I am finally getting a half decent return on my retirement funds with now a decade to run before I reach the age I can retire from work forever. In Australia, the pension age is 67, that is the age you can receive a government pension if you are unable to self fund your retirement.

For someone like me, I have saved over and above the minimum requirements and I am allowed access to my funds at age 60. Now that I have resigned from that awful high fee National Mutual fund that converted to AXA and finally purchased by AMP. The Royal Commission into banking including wealth management has uncovered systematic rorting of retirement savings in the high-fee managed funds. I rolled the meager savings I had in private superannuation into Australian Super, the well managed industry superannuation fund.

I purchased myself one of the newer style Swiss Army Knife on a trip overseas, it went with me everywhere in my daypack. I was really happy with my purchase, I thought the classic style were actually a little small, this is an excellent size.

These days, the Swiss Army Knife has plenty of options and designs, for €32 I was extremely happy to purchase what I would consider a base model with a whole bunch of implements I won’t use. I don’t need a saw, magnifying glass or scissors; I don’t want a cumbersome knife that takes up space. The Picknicker is a great model, the knife is larger than the classic style Swiss Army Knife that comes complete with a blade, bottle opener, can opener, spike and all important corkscrew. The tweezers and toothpick don’t take up any extra space and are welcome additions.

Perth’s favourite holiday destination, Rottnest Island is a pretty good place for families couples and singles. The laid back approach is what Rottnest Island is all about, this island is not only just offering relaxation; this is good wholesome fun for everyone to enjoy.

The main settlement is Thompson Bay with the bulk of the infrastructure and ferry jetty strategically located. I used to travel to Rottnest Island nearly every weekend in summer and pretty frequently over winter for scuba diving rarely setting foot on the island. These days it is more sightseeing and less diving; a new but interesting concept for me.

Of the many bays of Rottnest Island, Thompson Bay by virtue of not only location is the most popular; Thompson Bay has plenty in the way of activities and scenery to keep people interested. Whilst pretty shallow, a number of scuba diving opportunities exist and snorkeling is very popular along with a glass bottom boat offering scenic tours for those not willing to get wet.

During the summer holidays, the moorings in Thompson Bay are busy. They are owned by individuals but can be used by other registered vessels if the owner is not using them. If the owner arrives, the boat moored has to get off for the registered owner so everyone gets a fair go. The mooring maintenance costs are naturally met by the owner but nobody minds a boat hooking up if they are not around.

I’m not an American and I don’t live in the United States, I do however have access to US news services such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times so I get plenty of exposure to Donald Trump news.

I am neither a fan of Trump nor a hater of Trump, I think I might be part of a small group of people who are decidedly neutral. I do want Trump to succeed, a strong United States is a positive influence for the western world so I don’t want his government to fail.

Is he going to drain the swamp? No, that’s highly unlikely. Is he articulate and a strong public speaker? Nope, he is not and his mannerisms do annoy me. Is Trump stupid? I don’t believe so, he did graduate from Wharton Business School after all and I believe his billionaire status allows him to hire some pretty decent advisers.

He is a narcissist, that is for sure, it would be difficult to defend that claim. But since we, and supposedly Trump himself knows it, how can these narcissistic traits be harnessed for positive outcomes?

Trump engages in name calling and bullying behavior so what do his opponents do? They, like a bunch of dumbarses then engage Trump in name calling and insults and really become ineffective as an opposition. As an outsider looking in, he really makes them look stupid and he then controls the narrative.

When his political opponents recruit a bunch of celebrity spokespeople to engage in anti-Trump rhetoric, they come off looking like amateurs. Robert De Niro is a fantastic actor, no doubt about that. But when De Niro is on camera screaming “Fuck Trump, Fuck Trump” he is not doing anyone’s cause any favours, he just comes across as an idiot.

I am no follower of this celebrity cult that has permeated throughout American popular culture, I won’t be deriving political views from the likes of Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, P!nk or even Bruce Springsteen. I place as much credibility in their endorsement as I would for Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie or those Kardashian sisters that I would be unable to name.

