Today is the first anniversary of my return to Sydney after more than six years in the U.S. and then the U.K. It feels good to be settling down, especially in the place that feels like home.
It's also good that I've avoided taking any flights in that time, after travelling a lot in the time I lived in England. While I enjoyed seeing so many European cities (particularly when work was paying!), I was rather sick of Manchester airport by the end of 2007. Today I celebrate a full year without jet lag, carbon footprint guilt, aviation security checks or economy class seating.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
25 Random Things
I'm putting this Facebook game on my regular blog, so it will end up in both places. And I won't tag anybody, in flagrant contradiction of the rules.
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you.
1. I meditate twice a day, half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening.
2. I spent a year living in a small isolated town in the middle of the American southwest and really enjoyed it.
3. I hold a physics Ph.D. I was in Year 21 of continuous full time education by the time I finished.
4. I used to be a dual Australian and American citizen, as my Dad hails from the U.S.
5. I renounced my U.S. citizenship in April 2007, for a number of reasons:
a. I wanted to be sure for myself which country I would call home
b. It meant that I didn't have to keep filing US tax returns when I didn't even live there
c. It eliminated the temptation of joining the American military-industrial complex
6. 5.c was a distinct possibility for the intersection of 2. and 3.
7. I'm irritated by imprecise or inaccurate statements. If I stumble over my words in conversation, it usually means that I'm proofreading a comment in my head.
8. I'm irritated by buzzwords. For example, when writing about the current economy and commodity markets at work, I'm careful to avoid the word "unprecedented."
9. Apparently I'm not irritated by Facebook fads.
10. I've been to the tops of the highest mountains in each of England, Scotland and Wales. In only 1 of those 3 cases was I able to admire the view from the top.
11. I once travelled from 1398m to 3287m and back again in one day, entirely under my own power (cycling and walking).
12. I had a game published in the New South Wales Junior Chess magazine. I checkmated with a pawn following a sound double rook sacrifice.
13. I was a contributor to the second edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy.
14. My eyes are mostly blue, but each has a pale yellow ring on the inner edge of the iris.
15. I'm not into cars. The only one I've ever owned was a ten year old Honda Civic.
16. My colds almost always follow a set pattern: sore throat for 1-2 days, then blocked nose for 1-2 weeks.
17. I try to find patterns or memorable digit strings in phone numbers. For example, my current phone number is 0450, then 449 (1 less than 450), then 137 (the fine structure constant). I had some input into my mobile phone number in the US, and managed to have it finish in 2718 (the exponential constant).
18. I have an urge to pat the head or scratch the ears of every dog I see. It's a struggle not to do this to the drug-sniffing beagles at Sydney airport.
19. In fact, my first word was "Dog", pronounced "Gog".
20. I sometimes hum the theme from "Skippy" while cooking kangaroo meat.
21. Living in the UK for a year and a half helped me to appreciate ales as opposed to lagers. Then I moved back to Australia and realised that I'd turned into a beer snob.
22. I once helped to make a snow-alien, using pine cones for its oversized extraterrestrial eyes.
23. Other than sport, I rarely watch TV.
24. I don't mind train noise but do mind aircraft noise, even if the decibel level is the same. I must be some sort of noise pollution Luddite.
25. Also, I didn't take a plane flight until I was 22.
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you.
1. I meditate twice a day, half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening.
2. I spent a year living in a small isolated town in the middle of the American southwest and really enjoyed it.
3. I hold a physics Ph.D. I was in Year 21 of continuous full time education by the time I finished.
4. I used to be a dual Australian and American citizen, as my Dad hails from the U.S.
5. I renounced my U.S. citizenship in April 2007, for a number of reasons:
a. I wanted to be sure for myself which country I would call home
b. It meant that I didn't have to keep filing US tax returns when I didn't even live there
c. It eliminated the temptation of joining the American military-industrial complex
6. 5.c was a distinct possibility for the intersection of 2. and 3.
7. I'm irritated by imprecise or inaccurate statements. If I stumble over my words in conversation, it usually means that I'm proofreading a comment in my head.
8. I'm irritated by buzzwords. For example, when writing about the current economy and commodity markets at work, I'm careful to avoid the word "unprecedented."
9. Apparently I'm not irritated by Facebook fads.
10. I've been to the tops of the highest mountains in each of England, Scotland and Wales. In only 1 of those 3 cases was I able to admire the view from the top.
