<p>Hi–It is amazingly depressing here. On Sunday we were on the mountain and saw blue sky. D called and was walking her dog in Providence and for the most part it has been pretty blue skies there. We are looking at a a wall of grey until Monday. And it started this past Monday.
BUT! we do not have mosquitoes or humidity in the summer:). or poisonous snakes.
Still can I come and visit someone? This is getting drastic.</p>
<p>Good morning! Oregon, we’ve been pretty sunny, clear and unseasonably warm (for Mich) here but I’m pretty sure you’ll want to avoid the mctyphoid family 
Sorry I seem to have infected my cyber friends too! Be well, as the saying goes!</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ll skip the flu shot again next year. I didn’t deliberately skip it ths year, but my timing for my physical was off so I didn’t think to proactively get it. Usually it’s my doc who mentions it.</p>
<p>My sister is a nurse and is for reasons never fully understood by me dead set against the shots. At Xmas she mentioned something about why but clearly I wasn’t feeling well enough to pay attention I think she distrusts the accelerants used. At any rate, I hope this isn’t the great pandemic they keep saying will come. My girlfriend had it before Xmas and had warned me it seems to go away then come back again, and ths sure seems to be the case with me – kind of a Groundhog Day of infection.</p>
<p>Moda, have you missed it’s clutches for your surgery? It’s Monday, right? I’ll send you the light! Is it Eddie who also has surgery coming up too? If so, I’ll send you some too.</p>
<p>Gotta get ready for an early meeting but health, sun and warm wishes to you all.</p>
<p>Btw, thanks for the tip on Gone Girl, nm. Amazon keeps recommending it, but I’m n the middle of Telegraph, which I can tell will be a long, if lyric, wander, so I’m a bit off my reading schedule I appreciate someone like Chabon who can craft such tangential flights, but every now and then such fodder puts me off and I find myself thinking “Yes, you’re clever, now get on with it!” Then again, I often say the same about many long, popular movies. It’s rare that I leave a theater without saying at least 30 min could have been left on the edit room floor. It seems sometimes the ego of graft gets in the way of story ;)</p>
<p>I just put a hold on Gone Girl from my library, behind 206 other people. I usually don’t read or see anything current because there never seems any urgency to me on the timing for books or movies. We will see Lincoln and Les Miz when it gets to our discount theater, if still interested. On books, however, I need to develop a system of either writing stuff down or putting them on hold. I’m having trouble finding books easy enough for my aging, tired brain, but not so formulaic and trivial that I am bored. My last book was classified as youth fiction, written might just be my new genre. I don’t have the sustained concentration lately for difficult books.</p>
<p>I’m torn about the flu shot. Maybe I can get feedback from the nurses or other knowledgeable people here. I have only had a flu shot four times in my life, which was each of the four years I was in the military when it was mandatory. I got really ill after each shot, to the point of being hospitalized one time from dehydration and high fever. I don’t know if it was the flu or something else but it left an impression. I don’t think I have ever had the flu since those illnesses. On the other hand, I’m not around people very much, so I’m sure that helps. However, we are leaving on a cruise on Sundy and I will be around lots of people. Should I get a shot and risk putting myself in the hospital with whatever sort of reaction I might get from the shot or just keep doing what I’ve done for the past thirty years and trust my immune system to stay strong?</p>
<p>I have been thinking about getting the shot. I usually do – they even come to work to do it but this year there was some confusion if my insurance would cover work doing it. I’m insured through H and not through my work so I didn’t get it here (just really convenient) so I haven’t gone out and gotten it. After all the talk here though I’ve been thinking about getting it in the next couple of weeks so that I’m not sick just prior to the cruise in March. I can’t wait. This is our first cruise and I’m hoping it’s really nice. We are going on the Allure of the Sea – Royal Caribbean. I’ve concerned now however that I haven’t given us enough time to get off the boat and get to the airport to return home. I booked a 10:55 flight which seemed smart at the time. We are supposed to be in port by 6:00AM. I have posted on CruiseCritic and the resounding thought is if we do express disembarkment (not even sure what that is!). We should be fine. Just something else to worry about…</p>
<p>Vacations shouldn’t be stressful but I understand; no one else worries about logistics because as they put it, I do all the worrying for them! </p>
<p>TA, I am the same way as you with books. Never seems to be any urgency and I often find myself reading the formerly “hot” books months later. Rarely do I see movies unless D is home to go; H and I have very different tastes. </p>
<p>At this point, I am going to take my chances with the flu. I cannot afford to risk getting sick from the shot right now. Hope missypie et al. are feeling better today.</p>
