For some reason, some of them are really determined that it's not swine flu.
Because people don't like to think they've got a fatal disease? I mean, people will exaggerate minor illness, but you don't get many people saying "Well, my doctor says it's a cyst, but I reckon it's untreatable cancer."
you don't get many people saying "Well, my doctor says it's a cyst, but I reckon it's untreatable cancer."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
It's not exactly fatal. It has gone wide, so get ready to be infected... laydeez.
But still. Plus I'd spread it to everyone.
If you can set up your timing with respect to HP and your classes, you could just go over and your carpoolers to breathe on you.
max
['A week later: no chance of infection.']
Because people don't like to think they've got a fatal disease?
Um, it's far less fatal than regular old flu.
I think it's just general "Eeek! Cooties!" squirminess.
I may be getting sick, actually. Which is why this was on my mind. If I am, that would actually be perfect, because Jammies' mom is coming in tomorrow, so she could take care of Hawaiian Punch, and I'd probably be fine by the time the general guests arrived.
Everybody's going to get it eventually. It wouldn't be great to have it on your wedding, but it would be worse to have t on a honeymoon. The crazy thing is that after the first few days, you really don't feel sick at all. So you do something strenuous like, say, leisurely pushing a wheeled cart through an air-conditioned grocery store for thirty minutes. Then you collapse on the couch and pass out for five hours.
Eh, we're not taking a honeymoon until next summer.
But there's so many out-of-town family and friends who I don't see very often. I'd be pretty upset if I missed out on maximizing hanging-out time because I was totally wiped out.
6: You mean sober, or like the usual couch passing-out?
7: I recall a family wedding where nearly everybody was staying for at least four days and most were there a week. The flu (I suppose) went through the whole family. It seemed to really only knock-you down for a two days. Everyday the adults would take a count of which of them were functional (and how many kids were out of bed) before deciding what to do.
I'm pretty sure I've had the pig fever -- they aren't doing tests anymore around here, because everyone has had it. For me it was a day or two of feeling crap, following by a snotty nose for, like, forever. (Forever includes the present moment.) This conclusion is somewhat confounded by little Gusty starting at nursery and of course picking up every damn bug that's ever been, so I can't really say if the snot is from the pig fever or subsequent illness. Either way, it ain't a big deal for us and probably won't be for you. You should get it now, because it is going to be totally passé by winter.
Out of curiosity, what is the test for swine flu? Do they culture and look at the germs or is there something canned or are the symptoms really that different from the regular flu in some way?
11
are the symptoms really that different from the regular flu in some way?
IANAD, but from what I've read the symptoms are the same as the regular flu, it's just that nobody has the usual resistance to it. ("Resistance" in the sense of "being exposed to it but not getting sick", not in the sense of "getting it and having it be mild".)
Well then, what do you prescribe Dr HG?
I prescribe ice cream and hugs.
Maybe I got swine flu from slopping around in six inches of mud.
I've been ABD since 1996, so I'm like a super-near-doctor.
Your students are lucky. The doctors with which I am more closely acquainted are want to prescribe conference papers and dissertation chapters.
ABD? A Badass Doctor? Average Balding Dude? Arch-enemy Building Destructo-ray?
Well, they aren't doctors of literature, or grammar, or any other closely related subject.
I am wont to want to use 'wont' in that case.
Breeze, what you got sounds more like a cold to me.
Um, it's far less fatal than regular old flu.
True enough, but that's not the popular perception. The popular perception is that regular flu is basically a bad cold and swine flu is a bird flu-like killer. .
That reminds me, I should get my regular flu shot today.
The popular perception is that regular flu is basically a bad cold and swine flu is a bird flu-like killer.
I thought the popular perception was that fewer people overall die of swine flu, but presumably-healthy 20- to 30-year-olds are more likely to die. So it scares people who aren't used to thinking of themselves as vulnerable.
Our students coast on impressions. I think they just think GERMS GROSS ECH!
The popular perception is that regular flu is basically a bad cold and swine flu is a bird flu-like killer. .
But anyway, this isn't the perception around here. Not when 3/4 of the football team is out with swine flu. Everybody knows tons of people who've had it, or had it themselves.
30: Fortunately, it's only Tuesday, so most of them should be back by Saturday.
Our football team set a school record on Saturday for the most turnovers in a single game:7.
