As you may know, I am only a couple of days past a common cold.
How did I contract a common cold - which I rarely contract? Who knows? But, one of the employees in the office was hacking the last time I was there (12/21/2012). I tried to get him to go home rather than spread his germs. BUT - instead of going home, he insisted upon having a 30-minute, closed-door meeting with me.
Well...the information exchange was valuable; but, telephones (much as I hate to admit it) still work! Five days later, my throat was scratchy. Now...Hunky Husband is in Day 2 of his own common cold.
It harms our egos to acknowledge that the world can go on without us. I guess it is also human nature for us to believe that our own germs are harmless - how could we possibly give them to anyone else? Or, perhaps it is human nature to be generous and wish to share!
Gee...if I can keep posting one pet peeve (PP) each day for 365,000 more days, I can live to be really old! Move over, Methuselah!
Just FYI : Influenza spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics, resulting in about three to five million yearly cases of severe illness and about 250,000 to 500,000 yearly deaths, rising to millions in some pandemic years. In the 20th century three influenza pandemics occurred, each caused by the appearance of a new strain of the virus in humans, and killed tens of millions of people.
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | January 13, 2013 at 11:19 PM
Stu--Back in early 2005, I reviewed The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry on my Book Blog of the time. I gave that blog up without transferring that particular posting, at least, into this blog. Such a shame because there were some really good comments from your side of the Atlantic Ocean.
An exchange that transpired in December 2005 concerning Avian Influenza may be found at
Avian Flu. Please be aware that few if any of the links from that posting will work.
Posted by: Cop Car | January 14, 2013 at 12:33 PM
Breaking News : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21002381
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | January 14, 2013 at 02:28 PM