A Golden Gaytime

Well, it has finally happened, a much loved ice cream that only certain members of the community believe an individual would dare eat in public will soon suffer from cancel culture - unbelievable. Is everyone so easily offended?

The Golden Gaytime from Street’s Ice Creams has been petitioned to be renamed as it offends the gay community. Give it up, I have been known to eat a Golden Gaytime in public on a hot day and I’m straight.

The ice cream was released in 1959 with a Streets Ice Cream spokesperson stating the term gay had not yet been applied to sexual preference. Possibly the gay community needs to rename their activities to not confuse the terminology.

Based on his petition, Brain Mc, the petition organiser stated. “As a part of the LGBTQIA+ community I believe my sexual identity is owned by me, not a brand and that the outdated meaning no longer applies. Isn’t it time for this double entendre to end?”

The term gay was listed as [dated] as light-hearted and carefree but has now been reassigned as homosexual. The Cambridge dictionary listed gay as an abjective that means happy, I am guessing this individual and not the community is unhappy and maybe a Golden Gaytime on a hot day might just calm him down.

An insurance policy of sorts

I was told "I have been reading your blog, but you really haven't written anything controversial for a while" so that got me thinking. I was printing and laminating pages from the Public Interest Disclose Act [2003] at the time, so I thought, just go with that and that is the context of this post.

I have not pursued the individual; for me, he absolutely did the wrong thing engaging in acts by committing a series of offenses carrying two years imprisonment or a $24,000 fine. So where do I go from here? 

Well, this is kind of an insurance policy; sure, I have been discriminated against in terms of promotion, but I have reinvented myself consulting for businesses not connected to my employer. We have to coexist now - I need to make the most of this situation. 

Within reason, I can pretty much do as I like now. I choose to work hard so if they have any issues with me, it is easy to document. I won't ever bother to apply for any internal jobs anymore, that is a waste of time. Instead, I will concentrate on external options.  

The clauses are clear, I cannot be dismissed, no disciplinary action under a written law or services dispensed with. I make sure they are aware that I have the document in my possession and I am well versed in the clauses. 

Should they want to make poor decisions, my options are to dealt with under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 in the Equal Opportunity Commission. Not only that, I would have the opportunity to question these individuals under oath and I would suggest that would be career ending for them. 

I don't think it will ever come to that, I now keep to myself as we have an agreement where I won't speak out in our open plan office. I will continue to take leave without pay when consulting projects come up and return when the project is completed. 

I used a line out of Wall Street II: Money Never Sleeps where Michael Douglas' character Gordon Gekko quips "You stop telling lies about me; I’ll stop telling the truth about you" to Josh Brolin's character Bretton James.

I am aware that this is really detrimental to their internal planning, this is their problem of their own doing and not my issue though. To be fair, I wasn't the one who committed an offense taking detrimental action against a person who should have been protected under the whistleblower provisions.  

So let's take a look at some of the provisions of the Public Interest Disclose Act [2003]. This is a 27 page document so I have concentrated on the clauses that relate to protection under the Act. While I have excluded some non-relevant passages, this is the main points unedited. 

I feel a little like Kim Jong-un, I have the nuclear option but the real power is restraint. You don't mess with someone who has the power to create absolute devastation and is rational enough to only exercise that option in extreme cases of personal threat.

Part 3 - Protection

13. Immunity for appropriate disclosure of public interest information
A person who makes an appropriate disclosure of public interest information to a proper authority under section 5:
(a) Incurs no civil or criminal liability for doing so.
(b) Is not, for doing so, liable:
    (i)To any disciplinary action under a written law.
    (ii) To be dismissed.
    (iii) To have his or her services dispensed with or otherwise terminated.

14. Reprisal an offence

(1) A person must not take or threaten to take detrimental action against another because anyone has made, or intends to make, a disclosure of public interest information under this Act.

Penalty: $24,000 or imprisonment for 2 years

(2) A person who:
    (a) Attempts to commit an offence created by subsection (1).
    (b) Intending that an offence created by subsection (1) be committed, incites another person to commit that offence.

Commits an offence.
Penalty: $24,000 or imprisonment for 2 years.

15. Remedies for acts of victimisation
(1) A person who takes or threatens to take detrimental action against another because or substantially because anyone has made, or intends to make, a disclosure of public interest information under this Act commits an act of victimisation which may be dealt with as a tort.

(2) Proceedings in tort under subsection (1) may be taken against the perpetrator of an act of victimisation or any employer of the perpetrator.

(3) In proceedings against the employer of the perpetrator of an act of victimisation, it is a defence for the employer to prove that the employer:

(a) Was not knowingly involved in the act of victimisation.
(b) Did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have known about the act of victimisation.
(c) Could not, by the exercise of reasonable care, have prevented the act of victimisation.

