The FDA Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biological Products has scheduled a meeting on April 6, 2022 “to discuss considerations for use of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses and the process for COVID-19 vaccine strain selection to address current and emerging variants.” The meeting will run from 8:30 AM-5:00 PM ET.
Month: March 2022
Clear Creek Trail 2nd Day of Spring
Since it’s the 2nd day of spring, we went for a walk on the Clear Creek Trail in Coralville (a stone skip away from Iowa City). The trees were bare except for the buds about to burst that Sena gets so excited to see this time of year.
The birds are shy because there’s not much cover. But they’re out. A Red-Headed Woodpecker peeked out at us from the top of a dead tree. A shy pair of Canadian Geese allowed themselves to be filmed briefly before paddling away.
There was still a little snow covering the creek, despite temperatures in the mid-70s.
Another great spring day. We’re lucky—and grateful.
Birds of a Different Feather
This is the first day of spring in 2022 and it was a beautiful day. We went for a walk on the Terry Trueblood Trail. There were a lot of people out—different ages, different colors, different shapes. Just about everyone was smiling.
There were plenty of birds out too. In fact, we saw many different species of birds congregating together. Everybody knows the old saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.”
You know, it has been observed, not just by scientists I’m sure, that birds of different feathers hang out together too. Sometimes they’ll even fly in formation together, cooperating by staying about the same distance apart in V-formations, just as they would if they were all members of the same species.
It can happen.
Knock Down Furniture Will Knock You Down
There are many names for ready-to-assemble furniture, including flat pack furniture, or knock down furniture. We’ve never bought IKEA furniture, but it’s the same kind of thing and there are a ton of memes about it.
I kind of like the name “knock down furniture” because it best explains how we feel sometimes after we’ve tackled a tough project—like the chair we got recently. It looked like a simple chair, but it came with a tiny Allen wrench and there were way too many bolts, two different kinds of washers, those fussy little barrel nuts that drive you nuts, dowels, screws and you needed extra tools besides the Allen wrench (well, just a Phillips head and a flat head screwdriver). I guess I got spoiled after getting a mini-rachet driver Allen wrench in addition to the manual one which came with the platform bed kit we recently got.
It took us all day to figure out how to get the seat back to fit between the legs so the bolt holes would line up. We came really close to deciding we’d have to return it. I installed the apron (the part which fits between the two legs in front and requires dowels for which you need a mallet) upside down. I’m not blaming it completely on the instructions—OK, I am blaming it completely on the instructions. Sometimes a thousand words would be better than a lousy picture.
By the way, I think Allen Wrench Arthritis (AWA) is a thing.
Contrast that with the love seat which was much larger, did not require any tools at all and barely took 30 minutes to assemble. We didn’t break a sweat. The only reason I look forlorn in the picture of me holding up the seat back is because I’m still suffering from PTSD after the little chair assembly.
I think the best knock down furniture piece would require no tools, have only 4 or five pieces to sort of snap together and take no more than 20 minutes to assemble.
New Elevator Pitch
I just made a new and much shorter elevator pitch video for my YouTube channel using green screen yesterday . I grabbed a free elevator clip from Pixabay to make the 20 second video. Getting my lines right took the longest time. See my Greenhorn Green Screen post from yesterday for instructions using Power Director software. Or use the software of your choice!
Greenhorn Green Screen
Yesterday, the Elgato Green Screen arrived and unboxing took longer than deploying the green screen itself, which just pulls up and pushes back down into its case. You can see how it works on my YouTube channel. I had to update this post this morning when Sena reminded me that today is St. Patrick’s Day!
Actually, making a green screen video was harder—but not terribly hard. I think the software for processing a green screen project probably differs from brand to brand, although I can’t swear to it. Anyway, I used Power Director and the instruction from PowerDirector University were really helpful. Frankly, I tried so many times to make a halfway decent video that I got plenty of practice.
I even tried to make a really bizarre green screen by wearing my green shirt. Much to my surprise, it didn’t really make any difference, which shows how little I know about this.
I was a little worried about the lack of light control I had. I have big faux wood blinds in my office but I moved the screen closer to the back of my chair and that seemed to help. I had to be very mindful that it was right behind me so I would avoid running over it with my chair.
The first few videos I made I looked like a monster because my eyeglasses, my eyes, and even the inside of my mouth gleamed with bright, ghostly lights. The more I tinkered with the chroma key and denoise control, the less prominent they got. If you notice, I still look a little green around the gills. I need practice.