If the Democrats want to beat this guy then they shouldn’t be recruiting a whole cohort of public figures so removed from mainstream America that they lose all credibility. I went to a P!nk concert at the Perth Arena in 2018 and Alecia banged on about Trump during her excellent show.

But guess what, neither myself nor anyone else at her concert is eligible to vote in US elections so that was a pointless exercise. If she had a project or cause such as saving the Sumatran tiger and had facilities to accept donations along with donating a portion of the concert taking towards the cause.

Then I would be interested in donating. But when her support is limited to banging on about Trump at a concert, I not only turn off but I feel more inclined to support Trump and I don’t even especially like the guy.

This is just a feel good moment for her that is largely ineffective and could even increase support for Trump in some instances – who would have guessed. There is no need to rattle on about his hair or skin colour, that achieves nothing. If you want to oppose the government of Donald Trump, stick to facts and policy – that generally works.

The major business schools are teaching entrepreneurship as a staple of contemporary business education. Some may question if entrepreneurship can be taught, the initial idea might not be able to be taught; that is inspiration, but the process to develop the idea is what is important.

It is argued plenty of young people naturally possess a natural entrepreneurial spirit; many have great ideas, but what they don’t possess is the technical skills to design a new product, process or service, build a business plan to finance and market their idea. In short, the idea is the easy part – making an idea commercially viable is the challenge and that is where networks count.

A number of major entrepreneurial business were founded on shoe-string budgets. These high profile businesses began in garages and dorm rooms from Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founding Apple Inc in Steve Jobs parent’s garage in 1976 to Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft in 1975 only a year earlier.

Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin, both PhD students at Stanford University began Google as a research project in 1995; Mark Zuckerburg and Eduardo Saverin began Facebook in Harvard dorm rooms in 2004, but entrepreneurship is not limited to tech start-ups but these businesses are the most conspicuous in the new economy.

Business schools are creating venture labs where projects are developed and budding entrepreneurs are mentored by academic staff and input is provided peers. Industry experts may be brought in to provide technical advice and support; presentations made to angel investors, venture capitalists, bankers or grants officers to finance new ideas.

Business schools are positioned at the forefront of entrepreneurship; I fully believe entrepreneurship should be taught and supported at business schools bringing great ideas to fruition. People have great business ideas but so many start-up businesses fail in the first two years, it is great to see viable business ideas expand and offer employment opportunities to the population.

I love writing blog posts, but this is a means to an end. I first became interested in blogging reading newsprint such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. In the op-ed I would see this particular writer could be found on this blog and so on.

I would love to engage in more creative writing and I am willing to take some training and read text on strategies and styles. Wordsmithing is interesting and challenging, creative writing is appealing, creating a story from personal experiences and stories recited from contemporaries. I see some bachelor of arts courses are offering creative writing options, this is really interesting to me.

Now I need to just find the time, make the effort and find an online course that meets my needs, alternately, I would also love to attend a class so I can create a personal style, interact with students, read and critique their work. Maybe I will start with some short creative writing classes and move to something more significant in the future.

What a great place Marina Bay is, located between the financial district, Boat Quay and the Marina Bay Sands on the opposing bank, Marina Bay is central to the heart of the Singapore CBD and a great place to hang day or night.

Gardens by the Bay sits just behind the Marina Bay Sands and the upmarket shopping complex attached to the hotel, the air-conditioning provides a welcome relief from the tropical humidity, it’s good to allow the air-conditioning to blow some sweat off. During the day there was plenty going on, yachts were sailing around the widest section of the waterway. Although the bay is a little small for any meaningful racing, the bay acts as a great viewing platform.

The Merlion sitting at the mouth of the Singapore River is the photo opportunity all visitors seek to be captured as part of this iconic scene. On the banks of the Singapore River are Boat Quay and a little further up is Clarke Quay. The entertainment precincts are almost deserted during the day but come alive during the evening. With the famed Singaporean law and order, you have no concerns regarding safety in regards to robbery, assault or violence. When I’m in Singapore, I’m happy to head out to Marina Bay for the day, this is a great place to hang.

