The Tissot Visodate

The latest incarnation of the Tissot heritage range is the Visodate based on the 1950s version of the timepiece. For my tastes, this is a pretty elegant timepiece that isn't over complicated or over-powering.

I received my father's old Omega Chronostop and had the movement replaced for him. He wouldn't accept it after I had the watch repaired so I decided on the next best option, I purchased him an old style timepiece that would suit him.

The Visodate with the silver dial is best suited to my tastes, the 40 mm diameter isn't too large for a dress watch, the 11.6 mm thickness allows the watch to slip under a shirt sleeve. I think the older style logo really adds substance to the dial with the silver dial well suited to the brown leather strap. 

The Visodate was based on an innovation connected to the date function of an automatic movement. The ETA 2836-2 automatic movement has a fairly standard power reserve of 38 hours. The sapphire crystal display caseback allows viewing of the automatic movement, naturally the domed dial crystal is sapphire.  

Generally speaking I don't like the date function on watches, on this occasion I really love the day function as it adds to the dial. The indexes add simplicity to the dial allowing for the day/date windows to not over-power the dial along with minimal writing on the dial where some watch manufacturers seem to overdo it. 

Are socialist policies failing?

What we are seeing is the rise of conservative politics worldwide from the Donald Trump phenomenon, Boris Johnston returned to power after another Brexit failure and Scott Morrisson coming from behind to win the apparently un-winable election.

So, where does this leave socialist parties and their policies? Whilst there are differing opinions in some countries, currently the major industrial nations are following capitalist ideology. This will eventually swing with a return to socialist policies at some stage, but we are unsure when this will occur.

In an American presidency, there are two four year fixed terms, a president cannot call an election whenever they see fit. Nor can a president extend into a third term, their administration may remain in government with the vice president running.

This was last seen by Republican president Ronald Reagan with two terms before Republican president George H.W. Bush administered a single term in office. George H.W. Bush was seen as a single term government; however, this was really a 12 year Republican government in office.

Whilst we are seeing a Trump impeachment, this appears to be a desperate move by the Democrats who believe they hold no hope in beating Trump outright. They believe an impeachment will leave a smear over the Trump presidency and deliver the Democrats power again after one term.

What I would expect to see is Trump re-frame this feeble attempt to smear him and use this to reinvigorate his campaign. The socialist policies of Bill Shorten, Jeremy Corbyn and whoever wins the Democratic nomination look to fail again.

Departing Tenke Fungurume Mining

Well, it was all over very quickly, after just 8 months it unraveled like a train wreck. To be honest, I was glad to be out as the new management was anything but professional.

This was not new to Africa, Chinese interests were purchasing existing mining operations propped up by government funding without having the knowledge and skills to manage these operations. I can comprehend their base strategy of backward integration but you need to have a plan after buying in.

They would terminate the existing management and workforce, spruik about their superior management skills whilst running the operation into the ground. They would then import low wage and low skilled workers in and totally bugger it up.

Even the managers were clueless, they had no idea apart from their own self-inflated ideals of superiority and would then blame every person and every failure on the mistakes of the former management. Cheap low-skilled workers generally exhibit minimal productivity, this was certainly the case at TFM.

At no stage did they ever take responsibility for their own actions, the blame culture inhibited any innovation whatsoever or free thought. But I'm ok, after the Chinese influx of workers, I was in no mood to stay, I had already begun to search for work and secured a position on an upcoming project - I just had to wait for the project kick-off later in the year.

The new management told premeditated lies and created distrust, teamwork and collaboration immediately evaporated - there was no incentive to perform. A culture of laziness abounded by a lack of leadership and accountability, the national workforce saw the lazy managers and staff immediately deciding to emulate their lack of effort and application.

Developing and sustaining a values driven culture was what made Tenke Fungurume Mining a valuable asset. The new Chinese management destroyed the corporate culture in a matter of months, terminated (without compensation) the contracts of the expats and begun demobilising efficient leaders and replacing them with low quality profit squanders.

Then they scratched their heads when productivity rapidly declined, costs soared despite undertaking an aggressive cost-cutting program and revenue and profits plummeted. How do I know all this? As the Maintenance Training Coordinator, I was developing the core competence of the maintenance workforce and I directly viewed the decline of machine availability.

