You sense that today will be the start of something different. The signs look good – no burnt toast, your new coffee beans deliver a delicious complexity, and your decision to iron your underpants and shirt last night means arrival at the bus station just as your bus arrives. Your favourite upstairs seat is vacant! Can it get much better? You settle, hat and brolly resting on the vacant seat.
My gosh, things are all falling into place wonderfully. Your newspaper has a full report of your team’s success last night, they won by a point, on the siren! The front page confirms the Government’s decision to accept your Cabinet Briefing Paper. You recommended ditching those ridiculous nuclear submarines. They also agree with your recommendations about stronger resourcing of cyber-security and greater emphasis on diplomatic discourse!
The bus winds through suburbia as you surreptitiously peel and eat your breakfast banana. You imagine a parallel scenario within the tree-lined streets, a myriad families at their breakfast tables, some childish squabbles, but school departure schedules on track.
Your mood responds to the dappled sunshine coming through the trees, you sense a minty freshness in the air as you ponder the day ahead. Sitting, gently jiggled in your elevated seat, you’re distracted momentarily by the number of rooftop solar installations. Could you engineer some federal assistance against the hugely expensive battery storage packs? You note the yellow-topped wheelie bins lining the curbs, sentinel to their smaller, red-topped companions. A moment’s panic: did you remember to put your bin out this morning? Of course!
The bus pulls in. Just a five-minute walk to the revolving door, through Security – “Morning George”, into the lift and your twenty-six-second ride to the thirtieth floor. Another coffee? Why not as you greet colleagues and close your office door.
You prepare to pick up from yesterday. Your laptop’s startup throws a duck-egg blue complexion around the walls. As programs load, your mind is briefly drawn to the window, to the miles of leafy enclaves running out to the distant mountain range. Roofs are mostly hidden; the trees and general greenery dominate the vista. You are keenly aware that much of your policy work will impact the residents inside those homes and you are beholden to political masters to ensure nationally-protective securities are in place, are effective and judiciously legitimate.
But the rigours attaching to yesterday’s challenge reengage your focus. You sense success. The weeks of tangled cogitations and considerations, Pythonesque in their defying complexities are nearing resolution; solutions identified, now merely needing execution.
A sharp knock on the door. It opens. Your PA asks “Have you heard the news? Both of the candidates have been ‘taken out’. Separate events, but the Signals Directorate think they’re connected.” She senses your overriding irritation at the interruption and withdraws.
For a moment, you ponder the news. A smile acknowledges that things can only get better from here. You pick up the secured mobile “Well done, guys!” You return to the Budget Estimates.