No Worries

It has been a horrid day in Canberra weatherwise, with heavy rain and dark skies all day. Chilly too. Very autumnal.

I have been working at home whilst waiting for a key to the office to be made - although there are hopeful noises being made and maybe I can get it sorted tomorrow. The term 'No Worries' has been used - although, to be frank, I am learning that this is used with great frequency for any kind of situation. In the space of a three-minute engagement with a pharmacist yesterday the phrase was used at least ten times. None of which were by me. Those who know and love me know that Worrying is basically what keeps me together and so 'No Worries' has very little meaning for me. Where would we be without worries, fretting, tension and general concern?

What I have managed to do today is to organise my trip to Melbourne to give a paper at Swinburne Institute of Technology next week. I will be speaking on 28th May, which - coincidentally - is the date of a reception I have been invited to at the House of Commons to celebrate the publication of UK Election Analysis 2015: Media, Voters and the Campaign - Early Reflections from Leading UK academics. Exciting title.

The invitation from Conor Burns MP (who he?) arrived yesterday. It says that the publication features '70 contributions from leading scholars in media and politics in the UK, providing a mix of early reflections, analysis and preliminary research findings from the 2015 General Election'. Sounds very good. There are light refreshments as well. Hopefully Simon or Graeme can go along to represent us and mingle with the great and the good.