The damn pig cold is on everybody's radar. And I don't blame them, as an individual with a bit of self-regard.... Who wants to die of swine flu?

You could instead die while plugging the dike while everyone else escapes to higher ground. Or die in a war against ignorance and tyranny. Or die of old age after a lifetime of service to selfless causes.

Is the swine flu different from normal flu?

"The disease is highly infectious and contagious and can be deadly in humans."

More importantly, its "...outbreak in Mexico City and its subsequent spread to the United States..." makes it interesting to the US media.

It’s estimated that seasonal flu kills close to 40,000 people in the U.S. each year.

To protect yourself against swine flu, I suggest taking public transportation whenever possible.

I'm not sure what the exact criteria for using this stove is, but the mamá de mi casa makes stews and handmade tortillas on it. I guess it saves gas and doesn't heat up the kitchen.

At the north corner of the town cemetery "yard" somebody has set up a few rides and game stands. I have not seen a lot of people there, and I haven't seen the rides working. The rides and the stands are cramped together as if they only permitted so much space for this carnival.

The sign out front talks about the work they are doing on the sewage system in town. I'm not sure if the fair is designed to raise money for the work, or to celebrate its completion.

For the past two weeks workers have been progressing along the calle principal in my town, Barrio Viejo, tearing up the old speed bumps and putting in new ones. The new ones are more evenly spaced, and today I saw they are going to have a bright paint job.