Watch collecting - an expensive hobby

So watch collecting is becoming an expensive hobby, fortunately for me it remains within the bounds of my finances. I think for now though, it is time to not buy anything new unless an opportunity too good to pass up comes along.

As a watch enthusiast, I am still able to research and try on timepieces when I am out researching individual pieces. I don't do this much in Perth since competition and ranges are limited, also I prefer to research away from home where people don't know me and I can walk out of the shop anytime.

Naturally, not too many people get to collect  A. Lange & Söhne, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin or Audemars Piguet and I am one of those people. Still, I can admire robust engineering and magnificent styling without owning one.

I have found watch enthusiasts also tend to be car enthusiasts, motorsport and race timekeeping tend to merge together. This accounts for so many automotive series from the Speedmaster, Carrera, Monza, Silverstone and Daytona series.

Since I’m more into yachting, brands such as Rolex and Omega tend to support these activities although the Seamaster range is more aligned to diving these days. Is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak a dive watch or a marine timepiece? So too with the Patek Philippe Nautilus.

Dive watches, where to start? The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, the Rolex Submariner and Omega Seamaster are leading brands but every manufacturer from Ulysse Nardin, Breitling, Tudor, Officine Panerai, TAG Heuer, Bremont, Mühle-Glashütte, Tissot, Oris and Jaeger-LeCoultre have dive watches.

Aviation is well supported with IWC, Breitling, Bremont, Bell and Ross and Omega. Rolex came out with a GMT for dual timezones for international travelers and business people, apparently after a specific request from Pam-Am. Cartier is credited with creating the first aviator timepiece with the Santos in 1904.

Then there is out and out style, A. Lange & Söhne, Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, Breguet, Glashütte Original, Zenith, Cartier, Girard-Perregaux,  and Chopard are leading examples of how style meets functionality. Even the Rolex Cellini cracks a mention here; then there is Piaget, Mountblanc, Rado, Baume and Mercier, Jaeger-LeCoultre  and IWC.

You are not really supposed to be seen in a dinner suit in a chronograph, dive or aviator watch; that's where the low profile and elegant timepiece is desired. Your timepiece is supposed to sit under your shirt cuff.

I love researching timepieces, trying them on and writing about features, styling, functionality, value and finally wrist feel. I collect manufacturer catalogs from retail outlets, download specifications and read as many reviews as I can handle. Yeah, it's fun and yeah, it's expensive but who cares as you only live once.

Pressure to meet quotas

Whilst understood, there isn’t too many businesses I have been involved with that doesn’t place timeframes on employees. There is an argument that tight schedules increases productivity but naturally increases stress at work, this is only feasible for short term projects as it tends to burn people out over the longer term.

So where does that leave us? I work in the engineering maintenance department on a copper and cobalt mine and our project based maintenance work requires tight timeframes and budgets. You need to find creative solutions to solve problems within budgetary frameworks and tight schedules.

Now I understand that I am viewing this from my own perspective and I would like to work in a job where I had neither financial or time constraints - but I don't. I would like to know who does and how they are able to produce a service or product in a business without any of these factors - now that would be a good job.

Flying the A380

I love flying on the Airbus A380, I know airlines are looking to downsize to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, but as a passenger, I find the A380 far superior for long haul travel. I understand Airbus is having trouble selling new aircraft and the A380 production may cease - that's a shame.

I had a longhaul flight from Perth to Dubai on a 777-200 and I can’t say it was a great experience. The aircraft was operated by Emirates, a pretty decent airline but I still felt uncomfortable and cramped. Even with a aisle seat, I was able to stretch my legs but was bumped into by staff moving up and down the aisles.

The entertainment system didn’t work, the movie kept losing sound, the screen froze or I had issues loading programs. Maybe that just added to my annoyance, I gave the entertainment system away and used my own tablet to pass the time instead. I understand this is just an annoyance and not indicative of the aircraft design.

From Dubai to Frankfurt, the A-380 was a totally different experience, it was easy to get up and move around. I was four rows back from the front of the aircraft, people were standing in clear spaces chatting, walking around and generally looking relaxed.

