E-M-P-A-T-H-Y

 See that word in the title. I want you to sing it, Aretha Franklin style. That word right there has been something that has been severely lacking, at least in my corner of the world for almost two years now and it is really starting to grate on my nerves. Mostly because of the hypocrisy of most people which is a pet peeve of mine.  Last month I talked about shaming and this is a facet of that. Mostly I talked about shaming of people who did not get the vaccine but this can apply to many things, for example mask wearing or lack thereof is quickly making it’s way back to the shaming forefront. 

As part of my training for heading back to school last week, I watched a video on showing empathy. The video showed a bunch of people, mostly in a school setting with captions such as, “Worked 2 jobs before school today to help my family” or “Couldn’t wait to get to school to have breakfast because there is no food at home.”  The video was all about how you don’t know what is going on in someone’s life so show empathy as your first reaction.  Easier said than done, especially now when public shaming seems to be the first reaction. 

I had a conversation with someone this past week about the vaccine and why there may be a legitimate reason why someone doesn’t get the vaccine. Before I even finished speaking the reaction of the other person was, “prove it!”  This person is a loving, caring individual who I have witnessed many times going above and beyond to help a person in need. That reaction caught me completely off guard.  

I saw a post on social media this weekend stressing the importance of wearing masks to save lives. The post went on to say that even if we find that it doesn’t save lives at the most wearing the mask is just uncomfortable so wear the mask and stop complaining. I can’t disagree more with this sentiment. For some people out there wearing a mask poses more of a risk to them than making them uncomfortable. I myself, am asthmatic. I wore the mask when I was required to do so, including all day at work last school year. By the time the spring rolled around my asthma was so bad I was hardly sleeping at night. I went from having a few attacks a month to 10-20 per day!  My medical doctor concluded that as long as I was wearing a mask my asthma was going to continue to get worse. She petitioned my job to allow me to wear a face shield instead of a mask and within weeks I saw a noticeable difference in my breathing. I will continue to wear a face shield at work this school year instead of the required mask. In 3 days back at school I have had 3 people make commentary about my lack of mask. I just say I have a medical excuse approved by HR and they grumble but go away. I and anyone in a situation like me don’t owe anyone an explanation. We need to show each other empathy. Things aren’t always cut and dry for everyone and shaming should not be the first tool in our toolbox. 

The pandemic has gone on for a long time. I understand that people are scared.  People are getting really sick and people are dying. That is scary. But I would argue that the pandemic has done more damage socially and emotionally than it has physically. Of course my heart goes out to anyone that has watched a loved one suffer or lost a loved one but how many others have we lost from our lives because of our behavior?  The pandemic has pitted us against each other. At a time when we need each other the most, the pandemic has been tearing us apart. We can only get through this together and to do that the first thing we need is…(sing it with me) E-M-P-A-T-H-Y.  Thank you Aretha. :)

I’m Back!

 About 5 years ago I was working out one day, working on my legs and I noticed that my right knee started to hurt. I backed off, iced, rested, it continued to hurt. After a few weeks I sought medical advice.  MRIs, X-Rays, specialists, physical therapy for years followed. Nobody could tell me what was wrong with my knee aside from the fact that my patella moved diagonally instead of up and down and that motion had eroded the cartilage and bone in some areas. As a result my patella had a tendency to get out of joint and would hurt until it snapped itself back into joint and the cycle would repeat itself.  I was told bike riding, the stair master and everything else that required repetitive knee motions were off limits and I’d probably never do them again. I was specifically told no kickboxing. I was also asked when I first noticed the pain and it was when I was squatting with 35 lb dumbbells. I was told to not do that ever again.  Up to that point kickboxing was a staple in my fitness arsenal and how could I skip leg day?

I stopped kickboxing but I didn’t skip leg day.  Instead I started out doing leg day with no weights.  Just body weight.  It hurt at first. But over time it stopped hurting and when it consistently stopped hurting I added weight. It was a slow process and I had setbacks. There were times I’d be off of leg day for weeks at a time or down in weight or back to no weight.  Slowly but surely I was able to add weight.  I also added kickboxing back into the mix. Not every day, just once or twice a week but it’s something. Some days it isn’t pretty. I can’t do the basic leg turning motion because of the way my patella moves but I adjust the moves for me. Any movement is better than no movement. 

 My knee still hurts some days but that’s just part of the process and along the way I got stronger.  I built strength in areas of my body that weren’t my legs.  I also gained weight which sent me on cycles of eating less. But, that never worked because you can’t do more with less.  I learned the hard way. Last week I was listening to a podcast and it stated that when you grow muscle you will gain weight because muscle weighs more than fat. The light went on. I’ve been building muscle so of course the number on the scale will go up.  I’m done with dieting. I’m going to fuel my body with nutritious foods that it needs but also eat foods that make my body feel good. Screw the scale!

