What an Adjustment

I had my monthly adjustments after work today. Chiropractor first, then deep-tissue massage after. And just like a caterpillar makes the awkward-but-refreshing transformation to a butterfly, it was worth it.

First of all, I arrived fresh after a writing workshop where we learned and discussed the short attention span of humans these days – and how do we write to capture that less-than-one second of time they/we take to read content. 

Our roadblocks? Many. But they include this fact: Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London studied 1,100 workers at a British company and found that multitasking with electronic media caused a greater decrease in IQ than smoking pot or losing a night's sleep.

Yup. Our phones are making us stupid. We need our phones to communicate and receive information, but we can't go very long without them. We, as a whole, cannot handle sitting idle.

So, much like the briefly resting butterfly on the leaf above, I decided to test the theory. I arrived 5 minutes early to the chiropractor and had to sit outside of her office door anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. I vowed to just wait and not look at my phone. Uff da. 

I remembered that since the pre-internet dawn of waiting room time, they've always had magazines for this purpose. So paging through reading material isn't technically a technical device, right? Instead of grabbing a magazine, though, I grabbed a book. I wish I would've taken a picture of the name of it because, like the effects of smoking pot or losing a night's sleep as mentioned above, my memory is squat these days.

I think the title had something to do with coping with stress. I do remember one of the strategies mentioned, though. And that might have helped me more than my physical adjustments today.

Here's what I recall. When you perceive something as negative and label it as a negative event, then it's going to carry a negative stress on you. For as long as you let it. Instead label it neutrally – like stating the facts.

For example, and this is just an example (honest), instead of saying, "My boss just assigned me a writing job knowing full well I am overloaded right now," say (and think), "My boss assigned a job. I am going to write it." This acknowledges that she had to assign it to someone. And maybe as a positive, she assigned it to me because she's confident in my abilities.

In other words, don't fold your wings ready for battle. Don't be paranoid – and definitely nip your ego in the bud. Not everyone is out to get you. You are not a victim. A series of events happened and now we move on.

Pretty decent 5-minute lesson, eh?

I guess it just spoke to me – while my phone was on silent. 😀

Oh Deer

What do you do when two of the top social media platforms are out of commission for the day? You drive around see real-world stuff.

Seriously, it was kind of weird not having any Facebook or Instagram working today. But yet, I probably got a few more things done. Except when I needed to do some legit marketing research for work. Who knew how much we rely on these silly time-suckers!

So I did a spot check on some fall color. And, oh deer, got a few surprises.

There was not any traffic out in the town of Rudolph, so I could slam on my brakes and catch this trio. "You lookin' at me?"

"Run! It's the crazy camera lady!"

They all ran and THEN crossed the road behind me. They did not want to get hit and did not want me to get another picture of them. Maybe they're smarter than we give them credit for. 

Nah.

A little further down the road I drove past this, braked and put my wheels in reverse for a quarter mile. Thank you again for not having traffic on the road.

Just seeing the windmill with fall color bursting behind it was so brake-worthy! 

Maybe experiencing real life isn't that bad. Of course, I do need some social media platforms to work – otherwise how could I share these pictures or my blog? Oh dear, indeed.

A Pretty Good Friday

After being physically closed for over a year, it was a blessing to reopen church today, on Good Friday. With real live people. 

Sure we still televised the service and streamed it online as we do every week, but today we had about 50 people in the pews to lend their voices, their presence, their prayers to the service. So nice!

Obviously, there's a still a pandemic going on. So we decided to open in baby steps. For now, parishioners must sign up ahead of time to be included in the maximum crowd size of 50 per service. I got to serve as "greeter" today. It usually involves welcoming everyone at the door and exchanging hand shakes and hugs. But today I greeted them with digital thermometer and, if they were fine, I checked them in on the list. 

The ushers then sat them in a socially distanced pattern in the pews. Everyone I welcomed today was 100 percent willing to follow any protocol – just happy to be there and worship in person, even for the most solemn service of the church year. 

In the quote above, it talks about painful things. For a lot of people, the situation of not being able to attend church in person wasn't exactly painless. It's a challenge to not see your church family in person, really feel God's presence, or experience the same tangible spirit and joy while worshiping, too.

That's why it's so good to be back! 

Our reopening really is perfectly timed to take place on a holiday the both reminds us of pain and how love heals that pain. 

