Vale John Armstrong

See: Vale John Armstrong – Beef Central

See also: Pioneering northern cattle veterinarian John Armstrong passes away | Queensland Country Life | QLD

Featured Image: Acknowledge Queensland Country Life Bing News

Another ‘favourite’ professional colleague has passed on to greater pastures. I have made a persistently good habit of recording for posterity. I did not know John very well but retain the fondest memories from frequent interphase at AVA Annual Veterinary Conferences in the late 1960s through to the 1980s. He never changed and stories of his exploits continued to thrill, entertain, inspire and delight. As a newly inducted ‘£10 POM’ I was fascinated by the dialogue. I recall John telling me and fellow greenhorn Richard Greenwood that he had difficulty in attending a ‘conference in the South’ because of “24 inches of rain in 24 hours”. He was from FNQ after all! The career of John Armstrong was high on my ‘I wish list’ category. Jon Condon has admirably captured his calling.

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The Trammels of Quotidian Life

Featured Image: J R G Morgan & W P Howey contemplate ‘The Trammels of Quotidian Life’ in the coffee cafe annex to the Royal Hotel in Scone circa 2016

Of course I’ve borrowed the title line. Write what you read? I subscribe to that. I apply the five P’s to my writing; plunder, plagiarize, pilfer and purloin where possible. I’d never have thought of the heading myself. If I had I’d have been Aldous Huxley in his ‘Brave New World’. How prescient was he? He only had the timelines wrong. It’s here already. Following a frantic early pace ABC Radio 702 hosts Adam Spencer and Richard Glover’s dry July has settled into a more familiar staid rhythm and steady routine. They also promote a segment called self-improvement Wednesday. Could that be the nub of an idea? There are however some piquant interludes during a quiet time.

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