Conoravirus ...

[kimbottles]

In order to keep myself amused during this self imposed isolation I drove to Portland yesterday and purchased this rare US Navy Mill off of Craigslist. A Underwood Universal typewriter modified for copying Morse Code. I can copy by hand, but now I plan to learn how to do so with the mill. By hand one is limited to about 20-25 words per minute, with a mill much faster speeds are possible, up to around 60 wpm.

Note the “1” key and the slashed zero key. Standard typewriters have neither. It types in all caps, no lower case. Needs a new ribbon, Amazon carries them (of course). It is in good condition and fully functional. Downloaded the operation and service manuals off the Internet last night.

(Yeah, I know, I am easily amused.)

[Ajax]

In order to keep myself amused during this self imposed isolation I drove to Portland yesterday and purchased this rare US Navy Mill off of Craigslist. A Underwood Universal typewriter modified for copying Morse Code. I can copy by hand, but now I plan to learn how to do so with the mill. By hand one is limited to about 20-25 words per minute, with a mill much faster speeds are possible, up to around 60 wpm.

Note the “1” key and the slashed zero key. Standard typewriters have neither. It types in all caps, no lower case. Needs a new ribbon, Amazon carries them (of course). It is in good condition and fully functional. Downloaded the operation and service manuals off the Internet last night.

(Yeah, I know, I am easily amused.)

That is super cool.

I was one of the last classes in submarine Radioman school to go through the Morse Code training. We donned headsets for 4 hours each day, while a computer threw tones at us. We copied by keyboard, not hand writing. The computer spewed random, 5-character code groups at an ever-increasing pace. When your focus would flag, you could tweak a knob to adjust the pitch. By the end of the day, my computer was set to an ear-bleeding pitch to keep me focused. We only got 2 weeks to train. By the end of 2 weeks, I was up to 21 wpm.

I can still copy, but slowly. I have to think about it.

[LarryHoward]

In order to keep myself amused during this self imposed isolation I drove to Portland yesterday and purchased this rare US Navy Mill off of Craigslist. A Underwood Universal typewriter modified for copying Morse Code. I can copy by hand, but now I plan to learn how to do so with the mill. By hand one is limited to about 20-25 words per minute, with a mill much faster speeds are possible, up to around 60 wpm.

Note the “1” key and the slashed zero key. Standard typewriters have neither. It types in all caps, no lower case. Needs a new ribbon, Amazon carries them (of course). It is in good condition and fully functional. Downloaded the operation and service manuals off the Internet last night.

(Yeah, I know, I am easily amused.)

First. Damn. Please take care of yourself. If there is anything we can do to assist in any way, please ask.

As to the mill. A long, long time ago, I entered the Navy as an enlisted "Communications Technician" Shortly after, they changed the name to "Cryptologic Technician". Rating did all sorts of classified things but there were 4 sub ratings. CTR (radio). CTI (Interpretive-linguists). CTM (Maintenance of all that classified stuff) and CTT (Technical). I was a CTT. We worked Electronic Intelligence (basically non voice/morse) stuff.

Since we all went through the same basic "A" school, the first thing we did was to learn to copy Morse code. Had to get to 30 wpm by hand and then 60 or greater by Teletype. The extra keys are because the Cryllic alphabet has more letters so we had to learn a bit more Morse code than "normal." Once I graduated from A school, I never had to use it again.

One of my instructors could copy 2 streams (1 in each ear) at 60 wpm with > 90% accuracy. He was...unusual.

[kimbottles]

In order to keep myself amused during this self imposed isolation I drove to Portland yesterday and purchased this rare US Navy Mill off of Craigslist. A Underwood Universal typewriter modified for copying Morse Code. I can copy by hand, but now I plan to learn how to do so with the mill. By hand one is limited to about 20-25 words per minute, with a mill much faster speeds are possible, up to around 60 wpm.

Note the “1” key and the slashed zero key. Standard typewriters have neither. It types in all caps, no lower case. Needs a new ribbon, Amazon carries them (of course). It is in good condition and fully functional. Downloaded the operation and service manuals off the Internet last night.