Not convinced? Wait 'til Sunday. You'll know what I mean.

Socially Long Distancing

When you come from a family of 8 kids and we have spouses or kids or both, it's a big crowd at holidays. Probably bigger than governors in either Minnesota or Wisconsin would allow. So we had to cancel a physical Hedberg Christmas party this year. But today, the virtual one was on!

There were some connectivity issues here and there, but I at least got see about 20 family members on the call at various times today. That includes my mom – thanks to my sister Rachel for having her over and showing her what the Internet is and, most importantly for today, what Zoom is.

Usually we put on a program for Dad and Mom (just Mom now), so a few people had some songs and poems. 

And Mom was even singing and yodeling! That was a treasure!

Due to the pandemic, I hadn't seen 90% of the family since last year's Christmas celebration. Now some of my great-nephews are old enough to talk and sing. That's a measure of what can happen a in year. I got a lump in my throat. Just thinking of how much togetherness we missed out on. It's so sad. Yet so out of our control!

All we can do is stay smart and stay patient so we can stay healthy. 

When we do have the next family gathering, those long "Hedberg goodbyes" are going to be epic! Cannot wait.

Sending virtual hugs to all my family – and friends who are like family – this holiday season!

If It's On The Internet, It's True

I am not professing to know anything about how artificial intelligence or the manner in which computers can be so intuitive. I just want to know how they just know things. Like when I plug my name in a simple Facebook name test program and get this...

Dang if I'm not on the naughty list already. It has to be true. It's on the internet!

I knew something was up the minute I opened my second delivery of Sweet Potato Pie coffee. It's apparently the 2020 non-contact version of coal. And I don't like it.

Good thing I ordered Christmas cards today (the latest ever) and bought stamps. I can start spreading that Christmas cheer all over the place and maybe, just maybe, I'll move onto the Trying To Be Nice List. Eventually, maybe even the Nice List. 

We've still got 17 days until Christmas Eve, my fellow Naughty Listers. Let's see if we can't help 2020 finish strong – and merry. For crying out loud, it's got to be stinkin' MERRY! 

OK. Maybe the first step is an attitude adjustment. I blame my lack of a chocolate advent calendar or Christmas Cupcake coffee. Let's do this, Grinches!

O No

Alphabetical gratitude month continues today with the letter O which means I have O so many things to be grateful for – most days.

A = Autumn, Austins, Assumption
B = Ballots, Books, Book Club, Bible
C = Casey, Clay, Carter, Church, Creativity, Camera
D = Dad, Daughters, Deck Chair, Dar, Design
E = Eggs, Election, Energy, Empty Nest
F = Family, Friends, Faith, Flu Shot, FastForward
G = Games, Golf, Guilty pleasures
H = Hugs, Hurricanes, Humor
I = Ice cream, Impromptu Invitations
J = Jim, Jokes, Job, Java
K = Kindness, King Cone, Knock on Wood, Karma
L = Laughters, Love
M = Mom, Masters, Musicals
N = Nieces, Nephews, Neighbors, Norse Force

Outage: I'd by lying if I said I am grateful this internet outage – which is just something unstable with our router or something. My hair and patience are on fire like the letter O above. But the good news for you is that you don't need to spend another minute reading my blog opining my misery. Instead, look at this beautiful "O" hanging on our house. Thanks to our friends, Arndt's Trees, you can say "Ooooh" "Ahhhh" "Ooooo!"

#gratitudemonth #gratitudealphabet 

Oh, This Old Thing?

There's a viral app called FaceApp that allows users to age themselves in their selfie photos. For some reason, it's suddenly taken over the internet the last few days with everyone posting pictures of themselves looking OLD.

So I decided to see what I'd look like at 50...

Oh wait. I AM 50! Sigh.

And no, I am not going to do that app. I already know from pictures of my dad what I'm going to look like when I'm even OLDER than I am now. You don't need to see that right now. You think you do, but you don't.

Feel free to share your "oldie but goodie" pictures with me, though! I want to be able to recognize you in Wal-Mart in a few years when these aging eyes of mine are shot.

Three Decades of Hamster Dance and More

Today is allegedly the 30th birthday of the World Wide Web. I say "allegedly" because some experts have different dates in mind. I just can't believe it launched when I was in college and I really didn't see it (in action) or touch it until the mid-1990s.

I want to say we've come along way from the Ooog-a-cha-ka Baby and the Hamster Dance, but have we?

