Mid week review

Its great to write my mid-week review after a slothful break - slothful in terms of not doing paid work. I enjoyed the Easter break with quite a bit of time outside, gardening and enjoying the limited remnants of sunshine that Melbourne leaves us at this time of year.

The proceeds of a small consulting project gave me enough money to stock up on some good red wines. Buying wine with skill is potentially purchasing an asset - an asset that appreciates in value and, perhaps, in drinkability. Given the wine glut at present in Australia its a good time to accumulate wine wealth. I thought Wynns 2003 cabernet at Boccaccio Cellars at $16-99 good buying. There is also an even 'worse' (from the viewpoint of vendors) wine glut in Europe and I took this opportunity to buy a range of Italian, Spanish and French wines including the much publicised el-cheapo, The Arrogant Frog.

Out of the three working days left this week I have at least one that will be consumed by administration. A lot of people in the universities will take holidays this week so many boring meetings should not occur. I might therefore get some paid work done.

On a more serious note the attack by Islamic Jihad that killed 9 innocents in Israel - and one idiot suicide bomber who believes he is headed for paradise - didn't shock but left me more than usually saddened. The murderous thugs in Islamic Jihad cannot justify this carnage with the usual cliches regarding Palestine's right to defend its homeland. The refusal of the Hamas Government to condemn the bombing shows Israel what it is dealing with. I assume they will respond with a tit-for-tat attack.

Ignoring such bad news for the moment I hope you enjoyed your Easter Break As usual comments on anything welcome.