Dermatitis And Good Years

The first time there was dermatitis on my hands was 2005. The second time was 2009. The third time was 2020. The fourth time was today. There was dermatitis between 2009 and 2019 for which I don't remember the exact dates. The 2005 and 2009 outbreaks I applied a prescription ointment; in particular, the 2009 there was dermatitis on my face and neck. Afterwards, I used the remaining prescription ointment or over the counter hydrocortisone ointment, especially in 2020. I purchased a different hydrocortisone cream for eczema and dermatitis earlier today because my regular hydrocortisone is too weak.

The three years I mentioned 2005, 2009, and 2020 were good years. I graded 2005 and 2009 both A+. I graded 2020 a B. You can read the blogs on years I graded Grading My Past Years and 2020 Year In Review. Is 2021 going to be a good year?

I'm aware of the small sample size. I'm aware the years between 2009 and 2019 are inconclusive. I'm aware correlation is not a causation. It seems every dermatitis requiring medication my year is good. It's coincidence.

Here's another correlation is not a causation. I'm job searching. I experience diarrhea days before or days after an in-person job interview since Nov 2017 as far back as I remember. I know the interview result from a toilet. 100% true prediction. I didn't get hire. The last job interview I avoided oily foods days before and days after. I also ate less. I got diarrhea. I didn't get hire. The job opening was back on the company's job portal.

Life is weird.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog April 2021

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. Another fast month in 2021. The week of Mon Apr 19 slowed a little. My pandemic daily life continues being consistent and doing better. I got my first of two COVID-19 vaccines. The global pandemic news is a mix of good and bad depending on which country.

Thur Apr 1. CA residents age 50 and over are qualified to get the vaccine.

Fri Apr 2. State of CA issued new guidelines for indoor gatherings including concerts, theater performances, and professional sports. Limited attendance for CA residences only. Private indoor gatherings such as weddings, meetings, and conferences all guests must be COVID-19 negative at least 72 hours or proof of vaccination.

CDC stated fully vaccinated people can travel within the USA.

Sat Apr 3. Indian COVID-19 variant identified in CA.

Mon Apr 5. Shopped at local grocery stores for 50% off Easter candy. Stores minimal customers. Light street traffic.

Tue Apr 6. CA Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state is on track to fully reopen on Jun 15.

Thur Apr 8. Some countries reported new records for daily cases and daily deaths. Brazil 4,000 deaths. India 127,000 new cases. Iran 22,600 new cases.

Some USA clinics halted Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to adverse reactions.

Tue Apr 13. USA officially paused Johnson & Johnson vaccine. 27 USA states reported rising cases.

Thur Apr 15. CA residents age 16 and over are qualified to get the vaccine.

Fri Apr 16. WHO accounted weekly global cases doubled over the past two months. Deaths increased.

Sat Apr 17. 3,000,000 died from COVID-19 globally.

Mon Apr 19. Shopped for cereal at Grocery Outlet and Safeway.

Thur Apr 22. CA university systems California State University and University Of California announced all students, faculty, and staff must be fully vaccination. Exceptions are medical or religious for which they must be tested regularly.

Shopped at Costco. Normal pandemic crowds. I witness more social distancing becoming automatic.

Fri Apr 23. Bank errands. All of the banks were empty inside. Minimal street traffic.

CDC and FDA approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine to resume with warnings.

Mon Apr 26. Reported 15 people with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had blog clots out of eight million.

Tue Apr 27. CDC says fully vaccinated people can go outside without a mask; however, people should wear masks in big crowds. Groups of people unvaccinated must wear masks.

A Bay Area man in his 30's is the first male in the USA with a blood clot in his leg. He was the first male linked to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine blood clot.

Wed Apr 28. I got vaccinated with the first of two Pfizer vaccine. I shopped at Costco afterwards. Heavy freeway traffic moved slow. Stop and go traffic due to merging traffic.

Thur Apr 29. I watched 2021 NFL Draft picks 1-15.

The State of CA and local counties warned water restrictions due to the drought.

Fri Apr 30. Shopped at Costco and Lucky. Crowds were like a weekday morning. Traffic was like a weekend early afternoon.

