Monday Monsoons!

[BarbaraRose]

I just got up to peek outside to see if I need an Ark and yep! I might need one! Sure could use my kayak if I hadn't sold it! It has been pouring rain all night long! There is a large lake right behind my house in the green space area. Good thing my house is up a bit higher. The street behind my house is completely flooded. My street is higher and doesn't flood. I am sure there are a lot of sheds that are flooded around here and of course the golf courses are surely flooded. The overflow of rain water automatically runs off into the ponds around the golf courses (by design and the sprinklers come on to help drain those off (sounds strange but there is a method to their madness ). The valley is under a flash flood warning. I will have to check the news this morning to see what is happening.

I took some pics of the lake in my back yard and will post those later. My poor Spooky was crying for food this morning. I am sure he doesn't like all this rain! But at least the temps have dropped quite a bit for now!

Back to bed for a couple more hours...

These were taken from my patio...

[OregonLuvr]

WOW Barbie that is alot of rain in a short period of time for sure. I sure wish we would get some, any, a few drops heck we need a monsoon. Probably no rain here until October hopefully. We are in a major drought, peoples wells are going dry, water is yucky so some people are saying. I bought a few gallons for my coffee and my ice maker (it is portable). I also have a Brita and that works great.

We are again going into a heat wave Wed Th and Fri in the 100's Not good for firefighters that is for sure. So back to hibernating later this week.

Been outside watering and harvesting some tomatoes and squash. Took some to my old neighbor Jerry yesterday, he was delighted LOL Going to have a BLT this morning for breakfast. Then have to head to the store for some fresh fruit and salad fixings.

Dug out my N95 masks as I think we may be heading back in that direction. Cases are soaring and very few wearing masks so just thinking I need to err on the side of caution. I live in a county of anti maskers, anti vaxers so will be limiting my excursions for sure. Just trying to keep myself as safe as possible.

BJ hope Mitzy will get her appetite back soon. I need to lose mine but alas I do like to eat ha ha Thinking I need to take something out to fix for dinner tonite. Might go to Costco and get a roasted chicken to eat on for a couple of days then make chicken enchiladas with the rest of the meat

[MandysMom]

Supposed to be cloudy here and high of 88, then back to 103-106 Wednesday through Friday like in Oregon, where Karen is. Hope we get at least a few drops from their 16% chance of rain tomorrow! Will head to Curves then back to watching Olymoics. Barbara, sure glad you got rain. It all helps.
Glad Mitzi ate some beef. Better for her than rice. It's tough when animals don't want to eat.
Cases rising here too. I only go to less crowded places, so not putting mask on yet. I keep package of masks in compartment on door in car , so I'm ready. Here they are reminding people, the cloth masks they have been wearing wont help with smoke as its starting to be an issue as fires to north grow.
Have a good day all.
Velda

[Cudedog]

Dug out my N95 masks as I think we may be heading back in that direction. Cases are soaring and very few wearing masks so just thinking I need to err on the side of caution. I live in a county of anti maskers, anti vaxers so will be limiting my excursions for sure. Just trying to keep myself as safe as possible.

Karen, I agree 100% when you say "we may be heading back in that direction." I, too, have my masks at the ready. LOL (well, not so much LOL): few in my area ever wore masks in the first place.

My two-county area is "blooming" (and not in a good way). California's positivity rate sits at about 4.9%, my area is at about 12%, and climbing. Not really a surprise - vaccination rates in my immediate area are low, lots of anti-vaxers and people here that believe the whole thing is a big hoax, mask wearers have always been few. I had to stop discussing vaccination with my next-door neighbor (who is a lovely woman who I like very much) because she kept sending me anti-vax articles that purported that vaccines assisted in the spread of the virus, rather than the other way around. These articles were written not by an epidemiologist, but rather by a veterinarian. . .

I never stopped wearing my mask/s, although I still don't go out much. I have had all of my groceries delivered by Walmart since March of 2020, it has worked out really well for me, although I was thinking this morning what it might be like to go back inside a store again after 16 months - but with the surge that is going on, not gonna do it. I guess I have a lower "risk threshold" than most.