My career went backwards once we, a state government organisation (who remains nameless) were investigated by the CCC, that is the Corruption and Crime Commission for misconduct.

Now I don’t know the results of the investigation or the recommended course of action, only the person who made the report is notified. Nonetheless, I was the one who made the discovery and began looking into this and notified my work colleagues. After we put our heads together and worked out what was going on, all hell erupted as they were losing overtime payments whilst others who had not done the overtime were paid handsomely. A collaborative approach to leadership and problem-solving is considered textbook after all.

I made sure I informed everyone on an individual basis as to what was occurring and invited them to actually read the full timetable so they could see for themselves what was occurring. As a collective group, we have both a diverse range of views and high intelligence – one would argue higher than those calling the shots.People were both shocked and angered, the details were right in front of them, they just needed to be shown the details. This groundswell grew and a meeting was called where I believe it got very heated, I heard about it the next day but it solved nothing.

I didn’t attend this meeting as I knew this would result in nothing, there would be no changes and they would roll merrily along as they had been doing previously. From this meeting I believe began the genesis of the anonymous CCC report, someone wasn’t happy about what they had just learnt and sought to do something about it – that’s not difficult to deduct.

I don’t know the exact details or when the report was made, I tend to believe it occurred not long after this meeting once the details had become known to all. Ok, so this doesn’t implicate me at all, in fact, whilst it doesn’t exonerate me, it certainly brings into doubt their claims that I was the one who made the report.

So I was dragged into the office for bullying, threatening and abusive type behavior – I was yelled at, threatened and abused. This was later denied, but if it didn’t occur one has to ask, how do I, a person held deliberately out of the loop know about this actual report? So whilst I have lost all opportunity for advancement at my current employer, I know I could at least keep them under pressure and keep them accountable. I have frequently asked these people to “show me your proof” and I am yet to receive a satisfactory answer.

The now legendary German luxury fashion and style empire was founded by Hugo Ferdinand Boss at Metzingen near Stuttgart in 1924. His first business failed in 1931 due to the crushing economic conditions imposed on Germany following the loss of the first world war. After settling debts with creditors, Hugo was left with six sewing machines finding success after joining the Nazi party. Hugo was appointed official supplier of uniforms to the SA and SS guards of Nazi Germany.

Although Hugo was heavily fined for his Nazi party support in the World War II aftermath; his company survived transitioning into a suit making business. Hugo died in 1948 before being unable to realise the vision of the fashion business he created in the post war era. In the aftermath of the destruction of the second world war, the male fashion industry was rejuvenated with Hugo Boss leading the charge.

The 1960’s and 1970’s saw Hugo Boss suits setting the benchmark for style and quality. The Hugo Boss brand was transformed into an international fashion powerhouse taking a focused leadership position in men’s clothing, fragrances, footwear and accessories. The Hugo Boss brand of today maintains its leadership position dominating high end retailing built on the foundations of style and quality.

Living in Perth, we grow up around the beach and although I am no expert on the surf lifestyle we have an issue with people getting caught in rips and I guess I have an obligation to warn beach goers on the dangers of getting caught in rips.

Waves hit the beach with a large water deposited on the shore, that water has to go somewhere and the is back out to the ocean. That water rushing back out carves channels into the sand creating a path for the water to flow. The channel is relatively deeper water than the rest of the shore where the waves generally don’t break in that area. When you are looking you will see a flow of water back out, this may be darker in colour, may be turbulent and may have weed or other contaminants flowing back out to sea.

So what do you do if you are caught in a rip? Well, firstly you don’t try to swim against the rip as this will cause fatigue and severe risk of drowning. I would recommend floating with the surf, sure you get dragged out to sea but if you conserve energy then you will move out of the area and can allow the waves to hopefully push you back to shore. You can’t swim against a rip, no one can so you are really left with little choice except to maintain buoyancy until you are dragged out of the channel and then work out what to do after that.