Brain currently booting in Safe Mode

I have reduced the news to, "What fresh hell is this?" I am finding that it is necessary for what little sanity I have left given what is going on in the world right now.

Yesterday, Sheldon ate some half-dead cat grass. Then, without warning, he yarked it up (with some used dry food) on my side of the bed. I got to do three loads of laundry yesterday. UGH.

I recently finished reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. The next, Harrow the Ninth, is not even out yet and I am already making grabby hands. If lesbian necromancers in space doesn't interest you, then I don't know what to say. It is a seriously good bit of swords-and-spacecraft speculative fiction and I would be remiss if I didn't get others to read it, too.

And my computer did something weird when I was trying to wake it from sleep a few minutes ago, so, wisely (or paranoid-ly? Both apply) I am making a backup of my files. I would rather be overly cautious than not nearly cautious enough here.

Giving my brain a bit of a break from lesbian necromancers (and having already read a fluffy modern romance between a female teacher and male stripper), I was pointed at some military analysis of the Siege of Gondor. From there, I ventured into a bit about War Elephants. Both are insightful and incredibly interesting. I understand that historic military discussion can be a bit of a bore, but it took me a while to finish the treatise on War Elephants because I had to stop and squee at regular intervals. It's an odd thing to enjoy, but I do recommend them. And there's a page of links for world building.

This is lovely and hit me right in the feels: Kitbull.

Last week, two children died from influenza strain B in Guelph. This is tragic and heartbreaking but also makes me fucking angry.

My clock radio is set to CBC Radio One. I like to wake up and listen to the news or the guest spots. I've heard some impassioned people, and some exasperated ones, and even a friend *waves at C*. What I heard this morning... There is too much. Lemme sum up.

There was a segment with bits of previously recorded interviews spliced together. One was a public health employee, another was the father of one of the children who had died from the flu. The father was, understandably, grief stricken. At one point, he wished that there was a warning.

Still in bed, I rolled toward the radio and snarked, "it's called a flu shot."

Or, I don't know, HISTORY?

I know that the flu pandemic of 1918 isn't lodged in people's brains like it is mine, but it really should be. When you have the flu, you wish you were dead. For some, that wish becomes a reality. Influenza is nothing to sneeze at.

And as for the flu shot? Okay. It has a 55% success rate. It doesn't seem like much, but it is better than flipping a coin. I would rather have partial protection than none at all. Not just for myself, but for those around me who can't get the shot for legitimate reasons (and religious objection is NOT legitimate).

The signs go up around the beginning of November and come down in March. You can get the flu shot at health clinics, the doctor's office, most pharmacies. FOR FREE. All you need is your health card and to show up. There is literally NO EXCUSE not to get one. NONE. Okay, if you have kids and you go the pharmacy route, you have to call around to find out if they have any of the child vaccine, which is different, but that is it.

I never used to get the flu shot. I thought it was stupid and weird. THEN I had a daughter who had a heart condition and needed vaccination against RSV. This virus is so common that pretty much everyone has had it by the time they are six. Runny noses and sniffles are, at best, annoyances for most. For others? Deadly. The vaccination is also hella expensive, too, which is why the use is very limited. $3000 a shot is certifiably nuts.

After Declan was born, flu shots became a regular thing. And now that he's been diagnosed with Autosomal Polycystic Kidney Disease, it is a necessity.

I don't know if either of those kids who passed had been vaccinated or not, or if that information would ever be released if they were. I am leaning towards no, they were not because people, in general, tend to have a 'it can't happen to me' mentality. It seems to me that the flu shot is more widely available than those of us who have been vaccinated and with no excuse, I don't know why.