Shingrix, Bike Rack Progress, and a Biden Ad

Greetings and Salutations.  Today's key learning is not to go to the Spokane Costco on a Friday.  It doesn't matter if it's a holiday weekend or not, just don't go there.  The aisles were full of people walking slowly, draped over their carts, stopping suddenly to gaze at some product from the center of the aisle.  The aisles become impenetrable.  I think, hence forth, we shall go on a Tuesday.  Perhaps that will be better.

We were there for the second Shingrix vaccine.   After further reading about Ramsay Hunt syndrome and its devastating effects on Justin Bieber, we wanted this done.  It's a rare palsy that happens when the herpes zoster virus attacks facial nerves.  From this article we learn the following.

Unlike the sudden onset of a stroke, the facial paralysis with a palsy develops gradually. The key symptoms that make Ramsay Hunt syndrome stand out from Bell’s palsy are, Nduka says, ear, face or head pain, a rash or blisters – often painful – in or around the ear, scalp, hairline or inside the mouth, altered taste on half of the tongue, hearing loss or tinnitus on the affected side and dizziness or vertigo. Sometimes, however, the rash may be hidden internally, and the facial paralysis appears first, meaning that, even if the doctor is familiar with the syndrome, they might disregard that diagnosis. This is why Nduka encourages treating any new facial palsy with antivirals – which he says are cheap and have few side-effects – to be on the safe side.

Both forms of sudden-onset facial palsy – Bell’s and Ramsay Hunt – are treated with steroids, too. “The facial nerve runs through a bony tunnel in the skull, so if it gets inflamed there is no room for it to swell, so it will cut off its own blood supply and stop working,” says Nduka. “The steroids are there to reduce the inflammation and therefore reduce swelling and allow the nerve to recover earlier.” Early treatment with antivirals and steroids, he says, increases recovery rates in cases of Ramsay Hunt syndrome from about 50% to about 70%. 

So, there you have it.  Facial palsy is bad.  Early treatment for Ramsay Hunt is within four days. We're told the second Shingles vaccine in the series is worse than the first, we are hoping it won't be bad tomorrow.

It's hot, it will be 97 today.  Phoenix is really hot, but we're hot enough.  Wednesday there was a delightful ride to the lake quite early in the morning.  The milfoil is in bloom once again this year.  I talked about it here last year.

Our through axles (the thing that holds the wheels on to the forks of a bicycle) are 5 mm.  Most accessories for construction of bike racks are made for a 12 to 20 mm through axle.  We bought the axle traps knowing they were too big for our axles.  I called the manufacturer to ask them how to make this work, and the very nice man on the phone sent me a link to this.  I'm still not clear on what its actual function is, but it fits perfectly between the fork blades, the axle goes inside, and then the entire works goes into the axle trap. In turn, that will be screwed to lumber we bought, to make a bike rack to go in the trailer we will rent to go to Tucson.  If the adapter had not fit, I'm not sure how we would have made this work.  We both really miss rim brakes and quick release skewers, much easier.

We have eaten a few more tomatoes.  They're sort of aggravating.  See how the middle tomato is still yellow at the top?  I will have to cut that off because it will be hard and white inside.  Frequently, if I leave them on the plant long enough for the entire tomato to turn red, the bottom of it turns to mush.  We may be one and done on agriculture.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is a representative from the great state of Georgia.  Her first act upon arriving in Congress was to be so awful that she was kicked off all of her committees.  Now that the republicans have a margin in the House, she's back on committees, but the Freedom Caucus kicked her out.  Anyway, she gave a speech at Turning Point, a right wing collection of wing nuts, in which she said President Biden is trying to complete the work that FDR and LBJ started to create a more just and equitable society with opportunities for the disenfranchised.  She said it like it's a BAD thing.  The democrats have lifted the recorded words from her speech and turned them in to a Biden ad that is very good.  Click HERE and you can play it.  She has to be miffed.

That's it!  That's all I've got.