Virus stories

I LOVE virus stories! Stephen King's "The Stand", the movie "Outbreak." I don't know why.
Anyway, this is how a really good virus story starts...first there's an outbreak and the media freaks out. Then the government gets involved and says it's not really a big deal so people calm down a little, then things start happening and before you know it, it's too late and everyone dies!!! Mwahahaha. I hope I'm not living in a virus story. It seems so contradictory to just say; wash your hands, stay home if you're sick, more people have died from influenza, and in the same breath say, travel is restricted, no spectators allowed at spectator sporting events, schools are closed, public libraries are closed, concerts and festivals are postponed, etc. I'm getting emails from places like Lowes, Kroger and PetSmart telling me what they're doing to help prevent the spread of the virus in their store.  I've never seen anything like it, it's SO CRAZY!

I am a procurement agent work. You would not believe all the crazy requests I got last week. Gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes. Guess what I said! NO. Hahahahaha. Wash your hands. 

It would be more helpful if they would just say, doctors and hospitals are not equipped to handle the number of people flooding into them, with the flu and corona virus. Be honest.  Tell us the actual facts. Say to us, the mortality rate of COVID19 is about 2.0% vs 0.1% for the flu. The rate at which it is spread is 2.5, which means one person will infect 2 1/2 other people. The flu is 1.3 Be serious, not chaotic! You know, unless it's a virus story. In which case we're ALL screwed!! I think I'll go ahead and have that donut tomorrow morning and fries with dinner along with big rum and coke! What the hell.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/covid-19-vs-seasonal-flu-what-you-need-to-know-about-both/

The Giving Pledge

Cool, huh. More people should do it. I was a little disappointed that Jeff Bezos name wasn't included but then he just gave away 10 BILLION dollars so I got over it.

https://givingpledge.org/Home.aspx

Dogs are cool and so is Purdue

Purdue taking part in life-long study of dogs health

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WTHR) — Researchers are looking for America's oldest dog.

They don't want to teach him new tricks, but they are hoping he could teach them a few things.

And your dog could be part of their life-long scientific study that's looking to learn from pets nationwide.

More than 40 scientists and researchers from across the United States – including one from Purdue University – are looking for dogs to participate the national study of the general health and wellness of dogs.

The Dog Aging Project will be looking at dogs of all breeds and mixes from across the nation. This is the first major longitudinal study involving dogs, and it's scheduled to last at least 10 years.

“We are going to look at a lot of different aspects of dog’s lives that affect their health and longevity,” says Audrey Ruple, a veterinary epidemiologist at Purdue.

“Dogs are good models for humans,” she says. “They have similar genetics, share our environment, and they also have similar diseases and health issues. We will be asking, ‘How do dogs age healthfully?’ in order to help better understand how we can age healthfully, too.”

Dogs of all age ranges, breeds and sizes are eligible to participate in the study. Owners go online to register their dogs, then create a personal profile to track health, home life, diet, environment and lifestyle.

Dogs will need to make regular veterinarian visits every year. If a dog is assigned to a specific group, the owners may get a kit for their veterinarian to collect blood, urine or other samples during the annual visit.

Participation is voluntary and there is no cost to participate.

“It’s important to get dogs from all parts of the U.S. because of the different environmental factors present,” Ruple said. “And we’re trying to find the oldest dog in America, as well.”

All dogs registered will be eligible to participate in various studies. The group conducted a soft launch with 4,500 dogs registered earlier this fall. Recently, the researchers reached 75,000 dogs for the study.

“Our study population just keeps growing and growing and growing,” Ruple said.

Researchers hope to find out more details on how genetics, demographics and environmental factors such as chemical exposures and noise pollution impact health and longevity.

Ruple says one goal of the study is to not just improve the health and longevity of dogs, but also extend those findings to improve human health. “By studying aging in dogs, we hope to learn how to better match human health span to life span so that we can all live longer, healthier lives,” Ruple said.

Funding for the Dog Aging Project comes from the National Institute of Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health, as well as from private donations.

Remember When

Toys R Us
Dress Barn
Thom McAn
Kinney Shoes
Blockbuster
Any Brainy
Marshal Field
Tower Records
Merry Go Round
Casual Corner
Sharper Image
KB Toys
Levit Furniture
Mervyn's
Circuit City
B Dalton
HH Gregg
Sam Goody 
Radio Shack 
The Limited 

I miss some of those places

my public service announcement

In case you're like me....

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/ownership/heres-how-far-you-can-actually-drive-on-empty/ar-AAH8Y4B?li=BBnb7Kz

This is REALLY, SUPER, AWESOME information!!!
You're welcome  :-)

Superbowl complaints

Did you watch the Superbowl? No, I didn't. You don't even have to watch for the commercials anymore because you can see them all on YouTube! I did watch the 1/2 time show though. I've heard recently that there have been A LOT of complaints filed about it. That J.Lo and Shakira were too under-dressed and that their dancing was to sexual. I don't know. It was Latin dance and Latin music done by Latin singers. I think the camera people didn't need to show us close ups but that didn't really have anything to do with their show. I don't know. I feel like so many television shows are a lot worse!