insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman
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Daffodils, jumping shot, and a roundup of the news
I ventured out for some exercise today. Mostly I stay in and just do The Body Coach live streaming in the morning followed by a trampoline bounce in the afternoon. It’s a lovely spring day today and the daffodils are in full bloom so it must be time for a jumping shot. Here’s a round-up…
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What happens next?
I’m sorry if everyone is getting sick of reading about the pandemic but a paper was published in Science yesterday which is worth sharing. It’s called Projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the postpandemic period. This is important because there’s been a lot of short-term thinking with sudden closures of schools and businesses but…
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Coronavirus: your questions answered
I thought this was an interesting Q&A with Dr Chris Smith, virologist at Cambridge University and “The Naked Scientist“. He answers questions about face masks, the tuberculosis vaccine, and the British mortality rate, among other things.
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Humour in adversity
One thing I will forever remember from this pandemic is our capacity for humour at a time of adversity. Every day brings new laugh-out-loud moments. The tweet below from the Scottish sports broadcaster, Andrew Cotter, commentating on the final suspenseful moments of his dogs struggling over a toy is superb. https://twitter.com/MrAndrewCotter/status/1248313303270596610 Boris Johnson is home…
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Local Hero
Lots of heroes emerge in times of disaster. From neighbours delivering groceries to the vulnerable, to police topping up the electricity meter of an elderly man who was without power, to people donating meals to frontline workers. One of the heroes in my local community in Aberdeen is Artur Banach who has been printing face…
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Happy Easter!
Thankfully the Easter Bunny is a key worker in Scotland and he really outdid himself at our house with an Easter Egg trail, complete with clues! These were my clues and I found the surprise at the end which is a Booja-Booja chocolate egg. The Vego bar was in my cargo bike which has 3…
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There’s no escaping the trade-off
It was kind of surreal to see headlines this week like, “Prime Minister is breathing on his own” and “Prime Minster able to take short walks“. No one could ever have imagined this a couple of months ago. The latest news is that the Prime Minister appears to be recovering and has left intensive care.…
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Rachel’s allotment and hot cross buns
I’ve got the day off work today so I cycled to the allotment to put up my new sign. I met a couple of other people there and one fellow told me he received a phone call from the city council because his plot was also missing a number. Of all the things going on…
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I’m in the newspaper, allotment signs, and more jumping
I received another email from the council this week about my allotment. You may remember that they emailed me (and presumably everyone with an allotment in Aberdeen) a couple of weeks ago to say plotters would not be able to go to their allotments while the pandemic restrictions are in place. However, this was quickly…
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How is South Korea managing the pandemic?
Everyone on the interwebs is singing the praises of South Korea for beating COVID19 without having to endure a lockdown. Is that really true? I work with someone who lives in Incheon in South Korea, Dakota McCarty, so I thought I’d get the inside scoop from him. This is straight from the horse’s mouth and…
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How long should the lockdown last?
If there’s anyone you absolutely must follow on Twitter it’s Peter Singer. He’s the world’s most influential moral philosopher and someone I would describe as a modern-day Jesus. You can follow him here: Tweets by PeterSinger In 100 years the world will look back and see Peter Singer as someone who did more than anyone…
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All humans must self-isolate by order of the Daleks
I saw this on Twitter yesterday. I don’t know where it was taken but it’s obviously somewhere in the UK – the scenery, the sky, the houses, the signs, and the Dalek on the left side of the road all point to somewhere in the UK. Things are getting pretty serious. pic.twitter.com/OLc6egO9V5 — Ben (@Jamin2g)…
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There are no political parties today
Boris Johnson was moved to intensive care last night as his condition with COVID19 worsened. The country is united in wishing him a full and speedy recovery. I sincerely mean it when I say he has been handling the crisis well and I’ve watched other leaders lead through tragedies having lived in Christchurch during the…
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COVID symptom tracker app, fake news, and Rachel jumps
Doctors and scientists at King’s College London have developed an app called COVID symptom tracker. You can download it to your smartphone and each day report how you’re feeling, even if you’re feeling well. The data will be used to learn more about the virus and how it spreads. I have not had any symptoms…
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Music, privilege, and virus incubators
Some music. This is Elizabeth playing The Blue Danube. I learned recently that Aberdeen has been through all this lockdown business once before. In 1964 there was a typhoid outbreak and schools were closed, there were travel bans, and people died. The source of the outbreak was a single tin of corned beef. Meat is…
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I did it! I did it!
I made sourdough. Yes, it’s a funny shape but it tastes delicious and now that I have my own working starter there’s no going back. I followed a recipe from Rachel Mulligan’s Ferment book. The starter took 5 days to make and this loaf another day but most of that was it just sitting in…
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Kale, parsnip, and a recipe for bannocks
I went to my plot today to pick some kale. I also found this huge parsnip. It was pretty quiet at the allotments with practically no one there on what is a beautifully warm and sunny spring Sunday. Everything is starting to come to life including the rhubarb. We’ll be eating rhubarb crumble before too…
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On escaping to the Highlands during a pandemic and preparedness
I think Prince Charles made a grave misjudgment in coming to the Highlands last weekend. He was apparently well when he travelled last weekend but the key point is not that he was well but that he travelled last weekend. It was prior to last weekend that it became clear people were trying to isolate…
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BBC Four Pandemic and something to do this weekend
I just watched the BBC documentary, Contagion: The BBC Four Pandemic. It’s very good and I can’t believe I hadn’t seen or heard of it before. In 2018 the BBC simulated a pandemic across the UK to gather data for mathematical modellers to help with a future pandemic like the one we’re experiencing now. Tens…
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