I felt the atmosphere was vastly improved, people genuinely looked better and appeared happier. My choice is definitely the A-380 even though the 787 has been promoted to ultra long-haul travel from point-to-point instead of the current hub-and-spoke model.

Semi-retired in my 40s

Was I semi-retired in my 40s? I would argue the time spent working in the recreational dive industry in my late 20s and early 30s was semi-retired. Although I received a salary, I felt like I was getting paid to have fun and it felt like I was saving money by not paying for diving experiences.

I was becoming a little concerned, I was now mid 30s and had to make a decision, do I continue in the low wage diving industry or do I return to a career? I chose to start a new career in training and education; this was really an extension of being a diving instructor with better pay, conditions, leave entitlements, job security and the all important retirement benefits.

During my dive instructor working period, I made some superannuation payments along with employer contributions on my behalf, but this was grossly under what I should have been putting away. I wasn't salary sacrificing as I paid the bills but funds were tight, overseas holidays evaporated but most weeks were like a holiday as I led tours within Western Australia anyway.

But, during my mid 30s I was accepted into state government employment. I now had a pretty decent salary, eight weeks paid leave, one day per week working from home and I was accruing long service leave entitlements. Sure I was back in full-time employment but it was Monday to Friday with one day per week working from home.

Even better, I joined the Government Employees Superannuation Board (GESB) where my employer contributions were deposited into my account without the mandatory 15% contributions tax deducted. I was now accruing a decent retirement benefit with all the fantastic conditions attached to state government employment.

The eight weeks paid leave was the selling point, that's two months off per year where I traveled overseas, dived the South East Asian region from Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. There were also trips to Europe and the United States, no point getting all these holidays and sitting around home trying to save money.

Sure, I didn't get paid to take people scuba diving anymore but my now more than generous salary easily covered that. I was still working as a part-time instructor at a number of dive centres as a part-time employee as well part ownership of a dive business for a while.

I also renewed all my diving equipment, untook renovations on my property, updated my car, made extra contributions to my retirement account, got myself a university education and then there was the travel both in the state, interstate and international.

These days I don't work part-time in diving anymore although I keep my membership current for possible future references. My summer Saturdays are spent at the Royal Perth Yacht Club as a crew member racing a S97 cruiser. Whilst my dingy days are over, the Saturday afternoon race is a highlight of the week.

The club also has mid-week races with Saturday being very competitive, Thursday evening is the twilight race that really isn't a race, this is a cruise with no spinnaker for down-wind legs, mostly inexperienced crews enjoying time on the Swan River. We generally refer to this race (of sorts) as a booze cruise with further drinks and BBQ up the club afterwards.

Hot coffee all over me

I am an idiot, I should have known better. Why would I request a coffee on an aircraft when we are experiencing turbulence?

Not only that, it was a full cup and it was going everywhere, it started by spilling out of the cup and onto the tray table. I’m scrambling for a napkin or some other absorbent material to clean it up before it spills over the edge. I'm too slow and unfortunately the closest absorbent material is my trousers, now I have two wet legs - great.

It is not so much the burning, sure the coffee is black but it isn't that hot, I'm just annoyed with the large stain on my leg. This is the first leg of the flight with a stopover in Dubai, I have a the next flight after that and want to look reasonable and presentable as I will be catching trains and other local transport on my arrival in Frankfurt - damn.

The dreaded performance review

Is the performance review dreaded, or is it really an opportunity to state your case? If you have a poor manager, an overbearing manager, a micro manager or just plain old incompetent manager - here is your chance.

I look forward to a performance review but in all reality I don't get many opportunities in the workplace I am employed as they just don't perform performance reviews. Now they should as it is the state government that pays my salary and it is mandated in the public service code of conduct that a performance review is to be performed at least annually - it isn't.

In the nine years I have been employed in the job, I have received just one performance review and although it was supposed to last an hour, I turned it into a two-hour meeting much to my manager's discomfort. The role of the performance is to naturally review your performance but it shouldn't descend into a chance for your manager to just direct criticism at you - this is generally what happens though.

The purpose of the performance review is to see how your job can be performed more efficiently, what your manager can do so you can increase your productivity, what problems they can sort out, what training you need and what systems can be improved. With the exceptions of the best managers, this generally doesn't happen, if this was indeed the case, the performance review wouldn't be dreaded.

