spring has sprung
Posted on by Gary

Spring has sprung

Spring has sprung and it’s a day of mixed feelings. Summer is closer, so that is good. It’s Father’s Day and my daughters have sent me messages so that’s good. I have ManFlu this week so that’s not good. It hasn’t been anything terribly different from other episodes. The main concern about my ManFlu has been the constant barking coughing and creating an unsightly spectacle as I expectorate tenacious mucopurulent phlegm. I hate spring which I’ll explain later in this post.

Spring has sprung

spring has sprung
QF1460 CBR to SYD

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Not that I’m showing anyone my tenacious mucopurulent phlegm. I mean as I cough or blow my nose I always take a look and marvel and honour the beauty that is the inflammatory reaction we generate when our mucous membranes are breached by pathogenic viruses and the then ensuing polymorphonuclear purulence that follows as bacteria come in large numbers to wreak a little havoc with epithelial cells which have been damaged by those pesky viruses. With the increase in bacterial numbers, the inflammatory system mixes things up moving from a mononuclear to a polymorphonuclear reaction. This leads to better pyogenesis. This is why, early in a viral upper respiratory tract infection, everything you sneeze is loose, slippery, and mostly clear. This relatively clear snot is laden with viral particles. It’s when you are most infectious. A day or so later, as the magic of immunology takes hold, commensal bacteria increase in numbers and rather than mononuclear inflammatory cells at the front line, the polymorphonuclear cells swell in numbers and come in to really clean up. Bacteria put up a little fight which leads to bacterial and cellular debris which gets mopped up by more polymorphonuclear cells and the formation of pus in all its glory. The mucopurulent discharge is different from the early slippery and wet-feeling clear snot. The phlegm we love is sticky, gooey, tenacious, it’s not clear, it can be a yellow to green colour, and sometimes, if it’s really sticky, when we expectorate or blow really hard, it rips away some superficial capillaries and we might see a tinge of blood in our snot as we blow into a tissue. Occasionally, there may be clots of blood, especially in the morning.

The yellow-green joy of phlegm is less of an infection spreading problem, the bacteria in the phlegm are commensal to our own mucous membranes. Likewise, the cough is more a result of the post-nasal drip that occurs, especially in people like me who are hypersecretory when it comes to inflammatory reactions. I will now be coughing for weeks, yet I’ll feel okay in my head.

I hate when spring has sprung

So spring has sprung, and in Canberra, that means another joyous insult to our upper respiratory passages, viz., allergic rhinitis or hay fever. The air we breathe so happily, is filled with pollen from plants and spores from fungi. You know moulds, not necessarily yeasty goodness which is also fungal.

Yeasty goodness

Yeasts are magnificent. Without yeast, there wouldn’t be thrush or the benefit of fermented alcoholic beverages so many people (me excluded) seem to enjoy. As a disease thrush is most unpleasant, but in a Gram’s stain, seeing the yeast cells stain blue against the contrasting pink of the cellular material and proteinaceous matrix, those yeast cells are so very pretty.

I hate spring, I much prefer summer. Sure spring has blossoms and bulbs, but I constantly feel like my paranasal sinuses are congested with mucus. Such is the effect of allergic rhinitis on my life.

Can you imagine living for months on end like your brain is in a fog? I hate it. Bring on summer I say, I don’t care that spring has sprung.

Travel this week

This has been a busy week. On Tuesday I spent the day in Adelaide and flew back to work in Canberra on Wednesday morning. On Friday, I was in Sydney for work too.

On Tuesday evening, I had a room in a relatively new hotel built within the Adelaide airport complex. I ate dinner in the hotel restaurant.

I went with a piece of belly pork which was served with batons made from pork rinds plus some skinny batons of Granny Smith apple. The muscle and fat of the pork belly were nice. The muscle was tender. The fat was tasty. The rind though was disappointing. It was chewy. I’m guessing the pieces of belly pork had been cooked sous vide some time ago and were reheated prior to serving. It’s a pity a searing hot frypan couldn’t be used to crackle up the rind.