The USA announced travel restrictions from India.

The Transportation Security Administration said travelers are required to wear masks in airports, airplanes, trains, and buses through Sep. 13.

The County Of Santa Clara urged teenagers and young adults begin vaccination. The county announced a vaccine surplus and low demand.

100 million Americans or 39% of the population fully vaccinated. USA deaths total 575,000. The average daily deaths decreased to an average of 670 per day from 3,400 per day in Jan. However, about 8% of those who have gotten one dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine didn't return for their second shot, according to CDC.

Throwback Blog: 10 Hour Therapy

Blogger's Note: Throwback blogs are blogs from my past. I start posting past blogs reflecting what I wrote. It's like my "A Second Look" blogs for which I give myself feedback.

Today's throwback blog is titled 10 Hour Therapy written on Aug 17, 2008. I blogged a solution when I felt depressed. The solution was sleep. I connect the dots backwards. I grew up 48 days later on Oct 4, 2008. My life changed forever. The number of days I felt down, depressed, tired and not myself dropped significantly thereafter. Feeling depressed is normal; on the other hand, feeling depressed consistently is not normal. Ironically, minimizing depression requires work; for example, staying active physically such as exercise and staying active mentally such as reading books. In addition, minimize eating processed foods and live an organized life keeping your residence clean. I stand by everything I blogged because I practice them daily.

The 10 hour therapy sleeping works. I rarely need the therapy today. I can't remember the last time I slept for 10 hours to treat depression. Today's blog is a reminder I have the no cost option.

Wednesday night August 13, 2008 I slept for 10 hours. What happened? Since Monday July 28 I felt empty. I neither felt happy nor sad. My attitude was "I'm living life. So what else is new." I showed up for work, exercised, played Team Fortress 2, and replied to emails work and personal. Whoopiedoo =\ My life was uncommon, or perhaps too common such as go to work, exercise three days a week, and sleep. The days were plain with no joy. I had too many thoughts including the recession and "What If" questions such as what if my contract is terminated and what if I never buy a house. (Yes, the US economy is in a recession.) I was myself and I was not myself.

On Thursday August 14, I felt much better. I was myself again. Wednesday night was my 10 hour free and self-help therapy session ^_^ My mood was happy. My attitude was I'm living life and what's new. My life was common . . . a positive attitude, looking forward to new adventures, and seeking new opportunities. The day was joy. I continued with too many thoughts positive and negative; however, the negative thoughts were conquered with the positive thoughts. I was ready to finish anything I needed to get done.

Feeling down, feeling depressed, feeling tired, feeling not yourself? Try sleeping 10 hours. Delay your night plans and activities. Go to bed (-,-) I learned sleep is more than resting your body. Sleep also rests your brain and your soul =D

Side note: The week of Monday August 11 I didn't go to the gym. Physically I felt good. Attitude wise I felt bad. I remember when I have the "I don't want to workout" feeling tells me I'm tired and I must devote extra hours to sleep. Fortunately, I skipped gym for the week or else I might have been sick >.>

How I Learn Morse Code

Learning Morse Code is one of my personal projects. I was inspired to learn Morse Code when I watched a movie the undercover police officer communicated with his commanding officer using Morse Code. I was also inspired when I started learning rope knots. I realized the Morse Code in the movie was fake Morse Code. I'm not shocked.

I'm not a professional at communications. I know enough Morse Code to communicate in an emergency. The following groups are my recommendation to learn the code. I advise against learning the code alphabetically. I separate the alphabet in four groups in terms of dots and dashes patterns. The numbers are in the fifth group. I don't separate alphabetically.

First Group
e *
a *-
n -*
b -***
c -*-*
d -**
h ****
i **
m --
o ---
s ***
t -

Second Group
l *-**
f **-*
j *---
p *--*
k -*-
r *-*
g --*

Third Group
u **-
v ***-
w *--

Fourth Group
y -*--
q --*-
x -**-
z --**

Fifth Group
1 *----
2 **----
3 ***--
4 ****-
5 *****
6 -****
7 --****
8 ---**
9 ----*
0 -----

Sixth Group
period *-*-*- (three a's)
question mark **--** (imi)
comma --**-- (mim)
error ******** (eight e's)

I practice five days a week typing stock symbols on the Google search bar selecting the Morse Code keyboard. I need paper and pen to write the dots and dashes when receiving or before I communicate in Morse Code.

