Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon has passed away at age 82, as a former naval aviator and aeronautical engineer, Cernan was a space pioneer with three missions to space in a thirteen year NASA career.

Cernan’s first mission to space was on Gemini 9 in 1966 with Thomas Stafford after the original crew were killed in a jet crash. As back-up crew, Cernan was the second American astronaut to undertake a spacewalk.

On a trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, I was lucky enough to view the Mercury and Gemini capsules and you would have to seriously respect these pilots from this era, this would not be a flying experience to forget. This was serious risk they were undertaking, these spacecraft would probably not meet today’s safety standards.

Launched on the 18th of May 1969, Thomas Stafford, John Young and Eugine Cernan orbited the moon on the Apollo 10 mission with Eugine Cernan acting as the Lunar Module Pilot. This was the trial run for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first manned lunar landing on Apollo 11 on the 20th of July 1969.

The Apollo 17 mission with Cernan as the Mission Commander landed on the Taurus-Littrow valley on December 1972 spending over 22 hours on the moon’s surface with Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt. As the Apollo 18 mission was cancelled, Eugine Cernan is credited with being the last man to walk on the moon. It is incredible that in 2017, no space agency currently has the capability to get a human to the moon’s surface and return them safely to Earth. Eugene Cernan not only lived through an incredible period of history – Eugine Cernan made history.

On a trip to Singapore I spotted a TWG Tea outlet in the Marina Bay Sands plaza; the business was pumping and there was barely a free seat in the establishment. The was something familiar about TWG Tea and I wasn’t sure if I had ever seen this business before, the establishment had a degree of familiarity and I was somewhat perplexed. I was considering taking a table, but owing to the popularity, that wasn’t going to happen that day without a lengthy wait in a long line.

A couple of months later, I was wandering through the Shangri-La Plaza in Mandalayung and spotted a TWG Tea outlet and I had to step in. Unlike the Marina Bay outlet, this well-presented outlet was nearly empty. Regardless, the service was outstanding, the food was very good and their choice of iced tea was excellent. I am not a tea drinker but after sampling their choice of fine tea, I might just be a convert. Needless to say, I’m more than happy to return to the Shangri-La outlet anytime and I can’t believe there isn’t a long line assembled out front.

If you are seeking to build a retirement income to take yourself through to retirement and beyond; the decade from age 50 through to age 60 is the most important period to save. For many, the family home has been paid off, the kids have left home (well maybe) and most are still at their peak earning period based on knowledge, experience and education.

Whilst we have been told to put 10% of our pre-tax income into their retirement funds, many of us have now come to the realisation that this will be insufficient for a comfortable retirement. We have to make changes and we need to make good decisions that are both growth orientated and tax effective.

We now live in a low-growth, low-interest rate world with stalled economic activity in many major economies. Most governments lack the foresight to properly plan economic growth any further than the next election cycle and this issue has been detrimental to long-term growth prospects. The United States has a new president vowing to rebuild worn out and outdated infrastructure. Whilst this announcement in itself is a positive decision, many of us are wondering where the money will come from in an already indebted society.

But with economic activity comes opportunity; with correctly targeted spending on income producing assets the potential to purchase shares, bonds and convertible notes in infrastructure projects. No doubt complicated financial instruments are being drawn up finance such projects – we all remember the collateralised debt obligations leading into the GFC.

If bonds are being offered in infrastructure projects then they are well worth a look. Likewise, shares in engineering, construction, project management, utilities, building materials and maintenance companies are looking to leverage grown in major infrastructure projects in the next four years and beyond.

The US sharemarket has already fought back to rise above pre-2007 levels; the Australian sharemarket measured by the ASX200 is well below 2007 levels. Technically, Australia never was in recession in the aftermath of the GFC as Chinese demand and not stimulus spending ensured the economy continued along unabated. Australian GDP recorded negative growth for the quarter mostly driven by the former economic powerhouse economic decline in Western Australia.

You can pour over macro-economic statements such as balance of payment figures, CAPEX, the unemployment rate, interest rates, currency prices to seek answers. Many just look out the window to see businesses closing, friends and co-workers becoming unemployed, declining property prices based on forced sales and prices falling to base their judgement on the economy.

