Monday open thread: On the other side of Moderna

Well, this weekend has been a century.

I had my second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine this past Friday. By 6pm that day, I had a fever and a headache. Then the fun began.

To say that this was the worst reaction I've ever had to a vaccine would be an understatement. I envy those who had none. I had a migraine for going on thirty-six hours. My fever hovered around 101.5F. There was a point on Saturday evening when my headache was so severe that I thought I was about to stroke out. "Great," I thought. "I'll be dead, without my wife here, and the Hounds of Love and Emma will suffer."

But, as of this writing, I seem to have come out on the other side and seem to be better.

Of course, I'm not recounting this to warn you off of taking the vaccine. Take the vaccine, dammit. But this is just another instance of pain being woven into the fabric of any action worth doing. It is the general condition of the universe that anything of value must be gained through pain and suffering. You get nothing of benefit without putting in the work. What is true in combatting a pandemic is true in most facets of life. That's not a reason to avoid the work; it's merely a forewarning of what's to come, and to gird yourself for the tasks ahead.

As this beautiful April Monday dawns in my City of Angels, I'm thankful that I'm fully vaccinated and can be around the other fully-vaccinated without fear. I'm thankful that human genius developed several vaccines from scratch within less than a year of the plague arising. I'm thankful that I've done something which, though painful, will help keep me above ground for a few more years.

This is your open thread.