The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

Tap the photo to see it at full size.

While reading a number of articles on the potential for CPAP machines to be used as makeshift ventilators for less-severe COVID-19 cases or as the basis for conversions into full-fledged ventilators, it occurred to me that a nose-and-mouth CPAP mask like mine could be used as a makeshift mask for going out on essential trips.

They’ve got a lot going for them: they form a tight seal, they’re easy to clean and can be reused, and you can connect a bacterial filter to the hose attachment (which opens downward thanks to gravity, further reducing the risk of droplet contact). I was in the process of ordering a replacement mask anyway, so in addition to a new mask, I ordered a fresh cushion for my old one so that Anitra could use it.

Here’s how the mask and filter fit together:

Between the mask/bacterial filter combo and the fact that the airway faces downward, I figure that the rig makes for some decent droplet protection.

The no-prescription workaround

The tricky thing about getting a CPAP mask is that like the CPAP machine you attach it to, it requires a prescription. However, there’s a workaround that just about every online CPAP vendor makes available to customers: while ordering a complete mask requires a prescription, ordering CPAP mask parts doesn’t, and the parts snap together quite easily. Best of all, the cost of ordering parts is about the same as ordering a complete mask.

My new mask is a RedMed AirFit F20, which sells for $120 in kit form at CPAP.com. A cushion for my old mask, a Quattro, sells for $54. This isn’t a cheap solution, but if you already have a CPAP and have some old masks, you might be able to repurpose them for the plague.

In case you were wondering:

• The red thing in the center column, bottom row is a tabo. To borrow a line from Hasan Minhaj, who used the same phrase to describe a similar item called a lota, it’s “the manual transmission of bidets.”
• The stuff in the lower right corner is White Flower oil, which I would describe as “China’s answer to Vicks Vaporub.”

Tap the photo to see it at full size.

It’s Monday, and I’m pushing ahead at full speed on the screened-in front porch office as I work my way through my to-do list. I do have an online checklist, but it’s not as satisfying to look at the version on my whiteboard.

I’m continuing to work on revising the book I co-wrote, iOS Apprentice, 8th Edition. I’ve got until the end of the week.

As you can see, I’ve obscured most of my checklist except for two items:

• Posting a “Thank you, Lilypad and Fintech!” article on my tech blog Global Nerdy. It’s an overdue expression of gratitude to my former employer, Lilypad, and its parent company, Fintech.
• Promoting Virtual Ignite Tampa Bay. Ignite Tampa Bay’s in-person event may be cancelled thanks to COVID-19, but theres no reason it can’t be done online. Join us as we present the best of Ignite Tampa Bay over the years, which includes this gem from Ignite Tampa Bay 2015:

…I’d try to go with the least worst of this motley rabble of reprehensible gasbags. Maybe house number 2, especially since Jordan “Get your life together, bucko!” / “alt-right Dr. Phil” Peterson will still be recovering from that medically induced coma from that Russian clinic that he went to because of his addiction to benzos, and will be silent (this is man who needs to follow his own Rules for Life, or perhaps a better-written version thereof). Also because I’m pretty sure I could intimidate a limp fish like Charlie Kirk with an askew glance.

If you were forced to, which of these houses of right-wing grifters would you live with?

Need to know more about PragerU?

• PragerU’s Wikipedia entry
• Dennis Prager’s entry on RationalWiki
• New York Times: Right-Wing Views for Generation Z, Five Minutes at a Time
• Media Matters for America: PragerU relies on a veneer of respectability to obscure its propagandist mission
• Mother Jones: Inside the Right-Wing YouTube Empire That’s Quietly Turning Millennials Into Conservatives
• Los Angeles Times: How a Los Angeles-based conservative became one of the internet’s biggest sensations
• TechDirt: Prager University Loses Another Of Its Silly Lawsuits Against YouTube Over Non-Existent ‘Bias’
• The Weather Channel: A COURSE IN CLIMATE MISINFORMATION
• Southern Poverty Law Center: PragerU’s influence

Thanks to Sleeping Giants for the find!

Tap the comic to see it at full size.