(Oh, yeah... Thursday, got the result of the flu test... negative... it wasn't the flu).

They should have given you acyclovir. It helps with the sores.

Oy. Poor Fleeb. And I thought my recent run in with Strep Throat was a bother. Are oatmeal baths still a thing?

Yep, acyclovir. Five a day.

I haven't tried the oatmeal bath, but yes, it would still have been a thing if I had tried it. Would have been quite nice.

Yes, oatmeal bath is still a thing, but it's not what it sounds like. You don't jump into a tub full of porridge. The most popular brand, by far, is Aveeno [ http://www.aveeno.com/product/aveeno-+soothing+bath+treatment+.do ]. It's basically a finely milled colloidal oat powder that gives the bath water a slightly milky texture and soothes all manner of skin irritation.

Tar oil?

Gads.

I grew up in the south. You follow those up with feathers, as I recall.

Yeah, why don't they tar-and-feather anyone anymore? There are so many deserving targets...

Not enough people with chickenpox, I guess.

There are people in New York City who are afraid of chickens.

My grandmother died around this time last year. Despite her age of 93 and rapidly failing health, we firmly believe that she died out of spite for my sister (who got married out of town where grandma couldn't attend) and my aunt (who moved to another state and lied about it being just "a trip").

That's a talent I want to have: the ability to drop dead on command. (Compare: I've heard Ragnar say that he wants to be able to vomit on command.)

Now we're working on a new theory. That theory is that Grandma faked her own death and is hiding out in the empty building that used to be a restaurant where we celebrated her 90th birthday.

I need to get Snopes to claim this isn't true, which will mean that it is true.

Dropping dead on command isn't difficult. It's the returning from the dead that is.

Now we're working on a new theory. That theory is that Grandma faked

her own death and is hiding out in the empty building that used to be a

restaurant where we celebrated her 90th birthday.

It's got smuggling tunnels leading under the border, right?

Dropping dead on command isn't difficult. It's the returning from the

dead that is.

Who said anything about returning?

It's got smuggling tunnels leading under the border, right?

I can't think of anywhere worth tunneling to from a starting point in Mohegan Lake, but sure, let's go with that. And my grandmother is sitting in the restaurant at the end of the tunnel with an AR-15 in her lap, ready to take shots at anyone bringing contraband in.

Dear Lazyweb:

What's the consensus, among those who do NOT wear tinfoil hats, about flu shots with respect to risk of getting the flu?

I've only gotten the vaccine a couple of times, but one of those years was the only time in my adult life where I had the flu (2009). Is there any credibility to the concept that vaccinating against a couple of well-known strains makes one more susceptible to other strains, or that it lowers overall immunity, or any of the other ideas that float around?

Searching teh web only turns up scarebait from "natural medicine" sites who push the same non-medicines that killed Steve Jobs. I'm perfectly happy to dismiss them, but am posting this because my own experience raises the question.
Obviously it could just be a coincidence but I wanted to hear what the collective thinks. My health care plan includes a free flu shot and I'm trying to decide whether to get it.

IG - My understanding is that you just got hit with one of the strains that you weren't vaccinated for. I don't believe that it makes you more or less susceptible to that one other strain. It just snuck in and kicked your ass. I get the vaccine every year, and while I may get sick, it's not the flu.

Everyone I know who gets a flu shot feels sick for days after. Maybe not quite the flu, but flu like symptoms.

I've never bothered, personally, but I'm not really in the risk category either.

Oh, I don't think I got sick *from* the shot ... I was vaccinated in November and I got the flu the following February.