Throughout the ages, as we advanced from the quill pen to the typewriter to today's smartphone, people have always needed help of one kind or another with their latest thingamajigs.
Since late August, Padma has been helping little old ladies and the odd man on a walking stick who visit the NBN Community Hub in the Bay, by making them feel welcome and offering them a cup of coffee, but also with technical problems, if they aren't too much above her paygrade.
She's left for the Bay, and I'm sitting on the sunlit verandah, cup of tea in hand, and reflect on all the beauty that surrounds me. Having lived in this beautiul spot for a long time, I too often take it all for granted, which is why I sometimes try to look at it all with a fresh pair of eyes.
I'm enjoying the quiet before the storm, because this is the start of the long Australia Day weekend, when, lemminglike and bumper-to-bumper, a great number of Canberrans will come down the Kings Highway to spend time at the coast. We are too far from the highway to hear the traffic, but all too soon their boats and jetskis will clutter up the river.
I'm already into my second cup of tea, and, surprisingly, Padma hasn't rung me yet. Just before she left, she'd asked me, "Do you remember the stupidest thing you ever said to me?", to which I replied, "I do!"
Perhaps that's the reason why she hasn't rung me yet.
