What about older people?

The good news is that according to the Newsletter of Mayo Clinic, the swine flu vaccine targets the H1N1 virus that made its first reported appearance in the United States and Mexico in spring 2009.

This vaccine will be available for the public before the predicted major outbreak in this winter.

But would it be enough for all of us?

"The risk of swine flu infection is lower for people age 65 or older than for younger people. As vaccine supply and demand among younger age groups is being met, the swine flu vaccine will be offered to people over the age of 65."

This is something new for me, quite opposite what was in practice in the past.

Growing up in Klotildliget, Hungary

Klotildliget, the small village where I was growing up, was subdivided from the properties of Habsburg-Lotaring Prince Joseph Karl in the late 1880's (as the more than 100 years old map illustratating above) at the area of the forested Pilis mountains, and was named after his wife, Klotild.

It was an ideal place for game hunting which activity was continued by his son, Prince Joseph Agost in the first half of the 20th century.

The beasts must had been abundant those days, because my mother was able to buy some venison and wild boar meat at the local butcher's shop during the hunting seasons.

One has to remember that this was the time before the communist took over Hungary at the end of WWII. By the end of 1945 everything was owned by the Communist government, and wild meats was not available anymore for the households. However, because the Hungarians do not give up easily, they have substituted it with the marinated beef.

(I'm not responsible for the incorrect spelling of "Bore" on the video.)

Charging Wild Bore

This shocking short video had inspired me to post a new recipe to my Hungarian Cooking site: Vadas Hus (Hunter-style Pot Roast).

Health Savings Accounts

The recent Newsletter of the Mayo Clinic deals with the possibility of opening a health savings account (HSA).


Basically it is an account into which you can deposit tax-free money to be used for future medical expenses.


Health savings accounts were established in 2003 and are becoming more common. The goal of an HSA is to reduce the money spent on health care by placing more of the responsibility on you to shop for it. (This part is a bit fuzzy to me.)


The choice of whether to start an HSA is not an easy one, and supporters and critics have different opinions on the pros and cons, as one can read it in the Newsletter.

Birthdays

I received this beautiful symbolic picture from my Son for my 75th birthday, and I would like to share it with you...

I know that time has a way of moving quickly, and I wonder where all the years went. I also know that I lived them all, and thinking back sometimes makes me feel very tired and old.

Life goes by quickly, so, do what you can today. Say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember, and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past.

Thank you my children.

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet

"Oh! What a tangled web we weave

When at first we practice to deceive!"

The famous quotation from Marmion of the historical poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott.

He was born on 15 August 1771 in Edinburgh, and died 21 September 1832, Melrose, Scotland.

Deception is the act of convincing another to believe information that is not true, or not the whole truth.

Yalta Conference (1945)

What was left off from this short video is the agreement of the three leaders that triggered the atom bombs for Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, the Iron Curtain for Europe, and later on the Korean, Vietnamese and the Cold Wars.