So before the game we head over to The River Room at Optus Stadium. The River Room has sweeping views of the Swan River and East Perth. We get to the stadium early for some pre-game drinks, my father grabs a meal overlooking the river.

The food is of a vastly different quality than that served down in the general Stadium. I once grabbed some food from the general Stadium food outlets and I regretted it immediately. Not so immediate was the two days of acid reflux. We can purchase bottled wine in the River Room, we drink from wine glasses and full strength beer is available. We don’t have the yobbo contingent getting drunk and disorderly, instead people are enjoying a few drinks before the game.

There is a function of sorts pre-game, a special guest makes a brief speech and injured players are interviewed asking for views on club direction, injuries, current form and their views on the game. This is a great pre-match function and I look forward to attending. at Perth’s Optus Stadium. This is part of the game day experience, we get there early, as soon as the gates open so we get the maximum time in the facilities, post-game the facilities are open for 45 minutes, this is great as the stadium is cleared and the trains are empty when we go to leave.

It was a Tuesday night, I had just finished writing a post and went out the front to water my lawn. It was half an hour to midnight, I like to water my lawn by hand at night as the water soaks in overnight and it allows me to think as I hold the hose.

A man was walking across the street, I viewed him as he crossed the road before he decided to turn around and come back to me. He wanted to buy a cigarette from me, I replied that I don’t smoke but that didn’t seem to be enough for him. He wouldn’t take no for an answer so I turned the hose off so he could hear me clearly. I told him again that I do not smoke, I do not have any cigarettes and that is because I have never smoked. He then tried to be smart and ask why I was watering the lawn when it was green, I replied that this is exactly the reason it is green.

He became angry because he thought I replied with whatever, I started to reply but then I thought, hang on, I don’t need to explain myself to this guy. He kept standing but I wasn’t engaging this guy and turned my nozzle back on and returned to watering duties. He then rattled on that I would love to hose him down, he threatened me to not hose him down as he stood there. I just ignored this guy as this was going nowhere, I made sure that I kept an eye on him just in case he became violent and lunged at me.

He wanted to engage in stupid conversation but I was interested. He then asked me if I was angry and began asking that question repeatedly, he then started to taunt me calling me angry. He engaged in taunting, I could not tell if he was drunk, on drugs or just a simpleton. He didn’t appear to be to be slurring his words so I guess it wasn’t alcohol, I am pretty sure he was a simpleton and mixed with the drugs he most likely took made him especially difficult to deal with. So as he tired of me and storming off calling me angry over and over, I could go back to watering my lawn without the interruptions.

I’m not normally one for matching clothes, matching eyewear or matching motor vehicles. But owing to my partner’s liking of my Longines Conquest sports watch, I decided to purchase her the ladies version. In other words – I did as I was told.

Mine is the larger L3.677.4.58.6 reference with a 41 mm case and black lacquered dial, hers is the smaller 34 mm case sitting well on her smaller wrist with the white matt finish contrasting her skin tone. Mine is the ETA L633 automatic movement while she decided on the L3.377.4.16.6 reference with ETA L156 quartz movement.

Her quartz movement is highly accurate and the maintenance is relatively low compared to an automatic movement. Both watches are water resistant to 30 atmospheres which is equal to 300 metres depth; both have a screw-in crown and both are fitted with the screw-in case-back with the Longines winged hourglass laser etched on the cover.

The sapphire crystal ensures the dial remains visible as it is virtually scratch resistant, the beveled stainless steel bezel isn’t scratch resistant though and both of us are lucky we haven’t developed any scratches on the bezel. Both timepieces come with the three piece H-link bracelet with double folding clasp and push type release mechanism.

The dial is numbered in Arabic style with numbers at the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock position and indexes at hourly intervals. The date window is positioned at 3 o’clock and hence no numeral at that position although I think a numeral at the 9 o’clock position would improve dial aesthetics. I hop she gains plenty of attention from her timepiece, it is now her everyday watch and looks great on her.

Every week, same bullshit. Why cannot Transperth match a bus to their train service? The purpose of scheduling is to align services, this is efficiency.

Same old, same old for me, the bus arrives late, the driver drives below the speed limit and the bus arrives just as the train is pulling away. This is the 11:15 bus on a Friday night for the 11:30 train to Perth. Then I sit on the train, the conductor comes up to me demanding proof of payment for a service that is not only late but an inconvenience. Next time they ask me for payment, I won’t refuse but I will offer my payment receipt late, let’s see how that goes down.

I should have been giving my proof of payment on the earlier train, maybe we need to push the point. Why can a carrier offer such a lousy service on such a frequent basis? Unfortunately they have a monopoly so I have to keep using this system. We need competition in transport, this is a government service so you can’t expect much, sometimes I do, this is really my fault. 

