Back in September I wrote a blog post about some record cold weather in Australia, and how it was largely overlooked by news media obsessed with global warming stories (see If Global Warming Worsens We Could Freeze). A perfect example of this media bias popped up today.

WeatherZone News published a story titled “Global warming may be behind hot NT weather“, which began:

The Bureau of Meteorology says high temperatures recorded across the Northern Territory this month may be indicative of global warming.
Average daily temperatures were 1.75 degrees above the mean for October.

As before, I’m not commenting on the validity of global warming, just the lack of balance in reporting on it. Record, or near-record, cases of below-average temperatures are happening all the time. If they get reported at all, they are treated as natural variations which don’t mean anything, and without any links being made to climate change.

Nobody suggested that temperatures up to 2 or 3 degrees below average in much of Australia in August indicated global cooling. But when we get a similar variation on the warm side of normal, affecting one state in one month, our weather agency tells us it “may be indicative of global warming”.

Some people, including many scientists, believe the global warming issue is a hoax or conspiracy, at least in part. I’m undecided, but the blatant media imbalance is enough to make me wonder if there could be a hidden agenda … and the more one-sided news stories I see, the more I wonder.

Thanks to a campervan holiday in July this year, my collection of digital Tasmanian photos has grown - and I’ve just added a selection of them to this website. They can be accessed using the Photography link in the header or footer, or follow these links to the five pages - Central Highlands, Cradle Mountain, Forests & Waterfalls, Hobart and Southwest Tasmania.

My goal of building a quality digital collection of photos covering all of Tasmania remains just that - an unrealised goal. I have photos from most of Tasmania, but the majority are slides or negatives taken on earlier trips. Some have been scanned, but removing countless dust spots is a time-consuming process and the results are often not that great. If I want good digital shots from all of Tasmania, a much more appealing option is to keep revisiting Tasmania with a digital camera - as good an excuse as any to visit such a lovely place!

Way back in the 1970s, the first flight to Australia by the Concord was a big event. I remember being excused from primary school by my dad to go to Sydney airport and see the arrival of this supersonic airliner. Three and a half decades later, some things haven’t changed much. I am once again a student, and again went to see the historic arrival of an impressive new aircraft - the Airbus A380 on its first trip to Perth.

The aircraft in question is the first Airbus A380 - the largest passenger plane ever built - purchased by Qantas. Yesterday it flew into Perth as part of a pilot training exercise and national publicity tour. As with the Concord all those years earlier, a large crowd turned out to watch it land and get a closer look at a groundbreaking aircraft which has been in the news. The photos show it parked at Perth airport yesterday.

In perfect spring weather the plane flew low and majestically above the airport and across the city, then impressed the crowd with a neat and gentle landing. I should confess here that I find the landing of large aircraft to be a particularly stirring sight. Until now a Boeing 777 landing has moved me the most, but the A380 is at least as impressive. That such a massive and powerful vehicle, flying at high speed, can touch down so gently and precisely is quite remarkable, and a sight to savour … or at least it is for me!

Some boys may lose their fascination with cutting edge aircraft as they grow older, but not me. Judging by the size and enthusiasm of the crowd at Perth airport yesterday, I’m not alone.

Like other coffee enthusiasts, I see many pleasures and benefits in drinking quality coffee. Now I can claim another one, although in this case it’s other people who benefit from this drinking habit.

I buy green (raw) coffee beans through an Australian website known as CoffeeSnobs, and roast them myself. Last year Andy Freeman, the guy who runs the site, started a scheme whereby fifty cents from every kilogram of beans sold goes into a fund he calls “Fair Crack”. The idea is that whenever enough money builds up, it is spent on projects which directly benefit small growers of specialty coffee.

It’s a way for coffee enthusiasts to give something back to the growers of the coffee, who only get a small cut of the final price and sometimes struggle to survive. CoffeeSnobs members have overwhelmingly embraced the idea.

One of the CoffeeSnobs pulpers will be used
in this building in Njari-Rononi, Tanzania.
Outside are some of the 68 coffee growers
who will use it. Photo: Bente Luther-Medoch.

