Poor Performance

There is an interesting confluence of stories in today's Courier Mail, which on first glance don't seem to be connected.
On page 9, there's an account of John Mulcahy's departure as CEO of Suncorp. On page 10, an article about self-funded retirees appears. This second one, about government's abandonment of this group in the face of the current financial train wreck, isn't on their website, and I can't link to it, but this earlier story is relevant.

They're linked in my mind.

About six years ago whilst still in harness as a school principal, I was seconded for six months to work in a senior Human Resources position. Our District Director at the time was trying to get field personnel into her office in an attempt at culture change.

One of the less pleasant aspects of this otherwise fascinating job was the responsibility of recommending to the District Director, action to be taken with non-performing teachers. Every now and again, I had to recommend termination (after the completion of a process called Diminished Work Performance) to the DD. Sometimes, it fell to me to break the bad news to the teacher in question. It was really the principal's responsibility, but on occasion it was easier on all concerned, if someone disconnected with the school did this. Once, a teacher for whom I had recommended termination got hold of my home phone number and made life a bit difficult for myself and family for a while. Being phoned at weird hours to be asked "How can you sleep?" wasn't fun. My attempt at wit - "I was doing OK on the sleep issue until the phone rang" went over like a lead balloon.

This made be very familiar with both the consequences and fallout of under performance. The main victims, of course were the kids in these teachers' classses.

Compare this situation with the fate of Mulcahy, CEO of Suncorp, after the value of the company has fallen $12 billion from its peak of $19 billion. According too this report, he's left of his own accord, and has taken with him $20 million pocketed during a six year period. He also holds 1.3 million shares, worth $9.26 million on current share values, and has another 400000 incentive shares worth $2.8 million. His payout figure is $2.4 million.

Why is under-performance tolerated rewarded in this fashion in private industry? It's interesting to compare this situation to my experience. The cliché that does the rounds in Tory blogs is that the public service doesn't act to manage under-performance. I don't see anyone complaining about merchant bankers in a similar situation on blogs such as Bolt's or Blair's. How is this connected to the story on self-funded retirees?

Obviously, we (I'm one of them) are taking a beating in the current situation. I'm better off than most asset-wise, but it's not fun watching the accumulated rewards of forty-five years of work diminish rapidly (I left school at fifteen and started contributing to super in 1962). It effects my capacity to help my kids, as I'm not prepared to access any of my accounts, and won't until things start to turn. How long this will take is anyone's guess - we're in uncharted territory. I hope I'm still compos mentis enough to enjoy what's left. The job I do because I enjoy it has become useful about now.

It makes my blood boil to understand that smart-arse bankers are handsomely rewarded for making such a mess of their work in providing security for their investors and employees, whilst self-funded retirees are denied the same security through no fault of their own.

But it must be OK – the market rules, after all.

New Tricks

You can't teach an old dog new tricks - or so the cliche goes. Actually you can.

I learned some new tricks today at a driver training program. As I drive about 15000km per year for work, most of it at high speed on indifferent rural roads, I thought that it might be a good idea to update my skills knowledge and attitude, as there is a degree of physical risk involved.

So far the worst that's happened on the job are a number of encounters with wildlife. The hairiest encounter was with a wallaby that I hit dead centre at 100kph between Cunnamulla and Charleville, so in four years I've probably been a bit lucky. (The wallaby didn't survive - the car did - it had a roo bar which was moved sideways about 10cm).

The training started with a theory session which lasted about two hours. This covered situational awareness, vehicle preparation, driver attitude, commentary driving, positioning (the driver in the vehicle and the vehicle on the road), visual scanning, and dealing with emergencies. This was delivered in a manner which I found strangely familiar. Turned out the instructor was ex-army (Cavalry) and his well-organised no-nonsense delivery reflected that.

We then headed out of town, two students and one instructor per car, to participate in a two-hour practical session. This was very valuable. Initially the instructor sat beside the student driver and picked the eyes out of your driving habits. I got my licence in 1964, so have had plenty of time to develop some bad habits. One of them was to drive to close to the vehicle in front in suburban traffic (they stipulate one car length per 10kph which is very conservative). The gap you leave is invariably filled quickly, but you live with that.

On a gravel surface we practised panic braking which demonstrated the effectiveness of the ABR system. I've owned five vehicles with this feature over the years, and have never had to use it in anger, but it was great to understand how it helps in an emergency. Modern vehicles (this was a Commodore Omega) are very safe given ABR and electronic stability systems, although the instructor disabled the ESP for the purposes of the braking exercise.

It was interesting that the techniques about visual scanning that I was taught forty years ago in Infantry Corps training were repeated today.

The only downside to the exercise was being thrown around like a sack of spuds in the back seat of the Commodore whilst the other student went through his training. Carsickness was a real possibility.

By the way, the advice if you encounter hopping creatures is to brake, but not to swerve. If a collision is inevitable, you're advised to get off the brake at the last moment, so that the nose of the car rises making a roo through the windscreen less likely.

I'm not sure that this technique would spring to mind in the middle of a phenomenal avoidance. I hope I don't find out the hard way.