The DateJust is the entry-level Rolex timepiece and some would argue the quintessential Rolex timepiece. If you head into a Rolex boutique, good luck trying to get yourself a Submariner, a Daytona or even an Explorer.

The shop is filled with DateJust and maybe a few Day-Date, I had the opportunity to once purchase an Air King. But forget about a Milgauss, Yachtmaster or Yachtmaster Il, unless it is a favoured boutique, it just isn’t happening. The artificial scarcity that Rolex has created ensures a waiting list of up to a couple of years. So, for many, the opportunity to strap a famed Rolex on their wrist begins with the DateJust.

Respect to the Rolex marketing department, they have created a product that people are willing to wait years to actually purchase. The marketing of the Rolex brand is what business school case studies are about. It could be argued a Rolex is an old man\’s watch, fair enough, it takes the average person till at least forty to build the wealth to afford one. In this respect, it is a status symbol as wealth generally comes in middle age.

If you see a twenty year old sporting a Rolex on their wrist, you immediately deduct (rightly or wrongly) that they are rich kids. There is a fair chance they never earned the wealth, they either inherited it or live off the family trust. They are connected nevertheless, they may have earned their money through information technology, a start up or through investment – good for then I say.

After French President Nicolas Sarkozy received unwanted media attention for his style, he was put on notice by his advisers for no more wearing of his Rolex and Ray Ban sunglasses in public.

Sarkozy has a pretty decent watch collection from a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, Oyster Perpetual, Breitling Navitimer and then there is the Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar ref. 3940G, a gift from his wife Carla Bruni in 2008. The Navitimer is great, I get it. The 3940G, that is something else. The Cosmograph Daytona is a pretty decent timepiece, but a Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Sport is amazing and better priced.

Sarkozy’s friend, high profile advertising tycoon Jacques Seguela defended Sarkozy in an interview by stating “So what if he owns a Rolex, we can’t blame him for that, everyone has a Rolex. If you don’t have a Rolex by the time you reach 50, then you have clearly failed in your life.” So as a 52 year old and non-Rolex owner, I need to ask myself, am I a failure? I am not a huge fan of Rolex, whilst I respect the brand and their branding, I have never really wanted to own one. Sure, I am an Omega owner and I would consider

I would have thought Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, A. Lange & Söhne or Audemars Piguet would have a better yardstick. Maybe Seguela is right, everyone has a Rolex. So I ask myself, should I decide to purchase a Rolex, what would be the model? I am not a huge fan of the Royal Oak, I prefer the Nautilus design myself but a Breguet and I have always thought was under-rated.

I really don’t like the Mercedes hour hand found on most Rolex models, I don’t like the fluted bezel and I don’t like the Jubilee bracelet so that rules out the DateJust and the Day-Date. That rules out a whole load of models, so the entry-level Oyster Perpetual with the oyster bracelet would be my choice.

The Submariner is an iconic timepiece but they are relatively common, that is if you can get them. The Explorer is the pick of the models, even with the Mercedes hour hand. The Explorer II isn’t my choice, I don’t like the bezel or dial so I can forget about that. I have an Omega Seamaster, that is my preference and for a chronograph, you can’t beat the Speedmaster.

The Milguass is an interesting timepiece but that lightning bolt second hand – nah. The latest model Air-King is basically a Milguass with the same case, movement and bracelet. Some people hate the dial, I actually like it, that would be my choice even with the Mercedes hour hand. The Milguass is certainly outdated in terms of anti-magnetic properties, Omega is the clear leader again.

The Cosmograph Daytona, Sea-Dweller, Yachtmaster and Yachtmaster II are all out of my price range, you have to be realistic here. Yes, I would have thought Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet or A. Lange & Söhne were the barometer of success and I don’t own one so you could argue that I have failed by Seguela’s measure.

Peter Garrett was a lousy federal Education Minister; however, he was a fantastic singer and songwriter who could pen a song about political issues and get the population thinking. Whilst he certainly had his own style, I always thought his dancing was outstanding.

Unfortunately for Peter, he was a failed politician who never matched his ideals with measurable actions. The lead singer of Midnight Oil was a disappointment as an Education Minister and was eventually removed from Cabinet after constantly embarrassing the government.

As I worked away when Midnight Oil were in their prime, I never had the chance to see them play live. Sure, I had their albums but seeing them in the flesh is much more of a rewarding experience. This was really a missed opportunity for me, whilst I didn’t always agree with their politics, I did respect their views.

You can never live with regrets, this was an iconic Australian band that was successful internationally and I missed my opportunity to see them play live. Despite missing my chance, I can still enjoy their albums even if I missed the rawness of their live shows. I thought they might have been included in the Australian Made shows that played around the country, that was such a wasted opportunity.

