Stories yet to be written

What I love about blogging is I have the ability to develop short stories based on real life experiences and share these stories on an electronic platform that can be read in any country in the world. Naturally I view the world from an Australian perspective, you could also add white male nearly fifty years of age with political views slightly right of centre but more socialist ideals than your average wannabe capitalist.

I loved to read novels, yet since I began studying again, I have lost the time to read anything other than a technical report of reference book - I hope to rectify that in the future. I love literature, yet I had to give that up to read reference books and write essays for what felt like an eternity. That's all over now and I can go back to reading for fun – yay. But what I also like to do is write short stories, I would love to expand this in the future.

I have a number of friends and colleagues who have published novels through small independent publishers and I am interested to expand my writing. I can say I'm enjoying researching and writing a blog and really enjoy the research to expand my personal views and naturally to ensure everything is as accurate as possible. I carry my tablet around with me and write when I can; I jog around my local lake and think out a whole post then have to quickly write up the post before I forget it.

Likewise, when I am diving, I have a whole post written in my mind, I should really carry a slate and a pencil with me to jot down my ideas. I have a list of potential topics in my tablet and mobile phone, whenever I get an idea I quickly jot it down so it isn't forgotten. Then I just need the time to write a post, this is done on both my tablet and notebook computer and I love to write in coffee shops and public places.

I have one of the mini notebook computer that lacks computing power but makes up for in battery life. What gives me the most inspiration is that I know I have so many stories to write, now I just need the time because I am happy to make the effort.

A retirement failure

Once again, people who support themselves not only throughout their working life but into retirement are disadvantaged. The emphasis of the current federal government policy is to erode all the incentives to save for their own retirement instead providing disincentives to save - madness.

The people we elect to represent us in the federal parliament have no such issues, their generous parliamentary retirement plans are paid for by the poor saps who vote for them. Even with the new parliamentary standards for newly elected parliamentarians, their benefits are generous by general community standards.

Individuals who either establish a self managed super fund (SMSF), contribute to their industry or retail fund lose when they lose access the publicly funded pension because they hold assets. It's fine to sacrifice during your working life to lead a rewarding early retirement, you still pay tax on your income derived from self funded pension - albeit at a reduced rate.

Reducing your consumption during the accumulation phase is fine insofar as long as you are willing to sacrifice during your working life but individuals need to understand you are likely to disadvantage yourself during retirement, especially if you intend to delay retirement.

The federal government not only saves money every fortnight by paying a pension, healthcare discounts are not available to self-funded retirees with pensioners gaining discounts from government utilities to transport and pharmaceuticals. Many believe they should purchase larger houses, luxury cars, take overseas holidays, boats, jet ski, 4WDs, big TVs or motorbikes to live their lives when they are young and carefree.

The best strategy is to retire at age 60 immediately accessing your SMSF and enjoying life for the next 10 years whilst you are fit enough to travel, gain life experiences whilst possessing the mobility to do so. Currently the retirement age that allows an individual access the public pension is 67; however, by the time my age group is getting close to retirement age it is expected to be raised to age 70.

The average life expectancy in Australia is 82; so an average 70 year retiring has 12 years of retirement so their the average. The average superannuation balance at retirement is $322,000 for men and $180,000 for women; so one expects to pull down $26,830 per year for men and $15,000 for women or a combined $41,830 for a couple - that's actually fairly reasonable.     

Annoying Facebook waves

What is it with these stupid fucking waves on Facebook? As I drag my curser down on my laptop computer or run my finger down my phone, I have already sent a number of waves to friends and it must annoy the hell out of them, it certainly annoys me when I accidentally send a wave.

Firstly, who comes up with this rubbish? Then secondly, the question is, how do I turn it off? I have tried and so far failed, there must be a way. There are stories of these waves sent to ex-partners, managers and people not even known which may actually be better. Now that Mark Zuckerburg has fronted a Congressional hearing, I thought Facebook management would be less inclined to introduce such annoying features whilst trying to remain relevant.

Naturally, I respect Mark Zuckerburg and Priscilla Chan for their pledge to donate their fortune to charities but since Mark Zuckerburg stated he is very hands-on at the business, he is the face of the company so we hold him responsible.

The Dream of the Blue Turtles

When Sting released The Dream of the Blue Turtles back in 1985 I didn't race out and immediately purchase the album; well, I didn't need to as a number of singles got plenty of air time on the radio.

The album reached number one in Australia so we never really needed to race out and purchase the album, a friend had this in his collection so we listened to his. It wasn't until twelve years after the album's release that I really became interested in The Dream of the Blue Turtles. I was working in Turkey in a dive shop in the Mediterranean village of Kaş and we had a cassette in the vehicle.

