Always Travelling

Hi everyone!

I've moved over to http://nicholastrim.wordpress.com

See you there!

I realised yesterday that I'm at one of those important moments in life - a turning point - where I'll take a new direction and start a new adventure.

I have accepted an offer of employment at Cooperative Bulk Handling as a graduate in their country operations division, and I'm really excited about it. What is CBH? Here's a spiel from their website:

The Western Australian based CBH Group stores, handles and markets grain. The WA harvest averages ten million tonnes annually, of which 95 per cent is exported, and represents up to 40 per cent of the nation’s average annual production. The CBH Group is a leading grains industry organisation, marketing grain to over 20 export destinations and with a total storage capacity in excess of 19 million tonnes. CBH is committed to maximising returns to its growers. CBH is controlled by over 5,500 grower-shareholders, who plant and harvest grain grown across some 320,000 square kilometres that comprise the Western Australian grainbelt.

And on the span of their operations, where I am headed:

The CBH Group receives, handles, stores and outloads bulk grain at almost 200 receival points throughout the state’s grain belt. The CBH Group's receival points are located across five management zones. Each zone is further divided into areas, with 28 areas throughout the state's grain belt. Administration offices servicing these areas exist at Albany, Corrigin, Esperance, Geraldton, Katanning, Koorda, Kwinana, Lake Grace, Merredin, Morawa, Northam and Wongan Hills. Grain from each receival point is transported to one of four strategically located CBH port terminals at Albany, Esperance, Geraldton and Kwinana, or to the Metro Grain Centre (MGC) located in Forrestfield.

Here's a screenshot of the admin office locations just mentioned; I was using google earth to get a good feel for the area. Click on the pic for a bigger version. Forrestfield is a suburb of Perth (for my international friends who aren't familiar with the layout of the south-western corner of Australia). To give you some idea of the distances between places on the map, Forrestfield and Albany are separated by a little over 400kms.

I start the Monday after exams finish (ie, the last week of November). The plan is for twelve months of rotations throughout the business, followed by a permanent placement. I'll probably have a couple of days orientation in the Perth office and then head straight down to Albany until January, come back to Perth for Jan-Feb, and then back to Albany again for perhaps another 3 months. Exciting, to say the least!

This job came out of the blue. The honest truth is that it is the only one I applied to, because it was the only one which didn't have an online application containing essay questions. (It was a busy period, I was focused on my uni work, and I thought I was going to teach English in Japan in 2008). This is funny, but I can see the sense in asking candidates questions face to face rather than gathering the same old copy-paste answers they provide in all grad program applications. The selection process was rigorous - online application (classes, grades & resume), phone interview, assessment centre, panel interview - and that makes me feel confident in the quality of the graduate development program. This company has a real focus on developing its people - I've already felt the real sense of community behind it - it's a coop, not a corporate.

Perhaps the most attractive aspect of the position however is that it's broad and operations management based. My qualifications are (or will be once I graduate) in HR, industrial relations, and psychology - and although those qualifications will certainly be an asset for me and the company, on paper I was probably not the logical choice for them. Most other candidates had backgrounds in agribusiness or agriculture. I'll be entering an area from which I can move in many directions - towards management, consultancy, workplace relations, or a HR advisory role. I'm thinking of getting accounting qualifications in the next few years to explore the management option further. Lets' face it, most people in operations management have technical (ie, engineering) backgrounds. It's rare for someone to move up from a company's HR division to an operations management role. In any case, making a start in operations was an opportunity I hadn't considered.

I'll need to quickly become knowledgeable in agriculture and the science behind the industry, as well as the political, social, and technological movements and trends in the area. This is a challenge I'm looking forward to - and it will give purpose to the copious amounts of news I read whenever I get the chance. I've decided to start a focus blog on the topic, and will post the url here once I do so.

Lastly, moving around to different locations will mean I will have to keep my 'outgoing' hat on - otherwise it could get a bit lonely! I love meeting new people and so I'm looking forward to it. If you happen to know anyone in Albany, please feel free to send them my email and mobile number - I'd be more than happy to meet up for beer or coffee, etc etc.