<p>Good morning! I am always reading and it doesn’t really matter what genre or whether it is a best seller or not. I have been really enjoying some Canadian authors lately. Just picked up
Train To Nowhere: Inside an Immigrant Death Investigation to read for this month.</p>
<p>Heading up to cabin today to meet with the project manager so I can start the process of picking out siding, shingles, windows, etc. Hope I can get there and back before the rain gets here.</p>
<p>Good luck to eddieo for your surgery tomorrow!</p>
<p>I read Gone Girl last summer. Certainly a page turner with some vile characters. NM, the soup and salad format sounds like a dream. Years ago, in a fantastic book club I belonged to in another state, we met after dinner. The host provided a few nibbles–nuts, cheese and crackers, fruit, and always wine. It was so easy, and I remember my biggest worry (oh do I miss those days) was how I would keep my very little children away from the meeting and food.</p>
<p>What I read now often depends on the luck of the draw with our library system. They offer a great service with home delivery; the patron orders the book online, and they deliver to the doorstep. We have many branches for which popular novels are stocked in plenty, often through a library lease. If you get your name on a waiting list for something new and popular, it often (but not always) comes quickly–within a few weeks. As a result, I get piles of books built up at random intervals, and usually something or a few somethings get returned before reading. I’m finishing a book on CD called Heft right now; reading Felicia’s Journey by William Trevor. </p>
<p>Z, 84 years and strong–wonderful!</p>
<p>Arabrab, very scary about the Tetanus vaccination. </p>
<p>I think a fear of getting the flu from the flu shot is exactly why so many don’t want anything to do with it. Our pharmacist assured us this could not happen, but who knows? In the end, I can say that H and I have not had the flu since we started getting the shots every year. It works for us and I hope it works for our kids. D is in the Boston area. Her entire lab was sent home the other day because several people were coughing and had sore throats. She had the flu shot, and felt lucky to be well and have a free vacation day. I hope this bug, flu or other, disappears ASAP.</p>
<p>It’s sunny here today, but already too warm and muggy for January. I sent S2 off to school this morning in the fog–hate that, since at the early hour it’s pitch dark and he has a mental fog to contend with, too.</p>
<p>Watching The View and Dr. Richard Besser was on just now. He said the flu shot is 75% effective for children and only 60% effective for adults. Interesting.</p>
<p>NM, Parallel lives here. Hosted book club last night, we too read Gone Girl. All couldn’t put it down, including literary snobs. All hated the ending. I like your soup & salad rule (we tend to cook all day), although your two yummy soups sound time consuming.</p>
<p>We get the flu shots every year. One year, ShawSon was under the weather for a few days thereafter (but mildly so). I’ve never had a problem and neither has ShawWife.</p>
<p>Boston and Massachusetts have declared the flu a city and state health emergency and flu shot supplies are low. So, get one soon if you are going to.</p>
<p>I got a flu shot this year mostly Im sure because my yearly physical was in the beginning of December. H was sick… nasty cold… not sure if this was the flu, but he is a pretty healthy guy and this is the first time he was down with taking any kind of medicine he could get his hands on. He lived on Nyquil and Dayquil for about a week. He plays basketball a lot and then steams, so maybe that helped it from lasting too long? Not sure, be he seems better now.</p>
<p>I started on the basement organization/cleaning… I have literally so much plastic silverware of every color and strength I could serve an army. Seems like every occasion required buying new? Not sure. But it’s actually looking pretty awesome done there. Two last realtors today and then we have to make a decision. Honestly, I haven’t a clue “who” as they all are coming in close to the same number and seems to maybe come down to the best web presence? Any tips on what I should ask besides how many listings they had, percentage change between asking price and sale and days on the market? I mean, seriously, how do you know? We’ll probably sit down when H gets back from out of town to hear their “official” pitches… and make a decision.</p>
<p>Surgery is Tuesday… I am trying to get any of the tasks that might require me to be “red faced” done before then (i.e., tackling the storage room today) and then I should be good to go (or otherwise supervise any and all things left to do). I think I am going to go ahead and replace my foyer light. And while not an inexpensive proposition (mostly because I need a very specific size if I also don’t want to paint the ceiling. I have smooth ceilings and once you start you have to do practically the entire first floor due to the “open concept” we’ve go.</p>
<p>she’s to be here in 15 minutes. I am still in jammies…and actual real jammies!</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ve asked what their strategy is to sell it. When we sold our last house back in the Dark Ages when Boston had just come out of a housing recession, some realtors wanted to price it low (to get a bidding war) and some higher. We chose higher and got a bidding war. But, how they’d approach it was helpful. Unfortunately, most people will say identical things.</p>
