Dear Jo,

I know no one will ever see this, but I do need to get these feelings out, nonetheless.  

Today is the funeral of a former work colleague.  I worked with her at a daycare center for several years and was always so pleased when I found I was assigned to the same section she worked.  She was young and lovely and so giving and patient. She taught me so much.  I can't bring myself to go to the funeral.  I wasn't an employee at this daycare.  I was only a temp. Even though I worked at this daycare on and off for over 5 or so years, I wasn't really an employee.   When the pandemic hit, they 'forgot' about me.  I had to jump through hoops and special requests just to get confirmation of my hours worked so I could apply for unemployment.  I don't want to run into the people who trashed me so easily.  I didn't know her family, so my presence won't mean anything to them.  I have peripheral relationships.  I'm close with one fellow co worker, but she's not in town for the funeral because her own mother just died. I'd rather wish for the money to be able to travel to where she is to support her right now.  But this is just how it is for me now.  These things happen around me and I don't participate.  I have these feelings, but I can't go and engage with people and feel the feels.  I'm cut off.  Consciously and intentionally.  It's a risk analysis game.  Same reason I don't date.  Especially that.  Fuck that.  When you're constantly contemplating your own demise, the last thing you need is to be looking for some person to share your relentless desperation with.  

 This is a follow up to the facebook is dead post:  

Seems it's happening once a month now.  This facebook disruption seems particularly sinister and effective.  At the end of the day, those that really want to keep in touch will find a way, like via this blog.  Facebook needs to be buried.  

FACEBOOK IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE BLOGGER

Tonight, Facebook crashed, badly.  You don't know how much time you've been wasting until its been given back to you.  Is that a quote from some philosopher?  No idea, but it sure is true.  

I've been trying to learn how to film, edit and upload video.  I've upgraded my laptop's memory and bought a new phone for the express purpose of using them for said projects.  I feel like a caveman trying to figure out a slide ruler.  I used to be pretty ok with tech stuff and then, sometime during the years I was raising a kid and then another kid and then was being paid to look after dozens of kids, the tech whooshed past me.  1080p, and auto stability, file download and auto-edit... royalty free music...  voice-over.... frankly, I'm a bit lost.  I've booked Rocks to give me some tutorial time on Saturday, so I hope I get a better handle on the mechanics of it all.  Mechanics now means, 'this menu, click drop down, click that in the dropdown menu.. etc etc...'  

I think I might post the video here and also try on YouTube.  Just to see what might happen.  

 

Weird reflective post from me this morning. I think I'm coming down with a little cold. Imagine that. Feeling sick, but being relieved at the same time. We are living in strange times. Meanwhile, my son is turning 16 next month. He's almost half way through his first year of electrician school. He comes home and he tells me about concepts I've taught him about physics related to practical application he's learning at school. I can see how excited he gets with connecting the dots. 3 phase motors was yesterday's talk, that evolved into 'how would we convert the house to be powered by wind and solar if there was a zombie apocalypse and then silliness.' I love that he is able to take his understanding of the basics of magnetism and electricity and not only see and understand the wonder of the physical world around him, but get excited about it, learning about some of the basic practical applications. I think I created an anomaly; a dissident, a subversive insurgent of the most dangerous kind. I think my son is a scientist.

 OK, a science post from me. Let's talk about pathogens. Specifically, let's talk about zoonotic pathogens. These are bacteria, parasites, worms, fungus, and viruses that are hosted by animals or infect animals and can be passed to humans. Because our immune system is different from animals, an animal can host these pathogens and not ever die or suffer from them. Something that might give a pig the sniffles and cough, could cause deadly encephalitis in a human and kill them in three days. Sources of zoonotic pathogens are different from vectors of these pathogens. Example: The white footed mouse in the Americas and some coastal bird species in Europe are the source of Lyme disease (a bacteria). It's spread by ticks. Ticks are not the starting point of the infection, they are a vector.