I've only talked to one person who claims to have had swine flu. I've talked to a few other people who said things like "I got this cold that really knocked me out last week", and I say "oh, you had the swine flu?", and they say, "no, I had a cold". I'm skeptical.
32: Probably biological warfare to get the germy ball to the other side.
Everybody's going to get it eventually.
Shut up, said the pregnant lady.
Colds are terribly unpleasant, so, no, I'm not mocking you. Stuffy noses aren't usually a symptom of the flu.
The other day I was talking to my sister about how young people seem to be more susceptible to H1N1, and she's somewhat higher risk. She said that was good to know, since she almost never gets sick. She then complained about getting sniffles and wondered whether she was getting a cold. I teased her about the inconsistency, and she maintained adamantly that getting a cold didn't count as getting sick.
A girl in one of my classes has the swine flu. All set to come back to class and then she started coughing up blood. I asked her to please stay away longer.
35: Colds, etc. are great fun when you can't take any decent drugs to ameliorate your symptoms. No, the saline rinse is not just as good as sudafed. Lots of handwashing!
37: And before swine flu, nobody thought anything of the person at the next desk coughing blood.
Colds are terribly unpleasant, so, no, I'm not mocking you. Stuffy noses aren't usually a symptom of the flu.
The CDC lists 'em as one.
35: Colds, etc. are great fun when you can't take any decent drugs to ameliorate your symptoms.
Also it's supposedly much more likely to be serious in pregnant people. BOO. Today is the day I tell my students that I'm pregnant, and so please don't come to my tiny office to meet with me if you are sick.
No office hour = more time for your buddies at Unfogged. WIN!
No office hour = more failures = more tuition money collected from desperate students. WIN!
32: Probably biological warfare to get the germy ball to the other side.
No, they just kept sneezing into their elbows and losing their grip on the ball.
ACHOOPS!
Today is the day I tell my students that I'm pregnant
I hope one of them stands up and shouts, "But you told me you were on the pill!"
44 would work even better in a high school.
How are people getting swine flu diagnoses? I had a bad cold last week that was fairly impressive as colds go (lost my voice in an entertainingly squawky way. I spent a couple of days singing "Do, a deer" to figure out which notes I could sing and and which had disappeared completely). I suppose it could have been swine flu, but it didn't seem like the sort of thing that was worth going to the doctor over, and really didn't seem like the kind of thing that a doctor would have done a test for, rather than saying "Drink plenty of fluids".
Is there some list of particular symptoms that picks out the swine flu from a garden variety rhinovirus, or are people getting some kind of blood test, or what?
There is a test, LB, but the accurate one takes about a week. The rapid one doesn't seem to be very reliable. In the spring they were testing a lot of people. Now they only recommend testing hospitalized cases.
Do, a deer, a female deer
Kinky!
We have these bright orange signs posted all over the bathrooms on campus shouting about the dangers of swine flu and the necessity of handwashing.
I think we should all rent a villa away from populated areas and tell stories until the danger passes.
We now have dispensers of hand sanitizer at every elevator and at lots of doorways in my office building. Maybe I'll change my mind when things get bad enough, but no way am I going to use that stuff now. It's gross. And if this thing is as contagious as they say, it's not like the sanitizer is going to help me anyway.
I hope one of them stands up and shouts, "But you told me you were on the pill!"
We can dream!
We have alcohol gel dispensers everywhere. Make of that what you will.
49: We have such signs as well, except with a guy sneezing who looks exactly like Malcolm Tucker from In The Loop/The Thick Of It.
49: I can't wait for the swine flu to pass so I can stop washing my hands after I use the bathroom.
At my place of employment, gel sanitizer bottles litter every table, desk, and doorway. Once people get used to seeing them, I'm replacing them all with lube.
I've installed bourbon dispensers throughout my office. I don't know about the germs, but they do wonders for my state of mind.
#59. I'm sitting about three feet away from the office liquor cabinet RIGHT NOW.
Okay, here's a question. Calvin and I are hoping that I'll be in a high-risk group very soon, sooner than the vaccine will be available here. What's the strategy? Hang out with undergrads and get sick on purpose while I'm still at lowish risk?
Well, in the US the vaccine has already been distributed to health care professionals (that is, for them to be innoculated, not for them to dispense), so it's in the pipeline. That said, of course, if you aren't already pregnant by the time it comes to your neck of the woods, you won't be getting it for a while. Tricky.
64: I'm all for reminding people of how deluded they are, but could you be a bit more specific?
