I find the Tissot Visodate an excellent vintage example of revisiting a classic watch style. The Visodate has an excellent vertical brushed dial, The text on the dial is minimal, this is well done and the use of the old Tissot logo is a nice touch, Tissot has a pretty decent catalog of vintage timepieces to draw upon.

The Visodate is a 1970s vintage inspired timepiece that was upgraded with sapphire crystal and ETA 2836-2 automatic movement. Whilst the latest versions feature the Powermatic 80, I like the ETA powered version better. There has been online discussion that the Powermatic 80 is difficult to regulate with watchmakers not all that happy to repair the movement. The base ETA movement works wonders, the styling is brilliant 70s, this is a popular style reinvention, I am glad my father is wearing one around. The case and dial aresimple yet elegant, the day/date function does not overpower the dial and the small index markers do not clutter the dial with the cathedral hands.

The H-50 is an interesting movement for me. I wanted a Hamilton, a field watch and a hand-wound movement, so the Hamilton Field Mechanical was an easy choice for me. I also wanted a NATO strap for a watch and the Field Mechanical came with a NATO strap so the choice was easy.

The H-50 is an ETA C07.701, I am trying to work out if there are any differences between a standard ETA movement and the Hamilton version. As Hamilton is a Swatch Group brand, ETA is a movement manufacturer within the Swatch Group, so it is an in-house movement [of sorts]. When I purchased my Hamilton Field Mechanical, a very large factor in the purchase was the hand-wound movement.

The H-50 runs at 21,600 vph [3 Hz] and has an 80 hour power reserve and has 17 jewels. I really like the no-date version, clean dial and I can never read the date anyway. The H-50 is a workhorse type movement, not fancy by any measure, there is no finishing as this is a) a field watch and b) there is no display caseback. The advantage of a hand-wound movement is a thinner movement than a similar sized [diameter] automatic movement, this offers designers a thinner case.

So I needed to look deeper into the ETA C07.701, this is built on the framework of the ETA 2801-2, this base ETA movement had a frequency of 28,800 vph [4 Hz] and a power reserve of 42 hours. This is a hand-would three hand movement with no date, one could argue a date is important in a military watch, one could be on patrol for a number of days [or weeks], so tracking dates could be important.

After sailing at Royal Perth Yacht Club for many years, I finally decided to become a member, I had been using their facilities pretty much free of charge and I felt a little uneasy about this. As I am not a boat owner, getting full membership was a little silly, so becoming a crew member was a great option for me so I can use the club faciities without paying pen fees.

However, full membership was somewhat difficult to obtain and prohibitively expensive, this is pretty much a rich man’s club – I just have a love of sailing. The club, located in Matilda Bay has perfect views of Perth city, after a day’s sailing, heading up to the clubhouse for a couple of drinks. We sit up the club and have magnificant views of Matilda Bay, King’s Park and the city.

The grassed area in front of the club offers wonderful opportunities for parties and barbecues, the mid-week functions are legendary after twilight races. There have been some pretty decent functions that I have been lucky enough to attend, they hold many private functions too, so the club is utilised during the week, not just weekends.

Viewing the pens from night, this is very much a boat owner’s club, but I always ask, who gets the greater joy from yachting and boating, the owner or the crew? I reckon the crews racing these yachts have a pretty good time, they really get the fun out of boating.

The famous scene during Australia II’s 1983 America’s Cup win over Dennis Conner’s Liberty, Prime Minister Bob Hawke enjoy the atmosphere stating “Any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum” to the raucous roar of the crowd.

I loved hanging out at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, it was a decent way to spend an afternoon, depending on the location, I could spend hours here. I had all my tools with me when I was visiting the Philippines, I would bring my laptop computer and tablet with me alomg with my textbooks and printed materials for writing up my assignments.

For members there was a membership card, this would give you the internet connection along with some other benefits that I never bothered with. For me, the internet access was fine where I could set up my laptop computer, flick through textbooks, browse through printed material in the form of academic reading and start writing assignments and case studies.

