Hay Shed Hill - 2013 Block 6 chardonnay

Awarded 96 points by James Halliday, this excellent chardonnay is described as exhibiting white peach, nectarine and fig fruit with creamy cashew notes balanced with vibrant crisp firm acidity.

Hay Shed Hill is one of my favourite wineries in Western Australia's Margaret River wine region on the South West coast - it's a great place to visit. When I have a break coming up and I am back in Western Australia, I will be heading down south to try out some wines.

So now I have read the tasting notes, what do I actually taste as a wine novice? Bright straw green in colour; the powerful palette indicates a fruit intensity of grapefruit and pear balanced with very fine oak overtones and a tight acidity.

In early 2017 I have drank the last of my 2013 vintage supply and I have been unable to locate any further Block 6 to replenish my cellar - totally bummed. But there is always next year's vintage, I can always stock up with that.

As it is summer in the southern hemisphere, I sail on the weekends and I don't have the weekends free for the three-hour drive from Perth to Margaret River to visit a few wineries. I could just ring up the winery and get them to mail me a case with a dozen bottles - maybe time to get organised.

A master scuba diver c-card

A master scuba certification is a handy c-card to carry, it implies you have at least attended an Advanced Open Water course, so you can dive to 30 metres and are not limited to an 18 metre depth. It also indicates you have attended a Rescue Diver course so you have maybe half a chance of some self-rescue abilities.

The c-card also states you have undertaken five specialty courses and hold at least 50 dives experience, it doesn't notify the dive facilities of while specialties, just that you have undertaken some extra instruction.

This is my c-card of choice when diving at unfamiliar facilities as you tend to be treated as less of a fool and left to your own devices. I believe fronting up with an instructor certification is wanky; the dive staff can work out pretty quickly if you are on your game - I never saw the purpose of big noting yourself.

The fact of the matter is, you are only an instructor when instructing - that is, when being paid to dive. If you are paying to dive, then you are a customer. The Master Scuba Diver c-card is my card of choice even though I can inform the dive resort of my full name and date of birth because even in 2015, connection to the internet is marginal at best and a physical c-card is still best.

Finally getting a decent return

I am finally getting a half decent return on my retirement funds with now a decade to run before I reach the age I can retire from work forever. In Australia, the pension age is 67, that is the age you can receive a government pension if you are unable to self fund your retirement.

For someone like me, I have saved over and above the minimum requirements and I am allowed access to my funds at age 60. Now that I have resigned from that awful high fee National Mutual fund that converted to AXA and finally purchased by AMP.

The Royal Commission into banking including wealth management has uncovered systematic rorting of retirement savings in the high-fee managed funds. I rolled the meager savings I had in private superannuation into Australian Super, the well managed industry superannuation fund.

For all the high fees I paid, the returns were lower than industry funds yet when I requested an audit of all the fees I paid since I joined as an eighteen year old, they replied that I had received statements and I must work it out myself. Likewise, they told me they were making good returns and the fund is able to justify such high fees.

Now I have rolled the funds into my Australian Super account that had more or less the same account balance I am seeing my investment growing. I have seen Australian Super tracking upwards on a decent uptrend, now I am seeing double the growth and very happy.

I understand we are in the final stages of a record bull market as measured by the New York Stock Exchange and further falls will be likely in the future. However, the Australian economy is recovering so we have that to sustain the fund along with commercial property, fixed interest and bonds.

So it is with some irony that I missed out on the boom to those high charges and rolled over my account not long before the market down turned. Had AMP, one of the largest and worst performing funds not taken a year to release my funds, I could have enjoyed more of the upturn.

The Picknicker Swiss Army Knife

I purchased myself one of the newer style Swiss Army Knife on a trip overseas, it went with me everywhere in my daypack. I was really happy with my purchase, I thought the classic style were actually a little small, this is an excellent size.

These days, the Swiss Army Knife has plenty of options and designs, for €32 I was extremely happy to purchase what I would consider a base model with a whole bunch of implements I won't use. I don't need a saw, magnifying glass or scissors; I don't want a cumbersome knife that takes up space.

The Picknicker is a great model, the knife is larger than the classic style Swiss Army Knife that comes complete with a blade, bottle opener, can opener, spike and all important corkscrew. The tweezers and toothpick don't take up any extra space and are welcome additions.

Hanging in Thompson Bay on Rottnest Island

Perth's favourite holiday destination, Rottnest Island is a pretty good place for families couples and singles. The laid back approach is what Rottnest Island is all about, this island is not only just offering relaxation; this is good wholesome fun for everyone to enjoy. 

The main settlement is Thompson Bay with the bulk of the infrastructure and ferry jetty strategically located. I used to travel to Rottnest Island nearly every weekend in summer and pretty frequently over winter for scuba diving rarely setting foot on the island. These days it is more sightseeing and less diving; a new but interesting concept for me.