Plaques should remind mathematical realists of how deluded they really are. Nice enamel ones, with snappy cautionary slogans on them.
66: I always wanted a plaque that says "Reality is a low probability event."
By the time someone with a cold is coughing and blowing their nose a lot, they're not contagious, right? Because my boss is coughing all over everyone in the office today.
My plaque says "40+ years of not flossing well."
Or, what with the housing problems, "Realty is a low probability event."
68: And I drive just fine after a six pack.
68: coughing and sneezing is how it gets spread. So: afraid not.
OT:
I've finished the new James Ellroy, if anybody wants it.
My plaque says "40+ years of not flossing well."
Why don't they make people biscuits like those great dog biscuits that knock the plaque off teeth through simple crunching? They could be bacon*-flavored!
* I realize that bacon fetishizing is now deprecated, but, seriously, that would be a good flavor, right? Peanut butter would also work.
I thought gum was supposed to be pretty good that way. No?
63: But when the vaccine does arrive, I take it that it's expected to be safe for pregnant women? Someone on NPR was wittering on recently about safety concerns for this vaccine in particular in what I assume was an ill-informed way, but I suppose I should check that assumption.
I heard you can get the new James Ellroy just from shaking hands with someone who's read it.
I got the new Dan Brown novel from the toilet seat.
80: I wouldn't be surprised. Ellroy's obsessions (voyeurism, mothers, young creeps) are in fuller force in this one than the last couple of books.
I thought gum was supposed to be pretty good that way. No?
Really? Anti-plaque gum? Huh.
Hey, LB, look what you can get 8 hrs. of CLE credit for:
Lessons from Aristotle
Gain the edge in negotiation by applying Aristotle's three elements of persuasion to the practice of law. For lawyers in any practice area, participants will learn the elements of automatic influence and how to avoid the pitfalls that often derail success.
* Dramatically improve negotiation results with advance interest-based planning
* Learn the techniques of expansive negotiation and automatic influence
* Maintain clarity and objectivity during times of stress
You know that Aristotle, always with the clarity maintaining in times of stress.
79: Yes, pregnant women in particular are being encouraged to get vaccinated, because they're dying at a disproportionate rate from the flu. The issue is that a lot of women are very nervous about taking any medication while pregnant, and a lot of doctors are nervous about the vaccine being blamed for miscarriages that are completely unrelated.
Hey HG, are you using your unfogged dot com address?
My plaque says "40+ years of not flossing well."
You know who's really bad at telling whether you floss or not? The dentist. Every time I've been to the dentist, he (I've never been to a female dentist) has said, great brushing, now you just have to start flossing regularly! Thing is, I floss every day. And I'm pretty sure it's not just a question of me flossing incorrectly or something. Maybe I just have particularly plaque-y teeth. But another friend who is a daily flosser says her dentists have always said the same thing.
88: At my spring checkup, my dentist praised me for flossing regularly, then added: "Floss harder."
Grace-- The mist vaccine is not safe for pregnant women, but the shot which is coming out later will be.
85: Thanks! Woo!
87: No, it doesn't work. Use heebie dot geebie at gmail.
88 is completely true. I floss for a week or two before each appointment so that my gums won't bleed when the masochist goes to town with that needle-on-a-stick. I always get told to keep up the good work.
The thing that has helped me garner dental hygienist praise has been the use of Stim-U-Dents (glorified toothpicks). I hate flossing, but working the sticks usefully consumes nervous energy.
My dentist keeps telling me to get my wisdom teeth out even through they're not bothering me at all. No thank you, I'll pass on the surgery-for-the-heck-of-it..
My wife was recently pregnant (also a history of asthma) so I'm wondering how at risk she is now and whether she can still get the vaccine as a high priority group member. Of course, now we also have a mini person whose immune system doesn't turn on for three months or so, but I guess the risk isn't any greater for him than with the regular flu. Both the previous two kids were born in October as well and they had no infection problems.
94: I'm pretty certain that having an infant too young to vaccinate gets you and the rest of the house in the high priority group.
SP--They want people who are caregivers of infants under 6 months to get it, since they're at risk for infecting them. She actually qualifies as a high priority member for that alone. And the asthma also puts her in a high priority category.
And SP, Congrats on the mini person!
94: Aha! You are the person with the adorable sons in the flickr pool! (I'm guessing.)