Only 9 weeks till I start!

I'm going to make the most of the week free from class by working on my assignments and coursework. Most of my assessments this semester are due around the start of October, so I'm not particularly stressed by deadlines, but I am determined to give myself a reprieve from the usual stress of rushing assignments and racing the deadline.

I'm a little sick, just a head cold so it's nothing too serious. Waking up with a blocked head is not much fun though. Sorry if I'm not calling you up to go out, I'm probably not going out this week!

Is Pascaline's second last week in Perth before heading back to Mauritius, and the last week of her English teaching course. She's away 8.00am-5.30pm weekdays so yet another reason for me to knuckle down, as I'm sure to be distracted (happily of course) next week.

I'll have more information on which to plan my movements next year. More on that next time.

There is a sensationalist article in the Aussie news today about how the Prime Minister met with representatives of the Exclusive Brethren (actually, he met with one subsect, the more extreme Raven-Taylor-Hales Brethren, so named after the line of leadership). Of course I had no idea who they were so I looked them up, and they look like a bunch of looneys (I'm obviously not putting on my politically sensitive hat here!). But of course, that makes them very interesting! Some choice bits from the wikipedia piece:

The Raven-Taylor-Hales Brethren believe that God's principle of unity is achieved by separating from and excluding that which is evil. As a result, open conduits of communication such as television, radio, mobile phones and the internet are banned.

The Raven-Taylor-Hales Brethren reserve all social activities for those with whom they celebrate the Lord's Supper. Such activities include eating, drinking and entertainment, as well as club and professional memberships, directorships, shares and health insurance. Eating in restaurants and staying at hotels are also avoided.

In the case where someone chooses to leave the Raven-Taylor-Hales Brethren or is excommunicated by the fellowship, their parents, siblings, spouse and even children 'withdraw' or disassociate themselves from them. This process allows for no social, domestic or church contact from church members, something which may not always be voluntary, especially in the case of children.

It looks like the 'Exclusive Brethren' split from the 'Open Brethren' after a clash of personalities and the Exclusive Brethren as a group have been led further away from normality by a succession of leaders. I have a distinct memory of a primary school friend talking about how her Aunt was a member of a Christian group that didn't allow television, and I thought it was really extreme at the time (I was about 10 years old). I am always surprised when I hear about another religious group, these niche sects/networks seem to pop up out of the woodwork - with a different take on things, and different set of requirements on members, and a different tale of leaders and things that have happened in the past.

Anyone ever had a coin massage? In one of my cross-cultural psych lectures this semester the topic was briefly brought up by the lecturer as an example of a practice that is initially quite shocking to the Western observer. Pictures are seemingly quite difficult to find on the web at the moment, and I won't show them on my blog to spare all those innocent eyes, but a good example of the bruising that results from a coin massage can be found here. Bruising from 'cupping', practiced with similar underlying beliefs, can be see here. (Both photos look to be of Western tourists to Indonesia).

Coining, or cao gio (pronounced phonetically gow yaw), is an alternative form of medicine most commonly practiced in Southeast Asia.  The practice of coining involves rubbing heated oil on the skin, most commonly the chest, back, or shoulders, and then vigorously rubbing a coin over the area in a linear fashion until a red mark is seen.

Coining is believed to allow a path by which a "bad wind" can be released from the body.  This "wind" is believed to be the cause of the patient's illness.  Advocates use this method to treat a variety of minor ailments including fever, chills, headache, colds, and cough. Reference

There is also a wikipedia article on Gua Sha, which covers a similar practice that probably has similar origins. The various bruising techniques probably changed and adjusted as the "releasing of wind" belief was exported out of China through the Chinese diaspora in South-East Asia. Or something like that.