The first project has recently been announced (full details here), and the beneficiaries are small coffee farmers near the southern slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Two villages will each be provided with a pulping machine - processing equipment they would probably not have been able to access otherwise. Shared by all the independant farmers in the area, these will enable them to take a superior grade of bean to market and receive a higher price. Scales and fermentation tanks are also being provided for communal use.

There are a number of things to like about this:

• Farmers should get a higher price for their beans, making their businesses more viable.
• 68 farmers will be helped by the pulper in one of the villages. This also benefits their families, and their communities.
• It contributes to the growth of the specialty coffee industry in Tanzania.
• Admin costs are zero: 100% of the funds hit the ground in Tanzania

Although the money comes from the purchases of CoffeeSnobs members, it is by no means a sacrifice:

• The contributions per kilo of beans are small change for us, and hardly noticed.
• Even with the contributions, buying green beans this way cost only about one quarter of the price of equivalent commercially roasted beans.
• We get to enjoy superb coffee, roasted just how we like it, as fresh as you can get.

It almost sounds too good to be true, but it IS true. It’s great to know that win-win situations like this can really happen. I’m also encouraged that the business world contains people like Andy Freeman of CoffeeSnobs, who not only runs an excellent business, but uses it to do something good for others.

By a small coincidence, I happened to be drinking a Tanzanian coffee when I read about this project to assist Tanzanian growers. My coffee was from a different area, but who knows - some day I might get to drink coffee which passed through the pulper my purchases helped (very slightly) to fund. The thought adds an extra level of enjoyment to my coffee drinking habit … and makes me want to buy more coffee.

My car has just driven its four hundred thousandth kilometer. This is a great distance for any car to travel - much more than I expected when I bought it 22 years ago - and I was so pleased I took this photo of the odometer to document the occasion.

Why am I so pleased? Having a reliable car is a great blessing, and not needing to regularly update to newer models has saved me a bundle of money. There’s also the satisfaction of not conforming. In Australia’s consumerist society it’s common to trade in a new car for a newer model every 5 years or so, because we are told it is more economical than driving an older car. Driving one car for as long as I have is the opposite of this, and I take pleasure in rebelling against consumerism in this way - especially when it saves me money!

I confess that my current engine and gearbox are second hand replacements … but the originals both lasted over 376000km - and that’s excellent service! With these two replacements behind me, there’s no good reason for the car not to clock up half a million km or more without further major work. I suspect the body will fall apart before the car stops working.

So what is the secret of getting long service from a car? In my case there is no secret, just plain old common sense:

• Buy something decent
• Look after it well with regular servicing
• Drive sensibly

That may not sound exciting or fashionable, but it worked for me. The following also help:

• Avoid comparing your own car with others. Depending on how yours rates in the comparison, this can lead to either envy or pride, neither of which are healthy.
• Avoid paying attention to new car advertisements and car salesmen. If your own car is mechanically sound and meeting your needs, why let yourself be tempted by the lure of something you have been happily doing without up to now?
• Think about what you really need from a car. If its prime purpose is to get from A to B reliably and comfortably, and it’s doing that, does it really matter if there are scratches, dents, and rust spots? Duct tape can cover a multitude of cosmetic inadequacies!

If your car is unsound or uneconomical, replacing it can be sensible. But if you can be content with something functional but not necessary glamorous, you might be surprised, like me, to find how long it will last.

Other things I’ve written about my car:
Car Myth: Do Older Cars Cost More To Maintain?
Help Feed Underprivileged Kids By Driving An Old Car

We’re told that global warming is a fact, and the earth is getting hotter at an accelerating rate. And yet … much of Australia has just experienced one of the coldest months ever recorded. Here are some facts about Australia’s weather in August 2008 which are unlikely to get a mention in any global warming news story.

