Pain, Pain, Go Away!

This weekend, I was well enough to wear myself out doing landscape projects. I added to my shade garden, then spaded up an 8x30 foot plot on the corner. The next day, I put down some old bed sheets donated by a neighbor, weighted them down with bricks, and started setting out a hundred home-grown perennials in Xs cut in the sheets. It was hot, sunny and humid. Halfway through, a storm was coming. I worried the sheets would billow up in the wind and break some of the plants, so I threw down two bags of mulch, grabbed the clothes off the line, went inside and watched the rain come down in sheets. When it stopped I finished planting, looking like someone from Dirty Jobs when it was over. Being too tired to cook, I got a low-carb burger and small fries at the drive-through and came back home. In spite of two days' hard work, from the street, the house looked like hippies lived there: tall grass, a missing picket, and of course the bed sheets and plants that were all either little o

It just felt like it was time. I was feeling better, I needed a few things, I went to the drug store. I wore a mask since I'm still coughing a little. I'm as likely to end up in the hospital from COVID-19 as I was from the flu for the season that just ended, according to the CDC. The store was sold out of a lot of makeup and most of the shower gel was in a locked case, oddly enough. There was plexiglass between me and the clerk and a sign that said "no cash back" (not uncommon around here). I got some toiletries, food, and stuff to make magnesium water. Traffic was normal. I feel better than I did just a few days ago. Saturday, I cut my hair, then put in my garden even though I really didn't feel up to it and needed lots of breaks. I was sure I wouldn't be able to spade up the area next to the sidewalk to put in a flower garden, but I think can this Friday when I'm off. Going by some puffiness and a little weight gain, I must have overdone the cortiso

Biofilms These aren't documentaries on the Biography channel, but formations of bacteria, viruses and other toxins that protect themselves from antibiotics and your immune system with a gooey outer layer. They can keep you sick for months, and they're hard to dislodge. Biofilm disruptors attack that outer layer, leaving the toxins wide open. When certain toxins die, they release other toxins your system has to deal with. This is called a die-off reaction, and it can also last for weeks or even months by some accounts. I didn't even realize I was embarking on a biofilm bust until I caught cold the day after I started taking lactoferrin for my low TIBC (total iron blood count). Lactoferrin coats iron and taxis it to your cells, starving the bad bacteria of it. There are other ways it helps your immune functions, too. It's a natural substance found mostly in milk; it's anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial . I don't think I caught cold from being around

By popular demand due to meat packing plants closing, the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association has published a list of ranchers selling directly to consumers . In other news, Texans put "Welcome to Texas" signs around Oklahoma so that Californians will move there instead . Is it Texas? Is it Oklahoma? Photo from Pixabay .

Another person in quarantine has gotten coronavirus-- this one is a city councilwoman here in Indianapolis . She says she and her husband disinfect all their perishable food, watch church services online and stay at home. She's not alone. Among COVID patients going to the hospital in New York, 66% have been sheltering at home and avoiding the subway. Meantime, Jacksonville, Florida opened their beaches April 17 to limited activities with social distancing. Doomers predicted--well, doom. Unacast ( who gave Wyoming an F for social distancing ) gave the county a D+ for social distancing . But the county saw emergency room visits for COVID-like illness, flu-like illness, cough-related illness and fever drop . Of illnesses reported, only shortness of breath stayed about the same. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants an apology from the doomers. What's going on? Maybe in some places, people in quarantine are about the only people left to infect. Maybe it's that they

I've been sick for almost a month. Not seriously sick--I've had a lingering cough and fatigue from a cold. I've tried Umcka Cold Care, antibiotics, and sunlight (enough to give me a sunburn). They've all helped (maybe), but I'm still sick. Then a week ago, I saw a video by Dr. Davis describing strategies for boosting your immune system. One strategy was making "yogurt" with L. casei shirota bacteria, found in a probiotic drink called Yakult. (I'm not affiliated with Dr. Davis or any products.) The bacteria has been shown in studies to prevent upper respiratory infections and reduce the length of those illnesses. (Disclosure: the studies are funded by the manufacturer.) He cautioned against drinking it  since it's full of sugar, but gave instructions for making yogurt with it. At the time, the grocery store where I shop was out of Yakult, but was back in stock Friday and I whipped up a batch of yogurt during lunch. Last night, it was finally fin

Two urgent care doctors in Bakersfield, California discussed their own data and questioned the wisdom of social distancing and shutdowns in their area in an interview with a local news station. Californians are under strict stay-at-home orders. Some residents have gotten tickets for watching the sunset at the beach  and one man was arrested for paddle boarding alone on the ocean , while their governor Gavin Newsom commuted 21 prison sentences and pardoned five people, some of whom killed children, citing coronavirus concerns. YouTube removed the video, citing "content that explicitly disputes the efficacy of local health authority recommended guidance on social distancing that may lead others to act against that guidance." Note that their beef wasn't that the information was false or that the doctors recommending violating the law, but that they were disputing the authorities' guidance. But as YouTuber Matt Christiansen observes , the WHO has changed its own guide