<p>Just a comment on preferences for statistical packages in academia. STATA is still the default/preferred package used by economists and business students and faculty. That’s why Nate Silver still uses it as his mainstay (though he used to use SPSS as well). He’s mentioned in a recent talk that he may want to learn to use R. As someone remarked, STATA is also used a lot by political scientists, partly because of some of the add-on packages that some researchers have developed (e.g, Gary King at Harvard). But increasingly political scientists, too, have been warming up to and using R.</p>
<p>SPSS is still very widely used in the social sciences, including education research and sociology.</p>
<p>SAS continues to be widely used, especially in health and medical sciences. It has some built-in procedures that still provide “industry standard” (i.e., reliable) results for such things as sample power analysis and mixed models. But again R is making serious incursion on the use of this package.</p>
<p>But in the sciences and engineering generally (and in some social sciences such as geography/spatial analysis), R is dominant, along with certain math packages such as MATLAB. R has some very nice graphics routines, which can be useful in all the social and physical sciences. </p>
<p>Basically, for entering college students, it can be valuable for them to begin to use R, but in particular majors they may be exposed to one of the standard packages that I mentioned.</p>
<p>I don’t have a student in the “class of 2013” but since my son’s name was mentioned earlier and I am very familiar with the preferences for statistical packages in different fields/disciplines at my university, I thought I’d chime in!</p>
<p>I never heard of Charming Charlie’s… I mentioned it at work when I was admiring a colleagues new chunky necklace. She told me we have a store in town! I am not fond of mall shopping for long periods of time but this store looks like a fun one to pop in to. Thanks for mentioning it!</p>
<p>And as for the flu, our company offers flu shot clinics. Before working with this company, I worked in a health dept facility so I have had flu shots each year for many years. Our company encourages us to plan for all sorts of incidents that might impact business and I’m the keeper of the plans for my group. I reminded folks today to follow the usual rules to wash hands, use sanitizer on hands and devices, and stay home if they are ill. We have the tools to work virtual but sometimes we have to remind ourselves that it is OK to stay home.</p>
<p>I shared this article with my team, from the NY Times, to drive home how bad this year’s flu seems to be and how many forms of it are circulating…<a href=“Flu Widespread, Leading a Range of Winter’s Ills - The New York Times”>Flu Widespread, Leading a Range of Winter’s Ills - The New York Times;
<p>H is nagging me about a flu shot, he already got his…at his office.
I swear every time I get one I feel bad for two days!</p>
<p>I have a call in to my doc to make sure that I can get a flu shot, given all the meds I’m on. I’ve never had one - I’m the one in the family who “never gets sick.” Hah! </p>
<p>Looking at the flu maps, it’s clear that if we all want to stay healthy we should get on that bus and head for the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico pronto!</p>
<p>We are insisting that D1 get the shot before she heads back to Boston on Saturday, especially now that Boston’s mayor has declared a flu state of emergency. But D insists that’s not possible - she has soooo much to do (all started at the 11th hour) and soooo many places to go and people to see (all more important than a simple parental request) before she leaves. There is just no way she can make time to walk 3 blocks to CVS, get the shot and walk home.</p>
<p>I may have overreacted to her stubbornness. Just a little. 'Roid rage? ;)</p>
<p>I hear you prj as we are trying to talk D into getting a flu shot, too. I get one in my office every year and H and S have gotten theirs. S reports a lot of kids sick at his HS. </p>
<p>Eddie and Moda I am keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers with your respective eye surgeries.</p>
<p>I’m off tomorrow, but have a list of several organizing projects. No matter how much stuff I get rid of it still seems like I have too much.</p>
<p>Charming Charlie has tons of costume jewelry, some pretty cute and cheap. Some nice earrings for around $8. Funny thing-S1 bought his girlfriend $150 pearl earrings from Tiffany’s for Christmas. One of the pearls broke off the post the second time she wore them! Go figure. The only good thing about it was that when they took them back to Tiffany’s last week, they had no problem having them replaced and the GF could have exchanged them for something different if she had wanted to. Maybe next time he wants to buy her some jewelry though he should just go to Charming Charlie!</p>
<p>Thanks, Mackinaw. Fang Jr has no choice in the matter; his course is using Stata, so he will use Stata. My Coursera courses are using Matlab and R, so I will use those languages.</p>