25 MAR 07: ROCKED - 103

WARNING: Today's entry comes to you from a blogger who is officially "under the weather." You might want to disinfect your mouse and keyboard after you're through here - or go ahead and step away for a moment, to put on plastic gloves and a face mask.

I'm no doctor, and don't even play one on TV. But I fear I caught the flu over the last couple of days. My temperature soared to 103 degrees F. Friday evening, and stayed in that neighborhood all day Saturday. Sad to say, I was hotter than the Kansas basketball team's shooting against UCLA....

It wasn't really clear to me if anything was wrong until I took my temperature late Friday. I'd developed a bad hacking cough for a couple of days, but thought it was due to all the pine pollen. If we don't get some rain soon, so many things will be coated in yellow that visitors will think Columbus is filled with Georgia Tech graduates.

On top of that, my workplace is one of those offices where people constantly wrestle with the thermostat. When someone turned the setting down Friday morning, I felt seriously chilled. It's as if people don't realize there are settings between 64 and 80.

As I left the office to run Friday afternoon errands, my body thawed out in a car with the windows rolled up. I needed warmth - and I think it was so warm that a little of the "new car smell" actually redeveloped.

At this point I want to apologize to the customers at the Wal-Mart SuperCenter at Columbus Park Crossing. Hopefully I didn't spread my bug all over the store, as I went grocery shopping. But you can take comfort in one thing -- I didn't go anywhere near the pet food.

After taking home the groceries and putting them away, I still didn't do a temperature check of my body. Instead, I went out and had a racquetball workout - in the 80-degree heat. Baking in the car was one thing, but nearly boiling over while driving home is something else.

But I had one other commitment to fulfill after that. It was a potluck weekend at church, so I prepared a pan of my somewhat-infamous brownies. If I was sick now, I know God could heal me by Saturday afternoon. As long as I didn't "anoint" the brownies by coughing all over them....

But my temperature stayed in the 102-103 degree range Saturday morning, so I stayed home from church. When a single guy misses a potluck dinner, you KNOW it's serious.

Between Friday evening and Saturday evening, I probably spent 16 hours in bed. I listened to a couple of religious programs on radio to "make up" for missing church -- but as sluggish and groggy as I was, the minister might as well have knocked me in the head with a Bible.

The good news is that after doing a bit of cleaning in the kitchen Saturday night, my temperature was down to 100.5. So there's hope on my part that the flu is flying away -- and maybe today I'll be down to a "Sunny 100."

E-MAIL UPDATE: While your blogger is ill, your messages get to drive the discussion. We start on Milgen Road:

CSU must be looking to start a cross country track team..Can't believe they built the new dorms miles away..I hope they run a shuttle several times per day..Oh wait,CSU has been charging $40 a semester to park in the parking garage that is still not used..I guess by building so far away they are forcing students to have cars so they fill the garage.

Now hold on here! I went to college on a campus which was quite spread out. Some dormitory residents had a 15-minute walk to the center of campus - and this was decades before people worried about teenage obesity and carbon emissions.

I believe a METRA line runs along Milgen Road, so that can take Columbus State students from the new dorms to the main campus. In fact, METRA should have some fun with this - like serving discount-priced cans of Red Bull early in the morning.

Now from "Cougars" to other creatures....

Animal Rightists VS Animal Welfare

Five exotic, pregnant cats- loudly colored calicos, and Japanese bob tails appeared here in the woods. Their kittens will be born in the next few days! I will not be here and wondered if I might be able to place them in a caring home. If they are left outside, here, the kittens will be subjected to coyotes and cold nights.

I called PAWS- "PEOPLE HELPING ANIMALS-ANIMALS HELPING PEOPLE".

The lady said they do not care for cats and that I should spay them.

I said "They can be spayed AFTER delivery."

Director Donna REX, who was listening to the call, said "You should spay--- NOW. "

I said, " I cannot spay and kill VIABLE kittens. "

She insisted I should SPAY and kill the kittens because the kittens will be subjected to having 7000 cats each in a period of 7 years. She went on and on with justifications of relinquishing their good lives to the 'good death' she thought necessary.

I told her I knew about the exponential birth rates of un-neutered animals, but the litters are viable- I CANNOT KILL them now a day before they are to be born.

She insisted on spay, TOMORROW- because "The kittens will be subjected to a life of misery and pain if they are allowed to live."

