Today is the Thursday of the rest of your life

"Have fun," grins Neil. "Mind the sharks."
"Har-har," I sneer.
"We will," says Inday.
"What?!"
"Bull sharks," she says casually. "Two of them sighted in the river."
"They're quite small, aren't they?"
"Three or four metres, something like that."
"But they wouldn't attack us, right?"
"Second most aggressive shark, after the tiger shark."
"Aww, come on. They won't like large splashes."
"They're attracted to large splashes."
"But not up river. Fresh water."
"It's a tidal river. They don't feed until evening."
I look at my watch. "It's six o'clock."
"Yeah, around then."

Cliff-jumping is fun. So yeah, I'm staying in Perth. I was having several second thoughts about leaving... then found out it was free to change the date of my ticket after all... so I'll be here a little longer. A lot longer. I like it here. I like the people, I like working in the orchard, and the weather is almost passable once the sun has set. I'm climbing at least once a week again and feeling good about it (managed that running-jumping climb from last week - not sure how). The next thing to do is find a job: I've sent some begging letters to a camera company, which was quite disheartening - I thought I'd left the desperate cold-calling behind me, but I'd rather do camera work than bar work. Time will probably make that decision for me.

Jeremy works for Legal Aid, a government body that provides legal support for those who need it. He sent me this article the other day. It's an astounding first in Australian law:

"SYDNEY(AAP) - A seven-year-old boy was at the center of a Parramatta, NSW courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the best degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they had also beaten him on occasion. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy himself to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the English Cricket Team, whom the boy firmly believes are incapable of beating anyone."

All the sweeter after thrashing Australia last week. But we'll probably lose to the Kiwis today, which will save us a drubbing in the final. Funny thing, though - last week, in my infinite wisdom, I was ranting to Jeremy that the best thing the ECB could do now would be to fill the squad with young players who could get blooded - and bloodied - at international level. At least they might be hungry to win a game... then Bhopra, Nixon, Loye, Joyce, and Plunkett come out and actually play cricket. And win or lose, a contest is all we've really wanted since November.

If anyone is planning on applying to the BBC for a job, my advice is to be extremely sarcastic on the application form and also drink as much as possible while writing it.