Stage One

I arrived at my Florida destination this morning just in time for SWMBO and Pop to go to the VA, get his eye looked at (the post op looks good, the cataract surgery was a success for the left eye, right eye happens in about a month) and go see MIL at the hospital.

Tomorrow we will go see MIL, I have to check the daughter's car out, and then we will start our meandering journey back home. We're planning a coastal trip rather than an I-95 one, it should be much more restful this way.

Of course today I got a message saying my photos from the Roanoke trip are in. I'll try to get some posted at the end of the week, along with any that I take this week that catches my fancy.

The news stories of the day are SWINE FLU PANDEMIC!!! and the idiotic trip of Air Farce One over New Yawk City.

First, less than 100 cases of swine flu in a nation of 300 million is not yet a cause for widespread panic. As I watched the news I was struck by the obvious attempts of the "reporters" to create a big issue (and thus a big news story) out of it, and the experts were all making variations on the "it's a cause for concern but not alarm" theme.

It's more severe in Mexico and overseas, which says a lot for both our standard of living and also for our much-maligned medical care system. Wash your hands and get a shot if you are in the at-risk demographic, other than that I've heard TheraFlu does wonders.

Second, Bambi claims he knew nothing about his airplane being used for a photo shoot. I'm not convinced. The "American Idol" president didn't know anything about a photo shoot involving the aircraft that becomes Air Force One when he's aboard, right. Pull the other one, it's got bells.

Be that as it may, the brain child that cooked up this idea needs to find new employment and the pilots that flew the mission rather than saying "Hey, this is a REALLY DUMB idea" need to be re-assigned to the "rubber dogsqueeze to Hong Kong" route.