I have had a coin massage, and loved it; it was not painful at all, and I did end up with red stripes like the veins of a leaf all over my back, just as in the linked pic above. It was a few years ago and from an Indonesian ex-girlfriend. I had a flu at the time and was very muscle sore, and although I can't conclusively say it helped me recover quicker than I would have anyway, I didn't suffer badly either - although the bruising would have shocked anyone who saw it. In fact, my doctor did see it, a couple of days later. I'd gone in to get a medical certificate for an assignment extension... he was surprised but being an old bloke who had been practising for decades and presumably seen a lot of weird things, was pretty accepting and business-like. The bruising faded and after four or five days wasn't visible. 

Just because Google Maps now allows you to embed maps with lots of functionality, I'm posting up a map of Mauritius. Pascaline lives in Rose-Hill, which is near Beau-Bassin; you can zoom in and play around with the map below. Google needs to get some better quality satelite images for this area, too many clouds. Perhaps one day in the not too distant future I will be relaxing in a little shared house or hostel, reading a book, without a worry in the world. Then I'll be meeting up with some new friends and climbing the mountains and walking the beaches, before heading out for a beer or two. Life is good!

For those travelling, I'd expect that this maps functionality could be pretty handy - you can geotag in photos, mark in the route of a trip, and place markers on important places - and then embed that custom map into a webpage.  

View Larger Map

Great tips in here about what is a really important life skill - dealing with email quickly and effectively (I have been a slave to email in the past!).

I attended an assessment centre on Friday for a graduate program at a well known West Australian company. Quite a good experience as the assessment procedure was quite rigorous and comprehensive. After rocking up we split into groups of a half a dozen, with 3 assessors observing each group. First up we tackled a case as a group and has to come up with a group decision; the assessors were looking at how we individually performed, leadership and commuication styles etc. Then we were individually given topics and given ten minutes to create a 3 minute presentation to present to the group. Afterwards we completed 3 mental ability test batteries and a personality inventory, which took a good hour and a half. I didn't feel out of my depth and the position would be excellent as it would be very generalist and broad in the range of activities I'd be performing and skills I'd develop. Attending the assessment centre was also a great experience just in itself, and really gets me thinking about jobs and the future. It has provided me another spur of motivation to study hard and finish off uni with flying colours.

Here's a pic of Pascaline and I tonight at dinner, my grandparents are visiting for a while as they drive around Australia with a caravan.

I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago but forgot and left it in my drafts folder. My posts are becoming more of a ramble amongst all the photos, but whatever. I'm really enjoying life at the moment!
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It's amazing the treasures you turn up when you throw your old crap out. I sound like a teenager, but today I went about cleaning up my room. It's been a work in progress for a while now, and today I got rid of another 2 big black plastic bags full of stuff. I've also prepared 3 boxes of books to take down to the second hand bookstore and hopefully get some cash for. This whole clean up is because I have someone very special arriving in the country in around 73 hours...

Anyway back to what motivated me to post. In sorting out the junk from the gems, I came to the realisation that I have a whole collection of religious texts, collected over the last few years. I have:

• three copies of the Koran, one of which is a beautiful leather bound copy with each page divided into 2 rows, with the Arabic up top and then in the bottom row two columns in which one the English translation is provided and the other provides addition material in order to explain or enlighten.
• a whole host of booklets aiming to clear up typical Western misconceptions about Islam.
  
• a few copies of the Bible.
• a pocket size book of psalms and proverbs from The Gideons (must have got this in Primary School as it is red).
  
• other pamphlets and whatnot on Baha'i and Buddhism.
  

I recently had a wonderful idea that just seems to get better every time I think about it: why not work for the first 6 months of 2008 after I graduate, save up ten grand, and then go live in paradise (Mauritius) for the second half of the year? Pascaline confirms that $10,000 would be plenty. This is more of a laugh than anything else, and if we can get over to Japan or the UK, then we will, but it's not all that bad a fall back, a worst case scenario.

And it would give me ample time to read some of this stuff I always put aside for a period when I'm not as busy.... and try to get my head around what I actually think. Six months in paradise sounds pretty good to me. 

Will it blend? That is the question.

Some more photos - these ones from a family breakfast this morning down at a cafe on the Swan River, South Perth.

