The Core Dump

You were bred to drink beer

Via Daring Fireball

Maybe it’s from reading The Stand at an impressionable age, but the idea of a bird flu pandemic scares the bejeebus out of me.

How much of the current alarm is agencies looking for funding and how much of it is genuine concern, I am not qualified to judge, but the sheer idea of something on the horizon that makes the influenza epidemic of 1918 look like the common cold is Not a Good Thing.

For your bleak, Bergmanesque pleasure, here’s a picture of a provisional hospital in Sweden in 1918 created to treat—to the extent possible—people infected with the flu:

Click the picture for larger version. Source: Dagens Nyheter.

To make things even worse, scientists have re-created the virus strain that caused the 1918 pandemic, and say that the bird flu “could soon develop infectious properties like those seen in the 1918 bug.”

The resurrected (how scary of a word is that in this context?) 1918 virus is currently incarcerated at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hey, God? It would be pretty fab if no freak hurricanes hit Atlanta, okay?

Soundtrack: “Hold On to Me” by Cowboy Junkies

It had to happen sooner or later: Andrea brought some kind of bug home from the virus farm (as I tend to think of day care) and it’s knocked me out.

Don’t know what particular mini-hooligan is in my system, but it’s causing a low-grade fever, headache, upset stomach, and general aches and pains. So the fun factor is pretty low here underneath the blanket on the couch.

But Tylenol is being taken, fluids are being consumed, and rest is being had, so hopefully the invader will be dispatched before too long.

Soundtrack: Stream from Groove Salad

From the Scary Stuff department, this article at CNN talks about how half of bankruptcies are caused by serious illness. To make matters even worse, the majority of people forced to file for bankruptcy due to the costs of serious medical problems had medical insurance.

The system seems just a wee bit broken, doesn’t it?

Soundtrack: Stream from Groove Salad

My body was a temple, once, many years ago. Then it became more of a 7-11, and today it is the scene of a vicious war between an evil horde of marauding viruses and the over-stretched and under-funded National Guard of my immune system.

Vote NO on vicious viruses, I say.

Andrea got a flu shot on Monday, and yesterday (Wednesday) when I picked her up from day care, the staff commented that she had been grouchy all day, and had some diarrhea.

So I stayed home today with her today–diarrhea and a pretty high fever. Went through a whole lot of diapers, Desitin, and orange juice.

Sat with her on the couch–she watched her new favorite show Dora The Explorer while I read Richard Clarke’s Against All Enemies. (Only about halfway through at this point, but a great book so far.) Really strange juxtaposition of having Dora and Boots go through their childish adventures while reading about the spread of crack-job terrorists and the Tom Clancy-esque work inside the White House…

Andrea seems to be feeling better, so hopefully the diaper count will go down tomorrow and she’ll go back to being her usual delightful little self. Watching her being sick is one of my least favorite activities in the world.

Listening To: Stream from Groove Salad

In case anybody’s been worried about Turbo and her urinary tract infection, I’m pleased to report that the Amoxycillin has worked its magic, and she now seems fully recovered–the turbo charger is once again purring.

Listening To: “Sektor One” by Mix Master Mike

So, $157 later we now know that Turbo does indeed have a urinary tract infection. Which means that we get to spend the next two weeks force feeding her pediatric Amoxycillin. Cooperating with the authorities when it comes to things like medicine, or for that matter anything, really, isn’t one of her strong suits, so dispensing the medicine is a two-person task.

Good clean fun for the whole family twice a day.

Let’s hope the antibiotics fix her up, though, so the peeing on the couch ends.

Turbo, one of our two cats, has recently picked up the noxious habit of peeing on the couch. Fortunately it is a leather couch, so at least it’s easy to clean up.

Nevertheless, it’s disturbing she’s all of a sudden picked up this delinquent behavior.

The collective wisdom of the Internet seems to suggest she may be having a urinary tract infection, have developed feline diabetes, or may be acting out due to stress. None of these sound like good news. To add to the confusion, her urine doesn’t smell, which certainly doesn’t seem right either.

Prior to the errant urinating, she was walking around limping on one of her front paws for a few days, which may be somehow related and suggests that perhaps it is indeed a urinary tract infection.

Before anybody starts lambasting me for not rushing her to the vet as soon as she developed the limp (which has now gone away on its own): I don’t take me to the doctor for a limp, so the cat sure isn’t going either. End of story.

We’re monitoring the situation now, and if she hasn’t stopped peeing in forbidden places at the end of the week, it’s off to see the vet.

Music: “Voodoo People” by The Prodigy [Opens in iTunes]