(Yeah, I know, I am easily amused.)

First. Damn. Please take care of yourself. If there is anything we can do to assist in any way, please ask.

As to the mill. A long, long time ago, I entered the Navy as an enlisted "Communications Technician" Shortly after, they changed the name to "Cryptologic Technician". Rating did all sorts of classified things but there were 4 sub ratings. CTR (radio). CTI (Interpretive-linguists). CTM (Maintenance of all that classified stuff) and CTT (Technical). I was a CTT. We worked Electronic Intelligence (basically non voice/morse) stuff.

Since we all went through the same basic "A" school, the first thing we did was to learn to copy Morse code. Had to get to 30 wpm by hand and then 60 or greater by Teletype. The extra keys are because the Cryllic alphabet has more letters so we had to learn a bit more Morse code than "normal." Once I graduated from A school, I never had to use it again.

One of my instructors could copy 2 streams (1 in each ear) at 60 wpm with > 90% accuracy. He was...unusual.

I have ham buddies who can copy 40-60 in their head and carry on a conversation with me at the same time. Some of them run CW in their cars while driving. Nothing goes on paper, all in their heads.

I am dyslexic so I find copying in my head above 15-20 wpm difficult. I am trying 20 wpm on the mill this morning and I am doing OK, not perfect but not bad. Got to use more fingers and stop looking at my hands. My little fingers need exercise! They don’t hit the keys as hard as the rest of my fingers.

Our granddaughter attends Portland State College so of course we visited her for lunch after picking up the mill. She was mystified at how hard you had to hit the keys to get it to print. She thought the mill was broken until I demonstrated proper pounding.

Working on hitting keys without looking and I find I am at 75-80% already. Not bad for my first day of training. Lots of practice lays ahead.

[LarryHoward]

In order to keep myself amused during this self imposed isolation I drove to Portland yesterday and purchased this rare US Navy Mill off of Craigslist. A Underwood Universal typewriter modified for copying Morse Code. I can copy by hand, but now I plan to learn how to do so with the mill. By hand one is limited to about 20-25 words per minute, with a mill much faster speeds are possible, up to around 60 wpm.

Note the “1” key and the slashed zero key. Standard typewriters have neither. It types in all caps, no lower case. Needs a new ribbon, Amazon carries them (of course). It is in good condition and fully functional. Downloaded the operation and service manuals off the Internet last night.

(Yeah, I know, I am easily amused.)

First. Damn. Please take care of yourself. If there is anything we can do to assist in any way, please ask.

As to the mill. A long, long time ago, I entered the Navy as an enlisted "Communications Technician" Shortly after, they changed the name to "Cryptologic Technician". Rating did all sorts of classified things but there were 4 sub ratings. CTR (radio). CTI (Interpretive-linguists). CTM (Maintenance of all that classified stuff) and CTT (Technical). I was a CTT. We worked Electronic Intelligence (basically non voice/morse) stuff.

Since we all went through the same basic "A" school, the first thing we did was to learn to copy Morse code. Had to get to 30 wpm by hand and then 60 or greater by Teletype. The extra keys are because the Cryllic alphabet has more letters so we had to learn a bit more Morse code than "normal." Once I graduated from A school, I never had to use it again.

One of my instructors could copy 2 streams (1 in each ear) at 60 wpm with > 90% accuracy. He was...unusual.

I have ham buddies who can copy 40-60 in their head and carry on a conversation with me at the same time. Some of them run CW in their cars while driving. Nothing goes on paper, all in their heads.

I am dyslexic so I find copying in my head above 15-20 wpm difficult. I am trying 20 wpm on the mill this morning and I am doing OK, not perfect but not bad. Got to use more fingers and stop looking at my hands. My little fingers need exercise! They don’t hit the keys as hard as the rest of my fingers.

Our granddaughter attends Portland State College so of course we visited her for lunch after picking up the mill. She was mystified at how hard you had to hit the keys to get it to print. She thought the mill was broken until I demonstrated proper pounding.

Working on hitting keys without looking and I find I am at 75-80% already. Not bad for my first day of training. Lots of practice lays ahead.

