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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:15 am
by Avatar
Three more days and I'm on holiday. Telling myself I can make it...
--A
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:23 pm
by Frostheart Grueburn
aliantha wrote:That dress is adorable, Frosty! Uh...wait...fierce. Deadly, even. Yes! The roses have razor-sharp pointy things on the petals, I'm certain of it! And the little birds will peck out your enemies' eyes in a heartbeat!
My glasses came today from Zenni Optical, and I'm very happy. Nice to be able to see again.
I had a nice birthday.
Congrats!
Thanks, and that's correct about the dress! See, those anchors belong to Giantish battleships. Blood stains will not stand out upon that red, either; all about practicality.
Uuuuuu I'm staring mesmerized at the jewelry! Sooo pretty and shiny!
//inner magpie
lorin wrote:There is a bead shop in my area that has been selling some of the cabochons I make. I wanted to show you what these ladies are making with them. Pretty amazing.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:55 pm
by SoulBiter
Well, I didnt get a flu shot this year for the first time in many years. So guess what I have? Of course, the Flu. bLech.
I wont forget to get a shot next year
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:13 pm
by Linna Heartbooger
Meh... We need to get shots this year...
also, it still wouldn't necess. be a waste for you get a flu shot.
There are many flu viruses, I understand.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:27 pm
by I'm Murrin
It's always seemed odd to me how people in the US are told universally to get flu shots; I know it actually makes sense, but here in the UK they're generally only recommended to "high risk" people - old people, pregnant women, etc.
(I don't know for certain if I've ever actually had the flu. I mean, it seems very unlikely I wouldn't have, but I would think flu was more severe than the colds I get? I'm not using that to say anything against getting vaccinated, it's just an observation.)
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:51 pm
by michaelm
Linna Heartlistener wrote:Meh... We need to get shots this year...
also, it still wouldn't necess. be a waste for you get a flu shot.
There are many flu viruses, I understand.
The anti-vac people generally try the tactic of convincing people that the flu shot is useless for that reason, but according to my doctor (I asked him when I last went in for shoulder problems as my wife buys into a lot of that) the flu vaccine is a best guess at what is likely to be prevalant in any particular year and in general hits the right strains.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:11 pm
by StevieG
That's similar to my understanding too. Getting a flu shot can help reduce the severity of colds that are from a similar strain.
I've never had one because apparently they are cultured in egg, and I used to have an egg allergy, and my doctor doesn't want to risk it. The rest of the family have them though.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 11:42 pm
by Sorus
I get a flu shot every year because I am considered high risk - and never been able to get a good explanation as to why I am high risk; my immune system is overactive and might benefit from fighting something besides itself. But I'm not a doctor. I usually get the flu anyway if it's going around at work, but when my coworkers get sick for a week, I'm usually over it in a day or two. Not sure if I can thank the shot or having too much immune system for that. Also hoping I didn't just jinx myself, as the flu is currently going around at work.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 4:50 am
by Avatar
I'm in favour of vaccinations, but I don't get a flu shot. Got one once, and it made me sicker than I had ever been, so I never did it again.
--A
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 11:09 am
by Linna Heartbooger
Murrin- I usually figure that if I vomit, it's the flu.
I figure that if I vomit and feel miserable for almost exactly 24 hours, (goooo, placebo effect? ummm?) then it's a 24-hour flu.
michaelm- well, that's just silly if the anti-immunization people get away with the tactic.
What I want to know is... how many strains are covered in a random year... now
that makes me curious!
StevieG wrote:I've never had one because apparently they are cultured in egg, and I used to have an egg allergy, and my doctor doesn't want to risk it. The rest of the family have them though.
Wild!
sorus- so now it is revealed, that you, not Ananda are.... *drumroll*
Super Immune System Girl!!! (credit goes to Ananda for coining that phrase.)
As far as wondering if one's jinxed herself... y'know, back in the day, I used to take intentional effort to attempt to "spite Murphy's Law."
As far as how I am feeling today...? Ermm, hyper and happy.
unfortunately, I think i should go back to sleep.
tooooo much adrenaline.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 11:40 am
by I'm Murrin
That's interesting, because Wikipedia (yeah, I know) was just telling me that vomiting is rare in adults with the flu.
Also suggests I may have had it but just not had the more severe symptoms. Can be difficult to tell apart from a cold.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 11:42 am
by peter
Hate to be an asshole but never forget in any dealings with doctors [particularly where they are encouraging 'blanket use' of a particular product] that there may be other motivations in play than purely the best interests pertaining to your health. Having said that, yes, flu vaccines are 'typed' according to the various strains of virus as they appear in the far-east [within the duck population I believe] and move slowly westward across the globe, so there should be some correlation between the strains vaccinated against and the ones most likely to be encountered. As Av said however, occasionally the cure can be as bad as the disease and they can render you feeling like s***.
In the UK, the high risk groups Murrin mentioned all get their vaccination free of charge - the rest of us have to spring, hence the reason why the uptake amongst non high-risk groups is small. My problem is that, working in a small airless environment a quater of a mile from a big hospital and with 1000 people a day walking through the doors, I'm never actually clear of a cold or flu virus to the point where I would dare to actually have a vaccination.
