Tuesday and random thoughts

The sun is out this morning. Accuweather says the rain has stopped for couple days. Daughter has a sore throat. Half the county has the so-called Swine Flu.
We read the information that comes with the notice that vaccinations will be offered at her school. The vaccine may or may not keep you from getting the influenza. Although, It will most likely help prevent you from getting it. This current round of influenza could turn into pneumonia but then so could other varieties. You may or may not die, but then you could also die from the regular flu.
So what is the truth? Will the vaccine help? What was the point of the information sheet? You can't say, "this might be a good idea but there are many risks and then again it may not work for you and you should do something but we won't really tell you what, but we do think you should get this shot.
Or perhaps they should just say. "We want everyone to be vaccinated and we also want everyone to worry about the side effects..."
Should you just take your chances? Everyone I've talked to who has had the flu says it is pretty nasty stuff but most of them are still kind of undecided if it is worth getting the vaccine.
When I was a kid there was no question, you got the vaccine...
The truth in the 21st century is so hard to find. There is so much information but most of it is not true. I think we are back to superstition, decisions by tea leaf and the toss of a coin. Only we use a computer and the internet instead of a pinch of salt over the shoulder....

In other news- Brother and I were setting on the steps that my wife built and discussing what we are doing this week. He mentioned my problem with bicyclists. We had some other ideas.
We agreed that the problem with bicyclists it that most are activists and so they know more than we do, and are trying to convert us.
We thought of another issue. Bicyclists enjoy a special status in that they use roads and bike paths and pay no licensing fees, nor is insurance a requirement for riding a bicycle on the road.
Then there is the idea presented in the Slate article that right of way disputes could be settled by bicyclists just looking each other the eye and knowing where to go. Now that is a joke and no one called the moron on it!
Then again there is the big issue. It don't matter if you think you are right or have the moral high ground. If you do something that gets you run over by a MAC truck-you are DEAD! So don't run a stop sign, ride defensively!!!

Yesterday my sometimes a great helper and I were going to look at a family friend's old truck. The friend has passed away and but we are friends with his family. The truck has 101,000 miles. It is in perfect shape but doesn't run. My helper says it is worth something to collectors. We were going to look but then he had to work at his dad's body shop.
The fellow who owned the truck was Don S., a long time subscriber to the Daily Strumpet. He was a very interesting fellow. Quirky sense of humor. He liked Spike Jones. He worked at Oregon Mutual insurance with my uncle Ted. I've often wondered what kind of mischief these two characters cooked up in their younger days.
We were called to check things out after his sale. They had a person who does estate sales do it. It makes me pretty uptight to go into a person's house and see it all gutted out with all his memories in plastic trash bags.
All the interesting old folks are kicking off. Somehow I don't have the admiration for aging hippies as for the folks that went through the depression, WWII, and the 20th century. From outhouse to the internet in one generation. Wow!!!