This Ain't Rocket Science, It's Just Plain Ol' Science

I have a friend who lives not too far from me who received a notice that they may have been exposed to measles.  This friend then shared the notice on Facebook and said something along the line of I want answers.  This smacks of COVID! I looked at that post and almost did a facepalm, wondering how someone could connect these dots.  (Oh gee, I made a funny.  Dots... Measles...  Too soon?)  Anyway, let me share how these are not in any way related, except in the mind of a conspiracy theorist.

For starters, measles was eliminated in the United States back in 2000.  What this means is that measles was wiped out in the US.  The only way outbreaks occur here is when someone travels out of the country and brings the virus back as a souvenir.  Measles is still technically eliminated in the US, but that status is under threat because outbreaks are becoming increasingly common and widespread.  COVID was a new virus.

Moving on to my next point, measles has had a safe, effective vaccine for over 50 years. We wiped out measles in the US because we developed herd immunity, which states that 95% of the American population was immunized against measles.  By the way, herd immunity varies based on how contagious a given virus is.  Measles is considered the most contagious virus known to science, which is why we need such a high vaccination rate to contain it.  By way of comparison, the flu only needs about 45% vaccination for herd immunity.  COVID was a new pathogen that had no vaccine when it broke out.

When COVID happened, we basically shut down the whole world.  My friend just got a notice.  Nobody's being forced to stay home.  Nobody's being asked to quarantine, unless they have an active, diagnosed case.  These aspects are so dissimilar that it's mind boggling anyone would correlate them.

The measles vaccine provides lifetime immunity, whereas COVID requires new immunization as strains continue to mutate.  Measles, by contrast, has not mutated in decades.

So... to my friend who wants answers:  This does not smack of COVID.  These two situations are nothing alike.  The reason you may have been exposed to measles is because an unvaccinated individual in your general geographic region was exposed to measles, and caught the virus.  Since measles, as stated above, is considered the single most contagious pathogen known to science, and because our vaccination rate has fallen below the 95% threshold mentioned above, we need to take more precautions to prevent widespread outbreaks.  In other words, the anti-vaxxers are making things tougher for all of us.  This ain't rocket science, it's just plain ol' science.

Made My Day

I did a quick check on Facebook this morning and saw a friend request that made my day.

The friend request was from one of my (now former) delayed entry program poolees who just earned the title Marine.  This young man graduated boot camp two days ago, and one of the first things he did was send me a friend request.  Let me give you a little backstory...

When this kid first signed the paperwork, he was not a perfect example of physical fitness.  I know for certain that I ran faster than he did, and I believe I did more pull-ups and planked longer, though I'm not 100% on that recollection.  Just before he shipped out to boot camp, he shared that I intimidated the hell out of him because I was in better shape than him, and said that his motivation to beat me inspired him to improve.  By the way, before he went to boot camp, he was able to run faster, crank out more pull-ups, and plank longer than me, so I feel like I served my purpose.

Now this young man has earned his Eagle, Globe and Anchor, and one of the first things he did was send me a friend request.  I kind of feel like a teacher who had a student come back to visit and say you were one of my all-time favorite teachers.  That $h!+ made my day.

Self Reliance vs. Victimhood

I've been hearing a little bit about how the city of Gary, Indiana and the surrounding area has been without electricity for about two weeks, after some major storms knocked out the power.  This brings me back to when we had a major derecho in my neck of the woods.  I'm not going to try to compare the severity of the events, because I experienced the derecho, whereas I'm only reading about the storms in Gary, so I have a biased belief that my storm was worse.  As a result, any attempt at comparison would be something like saying my dad's lung cancer is worse than your mom's pancreatic cancer.  What I am going to do is talk about our responses to the event.

