Couldn’t pass up posting this:
While ensuring Memorial Park was secure, Asst. Chief @SatterwhiteLJ provided a police escort for these ducklings trying to find their mom. Remember parks are closed this #EasterWeekend, but we’re keeping things under control with @HPARD until you can return #StayHome #hounews ? pic.twitter.com/3TFdV05P7X
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) April 11, 2020
I’m doing good. Going back to sleep now.
Open thread
SiubhanDuinne
I love the way ducklings and goslings* imprint on humans or dogs or anything else they decide is their parent. So cute to see them trotting along.
*(When I was a little girl, I called the babies “dumplings and goblins.” Sometimes I still do.)
schrodingers_cat
Get well soon.
zhena gogolia
Glad you’re doing well.
Baud
That is a superior name.
Elizabelle
TaMara: do you have a pulse oximeter in the house? Suspect you do, but order one or borrow one pronto if not.
Good article by an ER doc in yesterday’s NY Times. They’re seeing patients without apparent breathing problems but lungs full of pneumonia. He had one patient who came in for a stab wound in his shoulder. They x-rayed because of a collapsed lung and — guy had full blown COVID pneumonia.
This coronavirus is sneaking up on peoples’ lungs: they may not perceive any pain or difficulty in breathing because their body breathes more deeply and rapidly to compensate. Once they are aware of breathing problems: they have two lungs full of pneumonia and a way more serious case to treat.
Pulse oximeters used to be about $15-20 each; they take two AAA batteries. They’re now going for double to triple that, but if they can help you with early warning, they’re priceless.
Will put up excerpts from the NY Times story next. Shared in an overnight thread too.
raven
@Elizabelle: That was an interesting piece.
Ohio Mom
SiubhanDuinne: Are you in contact with Steve in the (airport code here)? I miss him and hope he is okay. Omnes was also asking about him the other day.
Elizabelle
This might be a free NY Times click, since it’s coronavirus related. Here are the money quotes.
This ER physician is worried about silent hypoxia. A person with covid-caused pneumonia will naturally breathe more deeply and faster, possibly without a lot of pain, not realizing how the virus is invading both lungs until too late. Monitor your blood oxygen levels. Get help before the disease progresses too dangerously.
The Infection That’s Silently Killing Coronavirus Patients
This is what I learned during 10 days of treating Covid pneumonia at Bellevue Hospital.
Author: Dr. Richard Levitan, an Emergency physician.
Barbara
@Elizabelle: I just ordered one. They are out of stock online at CVS and Walgreens.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
My Samsung has one built in but I don’t know how accurate it is.
Luciamia
Look how fast those little guys can run!
CaseyL
TaMara! So glad to hear you’re doing well!
The oximeters seem to be out of stock almost everywhere (unless I want to spring for one of the more expensive ones), so I’ll rely on monitoring my own breathing rate: so far it’s the same as always.
divF
@Baud: My understanding is that the cell phone ones are not sufficiently accurate. Madame Dr. divF found the following article.
JPL
Tamara, Hugs.. Please take care.
mrmoshpotato
Hugs from a neighboring time zone! :)
Elizabelle
@Barbara: I found two today at Walgreens in Richmond area. $40 each; gave one to my sister since her rebel yell husband is still free roaming.
The prices on Amazon were … shocking.
Y’all might try googling pulse oximeter and Walgreens or your local store, and see what comes up. I think CVS was just plain out, and charging around $70.
@Baud: I don’t really know how that would work.
FWIW, the oximeter may not work well with fingernail polish or artificial nails. (This comment is not directed at Baud.)
Dr. Levitan adds a caution near the end of his long article:
I feel so much safer with one in the house, though. We used one with my mom in her last days with lung cancer, and it was incredibly helpful. I was able to get my sisters to come immediately when I saw her blood oxygen level dropping, and never recovering, as before.
I still have that one, so now have an extra oximeter to lend out, as needed.
dmsilev
@Baud: Phone, or smartwatch? As I understand it, the former is not so great, but the latter uses the same technology as the clip-on fingertip units and is fine. I’m not sure how many watches have the sensor though; my impression is that most just measure pulse rate and not oxygen level.
