Masa Takashima - an entrepreneur of his time

I first came into contact with Masa Takashima not that long after completing my instructor examination, I had done some courses already so wasn't far off my Master Scuba Diver Trainer certification.

Masa was a Japanese fellow who had lived in Perth a fair amount of time, he came to Australia from Japan, loved the place and decided to move here permanently. He had worked for a fairly high profile dive operation in Fremantle before deciding to branch out on his own - an astute decision in my view.

This was about the time the Japanese tourism market was expanding, Perth was a must-see destination for the Japanese back then. Masa was able to capitalise on this growing market, it is fair to say he was the right guy in the right place.

Masa was a big picture guy, he didn't care much for the details - that's where I came in. I am an operational guy, or I was back then anyway. I was the operations manager of his business, Masa came up with the ideas and I implemented the plans.

That's not to say I didn't have any input; however, the general trend was Masa was the ideas man and I was the operations guy. Masa gave me pretty much a free reign, if the courses and tours we were running were making money then he was happy.

I had calculated the break-even points so I was well aware of minimum numbers so the courses and tours we run spilled into the next program so those people filled the next program with new-comers joining and creating extra profit.

Masa had his limitations, but was that a problem? Well no, as long as you identified them, then there is no issues, you just work around them. Some of his ideas were really bizarre and I had to shut them down. Some of his ideas were brilliant, even if I didn't see it at the time, I soon worked it out.

This was a good time in my life, I was really enjoying my life, my dog was alive and my world couldn't be better, my time working with Masa coincided with significant life milestones. Life was good, it could always get better, but I was pretty happy working together with Masa.

Reds under the Bed

In what might be a return to Reds under the Bed, Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane has been raided by ASIO officers and the Australian Federal Police.

Whilst this isn’t concerning, he has been very vocal in support for the Chinese handling of the coronavirus. At time of writing, there was a confirmed 21 million infections worldwide with 750,000 deaths, at the very least, this guy should be arrested for being a fuckhead.

How the fuck could that be considered successfully containing the virus? What, this is a good outcome, it could have been much worse, China has tanked the world economy, infected millions and it isn’t anywhere near finished yet.

Moselmane has openly praised China, he has also received free trips to China whilst selling Australian interests down the toilet. As he is an elected official, this guy is dangerous and his actions are counter to Australian interests - he needs a lengthy term of imprisonment.

China cannot be allowed to financially benefit from the worldwide disaster they created

China cannot be allowed to financially benefit from the worldwide disaster they created. Worldwide governments, not just the Australian government, need to ensure Chinese companies flush with cash from the Chinese government do not swoop in and purchase distressed companies. 

The economies of the world have been compromised from the actions of China, their unsanitary conditions, their lack of regulation and their lack of ability to contain the coronavirus in Wuhan was the cause of this disaster occuring in the first place.

The last thing the world needs is Chinese companies flush with cash from the CCP purchase companies and distort capital markets. China has distorted manufacturing and supply chains fed by Western nations intent on offshoring manufacturing.

The opportunity for Western companies was access to the vast Chinese market that never eventuated and this experiment needs to end. The Western world along with central Asian and Asian-Pacific countries now needs to form trading partnerships with nations to isolate Chinese influence and create a level playing field.

I hope that nations with democratic governments can come together and decouple from China, they need to relocate supply chains away from China. The Japanese government is offering tax incentives for their companies to return to Japan, other democratic governments should be looking at their model.

They hate us because they ain't us

I deal with haters everyday, this is a prerequisite of working in the government. The haters work against you, this is the government way; they don’t assist, they don’t create value and they certainly don’t serve the business.

I have been advised the term haters stands for having anger towards everyone reaching success, this isn’t a bad analogy and I cannot claim it as my creation. My attitude of haters is they are jealous of success, but this is really based on their failures.

I have also been told that “I have never seen a hater doing better than me” and once again, this isn’t my creation and sums it up well. Based on my years in the government and their cultural voids, bullying type behaviour is rampant so a high performing individual requires strategies to counter the haters.

My view is never get involved in a direct confrontation with a hater, this is the situation they crave, you need to out maneuver them and not accommodate them. Firstly, ignoring them is easy, only speak to them if they initiate a direct conversation where an answer is required.

Always be polite to them, they try to bait you and the more restraint you display, the more it irritates them. Naturally, never initiate a conversation, they are not your friend although they may attempt to be exactly that. They will try to take credit for your accomplishments so be on guard, be ready to act and call them out and embarrass them in group situations.

This is about them, this isn’t about you and one suspects their life is miserable, hence - their actions. You have two choices, you either reach out to them or ignore them, but since they are the ones who are attacking you, the better option is to neutralise their influence by mocking them subversively.

Still, never let these fools get to you, their main role is to motivate you, you out-perform them, you receive the promotions they never earn. Despite stealing your work, they don’t have much to offer and despite their noise, informed people see straight through them. If they don’t - then they are idiots.

