knehrke

Don't let the vet dictate your choice. They don't live with the pup day in and day out, and they only see them when they're hyped up with excitement. You know your pet best. We are currently going through a similar situation with one of our labs, and at the vet's request we've tried increasing her dose of Rimadyl as well as tried supplementing with some fancy expensive magic pill. No dice. This is her last summer. It sucks to see the end of a good run, but never seems to keep us from bringing a new pup into the family.

Here's an honest question for those who have posted on here citing the CDC guidance as reason to stop wearing a mask: How many of you are vaccinated? I'm not the mask police, and I hate the things, but with only 50% of NYS vaccinated, if I were a small business owner I'd have to think hard about mask policy. While I hear folks saying that they won't support a place that demands you wear masks, I suspect that the converse may be true, as well, and maybe even in greater abundance. It is literally a can't win situation.

I'm with the consensus on this - the vaccine protects me, but my mask is to protect other folks. At some point, the onus shifts from me to those other folks to protect themselves. I feel like I've met my social responsibility. Unfortunately, it's going to be tough to ditch the masks at the University hospital where I work. Perhaps rightly so, but I'm not completely on board, particularly in non-clinical areas. Nevertheless, I will lobby for a reasoned response, based on the latest guidance.

I was a Chevy guy for years before switching to an F150 two trucks ago. In addition to all of the above comments, I will add that the Ford with a cap sits somewhat higher than a comparable Chevy, or so it seems when loading the canoe. I notice stuff like that more as I get older lol. My last F150 had the 5l V8, and I gave it to a friend's kid when it hit 180,000 miles, two years ago. Its only issue was an oxygen sensor when it was a wee pup, and of course a bit of rust under the door to the Supercab and on the bumpers. It is still running strong today. My current F150 has the 3.6l turbo, and so far it has been bulletproof. No comparison with the wife's CRV Hybrid that gets 45 mpg in the city, but I can haul a 24' boat without blinking, and 19 mpg overall in the summer isn't bad.

I posted this on Lake Ontario United, but FYI for those interested, the Tactical line is mostly drab colors (who cares, right?), but includes wool that is sourced exclusively from the United States. All of the other lines have a global sourcing. You'll pay ~$1 more per pair for Tactical socks of the same specs, but to me it's worth it.

The simple answer is Darn Tough. I've worn them for years, and have even had occasion to send a couple pair back - after many seasons of wear and tear. The lifetime warrantee is well-named. No issues, but there was a nominal shipping fee, maybe three or four bucks. But Darn Tough is an oversimplification, since they make so darn many flavors. For summer, in my 3/4 boots, I hike in the Coolmax micro crew mid weight mostly, although I also like the Hunter micro crew midweight. In the fall, I switch to the Hunter over the calf heavyweight under my Muck boots, and I stick with that through spring. I also like the men's light hiker and hiker 1/4 midweight with some cushion if I'm wearing Anhu or Merrill type low cut hiking sneakers. Cowboy boots get a lighter version of the OTC mid cushion hikers. Yes, I have a problem.

From what I understand, India's caste system made for some interesting pandemic dynamics. The first wave was comprised mainly of the upper class, who likely caught it because of their more global exposure. Due to a lack of intermingling between classes, the slums were generally spared, which surprised many. Hence, India's numbers weren't bad, they touted their apparent success in warding off the worst of it, and they actually donated vaccines to other countries to demonstrate their largesse. Now, this current wave has the lower classes affected, and they spread it to the poorest parts of the country when they fled the slums. The issue, from the horse's mouth, is that there aren't sufficient resources and/or personnel to combat the rising case load, hence mortality is much more severe than it needs to be. Additionally, many Indians who are getting sick refuse to be tested or to go to the hospital because it's worse there than at home. Shazam. Recipe for disaster. IMHO, the situation in India is much, much worse than is being reported even, and that's bad enough. Count your blessings.

It would sure be nice if we could figure out who was going to suffer, who'd be asymptomatic, and who would have long term repercussions. There's got to be a tell. Maybe ample fun loving and frothy malt beverages is protective? If so, I'm screwed...

The mask thing is a subject of controversy, and maybe a moot point with our numbers the way they are, but the rest of the world isn't in as good of shape, unfortunately. My sister-in-law in Germany said that this latest wave has exacerbated the COVID fatigue to unimaginable levels, and my postdoc from India is talking about returning there to take care of his family and to do his civic duty, given how they're faring lately. We need to count our blessings - IMHO, the vaccine is contributing to keeping our numbers down. It's crazy that India is the largest producer of vaccines in the world...

