Nothing is green here in Anchorage, AK, yet. Most of my neighborhood is still covered in many feet of wet, dirty snow that has been accumulating debris since last October. Elsewhere there’s lots of mud and road grit coating everything. And we’re in the middle of two weeks stright of foggy grey skies. On the bright…

I have both a stack of N95s that I bought when our local volcano was erupting in 2009, and a stack of surgical masks the ER gave me when I went there 15 months ago with a bad case of H1N1 flu. I seriously doubt my hospitals want either of these modest stashes. But I am saving them in case either my partner or I gets…

The NYT map article is one of many at the NYT and WaPo since this whole thing started, that purports to present national data, but leaves out my state (AK). Guess what: we have lots of cases here, because we have the major airport connecting Asian air freight to North America! Over half our North slope oil fields…

I live in a two-adult household. Only one of us goes to the store, taking turns. I find it frustrating to see so many couples still shopping together now that our stores have instituted limits on how many can be inside at a time. It’s still winter where I live and by doubling the number of people shopping for their…

Given that the concern is over virus coming into the store on the bags, not whether the groceries themselves are contaminated, saying it’s OK for customers to bring bags from home as long as they do their own bagging makes zero sense. Bringing re-usable bags into the store creates another pathway for contaminating…

Given that the concern is over virus coming into the store on the bags, not whether the groceries themselves are…

Mask in photo is being worn upside down.  Pleats should not allow falling droplets to collect. I.e. opposite orientation from tuxedo cummerband, AKA “crumbcatcher.”

“The all new Fitbit Core. Highly motivating, discrete, and can be worn through TSA security checkpoints.”

I had a bad case of H1N1 flu in late February 2019. After a day or two of high fever (104 on acetaminophen), sore throat, etc., I completely lost my appetite. I was drinking warm fluids as much as I could to stay hydrated but had zero interest in food, and of course we had nothing on hand to tempt me, and my husband…

This article just doesn’t do it for me. There’s a difference between cleaning and disinfecting which it utterly fails to address. You must clean first, so you get as much organic material off the surface in question as possible. It does not matter what you use to clean with but be sure to use something that can…

Can we please stop using the word “mindful” when “thoughtful” or “considerate” is what we really mean? In meditation/Western Buddhist circles, mindfulness is not really about making choices that help, or at least do not harm, others (although these are important concepts, too, associated with compassion/Metta).…

I use my dryer about once a year, but even if I was someone who used it to dry every load of wash, why would I use it to dry microfiber towels? After a spin in my front loader they dry in about 30 minutes when hung on one of my numerous drying racks.

Unfortunately the model is based on inaccurate data for my location (Anchorage AK). Not only did they assume the entire state’s population would be using Anchorage hospitals, they got that population, plus the percentage over 65, wrong. They think we’d have 738,000 people, 10% of whom are over 65, competing for beds.…

Not like we have any choice since all dine-in establishments (including bars!!) here in Anchorage AK hare closing at 5 PM today . . .

Citric acid also helps mellow and brighten curries. Use just a little, and the onset of the hot flavor will be a bit delayed as you eat the curry, allowing you to taste the ingredients.

Me too!  Thermostat is at 59 at night, 63 during the day.  Sometimes when we turn it up for guests we forget to turn it down again and start wondering why we can’t sleep or feel too hot all the time.  It’s a fact that those of us who live in colder ambient temperatures have more brown fat, which is important…

Not all Americans. We Alaskans do it the same way, and so do Hawai’ians.

If you move to Alaska or Hawai’i, you will find that virtually everyone removes their shoes indoors. Many of us in AK know enough to bring a pair of slippers, or an extra pair of socks, to wear while visiting someone else.  Wearing shoes indoors here, even in summer, is met the same kind of visceral clenching that…

On my routine visit to Costco store #10 yesterday, I passed many large pallets that were full of hand sanitizer and wipes right by the store entrance. Didn’t buy any because I have running water and plenty of surfactents at home already.

OK, I respect the fact that Dr. Jeff likely knows more about this subject than I do. But this article makes it appear that people of African descent are somehow more genetically similar to each other than they are to people of European descent. That’s simply not true. As Adam Rutherford (who is “mixed race” himself)…

In Alaska we pull our wiper blades away from the windshield and back window when snow is predicted. Good cars also come with heating strips under the blades’ “parked” position, and heated mirrors.