Anybody heard from Ogged? I'm so happy to hear that things worked out with the 'bass-playing lifeguard'.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20310114,00.html
[Chris Noth Engaged]
My understanding is that breastfeeding confers immunity, so if your wife is breastfeeding, she gets the vaccination and the baby ends up protected.
My understanding is that breastfeeding confers immunity... from prosecution, Your Honor.
98- Yes, I was seeing whether anyone notices pictures that randomly appear in the pool, especially since flickr usernames mostly don't line up with posting handles.
The swine flu basically *IS* a bad cold. Or in some people, a mild cold that just lasts for-fucking-ever. It's really unfortunate they decided to call it a flu, since the symptoms aren't really classically flu-like. (I do understand there's probably some good biological/epidemiological reason they called it a "flu".) But really, for all practical purposes it's just a swine cold, and if people understood that and stayed the fuck home if they had cold symptoms we'd all be a lot better off. (I took two days off work instead of the recommended 10.)
My kids have been miserable for a goddamn month. And all the eardrums in my house have burst (other than my own).
104.last: Just because the amp goes to 11 doesn't mean it is a good idea.
Josh and BG, thanks for the information.
The swine flu basically *IS* a bad cold. Or in some people, a mild cold that just lasts for-fucking-ever. It's really unfortunate they decided to call it a flu, since the symptoms aren't really classically flu-like. (I do understand there's probably some good biological/epidemiological reason they called it a "flu".)
"Flu" is short for "influenza".
Hey, congratulations/good luck, Grace & Calvin!
Really? Anti-plaque gum? Huh.
My understanding is that saliva has some good, natural anti-plaque properties, so chewing gum helps by stimulating saliva.
Ka-chobe!
Bless you! (For being funny, that is.)
Huh. That'd be funny, if last week's cold was swinish.
saliva has some good, natural anti-plaque properties
New policy: no more swallowing.
Saliva, that is. Honestly, you people.
107
"Flu" is short for "influenza".
From Wikipedia:
The name influenza comes from the Italian influenza, meaning "influence" (Latin: influentia).
"Influenza" is short for "influenza virus".
112: Right, and I understand that this is just a different strain of the influenza virus, so in some technical biological sense it might make sense to call it swine "flu", but from a practical persons-with-symptoms perspective that's sort of problematically misleading, especially since everyone is mentally used to comparing "flu" and "cold" symptoms in performing self-diagnosis.
Influenza virus is short for Withinfluenza virussians.
I had a bad cold a couple of weeks ago. It didn't knock me out of anything much really, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was related to swine flu, given how many other people were getting sick at the time or since. I recovered more quickly than I did from pretty much any of the colds/flus I had a couple of years ago.
I'd phrase it this way: I'd have sworn (sworn!) I just had a cold. Not even the worst I've had in recent years. But my wife and kids have diagnosed postitive, and our apartment is a bubbling cesspool of H1N1 virus, so it's really implausible that I only had a cold.
But... this is always the deal with the flu. Every kind of influenza often manifests as a "cold".
Every kind of influenza often manifests as a "cold".
Really? I think of the key flu-like symptoms being fever and achiness, on top of the respiratory/congestion stuff that comes with a cold.
119: But a lot of people think "stomach flu" when they think of influenza, rather than a respiratory infection. Nevermind the fact that most "stomach flu" is really food poisoning.
Yeah, I'm with 119 - a cold is basically nasal, with some tiredness. The flu is full-body.
a lot of people think "stomach flu" when they think of influenza
This must be some weird West Coast usage. I don't think I've ever even heard anyone say "stomach flu." Head cold, chest cold, stomach bug, flu.
This must be some weird West Coast usage
I think you're weird.
I definitely grew up hearing it.
The influenza virus is known for causing the flu, but it can just cause mild illness (or "a cold"). Presumably more people this year are getting tested for H1N1 or other influenza viruses, and finding out that hey, they ended up just having a cold, but it was caused by the flu virus!
As far as I can tell "stomach flu" is a euphemism that many people use for "diarrhea and vomiting". This is also what is meant when you hear that some athlete has "flu-like symptoms". Kind of stupid since these phrases have nothing in common with the flu, or with the symptoms of the flu. It's like calling a headache "head rash".
122: I'm with Josh on this. I still say 'stomach flu' even though I know food poisoning is usually the cause (regional idiom note: I was born and raised in the Midwest). I used to just say flu, before I had the actual flu once. The actual flu was very unpleasant. I woke aching all over and took a hot shower to try to shake it off. After ten minutes standing, I was so tired I barely got to the phone to call in sick.