Yeah, the tendency of the last two administrations to force their will down the peoples' throats is concerning. What's the old saying about, "a respected enemy"? I think that having two sides to any argument is essential to a fair outcome. And nobody should feel like they won, that's the point: compromise and overall consensus. Let the pundits scream from the extremes, but don't cave in to their demands. The silent middle needs to be heard. I don't care which side is doing it, this approach is furthering the divide. It's become so easy in today's climate to simply ignore folks you don't agree with, and now to override their opinion. And then to call for unity? At least tell it like it is. A power grab, because that's how all of politics today rolls.

We've used the Kobalt 40-Volt Max 8-inch saw from Lowes for years, and it's great for what it does. Two caveats though: first, the bar oil can leak if you store the head piece on it's side (and it's nearly impossible not to, given the blade angle), and second, it's a tough SOB to get apart where the pieces connect. But for the price, it's great, and the batteries are interchangable with the hedge trimmer and leaf blower that we own. I also see that they make an 80-Volt model now with a ten-inch bar.

Indeed. It will be a long day. RIT Imagine Festival is this weekend, too. Mostly outdoors, nice weather, masking optional? Absolutely! Since it's a virtual event this year lol.

So, I read folks posting about how fear informs our decisions. I agree, and in general I think that choosing fear over evidence is a step in the wrong direction. We can't make everybody unafraid at this point, no matter what we do, just like we can't make everybody "comfortable" all the time. But I do think that fear is understandable when it's felt for somebody you love or care for...I couldn't care less if I get COVID, because my chances of contracting severe disease are very, very small, but I am careful for my wife, who had pneumonia at the age of five that left her lungs scarred, and I'm careful for my Mom, who's 75 years old, and I'm careful for my best buddy, who had a heart transplant three years ago. And of course I'm careful because I work in the UR Medical Center. Not scared, per se, but leery. My 19 year old daughter can fend for herself lol... But most importantly, I too, like Phade, shall shoot a turkey on Saturday. After catching a limit of walleye.

You are correct in that none of the mRNA vaccines that have undergone clinical testing over the past decade have made it to market. These vaccines' targets include Zika, CMV, and Rabies, among others. In general, there hasn't been sufficient motivation to bring a new product to market, nor sense of urgency, until now - but not because of any failure or health concerns during the trials. Nevertheless, your point is valid, and good information motivates good decision making. I do think that the continued mask mandate is because it's impossible de novo to figure out who's been vaccinated, and who hasn't. I have no doubt (unlike others) that the mandate will lift. I would love it if NYS said, "Once we reach 70%, masks off!". Like that will happen. Nevertheless, I preach patience. Until it's time to not be patient (to paraphrase Patrick Swayze from Roadhouse).

Everybody has to make up their own mind. But based on good information, not hearsay. Check out the adverse reactions database if you want numbers prior to deciding. I've heard many say that they know folks who have (insert your own tragedy here) after getting the shot. But it is literally illegal to hide these adverse events, and they are self reportable, not just by doctors. Look what happened with the J&J vaccine. Fifteen post-menopausal women out of 4 million shots administered, and they paused the program while searching for answers. Adverse reactions are recognized and responded to, not hidden. As for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, we are nearly fully vaccinated at UR using mainly those, and I have heard of a single case of a doctor's wife who had myalgia that was severe enough to keep her in bed for two days. Most shrug it off, with ~25% of the lucky ones feeling like they got hit by a bus the day after. But then fine the day after that. Also, being in the medical research field, I'm well aware of complications from targeted pharmaceuticals, many of which don't show up until the data emerges years later. Heck, my own research shut down a European company that was touting a drug we showed to have major off-target effects. But this is not a drug. It's mRNA that makes a piece of the virus, in order to elicit an immune response. The same thing happens if the virus infects you, except that you get the whole virus, not just an inactive piece of it, and could suffer short or long term consequences thereby. Nobody knows what happens to COVID patients five years down the line. The emerging evidence is not reassuring. It's not a synthetic drug that you take every day. It's there, it does it's job, and it's gone. And it's a proven technology that has been used in other vaccines over the past decade, albeit not on this scale. That's the facts. If you're still not convinced, so be it. Like I say, everybody has the right to choose.

I agree completely. It's like folks think that there are points to be had for winning. But nobody wins here. The divide gets deeper - and eventually you can't even shout across it. It's one thing to crack wise on a message board or bust chops with your buddies, but the sh$t is starting to hit the fan. I wish I had an answer. And JK has a great point in that the politicians and media seems to be the only ones who benefit.

I've worn unlined Cabelas waterproof, scent protect bibs for years from mid-October through December. Soft outer so they're quiet. It looks like since Bass Pro took over the make has changed, but they do have Squaltex bibs on closeout now for <$50, if you're a small or a 2x. Simms Challenger and Grunden Weatherwatch are both sub-200 bibs, too. I don't know how noisy they are though.

