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damont(Originally posted to my GoFundMe less than 16 hours ago, so I didn't bother to change the timestamp. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Link to the fundraiser will be provided in the comments and upon request.)
And yet again the "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging combined with the usual begging post" series skipped a week. I don't intend this to be an ongoing pattern, and I actually have gotten enough links together for a post next week, but LAST week a post of this type just wasn't going to happen, especially after spending so much time wielding the snowblower and shovels. (For those of you who didn't hear, where I was at the start of February got 28 inches of snow over 3 days.) For THIS week, let's check in with pharma-chemist and blogger Derek Lowe and see what he's had to say about the pandemic and related topics for the past two weeks.
Screening, Within and Without
Myths of Vaccine Manufacturing
Oxford AstraZeneca Data, Again
Adenovirus-Vector Vaccine Roundup, Feb 5: Sputnik and More
How You Make an Adenovirus Vaccine
Does Prior Exposure to [Other] Coronaviruses Protect You?
Antibody-Dependent Enhancement and the Coronavirus Vaccines
That oughta hold you for a while. :-) Now it is time to shift focus to the usual PSA-and-begging part of this post. Unless you're a first time reader of these posts, you can guess what comes next: the plea for those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. Some businesses were essential and never closed during the lockdowns. Others, after having opened back up, are now trying to stay open to what extent they can as the semi-lockdown is being tightened back up in response to pandemic surges. What these businesses have in common is that locally owned and operated businesses give better "bang for the buck" when it comes to keeping the local economy moving. So please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to survive and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.
And now, for ourselves. Rent on the storage units is about to come due yet again, the medical bills aren't going away, and neither are any of the others. And thus, because after so long we STILL can't afford shame, here's my shameless and desperate plea for help. Please PLEASE spread the word as much as you feel able; share this fundraiser on lots of social media, by email, even by writing the link on pieces of paper and passing them around. Encourage folks you know to donate and to spread the word themselves. I've long since estimated that I'll need about 1,000 different contributors to make the goal, so getting the word out is important. And IF YOU ARE ABLE TO, please donate! We know that some of you have done so over the last nine months (for which A GREAT BIG THANK YOU) and lots of you just can't. For those of you who can, even a spare fin or sawbuck, if that's all you can afford, is appreciated. Every little bit helps. (Remember, NO FEELING GUILTY if you don't have the means to contribute, or enough spoons to spread the word as far as you'd like.) And as I also keep saying: unlikely as it may be in these times of pandemic-fueled recession, if you have any job leads for either of us, PLEASE contact us! Relocation is TOTALLY an option. (90-plus-percent remote-work is the best option in the current circumstances, at least through 2021.)
Again, if anyone here actually is in a position to help out, right now would be a truly awesome time to do so. If you can't, you can't; I understand that better than most... thanks in advance for whatever you are able to do. And remember to take care of yourselves, folks. Whatever the local restrictions may be now where you are, please practice the UTMOST caution: stay home as much as you can, go out to do what you must, and as I've been saying, keep tabs on the infection rate for your vicinity, not just your state/province/country. STAY SAFE. Wash your hands, keep hydrated, boost your immune system by whatever means works for you. Practice social distancing as much you realistically can. WEAR MASKS THAT COVER THE NOSE AND MOUTH and make sure you're actually COVERING both your nose and mouth with them. Keep in touch with your friends and loved ones from a safe distance. Tell them you care and that you're thinking of them. And as always, thank you for your continued support.
And yet again the "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging combined with the usual begging post" series skipped a week. I don't intend this to be an ongoing pattern, and I actually have gotten enough links together for a post next week, but LAST week a post of this type just wasn't going to happen, especially after spending so much time wielding the snowblower and shovels. (For those of you who didn't hear, where I was at the start of February got 28 inches of snow over 3 days.) For THIS week, let's check in with pharma-chemist and blogger Derek Lowe and see what he's had to say about the pandemic and related topics for the past two weeks.
Screening, Within and Without
Myths of Vaccine Manufacturing
Oxford AstraZeneca Data, Again
Adenovirus-Vector Vaccine Roundup, Feb 5: Sputnik and More
How You Make an Adenovirus Vaccine
Does Prior Exposure to [Other] Coronaviruses Protect You?
Antibody-Dependent Enhancement and the Coronavirus Vaccines
That oughta hold you for a while. :-) Now it is time to shift focus to the usual PSA-and-begging part of this post. Unless you're a first time reader of these posts, you can guess what comes next: the plea for those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. Some businesses were essential and never closed during the lockdowns. Others, after having opened back up, are now trying to stay open to what extent they can as the semi-lockdown is being tightened back up in response to pandemic surges. What these businesses have in common is that locally owned and operated businesses give better "bang for the buck" when it comes to keeping the local economy moving. So please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to survive and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.
And now, for ourselves. Rent on the storage units is about to come due yet again, the medical bills aren't going away, and neither are any of the others. And thus, because after so long we STILL can't afford shame, here's my shameless and desperate plea for help. Please PLEASE spread the word as much as you feel able; share this fundraiser on lots of social media, by email, even by writing the link on pieces of paper and passing them around. Encourage folks you know to donate and to spread the word themselves. I've long since estimated that I'll need about 1,000 different contributors to make the goal, so getting the word out is important. And IF YOU ARE ABLE TO, please donate! We know that some of you have done so over the last nine months (for which A GREAT BIG THANK YOU) and lots of you just can't. For those of you who can, even a spare fin or sawbuck, if that's all you can afford, is appreciated. Every little bit helps. (Remember, NO FEELING GUILTY if you don't have the means to contribute, or enough spoons to spread the word as far as you'd like.) And as I also keep saying: unlikely as it may be in these times of pandemic-fueled recession, if you have any job leads for either of us, PLEASE contact us! Relocation is TOTALLY an option. (90-plus-percent remote-work is the best option in the current circumstances, at least through 2021.)
Again, if anyone here actually is in a position to help out, right now would be a truly awesome time to do so. If you can't, you can't; I understand that better than most... thanks in advance for whatever you are able to do. And remember to take care of yourselves, folks. Whatever the local restrictions may be now where you are, please practice the UTMOST caution: stay home as much as you can, go out to do what you must, and as I've been saying, keep tabs on the infection rate for your vicinity, not just your state/province/country. STAY SAFE. Wash your hands, keep hydrated, boost your immune system by whatever means works for you. Practice social distancing as much you realistically can. WEAR MASKS THAT COVER THE NOSE AND MOUTH and make sure you're actually COVERING both your nose and mouth with them. Keep in touch with your friends and loved ones from a safe distance. Tell them you care and that you're thinking of them. And as always, thank you for your continued support.