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post, so quite a lot has happened. I like taking a few minutes every now and then and looking over my calendar to reflect on every jam packed day. Monday to Friday last week I felt like I was in a time warp - I was waiting for Pascaline to arrive and pretty much that was always what my mind came back to in any idle moment. She arrived around 1am Saturday morning and we've spent the last 7 days together, and it's been wonderful. She's here for the next 5 weeks.

This week I have attended the first week of classes for semester 2. I've got a full load this semester, and my classes include org psych, human factors, cross-cultural psych and industrial relations in the Asia Pacific. Should be quite an interesting semester, as all of those classes parallels a definite area of interest for me.

Also got a call from a place I interned at in January and did a full day's work for them on Wednesday this week. A day on the phone does wonders for phone technique and general confidence!

I organised a dinner at Annalakshmi (yes, again!) on Tuesday night. A big turnup and good food ensured a good night for all! Probably will look at another dinner event at a different restaurant next week.

Lastly, my brother Damien has been back in Perth on his week off and we went out for Daniel and Damien's (they're twins) birthday. Pics below.

Being a student advisor has its perks 

On Sunday Loren and I took the US students to the city centre for a scavenger hunt, or what we call the 'Race Around Perth'. It's not really a race though... pretty relaxed pace to it. It's more about getting used to public transport, getting familiar with the city, and having fun. Afterwards we all (minus Tiana who we somehow managed to get separated from!) went to the footy, where Freo managed to get a beating in a really scrappy game. In the pics below 1) The winning group with their Australiana prizes and 2) Australian Rules game at Subiaco Oval.




I've just came back from a great 3 days of activities and bonding at a camp up at Yanchep, which is an hour north of Perth. This morning I had a wonderful long sleep and woke up feeling happy and refreshed (is there a better feeling than waking up refreshed?). And now you are up to date with my life!

The last 2 weeks have been very very busy. Even though I knew I would be tired, being tired is not really something you can do much to prepare for. Looking over my calendar -

• I've spent time with Cata and Isa which has been so much fun, I think I'll even attempt to gain basic Spanish with their help (this also makes me feel a bit more comfortable correcting their English, as they'll be correcting my very basic Spanish).
• Irvine arrived from Nairobi and I showed him around - once again I love sharing Perth with newcomers. He's an awesome guy and we've met up half a dozen times in about a week; we grew up on different continents in different circumstances but in many ways I think we are pretty similar.
• I've learnt quite a lot about Kenya, and made a resolution to learn much more.
• Had driving lessons and passed my Medium Rigid driving test at the first go. Now I can drive fairly large vehicles (legally) and more importantly up to a 45 seater bus with 2 axles. I'll be driving a bus this Tuesday to Yanchep and on John Curtin Weekend later in the year.

• Sumbitted my tax return and already got it!
• I'm all set for class a fortnight before it starts. I should be an old hand at this... 12th semester coming up...
• Played volleyball on Thursday last week and had a BBQ at my place the following Saturday. Watched Knocked Up yesterday - hilarious movie, I loved it! It also left me with a real feel good warmth.
• Ran 12kms on Sunday.
• Received my exam results - I kicked ass last semester.
• And the biggest thing over the last 2 weeks has been the airport pickup and orientation programme for the new batch of US students. So many changes to schedule due to delayed flights and missed connections, which then affected hotel bookings, bus bookings and housing orientations. I was very lucky to work with Loren who is super organised and supportive and flexible friends (colleagues) around - in the end, it worked out great and we have everyone here safe and sound. Just under 50 students on about 8 flights. They all seem pretty cool which is a bonus.
• The Race Around Perth today went well and so did the footy match afterwards. 
• Pascaline arrives (hopefully if the visa is not delayed) in less than 2 weeks.

Maybe that should be my job title :)

On Tuesday I received a random email from Colombia. It was from a guy named Tomas and he was worried about his friend who had just arrived in Perth to learn English and was having a difficult time. He asked if I could introduce her to some friends and show her around. Of course, I was happy to! I exchanged emails with his friend, Catalina, and went out of Friday night with her, Annabel, Jess and three of her friends from the English school, Isabel and Alberto (both Colombian) and Jan (German). We had a great time!

