You Know You're a Trekkie When...

[Pitseleh]

That's all nice and... gross and all... Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for hyposprays.

[Alelou]

I think T'PopTarts must be waiting even more desperately!

Actually, they used something supposedly like that on us for shots when I was a kid -- or maybe it just had 25 tiny needles instead of one big one -- it was weird. It was a one-time thing at school and I never saw it again.

Maybe that was for smallpox, now that I think about it. That would explain the big scar it left. They don't immunize for that anymore, though if you ever read anything about small pox and terrorism you might find yourself wishing they did.

[Pitseleh]

Isn't that the common scar most people have on their upper arm? I have it on my upper right arm...

[Alelou]

Yes, but I think they stopped giving them in the late 70s or early 80s. They consider small pox to have been officially eradicated from the planet. However, a stock of the virus still exists in a US lab and a Russian lab.

[Aquarius]

Yeah, and I hear it's coming back.

[Alelou]

Where did you hear that? Eez not good.

[Aquarius]

I think my mom mentioned it sometime ago. She's a nurse, but I don't know if she came by this information from work, the news or what...but it's one of those things where she was saying that while *we've* gotten rid of it, many countries haven't esp. in the third world, so basically it's just kinda popped back up here and there, nothing big yet, but all you need is an unimmunized population and you've got the perfect climate for an epidemic.

[JadziaKathryn]

... you considered writing your pop culture-based research paper for US History 1916 - Present on Star Trek.

Okay, I decided against it, though I did consider it. But Star Trek is fun. This class isn't. (I didn't know I was signing up for a pop-culture based research seminar; I just thought, "Look, this will fill my non-European history requirement.") All in all I think it better not to mix work and pleasure to this degree.

This one's older, but:

... you give your mom your online bank account password before leaving the country with her having power of attorney, and she looks at it and says, "Is this some sort of Star Trek thing?"

[Alelou]

... you give your mom your online bank account password before leaving the country with her having power of attorney, and she looks at it and says, "Is this some sort of Star Trek thing?"

[Alelou]

I think my mom mentioned it sometime ago. She's a nurse, but I don't know if she came by this information from work, the news or what...but it's one of those things where she was saying that while *we've* gotten rid of it, many countries haven't esp. in the third world, so basically it's just kinda popped back up here and there, nothing big yet, but all you need is an unimmunized population and you've got the perfect climate for an epidemic.

Maybe it was something else? That would be pretty big news, since we were in small pox hysteria mode after 9/11 & anthrax. Diptheria, on the other hand, has definitely been popping up here and there around the world.

[Aquarius]

Okay, I remember what it was now. I did a little web surfing and found this on Wikipedia:

In March 2004 smallpox scabs were found tucked inside an envelope in a book on Civil War medicine in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[53] The envelope was labeled as containing the scabs and listed the names of the patients they came from. Assuming the contents could be dangerous, the librarian who found them did not open the envelope. The scabs ended up with employees from the CDC who responded quickly once informed of the discovery. The discovery raised concerns that smallpox DNA could be extracted from these and other scabs and used for a biological attack.

That was the year before we went on vacation in Roswell, New Mexico, and that's why the whole thing came up when I was visiting her.

So my mom's point was that it's never really gone, not an outbreak. Then with the whole terrorism angle, we talked about how smart it was (not) to stop immunizing people, since it's still being kept in labs and stuff.

Sorry, the conversation was four years ago so it took a little memory jog. She probably would've set me straight the next time I asked her.

[Alelou]

Yeah, but that's not really an outbreak, just a mildly alarming bit of weirdness.

The reason Russia and the US have the two stocks of small pox is just in case it's needed for future vaccine development. At least, that's the theory. It was originally going to be destroyed.

Hey, at least it ain't the silicon virus...

[Aquarius]

Yeah, but that's not really an outbreak, just a mildly alarming bit of weirdness.

Right, that's why I corrected myself and cited the article. The conversation took place a while ago, and when you're someone who can barely remember breakfast...

It *is* just a bit of weirdness, but the point was, A) we don't know that Russia and the US are the only ones who have it, and B) if it popped up in an envelope in a library book, it could pop up someplace else.

The third world country bit...that might've been an extension of the same conversation but a different disease. Mom gets into that kind of stuff; sometimes I have a hard time keeping up.

[Dusalis Drake]

I think a terrorist biological attack is more of a concern now considering that Al Qaeda in Algeria blew their plague bioweapon up on themselves supposedly. If they can get their hands on that and build a devise then things are not looking good. It's only a matter of time before they perfect their methods enough to get something working. What concerns me even more than that is that sinse material for making bioweapons is aparently available to them what else could they have... scary thought

[justTripn]

For me, Data ranks right up there with Trip. And I loved Nemesis. As for the Bohemian Rapsody muzak at the old peoples home, well, duh! I'm counting on that.

Were you guys here when we were talking about "Decaying Orbits" the old people's home for Trekkies?

Ann