Back on the Air after 12 days of Covid Virus

“Thank you!” to Vincent KX4SR for the 20m FT8 QSO that marked my return to the airwaves after a 12 day absence due to Covid.

When back on July 15th after a 20m QSO with Joseph KF0EIR I shut down, I didn’t expect it would be 1-1/2 weeks before I would be back on the air.

While I could have remoted into my station while in isolation, I really wasn’t up to it. SSB/Phone wasn’t in the cards given the deep cough and sore throat combined with sleeping most of the time. Doing FT8 when awake would have been possible, but I was motivated with a focus on getting well.

It is good to get back on the air, even if it will be just digital mode for a few more days until the random coughing episodes abate.

73

Steve
K9ZW

Behind Bars, in Isolation

Yup, I am in isolation for society’s benefit!

Not the sort of bars you might have first thought though.

Felt lackluster Saturday and by the end of the afternoon I had faded. My electric screw runner felt like I was trying to lift and run a 30 pound construction impact hammer drill rather than my 2 pound battery unit

Broached whether we should quickly pack to catch the last ferry off of the island that day?

As I tend to not show that I am not well – I’ve driven myself to the ER a few times to have the admin staff at the ER ask who was I there to see, only to be in surgery myself an hour later – so with great optimism we “pretended that I would be fine in the morning” and stayed.

Morning it was obvious I had something and I faced a good chance of ending up in isolation quarantine. I didn’t want to stay on island, as our small place makes mockery of one person isolating, and we knew the isolation drill worked before at our main house

So we head off island and homeward, where I had a stash of rapid tests available.

The “bars” of my health sentence came up right away, but I did wait the full fifteen minutes with my fingers crossed with the idea that the positive would go away.

I live fairly healthily, with an XYL who makes sure our diets are sound, and doctors who figured out that my taking a vitamin regimen would deeply aid my health.

Being that many of the symptoms have lessened quickly, and that I didn’t have access to my CCP-19 Virus Protocol supplements until I returned home, I’ve simply added more fruit and honey tea to my established vitamin regimen.

That plus oodles of sleep.

The worst of the brain fog has retreated, as at one point I found myself tapping the right edge of a paperback I was reading, expecting it to advance a page like my Kindle.

Regular postings likely to return in a day or so, as I will be crawling the walls by then. I did the first quarantine when I had the CCP-19 virus early on.

Keep healthy and safe!

73

Steve
K9ZW

The Dawn of a New Era? How after the ChiCom Plague we will never go back again. Part 5 – Full Ham Edition

The Dawn of a New Era?  How after the ChiCom Plague we will never go back again – Part 5 – Full Ham Edition

My last post in this series discussing the paradigm shifts in our lives brought on by the ChiCom Plague, but with a particular focus on Amateur Radio.

The paradigm shifts I covered in posts 1, 2, 3 and 4, that appear they will stay with us once the ChiCom Plague virus is thwarted are (in italic to show they were already covered):

• Accelerated Change on multiple Axis
• Risk Analysis of Social Contacts
• Risk Analysis of Group Meetings (Starving the Monkeys)
• Travel vs Teleconference
• Supply Chain Robustness
• Distrust of the MSM and other public voices with an agenda
• Increase in Personal Preparedness
• Two-is-One, One-is-None mentality as the new norm
• Unmaintainable generics vs Sustainable Brand options
• Exotics vs Field-Maintainable Equipment
• The Death of JIT (Just in Time) logistics
• Education Reform
• The Kennedy Reality (Ask not..)

But what about ham radio? (Listed in Bold to match the other posts):

• The Hamfest has taken a forever hit
• Boat Anchors and Used Gear will have polarized values
• One-Man-Band Equipment Providers will be Challenged
• Did Big Group Field Day just die for 2020 or did it go the way of the Dodo?
• What happens to Club Meetings?
• Supply Chain Issues Favor Domestic Production

Delving into these issues:

The Dawn of a New Era? How after the ChiCom Plague we will never go back again. Part 4

The Dawn of a New Era?  How after the ChiCom Plague we will never go back again – Part 4

This is the last in my series to discuss the paradigm shifts in our lives brought on by the ChiCom Plague.  (Please see Parts 1, 2 and 3 for more background).

Some of the paradigm shifts appear they will stay with us once the ChiCom Plague virus is thwarted (the ones in Bold are the ones I will address in this post, italic were already covered):

• Accelerated Change on multiple Axis
• Risk Analysis of Social Contacts
• Risk Analysis of Group Meetings (Starving the Monkeys)
• Travel vs Teleconference
• Supply Chain Robustness
• Distrust of the MSM and other public voices with an agenda
• Increase in Personal Preparedness
• Two-is-One, One-is-None mentality as the new norm
• Unmaintainable generics vs Sustainable Brand options
• Exotics vs Field-Maintainable Equipment
• The Death of JIT (Just in Time) logistics
• Education Reform
• The Kennedy Reality (Ask not..)

Let’s do a final dig into the list:

The Dawn of a New Era? How after the ChiCom Plague we will never go back again. Part 3

The Dawn of a New Era?  How after the ChiCom Plague we will never go back again – Part 3

Continuing to discuss the paradigm shifts in our lives brought on by the ChiCom Plague.  (Please see Parts 1 & 2 for background).

Some of the paradigm shifts appear they will stay with us once the ChiCom Plague virus is thwarted (the ones in Bold are the ones I will address in this post, italic were already covered):

• Accelerated Change on multiple Axis
• Risk Analysis of Social Contacts
• Risk Analysis of Group Meetings (Starving the Monkeys)
• Travel vs Teleconference
• Supply Chain Robustness
• Distrust of the MSM and other public voices with an agenda
• Increase in Personal Preparedness
• Two-is-One, One-is-None mentality as the new norm
• Unmaintainable generics vs Sustainable Brand options
• Exotics vs Field-Maintainable Equipment
• The Death of JIT (Just in Time) logistics
• Education Reform
• The Kennedy Reality (Ask not..)
  
  

Let’s do a second dig into the list:

The Dawn of a New Era? How after the ChiCom Plague we will never go back again. Part 2

The Dawn of a New Era?  How after the ChiCom Plague we will never go back again – Part 2

Continuing to discuss the paradigm shifts in our lives brought on by the ChiCom Plague.  (For those less familiar with the term “paradigm shift” it a systems generalist’s term to reflect a state change in a system that is largely irreversible.  The fundamental changes replace the former status quo with a new norm.)

The magnitude of the changes from the ChiCom Plague are intellectually and emotionally a challenge, as between one’s normalcy bias and the inherent difficulty of making accurate observations from within the flames & smoke of a figuratively burning crisis, we don’t have a good perspective.

We may be moving to our new future quicker, in that many of the Paradigm Shifts are sudden realization of changes we were moving towards as it was.

Some of the paradigm shifts appear they will stay with us once the ChiCom Plague virus is thwarted (the ones in Bold are the ones I will address in this post, italic were already covered):

• Accelerated Change on multiple Axis
• Risk Analysis of Social Contacts
• Risk Analysis of Group Meetings (Starving the Monkeys)
• Travel vs Teleconference
• Supply Chain Robustness
• Distrust of the MSM and other public voices with an agenda
• Increase in Personal Preparedness
• Two-is-One, One-is-None mentality as the new norm
• Unmaintainable generics vs Sustainable Brand options
• Exotics vs Field-Maintainable Equipment
• The Death of JIT (Just in Time) logistics
• Education Reform
• The Kennedy Reality (Ask not..)
  
  

Let’s dig in a bit further into the list: