Week of January 17th

What caught my attention the Week of January 17th?

Covid Risk Calculator

In its January 19 newsletter, the New York Times publicized this online tool. Scientists at Oxford University developed this calculator available to UK clinicians on the NHS web site. It helps determine patients that can be returned home safely. Sample calculations:

If vaccinated and without additional risk factors, a typical American woman of 65 has a 1 in 872 chance of dying if she contracts Covid
The risk for a male of the same age – 1 in 434
For 75-year olds, 1 in 264 for women, 1 in 133 for men

Now, these stats are pre-Omicron. As it is less virulent, the odds improve in our favour. And of note, 1 of every 138 Americans 65 or older die if diagnosed with flu symptoms.

But what jumped out at me was the definition of a typical American woman. Only 5’3” but weighing in at 166 pounds. I found this hard to fathom so I went looking for information to debunk the Times. I only found re-enforcing data. This results in a BMI of about 30, which is in the obese category. The average US male is 5’9”, 198 pounds resulting in a similar BMI category. I don’t take any joy that these are US numbers. We are not much better north of the border.

Vulgarity

Have you seen that Melania Trump will auction-off the hat that she wore during French President Emmanuel Macron’s 2018 state visit? She promises that a portion will be donated to charity. What portion? Which charity? The Trump Family Foundation? To pay legal costs?

I struggle to understand how this family can be attractive to anyone. I know, I am a snob but really:

Big game hunting of endangered species
Steak dinners, likely pre-cut into bite size cubes, washed down with ketchup and a Diet Coke. Add a Big Mac chaser.
The cringe-worth opulence of Mar-a-Lago. An attempt to put Versailles, an English gentleman’s club, and a Venetian palazzo into one project. These are good looks in situ, just ugly when transplanted
A litany of bankruptcies, failures, sexual misconduct, and “bad hair” days

Really, I just don’t get it.

Takt’s Cross Chair

This week, The Monocle Minute on Design features the Cross chair. It reminded me how much I like the clean lines and simplicity of Scandinavian design. It even comes in flat-pack.

Gloomy Headlines

Healthcare systems are broken, Omicron keeps raging, the potential for war in the Ukraine – I could keep going. The media provides us with a continuous dump of bad news and then laments the state of our mental health. I am starting to understand how conspiracy believers get hooked. Keep feeding them conspiracy theories, voodoo statistics, and outright lies and you have got ‘em good and mad!

So a little levity is a good thing.

This from my Australian cousin, John, in response to my piece on Hogmanay:

Russell, like Uncle John and Uncle Tom, was not tall, and also like them and the English royal family men, his hair had begun to retreat from the top of his pate since he was in his twenties. In my mid teens I was six feet tall and lushly dark-haired, and with great glee Russell dispatched me every New Year’s Eve to ‘first-foot’ our immediate neighbours, armed with a bottle of scotch for shot-pouring, some shortbread and lumps of coal. This last symbolized a wish for everyone to keep warm through the winter.
The most important instruction that he gave me, however, was to be friendly. There were inevitably one or two households with whom we had clashed in some kind of ‘incident’ over the years, and he said that I didn’t have to bring anything up, but my visit was a gesture of reconciliation – an effort to heal all wounds and start the New Year afresh. I look back on this as a wonderful sentiment. I also look back on my stumbling returns to our flat to grab another bottle, having felt compelled to join in each and every act of ‘reconciliation’!

And Atholl Brose for a little Burns celebration:

In my youth, I knew a lady in Nova Scotia that claimed to be a teetotaler but drank quite a bit of Atholl Brose. This delicious drink is made by mixing oatmeal brose, honey, and Scotch whisky. Add cream for a particularly festive version. Click on the link for a recipe.

And Cranachan for desert:

Cranachan combines rasperries, whipped cream, honey and sugar with, of course, Scotch whisky and toasted oatmeal. The raspberries may not be very good at this time of year but doctored like this……still delicious. Click on the link for a recipe.

Oh Boris:

And there is some amusement in the news! It was a works get together! I didn’t know that there would be drinks! No recollection of attending! Against the rules I had laid out! Couldn’t be!