"Misery and pain are not the only alternatives, and they can all be spay/neutered, later." I said.

I called a vet and was told that when spay is done just before delivery the uterus is removed from the mother and the kittens are allowed to suffocate and suffer.

I have witnessed thousands of farm animal births. Animals ARE born with the ability to feel pain. Furthermore, they feel pain prior to birth. Some start suckling when only their head has emerged from their mother's body. They move, cry, and suckle well before the cord is even visible.

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO GIVE THOSE ANIMAL RIGHTIST PEOPLE MONEY?

If, and only IF they adopt a less animal rightist- and more pro-life domestic animal position I will consider aiding them.

Deborah Owens

First of all, I didn't realize PAWS was this biased an organization. It cares for dogs, but NOT cats? Why, that's almost like refusing to drink Coca-Cola as long as one bottle of RC remains on sale.

I also didn't realize coyotes were roaming the woods around Columbus. The only time I tend to see them is when they're chasing Road Runners on TV....

Perhaps Ms. Owens should have called the Muscogee County Humane Society about her dilemma. It actually accepts cats, and is a "no-kill" shelter - which is different from the "no-care" shelter she seems to be describing.

Our next e-mail came with the headline, "Talbot County in the news again:"

Hi,

Did you catch the story about our Sheriffs Dept's investigator Andy K in the Columbus Ledger today, it was about wrecking his car, he hit the pole so hard it caused the power in the city of Talbotton to go out for hours, Is Andy K trying to match up to Sheriff Mr. Bill Johnson's record.

Yes, I knew about the wreck in Talbotton. In fact, the day it happened someone told me the damaged car already had been moved. "You ought to investigate this," a caller urged me. Maybe it's more commonplace in Talbotton to wait 48 hours for a wrecker to show up....

I've heard speculation about Talbot County and its patrol cars, but haven't done any digging to get to the bottom of it. But someone claimed to me the other day that Talbotton's mayor had gone out and bought three new police cars on his own - so maybe it's all a conspiracy, and he knew this wreck was coming.

Let's take one more call - uh, I mean e-mail....

I am a regular listener to talk line, and still do not know the circumstances surrounding Antonio Carter's departure. Can you fill me in? I don't agree with his views but he did make the show interesting.

I enjoy reading your blog, keep up the good work!

-Robert

WRCG dropped both Antonio Carter and Doug Kellett late last year, because the ratings weren't very strong. But that's what happens when your signal isn't very strong....

But I heard Antonio Carter back on "TalkLine" one recent morning. Robbie Watson called Carter a "friend." So she didn't shove him out the door at WRCG - else he would have called a news conference to condemn her show by now.

We thank all of you who write, and now let's check weekend news before I go back to bed:

+ The Federal Emergency Management Agency declared Dougherty County is eligible for individual disaster assistance from the tornadoes. Yet Muscogee County still isn't?! Just because a longtime Democrat won the mayor's race....

+ The Benning Park Recreation Center was renamed after the late Columbus Councilor Frank Chester. I'm glad they didn't name the softball diamonds after him too - because "Chester Fields" would have sparked questions about a tobacco industry payoff.

(The sign outside the recreation center was covered for several weeks, before the new name was unveiled. I honestly thought a gang had spray-painted it, the way it had a racquetball court. As nice as the Chester Recreation Center's sign looks, maybe the "taggers" thought the same thing.)

+ A federal jury ruled Continental Carbon must pay $20 million for violating pollution standards. Maybe Al Gore knows what he's talking about, when he speaks of "carbon shifting." Can we shift that plant about 50 miles away?

+ Columbus State University hosted a "nerd-a-thon" - an event featuring comic book collections, computer games and professional wrestlers. I'm a bit surprised this event wasn't sponsored by Direct Optical Center.

+ The C.S.U. Lumpkin Center hosted the first-ever "Bi-City All-Star Classic" for high school basketball players. For some reason, the event started one hour late - as if the players had to watch the Ohio State-Memphis game first, to learn some new moves.

+ Nick Saban ran his first spring practice as Alabama head football coach. Most of the players wore black shirts - sparking rumors Saban will leave Tuscaloosa after the 2007 season, to coach at Vanderbilt.

This blog has thousands of visitors each month, from people in Columbus and around the world. To advertise to them, offer a story tip or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 3526 (- 346, 8.9%)

If you mention this blog in public, please be polite enough to let me know.

© 2003-07 Richard Burkard, all rights reserved.