Partial Retirement?

Dot keeps wanting to slow me down, but I'm a sucker when it comes to taking on new work-related responsibilities.

I was invited to be a keynote speaker at a conference in November this year. It's a bi-annual academic meeting arranged by the SOAC (State Of Australia's Cities) group and this time it will be in Perth (WA). My presentation will be a philosophical piece on the relevance of Neo-Liberal ideas to the task of managing / planning Australia's cities and I think they wanted me to counter the soft-left ideology of many urbanists. SOAC will also pay some of my costs.

The one thing bugging me about this opportunity is the fact that my cardiac arrest occurred one week before the last SOAC meeting in November 2007. Am I tempting fate too much for my own good? Or is my bravado justified? I gather that the organisers were preparing my obituary last time round and it would be shame to give them an opportunity to dust it off!

AS