Flu Shots, Part II

I had a nice discussion with the tech who was preparing the shots.  He has a common mid-Eastern name...Aramaic for Blacksmith.  Damascus was famous for it's steel and for it's steel work.

The iconic story from the Crusades was of a European knight cleaving a steel helmet with his great sword.  The Saracen responded by tossing a silk scarf into the air and slicing it in two with a single "Swish" of his scimitar.

We discussed the Arabic and Hindi words for "Thank-you".  They are very similar.
Arabic "Soo-ka-ren"
Hindi "Shoo-kree-a"

We also discussed the similarity to the word for sugar:  Sucrose.

That is what the term "Thank-you" really is:  Sweet sugar.

Vaccinations

The Eaton Rapids Joe family are strong proponents for vaccinations.

They are not a silver bullet.  There are several hundred virus (virii?) that make people feel sick.  The flu vaccine tries to pick the two or three influenza strains most likely to cause respiratory complications.  Those are the influenza that kill people.

Vaccinations are an important part of the horizontal resistance strategy for staying fit and health.

One rarely discussed aspect of vaccinations is that getting the flu shot each year beefs up your portfolio of antibodies.  For most veterinary vaccinations, the expectations is that it takes two shots to develop meaningful resistance.  The first shot "tools up" the lymph nodes to produce the antibodies specific to that strain of virus.  The second shot, typically three or four weeks later, kicks the factory into high gear.

Even after the virus mutates there will likely be a partial match-up between the mutated virus and some of your portfolio of antibodies.  So rather than swarm tackling the virus beneath a pile of green-and-white jerseys, the virus will be hobbled by a couple of antibodies latching onto an ankle and a wrist.  It still slows the virus down.  That gives your immune system some breathing room, enough time to launch an effective response without a trip to the ICU.

Screech owls

I went outside to get my camera and I heard three Eastern Screech Owls talking it up.  They almost sound like horses whinnying.  One sounds like it is only 40 yards west of the house!