I did manage to get a few "maintenance issues" taken care of after I was vaccinated in March - a wonderful visit with my kids (whom I had not seen in 16 months) Dentist, Optometrist, Doctor visit, new glasses, oil change on car - but with the surge seeming to come on strong at the moment, I am going back into "hermit mode".

What I am finding puzzling (Karen, Velda, as medical professionals, maybe you can jump in on this) is the seeming "surge" in infections in fully vaccinated people. I was reading that in Los Angeles (could be wrong on this, please correct me if I am) 20% of the new Covid cases popping up there are among the fully vaccinated.

I am also reading that the CDC is not tracking the number of "breakthrough cases", which seems doubly odd to me (I mean, why aren't breakthrough cases being tracked?).

This from the CDC website:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-departments/breakthrough-cases.html

"As of May 1, 2021, CDC transitioned from monitoring all reported vaccine breakthrough cases to focus on identifying and investigating only hospitalized or fatal cases due to any cause. This shift will help maximize the quality of the data collected on cases of greatest clinical and public health importance." [my bolding and red lettering]

"Quality of the data"?? I'm not a statistician, but it seems to me that under this "transition" exactly NO specific data is being collected regarding breakthrough cases. I also think things - so far as vaccination rates - and breakthrough cases - have changed a LOT since May 1. . . But it appears that actual breakthrough data isn't being tracked. At all.

I fear we are about to hit another deep deep pothole in the road before we can even think about the road back to normalcy. And the mud splashing out of that pothole is going to go everywhere.

I am SO freaking tired of all of this. . .

Stay careful, stay safe, stay well everyone.

Anne

[OregonLuvr]

Well they never said we couldn't catch Covid. We can also be carriers. In most cases we won't be as ill, be hospitalized, or die. Now of course that doesnt mean everyone. Of course people could die. Many have underlying problems that compound the problem of having Covid.. Many only got one dose of the vaccine. Some remain unvaccinated. Some got the Johnson and Johnson one shot vaccine that only had 73% effectiveness to begin with. Many have high risk behaviors. Since we are not being tested for antibodies maybe the vaccine just didnt kick in like it was supposed to. So basically I dont have an answer for you. We now have the Covid delta variant which mutates much faster and is spread more easily. It is still a droplet transmission.

Evidence is mounting that the Delta variant, first identified in India, is capable of infecting fully vaccinated people at a greater rate than previous versions. The major worry about the Delta variant is not that it makes people sicker, but that it spreads far more easily from person to person,

My advice is if you dont have an N95 mask you order some now as I believe there will be a public shortage again. I have my masks and hand sanitizer now if I need to go out.

So, I am going back to wearing my N95 as it is the only one that can prevent ME from exposure from other people that are not wearing a mask. A basic mask prevents me from transmission to you, and an N95 prevents me from getting it from YOU. Since most here in Oregon now, since we opened up have discarded their masks, I am going back to the ME scenario.

[OregonLuvr]

Anne I found this information to be some of the most current from our leading medical research hospitals

As of July 22, there were 65,000 breakthrough cases (or people who are vaccinated but got COVID-19) among the 160 million people who are fully vaccinated. That's 0.04% of vaccinated people reporting breakthrough cases. No vaccine is 100% effective. With the COVID-19 vaccines averaging about 90% efficacy, health experts expect about 10% of those vaccinated could be infected.
Many health experts across the country are wearing masks themselves even though they're fully vaccinated against COVID-19. They're also advising vaccinated people to avoid large
gatherings and mask up indoors where the vaccination status of other people is unknown.
The Delta variant is currently the most prominent strain of COVID-19, but the Lambda variant out of South America is also emerging. Health experts urge that if people want to get back to normal, a significant portion of the population needs to be vaccinated. As long as a chunk of people across the world are unvaccinated, new strains of the virus will continue to develop and cause problems.

[MandysMom]

I agree with Karen. Thanks Karen, for such a complete answer.
Velda

[mtngal]

Another mask question, if I may? Karen any thoughts about diff between N95s and KN95s? I see mainly KNs available on Amazon. Thanks!

