The Pandemic

A sparrow has been hanging out at the feeder all week, just sitting there, not moving as I walk by to get to the car. I'm pretty sure that bird has avian flu. It seems lethargic and apathetic. Maybe I should stop putting seed out. But won't the still healthy birds just get stressed and be possibly more susceptible to the avian flu if I stop helping?
A few years ago, I assisted a kid with a research project on pandemics and ever since then the mere mention of the word brings me anxiety. The 1918 pandemic killed about 5% of the world's population. That's a goodly amount of folk. The vaccine for the flu is only made in one place in Switzerland. Don't you think they'd have a bunch of this stuff stockpiled somewhere just in case? Especially if there's any truth to quotes in the NY Times today that the pandemic probably won't occur soon, but it will surely occur sometime in the future. Pandemics are major dissertation distractions. I really don't need this right now.
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Anonymous said…
my aunt is freaking out about the bird flu stuff. she can't sleep at night because she thinks about it. also, she calls my mom five times a day to talk about it.

but lee, there are just too many things to worry about. i choose to cross bird flu off my list.

also, i hate group projects.
5:06 PM
Anonymous said…
What a great looking dog!! Who does she belong to?
jw
6:07 PM
LH said…
kc, i know better, and I'm totally suspicious of the way this is being covered right now. It's just that i have this thing about the word "pandemic." chills! i too hate group projects. what do you have to do?

hey j, that minnie is looking deceptively sweet in this foto, don't you think?
6:18 PM
Anonymous said…
kc really does hate group projects -- and with good reason on this one. Who doesn't know that psychological criticism is all about the phallus?
7:05 PM
LH said…
speaking of freud, did you catch the nyt story today about people trying to potty train their kids starting at 10 weeks? there's a movement called something, i'll try to remember the name later.
7:22 PM
Anonymous said…
oh, i know the "movement" (haHA). It's "elminiation communication," and all the "natural mamas" are into it.

and group projects -- GOD! -- this woman yelled at me in front of our whole group the other day. but in some ways, it's a relief because now i'm free to be as bitchy as i may choose to be. she already hates me!
9:09 PM
Undomestic said…
kc,
Are you in Lee's class? Is your group project for that class? A third of my class (that's 2 people) are in Lee's class...Wed night I think????

I hate group projects, also...even partner projects can suck if you hae the wrong partner.
Cari
9:29 PM
Julie Anna said…
I know that my vote counts, so I vote a big fat "no" on group projects. They can only end in dissention. Concerning the avian flu, a friend of mine said he is wondering when Bush will decide to invade Avia to put an end to it.
10:28 AM
LH said…
do group projects exist in the work world, and how do they differ from school group projects. Your thoughts.
5:14 PM
Anonymous said…
yeah, they exist out here, but i'm a total slacker so I ignore them (and hate them too). 'cept I'm s'posed to be managing them so... Does that make me a bad person? or just a bad manager?... oh, OK. I can live with that.
11:09 PM
Anonymous said…
-Bob
slacker who can't even sign his name
11:10 PM
Anonymous said…
cut me some slack. this is a hard week - plan says 7 to 8 miles each day ('cept Friday when we celebrate M's b-day in SF). Tonight was hard: 2 different sets of intervals. 4 days like this this week. Sometimes I hate October.
-Bob
but I can max-out on the caloric intake, so it ain't so bad....Next week in NYC - whoohee! Good eats
11:18 PM
Anonymous said…
I wonder if the sparrow was really a sparrow and not a house finch? For years now in Bloomington conjunctivitis of the eye has been responsible for the demise of lots of these little brown birds.

Last week, I was listening to Marc & Mark on Morning Sedition and they had quite a bit going on how one of the marks (I can't tell them apart) had bird flu. Very funny.
6:35 AM
LH said…
bob, i like your comparison of your work with your workout. when do you leave for ny, lucky duck man.

mitz, it could have been a finch. i'm not getting any work done today . maybe i should give up and just make rezzys for the scotch tasting. a manana,
4:15 PM
Anonymous said…
Are you kidding? All projects in the work world are group projects. Do you think I design and build all those school buildings all by myself? Oops, maybe I should have let you kept thinking... Nevermind.

mary
12:10 AM
LH said…
i know they're all group projects, ms. morris, but why don't people complain about them like they do group projects at school? or maybe they do, it's just the school projects stand out as particularly annoying. teaching is not a group project with other adults, it's a project with the kiddos and some how that seems less annoying. maybe. i'll think more on that. Happy birthday to you and have fun in ny dearheart!!!
5:55 AM
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