[Note to foreign readers: August is winter in Australia, temperatures are in degrees celcius]

• New South Wales - 2nd coldest August on record for minimum temperatures and 5th coldest for mean temperatures (statewide averages). Cold records broken in 29 locations.
• Sydney - coldest August since 1944
• Tenterfield - coldest August night on record (-9.5)
• Glen Innes - coldest August night on record (-8.4) and coldest night (in any month) for 36 years
• Orange - 10 consecutive days below 8 degrees for the first time in 17 years.
• Tamworth - coldest night in 16 years of records (-6)
• Murwillumbah - coldest night on record (-1.4)
• Queensland - colder than usual throughout, minimum temperatures up to 3 degrees below long term averages in the south-east and nearby parts.
• Burketown - temperature fell to 5 degrees for the first time in 24 years
• Coolangatta - 10 consecutive mornings of 5 degrees or less (breaking the old record of six)
• South Australia - temperatures significantly below average across the state; records for lowest August temperatures broken at Ooodnadatta and Leigh Creek.
• Adelaide - second coldest August on record (only August 1951 was colder)
• Launceston - lowest August average minimum temperature on record
• Western Australia - mean temperatures below average (by up to 3 degrees) throughout, except for coastal strip in the west. Cold records broken in 11 locations.
• Northam - coldest August night on record (-1.5)
• Albany Airport - coldest August night on record (0.8)
• Eyre - set a new record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in Western Australia (-7.2)
• Mt. Hotham - 53 consecutive days in which the temperature didn’t rise above zero degrees: the longest unbroken stretch of subzero temperatures recorded in Australia

These cold extremes affected a large part of the continent, over an extended period - it wasn’t just a freak event in one place. I could also mention the great snow which has made this ski season in Australia one of the best in years. Snow records are likely to be broken in New Zealand. Further south, I’ve read that Antarctic sea ice has been more extensive than usual. You could say “If global warming gets any worse, we’ll all freeze!”

Lake Highway in Tasmania experienced
more snow, and for longer, when I
was there this winter

Of course one cold winter doesn’t disprove global warming (although there’s plenty more credible evidence to challenge it … but that’s another story). What this unusually cold month illustrates is the media’s lack of balance.

Whenever some unusually warm weather occurs, the media are quick to report it and associate it with global warming … often accompanied by that familiar footage of ice falling off the end of a glacier. However, news media are comparatively silent about all the unusually cold weather that also occurs. You may have heard the numerous predictions that Arctic sea ice would completely disappear by 2008. You are far less likely to have been told that, far from disappearing, there is instead up to 30% more Arctic ice at the end of August 2008 than one year earlier.

So next time you see a global warming media story telling us how hot it’s getting, just remember that we’re only being shown part of the picture.

Information is from WeatherZone News, Bureau of Meteorology and Global Warming Hoax.

Today I thought I’d have a whinge about the way many churches force people to be sociable in a widely disliked practice often referred to as “meet and greet”.

For those not familiar, it’s a brief time in a church service when the pastor says “turn and greet the person next to you” or “introduce yourself to someone you don’t know“, or something similar. The idea is to get people mingling, getting to know each other, forming relationships and building community. It’s a worthy goal, but the trouble is, it doesn’t work like that … certainly not in the minute or so allocated. Although some people like it, most find the forced sociableness to be contrived, superficial, unauthentic, awkward and uncomfortable.

Anybody capable of starting a meaningful conversation with a stranger is surely able to exercise this talent on their own, without any pushing. Those of us who are a bit shy and introverted (like me) are extremely unlikely to make a friend or have any meaningful social interaction with a stranger in less than a minute. Especially when the band plays loud enough to make conversation difficult without megaphones and ear trumpets! It achieves little for the non-outgoing (other than discomfort), and I cringe to think how visitors not used to the practice might feel.

I’m not the only one to express this thought, as commented on in another blog (here, 10th paragraph down). Even socially adventurous people may have their off days, when they can do without being forced to make small talk.