What have I watched this week?

Hyperdrive

This is a new Netflix show. It’s mainly about drifting. Drivers from around the world including RSA but not Oceania were invited to the USA with their cars to compete in a specially designed course which emphasised the skills needed to drift.

There were certainly some unorthodox cars used. Who knew an all wheel drive hypercar could be made to drift? There are a mixture of big V8 engines, some straight and bent 6s, plus four-pot pus boxes, and even a Wankel rotary engine in the mix.

Kim’s blog has a better description if you want to visit and have a read.

While I enjoyed the series, I think too many episodes were produced. There should be more information about the cars, less about the drivers, and much less focus on the hosts. I mean why is a mixed martial artist a host on a show featuring drifting? I’m more interested in machines and not interested much at all about people.

Last Man Standing

Tim Allen generates mixed feelings I know. I think it’s because I’m an old bloke who grew up in Brisbane in the 70s and 80s which best explains why I remain a fan of his humour. I mean have you seen Galaxy Quest? It is the best Star Trek parody you’ll ever watch. It has Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman. It’s hard to beat.

Then there was Home Improvement. I just loved that show. I was drawn in by Tim Taylor the muscle car loving father of three sons.

Last Man Standing turns Home Improvement on its head and now Mike Baxter aka Outdoor Man is the father of three daughters. Mike Baxter, like Tim Taylor, is car and gun crazy.

It’s 2019 and I feel conflicted. If something is a guilty pleasure, it means I should examine the cause of the guilt. The humour of Tim Allen is arcane. Is it outdated? I suppose it depends on how we want our future to look. I want a future of equality and a fair go for everyone. I also want a future of good humour, smiles, and belly laughs. I want a future where my sarcasm and dark sense of humour can thrive in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone.

I fear that if we don’t get the settings right, we will end up in an ironical state which will reflect a puritanical position where the judgement of the ‘influencers’ and influential who will not be puritanically religous, will want to religously cleanse society of any characteristic they regard as improper.

National Rugby League

The Brisbane Broncos defeated the Paramatta Eels.

What have I listened to this week?

Meet the Microbiologist

A great show from Julie Wolf and Dr Julie Villanueva who is a Branch Chief at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and who manages the Laboratory Response Network. I love the international connections with the LRN.

What have I eaten and photographed this week?

Videos

Photographs

This is a gallery of photographs. Click on one image and scroll through the rest of them.

