Day 107: My dealer called...

Day 107 (22 Mar) At least, after a day like yesterday, I'm not planning to do a run up the Coast today. Still, I'm up and at it since there is still much work to do. I'm presenting a paper in Chicago in a few weeks and that still has some work required. 

I'm also at the point of upgrading my car. I do 45,000km a year on average and there comes a time where the ongoing service costs outweigh the disadvantages of the upgrade. The daughter of a secondhand car dealer though, I can never quite come at buying a brand new car so it depends on the fluctuations and availability of the market. My dealer has called...there's a possible candidate on the lot. 

The bonsai, differently angled, at 6.12am

Before I go to do that however, there are the usual morning chores and I also know that there will be much analysis of the 'tea leaves' following yesterday's leadership events. I have to get the papers. 

Still, at 6.12am, the bonsai needs watering, and the birds need feeding. I can't believe I'm up. I've received a note from my neighbour to say she has seen some King Parrots in the backyard, eating the olives, but King Parrots nonetheless. 

[Well may they appear on this blog some time between now and its demise...]

My neighbour and I share a joy and fascination at the wildlife and the flora we enjoy here in our little pocket of suburban Brisbane. We see some marvellous sights. 

Pizza-waiting, at 6.12pm

Car-testing done, it's time to examine the entrails. So much 'speculation' you wonder what people are thinking. The current state of our political milieu actually triggered my thinking for the paper I'm presenting next month, even though I'm focussing on a Japanese fellow who toured Queensland in 1893.

I work on both Japanese and Australian politics, as you know. I have a fascination with the things we have in common, rather than the differences. A couple of years ago I got to wondering about what might be behind the disengagement, the apathy that seems to characterise our relationships with our respective political classes, here and in Japan. Apathy led to questions about political culture, led to questions about the ideologies that underpinned our nation-building efforts. I'm teasing out the 'coincidence' of this common era in Japan and Australia, in the 1890s. You see, everything is connected. 

But, by 6.12pm, it was end-of-the-day Friday beer and pizza night and it was my turn to pickup, which is where I found myself at 6.12pm, waiting for the pizza. A good way to end a busy week, with friends. Cheers.