To get this gripe out of my system, I visited the Church Sign Generator website and came up this sign for a fictitious introvert-friendly church:

In case the image doesn’t show, the sign text reads:
“Holy Hermit Church for Shy Folk
no meet & greet
no forced mingling
non-threatening for the timid and introverted”

Travelling light is growing in popularity, especially using a single bag which qualifies as airline carry-on luggage. But is travelling this light really practical for a winter trip needing bulky warm clothing and hiking gear? To find out, I took up the challenge on a recent trip to Tasmania.

There are some good websites with great tips on one-bag travel (see links below). However they seem to be geared mainly to people travelling in mild climates (or in summer), staying in hotels, and doing typical sightseeing. They address challenges like keeping a smart shirt uncreased, but little is said about budget travel in winter, or how to travel light with bulky blizzard-proof hiking clothes. You could be excused for thinking that such travel is not considered lightweight.

My goal was to meet airline carry-on limits AND have sufficient gear to survive winter hiking in Tasmania. As well as personal effects for three weeks, I needed clothing to keep me warm in temperatures down to -10°C, plus protective jacket and pants to keep me dry in driving rain or snow and gale force winds. It all needed to fit Virgin Blue’s carry-on luggage restrictions of a single 105cm bag (19 x 13 x 9 inches) weighing up to 7kg (15.4 lb) plus one personal item.

Getting all the needed gear to fit this size was tricky … but it worked! In the end I took a total of 8kg. By carrying my wool jacket as a personal item, and wearing my camera and PDA in various pockets, the bag was kept to 7kg. I enjoyed temperatures down to -10°C, went walking in snowstorms, and had enough gear in my little bag to keep me warm and dry.

So how did it all fit? The key was squashing the bulky clothing in a compression sack - a small sack normally used to store a sleeping bag, with straps on the outside which enable it to be tightly compressed. I folded all the warm clothing (gloves, hat, thermals, jumper, fleece vest and pants, goretex pants and jacket), stacked it in a brick-shaped pile inside the compression sack, then pulled the straps very tightly to squash it into a small, dense package. Chucked in loose, this clothing would have filled most of my carry-on bag, but when compressed it neatly fit one end - the photos show the difference.

I confess that I didn’t need to take a sleeping bag, which helped (one was provided with the campervan). A sleeping bag could have fitted - but at the expense of a slightly larger carry-on bag (the maximum allowed), and the leaving behind of the goretex jacket and pants. Lightweight one-bag cold weather travel would still have been possible with a sleeping bag as long as hiking in wind and rain, or blizzards, wasn’t on the agenda.

Those interested/obsessed in the details can view my packing list (which shows item weights in grams). See it not as a packing guide, but rather just as an example of what worked for me. Your needs will differ from mine. For example, I am a short haired male with no need for hair care items or cosmetics. I grew a beard and left my shaver at home. My mobile phone also stayed at home (it is possible to survive without one!), and I didn’t go anywhere requiring dressy clothing.

Having found that cold weather budget travel can be done with one lightweight carry-on bag, I don’t think I could go back to carrying heavy loads … unless I needed special gear like camping equipment or snowshoes. Besides the practical benefits, it felt liberating to travel with such a small load and yet still have with me everything I really needed.

Some good websites about lightweight one-bag travel:
One Bag - the art and science of travelling light
One Bag, One World - tips & techniques for light travellers
The Travelite FAQ - travel packing tips

If you’re addicted to good coffee, and you’re on holiday, then it follows that you’ll want to search for sources of good coffee wherever you travel to. That was the case with me recently - in search of the best coffee in Hobart.

Obviously I couldn’t sample every coffee outlet in Tasmania’s capital city, so I visited the CoffeeSnobs website to draw up a short list. One forum discussion (first page starts here) is devoted to recommendations of good cafes in Tasmania, and as most of the contributors know more about coffee than I do - and live in Tasmania - I used their top choices as my starting point.

When it fitted in with other activities, I hit the streets of Hobart to sample an espresso at the most recommended cafes (plus a couple of others), and in some cases a double shot latte as well. My opinion is that of an amateur enthusiast, not an experienced expert, and I haven’t yet come to grips with describing body, aftertastes, and subtle flavour nuances like wine buffs do - but I can appreciate quality. The search for it was rather enjoyable!