Masters of the Universe

Back in the late nineties, when my two sons were still at school, I took them on a road trip south to Sydney. There were a couple of reasons for this. I had taken some long service leave, recently purchased a funny French car (Peugeot 505 wagon) which I wanted to drive. I also hoped to connect, after many decades, with some of my rifle platoon mates.

It was a great trip, and we had many adventures of the fairly humdrum kind. I think the boys enjoyed it, as it still comes up for mention from time to time. I met up with a couple of old mates, and had a drink and told a lie or two.

We spent about a week in Sydney, staying at a basic holiday park and commuting daily into the city. We were fascinated (and generally impressed) by the diversity of the populace. This diversity is not a feature of Toowoomba, although since USQ started aggressively selling its wares overseas, it has begun to change.

One of the areas of Sydney we found interesting was the financial district. We kept going back to gawk at the strange specimens of both genders, on display at some of the swank coffee houses in this area. The most interesting activity was simply listening to the conversations. It was worth paying the exorbitant prices simply to buy a coffee to sit and listen.

I hadn't heard such a vacuous lot of prattle in a long time, nor seen such a collection of up-themselves ponces. My old man would have used the term "mug lairs". (It's a pity it's gone from common usage). If we hadn't seen it, we wouldn't have believed it.

I was reminded of Banjo Paterson's "Man from Ironbark" -

It was the man from Ironbark, who struck the Sydney town,
He wandered over street and park, he wandered up and down.
He loitered here; he loitered there, till he was like to drop,
Until at last in sheer despair he sought a barber's shop.

And

There were some gilded youths that sat along the barber's wall.
Their eyes were dull, their heads were flat, and they had no brains at all;

We probably fit the description of the loiterers, and those we encountered the gilded youths. They were gilded, but not all youths. The second part of the description of their personal attributes was apt.

We weren't in a barber's shop. They don't have barber's shops in that part of Sydney.

I remember sharing the thought with my sons that if these people had their hands on the financial pulse of the country we were in deep trouble. Given what's gone down in the last twelve months, I was probably right. I guess this holds for Wall Street. They're all the same breed.

Given the kafuffle about Citicorp's planned purchase of a corporate jet using bailout funds, it would seem likely. And these idiots are regarded as "Masters of the Universe"?

I'd like to drag one or two of them to Quilpie or Cunnamulla, give them a cut lunch and a bottle of water, and suggest they walk to Sydney thinking about their net worth to the nation on the way.

Pork or Beef with Onions Cucumbers and Tomatoes

On my last trip to Vietnam I bought this (very basic) recipe book in Danang. I'll post recipes now and again - not necessarily from this book - more often those that work and are simple. They'll all be Vietnamese. I would never consider anything else.

I always cook Vietnamese on Saturday.

This one is simple, and good tucker -

PORK OR BEEF WITH ONIONS, CUCUMBERS AND TOMATOES
(Heo hay bo xao cu hanh, dua chuot, ca chua)
- 2 lbs pork tenderloin or tender beef cut in cubes
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/3 cup soup stock
Vegetables: about 2 cups onion cut lengthwise cucumbers cut diagonally tomatoes cut in quarters Sauté the vegetables slightly in 2 tablespoons oil. Remove from pan.
Season the meat with garlic, salt and soy sauce.
Let stand 10 minutes at room temperature or in refrigerator.
Heat the pan; add a tablespoon of cooking oil and sauté the pork for 30 minutes (or beef for 15 minutes).
Add 1/3 cup soup stock. Heat thoroughly.
Thicken the sauce with 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Add vegetables just before serving.
Serves 4 to 6.

Australia Day

The National day has started well.

One of my daughters is dropping advertising material (you're not allowed to call it "Junk Mail") in letterboxes, and I volunteered to do a block or two as it synchronized well with my morning walk.

This meant that I was able to amble along in the pleasant morning, enjoying the freshness after last night's storms, and listening to the music from festivities at Picnic Point.

There's no way in the world I'd ever participate willingly in these carryings-on, as it's not my generation's style, and is something that's developed, along with a fair whack of commercialism of the theme, in the last decade.

Other less attractive behaviours (in sport - exulting when a goal is scored; socially - getting drunk and waving the flag; and in some parts of our fair land, beating up minorities) have also marred the day recently. A new faux patriotism has developed which I find pretty disgraceful, and very boring.

The cliché "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" has never been as relevant as it is in 2009.

The theme is also being commercially exploited to the absolute limit – not necessarily a new development, but one that is being managed with increased sophistication by the corporations. The nifty little flags being hocked everywhere, and ending up on the cars of every second bogan are a good example. On the topic of flags – I've never been particularly enamored of our national symbol, although many years ago I fought under it and I always display the flag as a badge when traveling overseas, manly so I won't be mistaken for a Yank or Pom.

A flag which has the national symbol of another country in its top left corner is, to my mind, a statement of a cultural cringe that we outgrew a long time ago. How can we claim to be proud of our country when we display another's flag on our own? Besides, my ancestors were driven from their native land by this same empire.




