Your cool uncle thread

Is he still in Roch? I knew a Geoff back in the day that was a few years older than me and in local bands... It would be weird after all this time if I kinda sorta knew your Rochester relations.

He has Aspberger's. And I think he would have been a pretty weird guy anyway.

I haven't actually laid eyes in years but he writes these e-mails to the whole family that are quite, um....

Dear Family,

It's quite a while since you've had an email message from me and I promised you one some time ago. Somehow business has caught up with me despite my best intentions. I've been very remiss.

Hope you had a great Easter - I had one even though I did'nt do anything really special. It was a short break from the usual routine which I welcomed.

At present I am sitting inside the Incinerator Cafe (yes, that's what it's called!) and the temperature is far higher inside the building than outside - I'm really starting to believe it deserves its name. During the past few days preventive burning has been taking place and a northerly wind has been blowing the smoke all over Melbourne. Consequently, the atmosphere has been very hazy and today has been the worst day of all. The problem is that the wind isn't strong enough to blow the fumes away and they have become quite concentrated in this part of the world, severely cutting visibility. There doesn't appear to be much prospect of much rain, either, any time soon. It's strange that for people living in northern Australia, the drought appears to be over, while, on the other hand, those in the country's south are facing drier weather. Feel like quitting Melbourne and moving to New South Wales!

All the talk over the past few weeks has been concentrated around the now-concluded 20/20 summit. I don't know what you think of such an idea, but from most accounts it seems to have been a success in that it has allowed the bringing forward of views from a good cross-section of people from all walks of life - a bit like a brainstorming session. It's only a first step, of course, and agreement was not achieved on all matters, but when the summit ended, there was a sense of pride that 1000 people had been able to get together and reach broad agreement on a good many of the issues facing the nation today, and a hope that in time as least some of the best of the ideas generated will be implemented. There seems to be a very strong push for a republic in Australia - Kevin Rudd himself is an avowed Republican, although he says the issue can wait and is not a top priority - and the debate has probably started already. This time, if it does come to a referendum, let us hope that the case for both sides is more honestly presented than it was in the previous referendum. As to make any change in the Constitution requires not only an overall majority but a majority in every state and territory, it isn't surprising that constitutional reform is so difficult to bring about and that the number of successful referendums is so low. As to the summit itself, only time will tell. The way the Federal Government goes about its business in the future is certainly going to be closely scrutinized, by all Australians, not just the Opposition.

I'm resuming this message today - actually this day the wind has shifted to the south and it's much clearer - I can see the skyline!

Billy would be thrilled that his beloved Carlton team have broken their drought and have won two in a row against Collingwood and Melbourne. Desperately sad that Melbourne after five rounds are on the very bottom of the AFL ladder without a solitary win to their name, going down to the Blues at the MCG by 33 points. After Noel Daniher was sacked mid-season last year, great hopes rested on their new coach, Dean Bailey. But the team simply has'nt performed on the field and he must be bitterly disappointed. And now, to make matters worse, they have run into serious injury problems as well, with their captain, David Neitz, sidelined for eight weeks with an injured neck. There wouldn't seem much hope of an improvement in Melbourne's position on the premiership ladder on what we've seen so far. And it seems the outlook for Australian cricket isn't much more hopeful with so many of their players having deserted the baggy green cap for the Indian Premier League, where the monetary rewards are so much greater. I suppose they realize that they are largely nearing the end of their Test careers,and who can blame them? It's just sad that money now seems to mean more to players than representing their country in sport - I long for the days when it was every Australian player's dream to be playing for their team's honour and glory.

I recently had my eyes tested and they appear quite sound - I don't need a pair of new lenses just yet. It was, however, a rather gruelling experience, with a lot of scans taken of all parts of both eyes and at the end of the examination, my eyelids felt quite sore, and the drops they put in my eyes made it rather difficult to see when I got outside and I had to spend some time adjusting to the light - it was quite dazzling. However, the procedure is fully covered by Medicare and therefore I didn't have to pay a cent, which was some consolation. I also had a series of recent dental appointment, in particular to work on a wisdom tooth where a particular filling kept coming out. Dr Morris traced the cause and it was discovered that one clasp of my denture on the upper gum - covering that wisdom tooth - was placing the tooth under severe pressure, and he decided to cut it off. Since then I've had no further trouble and my next review appointment is on 13 October. I''ll be very glad to keep out of dentist's surgeries for about six months! My next medical check-up will be in 6 day's time, but I haven't had any serious health problems - it just to monitor my progress. I'm still on two tablets per day, one for blood pressure and the other as a blood-thinner, and the medication has worked extremely well.

Hope all of you are well and are enjoying this autumn. Please take care of yourselves. I would simply love to hear from you.

My love to one and all,

Rupert