Fitting the stereotype

Back in 2015 I wrote a post about why talent leaves and non-performers remain, the inspiration for this post was about a woman whom I wished to remain anonymous. I admired her self belief, her inner confidence and her courage to take a huge risk with her career to back herself in to a senior role.

I always knew she was talented, hard working and resourceful; she had leadership potential and all she needed was the right people to notice. I reposted this on my Facebook page as she had moved on again to a higher position and I wanted to remind her that I recognised her talent back then.

I have also changed roles, so naturally my former colleagues saw this as a slight on themselves and I was back on the most hated list. I care little of their small-minded narrow views; had they even taken the time to read the post they would have worked out the publishing date was four years ago.

Attention to obvious detail, limited research skills and a small degree of comprehension would have informed this bunch of egotists this post wasn't written about them. Instead they would rather sit around the office gossiping about something they know nothing about.

What really made me laugh was I checked the analytics and there was a single redirection of this post from my Facebook page from that geographical location. I could count the page views from Australia so I knew they hadn't even read the post themselves.

It is true, I do lack respect for my former colleagues, I find little redeeming qualities in them. Maybe they need to go back to watching YouTube videos all day and stop gossiping about topics where they are clearly out of their depth.

I might not have written the post about them but clearly they believe they fit the stereotypical government employee - for once, they may actually be right.  

Finding topics to write about

I love creative writing and I feel I find topics to write about when I am sitting on a plane either heading to work or off on holiday.

Now I am back working on a mine site I find myself short of topics to write about, then when I am sitting in the business lounge ideas seem to flow. I get up at 4 am and despite going to bed early, I seem unable to write, I feel mentally drained.

Before I returned to the mining industry I had an energy to write; ideas flowed easily. Now, by the time I arrive home, I am exhausted both physically and mentally and have trouble coming up with ideas - writer's block so to speak.

Sitting in the rear section of the aircraft way back in economy class, I easily find topics to write about again, I have my tablet out and I am able to put my thoughts into the notepad ready to transfer into my blog when I come online again.

Nespresso and illy

When I think of a business partnership that can deliver value, I think of illy and Nespresso. Both are coffee suppliers and in competition with each other, but really in differing key markets.

Firstly, illy is a supplier of coffee beans to reputable cafes, their branding is well known and sought after. Also, illy coffee is able to be purchased by the container and consumed in your home coffee maker.

This would boost the exposure of illy in key consumer markets and tie the product to a reputable distributor with scale and coverage. Living in Perth, I really lack the opportunity to purchase illy coffee from a reliable source. On my trips to South East Asia, I have better opportunities to drink illy espresso than I do in Perth.

I can purchase illy beans from my local supermarket; however, I have long retired my Delonghi coffee machine for the convenience of Nespresso pods. They have a reasonable selection along with a reliable coffee machine without the hassle of disposing of coffee grounds.

Now, I just wait for the announcement of illy teaming up with Nespresso. Nespresso comes up with Limited Editions on a constant basis, an illy Limited Edition would be a pretty decent combination and a unique sales promotion.

A wetsuit not required - or so I thought

Diving in 28C water, is a wetsuit really required? If we talk about exposure protection, now there is a different requirement. I was diving in the tropics in really warm water, my 75 minute dive wasn't going to see me get cold, but what about skin protection? To my detriment, I never took that into account.

I was diving around a pier with a little bit of current around, not a great deal but enough to make you think about it. If you are not thinking about what you are doing in regards to positioning, it is pretty easy to be washed up against the pier uprights damaging the growth or maybe getting stung.

As we ascended in the shallows to off-gas on our safety stop, I nearly swam into a stinger, that would have earned me a nice mark on my face. As I broke the surface, it was almost impossible to move through the water without contacting the stingers in the water - they were everywhere. The boat was some distance away and I needed to swim backwards allowing my cylinder and BCD to deflect most of the tentacles away. 

As I only had a set of speedos on, I had plenty of flesh exposed and I was copping stings pretty much all over my body. As I approached the boat as he cruised in, the boat boy was telling me to take my fins off before trying to climb up the ladder. No chance, I dug my heels into the ladder rung to remove the bulk of my body from the water and out of the reach of those electric tentacles.

