No shutdown for me just yet

There is no shut down for me yet, we are one of the areas required to stay open and I am ok with that. Within our office, the complaining is incredible, I wished the volume control on my computer was working so I can drown out the whining by putting on headphones - my attitude is just get on with it.

At this point, it is all about personal leadership so I clean my own desk with disinfectant that I brought in from home, I clean the desks of the guys close to me and then I move to the tutorial room I am using. My employer states there is hand sanitiser for people to use - there isn't.

The storeman is playing around mixing methylated spirits with moisturiser for hand sanitiser, this isn't a winning formula but at least he is giving it a crack. Due to poor planning, we did not order hand sanitiser when we should of, the people responsible for ordering felt we didn't need any more - difficult to fathom. 

Despite what they publish, there is no extra cleaning of areas like hand-rails, door handles or anything. I clean the students desks for them as I noticed in the mornings, if they left their books on the desks the night before, they were unmoved. I clean the door handles, light switch and fan control every morning with spray cleaner.

Our managers are making an artform of social distancing, none to be seen in any areas where they could come into contact with the public. We already have guys with the flu in the office walking around infecting others, that weakens our personal immunity. 

They walk around the office coughing without placing their hands over their mouth and they thought this was all bullshit at the start, they were parroting that Scomo is using this as a reason to cover up the bushfires. Now they have reversed their views abruptly, are all saying we should be in lock-down but are not practicing social distancing themselves.

Trickle down economics - even the term is wrong

I try not to respond to Facebook comments anymore, I shouldn't even be reading these comments as I sometimes feel part of my intelligence is being eroded by some of these opinions.

This occurred when the Morrison government announced increased spending due to the economic shocks of the east coast bushfires closely followed by the impacts of the Coronavirus. We have a long-term situation of low economic growth, albeit positive followed by low wage growth due minimal productivity increases.

The surplus was gone, you can forget about that now, so now the federal government needs to work on stabalising the economy. So when I read a comment on how we all know how trickle down economics never works, I was compelled to reply.

Lindy is describing Gerry (Gerry Harvey Executive Chairman of Harvey Norman) who was asking the government to support local manufacturers (not retailers) in the form of  interest free loans to stimulate economic activity.

The trouble is Gerry when you and your ilk get any money hand outs from the government it just goes to your shareholders or into your pockets....none of you ever employ any extra staff.
You just take the money then run and hide.
It’s know as the trickledown effect and has been proven never to work.

My reply to Lindy was:

The term trickle down economics was first coined by comedian Will Rogers describing Hoover's stimulus package in the depression. If you are referring to supply-side economics, the Laffer Curve was used to plot the relationship between tax rates and receipts to maximise revenue. This may also be known as Reaganomics. Supply-side economics may also be known as Reaganomics.

Adding to that, supply-side theory originated from the Chicago Booth School of Economics, but really dates back to the Nixon era when stagflation heralded the end of Keynesian demand-side policies. I had to keep my reply short, no point long answers of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr.

Not that I am necessarily endorsing supply-side economic theory, I am arguing the terminology trickle-down economics, this is not is what is taught during economics classes. Macro-economic theory should explore both demand-side and supply-side theories analysing strengths and weaknesses of both approaches with the intention of generating new ideas and theories.

Keynesian economic theory pulled the world out of depression, that worked up until the 1970s until simultaneous inflation and unemployment peaked in what became known as stagflation, a situation Keynes stated wouldn’t occur. We need new and updated theories, what worked then doesn't necessarily work now and I agree with Gerry, the government needs to support local manufacturers. 

Taking no responsibility

President Trump is getting some flack from reporters calling COVID-19 the Chinese virus, I prefer the term Chinavirus, it just rolls off the tongue easier.

I am no fan of Trump, but on this occasion, he is right to call out the Chinese government for their lack of action in closing down this discussion. Let’s face it, they run a command and control structure, they limit social media and they employ state paid trolls to distribute misinformation so if they want to shut this down - they could.

Based on discussions with friends, Chinese social media has been talking up the start of the virus blaming this on US military personnel introducing this virus to China. For fuck’s sake, just own the problem that you created and start to distribute the vast wealth China has accumulated from western countries to address the worldwide problems you created.

We have obligations

Am I personally concerned that I will contract Coronavirus, well not that much actually. Am I trying to do everything possible to not contract Coronavirus? You bet I am as we have obligations to others.

I expect to get sick for a short period and recover, hopefully without too many health complications. To lower the risk, I have adapted the practices requested by authorities of social distancing, I clean my work area with disinfectant, I could only purchase Pine O Cleen floor cleaner as that is antibacterial disinfectant to wipe down my work area and that of my colleagues.