11. I once travelled from 1398m to 3287m and back again in one day, entirely under my own power (cycling and walking).
12. I had a game published in the New South Wales Junior Chess magazine. I checkmated with a pawn following a sound double rook sacrifice.
13. I was a contributor to the second edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy.
14. My eyes are mostly blue, but each has a pale yellow ring on the inner edge of the iris.
15. I'm not into cars. The only one I've ever owned was a ten year old Honda Civic.
16. My colds almost always follow a set pattern: sore throat for 1-2 days, then blocked nose for 1-2 weeks.
17. I try to find patterns or memorable digit strings in phone numbers. For example, my current phone number is 0450, then 449 (1 less than 450), then 137 (the fine structure constant). I had some input into my mobile phone number in the US, and managed to have it finish in 2718 (the exponential constant).
18. I have an urge to pat the head or scratch the ears of every dog I see. It's a struggle not to do this to the drug-sniffing beagles at Sydney airport.
19. In fact, my first word was "Dog", pronounced "Gog".
20. I sometimes hum the theme from "Skippy" while cooking kangaroo meat.
21. Living in the UK for a year and a half helped me to appreciate ales as opposed to lagers. Then I moved back to Australia and realised that I'd turned into a beer snob.
22. I once helped to make a snow-alien, using pine cones for its oversized extraterrestrial eyes.
23. Other than sport, I rarely watch TV.
24. I don't mind train noise but do mind aircraft noise, even if the decibel level is the same. I must be some sort of noise pollution Luddite.
25. Also, I didn't take a plane flight until I was 22.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Just in Time
I was lucky enough to get three weeks off from work, and I've been enjoying the break. I set myself one little project: making flyscreens for the windows in my flat, as there weren't any when I moved in.
I finished the first one on Monday, so now I can leave my bedroom window partly open at night without worrying that insects will get in. This comes along just in time, as today was the hottest day of the summer so far, and I think I'll need some ventilation overnight.
I finished the first one on Monday, so now I can leave my bedroom window partly open at night without worrying that insects will get in. This comes along just in time, as today was the hottest day of the summer so far, and I think I'll need some ventilation overnight.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Ends of 2 Cricketing Eras
Shortly I'll switch on the TV to watch South Africa finish off Australia in the cricket. This will be Australia's first test series defeat at home since 1993, and South Africa have been pretty dominant so far. It's clear that Australia have lost their position as the top ranked team in test cricket, when you also consider their recent series loss in India.
Looking at the bigger picture, this might be one of the last times that test (5 day) cricket attracts much attention. The shortened Twenty20 (T20) game is taking over cricket in terms of television coverage and advertising, reflecting the fact that most people would rather watch a game lasting 3 hours than one lasting 35 hours.* Now the best young players are following the money and joining the lucrative Indian T20 league before they even come close to playing in their national test teams.
In the near future the best batsmen will concentrate on the quick, aggressive batting needed for T20 cricket, and neglect the patient, defensive batting that wins test matches. Meanwhile bowlers will focus on bowling accurately under the tight restrictions of one day games and won't work on the bouncers or wider deliveries that are permitted and necessary in five day games. Test cricket will soon be a secondary form of the game, populated by players who didn't succeed in the T20 leagues.
The ugly Australian supporter in me is amused to see South Africa take over the top spot just as test cricket becomes irrelevant. However it is poignant to think that this might be the final time that such a handover even matters much. I'll have to head out to the Sydney Cricket Ground next week to see if Australia can avoid the whitewash. Anyone else interested in seeing one of the last great test series?
*30 hours if you don't count the lunch and tea breaks.
Looking at the bigger picture, this might be one of the last times that test (5 day) cricket attracts much attention. The shortened Twenty20 (T20) game is taking over cricket in terms of television coverage and advertising, reflecting the fact that most people would rather watch a game lasting 3 hours than one lasting 35 hours.* Now the best young players are following the money and joining the lucrative Indian T20 league before they even come close to playing in their national test teams.
In the near future the best batsmen will concentrate on the quick, aggressive batting needed for T20 cricket, and neglect the patient, defensive batting that wins test matches. Meanwhile bowlers will focus on bowling accurately under the tight restrictions of one day games and won't work on the bouncers or wider deliveries that are permitted and necessary in five day games. Test cricket will soon be a secondary form of the game, populated by players who didn't succeed in the T20 leagues.
