What drives me mad is receiving an email on a Sunday from a job application informing me I was unsuccessful for the job. This means the computer program scanning for keywords rejected my application, it never even made it to a person. 

This clearly has no human interaction, this is an auto scan program. Human resources do not work on a Sunday, this is an office position, they are not working a continuous roster as this is a Monday to Friday job. So I need to ask, where do I learn the exact keywords the want for the job position? This isn’t something they really publish, sure you use some of the job application terms, but this alone is not enough.

I was once asked to apply for a job by a former colleague, he gave me a list of keywords to put in my application. I never ended up applying, at that time I was happy in the job I was in. Well, that changed big time, working in a state government job is full of frustrations, a lack of a career path and working with unmotivated individuals. So Monday morning I sent them a pretty irate email and they decided to review my application, I didn’t get he job but at least it made it to human eyes. 

In our family, we have a new saying, we also have a new way about going about things too. We go about doing things the right way, not the wright way. This has become a very contentious issue and we aren’t backing down on this. 

Right 

adjective

1. Morally good, justified, or acceptable.
2. True or correct as a fact.

adverb

1. To the furthest or most complete extent or degree (used for emphasis).
2. Correctly.

noun

1. That which is morally correct, just, or honourable.
2. A moral or legal entitlement to have or do something.

verb

1. Restore to a normal or upright position.
2. Restore to a normal or correct state.

exclamation

1. Used to indicate agreement or to acknowledge a statement or order.

Wright

adjective

1. Unprincipled, unjustified, morally reprehensible.
2. Facts are optional.
3. Entitlement. 

adverb

Demanding, controlling, subjection and narcissistic tendencies. 

noun

1. No honor whatsoever. 
2. A perceived moral and legal entitlement to take everything.

verb

1. Shoddy and half-arsed workmanship.

exclamation

1. It’s just a fucking holiday house. 

The modern battlefield tactic of using quad-copters to drop small bombs and grenades on troops was significantly enhanced in Ukraine. Whilst Ukrainian troops have become very efficient at dropping small ordnance on Russian trenches and into open tank hatches, this form of warfare was developed by ISIS fighters in Syria.

Yet, we have all seen the effectiveness of the Ukrainian drone army attacking Russian positions, this is daily YouTube viewing. So I was absolutely amazed when a group of Israeli soldiers all congregated in the same place to take a break allowing a Hamas drone pilot to drop an explosive device right in the middle of the group.

The Israeli Defence Force has the reputation of being the most effective and professional of all militaries. Yet, what we witnessed was nothing short of undisciplined behaviour that one would not expect from the Israeli Defence Force. Surely their soldiers would have been briefed on what to expect based on learnings in the Ukraine war where Russia is routinely attacked by drone pilots with grenades.I would bet the memo has gone out now and we will not be seeing any more of this.

Ukraine is outnumbered, out gunned and struggling with munitions. This situation clearly needs to be directed towards the Republican Party and Donald Trump supporters. One has to question Republican Party motives, they are playing straight into Russian demands. I have to question Russian influence here and the hold they have over the Republican Party.

The sad truth is Russia is gaining ground right now, the hold up of weapons delivered to Ukraine is criminal. Ukrainian lives are being lost, they are losing territory they fought for and won back in 2022. Russia is firing 10 shells to one Ukrainian shell, they have no answers, they are trying to hold ground and not lose too much territory. Ukraine is fighting a much larger army with an enemy intent on using their manpower advantage, their artillery advantage, their tank advantage and their airpower advantage.

Ukraine needs weapons and they do not need NATO constraints, Ukraine is the country invaded here, why are they the ones dealing with constraints? Russia has massed troops on the Ukraine border, intelligence was aware but were unable to do anything about it. These troops then moved over the border to attack Ukrainian positions – madness. Ukraine is attacking targets inside of Russia with Ukrainian developed weapons, but they cannot use European or US supplied weapons.

