Me and the PM x 2

Politically, I am pretty middle of the road. These days it seems like it's social suicide to declare for one side of the other. Myself, I'm for small government, but one that looks after people.

Most evenings you'll find me listening to a talk show called Paul Murray Live on the Sky News Channel. It is starting to have a certain resemblance to Fox News, but they do have a few token lefties on the panel each evening to keep things lively. Sky News is reckoned to be wholly and utterly right wing by many Aussies.

In the morning, while I'm getting ready for work, I listen to the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company, similar to the BBC in England). Many Aussies depending on their political bent consider the ABC to be either mid-stream or wholy and utterly to the left and nearly communists (and barking mad).

One evening recently as I was doing my household chores in the evening and watching the conservative news I heard the announcer say "If you're in Townsville next Wednesday night, join us for a chat with the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. You can ask him anything you like. Just send an email to <insert email here>.

I thought, why not. I wouldn't want to ask a  question, but no doubt it would be educational and entertaining.

So, the following week, I received my invitation to the event, and was surprised to see that it was a) held in a nice pub, and b) that there were only about 50 or so people there. No reporters, just a couple of microphones and a set of chairs set around. It was nearly the most low-key thing I've ever seen in a political setting.

A half hour before the PM was to arrive we were given a few quick instructions by Paul Murray (our host). Ask whatever you want, but keep it respectful and clean.

The host said "You all know I like to swear, but we can't because this is live tv.  And you know how that Q & A show goes?"   We all said yeah.  Q&A being a highly scripted and edited show on the ABC.

He said "Well, this ain't f-ing Q&A." To which the entire audience whooped and hollered.

I found myself a seat next to two older men and made chit chat until the host announced, "And here is our Prime Minister Scott Morrison!" And there he was, striding down the pub towards a couple of chairs set at the front of the room while everyone clapped. No one stood up. There was no "Hail to the Chief" or other patriotic song playing. No flashing of cameras, other than those held by audience members (mostly smart phones).  There were no secret service guys in dark suits, although there were a couple of guys with ear pieces, casual shirts and long trousers. No thongs. Guess you gotta draw the line somewhere.

The host got the PM to say a few quick things, and then the questioning started. Mostly about local worries such as funding for the drought-stricken farmers, extra funding needed for drug addicted people, and was Australia going to pull out of the Paris Accord (dealing with man-made climate change).

From where I sat, the PM seemed to handle it pretty well. His answers seemed reasonable and  thoughtful. After a hour of questions, the PM made himself available to the people to have their picture taken with him.

I couldn't pass that up, so here is me with the PM, and the second picture is with Paul Murray the tv host.

I was going to post the picture of me and the PM on Facebook, but because politics is so polarized these days I didn't.

So I decided to post it on here instead. I imagine though I would get a similar response in the states if I posted a picture of myself with Trump. Although as my brother Eric said "It's not like I'm going to be rubbing elbows with Trump anytime soon".

Random clumsiness or a plot?

I had a pretty busy week, with teaching, helping students with assignments that are due, and planning for our Design Sprint. I'll talk about the sprint in a bit, but first some randomness.

So, did you know that Avocado Hand is a thing? I didn't, but now I have it. Apparently due to the increasing popularity of avocados, people are injuring themselves by trying to get the pit out. And sure enough, I did it myself a few days ago.

I was trying to open an avocado, jammed a steak knife in the stone to flick it out. Of course it slipped on the gooey avocado-ness and impaled my hand. I stopped the bleeding (wasn't too bad), but it did hurt.

The next morning my finger was very swollen and somewhat painful. I'm hoping it will go down because of all the things that could make me go to the Dr., avocados aren't supposed to be one of them.

Evidence below:

Talk to the hand -- about avocados. :)

OK, next random bit. While I was a work a colleague that I was meeting for the first time said that she had a few minutes available to chat about a work task. She said that she'd meet me in front of the aquarium at work. I hopped in my car, and in an effort to get there quickly, I somehow straddled a curb. My car was hung up, unable to go forward or backwards. After a bit of burning rubber to no effect, I asked to people working nearby to help.

A very kind young woman offered to try and drive my car and get it off the curb, but no luck. So she suggested to me "You get in, gun it, and I'll push".  With some luck, and a bit more burnt rubber, I managed to get the car unstuck and took off across the paddock. Whew! Thank you random person!

A third sort of randomness that shows me that clumsy may indeed be my middle name happened when I went to a macrame class. The teacher was able to show everyone else how to do a particular knot, but even after multiple tries I couldn't get it. Eventually, I saw enough other people doing it that I was able to sort it out. I'm not sure if it was being left-handed or whatever, but learning new things sometimes takes a while, but once I've got it, it stays locked in.

I persevered, and made the wall hanging below. The stick is from an iron bark tree (native to Australia). The glass float I bought in Tasmania, but I think they look good together.

Don't mind the puzzle, that's coming along.

I just realized that with the addition of the glass ball this grouping looks slightly like a space alien.

Take me to your leader!

Where has the time gone?

I had a look at the last entry on here, and it was about 5 years ago. Wow! What a long time. To be fair, lots has happened since then...my marriage ended, got made a permanent employee at the uni, the kids have grown up.

I've been on trips, learned things, tried new hobbies, tried old hobbies. Gained weight. Lost weight. Gained it again, lol.

Blogs for the purpose of just sharing your life are not really the thing anymore. It's FaceBook, Pinterest, Instagram. But unlike a lot of people, I've been never wanted to be famous. Well to do maybe, or a least comfortably well off, but not famous.

So, I think what I'll be doing with this blog is to document some of my memorable experiences. I've never been a reliable letter writer (ask my Mom). But I have seen a few things worth noting I believe.

I do a lot of writing for work, emails, grant applications, academic papers, but writing about my experiences is not exactly that sort of thing.

Here's hoping that I can get this going again. I have tried in the last few years, but the trouble is, day to day life is not all that interesting. I think that's why FaceBook has gained so much traction (or Twitter, but I don't tweet). It's short form, here's what I did today. Just post a picture or a link to an article and bob's your uncle, you're done.

Blogs require a bit more thought and effort. But, I am happy with my earlier blog posts, and it does document my life and the kids in a way that I really like.

This blog will be a combination of time machine, and current snapshot of what's going on now. Hope you'll enjoy the ride. Because I'm making it up as I go along, just as we all are. :)

Love ya'll.