Perspective, JWST, and Not Again!

We're a full two years into the pandemic and we're still trying to understand how best to manage it. It's become an ever-moving target as each new variant presents its own unique variables. Schools bounce between in-school learning and virtual learning as the virus ebbs and flows. Some restaurants are operating at reduced hours due to staffing shortages while some have closed. Airlines are canceling hundreds of flights daily due to a lack of flight crews who are out sick with the virus or are in quarantine. Hospitals lack both staff and beds to care for the overwhelming number of sick and dying patients showing up in need of help, forcing them into triage mode where they at times have to choose who to treat based on who can expect the best outcome. The vast majority of those in need of care are unvaccinated.

Mask mandates are in effect again for Minneapolis and St. Paul (including sports venues) as the omicron variant is causing a surge in admissions to hospitals leaving just one remaining staffed ICU bed in the Minneapolis metropolitan area (as of last week when the article was written). That's a sobering number and one that should worry us all.

I follow Kyle and April's YouTube channel. Kyle is a professional mountain biker who offers online tutorials on their channel as he teaches April the skills needed to be successful on the trails. Together, they make a really good team. They were absent for a few months last summer but I didn't think much of it. And then Kyle posted this video. It was sad to see the hardship that Kyle's illness has caused them. And importantly, it shows that the vaccine is known to cause this sort of illness for people, most of whom are in Kyle's demographic. 

But it's rare. 

The study found (quoting from the article) "2.13 myocarditis cases per 100,000 people—again, about a 0.002% incidence—with the highest incidence in men 16 to 29 years old, where it was 10.69 cases per 100,000 people, or a 0.011% incidence (95% CIs, 1.56 to 2.70 and 6.93 to 14.46, respectively)". The article goes on to say that "Out of more than 2.5 million vaccinated people 16 and older, 54 myocarditis cases linked with the Pfizer vaccine were identified, with 41 mild (76%), 12 intermediate (22%), and 1 that was linked to cardiogenic shock." 

I'm much more at risk for terminal cancer, a serious auto accident, or a serious cycling-related injury I would guess than I am for whatever risks may be associated with the coronavirus vaccine. I don't want to minimize people's concern for not wanting to be vaccinated but I do think the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks and we need to keep that in perspective. I'm more worried about how we respond to a more virulent pandemic where it's imperative that people quarantine themselves, because there's a large percentage of our population that can't be bothered. If COVID-19 was a trial run, I think we've failed.

I've been following along in awe at NASA's James Webb Space Telescope mission (JWST). It captures my imagination much the same way that Project Appolo had me riveted to the TV more than 50 years earlier—stepping outside on a July night in 1969 to look up at the moon and marvel that there were people walking around up there. Or as a small boy, having my dad point out the Sputnik satellite as it traced across the night sky. Space flight has always fascinated me but the complexities behind the JWST mission add a different dimension with so many chances for the $10 billion mission to be doomed, first on Earth due to fights over funding and now in space as it unfurls itself as an intricate origami-like technological marvel, 25-years-in-the-making in the sky. It's just so unreal to me that people did this. I am in awe of them!

I'm a little bummed. I spent the past 4 weeks sidelined from outdoor riding while I waited for the worst rib injury I've ever experienced to heal enough for me to hit the trails again. Saturday with its mild weather was that day for me. I don't mind riding my indoor trainer because it gives me such a good workout but it's no substitute for outdoor riding, at least not for me when it comes to sheer enjoyment. 

It felt so nice to be riding outdoors again—until I crashed about 15 minutes into my ride after catching either my front wheel or my left pedal on a 2-3" diameter branch that was protruding from the snow. I went down hard on my right side, knowing the second I hit the ground that I very likely injured my ribs again, although on the opposite side of my most recent injury. I finished the route I'd intended to ride (I'm stubborn that way) and could really feel the new rib injury (it takes time to fully present itself) as I lifted my bike onto its rack on the back of my car. I looked online for advice or exercises I can do to help minimize this all too common injury for me (this is the 3rd rib injury I've had in the last 8 months) but I couldn't find anything that addressed my problem. I'm intending to finally get into a yoga regimen once I'm free of pain again because I figure core work and improving my flexibility have to be of some benefit.

I'm hopeful that this most recent injury will allow me back on my bike within the next week. I've experienced worse.

That's all I've got.