No, you didn’t miss a day yesterday. It was a dull day, nothing happened, there was nothing to write about. If I don’t write for a time, don’t worry about me. If I get sick, you’ll know.

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This from a science journalist that I’ve been reading for many years (so I trust him), Ed Yong, in The Atlantic:

One of the few mercies during this crisis is that, by their nature, individual coronaviruses are easily destroyed. Each virus particle consists of a small set of genes, enclosed by a sphere of fatty lipid molecules, and because lipid shells are easily torn apart by soap, 20 seconds of thorough hand-washing can take one down. Lipid shells are also vulnerable to the elements; a recent study shows that the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, survives for no more than a day on cardboard, and about two to three days on steel and plastic. These viruses don’t endure in the world. They need bodies.

That’s still no excuse to be silly about touching things, but it does explain what the virus is and how it works. And how you can minimise your chances of letting it get you.

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A friend posted on Facebook that he has a measuring stick that’s attached to his belt to ensure his 1.5m safe distance from people. I’ve got an environmentally friendly way: I save water by not showering. That way my body odour keeps people away, at least 2m. 🙂

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Uurrrrgh, I awoke at 6am with a bad pain in my nose. The CPAP humidifier water had evaporated away leaving it bone dry, which irritates the nasal passages right back into the sinuses. I’ve had this happen quite a few times in the years I’ve been using CPAP but this was a bad one. It reminded me of the time in York in 2008 on my UK and Europe trip. I didn’t bother to use the humidifier and awoke in my cramped hotel room in the same condition, with severe pain in my nose. You just have to wait it out.

However, I’m annoyed with this new, costly Resmed Autoset. I’m finding random changes in the settings. When I felt the bottom of the humidifier, it was almost too hot to touch. No wonder the water boiled away. Yet I’ve got the heating level set at 3/10. This is the second time it’s happened. I’m also finding that sometimes the air won’t shut off automatically when I take the mask off. Yet it’s on Auto. I don’t expect these kinds of troubles from a $1600 machine.

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I’ve also run out of distilled water for the humidifier. It’s just the de-ionised water you use in irons and kettles, but Coles was devoid of it on Friday. I can use tap water but it has a slight smell and leaves a small residue in the evaporator. That says something about the quality of our water, doesn’t it? I notice that if I let my hair get fully wet in the shower, it goes tough. Something in the water?

That means I’ll need to go out today to find more (water, that is, not hair). I have some simple, single layer masks from the 2008 flu epidemic. That’ll do. I’ll keep my distance and wear the dishwashing gloves I bought on Friday, big enough to fit my hands.

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Since I’ve bought a second hand Super Audio CD (SACD) capable player, I’m now on the lookout for SACD discs. I think I’ve got one or two on my shelves from years ago but I can’t remember. I’ll have to search through the 1,000 CDs in my collection.

Anyway, while in JB HiFi on Friday I asked what happened to their small selection of SACD and Super Audio DVDs they used to have. I never bought them because I couldn’t play them then. Their answer was, they’re gone, they know not where. “Best to look on-line.” Yeah but, I’m trying to patronise my local shops.

Anyway I bought a CD, Mahler Symphony no. 4 because it’s from a series that I saw reviewed in Hi Fi News and Record Review magazine just a few days ago. It’s a very recent recording, and it was marked down to $9.99, bargain! When I got it home, I found it’s even better because it’s an SACD. I didn’t notice when I bought it. Bonus! Now I’ll have to go back and search through their bins for more.

What’s SACD? From Wikipedia:

The SACD format offers more audio channels (e.g. surround sound), a higher bit rate, and longer playing time than a conventional CD. The SACD is designed to be played on an SACD player; however, a hybrid SACD contains a Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA) track so that it may also be played on a standard CD player.

SACD is a disc of identical physical dimensions as a standard compact disc; [but] the density of the disc is the same as a DVD. There are three types of disc:
Hybrid: Hybrid SACDs are encoded with a 4.7 GB DSD layer (also known as the HD layer), as well as a PCM (Red Book) audio layer readable by most conventional Compact Disc players.
Single-layer: A DVD-5 encoded with one 4.7 GB DSD layer.
Dual-layer: A DVD-9 encoded with two DSD layers, totalling 8.5 GB, and no PCM layer. Dual-layer SACDs can store nearly twice as much data as a single-layer SACD.
Unlike hybrid discs, both single- and dual-layer SACDs are incompatible with conventional CD players and cannot be played on them. A stereo SACD recording has an uncompressed rate of 5.6 Mbit/s, four times the rate for Red Book CD stereo audio.

So that’s why a couple of my older CDs would never play.

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As I said, I’ve abandoned any thoughts of driving north but I got an email on Friday, two weeks after I enquired (!) about having mains power available in a Broome camping area. Two weeks! Typical Aussie attitude, file under LBW, Let the Buggers Wait.

Anyway, the guy said he’s 69 and uses CPAP too, so knows what I need and even though the sites are described as unpowered, he said he could probably arrange something. I replied that that was then, this is now. Can’t travel, sorry. Maybe next year.

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More later; I need some more sleep, having gone lights out at about 12.30am and being forced to get up at 6am.