Once I completed the unclassified portion of my training, I had to wait for a month or so for my high level clearance to get approved so they made me a "proctor" for the manual copying lab. Run the tape, score the student effort. Run the tape..... Found the best was was to just get folks to relax and try to go "ear to hand" without the letter, translate it into letter, write the letter down model. Since we were teaching them to copy groups and not words, they really didn't need the brain in the middle. If someone was having real trouble, I'd quietly tell them to go have a bite to eat and 1 beer and then come back to try again. Almost always, once they relaxed, they quickly picked up speed a lot.

Of course, if you are trying to have a conversation, it's a lot harder.

[Chris Chesley]

Kim, will be keeping you in thoughts and prayers but I know you have a great approach to life in general and will work the plan until it's completed.

As for code, I sure struggled to get the 'blinking' light test for my USCG licenses. fortunately, after a few upgrades, I didn't have to do the light anymore. I think it would have been easier with 'sound' than with a silent, unforgiving light that made absolutely NO attempt to 'help' you out!

[JoeP]

My older brother was pronounced clean of a very serious bout with two stage 4 cancers last year, then a few weeks ago was diagnosed with a glioblastoma so he has to go through radiation and chemo. Last time he would get on a treadmill and run while in the hospital, and he made it through some of the roughest treatment they had to kill the cancer. All this was at 74 years old. Now with the glioblastoma he and his wife think he will do well because the treatment is "easier" than his last. My wife, who works at UW Medicine, and I worry because with his immune system depressed he will be more at risk for COVID 19.

KIm, I hope all goes well for you. Let us know how we can help you.

[kimbottles]

Kim, will be keeping you in thoughts and prayers but I know you have a great approach to life in general and will work the plan until it's completed.

As for code, I sure struggled to get the 'blinking' light test for my USCG licenses. fortunately, after a few upgrades, I didn't have to do the light anymore. I think it would have been easier with 'sound' than with a silent, unforgiving light that made absolutely NO attempt to 'help' you out!

One of my ham buddies lives in West Seattle 6 miles line of sight across Puget Sound from here.
We actually have done LED Flashlight CW together. (Even exchanged QSL Cards confirming it.)

[JoeP]

My uncle, a former WW II minesweeper captain had a 12" signal searchlight at his house on Fox Island. He used to talk with he Navy ships anchored after doing acoustic testing at the range off the island. Lots of fun to watch and learn as kids.

[BeauV]

Kim,

Do be careful not to overwork you wrists and hands on the manual typewriter. It takes a while for the tendons and muscles to get used to the force. I dragged my mom’s old Royal typewriter out of the garage a few years ago and learned exactly how painful it is to strain the wrists etc.... It took about a month to completely heal up. I’ve now put the Royal back in the garage and stick to the nice-n-easy computer type keyboards.

Kim & Larry, my Dad was a WW2 RADAR tech. aboard an APA (troop transport) on the run from Hawaii to whatever island the Marine Corp was invading, then back to Hawaii with the wounded, and back to the next island. While at sea, doing 12 knots max, they had quite a while to take down those 5 letter code groups on a typewriter of the kind Kim has bought. For the rest of his life, if you found my Dad sleeping. You could quietly whistle -. -. - - -.- and various other combinations and is fingers would wiggle appropriately while he was sleeping. We accused him of sleeping on watch and continuing to transcribe the code groups. He laughed and said that he was pretty sure he’d stood watch and copied code while sound asleep.

[LarryHoward]

As the news starts to scream “we are all gonna die (and it’s all Trump’s fault), it might help to look at infection rates. Wuhan has a population of 11 million and approximately 80,000 cases. That’s an infection rate of 0.72% and if the death rate is 2%, that’s 0.0145% of the population.

Now with a population 331M, that’s still close to 50K deaths, so not really trivial. But not a big share of the 2.8M or so annual deaths from all causes and less than 10% of the US annual cancer deaths.

All based on extrapolation from a small data set and still scary as no one likely has any immunity from this virus so it could be a lot worse. Key, I believe is rational and effective precautions to limit the spread.

