C.J.: She paid through the nose

Having the test that confirms a case of H1N1 was more painful than the illness itself, FM107's Marjorie Punnett claims.

That's all because of the nasal swabbing, an under-reported detail based on what Punnett was saying. "It was so painful. It hurt a lot," she said. Doesn't sound all that painful to me. "IT'S UP AT THE TOP OF YOUR NOSE," she said. "Way up! I guess they go up where you sinuses are. They go up as far as they can. I don't know what's actually at the top. I'm not a doctor." Did she cry? "I did, actually. I'm pretty good with pain," she said. "It surprised me, more than anything else. The intensity. Now I just sound like a big baby."

Needles I don't like, but I think I would be OK with swabbing. "No, you're not," she said. "If someone comes in the doctor's office with a swab, RUN!" Punnett said. "Gooooo!"

Concluding that Punnett was indeed a big baby, I asked FOX 9 reporter and H1N1 survivor Tim Blotz about the test, and he described a nasal utensil quite a bit more frightening than a long Q-Tip.

"It looks like a wire, this little metal wire that's got a sponge tip on the end of it," Blotz said. "They fish it up through your nose in your sinus cavity. They are trying to get a culture off the inside of your sinus cavity. It kind of feels like they are bouncing [it] off the back of your skull. It's uncomfortable, but it doesn't hurt. It's over within two seconds." Blotz told me political reporter Jeff Goldberg also had had H1N1.

Greg Bury, Medica's media guy, said: "The test for that is rather uncomfortable: a real long, thin probe goes up through the sinuses and down into the back of the throat, so your radio personality is not exaggerating the discomfort."

Because the actual test confirming H1N1 is time-consuming, doctors don't necessarily order it if a patient has all the other symptoms.

Prince on time? Prince's fans are extremely curious about his almost timely arrival on stage at his recent Paisley Park charity coat drive concert.

Many a time Prince has taken the stage as late as 2 or 3 a.m. for a concert scheduled to start at 11 p.m. But on this occasion he showed up shortly after 11 p.m. for the Oct. 24 concert. Some have joked that Prince may be getting too old to start a performance in the wee hours. Other sources suspected that the city of Chanhassen imposed restrictions on when the concert started and ended.

"From 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. were the event perimeters," said Bob Generous, a senior planner for the city. Those were the hours Paisley Park reps requested when getting a permit from the city for the concert held at his studio. When told that some have theorized that Prince flirted with promptness because the city had ordered it, Generous let loose some hearty laughter. The permit would have allowed Prince to play until 5 a.m. Sunday.

"He's just a nice gentleman," Generous said, "because he had this charity event." While Prince engages in many under-the-radar charity pursuits, I have a feeling this one was related to meeting his Jehovah's Witnesses obligations.

Three different people who attended the charity concert said the sound wasn't very good. Symbolina probably had a few words with his engineer.

It should be noted, however, that Prince seldom has trouble being on time for David Letterman and Jay Leno.

Sommers' recommended? A D'Amico Kitchen diner Tweeted about Patrick Duffy dining there and looking great on Wednesday.

Five days earlier, on my "Dish Central" Twitter.com account, I was on the lookout for Duffy, aka Bobby Ewing, after hearing he was scheduled to be in the metro.

My guess is that Duffy's "Step by Step" TV show wife, Suzanne Sommers, recommended he go where she celebrated her birthday. The food's fine, if you like your bread and cheese breathed upon by strangers, but there are lots of other great places to eat in downtown Minneapolis. That Duffy and Sommers have eaten there within weeks of each other just doesn't feel like the work of the restaurant gods.