Here are some alternatives, although neither is aesthetically pleasing. They are however, representative to a greater degree of my idea of our national identity. Maybe it's time for a flag competition – or maybe it could be combined with another referendum on the republic question – hopefully with bi-partisan support.


To me, the extent to which we are a nation of individuals, even eccentrics, the extent to which we can disagree and remain cohesive, the level of compassion shown to those aging and with disabilities, and the time we give to our children are far better measures of our nation than the amount of flag waving and boozing that occurs on this important day.

And the flag?

I've always favoured the Eureka flag. It symbolises action taken by a group of free men in an attempt to subvert the petty tyranny imposed on them. Futile - maybe, but so was Gallipoli, and Vietnam.

That's why it's on my blog.

On the Road Again

On Thursday and Friday I was back on the road again for the first time this year. There's a little school about 600km west where some staff training was necessary to prepare for the enrolment of a pre-schooler with disabilities, so I set off at first light so that there would be sufficient time to do some planning and orientation during the Thursday and Friday pupil-free days. The early departure meant a view of the sunrise – quite spectacular -


The Warrego at this hour was fairly quiet, giving me time to do a bit of rubbernecking. Near Yuleba is an amazing conglomeration of dongas – probably a depot where they're dispatched from in preparation for the expansion of the coal seam exploitation around Miles/Wandoan/Taroom . A few weeks ago there was nothing – now there are literally hundreds of dongas.






These things are always being trucked around – often creating bottlenecks in traffic – but I guess they provide reasonable air-conditioned accommodation in the summer heat out here. The miners have to sleep. I couldn't help wondering about the future of these new projects given the financial crisis.

I was in Roma by 9am, and was greeted by the sight of a Eureka flag – which made my day. I've always preferred it to the flag we use which has another countries' ensign in the top left corner.

I arrived at the school early afternoon, and was able to meet staff and collect the information needed to do the job first up on Friday.

Next morning, as I was loading my vehicle, the bloke in the motel unit next door was doing the same. He had a jacket with medals (including the Infantry Combat Badge) hanging in his car. I enquired "What unit?" He was ex 6RAR, and had served in both Timor and Iraq. He was attending his dad's funeral later in the day. "My dad never saw my medals" he said – "So I thought I'd better wear them today".
Amen to that.

The weather began to close in on the way back, with spectacular displays of stormscapes pretty much all the way back to Toowoomba.

By the time I got home, we were getting some good rain.






It's great to be back in harness. There's some fantastic teachers and parents out there, and some wonderful kids. It looks like it's going to be a busy year.

Blogging may become a bit sporadic though - I've never really made a success of doing it on the run.

Spinning Rockets

The ceasefire announced yesterday in Gaza has got to be good news for Israelis and Gazans alike. Let's see how long it lasts.

Will more Qassams landing in Sderot mean an end to the ceasefire and a resumption of Israeli action?

Given that the stated reason for the Israeli incursion is the continued risk to Israeli national security through the shooting of these rockets from Gaza, it seems logical that every effort should be made to prevent further rockets landing. It's not as if there's any likelihood that the mindset of the people firing them will change. I'd argue that every Palestinian killed by Israeli military action is replaced by five more as a result of that same action. This doesn't indicate support for Hamas - it's simple statement of political reality.

Logically then, I'd argue that the Israelis should be devoting a great deal of time and energy to the development of weapon systems which would destroy the Qassams (and whatever else is being lobbed across the border) before they could do any damage. This would expand the political options available to the Israelis exponentially.

Indeed, the citizens of Sderot feel so strongly about this that they have resorted to legal action.

Part of this is directed towards demanding that the IDF take the necessary measures to ensure defence of the town. It's interesting that these Israelis have so little confidence in their government that they believe that this is necessary.

There are weapons systems designed for this type of short range defense. One of the most respected is the Phalanx system which has been used with 80% effectiveness to defend the Green Zone in Baghdad.

There is a new system, Iron Dome, currently under development. Ron Ben-Yishai comments on the Israeli government decision to pursue development in September 2007 -

The decision made on Thursday is a strategic milestone. If Israel succeeds in finding a solution for the short-rang rockets launched, even if it is only a partial solution, it will bring about a shift in the balance of power between Israel and the terrorists and radical Islam operating against it.

Not only will the population be better protected from Katyushas and bigger Syrian rockets in the North and Qassams in the Negev, but Israel will regain the political freedom that it lost due to the rocket threat.

Another report indicates that Iron Dome was successfully tested in July 2007.

Not a lot of this makes sense to me. We know that there are systems that have been used successfully elsewhere such as Phalanx. We know that the Israelis have been looking at developing Iron Dome since 2007. We know some Israelis hold a fairly dim view of existing IDF measures to maintain their security.

Because of the historical lack of success of military incursion (the rockets continue since the most recent action, although at about one third of their maximum rate), it's time the folllowing questions were posed -

Why aren't more resources being deployed to develop effective defence against rockets?
Why aren't already available systems being deployed with greater energy?

Hopefully the answer doesn't have anything to do with forthcoming Israeli elections and the need to have positive political spin available on the issue of defence.

Update: The rockets continue - despite the ceasefire, and Hamas' giving the Israelis a week to withdraw..