Tis the season of anointing our eminent persons.

Auckland's Watercare Services has taken the accountants' prize for the top public sector annual report.

The Watercare award reminds me to try to find out what is going on in the waste and water industry . I understand that Watercare now feels big enough and strong enough (and presumably well enough connected) to weaken Water New Zealand, extending to limiting participation at the organisation's annual conference that may have affected even some of its consultants.

There may be a simple explanation, but I hope it is not just the monster enjoying flexing its muscles.

A couple of weeks ago I enjoyed the DomPost's Wellingtonian of the year dinner. I was mystified by the judge's decisions in some categories (and in previous years as recorded in the programme). Odd that Lloyd Morrison does not feature, but even more odd are some of the names that do.

On Wednesday I enjoyed the engineers' dinner. They are different from lawyers and accountants. To me the projects that made the finals were fascinating, but there were no detailed photographs or videos, and no explanations of the novel or outstanding elements. But much more memorable to me were the genetics on display.

Maybe the  influx of young Asian engineers now underway will change things, but from my observation at the dinner,  if your kids are short, fat, female and not red-headed, you might tell them the odds are against becoming top engineers.

I'm a little above average height for a male, but I was one of the shortest men in the banquet hall. The room was full of tall to really tall men, few fat. And the recipients of the individual awards seemed to be at least half gingas, or at least auburn. 

Fertile ground for some doctoral research, and then of course Human Rights Commission intervention.  Of course the explanation could be that engineering businesses send not their top people to these affairs, but those they can best spare for the evening. But that leaves the same problem. Why are they all tall.