New FranCast Episode!

Ohhh goodie... I liked the posdcasts and well it helped be get to know you a little better and I appreciate that. It is not everyone who can be honest about themselves so it is special when someone tries. Thanks Fran!

veritanuda

I'm glad the podcasts are back, there's always something in them that makes me stop and think, or there's a perspective I haven't thought about before. Thank you Fran.

David Peaker

Fran, you’re willing to put up with a lot, to avoid busybodies. I once had to spend two weeks in an apartment near downtown Kansas City, to me it was hellish. To each his own, I’d rather live rural and ignore the occasional busybody. Silence is a powerful response to an inappropriate question.

We're all gonna "get" this new virus, it's unavoidable. It's insanely infectious. People who have it in their lungs without knowing, breathe it out like spores that hang in the air for a half hour and settle on surfaces to survive for days, no coughing or sneezing required, just normal breathing spreads the seed. It's just a matter of sooner, or later. Most will never know because they won't get sick enough to get tested.

Apparently days virusses and other pathogens are tracked pretty closely using their RNA/DNA https://nextstrain.org/ncov you might be able to determine which strain it might have been. You almost certainly did not have this strain. (like i've had many different colds, i am sure, but don't remember really being able to distinguish them as different kinds..) The point is not to stop it, it's to slow it down so hospitals are not at any point overwhelmed. I am not of the mind that the lives of older/immunocompromised are worth less.. Also your "spread it early" approach.. it's really hard to prevent it from jumping to older/immunocompromised people. I suppose ideally, we could slow it enough so that a vaccine is available before it spreads everywhere.. As i understand it, transmission ends up via direct droplets, people <2m away, surfaces and touching contact. The latter two, hand washing can help prevent transferring the virus to surfaces and into your mouth/eyes/nose. Door handles, elevator buttons, payment device buttons, money passing hands, etcetera probably pose some risk. (imo bit odd don't hear advice to wash them a bit now and then)

Jasper

I’ve changed this post as reading it back I felt it came across as perhaps controversial or heartless and it wasn’t my intention. To Fran, I’m sorry you are feeling anxiety over the current situation, I had thought your pod cast was to be a voice of reason, using maths and probability and scientific reason as to why we shouldn’t be unduly worried to offset the paranoia and hysteria being generated by every news channel at the moment. I honestly don’t think the number of keys you have on your keyring is something to be worried about or that your neighbour’s apartments are not air tight. Carry on as normal, go out for your walks, enjoy it being quieter out and about and getting some exercise, it is the best medicine after all, great for body and mind.

Leigh

Someday, probably not in my lifetime, rural areas will evolve into places that retain their honest caring about others (and they DO really care) without their narrow judgements. That said, Fran, I truly DO understand why you elect to live in an urban area.

Carol K Stouffer