Kind of stupid since these phrases have nothing in common with the flu, or with the symptoms of the flu.
So when I had those symptoms and went to the doctor and they ran a bunch of tests and they reported back that I had a gastrointestinal flu, they were wrong? Or just humoring me by using the word flu? It wasn't food poisoning.
"Stomach flu" is also part of my idiolect (more or less synonymous with '24-hour virus'), but I would never use just the word 'flu' for it.
I remember getting the flu pretty often growing up, but I think I've only had it once in the last ten years or so. (And then it lasted only two or three days, so I'm still not sure it was the flu, but it felt like one.)
126: I would guess they were just being colloquial, and maybe implying that it was caused by a virus rather than bacteria or some sort of toxin.
I definitely grew up hearing it.
Ditto, in Pittsburgh.
The influenza virus is known for causing the flu, but it can just cause mild illness (or "a cold").
Indeed. If you get off easy, all that achy, knocked on your ass, whole-body stuff winds up being mild, and poof! you have "just a cold".
I believe that food poisoning is pretty rare and that most "food poisonings" are regular old stomach bugs.
I believe that food poisoning is pretty rare and that most "food poisonings" are regular old stomach bugs.
I'm not sure there's any invariant distinction....
I see.
This is kind of fascinating, for the sheer variety of pathogens if nothing else, but maybe I shouldn't be reading it while eating.
HG @ 5: If I am, that would actually be perfect, because Jammies' mom is coming in tomorrow, so she could take care of Hawaiian Punch, and I'd probably be fine by the time the general guests arrived.
Go over and have one of the carpoolers breathe on (actually, just share a glass of water) since in all probability you have an anyways. (Infected person is very contagious long before they have symptoms, and you've been spending time in enclosed spaces, and the schools is all sick anyways... so just get it over with it, is my vote.)
Actually, I think that's the way Grace and Calvin should go as well.
30: But anyway, this isn't the perception around here. Not when 3/4 of the football team is out with swine flu.
If you ain't go it, you're gonna get it... so, sing praises to Jesus, YHWH, Vishnu, Cthulu or the Great Sucking Void [your choice] that it's a minor flu and not fucking Norwalk. That shit is extremely nasty and you don't want it.
50: I think we should all rent a villa away from populated areas and tell stories until the danger passes.
Is that not just asking for a visit from the Masque of the Red Death?
max
['Oh, the terror. Oh, the silliness.']
To my mind, the major usefulness in knowing what made you sick is anticipating how long you're going to be out of commission and whether you're contagious. To that end, it matters whether it's food poisoning or a 24-hour stomach bug (I also grew up hearing "stomach flu").
Also, of course, it's ammunition against ridicule for practicing food safety. I remain surprised at how many people think it's hilarious to berate someone for washing fruits or vegetables.
I also thought I had had the flu once or twice as a child, but when I got my first case of a adult flu a few years ago, I realized those were colds. Major difference to have that whole-body-feels-like-you've-been-run-over feeling. Ick.
a adult flu
an adult flu
flu as an adult
I remain surprised at how many people think it's hilarious to berate someone for washing fruits or vegetables.
?!
I haven't come across this sentiment. Then again, I do most of my fruit and vegetable washing in private. However, I have been thinking lately that my produce-washing efforts are so half-assed (I mostly just run 'em under the water for a few seconds) as to be nearly useless.
130 Indeed. If you get off easy, all that achy, knocked on your ass, whole-body stuff winds up being mild, and poof! you have "just a cold".
Huh. I never really notice when I have a cold, because I tend to attribute all cold-like symptoms to allergies (of which I have many). So maybe I've dismissed mild flus as "just allergies"?
The mockery of fruit and vegetable washing is, er, not unusual. If I pick up some produce and haven't had a chance to wash it -- with a veg wash -- I'll bring it home to do that. People roll their eyes, yep.
I do it to clean off any pesticides and wax, though.
Maybe? Or maybe Brock-types dismiss higher-grade things as colds than Essear-types do. I have a whole category of things that I don't even really consider rising to the level of "having a cold," and I doubt that any of them have been the flu.
I guess I've never had a bad flu. I've felt knocked out for a day or two with real flu symptoms, but all the really bad times have been with non-flu flus. I've had lingering coughs without too much energy loss to go with them, but that's about it for flus.