From my observations, the prevalence of yes men being offered positions due to their ability to provide unquestionable support is breathtakingly common. I have seen this situation repeat in the government service at an alarming rate.

They are not the best qualified, the best performing, the hardest working or the smartest. What I will grant them is their ability to adapt, to drop to their knees when required and offer their support unequivocally in the form of yes to any request. How they are selected is generally through a weak leader who requires a posse of people to back him up. They would not normally be selected to staff these positions in a competitive selection process. Now they owe a debt of gratitude to the person who selected them and they do as they are told and fall into line.

They will not challenge the authority of the weak leader, this is exactly why they were selected – he doesn’t want any challengers to his authority. If they have not earned this position through their own knowledge, skills and abilities then are grateful beyond belief. They will fall into line obediently and support the individual who granted them this unearned power.

So, how do you take down this group? Firstly, you do not target the leader as many would suspect. You target the weakest member of the group. They are drawn to this arrangement not because of their own strength but because of their own weakness. Firstly, the weakest member is removed from this protective group, that weakens the whole group. Then, the next weakest member is targeted, now the other members who looked to the weak leader are becoming concerned, can this group leader not protect them?

This has an effect on the group, who will be targeted next? The implied protection this group was offering is crumbling, the leader is exposed as weak, their influence diminished and the leader is becoming exposed himself. Now the remaining members are not only concerned, they are stressed and agitated, they are feeling threatened. All of a sudden, there is a revolt in the ranks, place them under pressure and see how they handle such pressure.

The results are interesting, all of a sudden this becomes fun, watch them buckled under the pressure you apply. Never lead with your biggest point, begin with a smaller issue that is actually of little relevance to you. Move to a point that is unimportant to you, argue this point with 100% energy, this is really a side issue that is unimportant to you so you actually care little anyway. Negotiate a settlement, be willing to concede points that are unimportant to you.

Make concessions to be flexible, be constructive then pull back, don’t let them settle then increase the pressure further. Vary the intensity, but under no circumstances become personal, the minute you become personal is the minute you lose. The strategy is to apply pressure, they never earned the position, so make them regret they ever joined this group because they never earned it. Ok, so they were gifted privileges, all of a sudden, these privileges hardly seem worth the minimal effort they are expelling and the stress is not worth it.

There are certain brands you feel an affiliation with, Longines is one of those brands I really like. They are a mid-range brand within the Swatch group and have a long history dating back to the 19th century. Longines was established in 1832 at Saint-Imier by Auguste Agassiz building pocket watches with crown-wheel escapements that was pretty much Swiss standard at the time. This is a Swiss watchmaker with a long heritage that was ravaged during the quartz crisis of the watch industry.

Longines produces some pretty decent heritage pieces from dive timepieces, aviation inspired watches, sports watches to dress watches. Their Flagship range is looking pretty decent too, their HydroConquest is really worth looking at. I really like their heritage reissues, from their 1940s to 1960s models, with the updated movements, they can be better than the originals. I know they sit in the Swatch mid-tier market segment, but sometimes I feel they could move to a higher level.

It annoys me a little, we had a Friday night game starting at 6:10 pm local Perth time to viewers in the Eastern states. I worked that day, left work early at 4:30 to quickly race home to grab my gear and catch the train to the ground. I was home for less than ten minutes, I had to get moving. So in the Eastern states, the match starts around 7:30 pm so people have time to get home, eat some food, a few drinks and get going. I missed the first three goals in the first quarter as I was stuck at Perth train station unable to get on a train as we were shoulder to shoulder on the platform.

After the game, all the Collingwood fans are having a meltdown over the free kick awarded to Sean Darcy in the final quarter. The AFL has come out and stated the decision was correct, so there is no need to whinge any more as the decision was correct and had been applied throughout the season on four other occasions. The questions need to be asked include how they coughed up a twenty five point lead with seven and a have minutes remaining in the match. Collingwood kicked 10.15 for the game, these are the questions Collingwood fans need to be asking, inaccuracy in front of goals costs games and cost Collingwood this match.