(4) An act of victimisation under this Act may be dealt with under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 as if it were an act that was unlawful under section 67 of that Act but, if the victim commences proceedings in a court under subsection (1).

16. Confidentiality
(1) A person must not make a disclosure (an identifying disclosure) of information that might identify or tend to identify anyone as a person who has made an appropriate disclosure of public interest information under this Act unless:

(a) The person who made the disclosure of public interest information consents to the disclosure of information that might identify or tend to identify him or her.

Penalty: $24,000 or imprisonment for 2 years.

Tipping - just pay your staff correctly

In Australia we have a high minimum wage, you don't need to tip service workers, they are already paid at least the minimum wage. We don’t have a tipping culture and we don’t want a tipping culture - it promotes underpaying workers.

In short, pay your people right. You are able to run a business and pay your staff, if you can't then the business isn't viable. The minimum rate of pay in Australia is $18.93, this needs to be reflected in the pricing structure incorporating overheads and a reasonable profit margin.

I'm a capitalist and believe in the principles of free market economics. Capitalism requires a degree of regulation as we tend to see the formation of an monopoly or oligopoly. Issues such as price fixing and market manipulation common occurs in a totally unregulated market.

I’m also a market based socialist in many respects, I also believe in an equitable society where workers can lead not only productive lives but meaningful lives in terms of opportunity. We need to not only promote inclusiveness, we need to support vulnerable individuals and groups.

The Longines VHP Conquest

I am really interested in the Conquest range of sports watches, this is a long running range I had always thought the quartz watch movement was high precision; well that is compared to mechanical movements anyway.

The VHP allows ± of five seconds per year, less than half a second per month. A really interesting feature of the VHP is the gear position detection system allowing the hands to automatically resync if they are displaced by an impact or by a magnetic field.

I have nothing against quartz movements, I have owned both hand wound, automatic and quartz movements. There is certainly the convenience of quartz, you can take your watch off without resetting. Sure, there is a power reserve on many automatic watches of 38 hours but that doesn't beat the ease of quartz movements.

Whilst I am not in the market for a quartz movement right now, the Longines Conquest VHP is certainly a watch I would look at for a rugged yet stylish sports watch. The case and bracelet are unmistakably from the Conquest range and I believe Longines offers excellent value in their category.

Incompetent and unaware of it - the manifestation of the Dunning-Kruger effect

As a strategic business unit, we ended up in a major audit due to a student complaint. The student complained about the quality of learning materials he had to endure and he was absolutely right - yet our idiots couldn’t see it.

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a hypothetical cognitive bias stating that people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. Instructional design is a university degree, tertiary education facilities such as universities require all courses to be designed by instructional designers but colleges are not that professional.

What happened was a staff member acting in a position that was not awarded through a competitive merit selection process had highly modified the learning materials that I had originally created. This was the basis of the student complaint and they just couldn’t see how this affected his learning.

This action negated the instructional design principles I had embedded into the learning program. The poorly formatted materials were grossly insufficient in terms of quality, structure and validity. These people have no idea what they are doing and it shows.

So not only are these self-absorbed people incapable of producing an original thought, they are more than willing to lay claim to other people's work. But of course, they have absolutely no idea about instructional design so they make a total hash of it. Why a management allows this to occur is based solely on their own biases.

This is a stunning example of the Dunning Krueger effect in action, an incompetent management is willing to put student learning at risk by engaging in cronyism. Placing incompetent people in important positions where they have no clue what they are doing is destructive to not only the moral of competent people, it damages everybody.

We are seeing a pretty stunning example of the downsides of groupthink, only people who agree are promoted. This yes man syndrome rewards the incompetent but when that have negative effects on student outcomes and learning then they should be called out.

Calculating my MBA return on investment

Calculating a return on investment for an MBA isn't as straightforward as some people might think, my case is a little more difficult. Most potential candidates need to calculate time lost from work, course fees and potential opportunity lost.

In my case, this calculation is made all the more difficult as I used the increased salary awarded from my job promotion in 2011 and a further promotion in 2012 to fund my tertiary education. A ROI for me only makes sense after securing a higher paid position as a result of the education.

To further complicate the calculations and the potential ROI; I first completed an undergraduate bachelor degree in Training and Development so the salary increase from 2011 funded so that cannot be counted in the ROI calculations.

When I started makin my initial calculations I had twelve years to retirement age; so I also need to calculate the cost of the funds invested where a capital gain (or loss) is achieved plus a annual dividend.

So now I'm down to ten years to retirement age, but now I have secured a new position on a international project. The first year of MBA graduation resulted in no return on my investment.