As I read the story about Gary,  I consumed a story about victimhood...  Oh, woe is me.  We've been without power for two weeks.  Who will save us?  This wasn't my first exposure to the story, but it was my first deep dive.  After reading this story, I continued on and read a couple of additional articles, and the trend was similar... the residents of Gary, Indiana are victims of a natural disaster, and they're frustrated or underserved by the public infrastructure that's supposed to help in this type of circumstance.

As I absorbed these stories, I thought back to the derecho that hit me, and the 500 year flood that had hit just over a decade earlier.  I also thought back to Hurricane Katrina when it hit New Orleans in 2005.  Here's my overall observation:  When we got hit by the derecho, we were also without power.  My house was without power for eight days, and I personally knew people who went without electricity for two weeks.  Portions of my city were completely isolated for days due to trees completely blocking roads.  When we saw the devastation, we pooled our resources and started digging our way out ourselves.  Neighbors shared chainsaws, manpower, and vehicles, and we started clearing the roads as citizens.

I knew I'd be without power for a while, so I called up a friend in a nearby town and asked if I could store meat from my small freezer in his deep freezer, and he happily agreed.  I kept a small amount of frozen meat and all of my frozen veggies, and moved my perishables from the refrigerator to the freezer, converting it into an icebox.  I ate food as it thawed, cooking on the grill on my deck.  I climbed on the roof and patched the hole that had been punched through it by a tree with expandable spray foam I happened to have on hand, and covered the hole where my fireplace chimney had been with a tarp.  Once I had finished taking care of the minor breaches in my home's integrity, I volunteered to assist others.

My mindset was quite typical.  People and businesses who had power restored early on put power strips on their porches, so that neighbors could charge their cell phones.  People with generators offered to let neighbors store insulin in their refrigerator.  My point is that we banded together and started rebuilding ourselves.  We didn't wait for others to come bail us out.

The story in Gary is a story of victimhood.  The story of Katrina was a story of helplessness. The overarching, repeating theme in both cases are that the residents are waiting for rescue, whereas my story was a story of self-reliance and resilience.

I can't help but wonder how much of these stories are the real, full story, vs. a media fabrication.  I keep asking myself if my case was unique or if it was spun by the storytellers.  I question if I'm misremembering things, but can't help but believe my memories are accurate.  Let's assume I'm right, just for a moment...

What does that mean for American society?  If my little pocket is the exception and not the rule, what does that mean for American resilience and exceptionalism?  Is it effectively dead?  Have we turned into a country of victims, unable to persevere during times of adversity, destined to rely on the help of others?

But if I'm wrong, what does that mean for the state of journalism?  Has the fourth pillar devolved to the point where it no longer serves the public, and is instead only interested in producing a story that will engage the reader, even to the extend of skewing reality beyond the realm of fact?

I suspect that both are true, which is even worse. 

Good. He Should Be Charged!

 

I read an article this morning saying that the an Air Force major is going to be charged essentially for protesting in uniform. I support the administration for pressing charges. While everyone is entitled to exercise their first amendment rights, military personnel are prohibited from doing so in uniform. This is because the military is supposed to be non-partisan. As soon as the uniform is donned, you cease speaking or acting as an individual and you assume the role of Airman, Sailor, Soldier or Marine.

 

I fully expect this officer knew what he was doing. I am confident he sees himself as a martyr. While I acknowledge that his actions required a strength of conviction, I strongly disagree with how he chose to express his position.

Allergies Suck

Let me start by saying this is a minor inconvenience.  I have seasonal allergies.  My specific symptoms include itchy, watery eyes, nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, a little bit of congestion in my lungs, and occasional bouts of eczema.  It's not wildly different from a cold.  Unfortunately, I have spring and fall allergies.  Maybe that's part of why I love summer so much.  The spring pollen is gone, the fall pollen hasn't yet arrived, and I get the sun and heat that's sorely lacking in the winter.

