Author Archives: rike52

Are you spooked by this yet another new strain of COVID?  Don’t be.  When I first wrote about 2019-nCoVBetaCoV/Wuhan/WIVo4/2019 (Mr. Corona’s full name) back on March 13, 2020, just as things were starting to heat up (1), I mentioned that the little sucker mutates like a mink.  The error rate in reading coronavirus RNA isContinue reading “delta schmelta”

So what’s in those books I plugged recently? I thought I might clarify things by posting the forward that’s in each volume. Musing through a pandemic.  A year and a half with Mr. Corona. How did this all start?  There I was, 6 months into a forced retirement and finally shaking the bitterness while beginningContinue reading “a follow up on those shameless plugs”

Last month, I finally got around to reviewing and organizing the 170 odd posts I’d put up since starting this blog in January 2020. I thought that they might make up a book, strung around the theme of living through this pandemic. When I started, Mr. Corona was just making his way over from WuhanContinue reading “more shameless plugs”

I made a shameless plug a month ago for my second book https://wordpress.com/post/theviewfromharbal.com/1606, this one about the funnest band ever- Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen – and all the good times they and their alumni have provided me over the past 50 plus years. It was too slim a volume for Mr. BezosContinue reading “links”

We were hanging this evening listening to Spotify Louis Prima channel, a pretty fun and lively place.  A song came up, say that’s my theme song!  At least for my kitchen.  You denizens of this blog will notice that I like to punctuate my posts with a tune.  None of my kitchen and food postsContinue reading “when they come to my house”

Growing up, I don’t recall paying much attention to the fleshy, edible stalks (petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of Rheum in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food.  I recall my older relatives swooning over rhubarb pie once it came in season, but I don’t recall them offering me a taste.  Maybe theyContinue reading “rhubarb!”

Julia Child has a wonderful simple sauce recipe for any kind of berries.  But a key ingredient is sugar, which the missus abhors since going on keto.  We’ve adapted our strawberry shortcake recipe, so we decided to do the same with the current crop of berries. We had some fading strawberries plus some prime newContinue reading “sauce”

I hope you all had a great 4th.  Today is the official “Independence Day holiday”, so we can do it all over again!  Be sure to fly your flag.  And remember you don’t have to wait for a holiday to do that.  Show your neighbors whose side you’re on. As I was cleaning up myContinue reading “more from my kitchen”

I practiced medicine for 40 years. I don’t know if I ever got it right. Upon retirement I happily shed the responsibilities of medical practice and haven’t looked back. My recent dive into my storage room looking for pictures for my 50th plus one high school reunion has found some additionals. In the early 80s,Continue reading “all that doctorin’”

I doubt you’ll be hearing this on the news.  A like-minded and most cherished colleague of mine brought this to my attention.  A paper in Vaccines (1) was retracted (2,3) by the Journal today after they’d accepted the June 2nd submission on June 21st.  The authors did not agree (4). Three docs from Poland, GermanyContinue reading “2 out of 3 ain’t bad”