[edit; Av, are you going anywhere on hols? Are you 'a man witha plan' or are we talking 'couch potato' all the way here
]
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 12:22 pm
by SoulBiter
FYI - The flu is around 5 days. They can test for it at the Dr's office with a nasal swab and if positive they can give you a prescription for Tamiflu which shortens the effects of the flu by two days(if you take it within two days of symptoms). Tamiflu is used to treat flu symptoms caused by influenza virus in patients who have had symptoms for less than 2 days. It may also be given to prevent influenza in people who may be exposed but do not yet have symptoms. Somehow it keeps the flu virus from replicating if I understand what I read correctly..
You can have a 24 hour stomach bug that can cause fever and vomiting but that wouldnt be the flu.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:33 pm
by michaelm
Linna Heartlistener wrote:michaelm- well, that's just silly if the anti-immunization people get away with the tactic.
What I want to know is... how many strains are covered in a random year... now that makes me curious!
Unfortunately I have a neighbor who believes her son's autism was cause by the MMR vaccine, and so she proselytizes to everyone she knows, which includes my wife. I don't buy into a single word of it, but my wife has been convinced by the flu shot one.
When I asked the doctor he said that it's simply impractical to cover all possible strains, so the shot is really a best guess based on number of cases where the strain has been identified. I don't think it's very many strains, just a few that will hopefully cover a majority of people vaccinated.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:08 pm
by SoulBiter
michaelm wrote:Linna Heartlistener wrote:michaelm- well, that's just silly if the anti-immunization people get away with the tactic.
What I want to know is... how many strains are covered in a random year... now that makes me curious!
Unfortunately I have a neighbor who believes her son's autism was cause by the MMR vaccine, and so she proselytizes to everyone she knows, which includes my wife. I don't buy into a single word of it, but my wife has been convinced by the flu shot one.
When I asked the doctor he said that it's simply impractical to cover all possible strains, so the shot is really a best guess based on number of cases where the strain has been identified. I don't think it's very many strains, just a few that will hopefully cover a majority of people vaccinated.
Apparently they guessed wrong this year and it take 4 months to create enough of the flu vaccine with the new strain. By then the flu season is over. So for many its better luck next year.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 4:40 pm
by aliantha
SB beat me to it -- this year's flu shot doesn't cover the strain that's going around.
I *think* I had the flu once in college. I had a cold that laid me out for a day or so -- no vomiting, just tired and achy. That's the only time I've ever had it, though. I get pestered every year to get a flu shot -- they give them free here at the office -- but I'm allergic to the preservative, so I never get one. So far, so good.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 7:29 pm
by michaelm
Yes, they have good years and bad years for sure.
I had the flu twice when I was younger. Once before my teen years and another time in my late 20s. I felt like absolute crap for days both times. The second time I was at work and just kept thinking I had a headache and was going to throw up. I didn't, but had to go home and by the time I got there I was so wiped out I lay down and fell asleep.
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 5:14 am
by Avatar
peter wrote:[edit; Av, are you going anywhere on hols? Are you 'a man witha plan' or are we talking 'couch potato' all the way here
]
Gonna do my best to manage "couch potato" thanks. (At least, nothing more than day trips. A bit of climbing, some hiking, a few galleries / museums. Going to a Tutankhamen exhibition on Monday.)
--A
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:58 am
by peter
You should come to my house for lessons in 'couch potato' Av; you just expended more energy in one sentance than I do in a year!
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 1:30 pm
by Ananda
Was a funny news story:
www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30414032
Russia: Plans for Moscow 'Eye of Sauron' scrapped
A Moscow creative art group has ditched plans to erect a giant glowing "Eye of Sauron" atop a city skyscraper, after complaints from church and city leaders.
The Svecheniye (Glow) group intended to install the Eye - familiar to Lord of the Rings fans - on a building in the Moscow-City business district. The metre-tall (3ft 3in) globe would have burned overnight in tribute to JRR Tolkien's fantasy works, but the plans have now been scrapped. "Sadly we are obliged to halt the Eye of Sauron," Svecheniye says in a press statement reported by RIA Novosti news agency, adding that it apologised for having "elicited such a public reaction". Although the "fan project" was meant to mark the Moscow premiere of the latest Hobbit film, it was not an advertising event, "nor did it have a religious or political subtext", the group says.
The denial of any religious intent follows criticism from the Russian Orthodox Church's public relations chief, Vsevolod Chaplin, who denounced the Eye of Sauron as a "demonic symbol of the triumph of evil" that might "bring misfortune upon the city". The Moscow mayor's office said they would almost certainly remove the Eye, as they had not granted their permission. But some social media users think the church's objections will actually prove to be counter-productive. "Now magic, sorcery and witchcraft will gain even more public attention," writes one reader of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, while another complains: "The Church thinks that it alone can put on such a mass show." One person suggests an alternative location for the Eye: "The roof of the US Embassy's the best place for it."
Love the quote about the american embassy.