I should clarify that I take daily allergy medicine to combat the symptoms.  That's tremendously helpful.  Back in the day, I spent months suffering from allergies, and the only relief I could find was from Benadryl, which just knocked me on my @$$.  I also did the allergy shots for several years.  That helped too.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to complete the treatment plan because of my divorce from wife 1.0.  Regardless though, the shots helped a lot.  I'm a lot less susceptible to allergens than I was before the shots.

It still doesn't help days like today.  I'm having a miserable allergy day.  It's the ragweed.  Unfortunately, I can't take the Benadryl, because I have too much to do, and I can't afford to be a zombie.  Allergies suck! 

Why I Give

I was asked to give a quick speech in church yesterday, discussing why I give/serve.  It was a little weird for me, because I'm not bit into tooting my own horn, specifically when it comes to my charity work.  I've long believed that the best charity work is done anonymously.  While I have occasionally discussed certain facets of my volunteer work, I don't believe I've ever shared everything I do, all at once, with a large group of people.  In this case though, I understood what my pastor was trying to accomplish, so I took one for the team, and discussed why, where and how I give.

I serve on the church's worship team, primarily as a bass player, though I've occasionally been known to sing harmonies or play six string.  This one is primarily for selfish reasons.  I serve on the worship team because it forces me to practice and play music.  If it wasn't for the worship team, my guitars and bass would just sit around and collect dust.  Furthermore, music is one of the two times I feel closest to God.  (The other time is when I'm communing with nature.)  When it comes to music though, I have to be playing it.  Singing along with the congregation from the pews isn't the same.  When I'm playing, I feel like a conduit.

I volunteer with the Humane Society.  Each month, I take a dog to a nearby nursing home to interact with the residents.  I do this because I love dogs, and because it provides an opportunity for me to serve an overlooked segment of society.  I genuinely believe that humans don't deserve the unconditional love that dogs give us, and I can't describe the satisfaction I receive when I see a resident light up when I bring a dog for them to pet.

I'm active in the veteran community.  This is partially because I'm a vet.  It's more because I see that veterans, as a group, have given more to our society than virtually another demographic, and they pay a far higher price for that service.  They have earned our respect and deserve our service.

I donate money to an area faith-based nonprofit that focuses on housing and food insecurity.  This charity holds an annual event where they fix up houses for homeowners who could otherwise not afford it.  This work ranges from painting the exterior to replacing appliances, to structural repairs, and everything in between.  The work is done by volunteers and area trades experts, and paid for by community fundraising.  Additionally, they have a few houses and apartments that they've renovated and rent out at below-market prices.  They have a nonprofit grocery store in an area that used to be a food desert.  They have a pay-it-forward nonprofit cafe, and they supplement these food locations with an urban farm.  I donate money to this group because I remember what it's like to struggle to pay rent.  I remember going weeks without eating meat so I could put nutritious food into my kids' bellies.  I remember what it was like as a kid, not having the nice clothes.

I don't do this because I'm obedient to God, per se. In fact, most people who know me would probably not use the word obedient to describe me.  I don't do it to follow a rule.  I do it out of love for my fellow human being.  I do it because I can.

As I finished my talk, I shared that it doesn't matter why, where, or how often you give.  It only matters that you give.  I hope that by sharing where, why and how I give that my reason for each of my charitable involvements had a unique reason, and that service can take many different forms.  I hope I touched a couple of hearts that might now consider a couple of new ideas for their own community involvement.

Bye Bye, Boy

Grandson is on his way back home today.  The house feels unusually quiet, despite his being here for only three weeks.  I guess I got used to his presence.

I won't miss the mess he left in his wake.

I won't miss telling him to do things that is common sense for an adult to do, such as flushing the toilet.

I won't miss watching him fall into the abyss of his cell phone.

I won't miss him arguing with his little cousin.

I will miss the trash talk.

I will miss the mundane conversation about nothing in particular.

I will miss him at the gym and Marine PT.

I will miss cooking with and for him.

I will miss playing video games with him.

I will miss him arguing with his little cousin, despite what I said earlier. 

I will miss him.