No mask strap and no fin straps

I had an interesting dive guide on Mactan Island, he got around underwater with half foot fins, no booties and no fin straps to hold his fins in place.

He just used water pressure to hold his mask in place as he had no mask strap. Easy enough entering the water, he just held the mask in place and then let go of it once below the surface. To be fair, they never went far from the dive shop, it was mostly close diving.

Interestingly, many years ago I did two dives when a client I was guiding broke a mask strap once we were already in the water after entering the water from a long pier. Too difficult to get spares at that point with the whole group in the water so I just swapped masks for the two dives.

My dive guide on the other hand began every dive without a mask strap, more a gimmick than anything as every dive shop has spare mask straps as they are a cheap item. This was a relatively small operation but they had a number of decent size banca boats to choose from.

I dive for myself now

My days of employment as a dive guide and dive instructor are well behind me, I still dive but not in a professional capacity anymore.

I'm fine with this arrangement, I don't want the responsibility of looking after other people and want to dive for myself these days. That makes me less than an ideal dive partner if you are inexperienced and just starting out; as a paying customer I am there to maximise my dive experiences.

The role of the dive staff are create memorable experiences for their customers, the last thing they want is customers getting in and possibly causing issues with how the shop is run. Further complications such as insurance then arises if something goes terribly wrong.

Legalisation such worker’s compensation may not cover customers taking it upon themselves to instruct divers and any injuries based on your advice may see you with a legal bill. The dive shop may have preferences in terms of the continuing education they offer, it is, after all their livelihoods at stake here.

The Omega Skywalker X-33

In some respects the Speedmaster has remained fairly static over the years, as a watch enthusiast we are still able to go out and purchase a moonwatch with close to NASA specifications.

There have been modest changes over the last 60 years with enthusiasts arguing over references but you are still able to purchase a moonwatch with a hesalite crystal and 1861 hand wound movement.

The older collectible series feature the Lemania 321 and 861 movements with the 321 particularly sought out among collectors as these references were used in the Gemini and Apollo missions.

The Speedmaster has moved forward with the Skywalker X-33 whilst maintaining some of the aesthetics that people related to the original Speedmaster. For me, this timepiece is more aesthetically related to the TAG Heuer Kirium of the 1990s than it is to the Speedmaster. 

The Skywalker X-33 maintains a combination of digital and analogue housed in a titanium case. Astronauts had input with the next generation of Speedmaster targeting the aerospace and aviation industries.

The Skywalker X-33 was developed for European Space Agency specifications featuring three time zones, a chronograph, mission elapsed time, phase elapsed time, three alarms, a timer which I translate to a stopwatch and a perpetual calendar.

Regardless of whether the Skywalker X-33 was specifically developed for the European Space Agency, $7100 is pretty expensive for a quartz movement. I understand development costs are involved; still, that's a pretty hefty price tag.

Will I go out and purchase a Skywalker X-33? The answer is no, but I may try one on next time I am in an Omega boutique. That's a lot of money for a digital watch, I am old school and love mechanical timepieces.

Unintended consequences - this is really hurting who?

The trade war started by China against Australia is escalating; however, Xi Jinping has seriously underestimated the consequences of his actions. The intention is to subdue Australia into submission, the Chinese government view is they cannot succeed as this undermines Chinese prestige around the world. 

This is really a case of the rule of unintended consequences, Winnie the Pooh might be achieving his political aims, the economic losses are mounting. China does not wish to be questioned by a much smaller nation in terms of population and economic size. This is very much an embarrassment to the CCP. 

Yes, industries are hurting from barley, lobster fishing to wine, this is devastating to the people employed in these industries. This is off-set by iron ore exports with the iron ore price rising to seven year highs. This is affecting Chinese steel mills, yes, their output has increased as they recover from their Covid-19 downturn.

The Chinese construction industry faces increasing costs, China has increased iron ore imports from higher cost suppliers with lower grades. Now Chinese industries are being hurt, costs are increasing and from an Australian government revenue perspective, this is increasing taxation receipts and decreasing pressure on government revenues - well played.

