Flu, flu, flu

We got a new computer. However, as I feared, the ‘migrate’ program, which allows one to move everything from an old computer to a new one, doesn’t work from an iPod. Thus, I had to transfer all the programs and data files in a number of steps. I called Apple and one of their techs helped to walk me through it. He congratulated me on having the presence of mind to use the iPod to back up the old computer before it konked out. The only difficulty for Barb is that the keyboard labels are for Spanish and there are a few extra keys. We can still select the normal English (Qwerty) keyboard, but the labels on the keys are not all the same. I type by touch and have memorized the keyboard, but Barb has always been hunt and peck. The letter keys are almost all the same; it is the other keys that are different. However, she is managing and the new computer is so much faster and better. It also has the latest version of iPhoto, which is the program she uses for all her photos (beween 7 & 8,000).

Of course, the last week has been all about the so called ‘swine flu’ pandemic (or not). Someone at Open Circle today said that the first case had been found in Guadalajara. I don’t know if that is just a rumour, but it is likely to happen sooner or later. However, to this point, everyone in Nova Scotia has been a lot closer to this flu than we have been!

I have a strong feeling that this is going to be another fiasco like the last ‘swine flu’ pandemic in 1976. In that event, swine flu was discovered in one US army base. The media and the politicians went into orbit; both Canada and the US governments ordered millions of doses of vaccine. In the end, about 200 soldiers on that base got the flu (not severe in almost all cases) and one died. However, as the vaccines were being administered, some people got an unusual illness that may have been a side effect of the vaccine. In any case, hundreds got ill and a number died. The vaccination program was cancelled (about a year later all those millions of doses were simply disposed of and the US government paid over $100 million in compensation). Most of the media (and many politicians) forget about the context and proportions. Every year about 37,000 Americans (and about 10,000 Mexicans; I don’t know Canadian statistics) die from whatever flu viruses are going around at the time. So far, there is no evidence that this flu, despite being given a different name, is any worse than most other flu viruses; in fact, most evidence is that it is mild. Nevertheless, the voice of Chicken Little is heard in the land. Of course, the other thing is that in the media, especially in the US, anything negative about Mexico is played up big. Fox Network, which in an amazing masterpiece of gall and effrontery calls itself a “News Service”, is especially notorious. The right wing is very exercised by all the Mexican illegals in the US. It is similar to the line about the 6,000 murders in the drug war in Mexico last year--how horrible! They don’t mention that over 17,000 Americans are killed with guns every year. That is just normal in the US and not even worth mentioning!

We are hearing long, piercing whistles these days and nights. Here, the old timers tell the newbies that it is the ‘rain bird’ which starts these whistles about 4 weeks or so before the rainy season starts. Supposedly, the newbies then go out looking for the ‘birds’. Actually, the whistle is made by an insect that emerges at this time of year; it is probably part of mating. There seem to be a lot of them here in La Floresta; we may be in a hotbed of ‘rain bird’ sexual activity! This is the hottest time of year here and it does get hot (well into the 30s every day). The house seems to get up to about 28 or so. We start the night with the fan going, but by about 2 a.m. it is cool enough to turn off the fan and even pull up the light blanket. It is amazing how uniform the weather is day after day--sunny, hot and dry. For about 3 weeks I have had a cough which I am pretty sure stems from the dryness; it is not uncommon here for Gringos. I am using my CPAP machine all night; it has a humidifier. That seems to help, but I may have the cough until the rainy season starts--less than a month if last year is an indication.