Sure I don't have to use my phone line to dial in on an incredibly slow modem. But now we've got dancing, laughing and pooping babies (and pets). Time wasters called Facebook and Pinterest. An Asian woman telling my how to declutter and organize my house.

And our cat can take a selfie.

Of course that doesn't mean I don't love the Information Super Highway and all it has to offer. Just pointing out a few of the ways it impacts my life.

Today I am thankful for that cyber connection with our friends and family – even across the ocean – and yes, my ability to spout nonsense in a blog and use Facebook to give away fabulous "prizes" cluttering my house. When it doesn't detract me from living my real life, it's a win-win.

We still have glitches, though. I tried downloading Spring two weeks ago and I'm still getting that spinning rainbow.

Charting My Gratitude

Despite the cold and crappy weather, there are plenty of things I love about November... Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin... just kidding. I love the fact it is widely recognized as Gratitude Month. We emphasize that we shouldn't just be thankful on Thanksgiving, but every day.

Of every month.

My sister found this cool chart with different categories to address each day of November. Since I am late to the Thankful Party, I will take 1 through 6 today.

1. What smell are you grateful for today?
My favorite smell, in no particular order, are fresh-cut grass, just about anything baking, and oranges when they are just peeled and broken apart.

2. What technology are you grateful for?
Not sure the exact technology name, but it is the ability to use the internet or texting to communicate with loved ones and friends from anywhere to anywhere at anytime.

3. What color are you grateful for?
I know most of you would think I'd say purple, but Royal Blue has changed my life. Can't imagine life without the Assumption friends I've made, the experiences Carter had as a student, band member and athlete, and hubby's role as coach and athletic supporter. Even this Lutheran feels the love!

4. What food are you most grateful for?
Well that almost goes without saying. Ice cream of course. Hard ice cream. The real stuff. The good stuff. So many delicious, inventive flavors, I will never grow tired of it. Even a little scoop can "hit the spot" in the dead of winter. I'm pretty tough when it comes to ice cream!

5. What sound are you grateful for today?
You know what's music to my ears? Music. One of the things I love about this time of year is Christmas music. Such a variety from fun to serious to instrumental. And so much of it spreads a great message. I admire anyone with talent to sing or play an instrument. Thus, the reason I loved watching Glee and Pitch Perfect, and now The Voice, plus attending musicals like Wicked and Mamma Mia!, and live concerts when I can from high school to KIDS from Wisconsin to Bob Seger.

6. What in nature are you grateful for?
As much as I love looking at pretty flowers and colored leaves, my heart belongs to water. Love the oceans because that usually means I am somewhere warm on a beach. Love Great Lakes and their lighthouses and unique shorelines. Like lakes and rivers because I can often see them from a nice cottage, and can get in them or on them, swimming or kayaking.

How would YOU answer these 6?

Shooting the Messenger

Not that I'm against modern technology. And I wouldn't say it's against me. We're just not on the same level – at the same time, that is.

After successfully hooking up cable to my TV last night, I felt like rock star. I can do anything!

And I can.

But can my smart phone?

This afternoon at work, my phone suddenly pinged to notify me I had voicemail. That's weird, I thought. I didn't even hear it ring. Well here it was a voicemail from LAST Friday. Yes, just getting delivered today.

And it was an important message – for me anyway. Thankfully no one else on the other end needed me to get a message. I mean hubby could have had a flat tire or been stranded somewhere. Or College Boy could have needed money. Oh wait, that message always comes through!

I was upset about responding 4 days after the fact and hoped it wasn't too late to deal with what I needed to deal with. I don't want to say point blank that "Verizon stinks" because I suppose dropped calls, texts and messages could happen with any carrier.

But would it happen with a carrier pigeon? As far as I know, they only drop their poop.

Could be worth investigating if our cat agrees not to eat our "service plan."

Re-Routing

Everything I know about technology I've learned from the various information technology (I.T.) departments I've worked with. Basically, it can be summed up in two short sentences. "Turn it off. Turn it back on."

Sadly, that is usually what works. And I, the head of the Incompetent Techno-geek (also I.T.) department, could figure that one out.

Now I am crossing my fingers that works for our router, which just dropped the signal in the house while hubby was trying to access Internet on his laptop and I was uploading designed pages to DropBox.

