I have reread my post several times, and I just really cannot see where you're getting that.

On the other hand, as much as I do not look forward to the hot and cold flashes, hormonal mood swings, and other joys of menopause, the concept of not having a period is not unattractive.

You could always get pregnant, that does the trick. :)

I believe Wolf said she was abstaining from sex with chickens. As someone else pointed out, romancing the Wolf is not a likely activity for those who are faint of heart, anyhow. ;)

(male readers may now cover their eyes if they wish)

Do you know yet if its going to be a boy or girl, Clodfobble? The trouble with pregnancy as an alternative to menopause (all other considerations, aside) is that it too involves hormonal swings, can have unpleasant side effects like morning sickness and the inevitable weight gain, etc.

I found menopause to be only mildly annoying. I had a few hot flashes, but that was it. I don't miss having periods at all, because I had a condition - endrometriosis - which caused me severe cramping that often forced me to remain in bed for a day or even two every month - the pain was so intense. The down side is that I have exchanged my monthly agony session for a tendency to gain weight at the drop of a crumb. (sigh) If it ain't one thing its another.

Glad to see the thread hasn't gone off at some weird tangent.

Hot flashes, you say.... don't they involve an old mackintosh....?

HEY! You were supposed to cover your eyes! :lol:

Boy am I glad I am not a girl. Otherwise I would have things worse than H5N1 to worry about. Clearly god likes me. Which only proves why I need not worry about H5N1.

It's rare that you make me laugh out loud, tw. Good stuff.

Boy! :) I've had it really good as far as horrifying symptoms go, which is nice. No nausea, no real weight gain other than the large basketball on my midsection. I had some pretty awful leg cramps a few months ago, but I upped my calcium intake like I was told to (pre-natal vitamin isn't enough, I apparently need that plus dairy 2-3 times a day) and they went away.

AAAAaaand I didn't get the flu shot (or the flu) over the winter, even though that's something they seem to especially recommend for pregnant women for some reason. (Is that better, Cyclefrance? :))

So cool, Clodfobble! Congrats! When is little Pebblefobble due to make his appearance? (It has always seemed to me that pregnant women SHOULDN'T take flu shoots. Your experience would appear to bear out my theory that they are unnecessary - still happy, Cyclefrance? ;) )

End of May. I'm hoping for earlier, myself. Lack of horrifying symptoms doesn't mean I want this to be any longer than it has to be.

It's, uh, kinda like the flu in that respect...? Yeah. :)

Hmm, quite a spurious link as an attempt to regain favour, methinks.... but as it's you, Marichiko....

Patient Zero
 

I'm officially putting this thread back on track.;) BTW, congratulations Clodfobble!

Wow. I didn't know H5N1 was about bonding and torture. Is it legal when done to chickens?

As long as its done with poultry who have reached the age of legal consent and NOT in the state of Mississippi. (Actually, its legal in Mississippi, too, as long as no mechanical devises are involved).

Well what do you know. We have a dead swan in Scotland now diagnosed to have been struck with H5N1.

So how did our governments slick response procedure work? Don't ask.

Swan was reported found in the water at the harbour of Cellardyke on the east coast of Scotland, and a possible victim of H5N1, on Wednesday 29th March last week. But it took until Friday for someone from the response unit at DEFRA (govt dept) to get a blood sample to the testing laboratory in the south of England. Unfortunately the sample arrived after 4.00pm and the lab staff were keen to make a hasty exit for the weekend. So the first test was only carried out on Monday of this week. The results showed H5N1 present, but, as this was not exoecetd/wanted as a result, to be sure a second test was requested. The results if this were only made available on Wednesday and then published to the public on Thursday. 8 days to congfirm if this was H5N1 or not - one dreads to think what a timescale like this would mean if the virus was ablke toi transfer easily.

Seems also that during all this time the carcass of the swan (which already showed signs of having been eaten/attacked by another animal on fisrt discovery) had been left where it was found - unguarded - so any number of other animals could have had contact with it.

That's the way our government has organised for its people to be protected. Makes you shiver, doesn't it? Oh, and today, it's just been announced that the swan may looks to have been a breed that is resident to the UK and not migratory - so where and how did it contract the virus, one has to ask...

Trying to prevent the spread of this virus in the wild is futile. You can't stop birds from flying. It will be everywhere on the planet in a year (maybe two.) We need to teach the public to avoid close contact with birds. And we just have to hope it doesn't mutate.

That's what it gets for hanging out with illegal immigrants. :eyebrow:

Latest news from UK - thousands phoning in reporting dead birds, some reporting birds found dead over 3 weeeks ago. Govt department admits it doesn't have the resources to cope with investigating and testing on this scale. Of 14 birds currently in line for testing, results of first 9 are negative for H5N1 (if we believe what we are being told, of course...).

Nice to know the Governments assured strong and rigorous controls are up to its normal standards.

Do you think people are over-reacting because of that one swan? Even if a bunch of birds do come down with it, there are still no reports I've heard where the virus has made that mutational leap to easily infect humans.

If you don't trust the government labs, it might be interesting to have a chat with virologists or ornitholgists at some of your near-by universities, I'm sure academics are monitoring this situation closely and could give you their straight opinions.

There was an article in the paper at the weekend where they were interviewing an old farmer who said"there's been bird flu for years,even going back to the 30's and 40's and all they did was wring their necks put then in sacks and bury them, no one died,fuss about nothing"...May be the old guy is right..***Cough Cough*** oops!!!!!! :D

Article in USA Today about the flu-
"...the govt. is committed to stockpiling antivirals and developing a vaccine...but, reiterates that disasters are local events and require local responses and federal support will be limited..."
Guess who Bushy will be saving first...?

After his Katrina response, I wouldn't expect anything from Bush. But at least he's being honest about it. I'll give him that.

OMG! :eek: