My Spring Carnival

My Spring Carnival this year is rather tame. One member of the family has been studying for exams the last 5 years each Melbourne Cup weekend, so they are focused inwards. The "other half" runs his own business and never takes the Monday off. Quite often I have been working the weekend before Melbourne Cup. So yesterday, I watched the rain fall from the "comfort" of a busy library. Wiping rain soaked book covers and laughing at people huddling drenched outside the doors when we closed.

Our rain gauge at home has now measured more than 65mm from Friday night - Sunday morning. A decent soaking - so much so that I wondered whether we would have some minor flooding. However, the agee pipes have done their job well.
I was on holiday in outback NSW recently. While visiting the Menindee Lakes I met several hardy souls camping beside the lakes. As one does in the outback, we stopped to have a word or two. The Murray Darling Basin plan had just been released and people were concerned and outraged. With the Lakes full many expressed total disbelief in any "Climate Change" theory. And the recent rains here in Melbourne will just accentuate this view.

But time will tell. After all one year of weather, does not climate make. Whether or not the scientists are right, moving towards a low carbon economy will have great benefits.

But not for everyone. Some will lose livelihoods and more. It happened when my parents moved from their small town to a small city whilst seeking a better life.

Monday Night TV

Last night's TV was a wonderful mix of programming on ABC 2. Four Corners "The Deal" was a fascinating (though not too in-depth) look at those long days after the election when the Independents decided who to back to make a government.. The telling comment by Rob Oakeshott is " Look I think both where our guts have been the last few days is the right call for the nation in the full knowledge that it's a blister on both our arses."
Damned no matter which side they chose.


Paul Barry's Media Watch expose on the Woman's Day article followed this as hilarious, light relief, though the subject is really very serious. Anyone with half a brain these days can mock up photos and report on things which haven't happened. Does anyone out there actually believe these magazine articles?


Of course the night was not complete without QandA with a great panel of "Dangerous Thinkers". Describing these people as Dangerous Thinkers is somewhat over the top, but that seems to be what we all want these days. Tariq Ali, Geoffrey Robertson and the feisty, worst Mum in America- Leonore Skenazy were great TV.


However, I then just had to catch some swimming action in Delhi, which featured fish-netting the floating thingy's from the pool before Australian won the Relay Gold. Go Aussies Go!

Grand Final Day @ the Library

Last Saturday I enjoyed a quiet day working at my library. It was quite unusual to have time to shelve books, complete online ordering and rip through the outstanding Inter-Library Loan work. The other staff were quietly shelf-reading, returning collections and doing other necessary work. The customers were quiet with only an occasional remark on  the progress of the AFL Grand Final. When I got home there was a short period of rowdiness (from my menfolk!) before all hell broke out following the last minute goal resulting in a drawn game.

Of course it was the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, who jinxed the game. Not only is she presiding over a hung parliament but she also expressly mentioned a drawn game earlier in the day.

So this Saturday am I looking forward to another quiet day at the library? Yes, I am working, but at a different place. The Grand Final Replay will be shown on the large screen TV set hanging from the ceiling. Something placed only in the last couple of years. Now our customers can stand/sit in the library and follow the game (quietly or not so quietly in some cases) and the staff can "enjoy" this as well. This library is buzzing on a Saturday. Queues are long, borrowing is brisk and tidying-up several times a day in the children's section a necessity as books get left lying around.

This library is not going to disappear in the next few years as RFID, eBooks and downloadable information make further inroads to traditional library services. This library serves as a community hub, a place of lively discussion and use by adults, teens, elderlies and children.

May it remain this vibrant. I for one will need the work for a fair few years yet!!