As I am also now a public health expert (no, seriously I am an epidemiologist), here are some things to think about with salmonella and how to protect yourself.

Yes the language is not the typical manner in which I’m supposed to say it, but it makes sense to sensible people -

Salmonella has many different subtypes. I’ve personally studied serotype enteritidis. Anyways, it’s passed by what’s called the fecal-oral route. Yep, somebody’s poopie made it’s way to your mouth. Gross huh? In cases like with the tomatoes, it means that the chance that cattle or other animals were kept too close to the food stuff is pretty high. When you have chickens or other animals that lay eggs, if they have salmonella it comes out in the egg (which is why you should cook the egg thoroughly) and is also in the meat (which is why you cook the meat thoroughly, aka not bloody or even tinged pink). Salmonella lives in a LOT of places including your digestive tract (right next to the E coli). It’s when you get too much or a type that your body isn’t used to that you can get sick. Sooooo….

To try and prevent getting sick -

• Wash your hands when you are cooking (with soap, rinsing doesn’t have same effect)
• Don’t use the same utensils for meat and other foods you’re cooking
• Clean the counter with disinfectant after meat has been placed on it
• Clean anything that raw meat touches with soap and water (if food that will go uncooked touches it, toss it in the garbage)
• Cook food thoroughly
• If you go play with pets or to a farm or mess with other animals, wash your hands throroughly with soap and water after touching the animals. Do NOT touch your face at all before doing so. Thoroughly means sing Happy Birthday to yourself or the ABCs. That’s long enough. Sometimes I sing it twice.

To get better if you get sick -
You’ll probably have diarrhea and crazy cramps. Drink a TON of fluids. You might have bloody diarrhea. See a doctor.

If you want to be WAY COOL (i.e. give me something to do) go to the hospital and see someone. Let them get what’s called a stool culture (you poopie, lab people play and tell me whether it’s Salmonella) and treat you. If you heard about all the cases of salmonella, all those went to the doctor. Way more than that had milder cases and never went. The numbers reported are confirmed cases which means they go into my surveillance system (and then I get to ask you a few questions and try to figure out how you got sick so we can keep others from getting sick). No worries, it goes in with an identifying number, not your name so we won’t call you up a month later or anything.

Get rest and drink way more fluids than you thought you could ever drink

The infection will last for about 5-7 days and usually can be ridden out without any meds, but if you feel worse at any point, go immediately to the emergency room, do not pass go, do not collect $200. People do die from Salmonella infections, so don’t play any games.

Take care and good eating!

photo credit: Nutloaf

HarriMac enjoys a well lived life with a large serving of soul. Her special feature, Welcome to Soulville, appears every Thursday.

Sometimes you don’t have cable tv (costs too much), sometimes you are studying all night and miss your favorite shows and sometimes you have a dual ear infection and really don’t feel like doing anything but watching internet televisions cause you can’t sleep.

No matter the reason, there are plenty of options out there to watch your favorite shows or even pick up a new series or two and watch them in their entirety. These are in no particular order - I use multiple sites to find exactly what I want to watch.

Hulu - The latest craze in internet TV is Hulu. I signed up with it in Beta and for it being a third party site, it has the best quality. It’s got old shows (Adam 12!) and new shows (House, COPS) plus you can watch movies and sporting events (missed any bowl game last year? missed the NHL or NBA playoffs this year?). It has full episodes and brief segments of shows. The only downer sometimes is it has incomplete seasons or only season one of a long running show so you start to feen if you are really liking it.

66Stage - 66Stage pulls shows from different sites and puts them in one place for you. It had the popular DivX til those got pulled, but Veoh TV, Youku, Megavideo and Tudou are still there. Not only does the site show you the newest shows and episodes loaded but you can take your pick when it comes to watching. You can stream directly through the 66Stage website. Some of the shows are split into 2 parts, but some aren’t. Movies are available here too. Warning though - use the links on the right, not the ones in the middle. The ones in the middle are paid links for download. I stumbled upon this site after TV-Links went down (which I had used to watch the entirety of Six Feet Under).

Tv-Video.net - Kinda slow loading at first (I use FIOS), but clear video and full episodes of TV shows. Games are here too. Only gripe is the size of the video screen and that sometimes I get cut off (I’m watching on a wireless connection).

CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, AETV - Most stations stream some of their most popular shows as little as 24 hours after it airs on tv. Fox varies the time (House, for example, you have to wait 8 days to view but for COPS and Family Guy you don’t have to wait that long). CBS airs all the CSI episodes (Las Vegas, Miami and NY) and Numbers among others but doesn’t air popular shows like Criminal Minds and Without a Trace. No longer do I have to decide whether to watch CSI or Greys Anatomy Thursday nights - I can pick one and watch the other the next day. ABC airs Greys Anatomy and Brothers and Sisters and has a number of internet only shows that are pretty fun too. I found out about Pushing Daisies through this website (it airs on TV too) and love it. I’ve never really watched through NBC, but they do have some shows available (none of the Law and Orders though).

Netflix - If you have certain rate plans with Netflix you can watch movies and tv shows through their website. The quality is excellent AND it remembers where exactly you stopped so you can start back up again in the same place! It does require that you use Internet Explorer (yeah a wtf I know) and download their player, but that’s the only reason I use IE at all.

There are lots of other sites out there - TIOTI, Streamick, etc etc etc. Try them all out and see which ones you like the best.

photo credit: intenteffect

HarriMac enjoys a well lived life with a large serving of soul. Her special feature, Welcome to Soulville, appears every week.

I’m getting ready to move (again) and I’m really starting to think moving with a bunch of stuff is overrated. You’ve got Uhaul costs, need helping moving things, etc. No matter whether you’re keeping most things or not, you’ve got to get rid of those “other” things somehow, right? I feel your pain.

If you live in a college area, most other students might be moving at the same time you are and they are trying to get rid of things at the same time so no one is buying. Or, people want to give you a crappy $20 deal for that $150 office chair you bought and barely used ’cause you preferred using the futon (not speaking of myself of course LOL). So where to go?

• Try a yard sale – these tend to attract not only other students but families and other people who don’t want to or don’t have the funds to pay full price but want nice things. You get cash money so no worries about checks bouncing or anything.
• Use Craigslist – take a couple pictures throw them up on this free service and let the offers come rolling in. Other online ads for free can be done with Yahoo and Google.
• Try eBay – if it’s big ticket, try eBay to get the price you want.
• Use free newspaper classifieds – paper or online. Many more people read these than might check the online ads.
• Post fliers everywhere – those pictures you took for your online ad come in handy here. Add a phone number or address and see what happens.

If you have no luck selling your items, there are ways to get rid of them without trashing them.

Look up local non-profits, Goodwill and other thrift shops, homeless shelters or other groups that benefit a demographic you can support and offer it up. Some might give a receipt for charitable donations that you can use with your taxes and even better it helps them get items they may not have been able to afford before or provide services that are vital.

My undergrad school used to collect gently used items (clothes, furniture, etc) and have a re-sale in the fall – those in the community and students got what they needed and the proceeds went to fund community service projects. Remember – if it’s not in a condition you would use it in, think about whether somebody else would before you offer it up. Call whoever picks up your trash or the city department of public works and see if they know of recyclers that take items before you send them to the landfill.

Happy moving!