Hot Times

January 3, 2002-Vanishing Continent

Elvis is alive & well & living in Sydney. As the newspaper said, “Instead of bursting into song, he’s dumping water.” Elvis is an Erickson Air-Crane Helitanker that is being used to fight the fires in New South Wales. It’s named Elvis because of the time it served in the U.S. National Guard in Memphis, Tenn. I understand there is some coverage of the fire by CNN. It worsens every day as arsonists keep the 20,000 firefighters & support personnel exhausted. As with the surf lifesavers in Australia, all the bush firefighters are volunteers. As of today, with the addition of crews from the Northern Territories, all the states have responded. There’s no rain in sight & the winds & high temperatures add to the danger. It’s now in the suburbs of Sydney. It stretches in a 1000km line (about 600 miles) from Byron Bay (1 ½ hrs south of us) to south of Sydney. There have been no fatalities. I hope there’s a Sydney left for us to see in April.

The year 2002 has been declared to be the Year of the Outback (YOTO) here. Since most Australians haven’t been there, it may be a good thing to promote the outback before it disappears. There’s been more clearing in the last 50 years than in the previous 150. Seventy percent of Australia’s original vegetation has been lost since settlement & 99% of native plants have disappeared from the temperate grasslands. Cattle & sheep have torn away at what little topsoil there was. So, Aussies are advised to climb into their utes (pickup trucks) & 4-wheel drives & head for what’s left. I’ve been wondering what the protective bars are on the radiator grills of all those SUVs. As it turns out, they’re called roo bars.

Solitary Sex

If it’s the Year of the Outback, it must be the Week of Sex. The public radio station that I listen to has had a run on unusual sexual topics. Yesterday there was a discussion with experts & the public about sexual frustration among people who are without partners, geographically isolated, physically unattractive, or disadvantaged by age. Being too old was defined as over 40. That seemed to be the cut-off point for the bar scene. The show delved into topics such as “when masturbation isn’t enough,” “how to safely use the internet,” & “how to choose an appropriate sex worker.” The discussion was on a high plane & very serious.

Today’s program was about a sex worker outreach program to the physically disabled. There’s special training for sex workers so they can be sensitive to the physical limitations & knowledgeable about some of the medical devices they might encounter while being with such a client. One man said he was called to the home of a man who was in a wheelchair. The client was a paraplegic. As it turned out, his wife was out of town for the weekend & his girlfriend was on a business trip. This was the sex worker’s first job with a physically disabled client. He said that all his stereotypes went out the window.

Some brothels have seen this as an opportunity to expand their client base & a way to serve a neglected part of society. They’ve begun to make their facilities handicap accessible. Sydney has legislation regarding the sexual rights of the disabled that covers privacy issues. In many facilities, the doors to rooms & bathrooms are removed to provide ease of access for wheelchairs, equipment, & personnel. Patients & the sex worker outreach organization are challenging this & trying to help create areas of privacy for the disabled who live in institutions. Social workers are being trained to ask about sexual needs & learning about resources for arranging to address these needs. One social worker said it was no more complicated than making a reservation at a restaurant for her clients. Even though sex workers are prostitutes by any other name, the legalization of the industry under certain guidelines provides for interesting ramifications.

There is no seguing from the last topic to the new one. Have you ever used disk defragmenter on your computer? It’s under systems tools. I do it from time to time to “houseclean.” I view it as tidying up the clutter. I had never clicked on “show details” while it was running, but David did the other day. You should try it. It’s like watching a Pac Man game. There are little squares of red, blue, green, & white. They flash by on the screen as they are arranged into neat rows. It was a nice diversion. We’re leaving for Melbourne & Tasmania Saturday evening. We’ll email you from the road.

Toby