I have hand sanitiser and wash and disinfect my hands regularly, the hardest mannerism for me was to stop touching and scratching my face. I expect to work through this as long as possible, as I am employed in training, I am in contact with a large volume of people so social distancing is difficult.

For me, the issues are not spreading this virus - sure, I expect to be ok but there are many in my family and community that are vulnerable. It is my obligation to not pass this virus onto community members and I take this obligation very seriously.

Waiting for push back

Sitting on the flight waiting for the doors to close, cross-checks performed and push-back to occur is one of the many times I gain ideas, I am ready to write as I busily tap away on the screen of my tablet.

There are plenty of typing and grammatical mistakes but I don't mind, the purpose is to get as much of the story laid on the screen before my mind begins to tire. Besides, a touch screen is going to cause you problems, but the editing phase can iron out those faults later.

I once had to undertake a creative writing session during a professional development day. I was looking forward to that session but it turned out to be a session to write about anything that came into our mind. I was hoping for creative writing strategies, now I will need to seek other methods to gain this knowledge.

However, this is far from my mind at the moment, the cabin is hot, really hot and the Captain has come over the intercom to explain why this is so. Despite wearing a thin long sleeved shirt, I am sweating and concentration is difficult, let's get this aircraft cranked up and this show on the road as we are all feeling uncomfortable.

The Captain informs the tail turbine running the electrics and air-conditioning failed just as the aircraft touched down in Perth at midday, it is now close to midnight and the problem is not yet resolved, I call bullshit, this wouldn't have just happened.

This is not the fault of the maintenance crews in Perth, we all know South African Airways is poorly managed and on the brink of insolvency so no work order would have been released.

Seven CEOs in four years is pretty indicative of a structural failure of the SAA organisation, it is clear that maintenance is being neglected in order to cut costs - I have seen this all before.

The comfort women of WWII

A term that really annoys me is the Japanese military term of Comfort Women, utter bullshit. This is a sanitised term to describe forced prostitution and sexual slavery. Comfort for who? Not them - that's for sure.

The Japanese military was complicit in organising murder, that is a proven fact under war crimes trial proceedings. By the very nature of their actions, Japanese soldiers were not only given free reign to rape and pillage, they were encouraged to do so by their leaders.

The key military leadership going all the way to the emperor was responsible for the acts of atrocity committed by the Japanese military of the second world war. Japanese women in occupied Japan in the immediate aftermath of WWII were relatively free of rape and harassment.

Yes, rapes did occur by the occupation forces from time to time; however, in a marked difference of leadership, the perpetrators were charged with crimes and punished accordingly by the various commands of the occupying forces.

Have we all gone mad?

I am living in an idiotic society, people are no longer resilient, they are self-centred and not community minded. This has been so evident with the stockpiling of toilet paper in Australia - have these people gone mad?

Fights are breaking out in department stores over rolls of toilet paper, the police are called and people arrested. There was one case of a woman with a whole trolley full of toilet paper who was unwilling to give up just one packet to a woman who needed it.

In one instance, the police were called, the guy was rolling around on the ground with the police officer and went for his pistol. He was tasered and taken away in handcuffs to be processed. Have these people lost their minds? We are talking about toilet paper here, not life saving drugs.

What is laughable is toilet paper is produced in Australia, they have ramped up production 24/7, this is not an imported good, so we can supply internally. We know we are going to be quarantined, that is inevitable, the answer is when. This is based on the best assessment of the government and their medical advisors.

Perth really needs a decent ferry service

Perth once had a ferry service of sorts connecting the riverside suburbs of Perth to the CBD, that's the central business district or downtown to the Americans.

We have a number of jetties so the infrastructure is already there and the Barrack Street Jetty that now forms part of the Elizabeth Quay development. Currently there is a short ferry service run by Transperth, the state government operated rail and bus service.

The Transperth ferry connects Barrack Street Jetty to the Mends Street Jetty in South Perth. It is then just a short walk to Perth Zoo, this short service has run for as long as I can recall.

A short shuttle around the Perth foreshore from Elizabeth Quay to On the Point and then onto Claisebrook Cove is undertaken by a private ferry service. As the Americans say, a ferry service from the train station at Elizabeth Quay to the new Perth Stadium is a no-brainer.

I am looking more at connecting the riverside suburbs of Perth to the CBD, the Rottnest Island ferries operate from the Barrack Street Jetty and have done so for a long time.

