I'm Not Feeling Well

Should I be worried?

I know I shouldn't joke about something like the Swine Flu (or whatever they are calling it now), but I just listened to a news broadcast with sonorous tones reciting the statistics of how many states have incidences and how many deaths in this country (1) and showing reports of how face masks have become the "in" fashion statement (even though everyone says they are ineffectual).

Then we hear that the VP, the man who rode the train to and from Washington D.C. every day for decades is now recommending people shun all public transportation.

Why do we enjoy scaring ourselves so much? I'm sure that the Purell manufacturers are probably having a field day, as are the manufacturers of Tamaflu, which is flying off the shelves.

Flu can be a dangerous disease; more often than not it is simply an uncomfortable disease, but at the moment with a total of 140 cases of H1N1 in the United States and only one death, I figure my odds of NOT getting it are pretty good...and my risk of dying if I DO get it is pretty slim. I'm not going to barricade the doors and refuse to go out in public because I might come in contact with someone who is carrying the disease.

That said, it has not escaped my mind that it would be a wonderful irony if I should contract and die from swine flu, given my porcine appearance and all.

(borrowed from here)

While I'm waiting to succumb to Swine Flu, I've been playing Betty Crocker all day today. Tomorrow (come rain or come shine, I'm assured), the SPCA will hold its annual fund raiser, the Doggone Walk-a-thon, a walk of about a mile through the Davis greenbelt, with dogs of all sizes. There are pens for adoptable dogs (e.g., William) and there will be games and prizes and then food to buy, which is where Betty Crocker comes in.

I haven't baked cookies in a long time, but I made 2 batches of peanutbutter cookies (it's a small recipe, so doesn't make very much), a big batch of sugar cookies and Walt's favorite, chocolate chip cookies.

In the old days, you baked up a batch of cookies and brought them in a nice container and went home again.

NOW, they have to be individually packaged and each package tagged with the ingredients of the cookies. With all the people who are discovering allergies we never realized existed before, and all the people on special diets, I suppose this is necessary, but I spent more time packaging and tagging my cookies than I spent baking them! (I may have spent more on plastic bags than on cookie ingredients too!)

Fortunately I still have sticky paper left over from the days when I did medical transcription, so I was able to tag them easily enough...and the new Ziplock snack size bags are perfect for packaging two cookies per pack.