Swine Flu and a Ramble

[Gary Ruben]

I wonder how the onset of this years Swine Flu, renamed H1N1 to protect farm pets, will effect chess events. I've been listening to the tragedy of the deaths of young people from that strain of flu.

I'm old enough to recall the polio outbreaks before there was a vaccination. Many were stricken with that and many did not survive. We pretty much wiped out polio with the vaccination. It was particularly bad in Winnipeg back then. Possibly living in Winnipeg, it only seemed that way as it hit many other cities and towns across Canada.

Yesterday my wife and I got our Swine Flu vaccination. They must have given thousands of them in this area.

I'm one of those people who thinks when government tells me the situation is bad, it's probably worse than that. When we start getting reports of so many people dying so quickly from a flu, many more are likely also ill and it's not all reported due to volume.

Besides, I'd hate to get the flu and pass it on to my pet birds.

Speaking of pets, and I am rambling as the subject line says, I had Beware to the dentist. You don't even want to know how much that cost. Beware is now over 8. The dog was lying down and moaning. Always a sign of a tooth ache. Anyhow, the veteranarian cleaned the teeth and pulled 6. He gave me the teeth in a pill bottle. I told him to keep them and show them to the next guy, which made him laugh. The problem with dental work on a dog like Beware is that the dog has to be put to sleep. Anyhow, after a couple of weeks of soft canned food and antibiotics, Beware is now back to her playful old self again. Beware is definately not a lap dog but has become much more rambunctious.

All great stuff I'm sure you're glad I told you. :)

[Heather Carbone (Nickolof)]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

Lol-a fellow rambler ! We're not getting our H1N1 until Nov 25 up here.The visiting nurse practitioner will deliver it to our door and administer it as we have an 86 yr old in poor health living with us.Speaking of dogs,Annie our Great Dane will be 11 in March(ancient for a dane).The vet tells me her teeth are in better shape than his.We never fed her soft food ( She does however partake of human food when she can coerce Nora ).She must have her rawhide chews and chicken jerky or there is no living with her and I would be remiss if I did not include her monster bones on our regular shopping list.Speaking of health Gary,how are you doing lately with the battle ?

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

That's a long wait for the H1N1 shot. I heard on radio today they were accelerating things so possibly the date will turn out to be sooner. In this area they are giving them at the local mall.

Collies seem to be have problems with teeth. My last Collie, bought from a different breeder, lived about 13 years. I had to have about a dozen of her teeth pulled. There were so many teeth missing I'm sure she inhaled her kibble. The Cocker Spaniel I had at the same time never needed to have dental work done. That dog was epileptic and I gave her two pills a day for almost 10 years. My Bichon is about a year younger than this Collie and hasn't needed any work done on her teeth. No kidding, vets have gotten so expensive I could have bought a show quality puppy for the price of that bill. It's the same place I've been taking them for years because they cost less than most vets.

I've been dodging the guys who sell dog licenses for the past couple of decades. I've always been lucky. The door has been closed and they hadn't actually seen the dogs. I used to cite Lassie or Rin Tin Tin on TV or tell the guy or gal I didn't hear anything. Sometimes I'd use the "just dog sitting for a few days" routine. This time the dogs beat me to the door. The old guy selling the licenses wasn't going to take "no" for an answer. It was pretty much either buy the license or a bylaw infraction. So I bought the licenses.

When he asked Beware's name I told him Mardi Gras, which is the registered name. He asked what I called her so I told him Mardi Gras. He chucked as he wrote it on the receipt. I wish breeders would give dogs more macho names before they register them. Of course, it was for show purposes. It's a very good looking Blue Merle Collie which was already 4 months old when I bought her. Hard to tell if a pup is what I want at 6 or 8 weeks.

It's probably a good thing he didn't come when I was breeding Cockatiels.

I think they had the other problem under control for awhile but my readings have slowly been getting higher again. He's talking about doing more tests which are not very nice to have done.

