I didn't feel well yesterday, although I didn't really figure that out until I was driving to work. I was supposed to proctor a test in the morning, but didn't feel up to that. So I postponed my test until Friday (you can't believe how relieved my students looked). I figured that if you don't feel up to proctoring, about the easiest task in the world, you should go home. So I went home and went back to bed. I slept until lunch time and felt much better, if a little tired still.

I'm a good bit better today.

Here's something to consider. Pontine stroke survivors, like Linda, are particularly susceptible to pneumonia. It is the most common lethal complication of the stroke. Linda has had a pretty remarkable recovery, and is a generally healthy person, so her risk is probably not as dramatic as all that. It will probably be impossible to track down flu vaccine this year, even though we are some of those generally sensible people that get our shots every year. If I could manage it for her, I probably should.

Should I try to get shots for Ellie or me? Ellie is the most likely person to bring that kind of thing home, although I am not far behind working at the university. As an asthmatic, I am sort of prone to developing those chest things that end up needing treatment, although I've never been hospitalized for one (I came very close in college once). But now more than ever, it would be difficult for me to be sick, since I have to take care of everyone else.

It all makes me wonder. Why is there always a shortage of vaccine? It's worse this year, but I can't ever remember a year when they didn't say that there is a shortage. What I read suggests that this is because it is difficult to gauge demand, and manufacturers don't want to over-produce and get stuck with product they can't sell.

So, is this one of those "big things" that should have more government involvement? When too much corn is produced, the government buys excess corn and pays to have it stored, ensuring a minimum price. Why? Presumably because it is better to ensure a steady supply of corn than to run out of food. The gov doesn't produce corn, they just safeguard the price to make private production feasible.

Would it be so bad to guarantee a minimum demand of flu vaccine? If we buy too much serum, then some money is wasted, but is it more beneficial to prevent waste or more generally beneficial to have vaccine? That's not so easy to measure. You have to compare against the costs of extra sick people and that gets complicated. How much does it cost the economy for us all to get the flu each year?

Supposedly we're on the edge of a manufacturing breakthrough where the flu virus can be cultured in bacteria, and that will streamline everything. Maybe this is a problem which is about to go away on its own. But if it isn't going away, surely something about the process can be improved.

I don't think government is the answer to everything, but for big things sometimes it is. The environment is one of those things. It always pays for the individual to trash the environment--it's cheaper. Collectively that's a pretty lousy philosophy. It takes the collective to impose on the individual to safeguard the environment; it's one of the "big" problems, too big for just you or me. Maybe the flu is like that too.

I guess in the meantime, we must do as Jane Eyre, who knows how to avoid the fires of Hell, "I must keep in good health and not die."