Had a cheap spatula that I used for years that finally broke. Had a (surprisingly) hard  time finding a good replacement.  Found this one at a professional restaurant supply house.  Almost perfect, except form the curved edge. Hey!  I can fix that!

Wife got a blood oxygen monitor.  Held my breath to see if I could get it into the 80s.  Couldn’t get below 93, but I didn’t try too hard.  Would be embarrassed to pass out and hit my head or something.  Maybe work on getting the heart rate lower.  Made it to the low 70s.

A good one from the New York Times by Mimi Swartz.  At the end she mentions our local grocery chain, HEB.  I can’t think of a business I’m have ever run across that seems to be so well run.  I know people who have worked for them, and with them as vendors and have heard nothing but praise. They seem to be way ahead of everyone on pandemic preparedness. Too bad more companies (and governments) can’t operate this way.

Texas Republicans Have Spectacularly Failed the Coronavirus Test

I’m hearing some calls and even organized protests to “re-open” the US economy.  A short article with some simple math about the situation in the UK.  It’s pretty much the same as for the US.  Multiply by about 5 to get comparable US numbers.  Cut to the chase for people who don’t want to read: about 3m dead.  This is from a professor of infectious diseases at Harvard.

No matter how you crunch the numbers, this pandemic is only just getting started

My brother lives in Germany and we were talking about how Germany’s system responds to a crisis like COVID-19.  Even though it is an extraordinary event the German system seems to be handling the challenge well.  A good article from Boston Review on how they do it in Germany.

Lucky to Live in Berlin

Germany’s low death rate and quick payout of relief to workers makes a case for social democracy as preparedness.

So I didn’t want to turn this into a COVID-19 blog, but there is really only one discussion right now in the world.  I keep looking for a plan, but I’m not really seeing one.  I did see Neel Kashkari from the Federal Reserve seems to be talking about these things, but I suppose they aren’t a political organization.

I have to add I remember Kashkari from the 2008 financial crisis. He was Hank Paulson’s little Goldman Sachs buddy.  I give them the same respect I would have for someone who sets your house on fire, but also tries to help you put it out.  But maybe I’ve been too harsh on Mr Kashkari.  He seems to have given up his fast track job at Goldman for public service.  I also see his sister is a doctor specializing in infectious diseases.  Might want to listen to this guy.  From Business Insider.

‘Hard for me to see a V-shaped recovery’: The Fed’s Kashkari says the US could face 18 months of rolling shutdowns as it tries to shake coronavirus

A good, but sad, story about how this is hitting a small part of the world.  In this case the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans.

‘Wearing a mask won’t protect us from our history.’

Was reading about the history of the Polio vaccine on Wiki.  It seems promising vaccines with controversial results were available as early as 1935.  Even the vaccines that eventually had widespread use had several safety incidents, including the famous Salk vaccine.  I also learned that the vaccine used today was not the one developed by Salk but one with Soviet sponsorship by Sabin.  This isn’t my field, and experts seem to be confident that a COVID-19 vaccine will be forthcoming shortly.  One can’t help but think that there still isn’t a vaccine for, say, HIV, all these decades later.

We might want to have a look at their medical and insurance system.  Their unemployment insurance system too.

It was the saltshaker: How Germany meticulously traced its coronavirus outbreak