European train journeys

I love train journeys, we have some decent train journeys in Australia from the Indian Pacific, the Ghan and there is even a Perth to Bunbury service. I haven't used the East coast trains much, I have seen more of Europe and South East Asia than the East coast of Australia.

The train from Singapore to Bangkok interests me, So far I have only taken it as far Butterworth to get to Penang. I will take more trips through the East coast of Malaysia stepping off every so often to visit islands and through to Bangkok in the future.

When in Europe my preference is catching the various train services from the ICE, that's Inter City Express. There is the IC, or Inter City (national reisezug) trains, the S-bahn in German that is local trains.

The choices don't end there as the Eurocity (EC) is the international service between countries, the Regional Express (RE), the Inter Regional Express (IRE) and the Stadtbahn that doesn't offer First Class coaches.

There is an advantage of driving, you can go where you want when you want, but for me, the train is the best option as I can relax, read a book and gaze out the window. That being said, I have been on more than enough car journeys through Europe.

I can enjoy the sights and not concern myself with parking hassles, dents, dings and scratches. Then, the issue in the larger cities is actually finding the vehicle again, they have to be parked far from the centre so you need to remember where you actually parked the car.

Was Covid conceived in a Wuhan lab?

The WHO investigation into the origins of Covid-19 was a bust, China is accused of withholding vital raw data and not assisting the WHO investigation. 

The interim report has now been withheld and a new team needs to go back in and investigate with further powers. Basically, the report is scrap and headed to the shredder, this requires a far ranging scope with powers of investigation that it currently does no possess. 

The United States is pushing the Wuhan lab theory, but do they have the evidence to back up their claims? Given the US response to Covid-19 was possibly one of the worst in the world, the US President totally mismanaged the response.

Furthermore, Donald Trump’s statements have been less than presidential, it has been argued that this has led to attacks on Asian [particularly Chinese] people in the US. The statements Trump made about the Chinavirus could be claimed to deflect from the absolutely useless response of his government.

Was the Wuhan market the origin of the coronavirus? Well, it certainly needs to be investigated as the Wuhan market might not have been the origin of the virus, but where cases first showed up. We need more than potential causes, we need the truth.

What is known is the CCP has a biological weapons capability and conducts research. What has already been discussed is the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been involved in biological research. Whilst many nations engage in biological weapons, they need to come clean on their research.  

What has been reported was Wuhan Institute of Virology lab workers were falling ill around August 19. The US State Department has released a fact sheet on January 16, the US State Department has revealed that the CCP has prevented interviews with Wuhan Institute of Virology staff.

What is concerning is the State Department released this information was released in the last days of the Trump Administration. So this gives us two real options, they were being vindictive and released unsubstantiated reports as fact. Or, they needed to release this information so the incoming administration couldn’t bury the details.

Do I have an answer? No, I do know know the reasons for the timing of the US State Department release in the last days of the Trump Administration. What we do know is the CCP has not been open and allowed the virus to escape Chinese borders.

Regardless of the origins of Covid-19, would the CCP intentionally release the virus, I would absolutely say no. This has hurt the very markets China sells into and causing damage to the output. Was it an accidental release, that is of course a possibility and needs proper investigation.

If this is proved to be false then that would vindicate the Wuhan Institute of Virology, that is the intention of the enquiry. The world needs to know the origins of the coronavirus to prevent further pandemics and to assist in future preparation. 

If the CCP continues to prevent an open discourse, then it would tend to indicate they are actually hiding something and the more they cover up, the more suspicious the world becomes. This is causing damage to the credibility of the CCP and their ambitions of becoming a world superpower.

Hanging out in Zurich

Having a place to stay really makes a holiday, you can spend time in a city relaxing and getting to actually know a little bit about the city. The days spent on the top floor of the building hanging out on the balcony in the afternoon and evenings sipping on Bordeaux were memorable.

Looking out from the balcony over the street, a morning coffee leaning against the rail being careful not to dislodge the plants, it was a quiet street for vehicles but had plenty of interesting pedestrian traffic.

When Iris headed out to work, it was time to wander around the city of Zurich exploring; although her apartment was not in the city centre, I really enjoyed the daily walk to get to my destination - the longer the better and I enjoyed the exercise.