  • Wednesday tea. Leftover sous vide duck breast and MEATER™ made chicken thigh cabbage laksa flavoured soup. #yummylummy #foodphotography #lowcarb #noaddedsugar #ManFlu #meatermade @meatermade Check out the original at https://yummylummy.com/2019-08-24 Duck, Chicken, Cabbage, Laksa, Coriander, Tomatoes, Spring onion, Red onion G’day food lovers I’m now in the laryngitis phase of my ManFlu. I didn’t feel like cooking so I heated up leftover sous vide duck breast and MEATER™ made chicken thigh cabbage laksa flavoured soup using microwave radiation. The spiciness helped clear my nasal passages momentarily. Catch you later
  • Queensland nuts, steamed egg, Coon™, and spinach.
  • Steamed egg, Coon™️, and wilted spinach
  • Salmon sushi rolls
  • Pork belly with Granny Smith apple and green leaves. Atura Adelaide Airport Hotel.
  • Thursday tea. Leftover slow cooker brisket with leafy greens and tomatoes and a creamy sauce. #yummylummy #foodphotography #lowcarb #noaddedsugar #ManFlu #slowcooker Brisket, Kale sprouts, Cabbage, Kale, Cream, Garlic butter, Tomatoes G’day food lovers Tonight I sliced some of the brisket I cooked in the slow cooker on Sunday. I reheated the brisket in a frypan with some rice bran oil. I then added in some red cabbage, sugarloaf cabbage, green kale, and kale sprouts. I put the lid on the frypan to get the vegetables to cook through and wilt a little. Once the vegetables had gone limp, I added some garlic butter, then some cream, and then stirred in some horseradish cream. I turned the heat off and tossed in and stirred through some halved cherry tomatoes. Have a good one.
  • Party pies and sushi
  • Friday tea. Rotisserie chicken, potato scallops, and avocado. #yummylummy #foodphotography #ManFlu #takeaway Chicken, Potato scallops, Avocado G’day food lovers I spent today in Sydney for a meeting and the recovery from the ManFlu is getting me down. I had planned to cook dinner but on the flight back I decided I would do takeaway. I went to Jamison Plaza and got half a chook and a couple of potato scallops. And for bloody Mexicans aka Victorians, these are potato scallops. They are not potato cakes. I thought I should have something fresh because for lunch I ate party pies which was a bit of a mistake. I had an avocado with tea tonight. I wish this cough would improve. Catch you later.
  • Saturday tea. ManFlu cough healing brisket and cabbage laksa soup. #yummylummy #foodphotography #lowcarb #noaddedsugar #ManFlu #brisket #laksa Brisket, Prawns, Laksa paste, Cabbage, Red onion, Spring onion, Coriander, Ginger, Lime juice, Lime, Coconut cream G’day food lovers I’ve been coughing all day. I was asked out tonight but I’d be an unsightly disgusting dinner guest expectorating sticky mucopurulent phlegm into a handkerchief. I’ll have the recipe up on YummyLummy.com later. I added some finely sliced red cabbage and sugarloaf cabbage to a saucepan with some water and laksa paste and brought it to a boil. I simmered it for about ten minutes and then added some crushed ginger and lime juice and stirred it through. I took leftover sliced brisket and raw prawns and added it to the simmering cabbage and laksa flavours and stirred through the reef and beef. Once the prawns had changed colour I added in a small tin of coconut cream and stirred it through. Once everything had cooked through, I turned off the heat and added the coriander roots and stems plus the spring onion whites and greens. I ladled the soup into a bowl and garnished it with coriander leaves and a wedge of lime. My lips are still tingling and I can breathe a little more easily. I feel full though. Bye
  • Red cabbage and sugarloaf cabbage with brisket and prawns. Coconut cream added. Coriander and spring onion added.
  • Saturday lunch. Fried speck, kale sprouts, spinach, horseradish cream, garlic butter, cream, Queensland nuts, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds. #yummylummy #foodphotography #lowcarb #noaddedsugar
  • Saturday breakfast. Steamed egg with Coon™, on wilted spinach and surrounded by cherry tomatoes. Egg, Coon cheese, Spinach, Tomatoes #yummylummy #foodphotography #lowcarb #noaddedsugar #ManFlu #hdr
  • Steamed eggs, Coon™ cheese, and spinach
  • Steamed eggs, Coon™ cheese, and spinach

Yummy Lummy this week

Brisket Cabbage Laksa Soup Pinterest

I was invited out last night but I figured my coughing was not the best thing to expose others too even though I don’t believe I pose an infection risk. There’s always the off chance someone will catch me admiring the look I have when I check out what I’ve deposited in a tissue.

Rather than cook and blog about something flash, I went with leftover brisket which I combined with some prawns to make a brisket cabbage soup. It helped clear our the ManFlu sinuses because I used laksa paste for flavouring.

The cookbook

Now that spring has sprung, I really should get into this book writing business. I’ve been too busy though again this week.

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Final thoughts

Do you like checking your deposits in your tissue when you blow your nose? Are you fascinated by the process of inflammation? Do you like watching motor racing on TV?

4 Replies to “Spring has sprung”

  1. I do love Spring Gary; my favourite season…love the buds booming and the temperature – today is particularly lovely. But I do feel very sorry for people like you who it affects; not good at all.

    1. Thanks, Sue. Without a doubt, Spring is a beautiful season. It’s hard to beat the beauty of the blossoms and the bulbs.

  2. I think there’s nothing wrong with checking deposits in your tissue and when going to the bathroom – you can tell if you’re getting sicker or getting better. The only sport I don’t mind watching on TV is soccer and tennis, and maybe a bit of NBA.

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