[Heather Carbone (Nickolof)]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

Crap,Gary I'm sorry if you have to take more tests.My father-in-law Steve Nickoloff has been going through this since 2004.On another note,your description of avoiding the license fees makes me laugh.When we told one of ours that our pup was only 4mos. old and did not require same,he actually checked her teeth.When we lived in North Bay,across from the lake,our landlord was great.Most people in the complex had two dogs while our quota rose to four and we had no problems.There is no bylaw at present in North Bay limiting the number of pets.We over the years had three ferrets in addition to the dogs,several cats,two rats,two degus and a pet pigeon(domestic) which Bryon housed in a $300.00 parrot cage replete with toys.Oh the memories-lol !After our landlord became ill,his daughter,Rosemary the Hun took over and announced no more pets.Since she couldn't evict us because of it, she initiated a reign of terror.Life became miserable so Rodney decided we should be living in the country.You could say we brought this house (128.8 acres) for our dogs.Bryon would be smiling but anyone sane would consider having us committed.I was distraught when Bryon died and ,in my fear and grief I told him I wanted to go with him.Ever the pragmatist,his response:who is going to look after the animals?

[Lucas Davies]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

I do not fear swine flue AT ALL. If I did get it, I'd conquer it easily. Almost definitely won't, though. I've decided not to get sick anymore. Works out pretty well.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

I do not fear swine flue AT ALL. If I did get it, I'd conquer it easily. Almost definitely won't, though. I've decided not to get sick anymore. Works out pretty well.

I'm sure whatever you do will work well for you. They tell me when you get something which spreads easily, you get fed Pizza. That's the only thing which will easily slide under the door. :)

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

I've never had cats. They really bother my allergies. The birds were fun. Cockatiels live about a dozen or more years. The ones I raised are all gone by now. When I gave away most of them, I kept a couple of birds I raised. Now I'm down to 2 males I bought.

I also had a pair of flying can openers. They are actually called "Lovebirds" but that's a misnomer. They were vicious. Anyhow, the had one bunch of young ones and looked after most of them real well. There was one they didn't look after. For some reason it couldn't get out of the eggs shell. The fluid dried and the chick was stuck. So I pulled it out of the nest and extracted if from the shell. After putting it back I noticed the adults shuffled it to the side and weren't feeding it. So I raised that Lovebird and a Cockatiel the parents were ignoring in a fish tank. The fish tank had a heating pad under it so I could regulate the temperature. They just lay there on the towelling I put for them. Anyhow, you can buy stuff to feed them. You mix it and warm it and feed it in a small syringe they sell at the drug store for giving medicine to kids. I hated the 5 AM feeding. The Lovebirds legs were splayed (I think it's called). So I taped them until the bird could sit properly. That worked out really well.

Anyhow, after the bird was about a year old it became a flying can opener. It would sit on my shoulder and take a chunk out of my ear or neck. If you went near the cage it would try to get a bite. My wife finally got real tired of that.

Around here they even make people who have cats buy a license.

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

I'm sure whatever you do will work well for you. They tell me when you get something which spreads easily, you get fed Pizza. That's the only thing which will easily slide under the door. :)

The Christian Scientists have a similar idea to Lucas. The mention of Pizza made me remember a phone call from about three decades ago. I was talking to an organizer and the subject of illness came up. What do you do for the flu / common cold? Yes, Pizza. The organizer said that in his family, if you came down with that sort of seasonal complaint, they sent you to bed with a Pizza and a bottle of Hungarian red wine. And it worked. So I blurted out that they also sent you to bed with ... "a big-breasted Hungarian woman", which in the instant I had thought amusing, but the organizer didn't really. Later I met said organizer in person, with his wife, who was pretty but not endowed in that way. Shucks, I meant well. Honest. Let that be a lesson to me. And it does work. (Anecdotal evidence, not confirmed by peer review).

Actually, I haven't learned the lesson. There is a thread on the French chesstalk about H1N1 and cancelling tournaments. Early on, I made a humourous post whose effect Steve Bolduc kindly attributed to an hallucinogène rather than my execrable command of the language. So I spent some time preparing another humourous reply, but it does take a while to put one's best foot forward, accents and making sure the genders are correct. Even then, it's likely to be at least mildly offensive because of my lack of skill in the language. Oh well. But in the day or so while I was offline that forum, another twenty or so increasingly serious posts were made to that thread. So my involved joke is likely to hit a raw nerve. A politician was depicted dancing merrily through the flowers ripping the wings off butterflies (and later won a defamation suit); maybe that's the status I will have earned.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

