I am very busy at work, people.  You know that Salmonella outbreak that has been going on for awhile now nationwide, the one that allegedly involved the tomatoes?  Investigating stuff like that is what I do for a living.  I work on the people side of things, meaning that I don’t analyze fruits and vegetables.  I analyze what the sick people and their friends and coworkers are shedding in their bodily substances.  The folks in the other half of our building who work for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture analyze the food products that may be making people sick.  Between the two of us, we come up with data that link the two.  Suffice it to say that we are currently up to our eyeballs in fecal material, to put it somewhat delicately!

Interestingly enough, the subspecies of Salmonella that we’re looking for is named Salmonella Saintpaul, named because it was first identified in this area many, many years ago.  My namesake!  I just hope that I never catch my namesake!  That is what my job is all about — trying ultimately to prevent people from getting sick with these things.

Well, off to work!