After my post-op appointment last Wednesday for the cataract surgery I had the day before, we stopped at Target to get a pair of reading glasses – with my newly implanted lenses, my near vision is not quite up to reading without aid – and, while we were there, flu shots.

We get the flu shot every year, but, normally, it’s later in the year.

This year, though, with the added complication of the coronavirus pandemic, we thought we should get the shots as soon as it was available.

We are on a list to be called when they are available at the clinic we use, but they didn’t anticipate receiving the vaccine for several weeks yet. On Tuesday, while I was at Baker Eye Institute for my second cataract surgery, Karen did a little bit of shopping and noticed that flu shots were available at the CVS pharmacy in Target.

I know that a lot of people are against vaccinations for whatever reason and a lot of people doubt the seriousness of this pandemic.  However, because of our age and medical conditions, we are at higher risk should we be infected with the COVID virus. We believe the vaccinations to be low risk.  The mortality rate for people over 65 who have been confirmed as being infected is 8.3% so the pandemic risk is more of a concern.

With all of our existing complicating factors, we don’t need the additional complication of the flu or our immune systems being weakened by the flu while this virus is still infecting people.

Thus… we’ve had our 2020 flu shots.

2020kickstart#20

My old eyes have been rejuvenated – if only I could do that with the rest of me!

Beeds Lake State Park, near Hampton, Iowa, September 17, 2014

Wow!

I had not realized the true condition of my vision and didn’t really appreciate how much it could be improved by a “minor” procedure on each eye.

Now my distant vision is near perfect as far as I’m concerned.  My old eyes have been rejuvenated – if only I could do that with the rest of me!

My eyesight has never terribly bad, though over the last decade or so it had gradually been changing. I could function without my glasses if I needed to and I normally read books and used the computer without them. While I’ve known I had cataracts for a long time, their impact hadn’t been noticeable until a few years ago when I seeing halos around lights at night.

The cataracts had been getting worse and by late last year, I knew they should probably need to be dealt with in 2020.  Lights and bright reflections fogged up what I was seeing – somewhat like looking through a slightly frosty or fogged-up window.

Then COVID happened and I put off getting an eye exam until the middle of August.

On September 1, I had cataract surgery on my right eye and, then, a week later had the left eye taken care of. The cloudy lenses were replaced with clear artificial lenses that also corrected my distance.

The results are absolutely amazing.

Colors are brighter, whites are whiter, and details are crisp – for everything out past a couple of feet.  Up closer, on the other hand, things tend to be less focused.

Where before I could read without corrective lenses, now I need reading glasses.

I can live with that.

2020kickstart#19

So… yesterday, I had cataract surgery on my right eye.

The problem that led me to pursue cataract surgery was how much lights and bright reflections seemed to fog what I was seeing, with halos surrounding every light and bright surface, sort of like what you might see looking through a frosty or slightly fogged-up window.  This was first noticeable when driving at night a  few years ago, though I’ve known that I had cataracts developing for a much longer time, another one of the common effects of aging.

After the surgery, my initial impression was how white the whites were.   Then I noticed how much more colorful everything was and, later, that things are a lot sharper. I’ve tried to show the color difference in the images above, but it’s overall a more significant difference than even that.

Cataracts result in hardening and yellowing of the lens of the eyes.  When comparing the vision between my left and right eye, whites have a yellow or slightly amber cast to them.

It’s less than 24 hours since the surgery so I don’t know yet how much my vision will have changed.  So far, my distant vision is significantly improved, probably 20/20 or better.  However, my closeup vision isn’t quite as good as it was before.  If it stays that way, that’s okay.  I may have to have reading glasses, but that would be a improvement over having to wear glasses all of the time.

I am looking forward to getting the surgery for my left eye!

The photo is of the Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah, September 29, 2019.

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The slow-motion global disaster of 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t fit any of the big screen—or small screen—cliches of rampant global outbreaks.

There are no heroes that save the day in a 2-hour action flic, a primetime drama with time out for commercial breaks, or a series on Netflix.

There are no archetypical villains—other than the virus—no evil scientists, no zombies, no misguided genius who meant well, no accidental release from a secret bioweapons lab.

Instead, we have governments’ floundering responses to a very infectious virus that has left over 840,000 dead and has infected more than 25 million people across the globe.  Some governments have had some amount of success in mitigating the catastrophic impacts of the pandemic—others, not so much.

I had developed a much longer blog post than this, which I am not going to try to recreate. For some reason, all that was saved was everything before this paragraph.

 I had written about the wide impacts of the pandemic.  While most people are focused on the local, state, or national impacts of COVID-19, this is an epidemic that is truly global in its reach.  This naturally occurring new (novel) virus is more infectious than influenza but somewhat less infectious than measles. 

There is no COVID conspiracy to benefit anyone, implant microchips, affect the outcomes of elections, skew the count of the number of cases or deaths, spreading by 5G, or any of a number of other theories.  Given the extent and duration of the extraordinary circumstances we are now in, it is understandable that there will be more questions about the how and why of things and reasonable to expect that some people will turn to notions of conspiracy to shape their understanding of today’s world.  Ironically, “research… indicates that outside of social media and the interests of journalists, most people probably have no idea these conspiracy theories exist.”²

COVID is not going to magically disappear any time soon and some of its effects may be very long-lasting, perhaps even permanent.

