An online friend of mine died after battling with cancer for a while.  This was the second online friend of mine that I lost to cancer.  And in both cases, I had been out of active touch with them for a while, as often happens with online friends.  I only hope she didn’t suffer much, but from what I got to know, unfortunately that was not the case.  May her soul rest in peace. 

On the F1 front, after Felipe Massa’s unfortunate encounter with a flying automobile spring belonging to Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP car, it was revealed that Massa was out of danger but that he would be out of action for a while.  The news that Michael Schumacher would be getting into Felipe’s car was a pleasant surprise and a dream come true for Michael fans like myself, but it remained just that - a dream, as Michael felt that his own fitness was in doubt as he had not apparently fully recovered from a bike accident that he had sustained earlier in the year.  Much as I rued Massa’s accident and the fallout, especially since he was in great form and the car was getting better, I was very keenly looking forward to seeing Michael in action all over again, but I guess I have to settle for rooting for Luca Badoer, Ferrari’s test driver for years and years.  I hope he can grab a surprise result or two and make the best of the limited opportunity that has come his way.

<div style="text-align: left;">On the Swine flu front,  I see people all around me wearing masks of different shapes, sizes and colors, whether they are effective or not.  Refreshing the ndtv.com page has become something of  a ritual that we seem to take part in religiously as we scan for the latest updates.  We dread to see the toll increase, as it has been doing over the past few days, but know in the heart of hearts that an increased number of infections and deaths is a certainty.  People are doing everything to keep the dreaded virus at bay, be it wearing more than one masks at the same time to sniffing on camphor and eucalyptus oil!  One wonder where this is really headed…. whether and when it will come to a stop.</div>