The pain I’ve felt in the last few days because of a tiny little stone inside in my body is worse than anything I’ve ever experienced. Absolutely excruciating and uncomfortable. It’s weird drinking lots of water only for my mouth to be dry moments later. I’m feeling ok right now, at this moment, but I doubt that it’s over yet. I’ve been to the doctor and following his advice. Yet again, feeling so lucky to be married to a wonderful woman who takes such good care of sick ol’ me.
Health
An umbrella for the sun
Why don’t people use an umbrella to shield themselves from the sun when they’re out for a walk? It’s a perfectly natural item to use if rain is falling from the sky, but if it is the UV radiation of a sunny day, there’s none to be seen. It felt weird, but I took my dog for a walk and I used a black umbrella. OK, it felt more than weird. It felt stupid. I mean, it wasn’t raining. There’s hardly any cloud in the sky. I had an SPF 50 mineral sunscreen on already. But, you know what? I […]
Health
Day 5 of Covid-19
I managed to avoid Covid-19 all this time, but on Monday afternoon I started to come down with what I thought was a bad cold. The first few hours on Monday evening were the worst, with a dull headache, shakes, coughing, fever and tiredness forcing me to bed early. I got progressively better over the next few days, but there was still that wracking cough, congestion, fever, tiredness and the shakes that would strike randomly or all together. I’m still isolating. If I dare speak too loudly, I’m wracked by coughing that almost has me doubled over. I can feel […]
Health
Memories of the now
I started writing about what’s happening with Covid-19 on St. Patrick’s Day this year and I said I was writing for future me. While it’s impossible to capture everything I see and experience this post my cousin shared on Facebook (author unknown) covers most of the major events of the last month. Sharing this for my future self ??Schools and Creches close 12th March 2020All pubs and clubs close 15th March.No St Patricks Day ParadeLockdown begins in Ireland midnight 27th March 2020Fuel prices dropped a record amount (now €1.12/litre)Self-distancing measures on a rise.Tape on the floors at food stores and […]
Health
Coronavirus Rhapsody
Mama, I just killed a manI didn’t stay inside in bedI walked past him, now he’s dead. I don’t wanna dieI sometimes wish I never went out at all. Thanks Paolo.
Health
The new normal
A month is a long time, an advert on the February 27th Naked Scientists podcast was run by the Local Enterprise Office here in Ireland for “Local Enterprise Week” at the beginning of March to “help local business grow in 2020”. I wonder will people become wary of meeting others after this pandemic is over? I’m slowly catching up on my podcast backlog. Many are being recorded at home or even on a park bench as happened with the March 16th episode of Planet Money. Schools in Ireland closed on March 12th, so we’ve been at home since then. New […]
Health
Making Plans for the Weekend
You’ve probably seen this one already: Or it might look like this: I was going to write a post featuring that image because Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced yesterday that everyone in the Republic of Ireland must stay at home with very few exceptions in an attempt to stop COVID-19. There’s an increased Garda presence with motorists likely to be stopped and asked where they’re going. Exercise must be taken within 2km of home. The image used in the meme above isn’t great. Every time I saw it the floor plan was blurry while the text was pin sharp so I […]
Health
The facts of food
Alternative facts have long existed in the world of food. When you create a powerful enough fiction, you are no longer bound by the need for evidence, for fact checking, for responsibility and a concern for the safety of the vulnerable. The people peddling the candida myth have discovered that in making up a problem, valuable new markets can be created from nothing. From Captain Science vs the Army of Fungus
Health
I always thought flossing was good for my teeth
This SBM article leads me to question the idea that flossing my teeth helps to prevent dental cavities and gum disease. It’s more complicated than that. Done “by professionals” it can reduce dental caries (tooth decay) but if you’re not flossing at least five times a week there’s little benefit to it. Maybe the professionals had a technique the rest of us don’t know, or perhaps they were more diligent about flossing during those trials. Who knows? To floss, or not to floss? That is the question. Now that you are armed with the evidence, you can make the choice […]