Sure is nice to be home again, and to sleep in my own bed. I don’t think I’ll ever be much of a world traveler – not unless I get to bring my wife and dogs with me, anyway. My plan for today is to just slide through and get to the end of the day. Normally, I’d work Columbus Day to get another day off down the road, but this year, I reckon I’ll take the three-day weekend. We got some interesting information regarding the whole Swine Flu craze. Turns out, the NYS Department of Health isn’t allowing hospital emergency departments, clinics, or doctor’s offices to test for H1N1 without prior approval, and they’re rationing the tests. So, if you get a Swine Flu diagnosis here in NY, it’s really more of a guess, based on self-reported symptoms (which are a lot like symptoms of any other flu, or even a bad cold) than anything else (now I know why Cornell supposedly has 700 cases; every kid with a runny nose is probably getting diagnosed with the flu). Apparently, they wouldn’t want facts to get in the way of the declared “health emergency,” and their plans to force a vaccine on us. Fortunately, you don’t even have to bother getting a “diagnosis” from a doctor’s office. Now you can diagnose yourself online. If you say you “feel feverish,” have a cough, and have shortness of breath, you get a message that says:

Based on your answers, you probably have the flu and you might be very sick.

Call your doctor now!

Of course, you might have a cold, too. Never fear, since you need to enter your zip code, and have the option of sharing your results with “researchers,” you’ll no doubt be added to the list, adding to the “outbreak.”

This is “science-based” medicine at its finest.

Where I work, they’ve decided to interpret the DOH mandate as meaning everybody should be forced to get the vaccine even if they don’t have direct or indirect patient contact. So, a mandate from an unelected Commissioner (who, incidentally, says he’s not getting the vaccine, because he doesn’t have patient contact) is now being escalated by a non-elected sanctimonious prick head of employee health to include staff who not only don’t ever get near patients, but who don’t even work in the hospital.

So, the President seems to have won the Nobel Peace Prize. That’s nice, I guess. I don’t really recall him bringing about peace anywhere, but he does give a good speech. Since the nomination process ended in March, I think, I guess whatever it was he did, he did it the first couple of months in office. Or maybe it was all his hard work as Senator from Illinois (or maybe the Nobel committee felt bad that the IOC blew him off on the whole Chicago Olympics thing).

Well, I guess I better get a move on and get this day over with.