I have been stretching my legs quite prodigiously over the last few days. I do quite a lot of walking anyway but the weekend past gave me a chance to hit new targets. I don't set out to break any personal best, but my choice of activities tends to dictate the mileage.

So, on Saturday I finally decided it was time to do the Nepean Riverwalk, which is a paperclip-loop involving two bridges and the slow flowing Nepean River. Many times on the train I have passed the new pedestrian bridge(which was recently completed at the northern end), a structure which emerged slowly like a metallic spiral from a vast shed on the eastern bank. I parked the car and meandered along the western side, then emerged to join the M4 motorway bridge at the other end. And so back again in mirror image.

Yesterday I went to Wat Buddharangsee at Annandale, this being the first time by myself. I inadvertently picked a day when most of the resident monks were missing and a special kind of liturgy was under way, so I was thrown somewhat. Afterwards I walked along Parramatta Rd, past many shuttered shopfronts. This was once a thriving area of restaurants, shops and a cinema, but cars and the lack of parking have pushed many businesses to the wall.

On the train home, I read that Australia has the highest percentage of casual workers per capita in the OECD. Within this group, many do not have permanent hours and so are at the mercy of supervisors or managers. This is the way of the modern economy, I am told, but what future does it offer coming generations. What chance of a full-time job and the certainty that this brings for raising a family, buying a home and so forth? If you add in the positive psychological effects of a real job with real benefits, then you might be forgiven for imagining a less-rosy future for many people. A great reckoning awaits, methinks.