HENNY PENNY SHOULD HAVE BEEN A BOY SCOUT

H1N1....I refuse to call it the you know what flu. I just like piggies too much.

I think that it is very important that we be aware of the N1H1 flu and to take some precautions. However, I think some may have gone way too far. My great state, Texas, has stopped all UIL activities until sometime in May. There might be some validity in not bringing in bus loads of kids from all over the state to one central place at this time. I get that and I do believe that is being cautious since there are some cases of H1N1 in this state already.


Now Forth Worth has closed all schools and there IS NO FLU AT ALL THERE?!?!!? What is up with that? What did all of those parents do this morning when they had no place at all for little Dick and Jane to go? All of us who have had kids know how hard it is to find a good sitter. How in the world do you think there are going to be enough people to watch these children? Let's face it...I have a good job and sick leave. I could get by with it. There are 11 of us here. Five of us have children. That would cut my work force in half almost. That would cause a handship. What about the poor parents that cannot take off? Do you think that McDonald's and Kroger are going to understanding when half of their work force cannot come in? What is that going to do for the economy??

And what in the heck is Egypt thinking ordering all pigs killed???

I am a firm believe in being prepared for things. Plus, I am a stock piler. That, I believe, comes from one of my grandmothers and from some of my life experiences. I also keep certain foods bought up. I even have a 72 hour pack for me and one for Bebo. If you want to know more about that, just let me know. I am about to re-pack them and do some updating. If anyone is interested, I will do a blog post about that.

oooooohhhhh....NOW I see you are all excited for Mindy's Henny Pennyness!

So how am I prepared for this? I always have a flu stash in my house. There are just some things that I am prepared for because I would not want to be caught unprepared. I rebuild my stash each year. When the flu season has passed, we use up out of the stash so that the items do not get old.

My stash includes: Flu meds, anti-diarrhea meds, Puffs, toilet tissue, wet wipes, Lysol, water, Advil, Motrin, Tang, Gatorade, hand sanitizer, soap, fruit roll ups and energy bars (for their carbs and sugar). I also have plenty of soups and bullions stocked up in the kitchen for easy fixing.
And I keep my stash in the top of the bathroom cabinet so that it is not in the way.


I do think it is important to have some things on hand on the itty bitty chance that you do catch this flu. You would not want to be going out and picking these things up if you were sick. Plus, you would not want to run the risk of infecting others. I also have dog and cat food plus cat liter bought up.


At work, we are using Lysol and I have hand sanitizer on my desk. I am not going to see anyone that might be sick. We deal with a lot of people that do cross the border or are in contact with people who cross.


I think that the best plan is to: be aware, wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and keep plenty of craft supplies, net flix movies and popcorn handy in your home just in case they shut down the city. *grins*

Plus keep plenty of cheese for the rockin' fondue pot from Sue! Isn't this pot just so sweet! I will be happy in my house eating fondue and crafting and being PREPARED!


Edited to add: I posed the question about what people have bought up to be prepared on Twitter and Facebook a few days ago. It quickly went into a discussion about Zombies. And if Zombies can use their thumbs. Feel free to discuss that in comments also.


I wonder who it did not get a cool name like the Zombie flu or something?

Comments

  1. ~rolls eyes~

    My plan is this: when the imaginary apocalypse comes, go to Mindy's house and look needy.

    You may be weird, but you got good hair today!

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  2. It is still better than having dandilion hair and then straightening it with the straight iron. I really should have called in sick yesterday.

    Bring cheese for the fondue pot.

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  3. I can haz cheeze.

    Zombies can totally use their thumbs. It's just their elbows that don't work.

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  4. Park City Utah closed all of their schools today.....no "swine" flu there either. Weird!

    Zombies can't use their knees either!

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  5. Lola's got a good point.

    Thumbs: Yes.

    Knees and Elbows: No.

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  6. Anonymous11:20 AM

    The flu stock pile is an excellent idea!!
    Hope you are feeling better.

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  7. Hubbie and I just had this discussion about a 'stock pile' a few months ago ... being the oh so organized/non procrastinator that I am (um ... not) it's on the 'to do list'. I'd love to hear more about your ~stash~

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  8. Some precautions? Yep. Closing schools where there is not even one case? Hysteria. Good gosh.

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  9. Personally I'm thrilled that they've closed the FWISD schools, it means I get to watch my nieces for the next couple of days, and since they're my crafting girls (slaves), I have a really good excuse to avoid things like laundry, vacuuming and making dinner lol. Swine Flu Hysteria, bring it on!! LOL

    That said, I really feel for all the families who don't have the "unemployed sister-in-law" who has nothing to drop and can watch the kids. If I was working, my sister in law would have to use all her vacation days to stay with her daughters, and then she couldn't take another day off, for anything, for the rest of the year. (And, as everyone with kids knows, that's a total impossibility, there's always SOMETHING that comes up!)