Last week I finished up an 8 week program and I finished strong. On leg day guess who was squatting with 35 lb dumbbells?  That’s right, this girl!  It was a long road but I made it back. What’s next?  I’ve already started a 9 week program that will help me continue to build strength. Will my knee hurt again at some point?  Guaranteed. But the key is to keep moving forward, no matter what that looks like. 

Science or Shaming?

 I’ve seen this image popping up on social media many times this week. As a retired meteorologist, I have a huge dose of respect for science.  I have taken many science classes and lived in a world where not only was I expected to be 100% accurate in an inexact science but I was also expected to be an expert in geology, astronomy, seismology, etc.  I believe in science but I also know what happens to science and good scientists when the almighty dollar becomes involved.  I’ve seen it firsthand. As a matter of fact that is why I left the meteorology field. I was told to put the facts of science aside to protect the reputation of the company I worked for. In other words lie or find another job. I found another job. I realize some people don’t have that luxury and I know I am lucky I did. That is why I am sure that there are outstanding scientists out there every day being put in precarious positions for the sake of money.

 Maybe I’m jaded but let’s consider the pharmaceutical companies for a minute. Anyone who knows me knows that I have been railing the pharmaceutical companies for years. I’ve also been calling for a complete overhaul of our healthcare system. There is absolutely no reason that healthcare and prescription drugs cost as much as they do. Nobody should go into debt, lose everything they own or die because they can’t afford their healthcare bills. It is preposterous!  Yet it happens every day. Our politicians have the ability to do something about it so why haven’t they?  Back to the Benjamins again. The pharmaceutical companies and healthcare conglomerates line their pockets so they remain mum while our citizens are DYING!  

Enter COVID.  If you listened hard enough you could almost hear the pharmaceutical companies licking their chops.  They spent money, which was provided to them by the government (you and I, the taxpayers) to find vaccines which were then rushed through the testing process (usually this takes years and in some cases decades) and everyone was encouraged to get vaccinated. Many people even told me that there was no reason not to get vaccinated because the vaccines are free!  Let’s think about that for a minute. Do you honestly think that the same companies that would cause citizens to lose everything they own to pay for the prescriptions that are keeping them alive would give all of us the vaccine for free???  I highly doubt it. The government is paying them for the vaccines which means that once again we are all paying for the vaccines.  So not only did we provide them with the funding to research and make the vaccines but then we bought the vaccines that we already paid for back from them. Business is booming in pharmaceutical land!

Now let’s talk about testing.  According to www.health.ny.gov most vaccines require 10-15 years of research and testing before they are made available to the general public. The polio vaccine took 50 years!!!!!  50 years. Let that sink in for a minute. According to biospace.com the fastest vaccine developed was for mumps and that took 4 years.  Think about how quickly the COVID vaccines were developed, tested and made available.  I’m not being a conspiracy theorist, I’m being a scientist and telling you to look at the scientific facts. Hopefully the vaccines are safe but do you have questions about that?  Was the scientific model followed?  I understand the necessity of a fast solution in this instance but you have to ask yourself, was this science or business or politics?  

This brings me to my last problem with this image. Now that we’ve established the science I can’t help but wonder is this image a rallying call for science, a go science if you will or a means of shaming?  I tend to think it’s the latter.  Despite the constant stream of propaganda (whether you agree with it or not that is what it is) the vaccination rate for COVID has slowed or even stalled altogether.  So now as a society we have resorted to shaming people into getting a vaccine.  The true irony here is that the people doing the shaming are mostly the people who criticize others for shaming yet here they are doing what they fervently chastise others for doing. If there is one thing I can’t stand it is a hypocrite. I know you think you are doing what is best for society as a whole but stop. There may be a very good reason why someone decides not to get the vaccine and science may or may not have anything to do with it. 

For those who don’t believe me according to britannica.com the definition of

propaganda is, “the dissemination of information - FACTS, arguments, rumors, half-truths or lies - to influence public opinion.”  Food for thought. 

Tropical Vibes

 The start of the Atlantic hurricane season has always been my favorite time of the year. My love of hurricanes and all tropical weather started when I was 8 years old and Hurricane Gloria affected southeastern New York where I grew up.  I had a hurricane chart and I would studiously plot the storms all season long.  

Even after I started my meteorological career, I was still fascinated by tropical weather. I plotted the storms both at work and at home and poured over satellite and raw tropical data while waiting for storms to form. 

Lately though it seems like there isn’t much waiting around for storms to form. There seem to always be storms. We have already had 3 named systems and we aren’t even a full month into the season. Gone are the days when our first named storm was in August. So why is that?  Is it because of global warming as the news media claims?  I think not!  

