We Couldn’t Get Plucked . . .

So we got Hooted instead.

Jan had her pedi-appointment this afternoon at 3, so we headed out about 1pm to first have lunch at Pluckers, a chicken wing chain. But there was some of accident on the feeder that slowed us down, and then when we got there, we were told that there would be a 20 minute wait. Since this would leave us kind of tight on getting to Jan’s appointment, we swung around to the other side of the Interstate to have wings at Hooters. Happy to see that they’ve added some more sauces.

After Jan had much prettier cherry pink nails we headed home with a stop at Costco for gas at $1.33/gallon, not quite as good as the $1.20 we got at Sam’s Club a couple of weeks ago, but still nice.

After Jan’s recent heart-attack scare due to her pneumonia shot, I decide to order a KardiaMobile for our medicine chest. I did use my pulse-oximeter to quickly eliminate her myocardial infarction possibility, but it would have been nice to also look at her actual EKG pattern. They’ve been marked down to $89 right now so it seemed like a good time to stock up.

Tired of the seemingly never-ending increases, I thinking about switching from Verizon to Total Wireless. Since TW uses Verizon’s tower system I don’t expect to see any coverage differences.

We’ve been with Verizon since 1992, starting out with one of those Motorola bag phones, the ones that look like a big black purse with a coiled handset attached. Right now we’ve got Jan’s S5, my S8+, and a MiFi for the rig, so not a lot.

Based on what I see online, it looks like I should be able to cut my bill by more than half. Since WalMart sells TW, I’ll check them out.

But I’m curious if any of our readers use TW and what your thoughts are.

According to recent news, 42% of all WuFlu deaths in the U.S have been in long-term care units, and they only house about 0.6% of the population. And it’s even worse in Canada where 82% of their deaths have been in long-term care facilities.

Very sad!

And from Forbes magazine, here’s an article where the CDC Says Possibly ‘Less Than Half’ Of Positive Antibody Tests Are Correct. I guess maybe that would explain why my antibody test came back ‘No, well, maybe, possibility”, as well as a number of other people’s.

And with all the recent negging on HCQ, here’s an article from the American Journal of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins and the Society of Epidemiologic Research saying Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk Covid-19 Patients that Should be Ramped-Up Immediately as Key to the Pandemic Crisis.

But here’s the key quote on page 20.

HCQ+AZ has been standard-of-care treatment at the four New York University hospitals, where a recent study showed that adding zinc sulfate to this regimen significantly cut both intubation and mortality risks by almost half (46).

Note that, as I’ve said repeatedly, if you use HCQ +Z-pak + Zinc, it works. And note this is on an outpatient basis, not in the hospital.

And if that’s not enough, here’s another article from the Yale Medical system comparing Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin plus zinc vs hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin alone: outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

And here’s the key paragraphs here.

In univariate analyses, zinc sulfate increased the frequency of patients being discharged home, and decreased the need for ventilation, admission to the ICU, and mortality or transfer to hospice for patients who were never admitted to the ICU.

This study provides the first in vivo evidence that zinc sulfate in combination with hydroxychloroquine may play a role in therapeutic management for COVID-19.

So if you don’t think HCQ+Z-pak+Zinc works, then you can argue with Yale and the New York University Medical System.
 

This past blog is from the first year of our Gate Guarding saga, and our 3rd gate that year, when we started following a Marathon drill rig. And as usual we moved to our new site before the rig, so we got to see them put it all together.

It was amazing how they would tear down this H&P drill rig in 18 hours, move it all miles away, and then have it ready to spud in (start drilling) in another 18 hours.


May 28, 2012

But there’s always Plenty of Hot Water . . .

The guy who decided to make large water tanks black has never been in south Texas in the summertime, and tried to take a cool shower.

It’s just all hot, all the time.

I now see why some gate guards have a tarp tented over their tanks. Right now the water in the shower is warm, but comfortable. But as the days get hotter I may have to look into the tarp thing too. We’ll see.

Here’s a series of photos I took over a couple of days as they built our rig.

Rig 1

Rig 2

Rig 3

The thing goes together like a giant Erector Set. But I guess that dates me.

Maybe I should say Legos instead.

I went back by Tita’s Taco Stand the other day for some more of their great tacos. Their green sauce is some of the best I’ve ever eaten. Good food and nice people.

Tita's Taco Stand

I just wished they served their breakfast tacos all day long, instead of stopping at 11am.

Heck, I wish McDonald’s sold Egg McMuffins all day long too.

Under the heading, “They Grow Them Big Here in Texas” I took this shot of a large green grasshopper who has taken up residence under our canopy.

It’s hard to tell from the photo but his body alone is about 4 inches long. So far, he’s ignoring us and we’re ignoring him.

Let’s hope we keep it that way.

Big Grasshopper

That’s about it for today. Wednesday afternoon we’ll head to Houston for a couple of days for our granddaughter Piper’s graduation, and should be back early Friday evening. Gate Guard Services is sending someone over to work our gate while we’re gone.

I will try to post a blog from Houston, but don’t know if I will have time.


Thought for the Day:

“If you kill enough of them, they stop fighting.” — Curtis LeMay