Timber is Everywhere

Huh, I got a B+. Considering how weird that essay topic was, I think that’s a pretty good result. Well, you know what they say about getting a degree…all you need is a P. Bad attitude to have, but whatever. I was totally stuck for what to do when I was asked to take a modern innovation and apply it the the fall of a civilisation or major catastrophe, but then we all had to avoid the lounge for a day while the landlord had some quality Melbourne timber window installation done. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it (besides being annoyed because I wanted to use the room- it’s where my PS4 is), except I DID get the idea to take this and apply it to my essay.

So…the Zulu Empire. Mostly known as the Zulu Kingdom, but they conquered other nations so that’s basically an empire. They were doing great until the Anglo-Zulu War, after which point they weren’t doing great, but what would’ve happened if they had timber windows? There’s not much timber to be found in Africa, so maybe that wasn’t an option for them and that’s why their kingdom declined.

Okay, after a bit of extra research I’ve found that there’s actually loads of timber in Africa, I know not where, so that’s not a thing. I wrote that into my essay as well…and I still got a B+? Seriously, that was the crux of my entire argument. I tried to say that a lack of access to timber caused the Zulu Kingdom to rely on alternatives, and in some places they just couldn’t make nice window frames at all, and this incredible financial burden (from having to replace windows all the time) caused them to steadily fall to invading forces.

And now it turns out that Africa has loads of timber? Guess my professor did as much research as I did. Heck, the Melbourne companies doing replacement windows probably buy their timber FROM overseas.

Well, anyway…it’s a pass, and a decent grade on top of that. And also, a lesson to properly research the world’s division of lumber resources next time.

-Alphonse