CORONAVIRUS

It's rather hard to concentrate on blogging when every day brings with it some bad news about coronavirus.

Our warning example is the outbreak in Italy. The italians haven't taken it seriously from the beginning,  and now Italy is completely paralyzed.
We, in Israel have taken it more seriously, and yet we are probably at the stage were contamination cannot be prevented any further, despite on going drastic measures. This is panicking, because our Health Care System will not be able to deal with hundreds  of corona patients simultaneously.

One would think medical people know a lot about the virus, and the only thing now is to come up with a vaccine.
Well, the corona seems to be very elusive. People that infect others are in many cases  asymptomatic, the disease is described as a mild sort of flu, but those who recover from it might still.infect others .

They say it is dangerous  mainly for  elderly people with chronic disease history. There's, however, a 38 year old driver with no such history (albeit a smoker), hospitalized in serious condition.
Now we have a 9-year old too on the list although they say the virus seems to avoid children.

Besides blaming the chinese for eating snake meat and bat meat, additional blame is put on the airplane. Yes.the vehicle that connects countries also helps spread the virus.  So, flights get cancelled, airports closed.  Nobody knows what next.

We are reminded to wash our hands thoroughly. That's something most of us do regularly.  Pity we are not reminded to watch our immune system and make any effort to strenghten it. That would be very rewarding.

Where does all this lead to, total collapse? Only God knows.

The Bowl of Rice and Ayurvedic Soap

Sometimes I wonder about remote ,unknown to me places, just because I happen to like and use some product manufactured there. So, I find myself seeking information on 'Andhrah Pradesh', a state in India, mentioned on my favorite ayurvedic soap; 'Harderwijk' , a city in Holland where the finest organic apple puree comes from; Costa di Mezzate, city in Bergamo, Italy, which houses the Molino Nicoli, the company which produces the finest cornflour; 'Oak Brook', a village in Illinois, USA, home to the headquarters of Paper Mate, the company responsible for my most beloved pencil . And other such locations.

Andhrah Pradesh (capital city - Hyderabad) is a large state situated on the southeastern coast of India. Historically it's called the "Rice bowl of India" as more than 77 % of its crop is rice. Although agriculture is the basis of the state's economy, information technology (software industry) and biotechnology (pharmaceutical companies) are at the top of the key sectors active in this state.

Andrah Pradesh State Assembly (web pic.)

ayurvedic soap

Anyway, I'm very pleased with the green bar of soap ( 18 herbs among its ingredients) produced there. It gives me the right feeling of cleanliness and freshness that I look for in a soap.

Harderwijk is a small city in the eastern part of Holland. It's main attraction is the Dolphinarium with its dolphin shows. However, it is also known for 'Natudis' , wholesaler of organic food and natural health products which has its headquarters and warehouse in the city. I like their sugarless 'appelpuree' which is based on the well-known Demeter apple. I buy this product mainly in winter , and it is eaten as dessert.

Dolphinarium Harderwijk (web pic.)

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organic apple puree

Costa di Mezzate is a commune in the province of Bergamo in Lombardy, Italy.This place houses the Molino Nicoli SpA , the company which produces the fine cornflour (gluten free) for polenta, the yellow boiled dish made from this kind of flour.

After trying various brands, I found out that this particular Nicoli cornflour is the best for preparing the polenta or its romanian counterpart, a staple dish called 'mamaliga', so I make sure I always have it on the shelf. 'Mamaliga' (polenta) tastes great with everything - especially with cheese, sour cream, omelette, beans.

Medieval Castle in Costa di Mezzate (web pic.)


cornflour for polenta

Oak Brook is a village, a suburb of Chicago in Illinois, USA. The place has many recreational facilities: polo fields, a golf course, swimming pools, tennis fields.
Mc Donald's has its headquarters here and so does Sanford, manufacturer of writing instruments and art materials. Paper Mate is part of the family of brands owned by Sanford. (In the past, there was another village , Bellwood , associated with Stanford and Paper-Mate). Anyway, as far as I know their products are manufactured in Mexico.

Paper Mate mechanical sharp writer pencil has been for many years and still is my best writing companion. I just love it. I can't live without it. It comes in a pack of six or twelve; yellow barrel, but also in neon colors. It doesn't need sharpening, it has a pocket clip, and an eraser. Its writing quality is great.

Oak Brook center (web pic.)

Paper Mate mechanical pencils

I'm all in favor of buying local products and encouraging the local industry, but that's not always possible. I suppose I can make my own organic apple puree, and I can even find a local cornflour that will suit my taste. There's ,however, nothing on the local market similar to the indian ayurvedic soap and to the Paper Mate sharp writer pencil.(sigh).