I got a funk yesterday. I went to the grocery store to get some fresh veggies for one of my new go-to meals* and decided to stop off to test my blood pressure and it was 140/96. I know that’s just one week of low sodium eating and I probably shouldn’t expect much but that’s zero change from last week.
I also live in Washington State – where there has been an outbreak of COVID-19 which has killed a number of people and people here are acting just a bit… odd.
So, first, there was an unusual crush of people at Costco last week. It was like Christmas without the Christmas cheer: it was difficult to find a parking space, people were constantly stopping in the middle of main aisles, that caused frustrations and people tried to rush around the person stopping, which then just causes more traffic jams, and there were massive lines to checkout, which meant that the staff were hugely stressed.
Not only stressed but all of those people coming in means tons of money exchanged hands, people sneezing on those workers, coughing, and spreading all of the hundreds of normal viruses that float around all the time. Ugh. They had to work during the COVID panic.
Since then I’ve seen more ambulances than normal – there were 7 last night on the way home. I’m not sure what’s normal, but that doesn’t feel normal. And people are now wearing surgical masks in public. Yesterday, while getting my groceries (fresh vegetables!) I noticed that the toilet paper was all gone and that most of the canned soup shelves were low. Weird.
It’s especially weird to see empty shelves in America, if you step back for a minute from our normal way of life and see the American grocery store for what it is. A place like Fred Meyer has hundreds of shelves with hundreds of options for each food type.
Just the pasta sauce aisle is a dizzying array of choices: 16 different companies, each producing 5-10 different “flavors”. So, you have the Newmann’s Own marinara, traditional, four cheese, mushrooms, and of course a meat version. Each of those repeated (with variations like “vodka” sauce, etc) and many of them repeated again with organic versions. So, when you seen an empty shelf of canned goods in an American grocery store, that’s something.
Then there’s the weird thing with the toilet paper. I can’t think of a logical reason why toilet paper would be considered a staple. So maybe it’s just one of those crowd-driven panic things? People hear that toilet paper ran out somewhere, so they make a run to get some toilet paper.
Meanwhile at work things are getting weird as well. We are talking about emergency planning and making it possible for staff and students to work from home. This is fantastic and all kinds of good ideas are flowing but I wonder why it took us this long to make these plans? We live in earthquake country, half of us could have been knocked out at any time in the last 10 years by an earthquake.
But the even weirder part is how people are acting. Some are pretending it doesn’t matter! “More people have died of the flu!” is my favorite right now. That same person who was “devil may care” has called in “working from home” the last few days because they say that King County (Seattle) is recommending it.
And we do have some sick people, because it’s flu season. And we have people suffering from seasonal allergies (like me) and every sneeze, cough, or sniffle is met with glares: glares and people plonking down sanitizing wipes. I was reading (Moby Dick) on my couch (yes, I have a couch in my office) during my break (I get breaks) which happens to be near the staff bathrooms (it’s like a bad would you rather because while I have a couch, it looks out onto the bathrooms, which is gross) and one of my fellow staff members went in there and started sneezing.
When he came out, he told me “just so you know, I don’t have coronavirus. Those are seasonal allergies.” I offered him one of my claritin.
But I also threw the tin out because he touched all of them when he reached in there instead of dumping one out into his hand. And I noticed he didn’t wash his hands, One of the perks of having my office next to the toilets is that I know which of my coworkers are filthy.
Things feel very edgy here. Like folks could suddenly start being very odd, very quickly. And we live in a country with a lot of guns.
This is a bit of an abrupt transition…
So, it was a relief when I read Mikel Arteta’s press conference this morning. He’s such a well adjusted human being. Asked about injuries to his team he didn’t complain, he just said it’s part of football, we have to adapt. Asked about changes to the schedule to accommodate the Man City match, he was sympathetic to the traveling Arsenal supporters but also just understanding that this isn’t best for anyone and that the Premier League has to make some decision.
What struck me most is that what seems to bother him is the disruption to his own plans for the club and players. Not “bother” but more annoy. For example, injury (to guys like Torreira) means not that his team suffers but that his plan to improve that player, or work on that player’s tactical understanding is put on hold. He’s not complaining about anything. He’s just pointing out that there’s a knock-on effect.
