A.C. Flory's Blog, page 62

The real face of Covid-19

I’ve been posting about Covid-19 since the 7th of March, 2020, but I didn’t understand the full horror of this virus until today. And in a strange twist, I owe that awareness to Sky News, and the video below. It’s called ‘Into the Red Zone’ and I would urge everyone to watch it.

One image that will stay with me forever is that of a patient, a large man in his fifties perhaps, trying to take the plastic hood thing off his head. The staff had to tie down his hands. They did it to try and save his life, but I know what he was doing. The hood thing wasn’t enough. He felt like he was suffocating, and in his desperation he thought that he would breathe better if it came off…

I almost drowned when I was 21. How and why doesn’t matter. What matters is that I still remember what it felt like not to be able to breathe out. I remember the desperation. There is no logic at that point. It’s all animal instinct.

I hope that man survived, but I fear he didn’t. One of the scary statistics I’ve read since this pandemic began was that of all the people sick enough to be intubated [put on a ventilator], only about 50% survive.

50% – toss a coin. Heads or tails. Life or death.

Financial interests in Australia, the UK and the US are calling for the lockdowns to be eased. They think the danger is over because the curve is starting to flatten. But the people pushing for a return to ‘normal’ see human lives only as a statistic. I hope that at least some of them watch this video and realise that this thing can still get away from us. And if it does, we could all end up like Bergamo in Lombardy.

Meeks

The Omnibus is FREE!

I’m pleased to announce that the Innerscape Omnibus is now live on Amazon and free for the next five days. The last free day will be the 24th of April, 2020.

To download your free copy of the Omnibus, click the link below:

Or click ‘Amazon’, on the sidebar to the right ….>>>>>
Both links will take you to the Omnibus page on Amazon.com.

I hope you enjoy the story and escape the real world for a while.

Five Free Days on the Kindle

[image error]

Starting Monday the 20th of April, the Innerscape Omnibus will be free on Amazon. The free period ends on April the 24th, so expect to be annoyed with constant reminders until them.

Sourdough from scratch

I don’t actually like the taste of sourdough, sorry, but I absolutely loved this Youtube demonstration of how to create your own sourdough starter.

You know how I’m obsessed with teaching ‘absolute beginners’? Well, this video how-to is literally the best I have seen. It’s clear, perfectly paced and step-by-step, with no small-but-vital bits of knowledge taken for granted.

Seriously, if sourdough is your thing, this video could change your life.

You’re welcome.

Coffee and cake

[image error]Coffee and a buttered cheese scone

Okay, that is not a picture of coffee and cake, it’s a picture of coffee and a scone, but let’s not get too thingie about it.

Covid-19 – stealth virus?

Apologies, I had a completely different post in mind for today, but this update is really important. When Covid-19 first started to spread, we were told that people might be a little infectious a day or two before symptoms developed, but they shed most of the virus [i.e. infected others] after the symptoms became obvious. It seems the advice was wrong.

New evidence suggests that the reason Covid-19 is spreading so widely across the world is because most of those infected are asymptomatic – i.e. have no symptoms at all, not even mild ones. Effectively, this makes Covid-19 a stealth virus, similar to HIV [part of the reason HIV spread as far as it did was because victims did not know they had it].

Dr John Campbell does a good job of explaining the evidence for the new findings and highlights why testing is now more vital than ever.

Adding to these sources is the data from Iceland. Because Iceland has a very small population and very good health care, they did a lot of testing per capita. What they found was that roughly 50% of those testing positive for Covid-19 were asymptomatic.

So far, most countries have only tested those people who are already symptomatic – i.e. to confirm the presence of the virus – or those who may have come in contact with infected people. There has been no testing of the population in general. Without general testing, we cannot know who is infected and who isn’t. More importantly, we cannot know who is spreading the infection, and who isn’t.

Lockdowns are a shotgun approach that works because it effectively assumes that everyone is a spreader. But this is only a short term solution. We cannot come out of lockdown until we know who the spreaders really are. That means testing on a grand scale.

If you are on other forms of social media, please pass this information on as it could influence our leaders to get serious about testing.

Meeks

The Taming of the Blurb!

In my last post I sent out a call for help, and my wonderful online friends answered.

This is the ‘before’ blurb:

‘Innerscape is marketed as a digital paradise where the terminally ill live out their lives in young, pain free bodies indistinguishable from the real thing. But Miira Tahn, last Lady of Dhurai, soon discovers that all is not well in paradise; an assassin is stalking the Burning Man, and nothing is what it seems. Together with friends, Kenneth Wu and Jaimie Watson, Miira becomes embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse where losing means death. Only by fighting back can she save herself, and those she loves.’

This is the ‘after’ blurb that will accompany the Omnibus onto the Kindle:

Innerscape: a virtual paradise where the terminally ill live out their lives in young, pain free bodies.
But Miira Tahn discovers paradise is an illusion.
An assassin stalks the Burning Man.
Lies masquerade as truth.
Together with her friends, Miira plunges into a deadly game of cat and mouse.
If she loses, she loses everything.
Her life – Those she loves – All of Innerscape.

So much better.

The dreaded ‘blurb’…help!

Apologies, I know you’re all celebrating Easter however you can – waves- but I could really use your help. I’ve always found blurbs hard to write, but coming up with one blurb for three books is driving me insane. If you’ve got a sec could you tell me what you think of this?

Innerscape Omnibus blurb 1

‘Innerscape is marketed as a digital paradise where the terminally ill live out their lives in young, pain free bodies indistinguishable from the real thing. But Miira Tahn, last Lady of Dhurai, soon discovers that all is not well in paradise; an assassin is stalking the Burning Man, and nothing is what it seems. Together with friends, Kenneth Wu and Jaimie Watson, Miira becomes embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse where losing means death. Only by fighting back can she save herself, and those she loves.’

Is it too cheesy? Does it give too much away? Is there enough to interest a reader? Is it ‘sci-fi’ enough? -cringe- Is it just too boring?

Thank you, thank you!

Meeks

Breathing exercises that may help

I’ve found two videos that demonstrate:

specific breathing exercises recommended for those with Covid-19 infection,posture exercises that coincidentally ‘open’ the chest area and may help with breathing.





Doctor learns from nursing staff

I keep using the word ‘may’ because there is no definitive evidence that any of this stuff will help with Covid-19. But…if something does no harm but may do some good, I believe it’s worth a try.

Stay well.

Meeks

A bit of fun with Plotagon

Plotagon is an animation app that’s a bit like the SIMS, but you can get quite creative with the storytelling and editing. So here’s a scene using a new skill I just learned:

Jonathon Szabo interviews Peter McAlister, CEO of Innerscape

Enjoy.