I read the paper. It is in a peer-reviewed journal. It is also an opinion piece, and contains some good points, some not so good points. Like many opinion pieces, it is not impartial in it's use of data. Here is one example for anyone who cares: Given the fact that asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times higher than the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate is considerably less than 1% [5]. This was confirmed by the head of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from US stating, “the overall clinical consequences of COVID-19 are similar to those of severe seasonal influenza” [5], having a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1% [5], [6], [7], [8]. Note that this paragraph references the same paper (#5) three times in a row, supposedly to prove it's point. The paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which is a premier top tier journal, by a group of bona fide experts. That's good, right? However, you need to dig deeper to recognize that reference #5 was published in mid-March of 2020, and since it was written weeks to months before it was published, that means before the pandemic went global. Which means that the data set is immature (and from China). The remaining papers 6, 7, and 8 focus exclusively on the flu, documenting that it has a severe case fatality rate of ~0.1%, which is well established. By including multiple references at the end of the paragraph, the author seeks to bolster their argument, even if those references aren't relevant. It's an opinion piece. Okay, great - but to ignore more recent data is favor of an argument that supports your hypothesis is deceptive at best. You may as well argue the merits of leeching for treating blood ailments lol. Please note that I'm not saying they are wrong, I'm critiquing their choice of data sets and professional behavior. Also please note that publication on an NCBI indexed journal does not suggest widespread scientific acceptance. There are a wide variety of what we term "predatory journals" where you can pay to play https://predatoryjournals.com/journals/. The journal in question does not appear to be one of these, but the credibility and weight of an argument is often driven by the metrics of the source - this journal has an impact factor of ~1.3, which is very, very low. It also brands itself on publishing pieces that challenge dogma and create debate. I wholeheartedly support this, but sometimes you need to suspend disbelief reading their stuff...

After much looking, I finally found some 3 1/2" turkey loads that I patterned out of my Supernova yesterday with an extra full choke. Now I can clap behind my back with my shoulder blades. Turkeys have nothing to fear from me...chances are low that I will have the courage to pull the trigger again.

This is my bad, sorry. Irreversible is not the appropriate term. For practical purposes, the half-life of 4-5 hours means that most of the CO from a short exposure would remain bound when they take blood O2, even following ventilation. In point of fact, I just reviewed a paper on succinate prodrug use to combat CO poisoning. Hyperbaric therapy is really the only solution for short term treatment as of now. Of course, this means that O2 can promote CO release, so it's not irreversible (like something that's covalently attached). Sorry to geek out. I was sloppy in my choice of descriptors. And please don't make me teach kinetics on a hunting forum!! Ain't nobody wants to read that lol...

Ouch. That's a long read for 7:30 in the morning. While I strongly disagree with some of the opinions here, I respect others' rights to offer them. More and more, I think that I'd rather know clearly where somebody stands than listen to them say one thing but live another. I suspect everybody gets what I'm talking about. And to directly address the comment regarding blood oxygen saturation being 98% - to my understanding, this was measured in the emergency room following artificial ventilation. As regards carbon monoxide levels - CO binds irreversibly to hemoglobin. Any CO in the bloodstream would have prevented a return to normal O2 saturation levels even upon ventilation (which was the essence of Tobin's rebuttal testimony). So yes, 98% is "normal", but in this case it simply suggests that the hemoglobin was functional and capable of binding O2, it doesn't say what the saturation levels were during the event. However, since a ventilator was deemed to be required, the patient was certainly hypoxic. This says nothing about the cause however, and that's the crux of the argument.

I think that the jury is still out on a booster - we don't even know how long immunity will persist from the approved regiment yet - but where there's smoke, there's fire, and enough folks are talking about a booster that I don't doubt it could happen. If two is good, isn't three better? Of does that just apply in bed lol? Seriously, though, IMHO the science isn't there yet. But I will lay money that unlike measles or mumps, this won't be a lifetime vaccination. Which considering that future variants might evade the existing surveillance, isn't the worst thing in the world. It's easy enough to modify the mRNA sequence in the vaccine to capture new mutants. But longer between shots is better from a personal perspective. I myself had zero side effects for the first set of shots. That's no guarantee that the same will be true moving forward. I'd rather avoid a yearly roll of the dice unless it's truly necessary.

Yes, but will they probe you like aliens would?

Better safe than sorry, but it's a one-in-a-million shot, doc...even less if you're a male, or outside childbearing years, or both (lol). The J&J shot has gotten some bad press though with the quality control issue and now this. I suspect that there is less than nothing to worry about for the average Joe, but it's good to know that the powers-that-be are at least attempting transparency. Critical IMHO to combat vaccine hesitancy.

Excellent!! My Mom is over that way...I got to say that I hope you don't run into her lol. I hope it works out well and exceeds expectations!