Blood Borne Pathogens

I took the Blood Borne Pathogens (BBP) training this evening. It is an annual requirement for the medical MRC volunteers but optional of non-medical volunteers like me. I decided it would not hurt to know about it. I thought it was going to be another Zoom training but it was not. I was sent the slides for a Powerpoint presentation to read through and a final test to fill out and return. If I had questions I emailed them to the instructor during a specific time period and waited for a reply. It was a little weird. Hereʻs part of the presentation.

Can't really stress how important this is.

If you don't do it right, wearing gloves doesn't help much.

 

I had an arugula proothie again this morning; it is the last of the arugula from the previous CAS box. Tomorrow I will be using the remaining butterhead lettuce from the previous CSA box. 

This morning I started with call backs and reached 1 out of 2cases. Then I moved on to 1st calls when the new cases came in; we got 44 of them this morning. I was able to reach 2 out of 4 cases before we went to lunch.

I tried the Maui Enchilada from Down to Earth for lunch; it is a lot of carbs and not much taste. Though I could feel the burn of the capsaicin; someone at Down to Earth has a slightly heavy hand with the chiles. I should probably stick to the Korean BBQ Tofu and the Eggplant Parmesan. My route today was a little longer; I think I started it as soon as I got of the elevator this time and not when I was near the cross walk like last time.

After lunch I continued on the last of the 1st calls and reached 4 out of 5 cases. Then we did the 2nd round of call backs; I was able to reach 1 out of 2 cases. Dave let me leave early; he only needed 3 people to finish off the last round of call backs for the day. That was okay with me.

I stopped at the Longs across from the Japanese Cultural Center; its a lot larger than the Kaimukī Longs. It also has a lot more fresh produce; I think itʻs because it is one of the few grocery type stores in this area. I had to relearn where everything was in this store! I did find that they had the chicken chips that Bear likes and that the rain check that I got from the Kaimukī Longs is accepted here; I also learned that the rain checks never expire!

They had no soy milk so I had to settle for almond milk.

I also stopped by to fill up gas; I was at 1/4 tank. I think this is the 3rd time I have filled the tank since I got the car in February. If I donʻt drive enough to use a little gas, the car automatically draws from the gas tank to make sure the gas does not sit too long and get too old. As I was leaving I noticed a really cool mural of Frida Kahlo on the building opposite the Aloha Gas station.

Too bad that moped is parked there.

As I was pulling in to the garage, I got a text from Czar. She said, "I'm holding your Dad's chair." I couldn't figure out what she meant until she sent me photos. I had forgotten about the folding chair that Curtis had brought in for me since the Maunalani chair in Dad's room made my back sore; this one fits me better. I ran up and picked it up. I also told her that the Purple seat cushion that we had on Dad's wheelchair did not get returned. They are still looking for that.

When I returned home for the 2nd time, I found an email from Marjorie with the information about the Blood Borne Disease training and getting an MRC shirt to wear for the vaccine clinic. I put in my requested shirt size and hope to pick it up from Ciza tomorrow. 

Later in the evening there was an email from the Big Island Medical Reserve Corps about the vaccination clinics those volunteers are helping with. I am on the list for both groups since I am currently going between the 2 islands. 

The Aix weather app forecast for Honolulu showed precipitation throughout the day & it did fairly well today. As I was getting ready to leave the house this morning it began to drizzle & I saw a rainbow on my way to work. As I was leaving work it started to drizzle again & it drizzled when I was leaving Longs. The forecast for Kapaʻau showed even more precipitation; the graph from the Tesla app seemed to confirm that.  

While putting on my shoes, 8:32 am.

Driving in to work, 8:38 am.

Leaving work, 12:39 pm; I can usually see the hillside from here.

Leaving Longs, 1:10 pm.

For dinner I had a salad with bacon bits, beets, and a hard boiled egg.

Some important information about cats.

 

There was some excitement on Maui yesterday; a live skunk was found wandering around in a container at the pier. This is the 3rd live skunk captured here; the 1st occurred in 2018. All skunks found are tested for rabies; the other 2 were negative. The results have not returned for the most currently one.

Here are some cool Big Island photos.

This is jaboticaba; I have one of these.

Some seasonal photos.

The CDC is apparently working on developing minimum filter efficiency standards for cloth face coverings; itʻs about time!A couple months ago I engaged in a Indiegogo crowd funding project for a new kind of face covering that has been tested and found to meet the standards for an N95 rating. The Seeus95, which is being developed by a company I have already crowdfunded for solar lanterns, should be available in a couple of months. Iʻll let you know how it works after I get my order.

I watched a video that gave a good explanation about the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, reactions to the vaccine, and what to expect going forward.

 

There has been a report of a healthcare worker having an allergic reaction to the Pfizer vaccine. Unlike the other 2 reported earlier, this person had no history of allergic reactions. Dr. Ric says as more people are vaccinated we will see more adverse reactions. He said Phase 3 trials are done with 30,000 to 40,000 people and common side effects are found during this phase, which has just been completed. Dr. Ric also said that after about 100,000 vaccinations we will begin to see the rare side effects. Like anything else, it is a matter of what is your comfort level with those odds. Some people have a higher risk tolerance than others; just make sure you are basing your decisions on good science.

Here's the LG's weekly update on how we're doing.

There were 110 new COVID-19 cases reported today for a total of 19,590 know cases. There were also 4 new deaths reported, bringing the total fatalities up to 278; there are currently 1470 active cases. The 7-day average of new cases for Oʻahu is 89 with a positivity rate of 3.1%.

I had one of these today.

 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Adnan!