Revenge of the Piggies

I write from the couch in the lounge, where I have been sitting all day with the exception of the time spent disinfecting the kitchen and bathroom. Why? Have I picked up the OCD cleaning compulsion of the woman who lives above my bedroom? No, fortunately (I think) not.

My flatmate, Alejandra, went back to her home country Chile on holiday last month. She arrived back here on Thursday, just as Anne was departing. Chile, as an aside, has the highest incidence of swine flu in South America - 292 confirmed cases and rising. Can you guess where this might be going?

Well, Alejandra got home and was feeling a bit out of it, what with jet lag and all. But when Sunday rolled around and she had a high fever, bad headaches, nausea, and all sorts of other symptoms that are only associated with travel when you drink the water in countries where you shouldn't, she dragged the two of us back out to the airport so she could get tested for that vicious menace: Mexican Pig-Unrelated Flu. The tests take 24 hours to run, and thus, the Canterbury District Health Board called us last night to inform Ali that she did have the dreaded flu and that I was volunteering to be quarantined. Volunteering is usually done by the volunteer, but not in this case.

So I have 10 days of free Tamiflu courtesy of the Director-General of Health, and 3 days off work, in which I cannot leave the house, even if I have run out of Coke and don't have any good DVDs to watch. Not exactly what I had in mind when I traded Anne for Ali...

Thus Departeth Anne

Well, Anne has departed our fair shores back for summer in the US. She was supposed to leave yesterday but Air Pacific canceled her flight (without letting her know), leading to a quick change of plans and a respite of her impending departure. She is gone now, winging her way to Iowa via Auckland, Fiji, and the pleasant fellas at Immigration in LAX.

I suppose that is all there is to say about that...