But here is the best part, instead of searching for the brightest minds and most efficient workers they just imported more low-skilled workers from China displacing the highest performing national Congolese workers until the whole knowledge base was destroyed.

It is difficult to operate a mechanised mine when all the machines are broken down and inoperable and that is exactly what happened. This is interesting to watch unfold, as we all transition to new employment, we are in contact with the nationals who remained and they are pretty unhappy how the new culture of undermining and distrust has arisen.

The Casio F-91W

I had one, it was some time ago and if I recall correctly, it was purchased at a service station, probably on the way to the airport as I didn’t want to take my good watch on an underground project where I was contracted.

I never used to wear it on my wrist, I had broken the strap and carried it in my top pocket, the Casio F-91W is a simple digital watch with few features. This was a cheap plastic wristwatch that sold well allowing Casio to build a reputation for well priced technology.

Maybe not the precursor to the G-Shock, the F-91W is a low cost timepiece that allowed branding at the entry level. Now seen as a classic, many watch collectors are seen wearing the F-91W as an anti-snobbery accessory. I really can't believe these are collectible now.

Whilst I won't be following their lead with the P-91W, I do look for lower cost options to add to my collection. I do like the dual digital/analogue aerospace timepieces and may look there for inspiration or field watches.

Will Bernie be nominated this time around?

Will we see a second term Trump presidency in 2020? That remains to be answered until later in the year, but as he is travelling at the moment - you would expect so.

Joe Biden appears to be the front-runner for Democratic nomination, but I would love to see Bernie Sanders receive the nomination. I would love to say I was able to foresee the Donald Trump presidency emerge, but I just didn't honestly see how he could win.

When he was successful, I was interested to see how he would fare. I never believed any of the slogans such as "drain the swamp" although I did expect him to be unorthodox. I am not American so I can't vote in US elections, I do follow US policy insofar as as an investor, US policy and actions affect financial markets.

Bernie is an old socialist and I would love to see some of his policies enacted, this would shake the US up a whole lot. I thought it was a mistake to run with the Hillary Clinton nomination, Donald Trump certainly had a field day with her.

For me, Bernie is an interesting prospect, the US might adapt some more social policies as opposed to their current trajectory. The US has wild variations in equality and I would love to see the US adapt social policies and look after its vulnerable citizens.

I would love to see Bernie endorsed as the Democratic nominee, that would really shake the US up. Bernie is pretty old though, I think he missed his chance four years ago when Hillary was selected over Bernie. Elizabeth Warren might be popular but billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg could give Donald a real hard run.

I can't be fired

One of the advantages of being accused of reporting corruption in the public sector is I have a job for life. I can't be fired, you can't fire a whistleblower - it's that simple.

What they can and have done is scuttled my career at the college, I will now never be promoted at any point - there will always be a reason or excuse not to. But, I can roll with that and play the long game as this is all strategy now.

I can cause maximum disruption and they can't do anything as long as my claim has merit and is not seen purely as vexatious. This is a pretty simple transaction as ethics and integrity isn't standard practice at this organisation.

Instead, I maintain my employment at the college and take leave without pay as I wish to engage in consulting work. I win again - thank you idiots. I can now engage in high paid international consultancy work and return to paid employment at the college between projects.

If the college doesn't like it then we can always head off to the Industrial Magistrate's Court and let the Magistrate make a ruling. This would be a poor option for the college as I have hard copies of all claims and correspondence, so I am able to substantiate all claims with hard evidence.

Naturally, as I live close to The West Australian newspaper owned by Seven West Media, the operator of the Channel Seven television network, we can let this play out in the media if they want to play rough.

As I would require certain college representatives to give evidence under oath, this would not only derail their careers. At least one individual faces up to two years imprisonment under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 so they would be highly unlikely to expose him to that.

The end of the Congo for me

So maybe I was heading to Botswana, I liked my job in the Democratic Republic of Congo but that job is closing and this opportunity has come around so it is time to move on despite not wanting to leave.

However, that possibility is becoming more remote by the day, the human resources department is poorly run and not responding to phone calls or emails. I can tell this isn't a very organised company, they are unlikely to support me when problems arise and I am pretty sure they will.

It is not difficult to work out that a lack of management support will hinder staff development, an experienced worker can easily spot this before they even start. So now the Congo is finishing and Botswana is not going to be the contract I expecting to move to. Don't think it is going to happen so time to look for the next project.