Healthcare from a COVID-19 safe distance

 

With COVID-19 making visiting a hospital a questionable thing to do, even if normally you'd jump in your car, or call an ambulance, today you think twice, pick up the phone and make a call. I called.

I was asked if MyCareLink Patient Monitor was indicating a problem? An out-of-control arrhythmia or tachycardia event? Nope. I'm jsut a little dizzy, I said. My blood pressure is 62 over 41 with a pulse rate of 50.

With a reading like that, there is no surprise that you're dizzy, I was told. It should pass, If not, call us again. Your pacemaker won't let your pulse drop below 50 bpm and your blood pressure should slowly comeback up. 

Take comfort in the fact that your low blood pressure won't kill you. I smiled and hung-up Healthcare in London in the year 2020.

Snow: nothing surprises us

 
It's early April. The days are longer, warmer and snowier. Snowier? Don't ask. It is a strange world in which we are living. Last night we were kept awake by numerous bright bolts of lightning followed by oh-so-loud cracks of thunder. Earlier in the evening, hail the size of golf ball hit North London, punching holes in plastic siding.

So, when does the plague of frogs arrive?

Joy

 

It rained yesterday. It stormed last night. This morning it was too wet to work in the garden. But come mid-afternoon, it was warm and beckoning. My wife's garden has little flowers beginning to bloom but the petals are spotted with mud splatter thanks to the heavy rain.

Then I noticed the little rock with the word Joy etched on one side. My granddaughters saw the rock in a craft shop and immediately wanted it for the garden. My wife looked at my picture and smiled. "We all need a little Joy today." 

Clearly, buying the little rock was a good idea.

It's not the way we saw it.

The picture on the left was linked to a Twitter tweet. It raised a lot of concern and anger. These people were clearly not practising social distancing. Complaints were lodged going all the way to the Prime Minister having angry tweets addressed to him

The local paper went out and soon realize the image was an example of photographic foreshortening. The shoppers appear much closer together than they really are. It is an illusion and not reality. (Not quite true, but an in depth discussion takes awhile. When I taught photography I had to take a student to the physics department to get him to understand. Let's not go there.)

The line may not have been as long when the news shooter arrived but he took two images that nicely illustrate how the same line can look quite different depending upon the angle.

Kudos to our local newspaper for nipping this brouhaha in the bud.

A blister beetle or so I believe

It was a big, attractive, dark blue beetle. I took its picture but I didn't touch it. I'm self-isolating and if I can't get close to my grandkids, I'll be damned if I'm going to get close to a bug. Turns out, the expression rather fits when used here. The bug is a blister beetle. Touch it and, you guessed it, you may get a damn blister or two. Ouch!

Seems the little fella excretes a toxic body fluid through its leg joints. Colourless and ordourless, the fatty fluid can cause blisters upon contact with the skin. Be alert as these are often found on flowering plants right across North American. Relatives that look similar but are coloured differently can be found in various places right around the globe.

I'm proud of how good Londoners are at following orders

Last night my wife and I picked up seven bags of groceries without entering the store or making contact with anyone. As we left the lot, we noticed a very loose line-up of people patiently waiting to get into the LCBO (Liquor Board of Ontaro) store. The line wrapped right around the store.

My wife  and I are both amazed at how willing Londoners are to follow the social distancing guidelines. (My picture is not from the LCBO. Unfortunately, I neglected to bring my camera with me to the grocery store. Oops.)

Call in your grocery order and pick up later

A car sits with its rear hatch door open as the owner waits to have his groceries brought from the store to his car. With the fear of catching COVID-19 growing daily, more and more Londoners are taking advantage of the Express service offered at some area grocery stores.

Call the store, give them your order, when your order is ready the store staff will call, pay with your credit or debit card and then drive to the store for pick up. There are reserved parking spots at the front of the store. Use your cell phone to tell the store staff you are there and within minutes your groceries a have been brought out and placed in your trunk.

I wonder if the service will be as popular once the coronavirus has been brought under control.