Hugo Boss for kids

I couldn't believe it, I was wandering through a major department store in Liege on my way to the toilets on the second floor when I noticed what they had for sale.

This was the children’s clothing floor when I noticed Hugo Boss for babies, my interest was aroused and I then saw Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, ESprit, United Colors of Benetton and Calvin Klein brands for babies, toddlers and young children too.

I didn't check the prices but I wouldn't expect this style of clothing to be cheap. Seriously, people have way too much money to waste, yes waste on Hugo Boss clothes on babies and young children. They grow so quickly at that age, why would any reasonable person throw money away in such a manner?

A Bali Polo shirt

I am checking out the Polo Ralph Lauren branded stores in Ubud, Bali. This is my annual pre-Christmas trip to Bali as I have earned an extra week of paid leave on top of normal entitlements.

I don’t know if they are really genuine or not but the quality of their merchandise is good. So I decided to wander in and check  What I see is a bunch of retail outlets with similar shop fronts, styling and layouts.

Even checking their social media links, they all run the same Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds. The cost of a Polo shirt in Bali is outrageous, $120 AUD, they have a 30% sale on bringing the price down to $84 AUD but I still think it is excessive.

There is some room to negotiate on price, there are list price and reduced sale prices. A further discount may be applied for cash but I tend to feel they are fixed and staff don’t have much latitude to discount further than standard rates.

The quality is good, but let’s face it, production has been outsourced to Asia for a long time. That being said, what you get with a genuine Polo shirt is quality and I don’t mind handing over a certain premium to genuine retailers.

After all, it was Ralph who came up with the Polo shirt design, I prefer to reward the innovators and not the clones. Bali is going upmarket, name branded shops now dominate the smaller retailers.

The Polo Ralph Lauren retail outlet is a brand well regarded, the number of outlets in Ubud in Bali is intriguing, there is no shortage of Polo retail shops in such a small area. They appear to be genuine retailers with similar shop fronts, merchandising and a standardised social media profile.

What happened?

We had an amazing election result on the weekend insofar as nobody, and I mean nobody picked the result. We had the Liberals trailing in every opinion poll for the past three years, the Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull show with Peter Dutton slipping in and nearly destroying the Liberal party.

The washout from the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd infighting has been largely forgotten about; however, we all know the chief protagonist was now their leader. The Liberals should have been punished at the polls for the very dysfunction that plagued the Labor party and ruined their government.

Even when John Hewson blew the 93 election against the abominable Paul Keating, the Prime Minister we apparently had to have that gave us our last recession. The result was pretty much assured well before polling day – we already knew. Strangely, Keating deposed the popular Bob Hawke that really started the whole notion of swapping PMs.

Abbott was able to win an election, he did so by an amazingly large margin, despite his poor judgement and decision-making, he should have stayed as leader. Turnbull, a more likeable guy was a disaster and never gained traction with the public.

Although I didn’t think he was as bad as Abbott, people never took to him and only managed to fall over the line at the next election. It goes to show you don’t need a popular leader to win an election so Shorten’s lack of likeability is not the real cause of this election result.

So how did this come about? Firstly, I believe the two sides have changed supporters, the Liberal party has the aspirational voter and the Labor party attracts the inner city elite. Lawyers and doctor’s wives are more likely to support Labor than a bonafide blue collar worker clutching a trade certificate.

Labor now attracts university graduates who follow a specific viewpoint such as climate change. Nobody seems worried about plastics in the ocean, this I believe is a greater threat to humanity with plastic now spotted on the seafloor at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Labor has to stop this big end of town envy, the Liberal party is about small business and entrepreneurship. The un-costed policies were immediately seen through by the voting public, they knew the promises didn’t add up.

Scott Morrison on the other hand promised very little, people were more inclined to believe him. The trick is to target the issues that concerns voters, don’t dictate to them but do your research and address their needs.

Blue collar workers such as tradies are the new entrepreneurs, they are mostly non-unionised and setting up as contractors. The public sector is the last bastion of union influence and that won’t change anytime soon.

I think people are sick of being dictated to by a perceived left wing media and these so called celebrities, people form their own opinions and this politically correct posturing is driving people away. Who wants to be told how they should vote, how they should think and what causes they should support.

I logged on my computer first thing in the morning, the east coast of Australia was eight hours ahead. Exit polls were still picking a Labor win – as was expected. When I got home from work, Abbott was expected to lose his seat as I expected as GetUp threw huge resources at his electorate.

Whilst they dumped Abbott, they neglected to target the marginal seats that could have got better results. This helped the Liberal party, all this infighting was the result of Abbott and Turnbull and now both of them are gone, I would expect Dutton to now pull his head in now if he had any sense.

On the Labor side, Bill Shorten may have stood down as leader but he is still looking for a front bench gig, Tanya Plibersek and Chris Bowen are both architects of this loss with some terrible policy.

Anthony Albanese, better knwn as Albo is a genuine guy who is the only guy capable of taking on the highly approachable Morrison and he stated he stated he will dump the franking credit debacle if elected leader.