My usual procedure on these really small boats is to throw my equipment in the water and get in it on the surface for deep water or let it sink to the bottom for shallower water and put it on there. Normally getting out of my equipment underwater on the way to the surface so I can hand it directly to the boat crew is my normal procedure - not today. 

I tried to climb out of the water like it was toxic, for all intent purposes it was for me, I wanted no more exposed skin being touched by these box jellyfish. These stings are not going to cause respiratory shock to throw me into a coma like some box jellyfish are able to - still, these stingers really made me jump so lesson learnt. I might not need a wetsuit to keep warm - the exposure protection it provides is the real key for warm water diving.

Victoria's Secret

I have walked past plenty of Victoria’s Secret retail stores in shopping malls and airports. I didn't think it was much of a secret, Victoria wore undies and more than likely didn't get around commando.

When I wandered in, well dragged in, not to my surprise I was the only male in the store. During my brief appearance I found they retailed all sorts of merchandise from fragrances, body lotions, cosmetics, backpacks and handbags. You kind of feel like a pervert in these stores even though I was accompanying a woman. I said already that I was brought in under duress right.

Treating people with respect

I am a big fan of treating people with respect, it really isn't a difficult concept to grasp. Why then do so many people have trouble doing exactly that?

What I see is people full of their own importance forgetting about how they got there. We mostly began with menial jobs and worked our way up to more important roles with increased experience and in some cases education.

We are all pretty much working class, not that many are born into immense wealth where they don't need paid employment, some eventually marry into money or receive an inheritance but they are still in the minority.

In Australia, we have an egalitarian society for the best part, to be honest, I care little for the Murdoch family, Packer family or more old money such as the Fairfax family. I can't say I envy them; sure, their family wealth would be nice but they are far divorced from everyday Australians and I don't actually mind heading off to work every day.

If the billionaires of Australia can treat people respectfully then I am sure everyday Australians should have no trouble with this concept. With the exception of some, we are all pretty much working class. Whilst some have greater means than others, we all still have to show up for work on Monday morning.

The trouble with retirement saving

The problems with saving for retirement are inflationary pressures, most people begin work in their 20s and reach retirement age at around 65. For most people, that is around 40 years in the workforce paying tax and contributing to the economy.

If you are saving 10% of your salary from your early years in the workforce then that 10% in 40 odd years time won't look so attractive. Sure the benefits of compounding start to kick in, that last decade in the workforce is when you need to really dump the maximum funding in your retirement account to benefit.

The real challenge then for governments is to provide the incentive to attract people to save easing the burden on the pension system. The pension is not a right, your tax paid goes to health, transport, defence, utilities and just about every essential service. Governments unfortunately don't plan long-term, they follow the three year election cycle of short-term decision-making.

A percentage of your tax paid does not go to a retirement account invested in government services run at a profit for stakeholders. You could pay tax all your life and not qualify for the pension system, you are self-funded until your assets decline in value below the threshold and you may receive a part pension.

The strategy then if you are in a financial position to do so is retire the moment you qualify to self fund and enjoy your early retirement while you are hopefully healthy and active enough to enjoy it. At this point all you have to do is support yourself for 7 years and then draw on the public pension if you so desire. For me, I don't like that option as I don't want to rely on a government with an ever increasing welfare burden.

Based on contemporary data, the average lifespan of Australians is 82 for men and 84 for women. Based on this information, the majority of health issues arise at around age 80 so retirees should travel and partake in as many activities early in their retirement as lifestyle and the ability to partake in activities incrementally declines with increasing age.

However, we all know most governments are somewhat reckless with public money. Governments like to spend big to get in favour with voters and when they look like losing power they spend more to bribe the electorate with taxpayers money. Then they needn't worry about the payments, that will be the problem of the incoming government.

Now that as a nation we have a large pool of retirement savings, the prudent long-term decision would be to encourage current workers (taxpayers) to self fund their retirements through tax incentives. However, how governments really work is to spend big to retain power then tap into the large pool of retirement savings through increased taxes to fund their election promises.