Don’t worry, it’s not election day yet! I was just looking for a photo to accompany today’s blog post and as we are in the final stages of the campaign here in Australia, I thought this picture would suffice. I was actually at a trivia night last night and a question was offered in the course of the evening as to how much one is fined if they don’t vote (for any non-Australians, voting is compulsory here!). The answer: 50 dollars! Not much considering the hoo ha made about ensuring to enroll and vote. I think we get a rather good turn out in any case.
I usually steer clear of politics on my blog. I don’t understand at times why people vote the way they do and some of the political argument of those who have a keen bias one way or another certainly push points which don’t make much sense at times. Some people on Facebook seem to think I want to see their political beliefs spattered all over my news feed. To each his own. I don’t care which way you vote really. It’s your opinion but I would rather you keep it to yourself unless I ask. I’ll do you the same courtesy. So, no pushing one barrow or the other for me. Good luck to our nation is all I wish for. We need it! That being said I do feel quite strongly about the looming election. I get a bad feeling that it won’t go the way I want it to. I think our country has been a little out of kilter for many years. Lost our way somewhat. I am hoping we don’t get more of the same.
It’s been a quiet few weeks for me. Time winds down and our trip to Europe begins to loom large. I’ve been plodding around the house doing a bit of work here and there but the nagging feeling that I should be more gainfully employed never seems to leave me completely. I feel like a bit of a fraud being at home all day.
As I said, Linda and I were at a trivia night last night organised by the graduates in her department in support of a local charity. I usually avoid trivia nights like the plague and wasn’t very keen on attending this one but it turned out to be more enjoyable than I expected. A good group of friendly people on your table makes a difference and the night mercifully lacked some of the silly side antics that cause some trivia nights to be a trial. It is always hard within an eclectic group of strangers to state an answer and push it when others think you may not be right. You begin to second guess yourself and don’t want to look like a fool should you get it wrong. But, I guess no one really cares and I am unlikely ever to see any of those people again. I had a bit of a cut on a question about the first European recorded to have set foot on the Australian continent. When I was going to school William Janzsoon was known as William Jansz so I took a plunge on Dirk Hartog and got it wrong. Doh! However, for some reason 1606 had stuck in my head as the year of first European contact and I was right. Score a bonus point for us! Some were impressed.
The highlight of the night for our team was the question which asked what the Latin saying on Hogwarts School (Harry Potter’s school) coat of arms meant and miraculously the girl sitting next to me studied Latin in University for two years! She deciphered it correctly and earned us a bonus point (I can’t remember what it said!). You don’t run into many Latin speakers nowadays after the fall of the Roman Empire, hehe.
Anyway, we finished second, beaten by a team which bought 10 points worth of it’s answers. So be it. Perhaps our lack of generosity in throwing more money to charity by way of purchasing answers should have condemned us to runners up status and I think the team who won were quite good in any case. But, most of the team were happy and it was a fun night. But I am definitely retiring from trivia nights this time!
Until next time.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 