The screen came with a few instructions:
Use the central handle to extend or contract the screen; try to avoid touching the screen itself.
Be careful when setting up near children.
Only use the central handle to raise and lower it so you won’t jam your fingers.
Use the stabilizer feet; otherwise, it will fall over.
When not in use, lay the screen horizontally on its feet.
Don’t leave the screen exposed to direct sunlight.
Don’t attach items to the screen.
Don’t set it up in areas prone to strong air currents, which can make the screen and move and compromise image quality.
Keep the screen free from dirt and dust; if it needs cleaning use a soft cloth with water and mild, neutral detergent. Never use benzene, thinner, and other volatile agents because they can cause permanent damage.
Don’t iron the fabric; small wrinkles will smooth out with time.
Have fun!
Mydriatic Madness
I got my eyes examined yesterday. They put mydriatic drops in like they usually do. It’s been a while since my last exam. I remember a long time ago the eye clinics used to give you a free pair of those flimsy paper sunglasses to cut down on the glare and blurriness. I see them going on Amazon for $30-$60 bucks for 50-100 count boxes.
Anyway, they put the mydriatic drops in and after a few minutes, I was blind as a bat. I had to use the restroom and ended up talking to a mop for a couple of minutes. I thought it was strange that a skinny old guy would wear gray dreadlocks.
When I got back in the hallway, I was somewhat disoriented. I walked up and down the hall and must have got off on a side route somehow. I stopped next to a counter, just trying to get my bearings and a guy wearing a white cap asked me,
“Sir, would you like a corn dog? It’s made from plants!”
I said, “Hm, how much?”
“Only $15.99!”
“Excuse me while I check your rating with the Better Business Bureau.”
His face looked like it was starting to drip.
I walked briskly away and eventually found myself in a dark, blurry hallway. I stumbled through a swinging door and heard somebody exclaim,
“Oh no, the surgeon just fainted! Quick, get that guy scrubbed and gowned!”
I haven’t been in surgical garb since medical school, and never that fast. I was a little concerned and asked,
“How did you drag the surgeon out so quickly?”
A scrub nurse snapped, “Doctor, it’s an emergency penectomy! Here.”
Everything was blurry. Something slapped into my hand and it had a trigger. When I pressed it, there was a noise like a mini buzz saw.
“Can anyone direct me back to the eye clinic?”
“Hurry, doctor, it’s about to burst!”
Somebody bumped my arm, and I heard a scream. I said,
“Isn’t the patient anesthetized?”
“Doctor, you got the scrub nurse!”
The floor was getting slippery for some reason and I stumbled to my hands and knees. I managed to get out of the operating room. When I got to my feet, I ditched the scrubs but kept the skull cap because it had some nice red spots on it. Skull caps are usually pretty drab.
I heard somebody shout, “Call Security! The guy is wearing a bloody skull cap!
I sure didn’t want to run into that guy, so I veered into a brightly lit hallway away from all the noise. Bright lights worsen the glare you get after mydriatic drops, so I had even more trouble seeing. It led to what turned into an elevator. It was full of people in dark clothes. When the elevator stopped, I could feel the wind. Apparently, we were on the roof. There was a deafening whirring noise. I had to yell over it,
“Am I anywhere close to the eye clinic?”
“Don’t worry, doctor, remember to duck your head as you board the helicopter. We have to move fast!”
The view of the hospital campus is spectacular from the air. When the air ambulance attendants realized their mistake, they lowered me in a basket back down to the door outside the eye clinic. I was glad to get back inside because it gets a little chilly in a helicopter.
Anyway, to make a long story short (too late!) I got squared away with, among other things, a new prescription for eyeglasses and a fine for practicing surgery without a license.
I had no trouble finding my way back to the parking ramp. Horns were honking everywhere. Everybody was pressing their car key fobs to find their vehicles. I think most of them were leaving the eye clinic.
Picture credit: Pixydotorg.
Green Shirt Green Screen
In a couple of days, I’m going to get a green screen delivered. I hope it works to create special photo and video effects I wouldn’t otherwise be able to pull off—unless I used an old green shirt like I did for the chicken wishbone video. The wishbone is obviously way out of scale compared to the chicken, which is one of several sculptures on the Iowa River Landing Sculpture Walk in Coralville installed in 2013. It’s called Iowa Blue: The Urbane Chicken.