My opportunities within a state government institution were halted by whistleblower allegations unsupported by any metrics whatsoever. However, unlike my former colleagues, I am able to move freely from a government position back to private enterprise - I love it.

Observations in an undemocratic world plagerised

I was doing a Yahoo! search and much to my surprise, I see my blog is being plagerised. At first I didn't believe it, I thought this is funny. This person had been to the Italian island of Elba, it is quiet a small island and not frequently visited. 

Even stranger is being on Morcone Beach, a very small beach on a small island before returning to Zurich. Then it was hang on, this is my story, this is the break-up of myself and my then girlfriend. 

What really annoys me is if I do a Yahoo! search, this plagerised material is further up the search rankings than the original material that was clearly published before. What piece of shit search engine is Yahoo? This is why a google search is used and Yahoo! is now a shell of a company.

I have contacted Yahoo! to report and these losers did nothing. Yahoo! was once the leading search engine, now this crap product is a relic of history. Poor management, useless marketing and a product that is dated and past its use by date is just embarrassing.  

Personal abuse in a toxic work environment

I worked in a toxic environment, or I did anyway and I was so happy to leave. This was a workplace filled with angry nasty people who displayed a jealousy of anyone who was even remotely successful.

Needless to say, I had and continue to have little respect for these fools, they thought they could all gang up and bully me, they found out that whilst this tactic worked on the majority of people that didn't fit into their little toxic circle. This brought them more stress than they ever imagined - they lost big time.

I would like to say this never affected me but that would be incorrect. However, what I can say is I made sure I served up three to four times the stress I received - returned with interest. I was one of the few who took a pay cut for this job; the vast majority received a large pay rise as they had never received before remuneration like this previously.

They have no options, they are well aware they will never get a job like this again, it is fair to say they are holding for dear life and never letting go. Unlike them, I have options, I took a pay cut for this job and I know I can perform in the private sector. Even worse for them, I was paid at a much higher than they were - this really annoyed them

A large number of these guys have spent their whole working life in government employment, they complain how little a pension they receive after twenty years in the military. There was nothing to stop them gaining suitable qualifications and training to become an officer - their lack of ambition cost them.

Apart from this organisation dominated by former military personnel and church officials, there is no chance of improving the culture without leadership. They are institutionalised, they can't cut it in the private sector where both output and accountability are measured.

We are all heavy duty diesel mechanics by trade, but I know I will never return to swinging spanners again as a mechanic. Mine is a leadership position, I am a technical advisor on an international contract paid in US dollars with a net income in USD higher than their gross AUD income.

Oh yeah, I made sure they know all about that as I was always paid significantly better than them when we worked together, so this step up in pay would really sting - ouch. That's how professional jealousy works.

Jollibee and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

It was a sad day a year ago I learned Jollibee purchased the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, this horrible fast food company taking control of one of my favourite coffee chains - surely, it can't get any worse.

Jollibee is a fastfood chain from the Philippines, Filipinos love the chain, they all head off to Jollibee and eat this sub-standard fast food that they dish up. It isn't much to get excited about, I try to avoid their outlets at all costs.

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on the other hand is an excellent chain serving decent coffee, cake and food. My concern is the Jollibee management want to get in and mess around with the concept, marketing, product or service in a vain attempt to display their leadership and make changes for all the wrong purposes.

If they leave it alone then great, I care little about the ownership of the business in that regard or where the profits go. This is a good business, they have a premium product, a certain ambience, a loyal customer base and a quality consumer experience - I hope they don't mess with a successful business model.

Photographing inside churches

If the church you are visiting asks you to not take photographs, then you should respect their request and not take photographs in their church.

Then why then do people insist on pulling their camera out and snapping these fine works of art? At the very least it is disrespectful, at worst, the flash fades the priceless artworks adorning the walls. I just can't understand the attitude of some people, they are so arrogant.

Generally speaking, the quality of the shots are poor anyway. Wouldn't it be better to actually purchase the books on offer with professionally shot photographs using lighting techniques that don't damage artworks?

To make matters worse, I can't believe it when I wander around the inside of these beautiful works of architectural art to see people walking around with hats on their heads, this is the ultimate sign of disrespect.

As a bald 50 year old, I have to wear a hat to prevent sunburn but I am more than happy to carry my hat around in my hand whilst visiting a church. If I can do this, taking a hat off your head is a simple task, why can't other people show the same respect.

The art of watchmaking

I was having a conversation at work in our open plan office about watches when a colleague who overheard me then informed me he owned a Rolex.

He had my immediate attention and I had a ton of questions of model, age and cost. The next day he brought in a slip of paper with some details scribbled down and I was straight onto the Rolex website searching for details.

I had his DateJust all speced up and printed off a picture when I showed him and he confirmed to me that this was indeed the watch he owned. I asked him if he wanted to know the cost of a new DateJust and let him know that the going rate was $10,800 for a brand new purchase.