[Bethers]

Diana, very little difference:
Both KN95 masks and N95 masks are designed to filter 95% of particles entering the mask. The main difference is that N95s meet the standards for approval in American health care settings and KN95s do not.

I also found this chart in an article I read today.

[OregonLuvr]

Exactly Beth. N95's are what we call "Hospital grade", KN95's are mainly what construction, painters etc wear. Both are very reliable at filtering out small particles.

[snowball]

got the floor mopped... another coat on the box and supper made other than scriptures not sure where my day went oh did a batch of indexing but it was only 4 images the one I'd been stressing over that I was going to tackle today was gone it had timed out whew!!!! I don't mind maybe someone else with a "ruler" can finish it...
it was also day to take out the garbage down to 18 rows on the currant afghan now if I can find the pattern for the baby afghan
you all have a great day
sheila

[Redetotry]

Well they never said we couldn't catch Covid. We can also be carriers. In most cases we won't be as ill, be hospitalized, or die. Now of course that doesnt mean everyone. Of course people could die. Many have underlying problems that compound the problem of having Covid.. Many only got one dose of the vaccine. Some remain unvaccinated. Some got the Johnson and Johnson one shot vaccine that only had 73% effectiveness to begin with. Many have high risk behaviors. Since we are not being tested for antibodies maybe the vaccine just didnt kick in like it was supposed to. So basically I dont have an answer for you. We now have the Covid delta variant which mutates much faster and is spread more easily. It is still a droplet transmission.

Evidence is mounting that the Delta variant, first identified in India, is capable of infecting fully vaccinated people at a greater rate than previous versions. The major worry about the Delta variant is not that it makes people sicker, but that it spreads far more easily from person to person,

My advice is if you dont have an N95 mask you order some now as I believe there will be a public shortage again. I have my masks and hand sanitizer now if I need to go out.

So, I am going back to wearing my N95 as it is the only one that can prevent ME from exposure from other people that are not wearing a mask. A basic mask prevents me from transmission to you, and an N95 prevents me from getting it from YOU. Since most here in Oregon now, since we opened up have discarded their masks, I am going back to the ME scenario.

Thank you for this information Karen. Do you or anyone else know where you can order the N95 mask and is it better than the KN95 I read there are a lot of fakes on Amazon.

[Bethers]

BJ, read above. Karen and I both posted regarding the masks. When I first got the mask for my asthma my doctor said the KN was fine, that I didn't need the medical approved one. They aren't fakes.

[Cudedog]

Karen, thank you for the complete and thoughtful response to my question.

I agree on all counts.

[Thank you for this information Karen. Do you or anyone else know where you can order the N95 mask and is it better than the KN95 I read there are a lot of fakes on Amazon.

BJ, I ordered these KN-95 masks this past January from Amazon. I actually spent a couple of hours researching to be sure that they were not fakes (although these say 'not medical', at the time I purchased them they were also not CDC approved, but were FDA approved on some kind of emergency basis. Also at the time I bought these, any kind of N95 masks simply were not available). This link is to the same seller that I bought from in January.

https://www.amazon.com/Powecom-Reusable-Disposable-Protection-Pollen/dp/B087M2T7NP?pd_rd_w=FugrJ&pf_rd_p=9ac6cc26-c474-44d5-bbf8-fa96b06e33ac&pf_rd_r=3CCE7QWYH6TXF1QKGN6A&pd_rd_r=3b89ab26-f1cc-4f5c-9d64-e301c7366440&pd_rd_wg=aiWR5&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_csi_pd_ys_c_rfy_rp_crs_0_t

When these masks came, they were exactly as described. I am just now putting in another order for them. When I go out, I put a cloth mask on over this KN-95 one, but still toss the KN-95 when I get home.

But. . . do your own research before purchase. As you say, there are lots of fakes on Amazon.

Thanks again, Karen, for the 'heads up'!

Stay safe, everyone.

Anne

[OregonLuvr]

I am partial to 3M company. Your masks should be NIOSH approved. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) I bought these and have several left but ordered another box. Seems like they are out of stock right now so if you need a mask you better order some soon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008M ... UTF8&psc=1