Your editor travelled down the Newell Highway last week, staying in West Wyalong (western NSW), where it was a nice steady 45 degrees C... Having a bit of a yarn with an elderly gentleman (as a guess in his mid to late 80's). He said he was a local who was born in that town and has lived there ever since. It went along these lines: "Bit warm out here, isn't it?"
He looked at my QLD number plates, put on a bit of a derisive expression, and asked
"Where 're ya from, mate?"
"I'm from the Gold Coast" I replied.
"Well, it's pretty normal for summer, mate" he said, "I recall, when I was a young bloke in 1948, the temperature out here never went below the ton for two solid weeks. 120 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and never lower than 100 degrees during the night. I was a builder's apprentice then, and we never knocked off for even an hour because it was too hot! You guys living on the coast wouldn't know what hot weather means!"
I thought it advisable not to start a discussion about Climate Change with him... ☺
Looking into the future … which groups will ultimately prevail, no man can predict; for we well know that many groups, formerly most extensively developed, have now become extinct. Charles Darwin, ‘On the Origin of Species’, 1859
People think New Year is a life changing event. But if your life sucked last year, it probably will still suck this year too unless you really make a change!
It is not advisable, … to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener. Ayn Rand, ‘Atlas Shrugged’.