Saturday Gosia (Curtin's first incoming trainee!) arrived in Perth and I was at the airport with Bec, Fatin and Vivien to meet her. We took her to her new home, had a walk, sat down for coffee, went shopping for some basics, then took her home and let her rest. At night I met up with Catalina, Isabel and Jan again and spent some time in the city and King's Park.

I love meeting people and I love sharing my beautiful city with newcomers. Most of all though, and it's no surprise to people who know me, but I love learning about different cultures and spending time with people from different places with different backgrounds. It's a thrill to spend a few hours with someone and help them have a great time - it can be tough moving to a foreign country where you have to establish anew your network of friends and acquaintances.

In the photos below 1) Vivien and Gosia at the airport, 2) In Beaufort St, 3) What to choose?, 4) Catalina, Jan and Isabel in King's Park overlooking the city, 5) Isabel, myself and Catalina, 6) At the Flame of Remembrance.

Photo sets here and here.

Call me weird, but I've been thinking a lot about public governance lately. Call me even weirder, but I'm writing this at 1.00am and the only reason I am up is because I just took a few headache tablets (this is the worst headache I've had in a loooong time). I'm going to write about tax, and hopefully my international friends will find this interesting. Perhaps you can make some comparisons between the Aussie system and your own?

Tax reform has been pretty significantly achieved over the past two decades in Australia, but there is still a way to go. Australia has a progressive income taxation system, where the money you earn is taxed at different rates, as shown in the tables below. The whole basis is that higher income earners are more able to make a higher proportional contribution to public goods. Australia has other usage based taxes and flat taxes, for instance funding for road construction and maintenance comes from petrol excise which is obviously usage based, but income tax is by far the most significant and impacting, and I happy to live in a country with a tax system based on redistributing wealth to aid low income earners. However, much more can be done. Take a look at the income tax schedules for Australian residents in 1985-86, 1994-95 through to 1999-2000 (tax rates were kept the same through this period), and 2006-2007. You can see here for full history.

1985-86
Taxable income	Tax on this income
$0–$4,594 $4,595–$12,499 $12,500–$19,499 $19,500–$27,999 $28,000–$34,999 $35,000 and over	Nil 25 cents for each $1 over $4,595 $1,976.26 + 30 cents for each $1 over $12,500 $4,076.25 + 46 cents for each $1 over $19,500 $7,986.25 + 48 cents for each $1 over $28,000 $11,346.25 + 60 cents for each $1 over $35,000
1994-95 to 1999-2000
Taxable income	Tax on this income
$1–$5,400 $5,401–$20,700 $20,701–$38,000 $38,001–$50,000 $50,001 and over	Nil 20 cents for each $1 over $5,400 $3,060 + 34 cents for each $1 over $20,700 $8,942 + 43 cents for each $1 over $38,000 $14,102 + 47 cents for each $1 over $50,000
2006-2007
Taxable income	Tax on this income
$1-$6000 $6,001–$25,000 $25,001–$75,000 $75,001–$150,000 $150,001 and over	Nil 15 cents for each $1 over $6,000 $2,850 + 30 cents for each $1 over $25,000 $17,850 + 40 cents for each $1 over $75,000 $47,850 + 45 cents for each $1 over $150,000

Note the difference between marginal and average tax rates. So in 2006-2007 if your taxable income is $25,000 your average tax rate would be around 11% (2,850 from 25,000), if $75,000 your average tax rate would be around 24% (17,850 from 75,000), and at $150,000 your average tax rate is around 32% (47,850 from 150,000).