He then informed me he purchased his in 1991 when he was working in Karachi for $2000 off a dealer secondhand but in new condition. Apparently, back then locals were having difficulty getting their hands on hard currency so they would purchase precious commodities such as Rolex watches only to sell them to dealers for US dollars.

I share a desk with a guy and he was exasperated on how anyone would pay $10,800 for a watch, it was just a watch he said, he could buy two mountain bikes for that type of money. My first thought was who would pay $5000 for a mountain bike?

I believe a mechanical watch is a work of art in both aesthetics and engineering. As we are both engineering tradesmen, I thought he would appreciate the level of engineering precision required to ensure this series of springs, sprockets, drive mechanisms and balance wheels work in unison to accurately measure time.

As a business student, I loved researching the business of the Swiss watchmaking industry. Watchmaking companies such as Rolex, IWC, Breitling, Heuer and Omega produced timepieces for occupations, these roots in occupational timekeeping developed a heritage of utility.

The Rolex Submariner and Sea Dweller were standard issue for commercial divers, Breitling produced timepieces for aviators, IWC supplied the Luftwaffe during the second world war, Omega supplied NASA timepieces and Heuer produced timepieces for motorists and racers.

During the 1970s, the quartz crisis nearly derailed the Swiss watchmaking industry with cheap products forcing the industry to reorganise. The Swiss watchmaking industry reinvented itself seeking the upmarket luxury goods sector.

Heuer was purchased by TAG Industries in 1985 to form TAG Heuer before being sold to luxury goods manufacturer Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 1999, Omega is now owned by the Swatch Group and Rolex remains an independent company.

The art of watchmaking is not limited to solely the mechanical specifications, the beauty of the art of the watch cannot be underestimated. How do you value art?

There is a market for fine art from Claude Monet, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso that could be described as simply as just oil on canvas or watercolour and paper. Likewise, Tchaikovsky created the masterpiece of the 1812 Overture, Vivaldi created the four seasons and then there was Beethoven and Mozart.

Can the sum of the parts be simply calculated in terms of value; Van Gogh, a man who couldn't sell a painting within his own lifetime is now strongly represented on the list of highest prices paid for art. Artists like Willem de Kooning, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, Rembrandt or Jackson Pollock fetch outstanding prices.

The brilliance of Rolex is their marketing; their relative rarity creates a market as people are willing to place an order and wait two years for timepiece - that's pretty special.

This also supplements their design that doesn't change much, the Rolex Explorer I is pretty similar to the 1953 design. The Cosmograph Daytona only just upgraded from a manually wound movement to an automatic movement.

The 1957 design Speedmaster Professional still utilises the 1861 manually wound movement and is pretty much identical to the watch worn on the moon by NASA astronauts.

For a reasonable price, the average citizen is able to purchase identical hardware that not only traveled to the moon, NASA still issues the Speedmaster Professional to the current crop of astronauts.

Fixed interest investments

A balanced investment portfolio includes a percentage of fixed interest securities, this is considered a conservative portfolio structure - but is it really?

With Australian equities comprising between 16% to 25% and international shares from 20% to 30% of an investment portfolio, equities are viewed as the more volatile investment class offering greater returns albeit at higher risk.

The definition of fixed interest is an income derived from a pre-determined payment allocated by the issuer at regular intervals with the principal returned after a set period. As such, fixed interest is a debt instrument allowing no ownership in the firm ranking in front of equities in the case of liquidation.

Whilst government issued bonds are the most common form of fixed interest instruments, corporate bonds form secondary fixed income sources. Differing levels of government from federal, state and local issue debt securities raising cash to finance both day-to-day operations and projects.

Fixed-income investors receive a set interest rate of return in the form of interest in exchange for lending money to the enterprise. Investors are repaid the principal, the original sum at the maturity date. I reckon 15% to 25% is the correct ratio depending upon the degree of conservatism investors require.

An introduction to understanding economic policy making

2020 was looking to be a reasonable year for both equity and bond markets, international financier George Soros spoke after a recent Sri Lankan economic forum and spooked markets with his prognosis that we will be faced with a similar financial meltdown to what we experienced in 2008.

Professor Gayle Allard guides budding economic students through excellent online course material explaining the basis of economic policy making. This course builds on macro-economic policy taught by the best international business schools.

Run by Madrid's IE Business School, this online course draws on actual course material utilised in her face-to-face economics course taught at the business school.

Speaking to the producer of this online course, he believed Gayle holds the ability to just stand in front of the camera and explain the concepts - such is her grasp of the material and ability to deliver to an online audience.

With current economic policies confusing the lay person, this online course gives the average non-financial person a chance to dissect government policy.