L--O--N--G BLOG

First cup of this morning's coffee is a warm-up of yesterday's.  Can't stand pouring good coffee down the drain.  So easy to pop a cup in the microwave.  Know for sure my Gramma wouldn't have wasted good coffee.  

A pretty day outside for the end of November.  No sign of snow in the forecast.  Kinda feels like we're living in a twilight zone.  The first day it really snows, I feel like sipping hot chocolate all day long.  The Christmas movies are responsible for that idea, cuz every movie the characters are drinking homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream.  Some put a candy cane in the cocoa.  Peppermint tastes yummy with chocolate.  We're known to put a shot of Peppermint Schnapps in our hot chocolate, and that feels so good in the tummy.  We don't make homemade, but rather the packets of sugar-free where you just add the hot water, nuke it, and then stir.  

Watched the movie, Royally Wrapped for Christmas, yesterday.  Love the movies where royalty falls in love with the commoner.  Find the royal life intriguing...the butlers, the maids, the beautiful large bedrooms decorated for the holidays.  There are so many angles from which to watch a movie.  There's the plot itself, then the characters, clothes they wear, the decorations, the palaces, the common homes.....I find something in all parts of a movie.  And, to think I can sit in my recliner and watch movies on my laptop.  Life don't get no better than that......for me, anyway.  

Nothing too newsworthy in our corner of the world.  The daily paper wasn't delivered again today.  The newspaper moved from its hometown to the state capitol, and now there are problems, one after another.  They do manage to get their billing statements out on time, though.  Hmmmm.  Go figure.  

One thing I notice is that my pocketful of patience is pretty much depleted.  The slightest glitch can piss me off in a hot second.  Maybe that's how older people got labeled as grumpy.  Things are so screwed up, that it takes tolerance to adapt and accept the insanity.  

Am keeping a close eye on the latest reports of the new variant Omicron.  Japan announced it will suspend entry of all foreign visitors.  Drastic travel restrictions are being put into place across the world.  Cases reported now in Scotland, the Netherlands and Canada. 

We've all learned alot since the initial onset of the coronavirus.  I've noticed that there are a great many of us who now claim to be medical experts.  Oh, at first I was caught up in the hooplah, but now I've had two Moderna shots and am thankful to have that vaccine, which might not prevent, but may make the illness moderate rather than fatal.  Therein lies the difference, for me.  If all the vaccinated people will be dead in three years, then those who are left will have no medical people to rely on to take care of them.  Imagine that for a world.  

Did a bit of research on history's pandemics.  The earliest recorded one was in Athens, Greece in 430 B.C.  (yup, that's before Christ).  Symptoms: fever, thirst, bloody throat and tongue, red skin and lesions.

The Antonine Plague appeared in 165 A.D. as smallpox.  This plague continued til about 180 A.D.  Symptoms:  fever, sore throat, diarrhea, and if the patient lived long enough, pus-filled sores.

The Cyprian Plague of 250 A.D. with recurring outbreaks over the next three centuries.  Symptoms:  diarrhea, vomiting, throat ulcers, fever and gangrenous hands and feet.

The Justinian Plague of 541 A.D.  Recurring over the next two centuries, killing about 50 million people, or 26% of the world population.  

Leprosy of the 11th century.  Symptoms:  slow-developing bacterial disease, causing sores and deformities.  Leprosy still afflicts tens of thousands of people a year and can be fatal if not treated with antibiotics.

The Black Death of 1350.  This pandemic was responsible for the death of one-third of the world population.  This was the Bubonic Plague that spread rapidly through Europe.  Dead bodies rotted on the ground and created a constant stench in cities.

The Columbian Exchange of 1492.  Following the arrival of the Spanish in the Caribbean, smallpox, measles and bubonic plague were passed along to the native populations.  As many as 90% of these indigenous people died.

In 1520, the Aztec Empire was destroyed by smallpox.

First Cholera Pandemic of 1817.  There would be seven cholera pandemics over the next 150 years.  Symptoms:  Small intestine infections.  A vaccine was created in 1885, but pandemics continued.

The Third Plague Pandemic of 1855.  Starting in China, moving to India and Hong Kong, the bubonic plague claimed 15 million victims.  This pandemic was active until 1960 when cases dropped below a couple hundred.

Fiji Measles Pandemic of 1875.  One-third of Fiji's population died, a total of over 40,000.

Russian Flu of 1889.  By the end of 1890, 360,000 people had died.

Spanish Flu of 1918.  At the time, there were no effective drug or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain.  Hundreds of thousands of Americans died.

Asian Flu of 1957.  Over six months, 14,000 people died.  A second wave followed in early 1958, causing an estimated total of about 1.1 million deaths globally, with 116,000 deaths in the United States alone.  A vaccine was developed, effectively containing the pandemic.

HIV/AIDS of 1981.  Treatments have been developed to slow the progress of the disease, but 35 million people worldwide died of AIDS since its discovery.  A cure is yet to be found.

SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) of 2003.  Symptoms:  respiratory problems, dry cough, fever and head and body aches.  Spread through respiratory droplets from coughs and sneezes.

Covid-19 of 2019.  This is where we are today.  This isn't the first global pandemic, it's part of the human condition.