Warsaw to Krakow

I love European train trips, the train ride from Warsaw to Krakow was no exception. On this particular trip on the IC train, we were afforded the luxury of empty compartments in second class - it was great.

Some train journeys we have undertaken were on Pullman seats, these are not uncomfortable for sure, but the opportunity to spread out and relax in your own compartment can't be beaten.

Whilst most of Western Europe is fairly expensive by Australian standards, spending some time in Poland is a welcome relief to the budget.

The  two and a half hour train  journey was scenic, there was plenty of stops along the way pulling into stations and there was even a change of direction with the electric loco shunted around.

I was having some difficulty tracking progress with Google Maps initially as I don't have a phone plan instead relying on satellite positioning that took longer to load than expected.

My TAG Heuer Aquaracer

I purchased my TAG Heuer Aquaracer after a fair amount of research. I had viewed an older model at Changi Airport on an earlier trip and he informed me this watch had sat around for a while.

As I knew I was returning a month or so later, I had planned to pick up this excellent example of an older 2016 model Aquaracer. Those hopes were dashed on my next trip to find the watch had already been sold - I was too late.

So a plan B was required, so I was making enquiries in Mazzucchelli's Jewellers in Karrinyup Shopping Centre when I was able to negotiate a decent price. We had a plan where I placed a deposit on the timepiece as I had my Bali Christmas trip organised but was outside the 60 days time frame for receiving a GST refund via duty free allowances.

My plan was simple, make my purchase just before my overseas trip and receive the GST rebate as allowed. Making an expensive purchase isn't an issue with me, I am happy enough for the watch to sit in their retail outlet until I was ready to travel.

The last thing I wasted mg this timepiece getting too much wrist time gaining scratches and dents. That would make it difficult for me to state my case as I cleared customs, this wasn't an issue as they didn't even request to see the merchandise as I completed the necessary forms.

I didn't need to even carry the box with me although that wasn't really a hassle as I was just travelling to Bali and back for a week. I later learned that they want to see the packaging but only when they are on duty, evening or late night flights only require the filling of forms.

Banning WeChat

I am not a fan of Donald Trump, I don’t like his abrasive style of presidency, hostile attitude, narcissism, or personal integrity. I certaining do not like his lack of transparency and the high turn-over of senior staff is worrisome.

Whilst I don’t necessarily believe the trade war with China is a negative, the way Trump personally conducts himself is concerning. However, the threats to ban TikTok and WeChat are pretty decent decisions.

The great firewall of China has banned websites like Google, Twitter and Facebook - it is not limited to these sites. WhatsApp, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, Quora, Reddit, Viber, Messenger, Amazon, Hangouts, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, YouTube and Wikipedia are all banned.

The better question is, well, what isn’t banned? It isn’t much, but Chinese websites can operate on open democracies with immunity. WeChat, TikTok and Alibaba have no issues connecting China to the world through state censored filters.

So, if Trump were to ban WeChat from the US, the very act will cause not only concern but further isolation. An effective ban would threaten conversations between Chinese individuals contacting families, business associates and friends. While this would be a huge inconvenience, what would be the ramifications?

The Chinese authorities then have a quandary, they cannot reciprocate in banning US websites in China in a repeat of the tit-for-tat closure of the US consulate in Chengdu after the Chinese consulate in Houston was closed.

Chinese security forces regularly use WeChat to intimidate and coerce Chinese nationals living abroad in acts of diaspora. This will certainly curb Chinese influence in the US, this also affects US businesses conducting relations with the parent company, Tencent.

This is actually a very strategic move by the Trump administration, this smacks of Peter Navarro influences. Now, a full ban of Chinese websites including Alibaba will require the CCP to reflect on the Great Firewall of China, they may indeed allow US firms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter to operate in China in a reciprocal manner.

The tech MBA

With the technology sector a leading disruptor for many traditional industries, the top business schools are fostering entrepreneurial labs to create skill-sets aligned to start-up business concepts.

It is entirely foreseeable that the business education sector was developing a technology aligned MBA certification. The technology industry is heavily invested in start-ups and cash intensive research based projects.

The entrepreneurial labs at the leading universities are designing strategies to create value for the concepts they generate. I would suggest the standard strategy course be upgraded to include tech outcomes, finance is still important and this may include modifications to marketing.

Naturally, entrepreneurship would be a required unit, the need to generate a concept, foster the the idea, create a business plan, market the plan to investors to finance the start-up is the core skill-set. Whilst MBA education has become more generalist, the requirements of a specialist degree are obvious.

Virtue signalling

Ok, so these aren’t my words but they do present an interesting explanation of what is occurring right now as I ask the question, what is virtue signaling? Where does this moral outrage come from, where is this actually applied?

Virtue signaling is defined as ‘Advocating a political or philosophical position, and/or taking up a public cause, from a position of vanity, for the primary purpose of demonstrating your conformity with fashionable pop culture values’.

