A Measles Update

Measles Update

I'm sending this to my email list that normally is about gaming.  Mainly because most of us are of a certain age, and like me, may not be sure if they ever received a measles vaccine.

And no, I am not going to be putting out regular missives like with Covid.  The sky is not falling here.

If you are not sure you are vaccinated, you can ask your doctor for a "blood titer test", specifically Measles IgG antibody test.  This will tell you if you are immune or not.  You can proceed from there. You really do not want this.  

From what my doctor told me, the early vaccines in the early 60's may not have the life long persistence expected.  The more effective vaccine was released in 1968.

A Penn Medicine office near me was shut down because of an infected patient. Penn Medicine is now offering the test to everyone they see.

In my case, I simply did not know.  I know my mother had measles in 1962, when she was pregnant with my sister.   So I was exposed, but I do not recall if I had them or not.  The military gave me a number of injections in 1975, but I do not know if measles was among them.  I did hear there was a measles outbreak in boot camp a couple weeks later.  So again, I do not know.

But I will know in a few days.

 

Protest Experiences

Having been to a number of protests by now, I want to share some of the experiences.

Have a check list. Mine is here:  https://phil-bythenumbers.blogspot.com/2026/01/protest-preparations.html

All in all, the company is pleasant. I'll shift positions about every 20 minutes or so and have different people to talk to.

Getting feed back from the drive bys is good and gives a good measure of where you stand. The anti-administration to supporter ration is about 50-1. There is the occasional bird flipping, motor revving, unimaginative F##k you, and the strange, "get a job!" Strange in that it is a fairly common retort. Enough where there must be a common source in their propaganda. Strange in that the protests are on Saturday, and obviously they are not working either...

Lets assume bias in that 50-1 observation. Lets say it's 25-1. That means 4% of the drive bys are for the illegal acts of the corrupt-leader-in-chief. You know what 4% is on a bell curve? A very vocal minority, but still the lunatic fringe.

Some post protest comments about a bunch of old people on the lines. And there some much older than me. Now think about it. How bad must the situation be to get a 75 year old out in the rain and cold to protest? Look to your elders folks, they know their mind. And they are not doing it for themselves, but for you.

The birth of an Urban Legend:

I have been to a number of locations. With a group of 300 in Swathmore, Pa, we were being harassed by initially 3 cars with loud engines and way over done with the pedophile-in-chief's paraphernalia. They went through the intersection several times before two cars got bord and drove away. The largest truck made a couple of passes and then decided to park cattycorner to our group. Putting up a sign, "Honk if you love T###p". There was some grumbling and anger from our corner, but cooler heads were prevailing.


My opinion was we needed him. The number of honks he received was minimal, see 50-1 above.
I told someone I think I'll go over there and give him a bottle of water. It was hot, and it would not due to have him pass out from heat stroke.

6 months later, another location. I had related this story a number of times. And someone this morning told me the same story, only it happened in Pottsgrove. How many times has this story been repeated now? Who knows? But it is interesting to witness an urban legend being made.

Protest Preparations

Let someone know where you are.
Hat
First aid kit
Dress for weather

Protest list
Name Tag
Sunblock
water
swim goggles
n95 mask
Cash

Hearing Aids
List with emergency contacts
484 ### ####
610 ### ####
Hotel/car location

writing implement
disable bio-metrics on phone.
reading glasses
snack bars
pills

Empagliflozin 25mg 1xday (morning)
Metformin 500mg 4xday
Tamsulosin .4mg 2xday (morning)
Losartan 25mg 1x day (morning)
Glimepiride 2mg 2x day (morning and evening)
Trazodone 100mg
Gabapentin 300mg 2xday (evening)

ACLU Lawyer list
intake@acludc.org
202-601-4269
(202) 457-0800

Public Defender
(202) 824-2463