Then there was the double espresso, this was my favourite, a good strong espresso in a proper espresso cup. Sure there were extras such as cake or eggs benedict, that would take me away from what I had to do so that wasn’t a great option for me. Working online at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was a pretty decent way for me to get my work done and it is always a good time.

I saw a term, I think it was in the Wall Street Journal about health spans, not life spans and I became immediately interested. As I get closer to my retirement age, that is not mandatory retirement, but early retirement I think very much about early retirement.

In Australia, the age pension is paid at age 67, that is if you are eligible. When I say eligible, I mean not having enough funds saved to support yourself so the federal government pays a pension. However, if your assets or income is too high, the pension is either reduced or not paid at all. Regardless, even if you are short of funds, spend what you have in your early years and rely on the age pension from 67 onwards. A retirement plan only needs to last 7 years, so enjoy those years.

So for an individual who is not eligible for the age pension anyway with excess assets, why hold out until age 67 when you can retire at age 60 and enjoy the early years when you are most active anyway. If you can burn down your retirement funds in the first 7 years, by the time you hit 67, you have already had a good run. You then claim either a partial, or full age pension payment in many cases based on baby boomers and Gen X who never had the advantage of a full working life superannuation accumulation.

Lifespan is the total number of years a person lives, whilst healthspan is the period spent in good health that is free from chronic disease or a serious disability. This is important to me as I age and push close to 60 years of age. Retiring early whilst my healthspan is peaking, I suspect between 60 and 70 gives me ten years to travel and enjoy physical activities. I am looking to maximise my health span and enjoy the early phase of retirement when I am most active and mobile. I will not be sitting around the house watching tv, I want to be out hiking and engaging in lifestyle activities.

I have written extensively about the organisational bullying occurring at the [unnamed] government department. I have also written extensively about the protection from dismissal I have since been deemed to fall within the provisions of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003. This is better known as whistle-blower protection, I have previously identified misappropriation of government funds.

Sure the unnamed government department could try it on, but since I am fully aware they follow and read Observations in an Undemocratic World, they know I would be straight down the Equal Opportunity Commission to lodge a case. They are more than aware that I am well versed in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 and the protection I am awarded under the Act.

The senior management, whilst adept, are smart enough to realise I know exactly what to do and how to act, they are well aware that I will not go to an outside authority without provocation. They know if they leave me alone, we have this uneasy truce where I do not identify the organisation. However, should we go down the legal route then there will be press invited to the proceedings, this will be then reported in an open forum and this would displease senior management.

They are also aware that I have sufficient evidence to produce in court to sink them. Unlike their dodgy compliance, I have saved and stored documents including correspondence that a reasonable authority, such as the Equal Opportunity Commission would view as evidence. So, what is the answer here? Well, it is easy, just leave me alone and allow me to work without harassment and abuse.

Naturally, this has not prevented them from attempting malicious tactics such as organising outside sources to make official complaints about me. Fortunately for me, I have guys informing me what these unscrupulous individuals are up to, they keep me informed and a step in front of them. Sure, my duties have been modified now, but that is the cost of targeting me, they should have known better and never tried it on in the first place, now they have issues to overcome and I am holding them accountable.

American political activist and five time presidential candidate for the Greens and as an independent, Ralph Nader has deep humanitarianism beliefs leading to automotive safety. Ralph Nader is a political activist and lawyer involved in government reform, consumer protection and environmentalism. 

I’m going to use Nader’s comment during future job interviews, it is classically simple yet elegant response related to leadership questions. Nalder has really nailed the essence of leadership; coaching to build capability within the organisation builds productivity creating engaged team members. Leadership is exhibited at all levels of the organisation, developing  leadership skills through a communication improvement regime, strategic thinking, practical experience and continuous improvement. 