Amazon seems to have some on one to two week lead times, so that’s not too too bad.
LunarG
@SiubhanDuinne: As a small child, I called puppies, kittens, chicks — anything I wanted to cuddle — “duckin.” I still think “duckin” is a useful category.
Tamara, please take care of yourself! All your duckins need you! (And so do your readers!)
kindness
Am I the only one who wonders if the ducklings found their Ma? I guess I could go follow the twitter thread.
trollhattan
[Waves] Glad you’re doing okay and thanks for checking in.
Hydrate, sleep, hydrate some more, get better!
Baud
@dmsilev: Phone.
CaseyL
@LunarG: I talk to my kitties so much that ANY animal I give pets and cuddles to is a “puss puss puss” regardless of actual species.
Baud
@divF: That’s what I thought. I know Samsung actually removed the feature in newer models.
MomSense
Thanks for checking in, Tamara. Rooting for your full and speedy recovery!!
trollhattan
@CaseyL:
Spouse relates that when her family moved to the Ozarks to try farmin’ every dang critter came to “kitty.” The cow, pigs, chickens, etc. all came running. Don’t know whether they had an actual cat.
Baud
@MomSense: Are you recovered? Didn’t you have a non-Covid thing?
Sure Lurkalot
@Elizabelle: While the information is valuable and good advice, it seems like it might be difficult for TaMara to obtain one of these devices in the near term. Or most anyone since apparently it’s the luck of the draw at a drug store and long delivery times online. Now those of us that don’t have one and can’t get one feel vulnerable, like those without a thermometer, Tylenol, wipes or sanitizer…all items hard to obtain.
zhena gogolia
@Sure Lurkalot:
I know, dammit, every time I come here I get some advice I can’t possibly act on. It makes me feel worse. And I’m not sick yet!
WaterGirl
That’s a relief.
Matt McIrvin
Huh. They had me wear one when I was being tested for sleep apnea, but I had to give it back.
Phylllis
@Elizabelle: They’re eligible items for purchase with your medical spending account funds, if you have one.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: In my family, we still refer to horses as “horpies”. And if someone is a real dick, we call them a jaguar, because the “horpies” niece also came home from school one day and asked what a jaguar was because on of the guys had said that about someone else.
This is the same niece of shoe store fame from when she was four years old. While we were there, she managed to use the word “fuck” 3 times, all conjugated perfectly.
“oh fuck”. “fucking zipper”. I can’t recall the third one, but I have always considered it a privilege to have been there for that.
That was a fun conversation around the dinner table that night as my sister laid down the law about what could and could not be said when her husband’s friends were over.
edit: “fun” conversation only because I was a witness, not a participant.
rikyrah
sending you prayers.
please go to the hospital if things turn worse for you
CarolDuhart2
I just ordered two from Amazon, and should be getting them next Saturday. But one thing Ive noticed with Amazon and other deliveries, is that they are coming faster than they say on the site. My guess is that with lockdowns, the traffic is so light that truck drivers are making very good time on the road. The time estimates on the site are based on traffic that no longer exists. Usually trucks, planes and such have to take into account rush hour traffic, which no longer exists. And road construction that has to be done at night because of that traffic, is being done more quickly, which frees up some roads from road blocks. So just keep checking your orders to make sure they aren’t coming early.
LunarG
@SiubhanDuinne: As a small child, I called puppies, kittens, chicks — anything I wanted to cuddle — “duckin.” I still think “duckin” is a useful category.
Tamara, please take care of yourself! All your duckins need you! (And so do your readers!)
J R in WV
We have a pulse oximeter, use it pretty often since WVMartha, aka wife, spent weeks in the local teaching hospital…
Also trying to make a meal for dinner within bits abandoned under your watch.
Barbara
@Baud: Even if it isn’t sensitive, if it is consistent, it can help you track downward trend. Use it a few times throughout the day when you are healthy to see if it shows a consistent sat level.
