Here's Why

Nobody returns from Narrabri

I graduated from my Applied Physics degree with Computing Science sub-major, and applied for a job as a scientific programmer with the Ionospheric Prediction Service in Chatswood.

I knew about the 11 year sunspot cyle, so they hired me as a solar astronomer instead, as a replacement for the incumbent astronomer who was tired of the simple life in the outback. I gave up on my patent office job interview, and accepted the post. I had two weeks to move there from Sydney.

They observe the sun from the Culgoora Observatory outside of Narrabri, and make predictions about what the sunspots will do, and how they will effect the ionosphere and its ability to reflect radio waves back to Earth, and hard radiation that will be experienced by satellites and astronauts during solar storms.

<	In exile at the Culgoora Solar Observatory in driest Outback Australia during my short sojourn as an astronomer. Narrabri - you'll never leave

Narrabri is an interesting town to move to for a city boy. One main street, with seven pubs and two drive through bottle shops, and one RSL club. Two video hire libraries, no theatres or other eentertainment. No public transport, just a plane trip to Sydney or Tamworth. I couldn't afford a car.

I worked in Narrabri for nine months in 1992. I was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) by Professor Denis Wakefield there, and then months later, my back was permanently injured while following instructions from the supervisor at the IPS Culgoora Solar Observatory. Heavy lifting isn't usually in the job description of an astronomer.

I made this observation of a solar storm on the new Spectrograph in 1992:

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), Ross River Fever virus, and Q-fever virus are all common diseases in Narrabri in far north-western New South Wales, Australia. They can all cause ME. They also spray the cotton fields with pesticides that attack the cholinergic systems that underpin the gastrointestinal and neurological chemistry in the human body.

The fact that I was diagnosed with ME and suffered a life-changing injury within months, while working at the same dangerous remote locale may be more than coincidence.

I also attended a seafood feast shortly after my back was injured, and its possible that the "CFS flare-up" I suffered afterwards was actually Ciguatera poisoning, given my reactions to the fish neurotoxin in later years.

I'm now doomed to deal with the bureacrats at Comcare whenever I need ongoing physiotherapy or ergonomic furniture to support my back injury. No suggestion of resonsibility for the ME, as it was a controversial diagnosis in 1992, even if its accepted now. I have enough trouble justifying the purchase of a lumbar back cushion for a lumbar back injury, and no hope of ergonomic furniture.

My mistake was to be disabled by an injury while the IPS observatory was in the hands of The Department of Administrative Services (run by Jim Hacker in Yes Minister). The DAS had incestuous relations with Comcare, so took it as their duty to stop any and all payments being approved. I was never able to work as an astronomer again. My career as a physicist ended barely a year after I graduated.

About the author: Ian Woolf lives in Sydney, has a degree in Applied Science, worked as a solar astronomer, software engineer, systems programmer, webmaster, research assistant, Cisco CCNA tutor, Physics laboratory demonstrator, Computational Theory lecturer, and subject coordinator; while changing his career to freelance writing and broadcasting. Listen to Ian on the Diffusion radio science show on radio 2SER 107.3FM Monday at 6:30pm in Sydney or streaming audio on www.2ser.com, or listen to the Diffusion podcasts. You should follow me on twitter, here

Posted by iwoolf at April 2, 2004 11:58 AM | TrackBack