Blackberry is officially out of the telephone business, the Canadian phone maker stopped manufacturing handsets in 2016, so where to now? Research in Motion as a company will survive outsourcing hardware development to external partners instead concentrating on software development with an emphasis on security and applications.

Company revenue peaked in 2010 and have been in dramatic decline since then, the popularity of Samsung and Apple phones have swamped the business orientated Blackberry. The launch of the iPhone changed the dynamics of the telecommunications market with Android powered devices commanding a dominant market share. The distinctive Blackberry keypad was rendered obsolete by the touchscreen, once the popularity of the iPhone and Android took hold.

The development of apps for the Blackberry phone pretty much dried up and all but the most dedicated users wasn’t enough to arrest declining sales. Even the release of an Android powered handset wasn’t going to reverse the company’s fortune so Blackberry as we know it is no longer. I had a couple of Blackberry handsets but I along with everybody else have moved over to either an iPhone or Android powered device and Blackberry will be relegated to business school case studies.

Rottnest Island is Perth’s aquatic playground and I was lucky enough to be invited out for a couple of days on a 49 foot Riveria motor cruiser in the new year. Clearly this isn’t my motor cruiser but what a great way to spend my summer holidays.

For us south of the equator – you just can’t beat the beautiful summer days of the Christmas season. The days hit 42 degrees Celsius but we hardly knew, stepping off the back of the boat into the refreshing water provided a cool respite from the heat.

Powered by twin Caterpillar 3176 marine engines, this motor cruiser is luxury with a forward double berth, a starboard double berth with private head and shower whilst the port berth houses single bunks and a shared head and shower. An onboard desalination plant generates 100 litres of freshwater per hour so you never have to pull into a jetty to replenish water supplies, the fuel tanks hold 2000 litres so when you do pull into the fueling jetty, you will know about it though.

I couldn’t believe the community set up in the bays, sure there was plenty of boats moored in the vicinity and not only was everybody courteous to other boaties, but the respect shown was amazing. All throughout the day and evening, tenders chugged ashore delivering people to the island for their daily activities, they also took people fishing and diving with a number of boats having a small transport tender and a larger utility boat to visit the bays of the island.

The local rocklobster provide a wonderful supply of easily caught local delicacies to supplement the stores brought onboard as well as the local Dhufish, Snapper and Baldchin Groper that this wonderful island provides. I still have 12 years until retirement and I think I will be counting down every day until then.

Recently browsing through the duty-free shops at Perth International Airport, I wandered over to see their Omega wrist watch collection only to find to my utter surprise that they were running a limited Christmas special on selected Seamaster Omega Planet Ocean dive watches.

I couldn’t believe it, the top of the range Planet Ocean was now priced cheaper than the next watch down in their range, the Seamaster Diver 300 as they weren’t discounted. I have to say I was tempted, my credit card was only $100 in debit and I had no major bills pending. I see myself as not a materialistic person, I own my property outright and the property is modest.

I drive a sixteen year old Toyota RAV4 2-door that recently had the roof and side panels repainted and whilst I save for and purchase reasonably good quality clothing, I avoid over-priced designer wear instead opting for quality yet I was pretty close to having a more expensive watch than the car I drive. Had they had the style I was seeking, I may have pushed the limits of my spending limit. From my experiences being previously employed in the mining industry, it is normally the people that cannot afford the luxury items that tend to purchase them – I would fall into that bracket.

I ask myself what attracts me to quality Swiss timepieces and I’m unable to properly answer that question. So place me in front of high quality timepieces – I lose all perspective. I just love both the engineering and style of Swiss watches and see a object of beauty in an Omega, Breitling, IWC, Rado, Longines, Tag Heuer, Friedrich Constance, Jaeger Le Coulter, Rolex and Girard Perregaux.

I don’t have the funds to collect such exquisite timepieces but given the opportunity I do like to admire these from a distance. I don’t see myself as a materialistic person but the evidence would indicate otherwise. I decided not to put a sizable bill on my credit card declining this offer despite the fact that I received a reasonable tax return that I could have shifted onto my credit card to pay for this watch.

As we moved from the Padang Bai cruise ship jetty to the wall on the other side of the bay, we slowly steamed past the Odyssey submarine on the surface loading guests on-board. I thought to myself, keep an eye out underwater as I might get a chance to view it underwater – that would be cool.