One cafe’s coffee stood out for me - Villino Espresso, at 30 Criterion St Hobart, near the city centre. The owners, Richard and Melissa, are passionate about producing excellent coffee. With their La Marzocco machine, Mazzer grinder, good fresh beans and much skill and dedication, the result is consistenty good (I tried it on several occasions just to be sure).

The espresso and double ristretto I had were rich, syrupy and flavourful without any bitterness, and the milky coffees were also worth going out of your way for. I felt no need for sugar in any of them; always a good sign for someone accustomed to always having sugar with coffee.

If you’re a coffee enthusiast visiting Hobart, sampling all the cafes recommended by the users of the CoffeeSnobs website would be a pleasant mission. But if you haven’t got time for that, heading straight for Villino Espresso is unlikely to disappoint.

This post has been updated and moved to my new travel website, Roaming Down Under. It can be viewed at:

http://www.roamingdownunder.com/tas-place-names.php

Today, being June 18th, marks twenty years since the day I fell down a cave near Margaret River. The full story is on my Cave Fall page, but in a nutshell - I lost my grip on a wire ladder and fell about twelve metres to the rocky floor of a cave. Miraculously, I survived the impact with no major injuries.

It can be good to reflect on milestone events, and this one is significant. The fall I had could easily have killed me - others have fallen lesser distances and died - or at least left me seriously disabled. I was extremely grateful at the time that neither happened; instead I got off very lightly with some cracked ribs and bruising, tiny discomforts compared to what might have been.

Today I can pause and give thanks for twenty years of life which by rights I shouldn’t have had. I’m probably not the only one who should be doing this. I suspect many people - if not most - have been in situations where things could so easily have ended tragically, but by the grace of God it didn’t. It’s good to remember such blessings and to always be thankful for them.

My drought of media appearances has been broken, with the inclusion of a segment about my collection of navel lint on the ABC (Australia) TV show Collectors last Friday.

Now why would a shy and private person like me want to be on TV? That’s what I ask myself whenever a media request turns up. I don’t do radio interviews, and have been selective about newspapers and magazines. Being on TV isn’t something I desire or need, but while I’ve declined some requests, I’ve made exceptions for others.

My appearances on the Tonight Show and Enough Rope With Andrew Denton both involved free trips (to Los Angeles and Sydney, respectively) - a compelling lure to someone who loves travel. The Collectors show was different, as a Perth crew came to my home for filming.

In this case the appeal was contributing to a show I feel enthusiasm for. They showcase a huge range of collections - from traditional antiques to the strange and quirky, from serious to light hearted. While not everything they feature interests me, I love the diversity of it all. The show goes beyond the stereotypical antiques collector, and documents not just the things collected but the tremendously different people who collect them.

Collectors who could be described as eccentric appear on the show, and they are treated with dignity and respect. Some collections generate a laugh, but the humour is not at the collectors’ expense. This was an important consideration for me, as my lint collection is not exactly conventional.

My segment was filmed in the comfort of my home, with just three people present - producer, camera man and sound man. Plus me of course. With no audience, and the ability to re-take scenes I messed up, it wasn’t nearly as intimidating as the Tonight Show!

The producer, David De Vos, directed the shoot with creativity, kindness, and understanding of the fears that non-celebrities have. The film crew were very patient and professional, putting me as much at ease as I’ll ever be in front of a camera (I prefer to be behind one). Considering the limitations of what they had to work with - me, and three jars of lint - I think they and the editors did a great job.

With this latest contribution to Australia’s cultural heritage behind me (sounds more impressive than showing my belly on TV), I can continue my life as an anonymous normal person. Or at least as normal as I want to be!

I wouldn’t normally think of joining a car club, but I’ve recently come across one that suits me perfectly - the Junky Car Club. After reading what this club is about, I couldn’t not sign up.

According to their website:

“Junky Car Club members are learning to live with less so we can give more. We’re a bunch of happy drivers who are politely rebelling against consumerism by driving junky cars. We encourage our members to use their dough to support social justice causes instead of making fat car payments. We believe in environmental stewardship and hanging onto things a little longer. Junky Car Club members sponsor kids living in poverty through Compassion International.”

