Watching The River Flow

Back from taking daughter #2 on a college tour. It should be noted that trying to communicate with the sometimes-obtuse teenager through mood swings during this process is, frankly, not that much of an improvement from what I had left behind with tomatoes and the FDA.

But...things could be worse. In a reprise of the Pretenders' 1980's tune 'My City Was Gone', as a part of checking out colleges we visited daughter #1 in Iowa City & saw the results of the devastating floodwaters. Even though they had receded hundreds of feet in some locations, the damage to campus buildings, the auditoriums, the Union, my old apartment & fraternity house for God's sakes, was almost beyond belief. And although we couldn't get up there, Cedar Rapids, 30 miles to the north, got it worse. Homes & businesses in this region that will never come back put diminished trading from a salmonella outbreak in a new & better perspective, for me anyway.

However, in Iowa I did detect a 'we're going to get through this' attitude that was pervasive throughout. Certainly, it's been reported that FEMA is doing a much better job this time around, learning the tough lessons from Katrina. But indulge me a little Midwest or Hawkeye pride in that these people are definitely the can-do type. One only needs to spend a winter like this last one on the Great Plains to realize that folks around here can take a hit and keep on ticking.

Finally...from the Seven Words Not To Be Uttered In A Blog Department (RIP George Carlin, the best in the biz for many years & inventor of the word 'Molubaday'--the day after tomorrow), take a glance at the expanded FDA page on the tomato/salmonella outbreak, and check out this link, called the 'Traceback Investigation Flow Diagram':

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes_image.pdf

It is labeled a draft, a heartwarming realization to me that the accurate version must be forthcoming. Trying to decipher its meaning makes me do my best Forrest Gump "I am not a smart man...", but I would advise changing the working title of the flowchart to 'Dog Chasing Its Tail'.

Later,

Jay