According to my outdoor thermometer, it’s -7.4 out there this morning. I gotta say, I’m getting tired of this winter already. Winter usually doesn’t start really pissing me off like this until mid-February, so I reckon I have a tough couple of months ahead. And the flu is running rampant, rampaging through society and killing people left and right (shame it doesn’t kill more on the right than the left). What, you didn’t know that? <\/p>\n
Yes indeed it is. In fact, the flu is “widespread” in 35 states and according to the extraordinarily fuzzy and all but unreadable chart on this page<\/a>, a whopping 4.5% of “visits” for “influenza-like illnesses”. Visits to where, it doesn’t actually say, though I assume it’s to the ER and not, like, Disney World. That’s about 2.5 marks higher than the unexplained dotted line on the chart, so I’m assuming it’s significant. Plus an otherwise healthy 29-yr old woman in Texas died of the flu after being sick for a mere 5 days<\/a>. <\/p>\n Conclusion: if you didn’t get a flu shot, you’re gonna die. Especially if you live in Texas.<\/p>\n I blame Obamacare.<\/p>\n Speaking of which, tonight is the SOTU address, which I’m pretty sure nobody actually cares about. At least, I know I don’t. Unless he announces that he’s instructing the DOJ to stop raiding pot dispensaries and that he’s going to urge Congress to legalize pot (or at least reclassify it as a Schedule V drug or something). But if that happens, I reckon I’d read about it the next day. Otherwise, I’m not interested in the dog and pony show. Maybe he means what he says, but he’s got about zero chance of getting anything through Congress at this point (except maybe cuts to Social Security), so it doesn’t really matter.<\/p>\n The big question for this evening is will I bother to put the garbage out, or let it ride for a week? <\/p>\n So long, Pete. Too any oldtimers moving on these days, and not nearly enough young’uns capable of filling their shoes.<\/p>\n