Up To Speed - May 13, 2026

So just in the last week I've A) had another grandchild enter the world and B) gotten a shot for the shingles vaccine which, for whatever reason, knocked me silly with fever/chills/headaches. People who have had shingles before have told me they didn't sleep for weeks, and I had chicken pox as a kid so I'm set to get shingles as an old which means I'm good with avoiding all of that in the future. But my body was all "a shot? let's make his arm feel like he was punched by Gabe Jacas and let's send heat to his head and ice to his feet."

While shivering under the covers yesterday (and simultaneously sweating) I looked up the side effects of getting the shot and...

I am One Of The Ten... adults who experienced side effects severe enough to temporarily prevent normal activities. I mean, it knocked me SILLY. And if that last bullet point there is true, prayers up for Robert getting the second dose in mid-July.

Still worth it though. I think. Every time I hear the word "shingles" I think of the Tony LaRussa press conferences during the 2011 Cardinals season...

...and I'm OK spending 36 hours with fever/chills.

What's that? You want to hear about the grandkid? Well for that I'll need to put up the paywall so I can keep some of the personal info "in the famILLy", so to speak.