The ugly Australian supporter in me is amused to see South Africa take over the top spot just as test cricket becomes irrelevant. However it is poignant to think that this might be the final time that such a handover even matters much. I'll have to head out to the Sydney Cricket Ground next week to see if Australia can avoid the whitewash. Anyone else interested in seeing one of the last great test series?
*30 hours if you don't count the lunch and tea breaks.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Corporate Welfare
I had an insight into why bankruptcy is so difficult in the US, sparked by my friend Vincent. He pointed out that a big sticking point was that the Republicans insisted the bailout strip away many of the benefits enjoyed by the GM and Chrysler workforce. The automakers' union wouldn't agree to all the concessions, and the Republican senators wouldn't vote for the bailout unless they did.
Hostility to government means that big companies in the US take on responsibilities that fall on governments in other developed countries, particularly health care and pensions. Elsewhere these benefits aren't tied to the health of a particular corporation, so its failure is less devastating. The current workers have to find another job and might lose the pay for their last week or two of work, but they still have health care and their accrued retirement funds (the latter might be diminished by poor investment returns, but don't disappear along with one particular firm). Conversely, a bankruptcy in the US leads to workers losing benefits accrued over decades. This injustice creates a strong political constituency for propping up a dysfunctional company, even when society as a whole would be better off if it failed and made way for a superior competitor.
It's an exquisite irony: the failure to put in place socialism for individuals leads to socialism for corporations.
Hostility to government means that big companies in the US take on responsibilities that fall on governments in other developed countries, particularly health care and pensions. Elsewhere these benefits aren't tied to the health of a particular corporation, so its failure is less devastating. The current workers have to find another job and might lose the pay for their last week or two of work, but they still have health care and their accrued retirement funds (the latter might be diminished by poor investment returns, but don't disappear along with one particular firm). Conversely, a bankruptcy in the US leads to workers losing benefits accrued over decades. This injustice creates a strong political constituency for propping up a dysfunctional company, even when society as a whole would be better off if it failed and made way for a superior competitor.
It's an exquisite irony: the failure to put in place socialism for individuals leads to socialism for corporations.
OK, Bad Call
Looks like I was wrong on the implications of the decision not to bail out the Detroit car manufacturers. The US market didn't fall much, even before the Bush administration said they might be able to redirect some of the previously allocated financial bailout funds. Apparently all the bad economic news has already been priced in. I've gone back to thinking that we'll see a drawn-out recession through all of 2009, but nothing worse than that.
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Day the Depression Began?
Just wondering, after the U.S. carmaker bailout got rejected, seemingly pushing General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy. When Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy after failing to secure a government rescue, that event battered economic confidence and moved the slowdown into a full-blown recession. I suspect GM and Chrysler together are more important than one mid-size investment bank. While their failures won't come as such a surprise, they will still be sufficient to drag the world economy even further down, at a time when it's already pretty low. I'll be morbidly fascinated to see what happens when the US stockmarket opens in a few hours.
Even with this grim outlook, I can't blame the U.S. Republicans for opposing the rescue. It must be tough choosing between between likely economic depression and certain crony capitalism. When did the American economy become unable to handle bankruptcies, anyway? And why?
It's also interesting to consider the geopolitical ramifications. Cars will still be made in the US, but in a few years most of the factories will probably be subsidiaries of foreign companies. All the automotive design and research will happen elsewhere, eroding American manufacturing. Maybe that's already the case, thinking about which companies got petrol-electric hybrids to market first. I suppose the U.S. is still a leader in aerospace and software.
On a more parochial note, I wonder which company will acquire Holden, GM's still-viable Australian subsidiary?
Even with this grim outlook, I can't blame the U.S. Republicans for opposing the rescue. It must be tough choosing between between likely economic depression and certain crony capitalism. When did the American economy become unable to handle bankruptcies, anyway? And why?
It's also interesting to consider the geopolitical ramifications. Cars will still be made in the US, but in a few years most of the factories will probably be subsidiaries of foreign companies. All the automotive design and research will happen elsewhere, eroding American manufacturing. Maybe that's already the case, thinking about which companies got petrol-electric hybrids to market first. I suppose the U.S. is still a leader in aerospace and software.
On a more parochial note, I wonder which company will acquire Holden, GM's still-viable Australian subsidiary?
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