with settings on the far end.

    Quiche? Three eggs in a quiche is silly or something. Esp. when you are collecting a dozen or so eggs A DAY. 🙂 Ham and cheese and scrambled eggs in a pie crust. Bleh.

  45. SteveF says:

    Over the weekend I tried to trade in my wife on a 1998 model. No deal.

    Ages ago a coworker joked that when his wife turned 30 he planned to trade her in on two fifteen-year-olds. He was reported by a coworker, a bitter old hag, to the personnel person.

  46. SteveF says:

    Oh wait, I was wrong once but I was mistaken about that.

    You screwed up your humblebrag — it’s supposed to be “I thought I was wrong once…”. Considering your flawless promenade through life, one can conclude only that you deliberately said it wrong, to give the appearance that you might occasionally be in error.

    Three eggs… you are collecting a dozen or so eggs A DAY.

    I don’t eat eggs that often, for no especially good reason, but when I do it’s often half a dozen at a time. Like putting can of hash* in a skillet and cracking half a dozen eggs on top to steam as the hash heats. Or making a pot of oatmeal (a cup of oats, usually) and putting eggs in it.

    Dang it, now I’m all hungry again.

    * I can make hash from scratch, but it’s not worth the effort.

  47. paul says:

    Yeah, I screwed up the humble brag. And now I’m hungry for hash.

  48. Ray Thompson says:

    He was reported by a coworker, a bitter old hag, to the personnel person

    When I was working on a government contract there were several black people employed on the contract. Owner of the company was black and the contract was an 8A award. I had no issues with most of the people, black or white. Some really good workers and good people. There were some losers on both sides of the aisle.

    Anyway one time several us were in one of the bigger offices used by about 10 people. A black chap named Ron was in there regaling us with stories about people he knew in Oak Ridge. I made a comment “Ron, is there anyone in Oak Ridge that you don’t know?”.

    I got turned into human resources and my butt was raked over the coals for making a racist remark. I asked how that was a racist remark. I was told it offended the person, who was black and I was white, therefore it was considered a racist remark. I asked again what was racist about the remark. I was told it just was and that I was on notice. The next such remark would result in my termination.

    At that point I pretty much quit talking to any of the black people in the office. Not that I did not like them, I was much in fear that anything I said could apparently be considered racist, even it was just asking for the time of day.

    Stupidity at it’s highest level. Old fat ugly female hags get offended when you mention younger people. Their only defense is sexism.

  49. H. Combs says:

    SteveF Give a holler if she needs an editor — developmental, copy, whatever.

    She says “She will, once she gets the first draft”. She’s a retired English prof and suddenly has this story that has to be told. She brings me 20 pages at a time to look at. I am hoping she becomes a success so I can retire early

  50. OFD says:

    Red-flannel hash and 3-4 poached eggs, side of grits w/salted buttah, some Frank’s Hot Sauce, and life is grand in the AM.

    “…when his wife turned 30 he planned to trade her in on two fifteen-year-olds.”

    Or when mine turned 60, trade her in for two thirty-year-olds, like a couple in my Theory class at the school, but too late, she’s 62 now. And probably about ready to dump the old crip hubby by now, too. Pretty much useless lately, on many levels.

    I’d like to trade in the Saab convertible toward an older pickup truck with no computer gimcracks and gadgets in it, and no rust. But that idea ain’t gonna fly here. Oh well, maybe when I start making the big bucks with Salesforce.com and counseling nasty and violent old vets and cops.

  51. OFD says:

    @H. Combs; “… She’s a retired English prof…”

    Do tell. That was my path to success and riches nearly thirty years ago but it didn’t pan out. If I may be so bold as to inquire, what was/is her specialty?

  52. nick flandrey says:

    Sloppy reporting or an attempt to reshape the narrative?

    “The security guard was shot and wounded by Stephen Paddock when he went to investigate the gunshots coming from the 32nd floor suite in the Mandalay Bay hotel.”

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4990806/Hero-Mandalay-Bay-security-guard-NOT-missing.html

  53. OFD says:

    The subject-verb order is outta wack, too; Mr. Paddock went to investigate….? And he shot the security guard on his way?

    The “authorities” are whacking away at their Narrative almost hourly now. What a mess.

    And we have two people, both victims of the massacre, and both with a LOT to say, and one is evidently MIA somewhere now, and the other is dead at 28 in her house. What are the odds.

  54. Alan says:

    I just ordered this one:

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5Q1Q27/

    From the Amazon page:
    “Safety Information
    Not for medical use”

  55. OFD says:

    “We’re being subjected to the oldest con game in the books, the magician’s sleight of hand that keeps you focused on the shell game in front of you while your wallet is being picked clean by ruffians in your midst.”

    https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/this_is_how_tyranny_rises_and_freedom_falls_the_experiment_in_freedom_is_fa

  56. nick flandrey says:

    Coincidentally, Aesop over on his blog mentions some interesting stuff about pulse ox usage, as an example in his “it wasn’t a belt fed” rant. Always worth a read in toto, but relevant parts quoted in full here.

    This is a standard hospital pulse oximeter:

    When it’s properly applied, working correctly and a number of potential error-inducing problems* corrected, it tells me and many other professionals
    a) your pulse rate
    b) how much oxygen is flying around your bloodstream.
    *(Keep your finger in that spot. I’ll be coming back there.)
    But not, Gentle reader, by me reading that number on the remote screen, does the number on the screen = Truth.
    How does it work? The probe shines a red light on one side through your fingertip (earlobe, neonate’s foot, etc.) and a receiver on the opposite side sees the received light, counts the rate of the waves as it changes, and via analysis of the color of light received, calculates the amount of oxygenated hemoglobin racing through your veins and arteries, and derives (by way of more math and science than you need to know) your heart rate and what amount of oxygenation of your tissue that equals.
    *Unless (I told you we’d be coming back here)
    Someone is moving the probe – like you tapping your finger.
    Or me tapping your finger.
    Or someone doing CPR while bumping the hand it’s on.
    Or you’re wearing nail polish of any of various shades.
    (Ask me how I know all these are true.)