[Ajax]

CDC says 46,000 flu deaths this season. It's like flu redux.

[Steele]

Despite the low risk of covid 19, I can tell you sphincter tone is going way up here in North Seattle which has kind of become the epicenter of it's beach-head in the US. We are clearly seeing a switch to community transmission. Schools and some office buildings have been closed and the lines at Costco are getting looong as folks stock up. I am an outpatient primary care doc and we are seeing policy and procedures change by the hour as the local health dept deals with the crisis. Testing is becoming available, but the hoops we have to jump through to get it done are pretty limiting, hopefully as more test kits come on line that will be less of a burden. Our clinic is setting up secure sites for evaluation of patients, something we have done in the past for SARS, avian flu etc.

For now if you are in an area with reported cases and have a respiratory illness without alarm symptoms (high fever, shortness of breath, low blood pressure manifest by lightheadedness) STAY HOME. If you have an underlying illness with heart issues, pulmonary disease or immune suppression call or email your MD, but don't expect a quick reply, we are swamped. As already mentioned if you have severe respiratory symptoms it is probably more important to be tested for influenza, at least we can treat that and testing is universally available.

It still not clear if gloves and masks offer much protection for people trying to avoid illness. Frequent hand washing, avoiding sick individuals and keeping you hands away from your face is probably more important. If you are in a community with no reported cases the risk is still very low.

Get a flu shot!

[LarryHoward]

Despite the low risk of covid 19, I can tell you sphincter tone is going way up here in North Seattle which has kind of become the epicenter of it's beach-head in the US. We are clearly seeing a switch to community transmission. Schools and some office buildings have been closed and the lines at Costco are getting looong as folks stock up. I am an outpatient primary care doc and we are seeing policy and procedures change by the hour as the local health dept deals with the crisis. Testing is becoming available, but the hoops we have to jump through to get it done are pretty limiting, hopefully as more test kits come on line that will be less of a burden. Our clinic is setting up secure sites for evaluation of patients, something we have done in the past for SARS, avian flu etc.

For now if you are in an area with reported cases and have a respiratory illness without alarm symptoms (high fever, shortness of breath, low blood pressure manifest by lightheadedness) STAY HOME. If you have an underlying illness with heart issues, pulmonary disease or immune suppression call or email your MD, but don't expect a quick reply, we are swamped. As already mentioned if you have severe respiratory symptoms it is probably more important to be tested for influenza, at least we can treat that and testing is universally available.

It still not clear if gloves and masks offer much protection for people trying to avoid illness. Frequent hand washing, avoiding sick individuals and keeping you hands away from your face is probably more important. If you are in a community with no reported cases the risk is still very low.

Get a flu shot!

Thanks for the expert feedback. I can imagine that the stress level in King County is pretty high. Even here in conservative Southern MD hand sanitizer and masks are non existent on the shelves. Lysol wipes and spray (and other brands still in good supply. I’ve stocked up the office and am pushing an education campaign on hand
washing and will institute a disinfectant protocol for phones, door handles, etc and at least a daily bathroom cleanup and Lysol spray in the coming days.

Lynne and I have not been able to get flu shots from our GP this year (no stock when we have had appointments) so we went to a pharmacy yesterday and got the shot.

[Charlie]

Kim,

Wishing you success and speedy recovery in the hill climb you have before you. You’re in good physical and mental shape (especially the positive and optimistic outlook you always seem to have), and both will serve you well in this challenge.

Charlie

[kimbottles]

Kim,

Wishing you success and speedy recovery in the hill climb you have before you. You’re in good physical and mental shape (especially the positive and optimistic outlook you always seem to have), and both will serve you well in this challenge.

Charlie

Thanks Charlie, check in time is 10AM, no food after midnight.

[Tucky]

Best wishes to you Kim, and good luck.

[Ajax]

Glad you got your flu shot, Larry.

I think it's the uncertainty that is really eating at me. I don't *think* I have any underlying conditions that would make the virus a hard road for me, but I don't know and I'm not really interested in finding out.
So far, no confirmed cases in Maryland, so I'm operating at "business as usual" with extra hand washings and reducing my public interactions.

