Libraries are lame

I am about to boycott the library. We have craptastic library in our city, that is staffed completely by volunteers. It sucks ass. The selection of books is awful. And they don't even have CDs or DVDs. No, they have cassette and VHS tapes. Seriously? What year is it? 1987? Geesh.

But despite this, I have been going to the library every week with the kids. I have a routine. I always bring in the books from the week before on the day that we check out new books. Last week, the librarian informed me that I had 4 books that were overdue. I kindly explained that I didn't, because I ALWAYS bring back the previous week's books on the day I check out more books. But she insisted that these 4 books were not returned. In fact, she claimed that they were nearly two weeks overdue. BUT THEY WERE RETURNED. And why didn't anyone mention the overdue books last week? I asked her to check the shelves, because I am 100% positive that I returned the books. She said she would look into it, but she looked annoyed.

Today is library day. I am going to flip my wig if they haven't found those damn books.

Something else to keep me awake at night

I want to take a moment to talk about the vaccine that is currently being developed for the swine flu. I don't know about you, but I do not want my children to be guinea pigs for the pharmaceutical industry. I was reading an article on Forbes.com, and I think this pretty much sums it up...

A high-level U.S. government decision in 1976 to vaccinate 43 million people against swine flu backfired -- badly.

Not only did the dreaded outbreak never materialize (illness never spread beyond 240 soldiers stationed at Fort Dix, N.J.) but some 500 Americans who did get vaccinated came down with a rare neurodegenerative condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which many experts believe was linked to the shot. Twenty-five of those 500 people died.

Now U.S. health officials are considering a fall immunization campaign that could involve an unprecedented 600 million doses of vaccine for the currently circulating H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

How do health experts know 2009 won't be a repeat of the 1976 fiasco? Are there any guarantees the vaccine will be safe?

The short answers to those questions, according to the experts, are "we don't know" and "no."

Isn't that scary? My main concern is that this vaccine has never been given to large quantities of people. That scares the shit out of me. However, becoming infected with the swine flu scares the shit out of me too. How do I know which option to choose?

Well, I have thought about this long and hard. If I give my children the vaccine, I feel like I could be potentially causing them harm. What if the vaccine is linked with another rare disorder? What if the virus changes (just like the regular flu virus does every year), rendering the vaccine useless? And finally, what if the outbreak of the virus isn't as bad as they are predicting? Then, I just endangered my children for no fucking reason.

So, I am going to say no to the swine flu vaccine this fall. I just can't risk it. How about you? Any opinions on the topic?

A new day

Yesterday was the day from hell. Yikes! Porgie is a great little girl. She is really well behaved 90% of the time. She is calm, she listens, and she is very affectionate. But something went awry yesterday. I was bitchy, the kids were bitchy, and combined, we were a disaster.

Honestly, I don't think she intended to spit in my face. I think she meant to spit out her food, which would have been annoying, but she put just a little too much force behind the action. All I know for sure, is that I almost completely lost control of myself. I was so angry, that I knew I couldn't be in the same room as her.

When the kids got up from their MUCH needed naps, things were better, but not great. I had a splitting headache and no tolerance for whining. Fortunately, John got home from work early, so that helped. And I went to Target after dinner and spent money. That always makes me feel better.

Today is a new day! We are going to a concert in the park to hear Ernie and Neal. We are having a picnic lunch. And gosh darn it, we are going to have fun!