After two months in New Zealand (and an inadvertent week in Australia), I’m back in Austin. Just in time to watch my home town break the previous record of 69 days above 100F (set in 1925). We will be way past that mark this year – the forecast calls for 110F on Saturday. But, as all of my friends here remind me, I am not allowed to complain (especially after emailing them pictures of snow last month). So I won’t.

I’ve always been suspicious when one’s ideology matches perfectly with one’s self interest. Do you really think in such a case that this ideology won out fairly in the great battle of ideas? More likely there was no battle at all. I have no respect for the Me Party, with their shouts of my rights and your responsibilities. So when I see someone promoting responsibility and fairness over self-interest, I take notice of such an increasingly rare event. Thus, with his recent New York Times editorial, I have one more reason to respect Warren Buffett.

It is one week before I head back to Austin after a two-month stay in New Zealand. While Texas is experiencing record heat and drought, Christchurch is having its second snow day this winter. Heavy snow falls here only about once every 10 years, so to have two big snow days three weeks apart is quite unusual. The University of Canterbury is closed today, but hopefully will be back to normal before my class on Wednesday. I expect major shock when I get off the plane in seven days.