So a trend I am seeing is the self-designated superior management term being thrown around by the incoming Chinese management at the mine I was working. Nothing could be further from the truth; inferior management, that is a more accurate term. I have never seen a major project unravel so quickly. This is by far, the worst management team I have ever seen in my life and I thought I saw dummies first hand in the government.

Their sole purpose is to get rid of the expat management team and replace them with mostly low paid and sub-standard Chinese workers. This 10 year old project was sold just over a year ago to Chinese interests who pretty much kept the workforce intact. Then, they decided to unload the very expats that made the 2.63 billion US dollar purchase price possible. The project is already unraveling, their poor decision-making is amazing to watch, they work to no plan let alone a strategic plan, they change their mind frequently and nobody, I mean nobody knows what is going on.

I sent a personal email to a former work colleague based on a discussion we had on the final day of my job. I explained that I respected his contribution, he had put in so much unpaid work for the strategic business unit to make it work.

My work email at my new job lit up, apparently he printed this email out and placed it on the lunch table for all to read. Based on the responses I received there was some anger attached but I actually care not even a bit. From what I was told, it was the same blow-hards, workplace bullies, non-performers, social climbers and yes men. They are not the sole reason that toxic workplace exists as it is a series of complicated social interactions but it forms a large part of the issue.

It is kind of fun to stir these morons up from my new job, what’s even better is I have been granted two years leave without pay so I can return at any time. Because of their embedded government mentality, they are angry, nasty and unable to leave this toxic workplace they created. So now I know he is printing out private correspondence I now have the ability to write with a little freedom and be a little poignant with my prose. I never mention names, they all think they all think it is them so I get some laughs.

The blow-hards think I don’t know it is being printed out and they all repeat parrot style their dislike of anyone who has the ability to break out of this cycle of bullying and intimidation. I’m out of this horrible workplace full of professional YouTube viewers, work shirkers and opinionated loud mouths. They have been employed way too long in the sheltered workshop of the government and adapted low productivity practices.

A large contingent watch YouTube videos all day in full view if everyone in the open plan office, there is no accountability and although everyone knows what is going on, there are no consequences for their actions. A large contingent have never held a job in private enterprise, some for just a brief period so they have never been under pressure to perform in free markets. I made sure I never adapted the government work ethic, I always kept my options open, for me, it was a seamless transition back to private enterprise.

Having grown up in Perth, my only experiences with snow involved throwing open the refrigerator door and peering into the freezer. Stage 2, flying over the Rocky Mountains from New York to Vancouver saw a positive sighting from a airplane window at 30,000 feet and then saw snow again over the Blue Mountains when flying from Sydney to Perth 4 weeks later.

That was until I headed up to the Jung Frau in Switzerland on the rack and pinion train, I walked out onto the snow from the station, slipped over and ended up with a wet backside. This was not the first experience I had envisioned, but your pants dry soon enough and you get on with it – this was an excellent day out.

Founded in 1933 by Italian Francesco Illy, this dark roast coffee is a favourite of mine since first introduced in Turkey by Germans, illy coffee is difficult for me to source in cafes in Perth, this is not like Italy or Germany where I can walking into a cafe at random for a illy coffee. illy produces only one blend made from Arabica beans from different parts of the world. This blend is available in three varieties – decaffeinated, normal roast and dark roast. As a matter of course, illy coffee has been steadfast in its adherence to the highest quality standards.

Coffee experts from the company visit different parts of the world to personally select the best Arabica varieties and prepare the unique illy blend. The processing of beans is done under highly controlled conditions. In the 1980s, illy coffee stopped buying green coffee from global commodity markets. The company buys directly from the producers and has exclusive deals for Arabica coffee from Brazil, Colombia, India, Africa and other countries in Central America.

This practice brings two advantages – firstly, 100 percent assurance on quality and secondly, the cost benefits. Ground illy coffee is pressurised using insert gas instead of air. In fact, the technology of using inert gas in an automatic coffee machine was perfected and implemented for the first time by Francesco Illy. The technology he used was the predecessor of the modern espresso machines. In order to preserve the precise flavours of each type of coffee, illy coffee company uses steel canisters are used for packaging.

So, I stacked my mountain bike in the Democratic Republic of Congo and snapped the rotator ball from my right arm, there was no choice, I needed surgery.

My employer was willing to fly me home to Perth from South Africa, that wasn’t a great option from my perspective so I declined. The public hospital system in South Africa is a little iffy according to all reports, the private sector is apparently world class. So, with my company based private sector insurance, I headed off to a private hospital in Sandton and I can attest, it was a world class facility. After my initial examination, then waiting for the insurance claim, I was wheeled straight into surgery.

After the insurance claim cleared, the surgeon walked back into his office in his scrubs and it was on. They wheeled me into surgery within an hour of the claim and it was on, even better, I was given a private room as I came from the Congo and they were worried about everything from ebola and malaria to hepatitis. So I came around and receiving a little lip from my nurses, I had a morphine drip and wasn’t using it, they would come in the room, push the plunger repeatedly and then tell me all about it. That was ok,  I didn’t need it but I appreciated their concern.

