More Than I Need

I had enough toilet paper to last me till Thanksgiving and I was not worried when all the shelves were empty at the store, but yesterday when I went out, I saw that they had toilet paper available on the shelves again, and I bought more.  It is taking up the whole bottom space in my pantry and I can barely close the door and I figure that now I will be good through Easter and my pantry could be called the cupboard of abundance.  I certainly don’t want to run out of toilet paper and it looks like we have a long way to go with this Covid-19 pandemic, as it doesn’t seem to be going quietly away.  I wonder if I was stocking up, or have I become a hoarder.

It seems simple enough, wash your hands, avoid touching your face and when you are out in public, wear a mask and practice social distancing.  Trump came up with a deeply flawed argument, dismissing the severity of the pandemic, downplaying the effect of the disease even as infections continue to spread across the US.  He falsely claimed that 99% of the virus cases are totally harmless and I heard on the news that 4% of the people who get Covid-19 in the US, end up dead.  Almost 130,000 people have already died here from this so-called “harmless” virus and at about 2.9 million people have tested positive for the infection, so a simple observation along with some easy math says that it is closer to 4.5% of the people that contract this virus will end up dead.  These statistics don’t even account for the thousands of people who have spent weeks in the hospital or weeks at home with mild to moderate symptoms that caused debilitating health problems.

In Florida where many people are aging, test results showed that by July 3, that there has been a total of 190,052 positive COVID-19 cases with 3,702 of these resulting in death from the virus.  Since July 3rd, 18 more Florida residents have died from this pandemic.  It is not just the older populations and those with underlying health conditions that are at risk, as Covid-19 is having a severe impact on young people now.  In Florida, the median age of positive Covid-19 cases in March was 65 years old, but within the last week, it has dropped to 35 years old.  Florida has reopened and maybe this was done by Governor Ron DeSantis to oblige the Republican president, but if that is the case, this was done in bad taste.

A significant portion of Covid-19 patients are asymptomatic, so that means that there are a lot of people who are walking around with the virus, but since they are unaware of having it, but they are passing this infection on to others, so the transmission is still spreading.  The Novel Covid-19 is a silent killer and you may not know that you are infected, until it is too late.  The world is different now, especially in the stillness that was created by social distancing, quarantine, and isolation.  Many people feel loneliness and this is apparent in those who wear their heart on their sleeve, but everyone copes differently and you can’t tell a book by its cover.  It is not like we can put on a pair of ruby slippers and tap our heels together like Dorothy did in The Wizard of Oz and have everything go back to normal again, as the genie is not getting back in the bottle.

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompts – Oblige, for the Daily Spur prompt – Loneliness, for Eugi’s Weekly Prompt – Observation, for Reena’s Exploration Challenge #Week 142 prompt – The genie is not getting back in the bottle, for FOWC with Fandango – Taste, for Midwest Fantasy Devereaux Frazier and Beth Amanda Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge – to write a poem or piece of prose around the words “in the stillness”, for Jibber Jabber by Sue – Quietly, for July Monthly Writing Prompts – The cupboard of abundance, for Ragtag Community – Ruby, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Available Book Sleeve, for Linda G. Hill Life in progress What Day is it Anyway? July 7th, 2020 and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Aging.

Signs from the Sky

Jim said to Charlotte, “You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows and although the clouds are constantly changing, there are clear images inside of all of this chaos that seems to be pointing to our destruction.  It is a fine day, so let’s grab a blanket and find a quiet spot outside where we can relax while we examine the sky above for clues.  We can explore the shapes of the clouds to gain a special meaning from them, and see if they will reveal something special just for us.”  Charlotte said, “Are you still tripping on that acid that you dropped last night, or have you decided to take up the lost divination skill of aeromancy?  You are right though, as we should get outside today, because I am tired of being cooped up and listening to that windbag president spewing out his meretricious words that only cause me frustration.  Give me a minute to change into my running shoes and then I will be ready to check out the foliage, as the landscape from our front window has changed from dull browns and drab tans to swirls of pink, yellow and green in a matter of the past few days.”