[LarryHoward]

Kim

Best of luck and know that our thoughts are with you today and during the treatment period.

[SemiSalt]

Despite the low risk of covid 19, I can tell you sphincter tone is going way up here in North Seattle which has kind of become the epicenter of it's beach-head in the US. We are clearly seeing a switch to community transmission. Schools and some office buildings have been closed and the lines at Costco are getting looong as folks stock up. I am an outpatient primary care doc and we are seeing policy and procedures change by the hour as the local health dept deals with the crisis. Testing is becoming available, but the hoops we have to jump through to get it done are pretty limiting, hopefully as more test kits come on line that will be less of a burden. Our clinic is setting up secure sites for evaluation of patients, something we have done in the past for SARS, avian flu etc.

For now if you are in an area with reported cases and have a respiratory illness without alarm symptoms (high fever, shortness of breath, low blood pressure manifest by lightheadedness) STAY HOME. If you have an underlying illness with heart issues, pulmonary disease or immune suppression call or email your MD, but don't expect a quick reply, we are swamped. As already mentioned if you have severe respiratory symptoms it is probably more important to be tested for influenza, at least we can treat that and testing is universally available.

It still not clear if gloves and masks offer much protection for people trying to avoid illness. Frequent hand washing, avoiding sick individuals and keeping you hands away from your face is probably more important. If you are in a community with no reported cases the risk is still very low.

Get a flu shot!

As someone with a pacemaker and atrial flutter, I'm wondering what heart issues carry the greatest risk.

[slap]

Kim - Best wishes and good luck!


Saw this in the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... rus-worse/

"The roughly 1 in 4 U.S. workers with no paid sick time are more likely to work while ill, data show, exposing colleagues and customers, and extending the outbreak’s reach."

[H B]

Kim - Best wishes and good luck!


Saw this in the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... rus-worse/

"The roughly 1 in 4 U.S. workers with no paid sick time are more likely to work while ill, data show, exposing colleagues and customers, and extending the outbreak’s reach."

Well..if Sanders gets elected, all the sick and poor and those with no sick leave won't have to work anymore anyway, and they will get free healthcare (flu shots), and since they no longer are required to work, they will all get supplies via UberEats and DoorDash, so they will survive just fine while us working stiffs wipe down all the door handles.

I know..take it to PA!

[LarryHoward]

Kim - Best wishes and good luck!


Saw this in the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... rus-worse/

"The roughly 1 in 4 U.S. workers with no paid sick time are more likely to work while ill, data show, exposing colleagues and customers, and extending the outbreak’s reach."

Unfortunately, just providing sick leave isn’t enough. My company is one of the few in MD that provides sick leave in addition to vacation. We don’t require a doctor’s note or anything else to use it. I brief all of my employees that although I can’t stop them from using their sick leave as extra vacation, there may come a time when having a few weeks of sick leave in the bank will come in handy. Virtually all use the sick leave as extra vacation and have low or no sick leave in the bank at present. I’m struggling with how to handle it one of my good technicians gets sick and has to take extended LWOP. Most of my office folks can work remotely for a period of time. The hands on techs not so much.

[Ajax]

I saw that statement about low income workers and sick leave. Larry nailed it-

Those people are more likely to use sick leave as supplemental vacation, thus never having any appreciable sick leave anyway. I've seen it at my wife's employer (state of Maryland).
Hell, my own office mate is out sick right now and is in a LWOP (Leave without pay) status because he frivolously exhausted all of his PTO.

My company just lumps everything in to PTO and our accrual rate is painfully slow. I have busted my ass to accrue 300 hours. My cap is 352 hours. I hoard my PTO for exactly this reason- If I get sick, I'm damn well gettin' paid. I never dip below 160 hours (one month of vacation).

[slap]

Kim - Best wishes and good luck!


Saw this in the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... rus-worse/

"The roughly 1 in 4 U.S. workers with no paid sick time are more likely to work while ill, data show, exposing colleagues and customers, and extending the outbreak’s reach."

