UK’s Rude Place Names To Be Toured By Man On Moped
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This paragraph gives a flavour of the route.
His journey will begin in Shitterton, Dorset, on Wednesday and will take in locations such as Twatt in Orkney and Booze in the Yorkshire Dales.
Mary Whitehouse would not have been amused, but I suspect many will find some of the names raise more than a titter.
This is the JustGiving page of the guy doing what he calls the Moronic Moped Marathon. The money raised will go towards Cancer Research.
Hay Fever, Coeliac Disease And The AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine
I am 73 and was diagnosed as a coeliac at 50.
I am fairly sure, I have suffered from hay fever all my life, but usually I can control it.
This year, it has been particularly bad and I asked my GP about it last night. He indicated it had been a bad year.
I then said that as being a coeliac I have a strong immune system and from what I have read, the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine also boosts the immune system.
I just wonder, if my coeliac disease and the vaccine are both attacking the hay fever and making me feel, so much worse than in any other year.
Certainly, all I want to do, is lie down!
I’m certainly so much worse than I was last year, when Covid-19 was the same, but I hadn’t been vaccinated.
The only time my eyes felt so bad was sometime around 2000, when they were so sore, I had to have an operation to remove polyps.
This could have been a few years after I went gluten-free, which would surely have boosted my immune system.
My Strange Relationship With Vitamin B12
For the last couple of days my eyesight has not been its best.
My typing has been not of its usual quality for a one handed typist and I even have had difficulty with doing up my shoe laces. So much so, that yesterday, I wore my best slip-on shoes with a royal warrant from the Queen.
My INR yesterday was 2.2, which is within range.
Last night, I decided to give myself a pseudo injection of B12 – a tin of sardines and two eggs baked in the oven. Serial Cooking -Sardines And Baked Eggs gives the recipe and full instructions.
- My typing this morning is so much better.
- I just tied my shoe laces with alacrity.
- But my INR has risen to 3.3.
I do wonder, if after my stroke, that my brain directs the B12 to the damaged areas and that those, who advocate B12 after stroke are right!
As to the INR, I’ve just found this page on Valve Replacement.org.
But as a Control Engineer, I have the solution. Test my INR every day.
A Lump Near My Liver
In A Mysterious Attack On My Body, I explained how I ended up in the Royal London hospital after my hand stopped working, probably due to an infection.
A couple of weeks afterwards my GP called me in to the surgery and repeated the blood tests on my liver, as the first taken in the hospital, weren’t quite what they should be!
These blood tests didn’t show the improvement they should have done, so I went to Homerton Hospital for an ultrasound on my liver.
This didn’t satisfy the GP, so he arranged for a CT-Scan at Homerton hospital.
After the scan, but before the results were known I saw a consultant, who told me about the lump.
He said it could be benign or something nasty and hopefully after he reviews the CT-Scan next week, we’ll know.
He said an endoscopy will probably sort out what it is!
The weird thing, is that, I’m not in any pain.
Except that is, for the lower back pain, I’ve had since I was about twenty.
As I can never sit comfortably in a car and my mother told me, my spine turns the wrong way, that probably explains that.
When I’m working at the computer, about every half-hour, I lie flat on my back on the floor and that seems to sort it.
Why did I get such an odd body?
Any advice gratefully accepted.
Brutal Third Wave Or Harmless Ripple? The Scientists Aren’t Yet Sure
The title of this post, is the same as that is the same as that of this article on The Times.
The scientists nay not be sure, whether with two jabs, you are safe from the Indian or Delta variant.
But how about me?
- I have had my two AstraZeneca jabs.
- I am also coeliac and have stuck tightly to my long-term gluten-free diet.
- Despite possibly being challenged by a group of Chinese students, that I wrote about in Did I Have A Close Brush With Covid-19?, I have not knowingly had the covids.
- I’ve only had one test for the virus and that was negative.
For various reasons, I believe that coeliacs on a long-term gluten-free diet have a very strong immune system, that could help to protect them from the covids.
- Personally, my health was transformed, when I went gluten-free in 1997.
- I am sure, my immune system gave the first dose of the vaccine a good kicking.
- I rarely, suffer from colds and sniffles, although I do have flu jabs.
- Research by Joe West at Nottingham University, has shown that as a group, we’re 25 % less likely to suffer from cancer.
So could these points prove my hypothesis?
In addition, I ask people, if they have any coeliac friends. These personal tales have yet to reveal any coeliacs on long-term gluten-free diets, who’ve had a serious dose of the covids.
I’ve also talked to intensive care doctors, who have said they can’t remember caring for a coeliac with a serious dose of the covids.
So I shall be Keeping Calm And Carrying On!
What Does Novak Djorkovic Tell Us About The Covids?
If you search the Internet for “coeliac disease and Novac Djokovic, you get a lot of posts linking to gluten-free diet and some to coeliac disease.
Some say he is coeliac and others say he is just gluten-free.
There are also reports on the Internet of Novac Djokovic having Covid-19.
So does that tell us anything about gluten-free diets, coeliac disease and Covid-19?
As there are no reports of him spending a long time in hospital, it doesn’t disprove my theory, that coeliacs on a gluten-free diet don’t get serious doses of the Covids!