Since I need to conserve the signal (is that even a thing??) for pressing deadlines, I'll have to log off the blog and log back on tomorrow. By then I will have a new experience under my belt, too.

Hint: It doesn't involve 4-H or food on a stick, but it does involve the fair.

Can't Predict Everything

Personalized messages come in all sorts of formats these days. But it gets creepy when it seems the cyber world can read your mind.

Just talking about the weather – while in our living room – and bam, the little forecast reminder above pops up on my Facebook page. How do they (whoever they are) know I am concerned?

Do they know hubby had to put oil dry on the ice-rink driveway so I could get up the incline and into the garage after work? Do they know that we were slightly hesitant to drive to the boys basketball game tonight?

I bet they had no idea what a crazy night on the court we were in for!

Let's just call this Super Tuesday. Nothing to do with elections but everything to do with a sporting repeat of Super Sunday.

Remember how the Patriots were down – way down – at halftime? Remember how fired up they were the second half after the coach went Gaga on them in the locker room?

Well, meet the Assumption Royals, aka Patriots.

We hosted Pittsville tonight and they had a player who could not miss during the first half. Seriously could not miss. Needless to say, our boys were down 30-16 at the half. Here we are with this super winning record this year and we were trailing a team we beat by more than 10 points the last time we met.

Not sure what our coach said to them during the break, but they, like those Patriots, came out fired up to take back the game! And so they did.

They actually caught up and with a score of 46-46 at the buzzer, they (like those Patriots) forced the contest in overtime! I knew then that we would win for sure. The script was already written, right?

And we did. 58-52. Wow.

Predictable, yet not. Just how I like it!

Trust Issues

When my cell phone rang at work this afternoon, the first thing I noticed was that I forgot to change my "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" ring tone. The second thing I noticed was that the call was coming from Washington, D.C.

Allegedly.

When I don't recognize a number, I always let it go to voicemail. I figure if it is someone I know, they'll leave a message. If it's a telemarketer, scammer or automated call of some sort, there won't be a message. 9 times out of 10, make that 9.75 times out of 10, there is no message because they fall into one of those categories.

Today, though, that D.C. caller left a voicemail. And, if I hadn't been on top of my Anti-Trust High Alert game, I might have been freaked out. Apparently the IRS is suing me and if I don't call back they'll let the local authorities know so they can arrest me. Whoa.

It just happened that I recently heard or read a news story about this scam so I was free of guilt when I deleted the message. Not this time, scammers!

These guys are persistent, though, and sent a follow-up text. I had to screen shot it to share.

It is kind of scary how official-sounding they attempt to be. It's just downright sad that these are the times we live in. We don't know whom to trust. Who is truly official, who is being helpful, who is out to get us or whatever they can from us.

Years ago when we gave hubby's parents a computer, my mother-in-law staunchly declared that they were not getting the Internet. "We don't want that in our house," she said, as if the virtual hand of evil was going to reach through the monitor and grab their morals, their soul, maybe their wallet. 

She might have been onto something. Our security gets threatened through cell phones, land lines, emails and the Internet. I even worry about my blog sometimes. There's probably some thugs out there who could use it to turn my life upside down. Do I quit and let them win? Or do I take the risk?

Frankly, I am not going to quit using my phone, television or any of my electronic devices. Then there's the fact that once something is on the Internet, it's there forever. Crap. What was I thinking starting a DAILY blog nearly 10 years ago?

Other than my IRS lawsuit, I hope there is nothing incriminating to warrant getting my assets frozen.

With these below-zero temperatures, my assets already frozen!

Be careful out there.

The New 2016 Reality

Now this was an interesting post I saw on Facebook today...

And I guess Facebook is part of the answer, too... and the Internet and even blogs.

So I probably shouldn't start any arguments tonight on that device. In other words, I'm taking a free pass from blogging. Have had some computer issues tonight and it is well past my bedtime.

Let me know what YOU think would be interesting or difficult to explain about our "new reality"!

Mrs. 3000

When I logged in to blog tonight I realized that I have blogged 3,000 times! That's just about daily for the past 8 1/2 years. Yeah, I need a life.

For some reason, "Mr. 3000" popped into my head when I saw that number. I guess there was a baseball movie by that name years ago. I know I never saw it but it must have had decent marketing if I remembered the name.

That is me.... can't remember what I did 2 days ago but that Bernie Mac movie from 10 years ago shines in the pile of clutter in my frontal lobe. Yeah, I really do need a life.