Here's a video explaining how to communicate by Morse Code. It's an old video. It's still valid. HOW IT WORKS: Morse Code.

You Feel *Insert Feeling*, I Feel *Insert Feeling*, Too

Do you feel sad? Do you feel depressed? Do you feel confused? Do you feel *insert negative feeling*? It's okay. I give you permission to feel those feelings. I recognize what you're feeling. Tired? We're all tired.

*Insert Positive Feeling*

There is a solution. It takes time. Be patient. Do you feel happy? Do you feel joyful? Are you in control? Do you feel *insert positive feeling*? Give yourself permission to feel those feelings when you overcome personal problems. Smile sincerely.

You're ready to solve problems when the positive feelings are felt. The problems causing negative feelings are solved. That's the deal. The contract is never ignore problems. The contract is ignore the naysayers. Be sincere. Be true. The contract requires motivation. There is no right way or no wrong way. There is a good way and a bad way. No faking. Don't trick the world. Mature people know fakers never succeed. Fakers never win. Be intelligent with your feelings. Be honest with your feelings. No whitewashing. No steering around. No distortion.

There Are Millions Of Daily Stories Nobody Knows

Today's blog is another reminder life go on. Life moves forward. Life starts for some of the living. Life stops for some of the living. Stories are made daily. A tiny fraction is reported. More bad stories are reported than good. Anything can happen.

There are the typical stories. Weddings, divorces, graduations, rejections, victories, defeats, promotions, accidents, natural disasters, new shows, and new grand openings. New discoveries, new learnings, and new opportunities. Fairness, unfairness, right place at the right time, wrong place at the wrong time, luck, and unfortunate circumstances. Rehabilitate, therapy completed, training completed, testing passed. Awakenings, I got it moments, and I did it moments. Break-ups, firings, farewells, and growing apart.

How about the not-so typical stories? These stories are unusual. They can happen. The man asks the woman in their date to drive him to the hospital because the mother of his child is giving birth. A white wife gives birth to a black baby. The white husband commits suicide. A son is divorcing his wife for which the son's mom must be present during the divorce lawyer's meetings. A husband and wife are divorcing after 60+ years of marriage because the daughter convinced the mom her dad is hiding money from the mom. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is more common than people realize; in addition, more young people are diagnosed with ED. A suicide person jumps in front of a train for which the person positions the head the impact causes the head into his chest through his neck. There are high school rapes. There are students bullying the victim using his or her peanut allergy as the weapon. A movie watcher died in a movie theater cause by choking on popcorn. Nobody heard the cries for help.

These are the negative stories. Negative stories are more likely to be reported than positive stories. We rarely hear first responders saving lives. We rarely hear random acts of kindness. We rarely hear strangers helping people in distress. We rarely hear 50+ year anniversary stories. We rarely hear 100 year old birthdays.

Maybe living a life without a story of the day can be good. Boring can be good.

Delayed Equalizer

The COVID-19 global pandemic continues. Every day people are vaccinated. We hope for global herd immunity because people are tired living the pandemic life. What is the COVID-19 post-pandemic life? Your guess is as good as mine. Time will tell.

I have one guess. The post-pandemic life is closer to balance. COVID-19 is the equalizer. The equalizing is delayed. The equalizing is deferred. Be patient. I believe more people are impacted. Give it time. More balance is coming. The financial markets say otherwise there's no global recession. The economy news says less people are impacted; for example, fewer job losses are reported. I believe the COVID-19 economic slowdown impacted more people than reported. Is inflation the equalizer? Time will tell.

We hear the good news. There is still good news. Almost everyone shares the good moments on social media. We don't hear the bad news. There is still bad news. Almost nobody shares bad moments on social media. People who don't deserve the good life lose the good life. People who don't deserve the bad life hard work pays off. We see the fallout when life goes back to normal. The truth is revealed.