With Bill Shorten still hanging around, there won’t be any change in policy or direction and they really need to bring in a whole new team and change direction. Shorten blew what most would perceive as the unlosable election and may be viewed by many as the new Billary.

The end of the franking credits debate

Hopefully this election loss has defined the issue of franking credits for perpetuity, no future Labor government would ever risk taking this to an election again. However, the Labor party will one day be returned to government, hopefully the Labor party will never try to reintroduce this horrible legislation.

Australians who have worked and saved hard for their retirements were to be disadvantaged. The younger generation who watched their parents work hard and save for their retirements were now taking a major hit. This attitude of wealth redistribution didn't sit well with them.

Whilst the Labor party had envisioned a class war between the have and have nots, it didn't eventuate because the younger generation related to the baby boomer generation. Then throw the inheritance tax argument into the mix and people were not having a bar of this. 

Unfortunately, the Labor party has lost site of their core demographic, they now pander to minority groups who on most occasions aren't even union members. Unions are organised to represent their members through higher wages and improved conditions, they need to remember who they represent. 

The arrogance of the Labor party who were so far ahead in the polls was that they believed they could not be defeated. It was inconceivable to them that they could even remotely lose - the best part was they never saw it coming. 

The Australian election miracle

The federal election threw up a surprise, nobody and I mean nobody expected this outcome. For three years, the Liberal party never won one opinion poll. Even heading into polling day, nobody was expecting a liberal win, that included the Liberal party and every political commentator.

Australian Labor Party leader Bill Shorten was never going to be a popular leader, he had no charisma pretty much reading off cue cards written by speechwriters for the last three years. Scott Morrison on the other hand came across as a genuine guy, he could speak to people and articulate a clear message.

Despite the turmoil in the Liberal party over the past six years; somehow, ScoMo was able to snatch victory away from an inept Labor party who campaigned on a policy of envy, class warfare and wealth redistribution based on higher taxes. Even on election day, exit polls were indicating a Labor win.

As the night rolled on, we could slowly feel the change and all of a sudden a victory seemed possible. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott lost his seat yet this wasn't a problem. With Malcolm Turnbull now out of parliament and now Tony Abbott gone, the disharmony in the Liberal party had evaporated.

On the other hand, Bill Shorten, now known as Billary has managed to turn a solid polls lead into a humiliating loss, but it was not just his personal popularity that cost them the election. The Labor party had 6 years to form solid policies in opposition, the architects need to be reassigned to the back bench.

But instead, through arrogance came up with divisive policies that alienated the electorate because they thought they couldn't lose and the electorate punished them. This was an absolute disaster for the Australian Labor party, they totally misread the community and rubbish policies assigned them to another three years in opposition.  

Public transport in Perth, why bother?

It's the same problem every Friday night, you do what is right and leave your car at home and catch public transport if you plan to drink. There is little incentive to catch public transport when the schedules are so poorly designed.

I am drinking with my father so I leave my vehicle at home and take a combination of buses and trains to work, two buses to my parents house and a bus and a train home. Transperth, in various forms has been operating for a very long time. After all this time operating, they still, can't seem to coordinate a bus and train connection.

So every Friday night, I am standing up at the bus stop on time waiting for the bus to arrive. At the very best, I can jump from the bus and run through the train station to just make the train - that is if every connection aligns. What really happens is that when the bus pulls into the station, we see the train pulling away and I have another 30 minutes to wait.

So I ask, after all this time of scheduling and coordinating buses and trains, why is Transperth unable to align a bus to a train with any degree of consistency? Patronage on public transport is down, more people elect to drive a motor vehicle than catch public transport.

This is despite a bus or train running to the same destination to where you need  to drive. The senior managers need to ask why, what can they do to reverse public opinion regarding bus and train patronage.

The service is lousy, the costs of running a vehicle are similar, the schedules except during peak period are lousy, safety is an issue and connections are worse. The question is, why would a person choose public transport instead of a private vehicle?

Really, there is no incentive and the system will be mostly utilised by people who do not have the means to afford a private vehicle, those too young to drive or those attempting to avoid a booze bus.

Ubud coffee houses

As we wander around Ubud, I see a proliferation of small but quality coffee houses. For me, this is a great development for local producers and retailers, it makes for a great experience for foreign tourists.

I am seeing single origin coffee beans for sale in these coffee shops. Sumatran coffee is world famous, Bali has their own coffee bean industry and it is great to see retailers support and promote local product and suppliers. I am enjoying both their ambiance, service and their product, above all else, I enjoy supporting small business entrepreneurs with my tourist dollars.

The Glashütte Watch Museum

So we were in Dresden, a trip south to the town of Glashütte wasn't going to be too difficult. The S-bahn is an efficient system; however, to my surprise, a diesel locomotive pulls the double carriage on this section.

The German rail system run by Die Bahn is an extensive network that is efficiently run. The train trip down from Dresden was scenic, it didn't take all that long as it is only 25 kilometres with the train pulling up exactly where we needed to be.