1. Editorial review of Pandemic, a limited release (April 1, 2016) science fiction movie subsequently released as video on demand (April 4, 2016).
2. Should we be worried about COVID-19 conspiracy theories?—The Big Q, Project for Media in the Public Interest (PMPI), University of Aukland, New Zealand

2020kickstart#17

2020kickstart#16

Royalty-free images by Mike¹ — No. 80 of over 1200 images

West-Central Arkansas, February 10, 2011

For parts of Arkansas, a February  2011 snowstorm was a record-setting weather event.

Northwest Arkansas has topped the 24 hour snowfall record, the single storm snowfall record, and the seasonal snowfall record for at least the last 70 years. In northern Benton and Carroll County the snowstorm of March 10-12, 1968 and the 1967-68 seasonal snow totals still rival this storm and there were a couple other years in the 1910s that we believe may compare as well. Otherwise, this one takes the cake. To top it off, low temperatures just shattered all-time records a day after the storm.(40/29 TV Weather Blog, Thursday, February 10th, 2011)

We don’t often get snow.  Some years, we don’t get any at all, though usually, we get at least enough to say we had some.

Then there are occasional years where we get a nice snowstorm with that leave us with scenes of nearly pristine snow.

While I can recall larger storm totals of from 6 inches to around 2 feet over the 40 years that we’ve lived in Arkansas, snow generally doesn’t last for more than a few days.  Most snowstorms leave just enough to cover the grass and then, when the sun comes out, most of it is quickly gone except in the shadows on the north sides of buildings and stands of trees.   Sometimes when we get snow, the town just down the road and a bit lower in elevation won’t have any at all or, if they do, the city about 7 miles further south and lower in the valley doesn’t.

We’ve even had a few years where much of the ground cover that normally browns is green almost the entire winter season!

1. I am sharing some of my public domain images in periodic blog posts.

• • This image is also shared as public domain on Pixabay and Flickr as “Winter in the Ozarks.”
  • Images are being shared in the sequence they were accepted by Pixabay, royalty-free image sharing site.
  • Only images specifically identified as such are public domain or creative commons on our pages.
    • All other images are copyright protected by me, creative commons, or used under the provisions of fair use.

2020kickstart#15

Royalty-free images by Mike¹ – No. 79 of over 1200 images

Garvan Woodland Gardens Tulips, April 9, 2014

American Public Gardens Association: “Garvan Woodland Gardens, the 210 acre botanical gardens of the University of Arkansas, is located on beautiful Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, AR. Garvan Woodland Gardens is an example of The Natural State at its best: a canopy of pines reaching skyward providing protection for delicate flora and fauna, gentle lapping waves that unfold along the 4 ½ miles of wooded shoreline, and rocky inclines that remind us of the surrounding Ouachita Mountains. Garvan Woodland Gardens’ mission is to preserve and enhance a unique part of the Ouachita environment; provide people with a place of learning, research, cultural enrichment, and serenity; develop and sustain gardens, landscapes, and structures of exceptional aesthetics, design, and construction; and partner with and serve communities of which the Gardens is a part. From the dynamic architectural structures to the majestic botanical landscapes, Garvan Woodland Gardens offers breathtaking sights (and fantastic photo opportunities) at every turn.”

_____________

Other references:

• Wikipedia
• University of Arkansas, Fay Jones School of Architechture and Design
• Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Facebook page
• ExploreSouthernHistory.com
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas

1. Royalty-free images by Mike — No. 79 of over 1200 images
2. Only images specifically identified as such are public domain or creative commons on our pages. All other images are copyright protected, creative commons, or used under the provisions of fair use.
3. Image shared as public domain on Pixabay and Flickr as “Garvan Woodland Gardens Tulips.”

2020kickstart#14

I’m getting a bit of walking doing stuff around the property—staying active—and this mild weather has been cooperating.  We usually get in more walking than needed—intentionally—when we go in to Walmart (or other stores), which we did twice over the last week.  Last Wednesday, I picked up a pair of very dark, non-prescription sunglasses because the next day I would be having my eyes dilated at an eye surgery center where I would be having a consultation about cataract surgery.  Then Friday, I picked up two prescriptions for eye drops that I will start using after the surgery for the first eye, scheduled for September 1st

So far, over the last 7 weeks since we got the treadmill, I’ve been walking on the treadmill for 2 hours or so a day. At the gym, I would do it all in one stretch on the elevated indoor track.  Here at home, I do it in 2 or 3 increments, depending on what I am watching on my iPad.  If it’s a network series, it’s usually 3, since the one-hour shows run about 40 or so minutes after ads are taken out.  Netflix series shows are running around an hour but the actual time may be a little less or several minutes longer.

Last week, my weight was 282 lbs.  This week, I am at 278 lbs with a BMI of 34.7.

This time, I started tracking my weight on June 27 when we started using the treadmill.  My weight at that time was 293.5 lbs, with a BMI of 36.7.  My optimal weight by the ap that I am using is 207.7 and my target date for achieving that is June 27, 2022, with a BMI of 26.

If I could maintain the progress I am currently making, the predicted date for my target weight is currently April 24, 2021.

We’ll see.  It’s been a long time since I successfully achieved a long-term weight loss goal.

2020kickstart#13

WednesdayWeighIn#3

Death Valley just happened to be the hottest place on Earth on Sunday.

Various news media sources are touting it as setting the record for the highest temperature on Earth at 130°F.

And it was.

For Sunday…, and for August 16th.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the highest registered air temperature on Earth was 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) in Furnace Creek Ranch, California, located in the Death Valley desert in the United States, on 10 July 1913, but the validity of this record is challenged as possible problems with the reading have since been discovered.

Whatever… it’s Death Valley, and it’s hot.

If we ever go there, it won’t be in August.

2020kickstart#13