I love the thinking behind this - it seems so logical - but I related to it mainly because it describes what I’ve already been doing. I’m still driving the same car I bought nearly 22 years ago, and have been sponsoring children through Compassion Australia for much of that time.

While I’ve kept the same old car to save money in general, not specifically to sponsor children, the money I’ve saved by not upgrading to new cars has made the child sponsorship possible … and much more. I’ve not spent a cent on car purchases or repayments since I finished paying off mine in 1989. This has meant more money to spend on things like travel, paying off the mortgage earlier, and feeding and educating children in Ethiopia … all more worthy causes than banks, car manufacturers and car salesmen.

Speaking of sly vultures, most car salesmen will tell you that running an older car is uneconomical, but that isn’t always true. In my case it has proven cheaper to run in its old age than when it was young (I wrote about it here). My car does have some quirks and small defects, but nothing that can’t be lived with, or patched with duct tape. It ain’t fancy, but it’s got character!

Nothing lasts forever, even with duct tape, so eventually my beloved vehicle will wear out and need replacing. When that happens, I’ll hope to look after a new car well so that it also will last a long time, and become another old car. You see, I plan to be a Junky Car Club member for a long time.

Last October when Western Australia switched over to daylight saving, I refused to change my clocks, having decided to continue operating on standard time (see my blog post: In A Time Zone Of My Own). Now that daylight saving has ended for this summer, I can look back and review how practical it is to live in your own personal time zone. In a nutshell - it worked for me, but wouldn’t be practical for everyone.

I quickly became accustomed to adjusting the times in my head. For example, a 9:00am class began at 8:00am as far as I was concerned, and from my perspective the TV programs I watch began an hour early (mostly an advantage). The only time I got caught out was when I turned up at a shop 20 minutes before I thought it would close, to find it had closed 40 minutes earlier. Oh well, I was bound to forget at least once!

Most of the time, however, I was able to live by non-daylight-saving time without any problem. In fact, I became so used to it I still occasionally find myself looking at a clock and mentally noting what the time is for “normal people” - even though daylight saving has ended.

Whether this is feasible for others depends on how much one’s life interfaces with the outside world according to a schedule. For someone who lives by the clock, with many appointments, operating on a time different to everyone around you could be very confusing - and more trouble than it’s worth. But for those whose lifestyle is less regulated by the clock, living in your own individual time zone can indeed work smoothly, as I have discovered. If daylight saving becomes a regular occurrence in Western Australia, so will my boycotting of it.

Calling all Australians, including those of us in the west: you are invited to take part in an online survey about the cultural significance of snow and snowy environments in Australia in light of the effects of climate change.

Not a survey topic you would have seen before, I bet! Maybe the refreshing uniqueness is one reason I took part in the survey, which is being conducted by Dr Andrew Gorman-Murray at the University of Wollongong, down the coast from Sydney.

A Thredbo ski slope in
a very poor season.
In the future, this could
be as good as it gets!

Dr Gorman-Murray says that although we have plenty of scientific projections about the damage climate change will do to snow in Australia (and it’s not pretty), we have little data on cultural or personal responses to this. Information about people’s memories and experiences of snow in Australia, and what snow means to the Australian identity, is not well documented. Neither is the extent of people’s awareness of the history and geography of snow in Australia.

By completing the survey, you can contribute to the understanding of the cultural dimensions of climate change relating to snow. This is becoming more relevant as governments form climate change policies. Australians not living near snow are encouraged to contribute, to ensure there isn’t an south-eastern states bias.

If you found my website when searching for anything to do with West Australian snow, then you might well have some interest or feeling on the subject … and Dr Gorman-Murray would value your input.