It’s such a refreshing attitude. He doesn’t complain about the League, the refs, the players, the travel, etc. He just wishes that it could be different but it’s his job to keep going, game after game, trying to get maximum points.
And I love what he said about Moyes and how well organized Moyes is and how hard Moyes works to build a team ethic and transmit positivity and belief into his players. We know how hard it’s going to be to beat West Ham. Their last few wins haven’t been flukes: they beat teams (and lose) fair and square. Arsenal are just going to have to outwork them, dominate the game, win the ball, own the ball, and attack in possession.
Simple, really.
*Pinto beans topped with pico de gallo and fresh guacamole – all made in house, all low sodium, no fat, and providing just a ton (21g) of fiber! I still need a more flavorful bean recipe. I’m always down with the beans! I think the best I’ve found so far is “cuban beans”.
Just heard about your campus…no more in-person classes until March 30! Wowzers. Does that lighten or increase your workload (i.e., with classes occurring ‘remotely’)?
Also, do you mean Cuban beans as in Trader Joe’s Cuban beans (canned with green chilis, spices), which I happened to use in a recipe yesterday, or…?
I am a Hater Joe.
I make cuban beans at home: peppers, onions, garlic, spices. So, probably the same or similar to the canned stuff.
This is killer and just about hot enough for me but waay too much for most people, so adjust to taste. Pour this over homemade corn bread and you’re done. So good.
4 cups Dry Pinto Beans
1 whole Ham Hock or diced ham
1 whole Onion, Diced
2 whole Red Bell Peppers, Diced
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
3 whole Jalapenos, Sliced
1 whole Habanero, Chopped.
2 teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
2 teaspoons Chili Powder
2 teaspoons Black Pepper, More To Taste
Rinse beans under cold water, sorting out any rocks/particles.
Place beans in a stock pot with the ham hock and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover the pot and simmer for 2 hours, checking occasionally to make sure the water level is fine. Add more water as needed.
Then throw in diced onion, red bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno. Cover and continue cooking for another hour or two, remembering to check the water level.
Add salt, chili powder (if desired) and pepper, then cover and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until beans are lovely and tender. Serve with cornbread as a meal, or spoon on top of nachos, tacos, etc.
I will try this, omitting the ham hock and salt. LOL.
Just FYI, 2tsp of salt is about 4,600mg of sodium and a hamhock has about 4000mg of sodium per hock!
So, let’s say that your recipe makes 8 servings (1/2 c. dried beans is about 1 serving). That recipe has about 1075mg of sodium per serving. That’s half my daily allowance. I suppose I could cut out the salt and just keep the ham hock, that would cut the sodium in half. Or drop the hock.
Tim, just to share re: BP and you can research it-Beet juice…8 oz daily can drop those numbers. I had the same issue as you… Am currently dropping the extra weight with sensible eating and being much more mindful…there are super concentrated beet extract that you can mix with water…mine went 140/95 two weeks ago at the quack to this morning back to 117/72…now, I am an older geezer but I ran marathons for 20 years so the rise in BP got my attention…check out the research on beet juice…it’s legit…caveat: avoid the zealots…
Hey Tim,
Long time reader and first time commentator here! I hope you are doing well. I love your blog!
For your blood pressure, something that seems to have helped me is eating half a beetroot or a whole beetroot every alternate day. You can even get it in a powdered form online these days. However, if you are on medication, you might want to consult your doctor before doing this!
My employer has cancelled all non client travel and says folks should feel comfortable asking to work from home. But nobody will feel comfortable asking their managers, because when you put the onus on the individuals to ask instead of managers to determine, you’re still asking the individual to decide whether to be the one to break, which risks comparisons to their colleagues.
Besides, its not about me getting sick and wanting to stay home. It’s about the public health goals of slowing the spread. The flu vaccine isn’t about me not getting sick, it’s about everyone getting it so nobody gets sick. I’m astounded that these supposedly smart corporates who make seven figures don’t get it.
Tim,
Just because you mentioned high BP, I have to share my personal experience – feel free to use it if helpful or ignore it.