I wasn’t disappointed, having the submarine cruise past was pretty cool, you could see the flash of the cameras from the portholes. Although it was a little difficult to actually see the faces of the people inside, it was pretty cool to see this submarine glide past – this really made for a nice dive.

Padang Bai on Bali’s west coast is the stepping point for the ferry to the three Gili islands of Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air west of the island of Lombok. For me, Padang Bai is a bit of a run down village with most people here for the ferry, still, it is worth a look for a day or two for some different dives in Bali.

Departing from Manila International Airport is a whole lot easier now. What was once an experience that potentially deterred you ever wanting to return to the country has transformed into a fairly slick operation these days – it was not before time. The construction of the new terminal allows a fluid movement of passengers with minimal disruption, the long lines where you thought you might miss your flight have been replaced by free-flowing check-in desks. 

Moving through immigration is painless, your departure tax is now pre-paid so that bottleneck has been removed and passenger scanning in certainly more efficient than Unites States airports. Being a reasonably frequent traveler to not only the Philippines and South-East Asia, but also travelling through European and American airports, you develop a feel for a well organised and managed operation. Manila International Airport has vastly improved from what it used to be.

I was midway through a dive at Eva’s Point at Sipalay in the Philippines just hovering on the sloping wall and just about to head over to the vertical drop-off, I was pretty relaxed. The dive guide’s frantic rapping of his stainless steel spike against his tank drew me from my hypnotic state to look up and over in his direction when it dawned on me why he was trying to get my attention.

 

Three triggerfish had made their move towards me with the closest about a metre from my head. Had I been aware, I would have seen them all charge me at once and I would have had time to get in the defensive position using my fins as a decoy. As they tend to attack your fins especially when mounting a rear attack, the first you know of their presence is them biting your fins.

A frontal assault is a different battle when your head is exposed, the powerful jaws of the triggerfish allows them to bite chunks of coral off with ease – this is not what I want biting into my head. My first experience with a triggerfish was in Papua New Guinea about 20 years ago when one attacked the head of a Japanese diver, he lost huge chunks from his head – it was not a pretty sight.

I have been involved in a dual triggerfish duel about 3 or 4 years back, having to fend off two at once whilst maintaining my decompression ceiling. This was an experience I was not keen to repeat; now three of them in a group was looking a real task. My first movement was to throw a right hook, this missed wildly but bought me a little time. As I was within reasonable distance from the group, I was able to make my way over to the others and with weight of numbers the triggerfish weren’t going to take this any further.

The little triggerfish didn’t concern me too much, it was the medium sized triggerfish that was the first one to lunge at me and get things rolling. I have successfully fought off triggerfish of that size before, it takes a battle but you can get out of their territory reasonably unscathed. It was the large triggerfish that scared me the most, this thing was massive and powerfully built. This was going to take some work to defeat, I wouldn’t want to endure an attack from this big fella as a one-on-one let alone working together with the other two.

Much to my delight they didn’t pursue me into the group, all of a sudden they were outnumbered and just hung back and watched for a while before leaving the group alone. Later on the boat, the old German lady was laughing and saying I normally look so calm underwater, this wasn’t the case, yet I wasn’t worried – I know the damage these bastards can inflict.

Applying for an MBA normally sees a number of high flying candidates coming from senior management roles, mid-level managers, finance and consulting. But does this really represent the full spectrum of MBA applicants? I don’t think so. Certainly the senior managers, finance specialists and consultants would be prime candidates for executive MBA programs but what about the majority of applicants?

I saw a promotional slide where the MBA graduate reflected on his trade background and I thought that tradespeople are really under-represented in MBA programs. For my way of thinking, tradespeople are excellent candidates with their technical knowledge, project skills, diagnostic and troubleshooting abilities, work ethic and ability to work under pressure. Trades related candidates are very pragmatic, engineering trades work in a systematic manner to problem-solve in a results driven methodology.

Even more so, candidates from technical trades make ideal mid-level managers owing to their extensive operational experience once they have gained experience from leading-hand, foreman and superintendent roles. From an operational perspective, technical tradespeople know the business from a bottom-up viewpoint. All technical tradespeople need to do is learn the language of business and become more conceptual in their thinking. Such candidates need to learn the art of leadership to get the job done through the efforts of the team – it isn’t that much of a step up.