blogging it real

I know its wrong to count your chickens before they hatch but i've had this gut feeling lately that WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE.

The bird flu in 2005 has spread throughout Asia, through Russia, into Indonesia and today has hit Turkey.

The WHO says the bird flu is very close to being able to spread between humans - when it does we have a disease for which humans' have no defence.

The Ministry of Health's best guess as to what will happen if it hits NZ is that fewer than 4000 will die:

How many people could get sick or die if a pandemic virus reaches New Zealand?This is difficult to say because it depends on many factors, such as the severity of the pandemic and who it affects most. However research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal earlier this year suggested a flu pandemic could result in the deaths of up to 3700 New Zealanders, with as many as 20,000 people requiring hospital care and just over one million people needing to see a health professional.

But I ain't so sure.

And after reading this little slice of NZ history, about the 1918 pandemic which killed 8600 kiwis, about what it was like on the ground I've decided its high time to begin preparing my own bird flu survival kit.

Everyone was sick, no one to help, they were dying one after the other. My father was very, very sick then. He was the first to die. I couldn't do anything for him. I remember we put him in a coffin, like a box. There were many others, you could see them on the roads, on the sledges, the ones that are able to drag them away, dragged them away to the cemetery. No time for tangis.

So this weekend I'm going to set about compiling my B-Ready kit that I'll go bush with if the bird flu does hit.

Obviously I'll need the basics - batteries, radio, torch, beer, food, clothes, gas burner (for cooking and spots) but what about the more difficult items to decide upon?

Will there be room for my Warriors supporter flag? My lucky charms? My girlfriend?

Suggestions welcome.

On a lighter not, I've just spotted what has to be the quote of the year - the president of the Rabbit Companion Society of Australia (yes they actually have one) Ms Nettle talking about the rabbit-bonker Brendan McMahon:

Soon after his arrest McMahon admitted to an addiction to the amphetamine ice but Ms Nettle doubted drugs were solely to blame.
"It didn't happen overnight. You don't take a drug and go 'Mmm, rabbits'.