gogo

It's on her face, and last Thursday, a couple of days after she was diagnosed, her eye was so swollen that my sister took her back up to the emergency room (she'd been told to watch for anything around her eye, any scratching could be a sign of the infection actually being in the eye, and could lead to loss of vision; this didn't happen, and is no longer a concern). They put her in an isolation room and had her wear a mask (FYI, these are mostly for keeping infected people from breathing on non-infected, not the other way around; so if you see anyone wearing one out in public, either they're

And they are gorgeous! Thank you!

Right in the middle of all this H1N1 (not supposed to say swine anymore) flu, my mom actually goes and gets shingles! What the hell?!?

Yay!

A couple of you have made my weekend. Thanks!

It's funny 'cause it's true!!!

So, pretty much a normal weekend for me...

I'm still hoping that someone will come up with a shoe design. But hopefully not concrete there, either.

It was suggested, but never officially submitted. We had tons of good suggestions, but we need something concrete!

Yes, please! The deadline was put there because we've got some other fundraising ideas, and wanted to get this rolling before the next phases began, but we are absolutely willing to extend the deadline. Any designs would be more than welcome!

I invite you to join me at O'Keeffe's the next time you're here...

If that turns out to be the only design submitted, I'm going to stab you all with the jagged edge of a broken Wilco (The Album) CD.

Nothin'. Good thing I know that Johnny's working on something. It's all that's keeping me going!

Hmmm. And yet, no one has come up with a t-shirt design?

Yeah, the people in LA don't even know we're here. It's a one-way rivalry. I had dinner at Shadowbrook once. YUM. And, it's beautiful there. Definitely recommended if you're looking for a place to stay over.

Happy Day, Lou! And I'll tag on my usual Happy Birthday wishes to Trish, too!

This one is just perplexing.

I still don't see where what you posted proves that what I said was wrong. I'm not saying that there's nothing wrong with the food supply chain in the U.S. and Mexico. I would even agree with you that unsanitary conditions at those sites lead to food-borne diseases. And, that unsanitary conditions can be a breeding ground for disease in the swine population, including the flu. But what I am saying is, you will not get influenza from eating pork. If that's what you're worried about, you're worried about entirely the wrong thing. There's plenty to be worried about, don't borrow trouble o

That's what you took from my post? Even if you could get the flu from being in close proximity with a live pig (not likely in the US at this point, though still potentially possible), no, you cannot get swine flu from eating pork.

There has been no reported case of animal-to-human transmission in the U.S. They're investigating whether "patient zero" in Mexico got it from a pig, but even that has not yet been confirmed. The problem comes when the virus jumps from swine to humans, and then mutates into a strain that can be transmitted between humans. That's why there's more concern with this than with a regular flu, it's a new strain and they don't know the full effects yet. Other countries destroying their swine populations are potentially creating far more problems than they're solving (starting with adding to the

Yeah, the pig slaughtering is a pointless act, and completely confuses the actual risks involved in this situation.

After Y2K came and went with no major ill effects, one of my uncles said to me that obviously, there had never been anything to worry about, and the media was just trying to scare us all. I pointed out that perhaps all of the concern prior to event had caused people to take whatever steps were necessary to prevent a major catastrophe. I see the media's role being pretty much the same thing here. Let us know what can happen if we're not prepared. Yes, some folks are taking it too far, but I don't see any harm in apprising people of what they need to do to protect themselves, how to react i

I have to grit my teeth everytime I read that someone is "flaunting" the rules. Scofflaws flout, not flaunt, damn it!

Since we can't PM anymore... If you've got a design that you want to submit, please e-mail it to me at maudiemcc [at@] hotmail.com. Also, post in here that you've done so, because I don't usually check that e-mail address. Thanks!