The Christian Scientists have a similar idea to Lucas. The mention of Pizza made me remember a phone call from about three decades ago. I was talking to an organizer and the subject of illness came up. What do you do for the flu / common cold? Yes, Pizza. The organizer said that in his family, if you came down with that sort of seasonal complaint, they sent you to bed with a Pizza and a bottle of Hungarian red wine. And it worked. So I blurted out that they also sent you to bed with ... "a big-breasted Hungarian woman", which in the instant I had thought amusing, but the organizer didn't really. Later I met said organizer in person, with his wife, who was pretty but not endowed in that way. Shucks, I meant well. Honest. Let that be a lesson to me. And it does work. (Anecdotal evidence, not confirmed by peer review).

I didn't know that about Pizza. That was actually a bad joke from the SARS outbreak. I do know the time I was on a respirator some years ago is enough to make me want to avoid that happening again. With this flu young people seem to be getting it and dying so quickly. It seems to be spreading like wildfire. I can tell you from experience, there is nothing worse than having to bury a child.

Anyhow, after the respirator the doctor asked me where I'd sooner be. In his intensive care or at the Royal York Hotel. I told him the intensive care. His reply was: "Of course you would. This costs more."

One time when I was in hospital, the day before I was to leave I was joking with a nurse. She asked me if I was anxious to leave because of bad treatment. I told her I missed my wife. The nurse told me if that's all it was to move over. I laughed it off, but from time to time over the years have wondered if she was serious. I always like to joke with the nurses because I think it gets more room visits. Makes the time go faster.

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

I made a humourous post whose effect Steve Bolduc kindly attributed to an hallucinogène rather than my execrable command of the language.

I spoke too soon. Steve has added that my French is incompréhensible. I'd like to say that it is totally my fault. My grade 8-9 French teacher M. Bryant (not to be confused with George Bryant, who was CFC Secretary at about the same time), who taught English in Paris in his youth, is not to blame. He was such a kindly man, and so patient with us. And now I've let him down.

[Lucas Davies]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

I'm sure whatever you do will work well for you. They tell me when you get something which spreads easily, you get fed Pizza. That's the only thing which will easily slide under the door. :)

Sounds more like a scenario in which you're a prison snitch... I mean, you're living the high life for a while; eating pizza and playing your X-Box, but sooner or later it'll catch up to you. It's not worth it. -_-;

[Jason Lohner]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

I do not fear swine flue AT ALL. If I did get it, I'd conquer it easily. Almost definitely won't, though. I've decided not to get sick anymore. Works out pretty well.

conquer it? I pretty sure you would just get a draw :D

[Jason Lohner]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

When he asked Beware's name I told him Mardi Gras, which is the registered name. He asked what I called her so I told him Mardi Gras. He chucked as he wrote it on the receipt. I wish breeders would give dogs more macho names before they register them.

I had a dog named 'Trouble'. Nice friendly golden lab. Great family pet. I thought it was a great name until my friends, as a parting comment, would say 'stay outta trouble!'... ouch

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

conquer it? I pretty sure you would just get a draw :D

I noticed that too. :D After a nice endgame, of course.

[Lawrence Day]

Re: Swine Flu and a Ramble

Both the federal and provincial governments have provided me with a list of protections against the flu.
In a full page newspaper advertisement today Ontario advises 5 precautions: take the shot; wash your hands; sneeze/cough in your sleeve; handy keep hand sanitizer; disinfect surfaces.
The Canada advice, which came in a 3-colour shiny-cardboard folded square origami brochure from the postman, included those 5 tips
plus: If you get sick, stay home!
& not touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

I have a sneaking suspicion that there is something bogus about this,
not for what it says but for what it doesn't say.
It doesn't say that your basic front-line defence against flu
(and many other illnesses)
is to maintain sufficient supply of vitamin D.
Then your immune system has the ammunition to defeat alien viruses that want to live in your body. Sunshine mashes them.
This was once common knowledge in Canada: like all kids I took that yucky cod liver oil in the dark months.
How has Vitamin D become a censored topic?

Is it related to Canada's absolute stupidest tax, the sales tax on vitamin D,
which, by threatened federal-provincial harmonization, now menaces Ontario?