Babes in the water

News blues

Vaxed, yet feeling The Covid Angst?
Not surprising. It’s a Covid-angst-provoking time….
Too many opinions, too much contradictory messaging from officials, and way too much deeper, thicker, stinkier … mulch… from The Whackidoodles. Take this Whackidoodle in Tennessee …
Meanwhile,
Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser and The Whackidoodles’ most-hated scientist, warns, ‘Things are going to get worse,’ and shares his COVID-19 Projections >> 
How did it comes to this? The Delta variant is winning, for the moment, and the CDC’s coronavirus map shows that we’re failing to fight it >> 
Some sanity from South Africa: Things to know about vaccines and Covid :

• Vaccines will give you near-complete protection against severe illness and dying from Covid.
• Vaccines are safe. All vaccines used in the vaccination programme in South Africa have undergone extensive trials and have been proven to be effective and safe.
• The risk of serious side effects is similar to the chance of being struck by lightning, and side effects are treatable and generally go away on their own.
• It takes time for vaccines to start working well — usually about two weeks, and their working steadily improves after this.
• Vaccines differ in how well they protect against infection and mild Covid. Most vaccines will require at least two doses and provide good protection against severe illness from Covid two weeks after your first shot. Until you are fully vaccinated you should continue to take the same precautions as if you are unvaccinated.

Healthy planet, anyone?

As heavy rains and floods around the world displace people and those living in conflict zones – from Asia, Latin America and Africa (not to mention the “heat domes” over North America continent) – a Malawian farmer visiting the US wants to know: ‘Why not do more on the climate crisis?’ >> 
What not, indeed?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Even as I settle into my floaty life – my version of a tiny house and living gently on the planet – I rise to new challenges. The latest challenge suggest a parallel between babes in the woods and a babe on the water.
Background: with help, I attached the heavy 1983 15 HP Johnson/Evinrude outboard motor to the transom of the Sea Eagle inflatable. Alas, I had trouble starting the motor with the rope pull. Turns out the fellow that I hired to “service” – and check, replace if needed, the pull rope – instead simply greasing various joints after he - strong, healthy, young - easily started the motor.
Trustingly, I paid him… before he dashed off to Las Vegas… and after learning he couldn’t help attach the motor as he has “a bad back.”
I found someone else to help to attach the outboard. Even then, I wasn’t able to start the outboard. Instead, I switched out the gas/petrol-fueled Evinrude motor with a small, light and easy to manage, battery-powered electrical trolling outboard.
I hopped into the inflatable, pushed off from the pier, and… ran into weeds. Yes, I know there are weeds, after all I swim through these long stringy weeds every day. This babe in the water, however, never guessed a motor would be beaten those same weeds!
For, alas, the trolling motor cannot handle the long strands of water weeds that tangle in the propeller and prevent it from propelling.
Additionally, the outgoing tide simply carried away the inflatable. Trying to paddle with oars, I watched the houseboat until it was out of sight.
Invasives to the rescue! Tangling with invasives slowed the vessel as I entertained scary thoughts (carried willy nilly into fast water? arriving in San Francisco Bay … then under the Golden Gate Bridge …then into the ‘potato patch’  ?).
I noticed nearby a lovely boat with a large 120 HP outboard - and a trolling motor - piloted by two confident fishermen.
I called out, “Can you tow me home?”
I explained the weed/outboard/lack-of-experience experience. Generously, they towed me back home.
Back to square one.
A short while later, I noticed another, smaller Sea Eagle inflatable with a man, woman, and young girl aboard, struggling with their similar-sized trolling motor succumb to tangling weeds and outgoing tide. That family, too, was towed to a pier.
Babes on the water….
The reality? If I’m to enjoy the inflatable, I need to fix the rope pull.
You Tube to the rescue. As always, You Tube offers great, on the ground information. I found a detailed demo on how to replace the rope pull.
A new challenge. And, a name for the inflatable? The Challenger.

Vaccine Hesitancy FYI

© Rich Black
View more art on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy and disinformation 

News blues…

Forget trying to convince Anti-Vaxxers about vaccine efficacy. Rather, focus on 'Hesitant Vaxxers', the group that wants to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine and its side effects before getting a shot. After all, 'Hesitant Vaxxers' are still open to being convinced.

According to William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious disease at Vanderbilt University, hesitant vaxxers want to learn more about the benefits of vaccination, while anti-vaxxers have already made up their minds.
“I’ve learned that you’ll never change the opinion of someone who’s truly against vaccination,” Schaffner said. “The more logic and reason you use, the more they dig in their heels.” Those who are hesitant, on the other hand, “just want to understand vaccines better.”

Read more >> 

***

April 9, SA had 1,267 new Covid-19 cases recorded in the past 24 hours, and 53 more deaths.
The new infections came from 30,560 tests, at a positivity rate of 4.14%.
April 8: South Africa had secured 51 million doses of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Pfizer BioNTech in the battle against Covid-19.
According to health minister Zweli Mkhize the country was still on track with its vaccination strategy and the second phase will start on May 17.

