Photo credit: Latente from Flickr

So, I’ve been piled under blankets and drinking plenty of fluids for days now. In the midst of the H1N1 scare season, formerly known as the flu season, I have to admit to wondering about if/when I should go see a doctor. The NS government has an Influenza Decision Chart that I found actually pretty helpful/comforting. And then there’s this H1N1 Home Management sheet to help you help a loved one. Or, if you’re a woman, help yourself because let’s face it: there’s a low percentage of male nurses out there for a reason.

Being sick and not being able to do much of anything, I’ve had a lot of time to think. With what’s supposed to be a pandemic AND the holiday season upon us, here’s a shopper’s guide for getting through your illness with comfort:

1. (a) A good blanket. When I Googled “warmest blanket in the world” I came up with slanket. I have no idea what the difference between that and a snuggie is but apparently the slanket is the “original blanket with sleeves.” Yeah, it’s kind of ugly and ridiculous. But, really, you’re not exactly looking your prime when you’re nose is a faucet of snot. Plus, when you’re done with it the brown one could possibly double as a Halloween costume. Either Jedi master or Friar Tuck.

1. (b) If you’ve got a standard blanket, the next best thing to a slanket is a warm sweater. Personally, I’ve been wearing a waterfall cardigan that I brought back from the summer trip to Ireland. It’s a wool sweater made by Ireland’s Eye called a tassle wrap but very much in the style of the waterfall cardigans that are en vogue this season. Easy to throw on and off between bouts of fevers and chills.

2. A big mug. Pre-made or go the extra mile and create one from Claytime Pottery Painting.

3. Warm beverages. Put together a basket from a local shop like The Tea Brewery. Or get together all the ingredients for a hot toddy.

4. IOUs. Maybe these seem lame to the giver of this gift, but not so to the sick person piled beneath blankets desperate for a cup of tea but not willing to leave the warmth. (Hmm…the portability of slankets seems more and more appealing.) Being able to redeem an IOU for a cup of tea, meal, hug, massage, etc. is a great gift for the sick loved one in your life. The catch is, these have to be redeemed without attitude.

So, there you have it. A few ideas for the holidays while thinking of the welfare of your loved ones during this germ-y time of year.

I’m sick. But I found something on the internet to distract you with get you in the mood for the holiday season. What’s better than opening presents on Christmas day? Watching a dachshund open his Christmas stocking.

Photo credit: be_khe from Flickr

Everyone is talking about the swine flu right now. It’s the big pandemic scare of 2009. Google is even tracking its progress around the world using this map.

Now, I’m not making light of the situation but with the proliferation of social media tools like Twitter, it’s just as easy to spread helpful information around the world as it is to spread some pretty crazy misinformation.

So, when @jennbelle overhears a woman say “Call me overcautious but no bacon, I don’t want to risk swine flu”, we may poke fun but where there’s one woman thinking that, there are surely others.

Let’s get some facts—or at least one fact—straight here: swine flu, or any flu for that matter, is not transmitted through the consumption of the object used to describe the type of flu. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. You can’t catch this new strain of flu by eating pork products. You couldn’t catch bird flu by eating poultry. Heck, you can’t even spontaneously start speaking Spanish by catching Spanish influenza.

I understand that sometimes we have these moments where we say things without thinking them through, but this is a fear that many people have. Like the avian bird flu scare before, carnivores across North America and perhaps even around the world will be opting for other meats in the weeks and months to come. They might even switch back to eating more poultry now that there’s no such thing as avian flu anymore (or at least it’s fallen from the headlines). I’m not urging people to continue to eat meat but what I am calling for is a little bit of reason here. How do you think people contract regular human flus? Through cannibalism? No. So, why would it be different with animals?

The only way it could be foreseeable for one to contract an animal-related flu through the consumption of said creature is if one were eating at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (a.k.a. Milliways) and the Ameglian Major Cow you just conversed with sneezed on you.

In the wise words of Douglas Adams: DON’T PANIC!

As a side note, mark your calendars! May 25 is Towel Day, a tribute to Douglas Adams.