Another school year begins - not for me, of course - but for the two teens housed under this leaky roof. Tom goes into Year 10 and JJ, Year 11. I have hopes that both of them will do as best as they can, understanding that this is probably the only time when a free education and no living expenses will co-exist for them.

JJ is well and truly embarked on a plan that she has devised herself, while Tom seems more amenable to staying the course until Year 12. The alternative is finding a job and I know that he now knows that the latter is quite a hard grind - five days a week for the foreseeable future. I also know that school is not everything - education happens everywhere - but the modern world seems to demand more and more specialised knowledge of the kind that happens in classrooms, laboratories and lecture theatres.

To be honest, I will happy if he is able to make it to class on time, stay in class and keep away from trouble. Is that asking too much?