I'm ready for you, swine

I am prepared for the onslaught of the bubonic plague, er swine flu, that will no doubt fell the Trouts. I have bought ginger ale. I have bought freezies. I have puddings and jello and enough oatmeal for gallons of porridge. I have bought nice kleenex, not the fine grit sand paper, no name crap I usually buy. I have bendy straws. I have enough barf buckets for everybody. I am ready for the swine.

I am prepared to stand in an hours long queue to get myself and the little trouts innoculated. I was undecided about getting the vaccination until this past week-end. Honestly, I don't know who or what to believe. On one hand, Public Health was telling us that the jab was safe and one of the best defences against the flu you could provide for your family (note the emotional tone of that). On the other hand, some scientists were saying the vaccination hadn't been properly tested and who knows what kind of catastrophic side effects your family might suffer (note the slightly hysterical tone).

I still don't know who to believe but after a seemingly healthy 13 year kid damned near dropped dead from the flu, I don't think I'll be hedging my bets on this one.

The question remains: Are we all going to get sick at once or are we going to get sick one after the other so that I'm dealing with weeks of illness? I can't say which one I'd rather deal with. I'm a shite nurse - you get about one day of tea & sympathy and then I'm done. I get fed up running up and down the stairs. I get pissed off making special food that nobody ends up eating. I don't cope well with the worry of a feverish child. I fear dehydration.

If we're all sick at once, then it's over and done with. The problem with that is that I'll probably be sick too and not really in the mood to drag my arse out of my sick-bed to care for sick children.

If we get sick one after the other, then we'll be on the plague ship for weeks. And that truly sounds like hell.