Of the many bays of Rottnest Island, Thompson Bay by virtue of not only location is the most popular; Thompson Bay has plenty in the way of activities and scenery to keep people interested. Whilst pretty shallow, a number of scuba diving opportunities exist and snorkeling is very popular along with a glass bottom boat offering scenic tours for those not willing to get wet.

During the summer holidays, the moorings in Thompson Bay are busy. They are owned by individuals but can be used by other registered vessels if the owner is not using them. If the owner arrives, the boat moored has to get off for the registered owner so everyone gets a fair go. The mooring maintenance costs are naturally met by the owner but nobody minds a boat hooking up if they are not around.

Teaching entrepreneurship

The major business schools are teaching entrepreneurship as a staple of contemporary business education. Some may question if entrepreneurship can be taught, the initial idea might not be able to be taught; that is inspiration, but the process to develop the idea is what is important.

It is argued plenty of young people naturally possess a natural entrepreneurial spirit; many have great ideas, but what they don’t possess is the technical skills to design a new product, process or service, build a business plan to finance and market their idea. In short, the idea is the easy part - making an idea commercially viable is the challenge and that is where networks count.  

A number of major entrepreneurial business were founded on shoe-string budgets. These high profile businesses began in garages and dorm rooms from Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founding Apple Inc in Steve Jobs parent's garage in 1976 to Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft in 1975 only a year earlier.

Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin, both PhD students at Stanford University began Google as a research project in 1995; Mark Zuckerburg and Eduardo Saverin began Facebook in Harvard dorm rooms in 2004, but entrepreneurship is not limited to tech start-ups but these businesses are the most conspicuous in the new economy.

Business schools are creating venture labs where projects are developed and budding entrepreneurs are mentored by academic staff and input is provided peers. Industry experts may be brought in to provide technical advice and support; presentations made to angel investors, venture capitalists, bankers or grants officers to finance new ideas.

Business schools are positioned at the forefront of entrepreneurship; I fully believe entrepreneurship should be taught and supported at business schools bringing great ideas to fruition. People have great business ideas but so many start-up businesses fail in the first two years, it is great to see viable business ideas expand and offer employment opportunities to the population. 

No fan of Trump

I'm not an American and I don't live in the United States, I do however have access to US news services such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times so I get plenty of exposure to Donald Trump news.

I am neither a fan of Trump nor a hater of Trump, I think I might be part of a small group of people who are decidedly neutral. I do want Trump to succeed, a strong United States is a positive influence for the western world so I don't want his government to fail.

Is he going to drain the swamp? No, that's highly unlikely. Is he articulate and a strong public speaker? Nope, he is not and his mannerisms do annoy me. Is Trump stupid? I don't believe so, he did graduate from Wharton Business School after all and I believe his billionaire status allows him to hire some pretty decent advisers.

He is a narcissist, that is for sure, it would be difficult to defend that claim. But since we, and supposedly Trump himself knows it, how can these narcissistic traits be harnessed for positive outcomes?

Trump engages in name calling and bullying behavior so what do his opponents do? They, like a bunch of dumbarses then engage Trump in name calling and insults and really become ineffective as an opposition. As an outsider looking in, he really makes them look stupid and he then controls the narrative.

When his political opponents recruit a bunch of celebrity spokespeople to engage in anti-Trump rhetoric, they come off looking like amateurs. Robert De Niro is a fantastic actor, no doubt about that. But when De Niro is on camera screaming “Fuck Trump, Fuck Trump” he is not doing anyone's cause any favours, he just comes across as an idiot.

I am no follower of this celebrity cult that has permeated throughout American popular culture, I won't be deriving political views from the likes of Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, P!nk or even Bruce Springsteen. I place as much credibility in their endorsement as I would for Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie or those Kardashian sisters that I would be unable to name.

If the Democrats want to beat this guy then they shouldn't be recruiting a whole cohort of public figures so removed from mainstream America that they lose all credibility. I went to a P!nk concert at the Perth Arena in 2018 and Alecia banged on about Trump during her excellent show.

But guess what, neither myself nor anyone else at her concert is eligible to vote in US elections so that was a pointless exercise. If she had a project or cause such as saving the Sumatran tiger and had facilities to accept donations along with donating a portion of the concert taking towards the cause.

Then I would be interested in donating. But when her support is limited to banging on about Trump at a concert, I not only turn off but I feel more inclined to support Trump and I don't even especially like the guy.

This is just a feel good moment for her that is largely ineffective and could even increase support for Trump in some instances - who would have guessed. There is no need to rattle on about his hair or skin colour, that achieves nothing. If you want to oppose the government of Donald Trump, stick to facts and policy - that generally works.