Valentines 2020

Today has been one of the more interesting Valentines days.

I had taken a few days off this week so that I can help my wife with her dissertation.  On Monday, I still went into work to catch up with paperwork anyway, but my wife did not need me then.  My next day off was Thursday and while I did not help that much initially, I did have to proof read later in the day.

Our children were expecting us to have been arguing by the time they got back from school, but we were fine.  The arguments did not start till later.  And they continued until we finished, which was about 0230, Friday morning.  We had to wake at 0630 to put the bins out, and while my wife made some final amendments I went back to bed.

I woke again after the kids had gone to bed for I was to have a haircut and my wife and I met at GreyFriars in Colchester for our Valentines lunch.  It was great to spend the time together and the food was amazing, back to the standards that it was when it had opened.

Sadly, I went back to sleep again when we got home for I was to be a taxi service later.  My daughter had a party to go to and I was to drive her the thirty minutes to Groton in Suffolk for the party that she has been invited to.  On the way, we noted that we were driving in a convoy as several cars were making the same journey, though one took a wrong turn at the last moment.  We all went with her there, but I am to collect her in a moment.

Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want (February)

At the moment I am after a lucky trade for a high CP Shelmet and/or Karrablast.  But in addition to this, I am also after a lucky trade for a Altered Forme Giratina to use in PokémonGO player vs player battles.  

My list of additional Pokémon that I am after is below.  I am aware that I may not be able to get some of them in high CP forms, such as the Alola forms of the Meowth or Vulpix, or Klink, but I guess my view is if you do not ask, you do not get.  I do have some high CP forms of some of the Pokémon that are on the list but the actual statistics that they have are wanting. 

Abra

Absol

Aipom

Azumarill

Baltoy/Claydol 

Bronzor/Bronzong

Burmy

Clefable

Drilbur

Duskull

Foongus

Geodude (normal form)

Goldeen

Golett/Golurk

Growlithe

Heracross

Horsea

Klink

Magmar

Mankey

Meowth Alola form

Murkrow

Nidoran♀

Nidoran♂

Oddish

Onix

Pidove

Ponyta

Porygon

Scyther

Shieldon

Squirtle 

Tanglea

Tentacool

Vulpix Alola form

Yamask

Yanma 

Sadly, I do not have as many shiny Pokémon as I would like, and those that I have tend to be those that others have anyway.  Which means in general that I am after like for like trades.  However, after the December Community Weekend, while I do not have many, I have a few evolved Pokémon with community day moves available to trade, some of them being shiny ones!

Could ACE inhibitors offer some protection against catching coronavirus infections?

[Edit]Since posting this, it appears that ACE inhibitors increase the risk from COVID19.[\Edit]
Needless to say, working an a GP surgery, I have been concerned by the latest news that a surgery shut down and that two doctors have caught the strain of Coronavirus that has caused so much death in China.

Looking it up, I noted that, according to Wikipedia, when it came to SARS, another type of coronavirus, the primary human receptor of the virus is angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).  With the current viral strain threatening the world, again according to Wikipedia, publication of the 2019-nCoV genome led to several protein modeling experiments on the receptor binding protein (RBD) of the spike (S) protein of the virus. Results suggest that the S protein retains sufficient affinity to the Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to use it as a mechanism of cell entry.

A link between a drug involved in this and a reduction in pneumonia has been noted in the past, this being ACE inhibitors.  It may be that the reason for the reduction in this is because of the ACE cough that can occur. But it may be that this has some protective effect by interfering with the entry of the Coronavirus into cells.

Sadly, I have good blood pressure control so am not eligible for treatment with an ACE inhibitor.  But for those who are on them, it will be interesting to see the outcomes when it comes to mortality compared to those who are not on one.

Colossal

I enjoyed this film.  Just a word of warning though, if you want to watch it, do not watch the trailer.  It does not spoil the film as much as other trailers do, but it does a bit.

For a science fiction film, this was different compared to what I normally expect.  It touched a few issues such as problem drinking and while it did not do well at the big screen, I would recommend this for sci-fi nerds such as myself who want something slightly different.

I was impressed with Anne Hathaway though, normally so glamorous, she fitted this part really well.

An alien civilisation

I have found the aliens who have put the rubbish down the side of my sons bed.

They had created a civilisation in the radioactive wasteland that exists there.  I suspect that there were several there making use of the unique ecosystem(s) in the world underneath his bed, but due to the great ‘Underbed war’ only one species survived.  But in a lesson that the rest of our planet must learn, they too destroyed the environment they lived in.  And now they too are extinct, and all that remains are the ‘Underbed wastelands.’

The Labour Leadership

Today the Colchester Labour Party made its choice regarding who it is nominating for the Labour Leadership contest.

I have watched most of the hustings for the post of Labour leader (I have yet to watch the deputy leadership ones) and the person I was most impressed with was Lisa Nandy.  While one person in the meeting claimed that all the candidates are uninspiring, I disagree.  Many spoke out about the different candidates who have inspired different members.  But overall, I have to say I back Lisa Nandy.

Boris Johnson has created a vacuum when it comes to politicians speaking to the public by refusing to speak on the BBC Today programme or Good Morning Britain.  I know the reason why, and that is because he will be challenged over his repeated lies and half truths.  And that offers Labour a huge chance to get its message across.  Jeremy Corbyn failed to engage properly with enough of the media frequently enough to get the message of how Labour can benefit the nation.

But when it comes to the leader, Labour has to pick one who is able to get that message across to those who have stopped voting Labour and those Labour needs to turn in the target seats.

Rebecca Long-Bailey is amazing at communicating with the Labour core.  She is able to inspire those on the left of the party, but my fear is that her choice of terms will continue to repel voters from Labour.

Emily Thornberry has shown her ability to communicate over and over again at PMQs and has been devastating when she calmly savages the government members who are sacrificed at the despatch box.  But my concerns relate to that tweet as well as her ability to get her message across to the voters Labour needs to attract.

The ability and experience of Keir Starmer is without doubt, and to be fair, at the moment he is my second choice.  He is a great communicator but his strong pro-remain views may hold Labour back with him as leader.

I feel that Lisa Nandy has that ability to communicate to those who Labour needs to appeal to.  I have been impressed with her honesty over difficult questions and her refusal to condemn either the Blair/Brown years as well as the Corbyn years.

She is new blood and I do think that after the way Labour tried to emulate the disastrous Tory campaign of 2017 in 2019, the last thing that is needed is a continuity candidate, but rather one who can heal the divides of Labour and bring in new, competent blood into the party.

It was not me

My son was meant to clean his room.  He did not.  And when my wife found out, she was slightly annoyed.  To make things worse plastic bottles were found down the side of his bed.  When challenged about this, he said it was not him.

Talking about it at work, the same issue happens with a fourteen year old son of one of the ladies who I work with.  All sorts of things appear in his bedroom which he did not put there either.  So we worked out that there were two options.  One is that my daughter has put things in my sons doom and has gone to the house of a boy she does not know to put things in his room.  Or that it was aliens.  No other explanation is really possible.