That's not going to happen this weekend.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a wide open space on the calendar for this weekend. I know what you're thinking. I've got a half-dozen (or so) Hallmark Christmas movies in the DVR storage, just waiting to be viewed. But first, I must address that growing list of "Things To Do" that will never be completed at the rate I'm going. But I don't feel guilty. I've had a run of great weekends with sisters and friends and shopping and hoops and cookies.

Now, though, I am on a mission.

Have to seriously clean the house, deck the halls, run errands, come up with some Christmas card concept, order senior pictures, push Carter on scholarship deadlines, maybe resurrect Mr. Deck Chair if the forecast is correct... oh, and get 10,000 steps, of course.

I recently found this great app on my phone called Color Checklist that let's me create a checklist and check the box when the item is done. I started a To Do list on November 4th and still have items to check off. The problem is that the list, just like a calendar or a clock, is only useful if you LOOK at it!

As often as I use my phone, you'd think that wouldn't be a problem. But I probably bypass it to check texts or play Word Bubbles or get on Facebook. Today I realized I needed to cross more items off AND just a start new list. I only carried over 6 items, so that's not bad, is it? C'mon, support me on this.

Strange that I never need a reminder to blog. I'm guessing that if I look over my list of 3,000 I would be hard-pressed to find 30 that were even important! Guess I am holding up my promise – it's the light side, not the deep side or essential side or critical side.

Just light like my To Do list will be after this amazingly productive weekend.

Thanks for the eye rolls and reading!

Under Pressure

No matter how hard I try, I just can't even give this cold away. I tried giving it to hubby and now we're just sharing it, a sort of joint custody, taking turns with the coughing fits at night.

The side effect for me is that for the past week or so I have had a headache. Not the pounding kind, but more like a pressure. Like when you're in an airplane and changing altitude. I was worried I was part vampire and reacting to a full moon or some atmospheric change. But after talking to a few girlfriends, I got it figured out.

No, not the Bird Flu. Though that would have been ironically fitting.

It's a sinus headache or sinus infection or sinus something!

I guess I haven't had this before but the symptoms, according to Web MD, all match up. I know... not everything on the Internet it true but I was trying to avoid another trip to the doctor. And it's a very smart website. I was surprised that the recent onset of sensitivity in my upper teeth is tied to this sinus thing, too. Who knew?

Apparently lots of people. Maybe the vampires even knew. I just had to ask.

So at lunch I went to the store and got some over-the-counter meds targeted to sinus PRESSURE and more. Plus I got a fun little nasal spray that is a joy to shove up my nose and shake things up a bit.

We'll see what works. I can handle the coughing at night, but I would like to have relief from the pressure.

The pressure to be a domestic goddess is enough on its own, don't ya think?

Why, Oh Why-Fi

Sometime in the middle of the night – I think around 4 a.m. – the power went out. Not sure why. It wasn't storming or anything. We only noticed because our fan (aka white noise machine) stopped. It was suddenly very quiet.

And you know what we heard? Coyotes. Lots of them. Somewhere. I guess near enough for us to hear them. Yikes.

The power came back on after an hour, I think. So waking up meant fixing all the electric clocks in the house and more. The "more" part was not fun. First, the cable television signal was out. I had to reset and restart all kinds of things before that got going. Then it was onto the Internet.

No matter how many times I reset and restarted any and every thing related to our Internet and wi-fi, I could not get a signal on our computers. I tried switching the wireless routers and everything. No success. To use the Internet on my computer, I had to use my smartphone as a hotspot. Now that's just a pain.

So I gave up and went shopping.

Well, first I ran 3 miles and got laundry going, then showered and went to Stevens Point shopping. But not for me, of course. For Carter. Just needed to get a shirt for his senior pictures tomorrow. But then, since there was no one home waiting for me – Carter was tubing and Jim was at a funeral in Green Bay – I decided to shop for myself. I had a $50 Kohl's gift card burning a hole in my pocket since my birthday. That was well spent. Ha.

Retail therapy is underrated.

When I got home, Carter was there there trying to figure out our darn wireless connection. How will we live without it?!? We were both frustrated so I got in touch with our Internet provider and no one else was having this problem since the power outage. Between the support guy and me, we determined it was our own wireless routers that must have gone to pot somehow, maybe a surge during the power outage. Who knows?