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  10. I live in Universal City. The school district that has actually GOT the H1N1 includes part of my city. My school district is not closed. We still went to church last night. I did wash my hands after I ran to Wal Mart on the way for some pizza. The parking lot was not "regular full," I noted. We are doing ok here.

    I just want to note that there is not a shot for this thing yet. Folks like me who get shots every year keep the "herd immunity" up so that the regular flu stays within limits. Also, this flu has never been seen with this particular dna configuration.

    If it does hit your area, be cautious. Wash hands, stay home when sick, encourage sickies to stay there, too. Oh, yeah.... that's what we should be doing every day!!!

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  11. awww c'mon no fair... you know people treating schools like their personal federally funded day care is one of my hot buttons. I know lots of people don't have a choice but the fact is, it's people sending kids to school SICK that we have a huge percentage of these things getting spread around so easily. It's also the reason my daughter spends more damn time at the Doctor once school starts than she does during the summer.

    *dusting off my ASS and stepping of the soapbax now*

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  12. Oh and I just tweeted this but if you miss it... someone said the same thing yesterday on Twitter about calling it swine flu so she was going to call it H1N1... then decided that looked like "hiney" if you say it as a word... so now I am calling it the Hiney Flu.

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  13. If zombies couldn't use their thumbs, it would be much harder for them to make their way out of the casket and through the dirt on top of them. Just sayin...

    Nice stash of flu stuff. And thanks for the reminder that we need cat litter. *adds to list*

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  14. Hmmm... Zombies. Now that's something to worry about- let's tell the media! :-)

    You are extremely well prepared, my friend. If I get this flu, I'm coming for a visit!!

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  15. Apparently there is a case in Ft. Worth - we have one in Dallas and they haven't shut down the whole district just the one that has the infection.

    YES I'm sick of parents sending their kids to school sick. My kid gets viral triggered asthma so everytime some a** sends their kids to school with something I have a month of breathing treatments and doctor's visits. So there.

    Still only have 3 rolls of toilet paper.

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  16. I recently found out about this flu. Like two days ago. I am not freaking about like people we will not mention. But I will say that I do have flu meds and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of gatorade (for Gator's only, and this Gator's drink of choice when she is sick) in case a sickness does come on.

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  17. I found a version of Vitamin Water with electrolytes, which my daughter likes. She has a plain, non-flu virus at the moment but needs to keep hydrated. It's lemon-lime, and she says it's delicious.
    But we're not all that prepared, otherwise.

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  18. I heard sensible scientist bemoaning that this so called whatever flu will have far less impact and cause far fewer fatalities than the regular flu in the regular flu season.

    Proves it is a very slow news week. IMO

    Love the stockpiling. That is just smart thinkin'

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  19. Anonymous8:40 AM

    lots of pta things and field trips being rescheduled here - i would not be surprised if our school district shuts down after taks today. i feel sorry for the parents too - the ymca and several childcare centers closed in fw - i hope the 911 operators are ready for thousands of kids being left home alone!

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  20. damn... i'm not prepared for anything except lookin' fashionable, and havin' enough coffee to drink, and havin' doggie treats on hand... i better get my #@@ in gear since they closed a school near boonieville today... ick.

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  21. Can Zombies contract piggy flu? And I totally have a vulgar expression regarding thumbs, whic I choose not to use.

    No, I shall wait until the last minute to procure the necessary meds/equipment in the event piggies invade. That's just how I roll.

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  22. When I saw H1N1 my mind thought "Hiney" so that's what I'm calling it, the Hiney Flu. Beats the other name that discriminates against poor innocent piggies.

    I am an obsessive handwasher because I work in a school. If the kids stay home when they are sick I don't think we will have a problem.

    But of course they don't always stay home when they are sick. Sigh.

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  23. You're so funny. I don't know if some people are overreacting or not. I don't think over-worrying myself is going to help anything. I just had a reminder talk with my kids about avoiding sickness through good hygiene habits. We have the "s" flu in my state and have had one city that shut down schools. I'm on the school board for my kids' charter school and we were basically cautioned by the state not to act rashly, and were given guidelines of what to track and report and when to consider the question of closing school. So far so good for us though.

    Preparedness is definitely the key. That's something I've been putting a lot of effort into for our family this year.

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