I am 80, you know

I have recently had a b*rthday, my 80th

So I suppose it is time for me to look back a little. It has been a very happy life. Starting with my mother, many women have treated me remarkably indulgently over the years.

Life highlights? I will mention just an academic one: I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation in just 6 weeks. 3 years is normal for a Ph.D. and some candidates take longer than that. And it was an exceptional dissertation. A number of academic journal articles came out of it. Most dissertation writers are happy with one derivative article. There is a full list of my academic articles here. I did much better than most because I am a high functioning autistic. Autistics often have eerily great abilties in some field. My field has been academic writing. This is probably a very autistic biographical note

My best year? Most of my years have been good but 1968 does stand out a bit. I have written about it at length previously. Joining the regular army and gaining a Masters degree in the same year certainly makes it different. Conservatives will understand that I wore my country's uniform with pride

Children: To me, children are the meaning of life so I am very glad that I have had three stepchildren and one natural son, all of whom I adore. I am particularly pleased that all of them have prospered and none have become "black sheep". I must particularly mention my stepson Paul. He and I have had great rapport ever since I first met him when he was aged 7. We have the sort of father/son relationship that most fathers can only dream of. He not only asks my advice but sometimes he even takes it! We are both very fortunate to have found such soul-mates in one-another. I put up some thoughts about both my boys over a decade ago whch still mostly hold true

Gratitude? Thankfulness? I am partcularly grateful to all the women who have treated me kindly and tolerantly over the years -- but I am also pleased these days to have in my life the little sweetiepie whose picture I keep putting up on this blog. She is a keeper. I shouldn't call her a sweetiepie because she never stops scolding me about my my mainly old-fashioned diet -- but she means well. She is leaving tomorrow for a holiday in her native Srbia. I will miss her.

As well as that, I am grateful for the way my British ancestors and their compatriots turned wilderness into one of the most civil societies on earth. I am a 5th generation Australian who still lives in Australia and I am acutely aware of what a great privilege that is. Leftists instruct people to "check your privilege". I have checked mine and am very pleased by it

Thanks to the good society my forebears created, I have not had to work hard to create a good life for myself but their sterling example tells me that I could do so if I needed to. I have in fact spent a large part of my life being a highly paid academic. And after that I spent many years making significant money in various real estate ventures. Now I just blog.

On the day: Jenny put on a very special dinner for my b*rthday: An esoteric Indian meal called a Parsee Dhansak. I like that meal but it takes hours to prepare if you do it properly -- so I usually get it on my birthday only. I am fortunate to have had Parsee friends who introduced me to it.

The table set with a Dhansak, green chutney etc

Most of the family was overseas or elsewhere on the occasion but my brother, Christopher, was there. I have seen most of them here recently anyway. Note of that here. My 70th and 75th were big family occasions so I don't mind my 80th being low-key

The conversation around the dinner table mostly was about guns. Christopher is a gun collector and the legal officer of a gun club so had some unusual information to give. He noted that the police have become slow at issuing gun licences, with some applicants waiting as long as 12 months, an apparent deliberate go-slow. There are still a lot of legal gun owners in Queensland so that could become a political issue

Jenny between the two brothers

I got a number of thoughtful presents and cards, all of which I appreciated, but the one I liked best was the message little Suzy wrote on her card to me. See below

And life is still good in my old age. I still have three fine women in my life. I have no money worries. I give half of my income to a charitable cause. I live in a big house in a good suburb that I like. My car is virtually worthless but I am still completely happy with it. What else is there?

My ambition for the future? It is to live until I am 90. That way I will live to see my social grandchildren into their teens and later life. I would love to see what becomes of them. Three of them are already displaying unusual potential in different ways

Late Sunday update: Zoe has been very busy getting her house and yard ready for her holiday overseas so I saw her only briefly today between 6pm and 7pm. She brought me a birthday present in the form of two flannelette shirts. Her card included the handwritten words "You are very special to me", which I very much liked