The survey, and more information about it, can be found at:
www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zU33zSv8O90j9xmzwNuS6w_3d_3d
Info about Dr Gorman-Murray:
www.uow.edu.au/science/eesc/eesgenstaff/UOW003012.html

My personal preference for hiking, and exercise in general, is “the colder, the better”. However, most people I know avoid outdoor activity when they feel it is too cold, and think it strange that anyone would want to go hiking in the middle of winter. So is there any truth in the belief that it can be too cold for exercise?

I found some enlightenment recently in a New York Times article titled “Too Cold to Exercise? Try Another Excuse“, in which some cold weather exercise myths are dispelled by experts. Some relevant points from the article are:

• Lungs are not damaged by cold - by the time cold air reaches your lungs, it is at body temperature
• Cold air does not induce asthma - airways narrow in response to the dryness of the air, not its temperature
• Our bodies do not need to acclimatize to cold, as they do to heat
• Unfitness is not an obstacle to coping with cold - the physically fit are no better at adaptating to cold than the sedentary
• More people are injured exercising in the heat than exercising in the cold

A little bit of snow, cold,
wind and poor visibility
didn’t stop this fellow
going out for a walk

The concensus among the doctors and exercise physiologists interviewed was that it is never too cold to exercise. Cold-weather risks like hypothermia and frostbite can be avoided with appropriate clothing and common sense. Ironically this includes not overdressing - sweat soaked clothes can lead to chilling. As children are taught in Sweden: “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing“.

My own experiences affirm this. The middle of winter is my favourite time for hiking the Bibbulmun Track, in shorts and T-shirt regardless of how cold it is (I just rug up at night). I’ve hiked happily in New Zealand’s south island in winter, been camping in -10 degrees in Australia, and enjoyed winter walks in the Canadian winter in temperatures below -20 (with wind). By dressing appropriately I’ve done all this in much greater comfort than any walk on a hot day.

Eskimos have lived safely with cold for millenia, and numerous explorers and researchers have survived outdoors in Antarctic winters. The temptation to avoid exercise on chilly days in more temperate climates probably has more to do with comfort, convenience and personal taste than safety. I’ll certainly be continuing my winter outdoor activities, reassured that it really is never too cold to exercise.

We’re often told that “winners never quit, and quitters never win”, and exhorted to perservere to the end. Winston Churchill famously advised “never, ever, give up”. While striving to succeed is a good thing, there are times when quitting may be wise, as I’ve discovered.

The reason I’m reflecting on this now is that today is the tenth anniversary of an incident which led me to give up skiing. Prior to then, snow skiing was a passion, and the only sport I was any good at. Living a few thousand kilometres from the nearest snow was an obstacle, but with some dedication I managed to become quite competant and ambitious.

Temptation to quit came while skiing at the delightful resort of Fernie, in the Canadian Rockies. A high speed crash saw me with a torn knee ligament (ACL), mild whiplash and numerous cuts and bruises. It was during the humbling journey off the slopes via stretcher and ambulance that I started wondering about the wisdom of continuing to ski.

Feb 1998: Pondering what can
go wrong when hurtling down
a hill strapped to two planks

Skiing is a sport where falling over is virtually unavoidable, and I’d suffered minor injuries before (concussion being the worst result). The better I got, the faster I went and the slopes I skiied became more challenging. Although I was falling over less, the potential for serious damage when I did fall became greater. Also I wasn’t as young and rubbery as I once was! Continuing to ski didn’t appear very compatible with my aim of living to a ripe old age without disabilities. I decided to retire from the sport before I did myself too much damage.

I sometimes miss the exhilaration of skiing, but I’ve found that most of what I enjoyed about it - the pristine alpine environments and wintry conditions - can still be enjoyed without flying down obstacle-strewn snowy hills at reckless speeds. The time and energy I devoted to skiing has been redirected into hiking, and a whole new world of recreation has opened up. Despite the negative things we are told about quitting, I have no regrets about pulling the pin on skiing. In fact, as I start to feel the wear and tear of ageing, I’m grateful for the injuries and pains I’ve almost certainly avoided by quitting when I did.

This is just one example of when quitting something can be good. Other examples could include quitting an ill-suited job or course of study in order to pursue something better. Have you quitted anything and, when later looking back on how things turned out, felt glad that you did?