I once sat at an impromptu traffic stop to allow a family of ducks to cross Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C. I so wanted to take a picture!
Elizabelle
@Sure Lurkalot: True. Although: ask around. I already had one at home because: mom in hospice care. Same for extra digital thermometers. Lot of us have elderly parents or relatives and ended up with some of their medical supplies.
So strange not to be able to find the simplest items we took for granted once.
A NYTimes reader commenter suggested that, if we had an actual president in office, s/he could use the Defense Production Act to have millions of these oximeters manufactured — they are very simple devices, really — and hand them out in nursing homes and all over the place.
But we don’t. Unless the orange one gets the bright idea of branding them Trump oximeters and using our tax dollars to campaign by distributing them under the guise of his personal largesse.
(I loved when Andrew Cuomo noted a few weeks ago that it was not like Trump wrote the check from his own funds or anything … although he acts like it.)
SiubhanDuinne
@Ohio Mom: We exchanged emails back at the beginning of this thing, but I’ve not heard from him for a couple of months now. I’ll reach out again.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@J R in WV:
I trying to parse “bits abandoned under your watch.” Bits of food? Or electronic bits? Watch like a timepiece? Why are the bits under your watch?
jeffreyw
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I read it as BLTs abandoned and I just put it down as limp lettuce and cardboard tomatoes.
Baud
I kind of wish we still had political threads because Loomis just put up an interesting post on LGM about the future of progressive politics.
Auntie Anne
I was able to order one online from this site:
https://philipspulseoximeters.com
With shipping, it was under $40. How long it will take to arrive here is the mystery . . .
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Heh I miss those too. That’s why these days I am mostly on Twitter. It’s not the same of course because there is no Baud.
ETA: No thread on the “Total Immigrant Ban” either. Who needs them anyway, nothing to concern ourselves with.
ETA2: Not criticizing anyone in particular here, its an all volunteer effort after all. Just missing the old Balloon Juice of yore.
MomSense
@Baud:
Thanks, Baud. I’m fine. Just the usual tree allergies. I’m feeling good, although I scraped and sanded my deck yesterday and today my hamstrings are protesting!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Auntie Anne:
Mr DAW got one on e-bay.
NeenerNeener
I’ve been trying to get a pulse oximeter for the last month. Even the ones I ordered from Amazon with Prime Shipping seem to be coming on a slow boat from China and won’t be here until late May, if they show up at all.
SiubhanDuinne
UPDATE – SteveInThe:
Steve was/is evidently lurking on this thread. No sooner had I replied to WaterGirl at #39 than I got an email from him. With his permission, here it is.
Everybody wave and say hi to Steve.
?? Hi, Steve! ??
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: True. Very important, although a little vague at this point, since Trump pulled it out of his ass.
@MomSense: Allergies have been bugging me too.
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks!
schrodingers_cat
@SiubhanDuinne: Waves * hi steve
rikyrah
Hi Steve?????
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Yes he did but a watered down version of the Muslim ban still stands. This is anxiety provoking when half of your family is overseas.
rikyrah
Coronavirus is causing hives and 4 other skin reactions — here’s what dermatologist warn you to look for: https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyle/2020/04/21/coronavirus-is-causing-hives-and-4-other-skin-reactions-heres-what-dermatologist-warn-you-to-look-for/24058112/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter via @AOL
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: Absolutely.
JMG
Have to tell you all this. My son just called. He works for the NYC subway and bus system in charge of digital communications. He and some of his co-workers on his team will tonight have a remote viewing party of “The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3,” the original with Walter Matthau. Literal busman’s holiday.
Yutsano
@SiubhanDuinne: Hi Steve in the whatever!
On another note, Happy 94th Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary II. Live long and prosper Liz.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Glad you’re doing well
@Baud:
hear, hear
Another Scott
@SiubhanDuinne: ? ? ?
;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
Kay and Raven are back. Steve needs to come back.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
Please let him know how literally he is missed
Too late, as usual.
