Through boiling clouds of thunder.

A good friend of mine developed shingles around age 30, and I remember how miserable he was between the rash (which was on part of his face) and the nerve pain. The week after I turned 50, I was already on the job to try to get myself the vaccine, which, at least in the U.S., is pretty much only available once you’ve reached the back nine.

This ended up a comedy of errors that just ended on Friday when I got my second dose, way out of the recommended three-month window, thanks to our insurer’s absurd policy that said they’d only pay directly if I got it at my PCP’s office, even though I told them my doctor doesn’t stock the shingles vaccine while the Walgreens across the street from me does. They made me pay out of pocket and get reimbursed, which confused the people at Walgreens several times, to the point that for my second appointment I waited over an hour after checking in before finally just leaving. Then life intervened, particularly the work part where I was traveling, and I forgot to go back for several months before I remembered when I went to book my flu and COVID shots and the Walgreens app asked if I needed any other vaccinations.

If you’ve followed me on any platform in the last 15 years, you likely know how adamant I am about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, and the venality of people who spread false information about them. So while I’m about to complain about the shingles vaccine, of course I don’t mean to discourage anyone from getting it. You don’t want shingles. I sure as hell don’t want shingles. But my god did this vaccine kick my ass.

I even have a pretty clear comparison, since I had just gotten two vaccinations at once earlier in the week, with no ill effects whatsoever. The pharmacist warned me that the second shingles dose seemed to bother people more than the first, but when I got the first dose, I also got a COVID booster at the same time, so I assumed I felt lousy afterwards because I had gotten two at once.

Dear reader, I was not prepared for what hit me. I felt worse from this vaccine than I had either the time I definitely had COVID or the time I suspect I had it but never tested to confirm. I think I felt worse than the last time I got the flu, where I had a high fever but nowhere near the muscle pain or inability to control my body temperature. That bout of the flu lasted about 36 hours, and I’d say my run of side effects from the shingles vaccine lasted maybe 30 hours from start to finish.

I started to feel kind of woozy Friday night, enough that I didn’t want to do anything like read, which is a pretty good sign that something’s wrong. About 11 pm, twelve hours after the shot, I suddenly started shivering like it was 40 degrees in the house, which it certainly was not. I threw a sweatshirt on and went to bed, which is also a big tell since I never even sleep in long sleeves unless I’m sick. Then the muscle pains started, which was a combination of overall discomfort plus a cranking up of any muscle pains I’ve been dealing with anyway (I did something to my calf, or maybe my Achilles tendon, and haven’t been able to shake that for a couple of weeks, so that felt like it was on fire). I couldn’t fall asleep, despite being tired from the late hour and from feeling like I did, although I did eventually conk out, only to wake up feeling completely dehydrated with a cat on me. Later on I woke up again to find I’d kicked all the covers off and I finally managed to take off the sweater … well, mostly, because when I woke up for good, it was still on my left arm. I suppose that was just too much effort.

On top of all of that, I didn’t feel very rested at all. I could easily have gone back to sleep at any point until probably late afternoon, when I realized I had to get my act together and do some things before my stepdaughters came back from their dad’s house. I took Susie (the dog) to her training class, as my wife was home trying to get some work done while it was quiet, but I thought I might fall asleep in the uncomfortable chair about halfway through. (In my defense, it was really boring.) I started to feel better after dinner – not great, but better – and it wasn’t until Sunday morning, two days later, that I would say I felt no further effects.

To be absolutely clear, I don’t regret getting the vaccine. Shingles is worse than that. I’m fine. I just like to complain a little. Just maybe clear your calendar if you’re getting this particular shot.

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What my stepdaughter & I saw when we went outside to put up some Halloween decorations.

Over at the Athletic, I wrote a column naming Kristian Campbell of the Red Sox as my minor league player of the year, plus various other prospects who had great seasons along with the top pro debut for a 2024 draft pick; and one on the future of the White Sox, given the state of their farm system and recent track record on the player development front.

On the dish, I’ve continued working through my backlog of board games, with reviews of Life in Reterra, Dorf Romantik, Kronologic Paris 1920, and Parks Roll & Hike. I’m working on another review I’ll probably post today or tomorrow morning, and then I have a book review to write up as well. I also did my weekly link roundup on Saturday; no sooner does that one go up than I see links for the next one.

Coming up this week, I’ll do my hypothetical year-end award ballots. This is also the time of year when I post my annual “players I was wrong about” column, but I’m struggling to find players I haven’t already discussed about whom I was wrong enough to make it worth a column. For example, I didn’t think Brady Singer would be able to stick as a major-league starter when he showed a huge platoon split in the minors, given how his arm slot and arsenal let left-handed batters tee off on him. He’s now been a starter for three years, and has been at least average in two of them … but left-handed batters have destroyed him for two years running. So I was wrong, and if I write the column he’ll be in it, but that’s a pretty unexciting story to write. If you’re a regular reader of my work and you have a good player for me to cover, a guy I was way off on, throw it in the comments below. I’m open to any and all suggestions.

Take care.

Keith