Unfortunately, just providing sick leave isn’t enough. My company is one of the few in MD that provides sick leave in addition to vacation. We don’t require a doctor’s note or anything else to use it. I brief all of my employees that although I can’t stop them from using their sick leave as extra vacation, there may come a time when having a few weeks of sick leave in the bank will come in handy. Virtually all use the sick leave as extra vacation and have low or no sick leave in the bank at present. I’m struggling with how to handle it one of my good technicians gets sick and has to take extended LWOP. Most of my office folks can work remotely for a period of time. The hands on techs not so much.

I was a Navy civilian employee, under the old system. You could accrue sick leave and any remaining sick leave could be added to your length of service for retirement. When I retired I had over a year and a half of sick leave saved up. But if the sick leave didn't carry over from year to year I probably would have burned it up.

[Chris Chesley]

Kim - Best wishes and good luck!


Saw this in the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... rus-worse/

"The roughly 1 in 4 U.S. workers with no paid sick time are more likely to work while ill, data show, exposing colleagues and customers, and extending the outbreak’s reach."

Unfortunately, just providing sick leave isn’t enough. My company is one of the few in MD that provides sick leave in addition to vacation. We don’t require a doctor’s note or anything else to use it. I brief all of my employees that although I can’t stop them from using their sick leave as extra vacation, there may come a time when having a few weeks of sick leave in the bank will come in handy. Virtually all use the sick leave as extra vacation and have low or no sick leave in the bank at present. I’m struggling with how to handle it one of my good technicians gets sick and has to take extended LWOP. Most of my office folks can work remotely for a period of time. The hands on techs not so much.

We shifted from vacation plus sick leave to just 'personal days'. Yes, they can abuse it but at least they don't have to lie to us! One hopes that they might be 'judicious' but human nature being what it is.... If everyone uses all their time, we'll have to hire another body so this is an experiment.

[BeauV]

I saw that statement about low income workers and sick leave. Larry nailed it-

Those people are more likely to use sick leave as supplemental vacation, thus never having any appreciable sick leave anyway. I've seen it at my wife's employer (state of Maryland).
Hell, my own office mate is out sick right now and is in a LWOP (Leave without pay) status because he frivolously exhausted all of his PTO.

My company just lumps everything in to PTO and our accrual rate is painfully slow. I have busted my ass to accrue 300 hours. My cap is 352 hours. I hoard my PTO for exactly this reason- If I get sick, I'm damn well gettin' paid. I never dip below 160 hours (one month of vacation).

I had a study done on the employee's behavior just after our CEO lumped vacation and sick-leave together. Over a population of relatively well-paid folks, this was SGI, 63% of them used their vacation and sick days as a way to work for some other organization. Most often, this was dropping in for lucrative consulting gigs at a very high rate of pay. Population size was apx. 6,300. We had a sabbatical program, which gave each employee an extended time after every five years of service. 87.3% of employees used that to start a company, work for a start-up, or do consulting. One guy wrote a spy novel. That population didn't feel that they needed either sick leave or vacation time. Small wonder the divorce rate was so high!

Later, in an organization that had a pretty large population of lower-income folks, where I was on the Board of Directors, the #1 use of sick leave was to care for a kid or relative. There was almost zero use of any time for what we wealthy folks call vacation and less than 1/4 of the sick time was for an employee who was actually ill.

Folks seem to have opinions about poor working people that aren't based on data but upon opinion pieces they've read. Our manual workers at the Yacht Club almost all have second jobs, some have two "other jobs". There is no sign of folks sitting around living on the dole. Sure, I'm certain there are some folks doing that. But, having done repeated investigations within organizations where I actually have the data that's not what's going on. It is a deeply mistaken view, and almost always held by folks who are far from poor themselves.

[kimbottles]

Kim

Best of luck and know that our thoughts are with you today and during the treatment period.

Thanks Larry, sitting in the waiting room as we speak.

[BeauV]

Interesting data on the topic of Coronavirus:

"Especially those as pervasive as face touching. A 2015 study found that we touch our face an average of two dozen times an hour, and 44 percent of that touching involves contact with eyes, nose or mouth."

SOURCE

[kimbottles]

Thanks Beau and Stacey!