Screwing

I have just spent an exhausting weekend screwing ... IKEA furniture. The job was easy enough; it's just that there was so much of it to do. Part of the problem was the fact that I bought so many doors to front the bookshelves. They involved some heavy screwing, especially of the hinges and then the adjustment screws.

It's just as well I had this job to do, mainly indoors, because the weather was awful. A fierce low pressure system, with the lowest central pressure I've ever measured on my barometer, was parked off the coast and created gale force winds that shredded leaves and branches off our trees. It was also 'freezing' cold here at about 13 degrees C compared with our normal temperatures around 23. These conditions were mild compared with those down south. In the Snowy mountains it ... snowed ... the heaviest falls of the year including winter and further south there were floods. Last week parts of Queensland had two successive storms with the power of a hurricane and something like 200 to 250 mm of rain. We had a lot of rain, too, but only about 75 mm (3 inches).

AS

Addendum to year one.

As an addendum to my last post (that's not a pun), today was officially Octidi, Vingt-neuf Brumaire in the French revolutionary calendar, and my morning tea was held at 4.38. That might seem an odd time in the morning to hold an event, but I'm operating on the revolutionary time system where there were 10 hours in a day and 100minutes in an hour!

By the way, I banned cake from my event because Marie Antoinette is supposed to have said about the starving French peasants: "let them eat cake". I didn't want to bring bad luck on the participants because Marie lost her head shortly afterwards in year 2.

AS

Year One

On 22 September 1792 the French monarchy was abolished and replaced with a republic. The French calendar was also amended on this day to be year one. The calendar also had twelve months, each divided into three ten-day weeks called décades. The tenth day, décadi, replaced Sunday as the day of rest and festivity. This arrangement left five or six extra days, which were placed at the end of each year. Each day was divided into ten hours containing 100 decimal minutes made up of 100 decimal seconds.

These innovations did not catch on and were scrapped within a decade. However, the time has come to revive at least one aspect of the French republican calendar. Today, 19th November 2008, I proclaim the end of year one under Australia's Armidale Calendar and there will be festivities to mark the occasion. Today marks exactly one year since my cardiac arrest and my first birthday party today celebrates a year of survival and recovery. There will champagne and caviar and cake to mark the occasion in the Earth Sciences tea-room at 10.30.

Emily very kindly sent me a first birthday card to celebrate this august occasion, though the picture on the front didn't quite match my chronological age and status! However, It's the thought that counts and I'm happy to receive such cards belatedly from anyone. So, I now embark on year two and only hope that this new epoch survives longer than the original republican calendar. Alas, I can find no way to revive a full decimal calendar despite the obvious productivity increases that would emerge from having a 10 day week with only one day of rest.

AS

A Meeting with Martin Luther King

This is my third posting of the day. While dining out on Brisbane's South Bank the other night with colleagues, discussion turned to 'famous' people we'd 'met' or at least had been in the presence of. I brought the house down so to speak when it was my turn to talk. The most famous person I'd met was ... Martin Luther King ... and the meeting was much more than the passing of two ships in the night, so to speak.

This story also ties in with the launch of QE II because both events were of the same vintage. MLK was in Newcastle (UK) for the award of an honorary doctorate after his award of the Nobel Peace Prize, and asked to meet some 'students'. I put up my hand immediately and, as treasurer of the student union, I was 'selected' along with another. This led to about 40 minutes alone with the great man ... and he was a GREAT man ... discussing the ins and outs of the struggle for economic and social improvement among America's black population via the civil rights movement.

It was an inspiring story, and one that I've followed for my entire adult life. MLK was eloquent, lucid, thoughtful, and quietly spoken on the outside, but obviously focused and determined, qualities at the core of his undoubted success. Perhaps Obama will carry on from where he left off and cement the rise of the US's minority groups to full participation on the centre stage.

My university days were inspiring because of such events. Does anyone else remember such historic and vivid occasions from their university days?

AS

Showing my Age

An uncomfortable milestone passed by this evening. The QE II has just gone into retirement after a distinguished service mainly on the Atlantic route. Well, ships are pensioned off every day, so what's the big deal?

A lot, as it happens. To start with, I was at the launch of the QE II on Clydebank over 41 years ago!! I had some Naval Architecture friends and they pulled strings to get invitations to the launch. They received one more than they needed and I was the lucky recipient. So, it was off to Scotland for the day and my vantage point was spectacular. I stood next to the drag chains attached to the hull about mid-ships and under the towering vessel.

I can remember the launch in great detail ... wouldn't you? It was also accompanied by a considerable degree of official falsification!!! The Queen said "I name this ship the QE II" and there was a large groan from the crowd because "Winston Churchill" was the pre-race favourite. The groan was edited out of the TV replay. Then ... nothing happened. As if in protest, the ship refused to go down the slipway for 10 minutes whilst workers near me desperately tried to free her. Then, slowly she acclerated down the slipway until the drag chains halted her progress towards the opposite bank of the river Clyde. Strangely, the news clippage showed the bottle of champagne hitting the bow followed immediately by the ship sailing!!!