Last June I wrote about how one of my toenails came off due to squashing on a bushwalk (see Goodbye Toenail). I’d read that a new nail takes about six months to regrow, and was hoping this was true.

Not everything you read on the internet is accurate (gasps of disbelief erupt from the audience), but I’m happy to report that in this case it was about right. My toenail took seven months to regrow to the point where it resembled a normal closely trimmed nail, and has just had it’s first trim (pictured). All is right with the world again!

This may not seem important, and it isn’t compared to people starving in Ethiopia. But in this era of technical marvels it’s all too easy to lose our sense of wonder at the seemingly small intricacies of the natural world. I think the automatic regrowing of any body part is an example of how cleverly and remarkably designed our human bodies are - right down to the details of our little toenails. This is something to be thankful for … I know I certainly am!

A week is a long time in politics, as the saying goes, and this week it has been illustrated by a dramatic transformation of personal character which is nothing short of miraculous.

It involves Troy Buswell, who last week was deputy leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party, currently serving a term in opposition. Along with speculation about his leadership ambitions, there were news stories about his unprofessional conduct. This included things like being drunk in parliament, undoing the bra strap of a female colleague, and making sexist and inappropriate comments to another female colleague.

His dramatic transformation is summed up as follows:

Jan 11th
Troy Buswell tells media he will not be challenging for the Liberal Party leadership, as he is not ready to lead the party due to lack of maturity and experience.

Jan 17th
Troy Buswell challenges for the Liberal Party leadership, and is elected as leader by its members who think he is worthy of becoming premier of Western Australia.

This means that in just six days, Mr Buswell has somehow gained all the previously-lacking maturity and experience needed to lead his party - which could see him leading the state of Western Australian if the Liberal Party wins the next election, due within a year. To become so mature and experienced almost overnight is a truly remarkable achievement, something which would take the rest of us mere mortals many years. After all, years of experience normally takes … years!

It’s laughable, but in a way it’s also sad. In a society where the miracles of the bible are ridiculed in the media, we are expected to believe the miraculous transformation of a politician as reported in the news. Sorry, Saint Troy of the Bra Strap, I don’t know if we voters have enough faith in a politician.

News stories:
Why Troy Buswell’s leadership dream is in tatters (Jan 12)
Buswell new WA Liberal leader (Jan 17)

Some time ago I began roasting raw coffee beans in a popcorn popper. It didn’t take long for the limitations of this method to become apparent, and so I’ve progressed to an improved method using a tripod-mounted heat gun, which I hereby reveal.

I blogged about my popcorn popper roasting setup (see Confessions Of A Coffee Snob), which gave reasonable results in cool weather. However, in warmer weather the roasting process happens too quickly to allow the full flavour of the beans to develop, and the popper’s heat can’t easily be adjusted. Another method was needed, which would allow slower roasts during the long hot Perth summer.

A lot of great information on home coffee roasting is available on the CoffeeSnobs website, and Sweet Maria’s has an inspiring illustrated collection of home-made roasting devices. With ideas from these, I built the tripod-mounted heat gun and bowl roaster shown in the photo.

It’s basically just a heat gun - normally used for drying or stripping paint - pointing into a stainless steel bowl, with the beans stirred by hand with a wooden spoon. A motorised stirrer could be added … but that’s another project. The tripod mount allows the heat gun to be positioned in just the right spot, which is how the temperature in the bowl is controlled (as measured using a multimeter). Also the setup is easily moved around, and dismantled for storage.

This is a manual, hands-on and low-tech method of roasting coffee beans, but the degree of control means much more of the bean’s potential can be realised. By adjusting the height of the gun to slow the rate of temperature increase, a roast can be extended to 15-18 minutes instead of the 5 or 6 minutes it would take in a popcorn popper on a warm day. The slower roasting leads to better flavour in the cup, not to mention the satisfaction (and money savings) of doing it yourself.

It makes me wonder what else can be achieved at low cost by tinkering with household bits and pieces.