Three years ago my weight had ballooned up to 95 kgs due to unhealthy eating and no exercise (I’m only 171 cms and my age then was 40 years). On a visit to the GP one day for fever, I found my blood pressure was 145/95 and I was asked to go on pills. That prompted me to start eating healthy. I also did some weight training as I never liked cardio. Within 6 months my weight had dropped to about 86kgs and my systolic pressure had reduced to between 120 to 130 but my diastolic reading was still stubbornly above 90. The doctor was still unhappy and want me to go on BP pills.
I then started doing high-intensity exercise. I’m not great at working out on my own so I started going to gym classes. I felt nervous , almost sick, before each class and many times I thought of dropping out. But I forced myself to attend thinking if I will quit halfway in the class or take it a bit easy if I can’t cope. However, I always found that I always felt much better and energetic as the class progressed and felt absolutely fine after completing the class.
After just a few weeks of high intensity exercise, my diastolic blood pressure had gone down to normal range ie below 80. I’ve been doing 2-3 high intensity workout (mainly gym classes) every week ever since, except for some lazy periods like few weeks of holidays , Christmas time or illness etc and my BP has been in control. When I’m on a roll, my readings are a very healthy 110-70!
In my experience, I found high intensity* exercise with sensible diet as the most effective for controlling BP then just diet alone. Of course each body is different, so please take appropriate medical advice.
*By high intensity exercise, I mean any exercise that ramps up your heartbeat to 85% to 95% of your max heart rate and working out in that heart rate range for a total of at-least 15-20 mins (continually or interval-style) in a 30-40 mins training session incorporating a good warm up and cool down. I mainly did circuit style classes with body weight or light /medium dumbbells with lots of burpees, squat jumps, jump lunges, dumbbell thrusters, high-knees spot sprints, or sprint intervals on treadmills etc.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3371620/
Incidentally, here’s a link corroborating what I said above.
Sorry here us yet another link:
https://www.sci-sport.com/en/articles/HIIT-and-hypertension-Improvement-of-cardiovascular-functions-163.php
This works quick
Go to a homeopathy store or online get Lachesis -30.
Take 3-4 globules only once. Both Systolic and Diastolic will be reduced for a couple of months or more.
Wheat grass powder in water first thing , 2 tea spoon in 1 cup
Have oats. They help. Can make it interesting by adding nuts, fresh fruit, and dates while cooking
We’ve had a couple of cases at our center. It’s completely correct to say “More people have died of the flu!” because it’s absolutely true. In terms of numbers pure mortality, COVID-19 is like a bad flu season and the people you would expect to die of flu are exactly the people who are also dying from this disease (the immune compromised, elderly, and those with chronic pulmonary disease). In terms of global perception, you’d think we’re living in 1350. It’s a collective hysteria. I work in a hospital that has had confirmed COVID-19 cases among employees. It hasn’t stopped anyone from coming to work, nor patients from seeking care. The people not in attendance have been forced into that by draconian quarantine policies that are driven by a fear not of the virus itself but of being perceived as not having done enough to stop the spread of the virus. After all, we don’t quarantine employees suspected to be exposed to influenza, which carries basically the same risk to patients. In other words, it’s all about perception and politics. This is 2020, after all. Not sure it’s that widely known that other strains of coronavirus cause 40% of all common colds in the US, or that SARS was also a type of coronavirus.
I’ve had lots of people ask me if I’m ok, if I’m scared of catching the virus. I’m not. That’s 100% honest. I have a healthy immune system and I would get over it. No, if I’m leery of the virus it’s because I’m scared of being exposed to it, spreading it to others and then potentially getting skewered for it in the media or infecting someone unwittingly who cannot cope with it. At the end of the day, COVID-19 should be a simple reminder to wash our bleeping hands and to be nice to each other.
My Dad, an old time doctor and radiologist told me almost 30 years ago, if I don’t do anything to look after myself other than wash my hands properly and eat right, half the battle to decent health is over and won.
Forty years ago, I learned in kindergarten “to keep my hands, feet and objects to myself”. Simple lessons that last a lifetime.
In the face of inaction by the US Government? Being proactive– may be the only virtue available to protect livelihoods of our coworkers, and the long-term viability of our businesses.
On Wednesday, I was requested to prep support for remote access to workflow assets by the segment of our users previously restricted from doing so.