I want to talk about a virus that has been forgotten in the recent months, but I think will help show how these viruses jump species because I'm reading far too many people on social media claim that this novel covid virus HAD to have been made in a lab and how it's come as such a surprise. Both of those claims are false but I can see how it may seem that way to some folks. Unless you're reading science articles or you're in the field of public health, this new virus has come as a shock. For those of us who live, eat, and breathe science publications or those whose job it is to look after the public health in times of outbreaks, including finding sources and vectors of what appear to be new pathogens, this was predictable and predicted. The virus I'm referring to continues to erupt in places like India, Malaysia and The Philippines. It's called Nipah (named after the place where it was first officially identified in 1998) and its source is from bats and it infected pigs, who became mildly ill and then jumped to humans and became deadly. It is a Henipavirus and its highly contagious, has a long incubation period and kills 50 to 80% of humans it infects. Humans contract it from infected pigs as well as human-to-human. These pathogens jump species because humans are farming in areas they've not farmed before. Industrial sized pig farms in Malaysia lead to the discovery of this virus in 1998. They were farming introduced livestock where bats live, defecate and die. It did not take a mad scientist in a lab to create it. Nature was perfectly capable, all on her own. As developing countries become more affluent, their appetite for meat products grow and it is stressing the natural, biologically-diverse environments. Any veterinarian can tell you, perhaps especially those in New Zealand, India, Australia, and other more tropical countries, that domesticated livestock are at risk and pose a risk to human health.

Twain joked that pathogens are God's favourite. They are invisible to us, but can kill us more cruelly than any devil. They adapt quicker than we can come up with anti-biotics or vaccines. Even the bunnies aren't safe from them. A new type of rabbit hemorrhagic fever has erupted, RHDV2. I guess Twain would conclude that God doesn't favour the bunnies, either.

From the WHO website: 'It is estimated that, globally, about one billion cases of illness and millions of deaths occur every year from zoonoses. Some 60% of emerging infectious diseases that are reported globally are zoonoses. Over 30 new human pathogens have been detected in the last three decades, 75% of which have originated in animals.' So, if any of your kids are at school and interested in science, animals, medicine, microbiology, ecology... point them in this direction please. We need more clever folks working on this problem, as it is only getting worse. I will put some links below to more information if anyone wants to read, or hear, more about zoonoses.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/02/25/515258818/a-taste-for-pork-helped-a-deadly-virus-jump-to-humans?fbclid=IwAR2myk_0CiNKEXvBVap7twHlzLG2-Cx0spLZKAhzlb7WMgK7ZuxYxBOggzo

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0049475520928217?fbclid=IwAR2rR8qGp_icWAXc7C27e5aW0UOjLiU2-1KStPTAXweNuC2ihxkNzGeOHWM

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/deadly-virus-killing-wild-rabbits-north-america?fbclid=IwAR31w7e9WWyEP7C2j3D3ymzPoElzYBP-kwUav10C35Z1XxaM78o1uvBYCak

Keeping busy at home....

These are strange times.  I'm trying to keep busy, so I'm creating and finding interesting things to share online and it's about time I get back to my blog.

For your consideration, please find below some graphic art.  Some of these I've created myself.  Some I've discovered as free access art. If you have problems downloading them from this page, shoot me a message and I'll send it to you as an attachment.  Check back later because I will post more as the days pass.  A Good Crafting Day to you all!

Need is the Mother of Invention. If what you need are better resources, you get very creative with what you have on-hand.

The 'Number 8 wire' culture of New Zealand and how it inspires

http://michaeljeans.co.nz/2008/07/08/no-8-wire-attitude/

To get an idea of what I am talking about, if you have never heard this term before, please read the short wiki entry here:  Number 8 wire meme in New Zealand

My time in New Zealand had a very profound effect on me and one of the cultural memes that struck a chord, and amplified it, was the very inventive ways to solve problems with limited resources.  Every crafter deals with this, especially when we are broke or don't live in an area of the world with handy shopping malls.  We can't find that brand of glue or that type of fastener.  What do we do?  We improvise.  

I will let you in on a little secret regarding my own soap making.  Nidelva soap doesn't use fancy soap moulds bought online.  My goat milk soap is poured into wooden boxes that were originally meant to be used as gift boxes for wine.  I found these wooden forms at local thrift shops and tried them out by lining them with baking paper.  They work perfectly for about one-tenth the cost of the fancy ones and they create the best sized bars with my cutter.  One of my favourite sources for inspiration is the Op-shop.

Kiwis made due with what they had because they were a remote island nation and had to solve their problems with what they had.  

Improvisation and creative solutions can sometimes result in unexpected successes that turn out even better.     

In an interview between Neil de Grasse Tyson and David Byrne they discussed the similarities between doing science and doing art.  It is most definitely a creative process but what makes that process most creative is when there are parameters set, time constraints, material limits.  The borders between where the work needs to happen will drive the creative, with both art and science.  You can listen to the whole interview here:  Startalk-David Byrne