The only reason I paid any attention to the radio news as I was navigating bad traffic driving back from my regular surgeon's appointment today was because of the reference to Rangitoto College where, last century, I went to high school.

I disinterestedly listened to the story, something about swine flu - what's that? Rolled my eyes as I heard the drug-solution being touted was Tamiflu - isn't it always? Laughed as I heard that the timing was spot on, apparently the millions of packets of unused Tamiflu purchased during the bird-flu panic were about to expire so the government might get to use them instead of throwing them out. Then I thought nothing more of it and went home and cooked dinner.

I turned on the evening news and it was nothing but Swine Flu for nearly half an hour! Did nothing else happen today or something? The footage consisted of a lot of repetition of statistics and footage of interviewers standing in quarantined people's gardens with said quarantined people waving at the camera's from inside their houses eagerly sharing how bored they were and what they were doing to pass the time via the phone.

Now of course the obligatory emails have started coming in from friends and rellies overseas who are watching CNN and other international news stations, who must be making out that half of New Zealand has come down with it, as now I find myself spending the evening replying to emails, "We are all well; no, we don't have any swine flu symptoms."

Sorry if I sound cynical but I can't help but wonder if the New Zealand end of this story is not going to end up in the same file as bird flu and the Y2K crisis. For those of you taking it seriously, see MacDoctor for a checkup. For everyone else, enjoy this found on XKCD.