Jim said, “OK babe, I will feed the hamster and then I will wait outside for you while I check on the birch tree to see how it is doing after I pruned it earlier this year.  Today is Memorial Day and the beaches have opened, but with nearly 50,000 cases of Covid-19 across Florida, I don’t think that we should risk it yet.”  Charlotte said, “Oh yea, it is Memorial Day, as I often forget what day it is since this pandemic struck.  I try in earnest to stay awake concerning this situation, but then I get lost in a sea of statistics and as I begin to hesitate, all I want to do is get more sleep.  We should go to the park and watch the parade and I could put together a picnic basket, but only if you agree to heft it around.”

Jim said, “You know that I hate parades, the marching bands and everything that goes with them and it probably stems from that first job that I had, where I was required to scoop up all the horse poop after the parade was over and that was pure misery for me.  People are so messy and they often say don’t cry when life hands you lemons, but they never consider the lemony liabilities.  Let’s just go out in the back yard where we won’t need to wear our masks and it will be quiet enough for us to hear the sounds of the wind passing through leaves on the trees, or it is possible that even the grass may carry some sort of message.  I’ll grab a joint for us to smoke and you could put on that gossamer blouse that looks so pretty on you.”

Just then, the sun turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, and Charlotte said, “We won’t be getting any signs from the sky today, or at least I won’t, as I am not going out there” and then the heavens opened up and it began raining.  Those poor people that are having their parade rained on, I feel so sad for them.  I guess the good news is that we didn’t get our blanket wet.”  Jim turned the TV back on and he saw that Trump was tweeting sexist taunts and personal insults against prominent female Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Jim said, “Speaking of wet blankets, that orange dude is up to his old antics again, I really think that the hydroxychloroquine that he is taking has messed up his mind.”  Charlotte said, “You are being too kind, as he is nothing more than a shortcut to disaster and his brain is the equivalent of what a child has.”

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Heft, for the Daily Spur prompt – Equivalent, for FOWC with Fandango – Shortcut, for May Writing Prompts – Lemony liabilities, for Ragtag Community – Gossamer, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Misery Kind Frustration, for Linda G. Hill Life in progress What Day is it Anyway?, for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Acid and for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Wordle #191 hosted by Yves – Earnest Awake Foliage Aeromancy Meretricious Shoes Running Birch Hamster Smoke Sleep Hesitate.

I Had a Dream

The other day I told Li over at Tao Talk about my dream and she felt that I had a moral obligation to tell somebody else about it, just in case it could save some lives.  In my dream I saw a ward of sick Covid-19 patients all hooked up to ventilators, which was seen as the final measure of care for these patients.  Then I thought that maybe all of these people could be saved if they were given O3 ozone to kill the coronavirus that they were infected with.

My CPAP cleaner uses activated oxygen O3 (ozone) a naturally occurring gas, that is supposed to be extremely safe and it kills 99.9% of bacteria, germs, and other pathogens and it has been used to purify water since the 1800s.  In my dream it was added to the ventilators of the people that were being treated for Covid-19 and they all recovered after a few treatments.  Ozone generators are able to make ozone from normal air and they are normally used as room disinfectants.  Ozone is at least ten times stronger than chlorine as a disinfectant.

I am not a medical professional and I would never suggest that anyone should inhale ozone, or drink Clorox, or inject Lysol, especially since ozone is dangerous to humans.  It can destroy your cells lining in your mouth, nasal pathways and be harmful to your lungs.  It has the ability to cause cell mutations and cause cancer.  When inhaled, ozone can damage the lungs.  Relatively low amounts can cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath and throat irritation.  Ozone may also worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections.

However, ozone gas is a remarkably versatile molecule.  The medical and disinfecting uses of ozone are vast and still being studied today.  Ozone has been particularly helpful in treating Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA).  These bacteria can cause infections across the body, and it is referred to as a “superbug”, because it is highly resistant to most antibiotics.  Ozone breaks down the cell walls of the bacteria, destroying it when other treatments fail.  Ozone not only destroys the bacterial cell, but it does it without leaving a residual effect after its oxidative reaction.  Ozone gas has been proven to kill the SARS coronavirus and since the structure of the new Covid-19 coronavirus is almost identical to that of the SARS coronavirus, it is relatively safe to think that it will also work on this new coronavirus.

The antipathogenic effects of ozone have been substantiated for several decades.  Its killing action upon bacteria, viruses, fungi, and in many species of protozoa, serve as the basis for its increasing use in disinfecting municipal water supplies in cities worldwide.  Typically, viruses are small, independent particles, built of crystals and macromolecules.  Unlike bacteria, they multiply only within the host cell.  Ozone destroys viruses by diffusing through the protein coat into the nucleic acid core, resulting in damage of the viral RNA.  At higher concentrations, ozone destroys the capsid or exterior protein shell by oxidation.