In hindsight? Actions I’d instigated post-Hurricane Harvey were central to our firm’s survival in the aftermath of a natural disaster. The effects of that week-long event lasted 7+ months. Assimilating to normalcy, took over a year.
The effects of a COVID-19 pandemic?
IMHO, will reach a scale far superseding a localized natural disaster.
The estimated number of Americans who are immunocompromised is >4%. With Children and elderly more susceptible than healthy adults. If that percentage was then 4%-8%– in a population of 330M? The number of those in an at-risk group might be 13M-26M. Then if the current mortality rate is >3%.
I’m not really a numbers guy. But I think this is the right place to ask for check.
A vaccine isn’t expected for about a year (The Guardian). Mutations are a worry.
With the current state of affairs– given the US government’s incredible tone-deafness. and latent action being forced by Congress? Those numbers are approx 400k-800k dying from COVID-19.
Some may find perspective at this link– from an American- man-on-the street’s view (in Beijing) that starkly contrasts with efforts here in the US.
Safety first all.
Ah, yes. The link: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-view-from-china
Currently doing a two week quarantine in Beijing, having flown in from Tokyo. The situation here is greatly improving. Whether or not that justifies the Chinese model of governance remains to be seen, but the lockdown of Hubei and the quarantine of a 1/5 of the world’s population is simply frightening in scale. The sheer economic and social sacrifice by the population is something to behold (with no riots and super market hoarding too).
The virus started in China, but the fear is that the lack of a stronger (and more systematic) reaction globally will causes this to become a seasonal pandemic.
Another troubling aspect of China’s economic stasis– is an expected break in the global pharmaceutical production chain– of base chemicals and compounds for generic drug manufacture.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/coronavirus-raises-prospect-of-generic-drug-shortages
This is going seasonal. There’s no stopping that.
Worst case scenario:
60% infection
2% death rate
= 3.96 million deaths
However, I expect the death rate to climb if that many people get sick, simply because we don’t have the healthcare infrastructure to put 200m people on ventilators. To put it bluntly, I’m extremely concerned.
Thanks for the extrapolation Tim.
This is what I’d located (retweeted) this morning–
American Hospital Association “Best Guess Epidemiology” for #codiv19 over next 2 months:
96,000,000 infections
4,800,000 hospitalizations
1,900,000 ICU admissions
480,000 deaths
vs flu in 2019:
35,500,000 infections
490,600 hospitalizations
49,000 ICU admissions
34,200 deaths
Woof..
For a stats-guy?
Thought this might be a place you’d like to grasp an in-depth look:
Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
An amazing dashboard of information.
What’s my name?
1 nil to the Arsenal over West Ham today but we played like an Unai Emery team, not like a Mikel Artera team.
Ponderous, rudderless, no leadership, no tempo and rewarded by a proper VAR decision to Nick the 3 points. Doesn’t bode well for a very possible a$$ kicking onWednesday but there’s 3 days to enjoy these 3 points.
Some of my Spring gigs have already been cancelled due to virus fears. I was looking forward to working with this artist in a live setting and now I’m scrambling for studio work.
Very sorry to hear that. My eldest brother spent much of his life playing on the road.
1NIL
It’s far to early to suggest that a Mikel Arteta team has a certain way to play. We have a way we hope the team plays but we have not seen that happen so far.
Like the majority of teams The way this team plays is much more related to the talent level in the squad rather then the manager.
I would argue the idea that Arteta or any manager could improve these players and turn them into a team that plays fast paced attractive football was unrealistic
The one thing Arteta has done so far is help to decrease the number of goals we concede.
Hey bud, we get it. You think managers don’t make much difference. We really really really really got it. You literally never have to say it again. We get it. You think managers don’t make much difference.
You think managers don’t make much difference.
You think managers don’t make much difference.
You think managers don’t make much difference.
You think managers don’t make much difference.
You think managers don’t make much difference.
You think managers don’t make much difference.
You think managers don’t make much difference.
You think managers don’t make much difference.
You think managers don’t make much difference.
Tim.
I suspect if I had said Emery was crap and it was all his fault 10,000 times no one would have cared 😉
lol.. love you man, but dang you repeat yourself!