After an extremely busy summer and a fast-paced start to my fall, I was finally slowed down by a flu bug. It actually proved to be a useful week of rest for me, albeit at a rather inconvenient time in the semester. I’m not sure if I really buy into this whole swine flu thing (kidding), but in celebration of my week of rest, I thought I’d discuss how H1N1 is affecting my life.

First, visit www.doIhaveswineflu.org.

My friend James sent me that link on Tuesday when my symptoms started. I also got a press release this week from the city of Columbia about how to fight the flu, which is really what you’d expect: wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough, don’t lick handrails, etc. They also sent me a link to http://fighttheflumo.com/, which interested me mostly because they have a YouTube, Twitter and Facebook account to help fight the flu.

The New York Times had the most interesting story about H1N1 this week. The story discussed how some colleges and universities are quarantining sick students in a single dormitory together.

“The residents of Turman South receive free meals, do not attend class, and travel to the pharmacy in a van they call the Flying Pig. Linens are changed daily. A staff member brings grocery bags of Tamiflu, granola, sports drinks, soup and thermometers. The goal is preventing the infected from sniffling and hacking their way into an epidemic.”

It’s an interesting idea, but it reminds me of “28 Weeks Later” a little bit too much.