It's cold

I went walking this morning at 7am but it was so cold, nipping at my nose and cheeks that I stayed out for 15 min and walked home. I checked the temp, 32*, that's cold and why my nose didn't feel too good. Supposed to get up to 51*. In my wimpyness that sounds better, and I'll walk then.

Rick's facility here in Austin makes nothing but IV bags; they send out 40 semi-trucks a day filled with bags. At the end of the 2013, maybe beginning of 2014, they had some boxes that they called "leakers", meaning that something was making them slightly wet. The people on the line who noticed this took a few days to tell anyone, even tho their 2 big issues are always leakers and particulates (in the solution). They have to notify the FDA when something like this happens. Finally get to the bottom of it - long story. Rick gets it solved, but they then have lots of product that can't go out until they follow protocol.

Meanwhile, the US is having a flu crisis, lots of people hospitalized and needing IV bags. Hospira has 45% of the market, and between the leakers and the flu, and who knows what is going on with the other companies that make IV bags, there is now a shortage. Yesterday someone from some agency (can't remember) called Rick and asked if they had done all that is necessary to make sure that their product was good, Rick said yes, so this agency called the FDA and said to let Hospira release the product. (I might be bungling this telling of the story.)

Then this morning I read on Yahoo News about the shortage of IV bags. I also read the comments at the end of the article and the commenters seemed to be blaming Obamacare. Now I'm as ready as anyone to blame everything on Obama and Obamacare, but this shortage had nothing to do with either.