Ok, so what does that mean? Like so many others, I have social media accounts and this tends to be the forum to virtue signal. When the BLM protests took off, the white virtue signallers were busy. There was the #Me Too movement, immigration, police brutality, poverty, climate change and colonisation.

I am not interested in empty acts, if you truly believe in your cause, the question is, what have you done this month to improve the lives of those affected? Where have you volunteered? Have you put some of your own income to fund an initiative?

People get on their mobile phones to complain about emissions and waste, yet their mobile phones add to the worldwide waste. They only last a couple of years, their batteries are made from rare minerals that are commonly mined using unsustainable methods and the phones are not disposed of properly that actually damage the environment.

Moving aircraft around

I was sitting in the departure lounge at Johannesburg OR Tambo Airport waiting for my flight watching the ground support staff move the aircraft to the departure gates. The people next to me talking and trying to work out how they did it.

To me the answer was simple, the pushback tractor releases the brakes of the aircraft and tows the aircraft around. There was no crew in the aircraft that we could see, clearly ground support staff have to gain access to the flight deck to release the brakes, but the rest isn't difficult to comprehend.

They could not see how such a small tractor is able to pull an Airbus A340 around but it isn't too much of a mystery. It is all about torque and not size and the tractor develops plenty of wheel torque. A diesel engine, powershift transmission and torque converter assembly coupled to low range transmission develops substantial torque.

It is not unreasonable to incorporate a 9:1 reduction in the low gears of the transmission. The torque converter is basically a fluid clutch that can increase output torque by a factor of 2:1 depending on design and application.

However, this isn't enough so a single reduction differential carrier increases torque approximately by a factor of 4:1 before dividing torque to the wheel ends. The hub reduction gearing increases torque again at the wheels by a factor of 10:1 so the torque developed at the engine flywheel is increased proportionally at each stage.

The aircraft isn't running, there is no pilot available to crank up the turbines and taxi the aircraft around under its own power, the movement is all the work of the pushback tractor. For me, listening to people chat is very interesting, I had imagined people knew all this and no explanations were required.  

Enemy of the state

Clive Palmer is an enemy of the state, that is the state of Western Australia. We are Covid-19 free in Western Australia, we have achieved eradication and all it takes is one person to end all the hard won gains.

  

We are currently living in a bubble, an island within an island. With state borders closed, all the infections of the east coast cannot get in and wreck the economy of Western Australia, overwhelm the hospital system, make people sick and ultimately take lives.

Clive Palmer is a narcissist, he cares little about the people in this state, this is all about him and the business and political meetings he wants to have. Well, use Zoom or Webex like everyone else.

We don’t want you here, we support the Premier in closing the borders and our economy is motoring along nicely at the moment. So, to polite as we can, fuck off, we don’t want you here and we refuse to open our borders to you or anyone else until it is safe to do so.

What's going on at Myer?

What was once one of the leading retailers in Australia, Myer has been on a downward trajectory for a long time. Heritage, prestige and history count for nothing in the new retail environment, in the US, Bloomingdale's has filed for bankruptcy protection along with Chicago based Sears.

So, what's going on at Myer? You walk into their stores and you cannot find a sales assistant that can help you, if you do they are staff for another brand. It is difficult to locate sales staff, it is up to you to track them down.

If you are able to track down a sales assistant, they will look into the computer system so ad to inform you they don't hold this in this store, you will have to go to another store at another location if that is what you want.

I am told their inventory is all old, that I am unsure about as I don't really know the latest fashion trends, nor would I want to sometimes. That being said, my customer service experience has been different.

Recently I was in their store asking for something they did not stock, the sales assistant was using the computer to my locate retailers in the general area where I could purchase this item so I would never complain about their customer service.

The Omega Flightmaster

The Omega Flightmaster for me built on a contradiction. Omega first produced the Speedmaster in 1957 for motor racing but quickly became the official timepiece of choice for pilots and astronauts.

Introduced in 1969, the Flightmaster was squarely aimed at pilots, ironically the year Buzz Aldrin donned his Speedmaster over his spacesuit during his moonwalk. Neil Armstrong was rumoured to have left his Speedmaster in the lunar module as the mission timer failed.

The iconic case is large, enormously large for the late 60s and early 70s but was designed to be legible to pilots under all conditions. The case design is unusual insofar as it is machined from a single block of stainless steel that is pressed and tempered for maximum strength.

Unusually, the large case does not have exposed lugs instead opting for hidden lugs to form an elliptical shape to fit the contour of the wrist. An enclosed movable bezel, seven hands and five dials allows the pilot to set the chronograph.

The dial is set by colour coded auxiliary crowns on the left and pushers on the right controlling the chronograph and rotating bezel making the Flightmaster a GMT. Interestingly, the calibre 910 is based on the legendary Lemania manufactured calibre 861 movement as found in the Speedmaster.

For my views, the Flightmaster is very much late 60s and early 70s style and whilst I like retro, I don’t think the flightmaster is the style for me. The classic  styled Speedmaster remained the timepiece of choice for aviators despite being specifically designed for flight.