What we really need to look at is the free kick [mark] reversal awarded against Jye Amiss where Charlie Dean initiated contact. The contact occurred in the Fremantle forwardline and was transferred to the Collingwood forwardline where Collingwood scored a goal. Charlie Dean really played the umpire here, this should have never been awarded a free kick and should not have occurred 100 metres away from the incident. However, it occurred and Fremantle, whilst annoyed, just got on with it. So the free kick awarded against Collingwood was to the letter of the law, the spirit of the game is a silly argument and starting to sound like the England Cricket team.

Ukraine’s unique use of drones to attack tanks with a hand grenade is a winning strategy. This is a brilliant cost effective strategy to destroy Russian military hardware. My first vision of a Ukrainian hand grenade dropped through an open tank hatch was what I thought to be a one in a million shot. This is now a regular occurrence, they even land grenades through the driver’s open hatch, this generally doesn’t cause a dramatic cook-off, but it still stops the tank.

When we see a tank cook-off as the stored mutations in the turret ignite, the flying turret is an endearing visual representation of Russian aggression gone violently wrong. That is an inexcusable failure of the invading and occupying force – a genuine lack of know how. Where Russia dominates in sheer numbers of soldiers and equipment, they lack the strategic endeavor, local tactics and troop motivation for victory.

Ukraine has had to do more with less, they have been supplied with enough western weapons to not capitulate, but not enough to push for decisive victory. Fortunately, what Russia lacks in innovation and motivation, Ukraine is able to even the battle with their application of technology and sheer will to win. Ukraine is using drones for both reconnaissance and offense, they are supplied loitering munitions to take out fighting vehicles and tanks.

No navy, no problem. The fast attack craft are taking Russian naval assets out, the Russian Black Sea fleet is too scared to head out to sea as they are targeted. Now Russian commanders are learning the fleet hidden in Sebastopol harbour is not safe either. Ukraine sends the drones out, the S-400 systems light the drone up with their radar, and a missile then takes out the S-400 site – brilliant. They will be likely sending their ships back to the safe harbour of Novorossiysk, that is as long as Ukraine decides to leave them alone there.

The drones Ukraine is fighting the war with has reinvented early 21st century tactics. As the war progresses, Ukraine will search for new methodologies to mitigate their distinct battlefield disadvantages. Ukraine has developed tactics to neutralise Russian tank dominance and highlight the failures of their military doctrine. The low-cost kamikaze drones Ukraine employs to destroy Russian tanks has been highly successful, Ukrainian drone tactics will be repeated and improved upon in military colleges for decades to come.

TAG Heuer is now misaligned on online watch forums. This is misplaced, Heuer has a long history of horological excellence and innovation dating back to 1860. To be fair, this isn’t one of these amazing Heuer timepieces, this is a pretty bad example of a vintage timepiece.

The 1980s and 1990s were a rough period for TAG Heuer after the TAG Group bought into the company and rebranded the whole company. What possessed them to change the name of a significant watchmaker? I would argue arrogance mostly. Watch enthusiasts argue they don’t like the current models but respect vintage timepieces. The Heuer Memphis is an example of a dual analog/digital dial, I really can’t see the value, but I guess plenty did.

The Memphis was released in 1979 around the time the Pasadena was released and just after the Verona. What we know during that period, new models were released on a regular basis so I am guessing model runs were short in that period. The Memphis was powered by the ESA 900.231 quartz movement, the pushers were located on both lower sides of the case with the crown on the right. This unusual stretched hexagonal case was very much a design of the era – looking very aged now.

I am a big believer in on-the-job learning and the need to formalise informal learning. Without trying to sound like Donald Rumsfeld with his known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns; the need to formalise tacit learning is an important learning strategy.