2019 was the year I didn’t renew my PADI membership, I became a PADI member in 1999 and I was very active in my early years.

I believe a diving instructor has a finite life, I was working part-time for three years, then fulltime for a five years before transitioning back to a part-time instructor for another seven years. After I closed down my dive business I walked away from the dive industry as I was so disenchanted. My business partner had left the business in a huge mess, I was left to clean up the aftermath and pay off the creditors.

My partner had fled the country, the decisions he made led to the state of the business as we had lost suppliers. We had lost our best instructor, she was difficult to deal with, that’s for sure but she did a great job. My partner’s arrogance was his thoughts were that he was now successful that didn’t need to deal with difficult people, this arrogance cost us the business. I was left to appear in court, I paid the creditors off slowly; instead he ran away, told lies to creditors and never paid his debt. 

I won’t be getting back into recreational dive industry anytime soon, the industry exploits people through low wages, poor conditions and little to no benefits. This industry tends to attract a certain type of people who take joy in exploiting people – this is unfortunate. That being said, it is expensive to run a dive shop in a retail setting, the resort style operations is more of a concern to me, that I don’t miss.

The 2016 TAG Heuer Aquaracer is a pretty cool timepiece although not everyone thinks so. We have a number of  guys at work really interested in horology so the discussion of watches in a fairly frequent discussion.

This is a conversation I can now join after the phases of model airplanes, go-karts, rifles, pistols and model helicopters have run their course. A number of us are divers so the discussion of dive watches is especially interesting for me. I have been a keen observer of TAG Heuer for some time now going back to the 2000 series although I decided on another dive watch from the TAG Heuer range as my first purchase 20 years ago – I don’t regret that decision.

So I decided to revisit the Aquaracer series now they come with the ceramic bezel insert. The size of wrist watches has increased in diameter and in one of our discussions one of our enthusiasts, a Rolex owner commented about the size of his son’s Carrera and how it feels like an onion on his wrist. This is a case of style, I prefer a larger diameter watch as my wrist size supports such a timepiece and I have always thought a dive watch should be larger than smaller as you tend to have difficulty reading instruments underwater.

This is especially true in murky water or silty conditions, night dives are a little better as a dive light provides a source to charge the lume. Rated to 300 metres, the Aquaracer is a professional timepiece for commercial divers with a chronograph option although I prefer the three hand model. The Calibre 5 automatic movement is either 25 or 26 rubies with the ETA 2824-2 being the 25 jewel model and the Sellita SW200-1 fitted with 26 jewels. Both movements have a balance frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour equaling 4 Hz and a power reserve of approximately 38 hours.

The general conscious is that the ETA is the superior movement with Sellita being a rendition of the ETA movement as patents have apparently expired. Speaking to my local watchmaker, he doesn’t much like the finish of the Sellita movement even if they are now becoming the industry standard mechanical movement now that ETA are becoming harder to source.

Interestingly Sellita previously undertook outsourced work for ETA and the SW200-1 is fitted with the extra jewel. Which movement is better? I really don’t know, but as the 2824-2 is certainly more marketable than the SW200-1 and in the world of luxury goods, that is a decisive factor.  Really, you would be hard pressed to beat the workhorse ETA 2824-2 movement without developing an in-house movement. Then the argument moves to in-house movement versus generic movements and the marketability of each.

Viewing some watch videos online and speaking with my local watchmaker, the finish of the Sellita seems to be lacking and that isn’t a great selling point for a major Swiss watch manufacturer. Maybe future models will incorporate a display case back but that might require TAG Heuer to lift their game and manufacture an in-house movement for the Aquaracer series. The Aquaracer uses the Calibre 5, that is nothing really as it was either the 2842-2 or SW200-1, so unless you popped the caseback off or counted jewels, you are not even sure of the engine in your Aquaracer.

The ninja generation – no income, no job or assets – that is the best description I have heard for the millennial generation. Yet to some degree, this addiction to debt isn’t their doing, this is the way this generation has been conditioned through absolutely no fault of their own.

Firstly, enter the financial scandals of Enron [2001], Arthur Anderson [2002], WorldCom [2002] followed the dot.com bubble and bust [1997 – 2001]. A whole host of American companies of the era with no ethical principles were morally corrupt. Then later in the decade the global financial crisis [2007-2008] hit Wall Street and took down the worldwide financial system. Now in 2018 and we are still feeling the effects of the Wall Street debacle sub-prime mortgage collateralised debt obligation.

A whole generation of people have grown up to financial turmoil and a lack of opportunity, I can see why they are angry. I can see why they are gaining more socialist views, American millennials are looking at European models with socialism mixed with capitalism and are liking it. The European model has plenty of advantages, sure taxes are higher but services are structured for the entire population, the poor can get health care and housing – that’s a positive.