Incommunicado

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to live in the latter part of the 19th Century? No telephones, for a start, not to mention many other amenities we now consider standard. I one read that the richest person of the time, I think it was a Rockefeller, had, after inflation, 10 times more money than Bill Gates has today! However, he couldn't use a telephone since they didn't exist so how rich was he really? Anyway, I've gotten a first-hand look at how a world without the telephone would look. Fenner Hall is upgrading its telecommunications system so all telephones and ethernet-linked internet access is impossible. It's amazing how quickly you realize how much you depend on a telephone despite it being, possibly, the most rude invention in history; I wrote about that in an earlier post. Luckily, I've left a message for anyone wishing to contact me that they can do so via my mobile. So I guess I'm not quite stuck in the 19th Century after all.

Although the weather has gotten a little cooler, earlier in the week it reached 38C, which is a record for this time of year. Although I have a fan in my room, and now a second one I managed to scavenge, it wasn't doing the trick. After trying in vain to fall asleep, I took my sleeping bag and went to the roof balcony. I spread it out an managed to get a bit of sleep in the cooler night air. It wasn't particularly comfortable as I had to sleep on concrete but at least I wasn't sweating profusely. I'll only do it again if I really have to.

Last Wednesday I had my first Summer Duty Warden shift which extended from 16:45 to 09:00 the next day. There isn't much to report except opening cupboards, fridges and baggage rooms for people. At one point, someone reported what they perceived to be a suspicious person but I couldn't find anyone as it was quite late. Maybe there's a phantom at Fenner? The Fenner Phantom?

And finally, today was also the Canberra Cup, the major race day at the Canberra Racecourse. It wasn't as sunny as last year, but the weather wasn't too bad, though a little showery. The Canberra Cup is also the last event of the Spring Racing Carnival. I was stationed up in the Members' area so I had a pretty good view of the finishing line. It's been decorated with a mock-up of New Parliament House's facade. The place was abuzz with activity and I served a great many people. No one won particularly large sums and there isn't anything really to report about the day, except the end. I was standing outside waiting for the bus but it quickly turned out that I was the only one. That being the case, one of the ACTION (Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network) employees offered to drive me to Fenner Hall. I took him up on the offer and was back home quite soon and able to start my next Summer Duty Warden Shift.

All that's left for today is the rest of my shift and then waiting to see who wins the Grey Cup.