John Rose BSc, BE(Hons), PhD.
Not Quite A Biography.
Like a moth to a flame, I return to Illumination!
I am a writer and a consulting editor. I liken writing to sitting near a warm cosy fire jotting down peaceful evening thoughts. This idyll is inevitably shattered by helpful grandchildren poking the fire or throwing poorly aimed logs at my neat pile of glowing coals. Consulting involves cleaning up the mess of burning embers and thanking the grandkids for their thoughtfulness while suggesting ways of improving their aim. I admit, in my grumpy fashion, that life would be exceedingly boring without writing and pesky family.
Engineering and financial systems analysis put the bread on the family’s table for well over thirty years. Out of curiosity and over-indulgence in coffee, I started thinking on the relationship between software running on large distributed environments and power consumption in corporate IT centres. This work led to my patent applications and subsequently I completed a research PhD. These days, I am a casual academic teaching research methodology to final year and post-graduate engineering students.
Being an academic researcher I construct precise, well developed, objective and unemotional analyses that seem to reek of sawdust. After many dusty years, my suppressed emotions began to assert themselves. I needed to deal with them. This smiling business is not good for my stern image! One rainy day in a small café, over hot coffee and donuts, one of my friends suggested writing as a way to open up and explore my emotions. In fact, he suggested medium.com.
Joining medium.com seemed like a ludicrous idea for a most sensible, not to mention, stern academic. Perversely, the sillier it sounded the more appealing it became and impulsively I joined medium.com. My first exploratory days were confronting and then I stumbled upon Illumination. After talking with Dr Mehmet Yildiz, I joined Illumination as a writer. Finally, a forum to open up and explore my emotions. After 40 years, I began to write poetry again — why I don’t know. I found poetry the most effective way to express, understand and tame my emotional critters. Actually I picture these critters as little Tasmanian Devils. I loved Illumination.
Along Came COVID.
Along came COVID with its border closures, lockdowns, travel restrictions, check-ins, contact tracing and daily news bulletins on case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths. Nothing else seemed to matter.
Stoic by nature, I accept things that I can’t change and concentrate on things I can manage for the better. My prosperity relied upon surviving the social effects of the lockdown pandemic. In Australia, my work load critically depended on a healthy influx of international students. My income decreased sharply as international student numbers declined. Face-to-face lectures and tutorials were delivered on-line. My picture is actually a screen shot I made of one such zoom session. I entered a never-ending lockdown. I worried about going out of the apartment and it seems I locked myself down.
The pandemic continued. I felt pushed and buffeted by the winds of change. Finally, I reached a point where I had to put all my energy into finding alternative sources of income. I left Illumination.
Late 2021 there was some calm in my mind, enough at least to take stock, understand and plan. Easier said than done! My research mindset dictated my first task was to understand the problem and applying stoic principles, sort out what I could do to improve my life and help my family.
Pension Dancing.
2022 and I am now a pensioner, although it did take several months of applying, explaining and submitting documentation. I must admit to a reluctance to take up the pension. I attribute my hesitancy to some misguided beliefs picked-up during my upbringing.
My pension provides a base contribution to my lifestyle. I was determined to keep teaching as I believe exercising the brain is as important as my weight training in keeping good health. But here lies the problem that I describe as “pension dancing”.
The Australian pension allows me to gather additional income within tight monetary limits. Exceed those limits and the pension decreases. Zero the pension and you face cancellation (I think it involves stamping your forehead with a bold red “CANCELLED”). So I’ve done an income analysis and tried to balance out weekly income and pension payments to ensure I don’t exceed the stringent limits. For the first time, I had to turn down some work offers! Not sure I like this pension dancing!
Stories?
Writing a story of an event requires understanding the plot: what happened and why? What did I learn so that I could pass on some helpful advice? I am supposed to be a teacher after all is said and done. When I think about it, I’m really writing stories akin to fables.
I have tried writing fiction, well science fiction and fantasy actually. I love Asimov, Tolkien, Feist, Weber, Herbert, McDevitt and Modesett. But I don’t have their touch. I just write in my own comfortable way about my worldly perceptions.
I look forward to publishing my stories/fables and getting your valuable feedback. After all, we can only learn by sharing our views and talking about our experiences. Look forward to hearing from you!
