9:43 AM

I might be feverish.  But I don’t have a thermometer ( tossed out the old one with mercury in it long ago – science literacy) and not feeling as though I need to go around the corner to get a new one just yet.  But will go look up the symptoms of HINI – which I’m now going to google as “swine flu symptoms” ( fundamental literacy).

I quickly skip by twitter posts like – “I think I have swine flu. I’ve been laffing alot today and have started snorting like a pigg. But rather land at CDC’s site: (civic literacy – choosing what are scientifically vetted, trustworthy sources of info):

What are the signs and symptoms of this virus in people? The symptoms of this new H1N1 flu virus  in people are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy  nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with  this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting.  Also, like seasonal flu, severe illnesses and death has  occurred as a result of illness associated with this virus.”
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm Accessed 5/20/09).

Hmmm.
Maybe I will go get that thermometer.

7:30 AM

I’m going to seize the opportunity today to try to notice and list the health literacy skills I use over the course of the day to figure out if the miserable sore throat I’ve woken up with is simply that ( and not the H1N1 virus):

1. No fever – therefore using what I’ve heard on TV (civic literacy) as a symptom – high fever – and deciding I don’t meet this criteria ( at this point);
2. No coughing – again using my civic literacy – what I’ve gathered from TV coverage and signs about coughing and sneezing into your sleeve to gauge whether I meet this criteria.
3. Drinking tea – rather than my Starbucks this am. Must be cultural literacy at work – I grew up in a household that only drank tea when we were sick.
4. Emergency Room vs Physician – idly thinking that if I do wind up needing some medical attention what would I do? The emergency rooms in NYC are backed up because of resident concerns, so pretty unlikely that I’d do that….. (civic literacy again – what I’ve heard in the media and what I know about how the emergency health care system works).
5. Info reconnaissance – time to turn on the morning news shows….

8:22 AM -
Decide not to go to work. I could manage, but definitely don’t want to spread whatever I have – civic literacy. But realize that so many people CAN’T STAY HOME FROM WORK.

9:20 AM
Took the dogs out for their walk and met up with the dog run folks in the park. In passing, along with discussions of dog poop and dog sitting woes I mentioned my bad cold – no appreciable steps backward from anyone. But as I turned to continue to crawl home one woman did call out “You know they closed a private school a few blocks away – that flu thing. Feel better.”