Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Musings

Some thoughts, bits and pieces . . . 

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“The only constant in life is change.”
-Heraclitus.

Just as 9/11 changed the world forever, the Coronavirus will do the same. 9/11 destroyed our sense of safety and security; the virus will do so even more intensely. For many there will be deaths of family members, friends and relatives, loss of businesses and loss of homes.  Our world has been shaken by this and I suspect that there will be many changes, both flowing from what is happening and from changes introduced that will remain.
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Has this comparison occurred to anyone else?

Plagues of
Egypt
In the last few months
Water to blood
Drought
Frogs
Bushfires
Lice
Extreme hail storm
Flies
Floods
Pestilence
Coronavirus
Boils

Hail and fire

Locusts

Darkness

Death of firstborn

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You would have had to be on Mars not to know that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have been diagnosed with Coronavirus whilst here in Oz. Both have had to spend time in isolation in hospital in Queensland and have now been released for self-quarantine in their home. 

Last Friday Rita Wilson released her quarantine playlist using songs suggested by members of the public after she issued an invitation, not only for songs but also to name the list. She had been using a temporary title “Quarantine Choruses”. Here is the link for the final 32 song list, now entitled “Quarantunes”: 

The playlist features 32 songs and runs for just more than two hours, with classics like Eric Carmen's "All By Myself" and The Beatles' "I'm So Tired," to more modern hits like Miley Cyrus' "The Climb," Destiny Child's "Survivor" and MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This."

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Still on the item of the isolation of Citizens Hanks and Wilson, Tom has been posting daily tweets, one bringing gasps of horror and plenty of responses from the locals because of the image which accompanied it: 


Vegemite, a local spread, is not meant to be applied like Nutella. Instead, it should be applied like this: 


Here is a further guide: 


Even son Colin gave his dad a serve (ha ha) over it, tweeting:


That's Colin on the left . . .


Personally I find Vegemite revolting, it being one of the 2 things I refuse to eat. The other is coriander. 
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Some news sites carried a story that, whilst Hanks was in hospital isolation, "the thoughtful and overworked staff at the Gold Coast hospital have brought Hanks in a Wilson volleyball to keep him company for the duration of his stay." 

This was accompanied by a pic of Hanks holding Wilson, the volleyball, not his wife: 

Unfortunately it’s a beat up by the satirical Oz news website the Betoota Advocate. 

The pic came from a 2015 hockey game where he was presented with the ball with Wilson's face, a la Castaway: 

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One final thing, still on the issue of the Coronavirus . . . 

Some of the main precautions are to limit social contact as much as possible, avoid touching your face and sanitise hands often and well. 

If proof was needed of the hand washing, the fitem below is from: 

A special UV camera was used to test handwashing methods. A gel known as Glo Germ, which simulates how germs cling to the skin and which glows under UV light., was applied. The particles are the same size as germs and show how the different techniques of handwashing are more or less effective in the same was it would be for germs. The whiter the hands in these pictures, the dirtier they are — and the darker they are, the cleaner. 

The following pics and comments are from the article: 

Before washing hands germs on the hands show up as white underneath a UV light 

QUICK RINSE AND SHAKE: 
Research suggests that up to a quarter of us only briefly rinse our hands, but as this picture shows, that is not enough. The rinse and shake doesn't achieve much; after running your hands under the tap for three seconds, hands show up as glowing white under the camera — suggesting most of the germs have been left there 

SIX-SECOND WASH — NO SOAP: 
Six seconds is the average length of time people spend washing their hands. But this is not long enough to remove germs effectively — there is still a high concentration on the backs, around the wedding ring and under the fingernails. Washing the hands for slightly longer has reduced the white areas compared with rinse and shake — no doubt because this time the hands have been dried with a towel. And damp hands transfer germs much more easily so drying them is key 

SIX-SECOND WASH WITH SOAP: 
The most important part of hand washing is using soap — it's sticky, so you have to wash it off. Soap doesn't kill bacteria, it gets rid of them: one end of the soap molecule attaches to water while the other end attaches to dirt (which is where the germs will be). Lathering with soap also enhances the rubbing action. Hygiene expert Lisa Ackerley said: 'Scrub the fingertips against your palms to clean under the nails' 

20 SECONDS WITH SOAP: 
Around 20 seconds is roughly how long you should wash for, according to the NHS. As you can see from the picture, there are far fewer white areas than with the typical six-second wash. The only white areas are the crescents around the cuticles, a patch on the side of the thumb and a streak on the top of the little finger. 'You need that time to clean all the little bits of your hands,' said hygiene expert Lisa Ackerley. 

30 SECONDS WITH SOAP: 
The Centres For Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. suggests washing for up to 30 seconds. There is a visible difference — there are even fewer white areas. The crescents of germs around the cuticles in the 20-second picture have all but gone — though amazingly, there is still a trace. So should you be washing for longer? It could remove the rest of the germs, but 'it's getting rid of the majority that matters', Dr Val Curtis, a public health expert at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said

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