One of the nation’s top private girls school wrote to me a week back about my 12 year old daughter.

The letter was addressed to “Hi Robert” and signed by someone called “Senior Absences”.

When the Nats chose Todd Muller as leader I was stunned. There’s no precedent in our two Party history for electing someone so obscure.

After six years in Parliament he’d made no mark while his pre-Parliament history was to say the least ordinary, namely a mid-level manager in a large corporation.

The Herald’s weekly columnist Matt Heath wrote on Monday, “…me and a local mate pumped a lot into the local economy.”

Me nearly had a heart attack reading that. It’s unbelievable.

Being that rarity, namely a politician (former) who’d actually started and managed a business, I was disappointed to read Stephen Joyce’s criticism of the government for not trying to save the Tiwai Smelter.

A week ago, in the office at day’s end over drinks, Sam, one of our key chaps, mentioned he’d not renewed his Dominion Post subscription. I expressed alarm saying he needed to be au fait with what’s happening in a city we have such a large investment in.