Pestilence

A poisonous virus has been spreading itself around Berlin like a toxic cloud over a Russian power station, striking down young and old and making for a cacophony of coughs and sneezes everywhere you go in the city. Perhaps this is a little taster of what bird flu may be like - an unpleasant thought that makes you immediately hanker after a move to a small uninhabited island somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I can't remember the last time a bug took so long to shake off, although this could be due to the nature of freelancing, which allows you to take at most one or two days off sick before you realise that you won't be able to pay your rent.

On my recovery, I went shopping for some kitchen utensils in my local 1 euro shop, and was surprised to note that they actually stock porn videos. Do these Germans really have no boundaries at all?