Anyway, I followed the QE II's career with some interest and I'm mollified by her new career in the Gulf as a floating (?) hotel. The downside of all this is that it reminds me of my age. Ugh! Forty-two years is a long time.

AS

IKEA IKEA

There are many benefits of living in a small community, but some deficits. One is access to stores like IKEA selling inexpensive but practical and well designed furniture. On Monday and Tuesday I had to attend a research meeting at Griffith University in Brisbane just up the road from that city's IKEA outlet and I decided to combine the two events.

It would cost my research grant c. $450 to fly me to Brisbane (via Sydney) so I decided to hire a 1 tonne Toyota Hilux truck for the same price and drive it to Brisbane. Indeed, the 5 hour road trip is about the same or even less than the equivalent air trip after adding in all the time waiting in air terminals and getting to the various airports!

After our meeting ended at lunch-time yesterday, I and a colleague (Jim Walmsley), whose son Adam works with IKEA in Brisbane, went to the showroom and bought 16 flatpacks of shelving and other items. I'd done my homework and had the codes and prices of all items, so finding them was easy. Loading them on the truck was more difficult and I needed help from Adam to do that as some of the packs were fiendishly heavy.

After that, it was home James driving a now very heavy vehicle 1000m up several mountains back to Armidale. The vehicle did this willingly and with only one mishap. One of the straps holding the load snapped spectacularly, and I combed the road for a while looking for the remains. This wasn't a freeway but a winding back road I was taking as a short-cut. Fortunately, the other strap held and the weight of the contents ensured they did bounce over the edge. I did the 460km trip in a little over 5 hours, not bad when half the trip was in the dark.

Now I have assemble the contents, but that awaits the weekend.

AS

Tan Kok Yang's Visit

For two days last week we hosted Tan Kok Yang (family name first), one of my successful doctoral candidates. He's now a successful Singaporean businessman working in the field of Urban Noise, but did his PhD on the Singaporean housing market.

We had a good time together, and among the places we visited was this Aboriginal rock art site at Yarrowyck, just west of Armidale. Here's TKY taking photos of the site at the base of a rock overhand part way up Mt Yarrowyck. It was an enjoyable way to spend time!

AS

In Response to Public Demand

I've been asked to put up a picture of me in my Obama 08 T-shirt. I can do better, with pictures of me wearing both the T-shirts I own.

AS

Picked the Winner

I'm rather proud of myself for having picked the winner of the US Presidential election 9 months ago! Last February, I backed Barack for the presidency on the back of his educational standing, world view, eloquence, and refreshing approach to policy as a Washington outsider. I held to this view throughout the campaign and stand vindicated. Indeed, my reading of his fascinating autobiography, Dreams from My Father, served to confirm his standing in my view.

In anticipation of his victory, I wore my Obama 08 T-shirt to work today, and around town this afternoon. It was an eerie trip through the shopping centre as people approached me with thumbs up, slaps on the back, a hi-five, and encouraging remarks!! These came after about 3 pm as the results became known. In fact, I felt a little like Obama himself. I also found his acceptance speech in Chicago a marvellous piece of oratory and suspect that he could be in the same league as Lincoln. Hopefully, he will not end up as Lincoln as some fanatic decides to terminate his life prematurely! And that reminds me that I had the privilege of a private audience with Martin Luther King 6 months before his assassination. Seriously, I met with him and one other student for 40 minutes alone in room over 40 years ago and we discussed the US civil rights movement and its tactics and strategy.

King and Lincoln are two of my heroes and I'd hate it if Barack ends up the same way. Everyone has interpreted his win as heralding a seismic shift in US foreign and domestic policy, a view that will surely be correct if his presidency realises full potential. The remarks stem from my deep understanding of US politics, economy and society shaped over the last 50 years through the study of at least 12 presidential elections, numerous visits to North America, and dozens of friends and acquaintances. Indeed, I've visited the US five times in the last four years or so!

AS

Back to Winter?

This Spring has been rather wetter than usual and at times decidedly cool. The last few days have been dull and overcast with occasional rain, but today brought what we call English weather. It's blowing a gale and rain is lashing down from a dark grey sky, which is unpleasant. It's also feeling cold, though the forecast is for 21C, not bad for what would be early May in the UK. Although we haven't had one yet, there have been severe thunderstorms north of us towards the Queensland border. Beck, is driving through that region today en route for Toowoomba and we'll see her tomorrow afternoon on her way south.

However, this weather has its up-side, apart from making the farmers happy. The grass is green for miles around and many of the local rivers are flowing strongly. Also, we're in the traditional bush-fire season, but there's no hint of a fire around here.

Talking of tomorrow, one of my former doctoral students is turning up in Armidale to see me. Given that he's a Singporean business-man runnning a private consultancy in acoustical engineering, he's likely to find the weather depressing. I hope it clears up for him.

AS