I’d love to hear more stories of coeliacs on a gluten-free diet, who have caught Covid-19.
Bang Goes My Holiday!
There are various things I want to visit in Germany and I felt that the best thing to do would be go for a few days,
But the BBC are reporting these facts about travel to Germany.
- From Sunday, people travelling from the UK will not be allowed to enter Germany
- The decision is down to a rise in cases of the Indian variant in the UK
- German citizens and residents, plus people with an exceptional reason, can still enter – but face a two-week quarantine
So bang goes my holiday!
I particularly wanted to go to Hamburg to take a few pictures of the Siemens Gamesa ETES trial installation in the city.
However I’ve been able to locate the installation on Google Maps.
Note.
- The wind-turbine towards the South-West corner of the map.
- Siemens Gamesa ETES trial installation is the prominent odd shaped building towards the South-East corner of the map, just below the shadow of the turbine.
- The installation seems to have lots of pipes connected to it.
This second map shows the installation from an angle.
This document on the Siemens Gamesa web site describes the installation.
- The nominal power is 30 MW.
- The capacity is 130 MWh.
- 80 % of the technology is off the shelf.
The picture on the front says “Welcome To The New Stone Age”.
If anybody should find themselves in Hamburg with some time to waste, I’d be very grateful for a copyright-free image.
The installation appears to be just off the VollHöfner Weiden.
My INR Readings Before And After My Second AstraZeneca Jab
I am on long-term Warfarin after a serious stroke.
I also measure my own INR using a simple hand-held meter.
So with all the fuss about the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots, I thought I’d do an experiment around my second dose of the vaccine.
I maintained a constant Warfarin dose of 3.5 mg, which is the daily dose, I have agreed with my GP.
I maintained a reasonably constant diet. That is fairly easy if you’re coeliac and on a long-term gluten-free diet, as I am.
I measured my INR every morning.
These are my results.
- April 12th – 2.3
- April 13th – 2.8
- April 14th – 2.8
- April 15th – 2.9
- April 16th – 2.5
- April 17th – 2.3
- April 18th – 2.3
- April 19th – 2.4 – 2nd Jab
- April 20th – 2.2
- April 21st – 2.2
- April 22nd – 2.6
- April 23rd – 2.5
- April 24th – 2.4
- April 25th – 2.7
- April 26th – 3.0
- April 27th – 2.7
- April 28th – 2,5
- April 29th – 3.0
- April 30th – 3.1
- May 1st – 2.9
- May 2nd – No Data
- May 3rd – 2.8
It would appear that the results have been less stable since the second jab.
I am a Control Engineer with a B. Eng. from Liverpool University and I’m not surprised at these results.
It’s just like the bounce you get when the wheel of your car hits a pothole.
I would suggest that more research needs to be done.
Oxygen Supplies In Disaster Management
The title of this post is the same as this peer-reviewed paper on PubMed.
This is the Abstract.
Mass casualty events and disasters, both natural and human-generated, occur frequently around the world and can generate scores of injured or ill victims in need of resources. Of the available medical supplies, oxygen remains the critical consumable resource in disaster management. Strategic management of oxygen supplies in disaster scenarios remains a priority. Hospitals have large supplies of liquid oxygen and a supply of compressed gas oxygen cylinders that allow several days of reserve, but a large influx of patients from a disaster can strain these resources. Most backup liquid oxygen supplies are attached to the main liquid system and supply line. In the event of damage to the main system, the reserve supply is rendered useless. The Strategic National Stockpile supplies medications, medical supplies, and equipment to disaster areas, but it does not supply oxygen. Contracted vendors can deliver oxygen to alternate care facilities in disaster areas, in the form of concentrators, compressed gas cylinders, and liquid oxygen. Planning for oxygen needs following a disaster still presents a substantial challenge, but alternate care facilities have proven to be valuable in relieving pressure from the mass influx of patients into hospitals, especially for those on home oxygen who require only an electrical source to power their oxygen concentrator.
The Covid-19 situation in India, may be a total different type of disaster, but what is happening in the country is having the same outcome – A serious lack of medical oxygen!
It should not be forgotten, that we nearly had serious oxygen problems last year in the UK.
A Possible Solution
I feel we need to develop a reliable oxygen system that can supply large amounts of medical grade oxygen, which can be delivered quickly and easily to site.
Could The System Be Electrolyser-Based?
I feel that this could be an a possibility.
- Electrolysers need just a water and electricity supply.
- They produce both hydrogen and oxygen.
- If the hydrogen isn’t wanted it can be added to the gas main.
Electrolysers may offer size, safety, weight and other advantages in difficult environments.
The System Must Be Air-Transportable
This would be absolutely essential amd as the equipment might be flying into a serious disaster, surely it would be preferable if it could be fitted into a Hercules.
Conclusion
As I write this post, this article on the BBC has just been published, which is entitled UK Sends Supplies To India Amid Record Virus Surge.
This is an extract.
The assistance package includes 495 oxygen concentrators – which extract oxygen from the air to give to patients – as well as ventilators.
India is seeing thousands of deaths a day amid oxygen shortages.
Will that be enough?
We certainly must be as well-prepared as we can.
The Anonymous Widower 