The green screen I’ll get is more professional and will likely take alien guidance to learn how to use it properly. Since aliens never reply to emails (greenguy@galaxy9dotorg) or take phone calls, I’ll have to get directions elsewhere. The link is to a website where I saw the abbreviation TLDR for the first time; it means “too long; didn’t read.” It’s very long, but I did read a fair chunk of it.
I used the green shirt sleeve to help me edit my video in order to make a composite of the wishbone and The Urbane Chicken. I just set the chicken bone on it and made a short video of it. Then I used video editing software to clean out all the green from the chicken bone video and superimposed it on the big chicken photo, making it look like an alien object hovering next to the chicken.
I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I did it anyway. I’m hoping I’ll have better luck with a real green screen, if I can figure out how to use it.
Watch Yourself
I watch the Weather Channel TV shows Highway Thru Hell and Heavy Rescue 401 and I hear a lot of the towing guys say “Watch yourself!” Often, they say this as they’re about to pull a jack knifed semi out of a ditch. Sometimes a rigging line breaks and a large hook will snap back at lightning speed, which can take your head off, even if you are watching out for it.
I notice many of the older tow crew members are now saying while grinning at the camera things like, “I think it’s really important to teach the younger generation the things I know because I’m not going to be doing this forever, and I’d like to retire sometime in the near future and let somebody else watch out for flying snatch blocks and tow hooks which can take your head off, which would not necessarily be painful because you might die instantaneously, but then there are those other inconvenient consequences like funerals and insufficient life insurance policies with bizarre exclusion clauses disallowing benefit payouts to grieving widows and children because of deaths caused by non-Underwriters Laboratories certified flying snatch blocks and tow hooks, unpaid mortgages and loans for things like exorbitantly expensive snatch blocks, tow hooks, not to mention multi-ton wreckers and rotators.”
Anyway, the expression “Watch Yourself” could also figuratively mean being mindful. Mindfulness meditation has taught me to notice more about what’s going on inside and outside my head.
I do daily sitting meditation, although I may miss a day here and there. And by sitting, I want to make it abundantly clear that I don’t assume the lotus position. My joints are stiff enough that, when I try to stand up, they might have enough spring steel energy stored to whip loose, similar to flying snatch blocks and tow hooks.
While I’m sitting, I do a lot of thinking. By the way, it’s not a mistake to think and feel a lot of different thoughts and emotions during mindfulness sessions. That’s one of several myths about mindfulness. It’s not mandatory or even possible to shut off your yammering mind. I can choose to focus my attention on it or not.
If I try to shut my internal talk off for any length of time, it’s like gripping a slippery valve. Sooner rather than later, my grip slips and thoughts explode like flying snatch blocks and tow hooks. I watch myself and I notice when I’m thinking my hands get tense. As soon as I notice that, my hands relax and I focus on breathing—or maybe it’s the other way around.
Watch yourself.
Calpurnia’s Lesson
I finished To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee a couple of days ago. Calpurnia’s line toward the end of Chapter 12:
It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not ladylike—in the second place, folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do. It aggravates ‘em. You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin’ right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.
That stuck in my head until the end of the book. It reminds me of my time at an HBCU, Huston-Tillotson University (then Huston-Tillotson College) in Austin, Texas. I was the only black child in my classes in grade school while I was growing up in Iowa. Nobody noticed how I talked because I sounded like everybody else.
But I didn’t have a Texas twang at H-TC. I also tended to talk too much. Finally, one student asked me, “Why do you talk so hard?” Those were her exact words. I don’t remember my reply, or if I even had one. I hope I just shut up.
That doesn’t mean that black students all had a drawl or were terse. One of them I remember called himself Malachi. He didn’t have a drawl or twang. He pronounced it Ma-Lah-Chee, emphasis on the second syllable. He had an ordinary English name. One of the English professors tried to tell him that, if he was trying to model himself after the Hebrew prophet in the Bible, he should pronounce it Ma-Luh-Kai. He didn’t buy it.
And there was the guy I had to debate in philosophy and logic class. He talked way too much—which is a big part of the reason I lost the debate. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. My professor hinted that being too polite by not interrupting was unlikely to help me in debates with bombastic opponents.
I have sometimes found myself either staying clammed up or talking too much, often at the wrong times with the wrong people.
I think there must be a happy medium somewhere. If I can’t talk the talk, is there a way to walk the talk? If I respect others, and believe we should all show respect for one another, I don’t have to drone on forever about it. I can hold the door open for them.
Go Retire Psychiatrist 