So after some time with Mr. Deck Chair and a dinner date with Carter, we picked up a new router... because I'm sure I had $70 burning a hole in my pocket! Got home and hooked it up and, I gotta tell ya, this new one works better than the two we had. My connection is faster and not slowed at all when we have two computers and three phones using it.

An expensive pain in the butt, but they don't make things to last. They know the consumers will fork over money for replacements because, well, we can't live without the Internet, can we?

I managed to most of today but I can't shop and go out to eat every day to fill the void! Not unless this new magical router is so good it prints money... or Kohl's cards.

Low Fuel

Not sure if this is how I look at the moment, but it sure is how I feel. Out. Of. Gas!

In two days, managed to squeeze in 3 graduation parties plus 1 bridal shower and 8 hours of drive time thrown in the mix.

Was in a cyber dead zone (aka my mom's house) last night so didn't blog. Tonight I am back home but my "low fuel" light is on and I am going to postpone any sort of blogging effort until tomorrow. In a nutshell, I had a good time with family, friends and some wonderful young adults with promising futures.

And my future promises to hold some z-z-z-z-z-z-z....

Weather or Not

I can be a bit of a weather junkie, especially in the winter. When you have a bit of a commute, it's just one of those things you do. Check online to see what you're waking up to and what's coming for the day and week.

Just like a second opinion, if you don't like what the local TV station has to say, switch to Accuweather. If they aren't giving you what you want, check the Weather Channel. And trust me... they have been giving me some interesting, even conflicting, information lately.

This is a screen shot from a frigid, frigid day on January 7...

Minus 8 degrees and they have a balmy beach background, complete with a sailboat – even with the "outdoor exposure should be limited" warning. Are they trying to make us think summer-y thoughts? It didn't work. Made me, for one, feel worse. Brrrr.

Tonight, though, I found this entertaining...

We should feel good that it's 20 degrees (and feels like 11) because "it is now more than 15 degrees warmer than it was yesterday at this time." Ha. I have never seen a statement like that. I guess the weather web folks get bored when there isn't a major snow storm headed our way.

Maybe tomorrow it will say "It is now the second day in a row without a windchill advisory." Whoo-hoo! Leave your jacket at home!

Actually, that's not entirely sarcastic. It's a five-day forecast to smile about. Tomorrow's high will be 34 and come Saturday, a spring-like 37. Mr. Deck Chair will still remain in hiding, but those running shoes better make an appearance!

Let's not ruin this positive mood with a look at the 10-day forecast. This gives me a few days to get in the mindset that I should not kill the messenger.

Mock him, yes. Maim him, no.

A is for Apple; Z is for Zombies?

It felt like a typical Monday today the way I was buried at work and all the computer systems were running slow.

I love technology but we expect it to work FOR us. At Warp Speed. All the time.

And it doesn't.

My computer locked up a few times and I restarted it. The second time I restarted it, I couldn't log in. It no longer recognized me or my password. Of course two thoughts come immediately to mind:

1) Do I still work here?
2) Are aliens taking over my computer?

After calling the "help desk," I was assured the answer to No. 1 was yes. Whew. But No. 2? Who knows? Refresh my memory... Do we prepare for an Alien Invasion the same way we do a Zombie Apocalypse? And are Twinkies needed?

You know where you can find the official answer? The U.S. Government.

Not kidding.

Did you know that on the Center for Disease Control's website the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response has a plan for Zombies? I kid you not. You can check here or just read below:

Wonder why Zombies, Zombie Apocalypse, and Zombie Preparedness continue to live or walk dead on a CDC web site? 

As it turns out what first began as a tongue in cheek campaign to engage new audiences with preparedness messages has proven to be a very effective platform. We continue to reach and engage a wide variety of audiences on all hazards preparedness via Zombie Preparedness; and as our own director, Dr. Ali Khan, notes, "If you are generally well equipped to deal with a zombie apocalypse you will be prepared for a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake, or terrorist attack." 

So please log on, get a kit, make a plan, and be prepared!

I will point out that I do not troll the Internet for Zombie sites. A friend just pointed this out to me when I was determining whether I needed to buy some Twinkies.

Thank goodness those are back in stores – now with an even longer shelf life. I'm pretty sure they'll outlast my computer at work. And I don't think they'll tempt the taste palates of either aliens OR zombies.

Do you?

I better check with the CDC.