The worst are the non-frou-frou non-flu flus. Come on, you're not getting any work, at least glam it up.
140: If you ever washed produce in front of me, parsimon, I would treat you with the utmost respect.
People roll their eyes, yep.
Sometimes I'm grouchy enough to lecture them on farmworker access to bathroom facilities. Mostly I avoid that, though, because it's upsetting to find out that a friend or colleague doesn't think it's wrong that the people picking her food are working all day without the legal right to a bathroom or a sink.
The campaign linked in the blog post Apo links isn't bad, but they don't seem to have gotten the message that food safety is a labor issue.
It took me a distressingly long time to grok the actual pun in the title--I was just thinking it was lame... "Okay... swine do have snouts, and when you get ill you need a break. Weak, but I won't mention it."
Funny, indeed.
I get annoyed when I judge people to be too persnickety about germs. If someone washes their vegetables nine times out of ten, then that's common sense. But if they absolutely must wash their vegetables ten times out of ten, then I'm going to roll my eyes.
Yeah, I'm like that about needles.
But if they absolutely must wash their vegetables ten times out of ten, then I'm going to roll my eyes.
A few months ago, some woman on the train chastised me for eating the grapes I had just purchased without washing them. She was rather exercised about the matter. Even though I knew she was right, I was still all (in my head), "Chill out lady, a few unwashed grapes won't kill me." So yeah, I get the sentiment.
Actually I totally am like that about bike helmets.
People who insist you have to use an entirely new condom with every partner? Fine, whatever, Howard Hughes.
I mean, you can only fit one in the tie.
Did you know you can just swap out the baby's diaper when it gets dirty? You don't just have to put the new one on top, it turns out.
Washing sounds like a good idea in theory, but I've always believed that decontaminating any contaminated fruits or vegetables would require a much more thorough washing than I'm prepared to undertake (since just shaking the things under the faucet can't do all that much, surely), so I mostly just don't.
Alright, you people have beaten me down about this so-called "stomach flu." I guess I've heard it, but it seems weird to me. Maybe it's wholly idiosyncratic, and I just don't use it because I don't think of myself as someone who gets flus of any sort. Before I had kids, basically all I ever got were 24 hour stomach bugs*. Now I get the runny noses and once or twice a year bad colds/mild flus**.
* Which I would distinguish from food poisoning by the fact that I've gotten them when everyone else who ate the exact same food remains healthy. There's always differential resistances, but c'mon. If I serve bad clams, everybody's going down. That's food poisoning.
** OK, seriously. flu's? influenzas? flai?
with a veg wash
I believe that Cook's Illustrated did a comparison and found that hot water is more effective than veg washes, cold water, and vinegar. It's been a couple years since I read it, but I definitely got the message that veg washes are a scam.
I basically agree with 151.
** OK, seriously. flu's? influenzas? flai?
Flu infections.
You don't just have to put the new one on top
Well, you don't have to. It's a free country. But if you do, you just have to turn them periodically so they'll mulch properly. Man, do you learn that one the hard way.
I'm certain that the damage to Kai from not getting fruit RIGHT NOW IN THIS GROCERY CART OHMYGOD I NEED THOSE RASPBERRIES far outweighs any damage he may get from eating unwashed fruits. Although I did detour to the water fountain teh other day to rinse off a bunch of grapes when it became clear that he was about to consume a dozen or more.
Does Witt want to know what I do when his pacifier drops on the sidewalk?
Hint: It does not involve boiling water.
Flu infections.
That's a lot of letters.
"Hey little man, go pick up your pacifier."
165: I'm guessing it did for the first week the first one was using a pacifier.
Hawaiian Punch won't take a pacifier, so we make her lick the ground.
Ours went through a collar-chewing phase, which was soon replace by a shoulder-chewing phase. New teeth are sharp.
168: Honestly, no. The first time Iris dropped her pacifier (on our non-mopped, dog-furry floor), I picked it up, looked at AB, brushed off the fur, gave it a suck, and handed it back.
There were a few paranoid parenting things we did with #1 that we haven't bothered with for #2, but not many - we were reasonably slack from the get-go (there are other paranoid/SWPL things we've stuck with for both, I will admit).
And yes, new teeth are wicked sharp. Kai for some reason only bites AB. Possibly he's seen how I discipline Iris.
See, the thing is that in general I'm pretty laid-back about germs. I don't use hand sanitizer frantically, I eat food that's fallen on the floor, etc.