    What happens when you don’t correct for that?
    You get a reading of a good pulse and normal oxygenation on a corpse. You get a reading of dead on a live person. Or anything in between. (I can tap on one with no patient, and get readings in the normal range from absolutely no patient at all. That does not, thereby, proves the existence of ghosts.)

    How do you fix that?
    You look at the monitor, and see if the pulse ox waves match the heartbeats.
    You look at the patient, and see if they’re pink, awake, and talking, versus blue-lipped with crossed eyes and not breathing.
    You wipe off their nail polish.
    You stop the probe from moving.

    In short, you treat the patient, not the monitor, because you don’t try to pull an elephant out of your ass based on A SINGLE PIECE OF POTENTIALLY CORRUPTED DATA.

  57. SteveF says:

    I was told it offended the person, who was black and I was white, therefore it was considered a racist remark.

    Yep, I’ve seen that in action. “It’s offensive if Member of Designated Victim Group says it is.” Oddly, it goes only the one way. One time as an experiment I complained to HR that anti-male remarks by a handful of women were offensive. HR told me it was not actionable. Now, please note that I wasn’t all that butthurt about those hurtful, hurtful words; this was just an experiment in a workplace where even the mildest anti-woman remark (eg, “she spends all day on her phone and isn’t getting her work done”) was shut down vigorously and vehemently.

    At that point I pretty much quit talking to any of the black people in the office.

    Ah, but that’s a violation, too. Or at least it was according to all the workplace antidiscrimination policies that I’ve read.

    but too late, she’s 62 now

    Eh, that’s no problem. Wait another year and get three 21-year-olds. Math is fun!

    And we have two people, both victims of the massacre, and both with a LOT to say, and one is evidently MIA somewhere now, and the other is dead at 28 in her house. What are the odds.

    That sort of thing happens all the time in a police state. Application to the present situation is left as an exercise for the reader.

    In isolation, I’d figure it was just a coincidence. But the contradictions and lies and “coincidences” keep piling up. Like the bodies of anyone with dirt on prominent Democrats, come to that.

  58. nick flandrey says:

    We’re back to the 70’s of spy novels and international intrigue.

    Public assassinations, geopolitical maneuvering, blood in the streets.

    n

  59. Harold says:

    SteveF what was/is her specialty
    She specialized in Early and Medieval English. (all Greek to me) but she did introduce me to Chaucer. She lectured in the UK when we lived there then taught ESL to Chinese when we lived in Hong Kong. (Handy that she learnt Mandarin in school). Retired when we returned to the US because she refuses to teach in American universities.

  60. DadCooks says:

    @MrAtoz, congratulations on the new Subaru. Now you need to go here and show your “Subaru Pride” (they are free):
    https://www.badgeofownership.com/UI/dist/

    Subaru dealers have learned how to sell cars right. Since my Son and I bought our Subaru Foresters in July, there are 8 new Subarus within a two block radius of our house. I got a $50 “bird-dog” reward for each of those.

    Have fun learning all the technology.

  61. OFD says:

    “Ah, but that’s a violation, too.”

    Correct. It’s always a lose-lose for us.

    “…three 21-year-olds. Math is fun!”

    Be the death of me. Wait–screw that crazy “blaze of glory” talk and give me the 21-year-olds!

    ” But the contradictions and lies and “coincidences” keep piling up.”

    Indeed. And they evidently think no one notices or they don’t care. It’s getting more blatant by the day now.

    “SteveF what was/is her specialty…

    That was me that asked; I was working on a PhD in Medieval Studies and one of my courses was Old English. The rest was mostly Old French and Italian stuff, plus medieval philosophy and theology. Gave it up due to family problems and the fact that there would be no jobs for me anywhere after ten years of graduate study.

    “…she refuses to teach in American universities.”

    Shocking. Yeah, it’s a real tough pill to swallow; almost all the humanities departments nationwide have gone full neo-Marxist by now. When I was doing that gig, the professors were mostly old-school liberal Democrats with a few former radicals from the 1960s. But my fellow grad students were effin’ Maoists and crazy.

    Good riddance.

    WRT Subarus; they are the “Unofficial State Car of Vermont.” Wife and GG seem addicted to Saabs, though. I just wanna another big ol’ pickup truck. It would also help me to fit in in this AO better. I’d had the old 1996 Dodge Ram 2500 but I was defeated by rust.

  62. MrAtoz says:

    Thanks for the link, Mr. DadCooks. The buying experience was a very pleasant one. The Eyesight tech has already braked me during rush hour with the crazy drivers. Also auto brake backing up when too close to something is cool.

    Off to CA with MrsAtoz for a week tomorrow in the new Outback. Hope it doesn’t end up in Mexico. Going to San Diego and LA. Ick.

  63. Miles_Teg says:

    DC wrote:

    “Since my Son and I bought our Subaru Foresters in July, there are 8 new Subarus within a two block radius of our house.”

    When I parked my car at the local shops we had four consecutive Subarus. Three Foresters and a Liberty.

    (I got a Forester in 2012 but looked long and hard at a Liberty.)

  64. ech says:

    Safety Information
    Not for medical use

    That’s a legal CYA. If a health care professional uses it and it screws up, they may not be able to sue and collect from the maker. If it is going to be used in a medical setting, it has to be designed for that and FDA approved.

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