At the end of each day we would collect all the used scuba cylinders and take them up to the compressor for filling. Needless to say, we listened to that cassette over and over on a daily basis - we never got sick of it. Even if we swapped cassettes during filling, The Dream of the Blue Turtles would end up in the player again. It wasn't until my return to Australia that I finally purchased my own CD of this album for my collection.

My favourite song on the album is Russians, the nuclear disarmament melody. I really identify with Children's Crusade and the young lives lost in World War I and We work the Black Seam, the plight of underground miners and the UK coal miner's strike in the UK. Even after all this time The Dream of the Blue Turtles is still one of my favourite albums.  

1. If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
2. Love Is The Seventh Wave 
3. Russians
4. Children's Crusade 
5. Shadows In The Rain 
6. We Work The Black Seam
7. Consider Me Gone
8. The Dream Of The Blue Turtles
9. Moon Over Bourbon Street
10. Fortress Around Your Heart

The Omega James Bond Commander's limited edition

Looking over the Omega Diver 300 series, the Omega twenty-two year association with the James Bond franchise has brought about some limited release watches. Dedicated to the role of product placement, the Commander series is one such timepiece. But really, I'm not sold on a watch based on a fictional movie character; at least with the TAG Heuer Senna series, Arton Senna was a brand ambassador before his tragic death.

Omega had the chance to design something special, the white face is different to the existing series, the scalloped bezel is standard Diver 300 with ceramic insert. I have never been a big fan of the NATO strap but on this occasion I think it works, the colour scheme is related to the military insignia. What really irks me is the 007 counterweight on the second hand; to my thinking, this is really crass and this single feature prevents me from ever purchasing this timepiece.

Unfortunately, the 007 also spells LOO when the secondhand moves through a portion of the arc when the secondhand is inverted; an engineering oversight if ever I have seen one. The date has a red 7 numeral with the remainder of the date numerals coloured blue, this is somewhat pretentious in my view.

The display caseback allows the wearer to view the partial in-house 2500 co-axial movement; I say partial as the 2500 is designed on the base ETA 2824-2 movement within the Swatch Group. As such, the technical aspects of this timepiece is identical to any Diver 300. The standard Diver 300 is fitted with the solid laser etched case back.

Unlike a standard Diver 300, the Commander's watch is fitted with a display caseback. The caseback ring is etched with the limited edition Commander's markings and build number, this is fine as this is worn against the wrist only being identified when inspecting the watch.

There are 7007 watches to be produced within the series with a further 007 gold cases manufactured; that's just a plain 7 gold case timepieces to the rest of us. No doubt the Commander's series will be well subscribed on a worldwide scale - it just won't be me.

Singapore Airlines - Elite Silver

After years of flying with Singapore Airlines, I have finally cracked Elite Silver, yet apart from some baggage tags and a flashy new membership card, I really don't know what this status upgrade gets me.

So some research is in order, what exactly is Elite Silver? For starters, you get a 25% increase in Kris Flyer miles. As this status is time based, a further 25,000 Kris Flyer miles added to your account results in an automatic 12 month extension but I'm yet to find out if this gets me entrance to the SilverKris Lounge, priority boarding or priority check-in?

Checking the Singapore Airlines website, I couldn't really garner any further information. Regardless, I'm happy to get a 12 month access to to Elite Silver status so I guess I'll find out on my next flight because I forgot to try it out on my last flights.

The war on drugs or legal death squads?

Is there any justice in the world? Highly unlikely, you can't bring a person back to life but maybe those responsible for their death may face prosecution. Police officers Arnel Oares, Jerwin Cruz and Jeremmas Pereda are no doubt hoping the notoriously corrupt justice system in the Philippines will fail to adequately investigate the matter with the Duterte administration supporting the war on drugs.

The police officers are accused of murdering seventeen year old Kian Loyd Delos Santos after dragging the teenager into a dark alley and executing him. It was alleged by the police officers that Kian Loyd Delos Santos endangered police lives drawing a hand gun and firing at officers. President Duterte's war on drugs has claimed over 12,000 lives and tend to follow a pattern; the alleged drug courier engages in a shootout with police, the police officers are forced to defend themselves and the drug pusher is shot. For a police force with a famously poor aim and marksmanship, they appear to be able to suddenly hit plenty of targets.

The CCTV footage would suggest otherwise, two plainclothes police officers can be seen dragging Kian Loyd Delos Santos into the lane way where he was executed before drugs and a hand gun were alleged to have been planted. There is plenty of corruption in South East Asia, the Philippines is an economic under performer due to the institutionalised corruption. No doubt the officers were unaware of the CCTV cameras and the existence of the footage, their statements don't match the footage. This may be enough to convict the police officers and suspend Duterte's war on drugs but don't bet on it, this is a political program.