So recovery was interesting, I had to wait to be discharged from the hospital, that took way longer than I requested and I missed my return flight to the Congo. I was put up in a very nice hotel in Sandton, the hotel where the senior managers stay, that made recovery a little easier. It is interesting when even the South Africans refer to the Congo as the jungle, I was enjoying my time even if mountain biking was no longer an option for the next few months. But hey, it got me a better hospital room and hotel room so no complaints.

When you travel through most European countries, well Western European countries at least, I am amazed at the courtesy shown by both motorists and bike riders to pedestrians at crosswalks.

It took me nearly two weeks to get used to, when you come to a crosswalk all traffic stops. Even if the crosswalk light is just turning green and you are not at the crosswalk yet, motorists still wait. I would come to a crosswalk and hesitate because I wasn’t sure if the motorist would stop. After a while, I finally became confident enough to step out before I had seen the vehicle pull to a halt. After following the lead of other pedestrians I would hesitantly step onto the road. No vehicles tried to sneak through and wiz past you. Even push bike riders would stop, it was fantastic and totally different attitude to pedestrians to what I am used to.

I already had to claim missing points from my Perth to Johannesburg flight, now I have more air miles to claim – this will be an issue. The easiest way to go about this is to register your frequent flyer program as you book the the flight, I missed that opportunity as I had no idea of my route. Next best option is to enter your frequent flyer number in at the check-in counter but that was way above the ability of the check-in staff. Easy isn’t it, you would think so – but it isn’t really.

Next option is to follow up when I am home but since I have limited time on break I don’t want to blow needless time following these air miles up. My final option is to delegate this task to the labour hire company who employs me, this stuff-up is their making so they need to make this right. We shouldn’t be in this situation in the first place; however, it is what it is so we need to work towards a solution.

To be honest, I don’t have much confidence in these guys so I see this being harder than it should. But, the mine site where I am employed through this labour hire company is intent on keeping these guys accountable. Their contract is in danger, the mining company looks after their direct employees and contract staff as if they are employees. This isn’t the first time this has happened so they will be looking to redeem themselves so they can begin with redeeming my air miles – they have plenty of kissing up to do.

For some inexplicable reason, I have collected a number of 2006 chardonnay from local producers, whilst a couple had moved past their best drinking, this fine example of an aged chardonnay is Lamont from Perth’s Swan Valley. This one we enjoyed in the back garden over a barbecue on a hot day. You could argue that a summer style white wine would or should be a sauvignon blanc or a semillon/sauvignon blanc or sauvignon blanc/semillon blend.

Fortunately, this isn’t the first and only wine of the afternoon, there are a number of us at the lunch drinking wine so you really only get a glass out of each bottle, maybe two if you are lucky but you always show up for family with a decent drop. Sure we might get into a little bit of a pissing competition trying to out do each other – there can be no losers here.

According to the tasting notes, they describe this chardonnay as well made, with positive fruit and oak contributions; the origin of the grapes is not shown and not easy to recognise – perhaps no bad thing. But we know Lamont is a Swan Valley producer, so they don’t need to list the vineyard on the bottle.

This chardonnay has a nose of toasty vanillin oak indicating this was matured in French oak with a tightly structured drink with tight acidity with the tasting notes identifying cream stone fruit. I really like Lamont chardonnay as this is an old style chardonnay utilising the malolactic process to produce that buttery taste – I love it.

I love to see the inland waterways of Germany used for transporting general cargo. In such a technological advanced country such as Germany, you can bet they have assessed multiple criteria to make a judgement on the economic viability of river transport – you can guarantee that.

Filling the roads full of trucks is an issue, the cost and usage of fuel, congestion, inefficient usage of resources and the potential for accidents with vehicles. The advantages of riverships to transport general goods draws its advantages from logistics principles of bulk cargo, efficient dispatch and centralised centres.

I love seeing the riverships operating on the Rhine, this is a beautiful river that is utilised in an efficient manner transporting not only cargo but people too. The banks of the Rhine are home to villages, vineyards and castles among other attractions. It would be a pretty good job working these riverships up and down the Rhine for a living.

Audemars Piguet is synonymous with quality horological excellence; since its 1972 release, the Royal Oak has been a highly sought after timepiece. What is certainly encouraging for independent brands, Audemars Piguet remains a private company with the founding family retaining a controlling interest in the business – a great outcome.

The Royal Oak is distinctive, there is no denying that, the Royal Oak was the first steel luxury watch nicknamed the jumbo due to its 39 mm diameter, considered large at the time. The design was ground breaking, I am looking at the Royal Oak from a historical perspective being three years old when the Royal Oak was released. The design was futuristic from an early 1970s perspective, Audemars Piguet may not have known it at the time, but they produced a cult classic.

The octagonal bezel with exposed mounting screws is certainly an acquired taste, for some it may resemble a stop sign on your wrist. The Royal Oak was allegedly inspired by a diver’s helmet retaining a space age utilitarian design resembling the space race and subsequent moon landings. The Royal Oak was also the first of the luxury watches within the sports watch category based on stainless steel and not precious metals as a more industrial design over luxury.

Whilst I just don’t get it, what I will concede is the Royal Oak is highly distinguishable; with so many identical designs abounding, the Royal Oak is an iconic design that remains in high demand by collectors and enthusiasts. This timepiece may have been copied by many; however, this is an original design that retains its originality and industrial design inspiration with others trying to cash in on its success.