JPL
HI Steve, Was it you who wanted to open the tat shops and bowling alleys? Someone got to Kemp.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Baud: Samsung didn’t remove the oximeter from Samsung Health. They moved it. It’s now under “Stress”. Choose to measure stress, put your finger over the sensor, and wait for it to complete.
I’ve found it to be consistent enough for the current purpose, which is to let us know when to get to a doctor to be checked with a more accurate tool while we wait to get a real oximeter.
trollhattan
What does California’s experience portend for Florida?
Another Scott
@Baud:
I’ve only read things by Loomis and on LGM about 3 times in the last 20 years. Why should I do it more often when he’s astounded by such things??
Cheers,
Scott.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud: Wait, Kay’s back? When? Where? And how the hell did I miss that?
senyordave
New story:
Barr Threatens Legal Action Against Governors Over Lockdowns
Hopefully Barr will get it. He is the worst AG in history, serving under the worst POTUS in history.
Another Scott
@SiubhanDuinne:
April 7 – https://balloon-juice.com/2020/04/07/what-they-knew-and-when-they-knew-it/
:-)
Cheers,
Scott.
CaseyL
Hi, Steve!
@rikyrah: Great. Another body part/area to obsess over.
This is one damnstrange virus. What’s next, growing a nostril in the middle of one’s chest?
debbie
@Another Scott:
Wish she’d come back and report how successful her efforts were.
SiubhanDuinne
@Another Scott: Thanks for the link. I even commented in it but apparently left the thread before Kay showed up. I’m glad she did, and I hope she’ll return as a more frequent commenter soon.
Ohio Mom
Great to hear from you, Steve-in-the-sheltering-in-place. Don’t be a stranger, I miss your humor.
Thanks very much SiubhanDuinne!
frosty
Hi Steve in WTF, if you’re still here! Good to hear from you.
WaterGirl
Come back,
Shane!I mean Steve!TomatoQueen
*waves to Steve in WTF
Bex
Hi Steve. Good to see you.
Another Scott
One for Steve in the XYZ, and all the other lawyers here…
(via Popehat)
Cheers,
Scott.
Elizabelle
@ Steve on terra firma:
Good to see you lurking! Please come back when you can. Hope you and Mrs. Steve continue to do well.
Ruckus
@Elizabelle:
I ordered a thermometer off amazon and it was defective when it arrived, almost 3 weeks after ordering. They at least refunded my money. I had to order another, the last one I bought from the local pharmacy broke. The cheap ones are crap, the expensive ones look exactly the same so how should one even attempt to purchase any device that you don’t know about the quality or can’t exchange it/get a refund. So the bottom line, I have no thermometer, no pulse ox, and they really aren’t available so, I guess SOL.
Uncle Cosmo
@Yutsano: May 26, 2024. Mark your calender. That’s the date that Liz tops that curly-wigged pink-stockinged war-mongering quiche-eating Louis Quatorze for longest reigning monarch in history. (Who’s gonna bet against her? Not I, said the jackal…)
J R in WV
Hi Steve in the wherever… take care, keep in touch !!
Elizabelle
@Ruckus: That’s awful. Very sorry to hear it.
Ruckus
@trollhattan:
My friend in northern CA, her dad passed last Thursday, he was 93, he lived in a care facility and caught COVID there. They took him to the local VA hospital and he passed 2 days later. He had lived in the care facility for about a year, she thought that he maybe had 2 or 3 more years before the COVID, from his general condition. I don’t know the number of deaths they have had, did not sound like it’s drastic. Old folks are on shaky ground as it is, I know it doesn’t take much at 93 to take out most people.
Ruckus
@Elizabelle:
I’m going to check out a local pharmacy tomorrow, their website say they have pulse oximeters in the stores. Regular price $70. They don’t say if they are in stock and everything online is sold out. I tried ebay and it wouldn’t log me in, or let me even open a new account. It tried to make me log into my old account but would not accept my password. I think the word is aggravating. With a couple of choice adjectives left off because this is a family blog………
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: Let us know if you find one!
MoxieM
So, so glad to read you are feeling better. Keep going!