For a watch guy like myself, there was no chance of me missing Glashütte, the home of A. Lange & Söhne, Original Glashütte, Union Glashütte and Noxos Glashütte. As we pulled in, I could see the production facilities of Union Glashütte.

To my surprise, Noxos Glashütte is so close to the train station, I wondered if it was actually in the train station. Walking just 50 metres, we were at the building of A. Lange & Söhne, the three major Glashütte watch manufacturers I was familiar with were all within a tight locality - amazing.

Handing over your passport

So a day after entering the Democratic Republic of Congo I have handed my passport over to company representatives to send to Kinshasa to get the necessary work permits - I am now pretty vulnerable.

This wasn’t the first time I handed over my passport for a visa. When I arrived in Lubumbashi, I went through immigration with a visa Volant and whilst they processed my application. They held onto my passport whilst I was taken from the airport to a medical centre where they drew blood and took a chest x-ray.

Whilst I was with a company representative, you are pretty much at their mercy as they keep your passport whilst you go offsite. Should something goes wrong, you would be unable to leave the country until a new passport was issued. As far as I know Australia doesn’t have an embassy, or even a consulate for that matter in the Democratic Republic of Congo - that’s an issue.

So I had to wait eight weeks for my visa to be processed and should something go wrong I am stuck in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Not that I aren’t enjoying my time here, it is just the potential time frame that I am left without a passport in a foreign country.

Losing my Elite Silver status

That didn't take long, I had my Silver Elite status for a year and I just didn't rack enough flights, I needed to earn 25,000 miles in that time to qualify for another year - I missed by a couple of thousand points.

Oh well, it doesn't hurt that much anyway. There was no priority boarding, no lounge access and no upgrades so I wasn't worried. I actually took some domestic flights with Virgin that would have gotten me over the line, oh well, not to worry. 

Flying the company jet

Moving from an Australian company to an American company is a bit of a culture shock, I have worked for Americans before, so I know they operate on big budgets and no expense is spared.

Unlike Australian companies dominated by accountants whose only goal is to constantly slash costs and conditions, American companies seem to be far more generous in my opinion. Of course you need accountants, just don t let them run the company.

I understood this when I stepped on the company jet at O.R. Tamo International Airport, they really fly a jet aircraft. Sure, I used to fly to site with Australian companies, they are generally propeller aircraft operated by small aviation companies with tight budgets.

Flying to the assembly/departure destination at Johannesburg, after the initial six month probation period they then fly all staff to point of hire business class. They pay well so they attract the best talent, they look after staff and staff turnover is generally low while morale is high.

So, after my probation period I can look forward to business class travel, being put up in pretty decent hotels when I am in transit and meals paid. I think I am going to get very used to this lifestyle, it is going to be hard to go back to what I was doing before - that's for sure.

Heading to Johannesburg

My final day of employment in the Western Australian government began with 4 hours of sick leave on Friday morning. I was departing for South Africa at 11:45 the next evening and I still hadn't had my Yellow Fever vaccination.

This was cutting it close but not that close, it was mid January and we were unable to obtain the required vaccination as I guess the live culture was in short supply due to the Christmas shutdown period.

Through the medical centre, they had tracked down a single dose of the vaccine that was held a a pharmacy- that was a lucky break. We nearly had to delay my mobilisation to site, I would then have to wait another week - a terrible outcome.

I had been waiting weeks for the vaccine but the lab was unable to supply, I was getting concerned as the last thing I wanted was to be stopped at the border and denied entry into the country. This was not how I wanted to start a new job, detained at the border requiring assistance from company representatives.

I had decided to return to work for two weeks in 2019 despite holding a firm offer of employment, I would be able to use some of my professional leave for 2019 and 4 of the 16 hours of non-accruing sick leave. 

My accruing sick leave stood at 165 days that I had accumulated over the years, I couldn't cash that in, but I had always kept a reserve in case of major illness, I am careful in such an instance as I am getting older and suffered some slight illness.

So everything was now in order, I had dinner and drinks at my parents house Friday night, sailing Saturday afternoon and then head home, pack my bags and head to the airport. Life is pretty good, I have no complaints, I am off on my next adventure and I am really looking forward to this next phase of my life.

My final day

I  came to work Friday three hours late, it was planned as I had my final appointment booked for my medical, I still didn't have clearance to travel to site, that happened after midday. I received notification during the afternoon when I checked my email at 4 pm, then I knew I was going.

I took a class, it was tuning diesel engines that involved inline pump timing, rotary pump timing, mechanical injector setting, EUI setting and finally hydraulic injector testing. Naturally, I was counting down the sessions with four hours to go, two hours to go and then thirty minutes to go.

When I walked back into the staff room it was almost empty, that's exactly what I wanted as there were just three people left, one left early and as I checked my computer for the final time, I walked through the near empty staff room and headed for the door. I shook two hands and walked out, didn't look back and headed towards the bus stop.

This is exactly the way I wanted to leave, no discussion, no fanfare and I would have been happy to not see anyone. What I wanted to do was walk out, disconnect and never look back and my first action was to do exactly that - I walked out the door and kept walking.