As a retired meteorologist, my frustration level is through the roof.  I used to hold a great deal of respect for the National Hurricane Center. I aspired to work there one day. One of my meteorological idols worked at the NHC.  The past few years, my opinion of the NHC has dramatically decreased.  The standards have significantly lowered and I’m not sure why. It seems like they are naming absolutely every tropical system even if it is subtropical and has no tropical characteristics.  This would not have happened 10 years ago.  I’m really not sure why this is happening. I’m not sure if they are pushing a certain political agenda or if they are trying to pad the numbers to make predictions verify. Regardless, what they are doing is not scientific. 

Don’t be fooled!  There are not more tropical systems, they are just naming things that would never have been named years ago. 

I still love tropical weather but I’ll stick to plotting the REAL tropical systems. 

Risk Taking

 I am not a risk taker. I prefer to play it safe. I only go out of my comfort zone when it comes to working out.  I don’t have to wonder why that is. I KNOW. In my life I’ve had many rejections and that has made me very cautious.  You don’t have to deal with being disappointed if you never put yourself out there. 

That was my philosophy for so long.  I didn’t gamble and I stayed exactly where I was.  Nothing ever changed.  But I also didn’t learn or grow.  I knew that something had to change. I couldn’t stay stagnant forever as much as my mind wanted me to.  So, I took a leap of faith and applied to graduate school. It was nerve wracking but I got accepted and I finished my first class with an A.  

Not only that but my professor somehow convinced me to submit my final paper to be published!  I never in a million years thought that would happen. I submitted my paper but I fully expect it to be rejected and then I’ll just keep trying. If my professor thinks it is good enough then I guess I should too. 

So three weeks out from paper submission I’m taking another risk. I just applied for a new job.  I am so torn about this because I love my current job but unfortunately I can’t advance there and this job would be better for furthering my career. So I’m taking the risk. 

I know for some, these things don’t seem huge but for someone like me these are monumental risks. I’m not yet ready to say that I’m a daredevil but at least I’m no longer stagnant. 

Summer Hygge

 I struggled to find something to write about today. We are heading into summer so I don’t have to complain about winter anymore, I’m working on my microbiome health which even I don’t want to hear about, my first class is finished (I nailed it BTW) and I’m still waiting to hear if my paper will be published.  While things are semi uneventful I have taken some time for me using a concept I’ve followed the past couple of years. It is called hygge (pronounced hoo-gah). It is the Danish and Norwegian art of finding comfort and coziness for overall well-being.

Hygge has helped me tremendously during the winter. I have tea time at work and in the evening at home, I light candles and the fireplace, I hang every day lights for those long winter nights and I have lots of soft, snuggly blankets to wrap myself in. Many people think of hygge as a winter only thing or struggle with the concept in the summertime. I love the summer but still incorporate lots of hygge into my summertime routine.  Hygge for me in the summer could look like a walk or reading a book outside while sitting in the sunshine. It could be an evening fire table or sitting outside watching a beautiful sunset, fireflies and the stars.  Hygge could be floating in a pool on a hot day or planting flowers or a garden. 

For me hygge in the summer is less about coziness and more about a feeling of inner peace. It is the way I recharge my batteries and get ready to take on the long winter. 

Remember, everyone’s hygge is different but be it winter or summer find something that makes you happy.  Then you have surely found your hygge!

Against the Crowd

💁 Over the past year I have found myself wondering, why can’t I just be like everyone else?  Why can’t I just believe whatever the media is saying?  Why do I have to research things on my own and find out the real truth?  Why can’t I just be ok with losses of freedom and a totalitarian society because it is for the greater good?  A great majority of people in the country did and are continuing to do so. Even really smart people.  

I went along with the lockdown and the masking and the vaccine because it was what was expected of me by our society. I didn’t agree with any of it. I stated from the very beginning that these things are just putting a bandaid on the problem not actually dealing with the problem and here we are over a year later still doing the same things.  STILL not addressing the problem.

I am not an epidemiologist but basic biology from high school and college tells me that this virus is going to mutate. That’s what they do.  So what happens then?  Does the cycle repeat itself?  We go back into lockdown, masking and quarantining until the pharmaceutical companies come up with yet another vaccine to line their pockets?  

I am very nervous for the future. As a society we have already given the government total control to take away our freedoms whenever they see fit. All they have to say is that it is for the greater good. When is our society going to wise up and seek out the truth and demand that our government take action to actually SOLVE the problem?  

I guess I’m a conspiracy theorist. I prefer to think of myself as a realist. I am an educated person who realizes that politicians and journalists are not the most qualified people to be giving advice on a pandemic.  So I’m going to keep listening to the epidemiologists who are the experts (btw an immunologist is not an expert on pandemics although I would happily take advice from him on my son’s allergies or on an autoimmune disease) in pandemic situations.  Even though very few people seem to be.