In what is a great initiative, Perth Zoo is breeding Numbats to release into the wild. Perth Zoo is the only facility breeding numbats for release, since 1993 more than 320 numbats have been bred for reintroduction in the wild. The Dryandra Woodland is near the town of Narrogin, just two and a half hours from Perth, the Perup Nature Reserve is in the Shire of Manjimup so there are two diverse locations for the numbats to hopefully thrive.

The numbat is a small marsupial living in wooded forests with an exclusive diet of termites. The numbat is on the critically endangered species list, with an estimated 1000 numbats left in the whole of Australia This breeding initiative is highly important for the survival of the species. Whilst the joeys are born in captivity at Perth Zoo, then at 11 months they are prepared for release. Whilst the two major locations are Dryandra Woodland and Perup Nature Reserve, there are a number of locations over the years including sites in New South Wales and South Australia.

The conservation strategy is based on fenced areas to keep predators out, so there are two major locations now. As Numbats are diurnal, that is daytime activity, they are hunted by feral cats and foxes. Feral cats are a real issue in Australia, they grow very large and they are particularly viscous. Feral cats should be hunted down and killed, they are a real blight on the Australian fauna, they are wiping out native animals at an extraordinary rate. Wedge-tailed eagles, snakes, and goannas are natural predators that hunt numbats, then there is fire and land clearing that devestate numbers too. I really want to see this program work, this could be fantastic as I have never seen a numbat in the wild.

Why was McDonald’s coffee so bad? The reputation of McDonald’s coffee was so poor at its drive through outlets and in stores that people were boycotting its product. Whilst there are other drive through coffee retailers, McDonald’s already had the infrastructure in place so it was convenience more than anything. As such, McDonald’s sells a lot of coffee, it is one of the largest coffee retailers in the country.

Firstly, McDonald’s bean selection was poor, they sought the cheapest beans and then stored them in a manner that allowed them to deteriorate. It was certainly a case of profit before quality. Naturally, this led to poor outcomes, this was exacerbated by poor training, inconsistent equipment at fast food outlets and poor maintenance practices. Yes, we all know McDonald’s hires young people and that is not a problem; however, failing to train young people was the issue and providing them with the necessary guidance was an issue.

Poor cleaning practices certainly impacted, if no proper procedures were used then the inconsistent cleaning practices were utilised, this would lead to poor outcomes. As servers were not trained, issues such as machine calibration, grind size and water temperature all result in poor and bitter coffee from over extraction and burning. As I was never a McDonald’s coffee drinker, I struggle to remember if I have ever had one, I am thinking back to around 2002 where I was out with some people and picked up a McDonald’s breakfast and if I had a coffee then.

With respect to McDonald’s, they turned it around. So how did they do it? Firstly, you need to recognise there is a problem and then seek a solution. McDonald’s even made a public apology for its poor coffee back in 2011, so they owned the problem.This began with high quality Arabica beans implementing Rainforest Alliance Certified sourcing. So with the coffee bean problem sorted, the management moved on to training where staff members received barista training, equipment and technology and processes were improved and McDonald’s now produces a coffee that the majority of people are happy with.

It has been nearly 20 years since I have been to the Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station, I cannot say I missed the place, certainly not the flies. I see the Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station as a place to stop over for a short stay when visiting the stromatolites.

The road to Denham is a pretty big detour from the North West Highway, there is one road in and out, so that adds an extra 260 km on the trip. On the way there is the old telegraph station at the end of Hamelin Bay, if I am in the area, then it is worth stopping in. Hamelin Pool was the landing and departure point for supply vessels and shipping wool from the local stations in the area.

The telegraph station was built in 1884 and linked Perth to Roeburne by telegraph. Originally named the Flint Cliff Telegraph Station, the telegraph station was named after a local landmark. The telegraph station remained in service until the late 1950s where Telex took over as the communication system. I can still recall Telex still being used in the 1990s in some areas. Telex was a text based communications system that used tele-printers [tele-typewriters] to send/receive typed messages over telephone lines.