But a) I do think it is stupid when preparing food at home to not take basic precautions, especially given the labor conditions that we know people work under; and b) as noted in my orignal comment, the issue is not that I'm running around policing other people's foodwashing habits, it's that I think it's inappropriate for them to berate me for mine (likewise, the lady on the train was rude to Otto about the grapes).
Look, scallions have poop traces on them. Not nice, but true. Most of the time that won't hurt you, and it will almost never kill you. But getting in to the habit of giving them a good rinse is -- well, a good habit.
Sometimes I cook for people who are immune-compromised, or newly pregnant. Sometimes I'm cooking for myself, when my resistance is low for other reasons. I'm not devil-may-care about food safety in those instances in just the same way that I don't leave meat sitting on the counter all day in 90 degree heat, and I don't drink milk that smells sour.
"I thig I hab a code", said the Chimney, "I'b all blogkd ub."
"Oh no," said the fireplace. "I think that's the flue."
I'll say that ever since people around here died from scallions, I take them very seriously.
And yes, at home I'm pretty consistent about washing everything. I mean, the sink's right there. I just don't sweat it in general.
I don't boil the breast before giving it to Hawaii.
Sweating scallions rarely makes them safer, and can adversely affect taste.
Jeez, Heebie, you probably don't sterilize your nipple, either. What kind of mother are you?
That would be an awesome Halloween costume: to dress Hawaiian Punch up in a bunch of bandages and bandaids and stuff.
178: Why wouldn't sweating scallions improve the safety? As for flavor, I think it improves things, but I'm not big on raw veggies.
182: I was told last night that Burmese, as a general rule, don't eat raw vegetables.
Actually, tip/preview for locals: Burma-Tokyo restaurant on Atwood in Oakland is quite good. We had ~6 hot dishes and 2 sushi, all but 1 well above average.
183: boy, that one must have been really horrible, then.
183: Thanks. I'll have to try that. When I order lunch, I've mostly been getting Scully's (sp?) lately. It's good, but I'm eating too much pizza.
181: Hang an IV bag from the stroller.
174: Look, scallions have poop traces on them. Not nice, but true. Most of the time that won't hurt you, and it will almost never kill you.
I says you're perfectly sensible, Witt.
183: 182: I was told last night that Burmese, as a general rule, don't eat raw vegetables.
Guess what they fertilize their fields with?
max
['The other really fabulous way (besides Olympic coughing) to transmit disease is via shit. So... want to remove the shit from the intake stream. Just cuz!']
I had something a few weeks ago that may have been swine flu, that actually caused me to go to bed and take a day off work. Sinuses pretty bad as well as the fever, aches etc.
My partner's son then got what definitely was swine flu, and spent the best part of a week with a 39 degree temperature, popping Tamiflu.
188
My partner's son then got what definitely was swine flu, and spent the best part of a week with a 39 degree temperature, popping Tamiflu.
Not knowing anything else about Alex, I can tell here that he is one of our overseas commenters. (Or possibly Canadian, I guess, but to an American, a human body temperature of 39 degrees is dead.)
I had (have?) h1n1. AND a compromised immune system. I am sleeping like 14 hours a night, it's awesomely helpful for my productivity.
to an American, a human body temperature of 39 degrees is dead
And in cold storage.
There is an article in NY Mag outlining what to expect from H1N1 from someone who just got over it, and her symptoms (cripplingly painful, vicodin-worthy sore throat for days and days) were not even vaguely similar to mine (kinda shitty couple of days, hack/sniff/wheeze). Neither of us was tested.
My sore throat was pretty brutal for 4 days. Bad enough to wake me up regularly at night. Other symptoms weren't particularly awful.
(I wasn't tested either. But the doctor lady seemed confident.)
I have both a nasty cold and a Saturday deadline for a first draft of a spec script.
I get annoyed when I judge people to be too persnickety about germs.
You were either not paying very close attention the last time we met up, then, or are very good at hiding your annoyance.
I had a fever of 101 all last night, until finally I took some tylenol at like 5 am this morning. Then it broke and I started to sweat buckets, and feel much better, and so I headed into work today. I think this is officially the swine flu, though.
197: Feel better. Cough away from the nice students.
You were either not paying very close attention the last time we met up, then, or are very good at hiding your annoyance.
Wait, what did you do? Was this about Hawaiian Punch pooping?