The chemical formula of ozone is O3.  It consists of 3 oxygen atoms and is very reactive.  Two atoms of oxygen form the basic oxygen molecule, becoming the oxygen that we breathe which is essential to life.  The third oxygen atom can detach from the ozone molecule, and re-attach to molecules of other substances, thereby altering their chemical composition.  It is this ability to react with other substances undergoing chemical reactions, which makes it an effective cleaning agent.  When it comes to disinfecting, the oxidation reaction targets microorganisms and destroys them on contact.

We typically think of ozone as a molecule in the ozone layer called the stratosphere.  The formation of ozone occurs when sunlight breaks apart an oxygen molecule (O2).  These two oxygen atoms then collide with another oxygen atom to form ozone.   It actually forms only 0.000004% of the earth’s atmosphere but it protects the planet from harmful sunlight, by filtering out harmful UVB radiation.  This radiation directly harms skin and causes skin cancer and cataracts.  Ozone at ground levels acts as an air pollutant.  It forms smog and causes breathing issues and other respiratory ailments.

Ozone can also be artificially created by using a high voltage electric current which acts as sunlight to convert oxygen gas to ozone.  Ozone generators are just a few of the machines that generate ozone.  These machines can be used as an air and water purifier by destroying bacteria and other toxins.  Ozone generators that are sold as air cleaners intentionally produce the gas ozone.  Often the vendors of ozone generators make statements and distribute material that lead the public to believe that these devices are always safe and effective in controlling indoor air pollution.  For almost a century, health professionals have refuted these claims.

In other countries is medical grade oxygen ozone therapy is being used to treat the coronavirus.  This is something very unique whereby a certain amount of blood is removed from the patient’s arm, then oxygen is introduced to the blood in an IV bag and then the blood is re-infused into the patient’s arm.  Sometimes they add ultraviolet light to the treatment plan as well.  This can help kill viruses and bacteria.  Studies being done now on these treatments.  In the US, a federal judge barred a Texas company from making claims that this treatment could be used as a cure for the coronavirus.

As far as my dream goes from what I learned today, ozone added to ventilators will most likely kill the people that are attached to them, but as Li said I had a moral obligation to do some research on this, just in case it turned out to be the cure that we are all looking for.  It is not my duty to save the world, but it never hurts to discuss your dreams with others.  Life goes on and today is like any other day and as I look at the sinking moon, I realize that even a rose has thorns.

Written for Go Dog Go Devereaux Frazier and Beth Amanda’s Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge – Even a rose has thorns, for May Writing Prompts – Sinking moon and for Linda G. Hill Life in progress What Day is it Anyway? Sunday, May 10th, 2020.

Garden Party

Let’s have a garden party and I will bring the Coca-Cola.  We could all celebrate VE day and Robert Johnson’s birthday who was the first well known musician to die at the age of 27, before it became trendy later when Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison all did that.  Hey Sunday is Mother’s Day and that is another reason to celebrate.  We are all going down The Long And Winding Road, so there is no reason to go on a hunger strike.

1886 Pharmacist Dr. John Styth Pemberton invented what would later be called Coca-Cola.
1899 Ernest Rutherford publishes his discovery of two different kinds of radiation (Alpha and Beta Particles).
1911 Robert Johnson, the American blues singer was born on this day
1914 The U.S. Congress passed a Joint Resolution that designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
1933 Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India.
1940 Ricky Nelson was born.
1945 VE Day / Victory is declared in Europe.
1956 – Alfred E. Neuman appeared on the cover of Mad Magazine for the first time.
1958 US President Eisenhower orders National Guard out of Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas as Ernest Green became the first black to graduate from an Arkansas public school.
1961 The New York Metropolitan Baseball Club was renamed the New York Mets.
1967 Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in US Army.
1970 The Beatles released their last album Let It Be.
1978 David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) pleaded guilty to murder in a Brooklyn courtroom.
1987 Gary Hart withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
2008 Vladimir Putin was appointed as the Russian Prime Minister.
2018 President Trump pulls the US out of the multilateral Iran nuclear deal.

Written for Linda G. Hill Life in progress What Day is it Anyway? Thursday, May 7th, 2020