***

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

Healthy planet, anyone?

I am not a fan of, nor do I ascribe to, the Bill-Gates-as-Devil-Incarnate conspiracy theory. Bill Gates is an ultrarich guy and, IMHO, displays many of the features of ultrarich guys while also promoting a handful of quasi-progressive ideas and solutions. His climate change ideas are better than those of many ultrarich guys ‘n gals and worse than many truly progressive-though-not-ultrarich guys ‘n gals.
Bill Gates as farmer is, however, a stretch.

… So why did the Land Report dub LINK him “Farmer Bill” this year? The third richest man on the planet doesn’t have a green thumb. Nor does he put in the back-breaking labor humble people do to grow our food and who get far less praise for it. That kind of hard work isn’t what made him rich. Gates’ achievement, according to the report, is that he’s largest private owner of farmland in the US. A 2018 purchase of 14,500 acres of prime eastern Washington farmland – which is traditional Yakama territory – for $171m helped him get that title.
In total, Gates owns approximately 242,000 acres of farmland with assets totaling LINK more than $690m. To put that into perspective, that’s nearly the size of Hong Kong and twice the acreage of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe…. A white man owns more farmland than my entire Native nation!

Read “Bill Gates is the biggest private owner of farmland in the United States. Why?” 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I thought the day would never come when serious buyers made a serious offer on the house. I was wrong.
An extended family – grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and kids – viewed the house yesterday, loved it, stood around and bounced around their ideas for who would live where, and shared their visions with one another. It was a treat seeing a family work closely together on making decisions with far-reaching implications. That done, they said we could expect to hear from them by Monday and they departed the property.
Fewer than 15 minutes later, the head of the family called to make a good offer: 90 percent cash down, 10 percent bank bond/mortgage.
It’s an offer I can take to my mother and expect her to accept.
I’m dazed.
I’m amazed.
I’m thankful. It happened.
We have an offer on the house.
Now I work towards keeping things on track and moving forward, organize around the document transfer as I ensure the domestic worker and the gardener are retrenched according to labor law … and that the dogs get humane care.
It’s all do-able.
What’s the glittering and waving on the horizon? By golly, it’s my family in California and Texas waving to welcome my return.
Imagine! After almost two years cooling my heals under lockdown, I’ll see them again.

***

If all goes according to plan, I’ll “get outta Dodge” – American for “leaving town” – before South African days get too short and nights get too long. It happens quickly.
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 25: sunrise 6:05am; sunset 6:01pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 8: sunrise 6:12am; sunset 5:46pm.
April 11: sunrise 6:14am; sunset 5:43pm.

Topsy Turvy

What becomes more obvious about our topsy turvy world is the intricate layers of ideology that weave around the reality of close to 91 million humans infected with, and close to 2 million deaths from Covid-19. 

There are the "no such thing as Covid" crowd, the anti-maskers, the "they're taking away our freedom" crowd, the Trump-ubes-alles crowd, the anti-vaxxers.... the list goes on. 

One of the my more disorienting but positive facets is optimism about a handful of Republicans who are breaking with the Republican Party line. .
The Lincoln Project , co-founded by former Republicans, quickly emerged as opting, not for business-as-usual Republican ideology, but for truth over lies, human decency over power-grabs, democracy over fascism, and integrity over Trumpism. The Project used a typically American way of making its points: humor and irony.

News blues…

Muscleman, actor, fellow immigrant, and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently shared a heart-felt message following this week's attack on the US Capitol. More than 4.5 million viewers have watched this honest and revealing 7:36 minute clip.
What is Arnie referring to? This…  (10:47 mins)

***

On the frontlines of Covid: How do you persuade 67% of South Africa to receive two doses of a non-compulsory Covid-19 vaccine – when almost half the country, according to a recent poll, says they won’t take it?  
Ramaphosa tries to convince the skeptics ...

Healthy planet, anyone?

Birds’ eye view – these birds of a very colorful feather will blow your mind 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The Rain, rain, and more rain.
The culvert is still blocked. The garden floods further. The mosquito population explodes. 
Yesterday, the gardener and I explored the blocked culvert.
My goal was to convince him that he and a friend of his choosing could manually dig out the culvert. His goal? Avoid taking on the job.
Our first discovery: someone had dumped a large load of garden waste – bagsful of mowed grass clippings and dozens of pruned tree limbs – along the stream bank. Clumsily, we made our way over that illegal dump to one of the culverts (the other is so completely blocked that trees have taken root in the debris).
With the streambed almost completely submerged beneath debris, water in and around the culvert is stagnant.
Clearing even one culvert will be a far larger job than I’d thought during my recent exploration. 
The NPA officers and service crews are due back at work next Monday.
I’ll be there with more letter and more photographs and more advice and more encouragement to urge officials to attend to the blocked culverts. 

I’ll also approach my neighbor with wetlands to add his voice to my request for service.
If only there was a mosquito abatement program in this area. Or even a department of health interested in addressing mosquito-borne diseases. 

Alas, Covid usurps attention from minor issues such as flooding and mosquitos.