The Applecross Jetty, the Coode Street Jetty and JoJo's Cafe could run a reasonable service much like Sydney's Manly Ferry to Circular Quay. Possible even the East Street Jetty in Fremantle could be connected to a service

Working in a positive team environment

I had had worked so long in a toxic work environment that I almost forgot what it was like to work in a high performance team environment. I can honestly say, I didn't want to work there another day.

First you have to create an inclusive working environment, people must be free to offer opinions without ridicule or negativity. You have to support your team-mates and you need to have confidence that they will support you.

In private enterprise we share a common goal, we support each other to achieve that goal. In the public sector the culture is vastly different, people will use whatever underhand methods they can to take credit for other people's work.

Now I work in a positive culture I want to go to work, I want to perform so I can add value to the team. A positive culture creates opportunities, it makes people want to perform and we want to support each other and our successes are team successes.

Doors closed, armed and cross-checked

Doors closed, arm all doors and cross-check; the seatbelt light is activated and the cabin crew take their places. After an uncomfortable delay we may actually be moving, everyone is relieved - I certainly am.

It is uncomfortably hot inside the cabin and everyone is feeling it. The Captain comes over the intercom and informs us the tail turbine running the air-conditioner and electrics has failed on the inbound flight earlier today.

So we are without climate control and even though it is close to midnight in winter, it is uncomfortably hot. We are all in long sleeves and it is like a sauna in here, we are all dripping with sweat and just want to get moving.

Their plan is to crank up two inner turbines whilst the aircraft is at the terminal to get some air movement in the cabin, push back and crank the two outer turbines and then maneuver the aircraft into position - I think this is a smashing plan so let's get it done.

Storms over Perth, we still have wheels on the ground and we can feel it, some cross-wind and the aircraft is moving around. Wheels are off the ground, the aircraft lifts and drops, this isn't a nasty take-off buff you certainly know you are in inclement weather but we are off and everyone is happy.

My best ever job

I worked on a dive charter boat in my late 20s and into my early 30s in the Mediterranean Sea, this was possibly the best job I ever had.

I had become sick of working hard all my life away from home for extended periods of time, sure the money was good, but the lifestyle was horrible. So I decided to change industries and I don't regret for a second the decisions I made.

I was also working in a dive shop in Perth, this was a pretty decent job even if it wasn't as exotic as working in Turkey. Sure, you have to earn the right to work in a low paid job in the hospitality and tourism industry.

In my mind, you need to be financially secure, without funds to support yourself you are fairly vulnerable, but I understand plenty don't. But if you are out enjoying yourself and have the funds, I believe enjoying life because life really is fleeting and we only get one shot at it.

So I had a mid-life break from working in a high-paid job with low quality of life to enjoy myself in my late 20s to my mid 30s. The job was low-paid but rewarding and I really had the time of my life.

I was young and fit enough to enjoy the travel and the budget accommodation before reentering the workforce again for full financial benefits. I have rebuilt my finances and planned for my retirement, now I need to see out the next decade before I can reset and do it again.

Business deals done at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

Hanging at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in BGC, that's Bonifacio Global City in Manila is an interesting time. Whilst Makati is the heart of the business district, there is plenty of business conducted in Manila's business numerous districts.

Sitting upstairs, I can look around and look over the edge and watch business deals going down. Looking around on the upper level, I am listening to business jargon being loudly thrown around, spreadsheets scattered recklessly over tables and sales pitches.

During the day, the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is a hive of activity, coffee and sometimes cakes consumed and deals negotiated. I believe a cafe is a perfect location for business meetings, most amicable, some not so with tempers flaring and voices raised and I am enjoying being in the centre of it.

Running on empty

I had heard this song on the radio so many times, yet at the end of the song when they announced the artist and song title had always escaped me. I am talking about a number of years of this artist and title alluding me - I reckon about 5 or so years.

Then when I was working out at the Telfer gold mine, I guess around 1990 or 1991, I finally heard the details I had been seeking for years, the artist was Jackson Browne singing Running on Empty.

I was overjoyed, on my next trip to Perth I was able to wander in a music store and purchase the album of the same name. This began my long association with the easy listening nature of Jackson Browne.

Over the years, I have purchased multiple Jackson Browne albums, I have seen him play live a number of times and it was great. One was an outdoor concert at King's Park and I had to make a 1000 kilometer trip to get there - totally worth it.

I really relate to the storytelling and Jackson Browne can do this with his melodies and songwriter skills. When I had the album for this single song, now I really enjoy the whole album and the narrative Jackson sells.