It's important to note that if your wage is $100,000 it does not necessarily mean that your taxable income is $100,000 - you can significantly decrease your taxable income by claiming deductions for many different things. Two of the most significant are voluntary before-tax superannuation contributions (starting July 1st most people can put up to $50,000 into super and thus reduce their taxable income by that amount), and claiming expenses on investments (called 'negative gearing', and typically people claim the difference between mortage repayments and rental income on investment properties, this amounted to something like $20 billion last year). Superannuation is one of the best things the Australian government has introduced - the aim is to phase out retirement pensions or at least significantly decrease the load on the taxpayer. At the end of June 2007 it is estimated that this pool of savings will total $1.2 trillion and be the second largest pool of investment funds in the world, behind Japan Post bonds. The new legislation I mentioned above that will allow most people to put away up to $50,000 per year into super (at 15% tax on entry) and thus decrease their taxable income by the same amount will have a massive impact on superannuation, and I believe will sharply increase savings levels.

We're in a very good position going forward: Australia has no significant public debt, and the government has delivered 10+ straight budget surpluses, despite quite large income tax cuts. There is so much to say right here, but the most important points are these:

• The engine of our tax system and thus the funding of public goods and services is our high earners. The average wage in Australia is around $50,000-$60,000, and 90% of people pay less than $15,000 tax. High earners however contribute far more, for instance a taxable income of $250,000 results in over $90,000 tax. Tens of thousands of Australians have very high incomes and there is only so much you can do to reduce your tax burden.
• However, high income earners should have a much greater responsibility to contribute to the community and thus this burden is fair enough.
• Tax reform is all well and good, and an important goal to be achieved to keep the economy kicking, but standard of living is also affected by the ready provision of public goods and services. Some things should not be privatised or scaled back because of a desire to reduce taxes. Education and health cover in Australia have moved backwards in recent times. Liberalisation has done wonders for the Aussie economy, but the benefits of this (and the overflowing government coffers) should have been sown into better education services and health cover.

Paul is, as I write this, probably sitting in the departure lounge at Perth Airport. He flies out today after 18 months in Perth. In that time he has been one of my very best friends, and I will miss him. Life moves on, people come and go, but the friendships we create do not end so long as we stay in touch. And he has some adventures ahead of him! Paul will be working in Canada for the next two years on an awesome AIESEC internship, and I am sure he will settle into life there quickly and make the most of having an AIESEC committee look after him!

Paul, I know you'll read this at some point, so I want to say thank you for your friendship and be sure to keep us all regularly updated, no matter how busy your new job is!

Me awarding Paul for the brilliant way he took to responsibility in the committee, at the conclusion of the AIESEC Western Australia State Conference 2006.

Me, Paul and Nick Taylor in King's Park overlooking the city, last night after Paul's farewell dinner. Photo is a bit stuffed but oh well.

Pic's from the farewell dinner here.

• We have 2 microwaves at my house. I learnt last week that one of them is older than me - it was bought a few months before I was born. I use it often and it still works fine. That's pretty good value for money!
• My brother moved out today, and I helped take some furniture over to his house, which he has renovated from a shitty old bomb to something quite different. He is moving out not for independence, but so he doesn't have to pay capital gains tax if he wants to sell it at some point in the future!
• I have been meaning to write about "The Surrendered Wife", a supposed guide for marital intimacy that has sparked some controversy. I actually came across it when I picked up a copy of Woman's Day, one of those stupid trashy women's magazines that people buy for some unknown irrational reason. I laughed so hard I cried when I first read about it, but in thinking more about it I tried to recognise what was good about the 'technique/method' rather than just laugh it off as some silly American thing. I think I'm giving up though, the links to the articles have been open on my browser for quite a while. Here are the links, you can make up your own mind. Wikipedia article. For counterpoint, Loving Female Authority.
• In the last week I:
• read half of a fat epic medieval political/war book, all fictional and total escapism. (tick!)
• tried to catch up on 2 weeks worth of news feeds but have succeeded only in scanning and sorting the interesting from the rest. (half tick)
• worked a very boring casual job and earnt some money (tick that one off the list!)
• socialised, but not too much (tick!)
• attended a documentary screening of 'Control Room' and a subsequent panel on media power and manipulation. (something intellectual, tick!)
• bought textbooks and started looking at them (big tick!)
• did not catch up on sleep, exercise like I meant to, or organise bus driving lessons (to do tomorrow).