An oldie but a goodie - the cost a corporate can face in not dealing with problems quickly and effectively. Having a culture that didn't include the customer meant that United Airlines suffered the ignominy of public humiliation in the best possible way after treating some passengers very shabbily -watch the attached clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo This event occurred way back in 2009, and subsequently nearly 18,000,000 people have viewed their reaction, portrayed in a very musically and catchy manner. To make matter worse, rather than paying out $1200 for a new guitar, within 4 days of the clip being posted on line, United's share price dropped over 10% costing shareholders over $180 million . https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/24/united-breaks-guitars-did_n_244357.html There is a message in there somewhere. Jeff had been talking about doing a Coromandel loop for a couple of months – something we all enjoy, but one of those things that busy people put to one side, tomorrow being more convenient than today. We eventually set a date, sent out invitations, fielded excuses from those less committed and welcomed the acceptances that were almost inevitable – we were to be four, Jeff riding his beloved Bob, Butch on his Dyna, its distinctive and loud bark, abundant chrome always polished and presentable, Craig on his matt black Indian Dark Horse (wishing it was a Harley), and me on Beyoncé. Butch was up at 4.30 to meet Jeff an hour later, before heading down the motorway, our starting point at BP south an already an hour into his ride. We enjoyed breakfast at Autobahn café, the inevitable starting point of most rides southwards, great mates catching up and admiring the procession of bikes, boats, and cars – race cars, old cars, flash cars and fast cars, as they passed through the busiest gas station in New Zealand, all headed out to enjoy what was shaping up to be a magnificent day. Craig rolled up just before 7am and before he could undo his helmet, we were off, first stop Bugger Café near Kopu. We exited the motorway at Ramarama and headed towards Miranda, taking advantage of the quiet country roads although mindful of the wildlife also up and about, a freshly clobbered hare in the middle of the road being first reminder, his cousin a couple of kms further along, darting from one side of the road to the other causing a moments concern – to hit a large hare would be akin to hitting a calf – all bone. Probably best avoided. We made exceptionally good time, the few minutes I’d invested in checking the connections in my radar detector bringing it back to life, and although not required, an insurance policy none the less. It was a brisk morning temperature wish, with all of us wearing multiple layers, with one or two still cold (get a screen Butch!) The hinterland from Ararimu then Paparimu, and through to Mangatawhiri used to be fairly sparsely populated, often damp and cold in the Hunua Ranges, too far from anywhere to be attractive but that has apparently changed with new builds and old homes newly transplanted springing up everywhere, communities of commuter residents, pleased to trade country lifestyle and affordable homes for a longer commute, bolstering the rolls of country schools. Unimpeded by any slow traffic we made very good time and rocked into the carpark at Bugger café half an hour later, only to be disappointed – still closed – onwards to McDonalds in Thames for a quick coffee and hash brown (Craig’s belated and disappointing breakfast). The road from Thames to Coromandel town often belies the fact that it is such a busy route, in places tight corners just wide enough for a four wheel drive towing a big aluminium boat, a tourist bus or a Mussel truck, but certainly not wide enough to also accommodate a Harley traveling in the opposite direction. Being ever mindful that “Might is right”, and the fact the edge of the road comes to an abrupt end, no barriers or margin, well before the second lane would normally be, and to err would be to end up on the jagged rocks 10 metres below, being judicious is a virtue. At one point I had just started to wonder what the pink paint someone had sprayed on the road signified – I quickly realised as the guys following saw me get thrown from my seat as my backside and Beyoncé parted company, nearly getting tossed off by a massive hole in the road – ouch. Aside from these little distractions, assuming the road is free from traffic (and it was still early enough for the traffic to be very light), this route is a motorcyclists dream – great corners, great scenery, and the knowledge that there is even better to come, with the pass between Coromandel town and Matarangi being absolutely magnificent, a delight for expert riders prepared to lean far enough to scrape pipes and foot pegs, the resultant shower of sparks and grinding of metal on asphalt a reminder that the ragged edge is fairly close. This still deserted segment was great reward for old boys enjoying the thrill of being on the road and the company of great mates. Luke’s Kitchen at Kuaotunu is an obligatory stop, a beautiful spot seemingly in the middle of nowhere, slightly off the main road and largely unknown other than to those who already know, and those fortunate few who have found it by chance or reputation. Great coffee, great food, and a chance to recap on the just completed leg, the highlight of our circuit, rubbing in awe the scrapes on pipes that have never previously leaned so far. Having arrived at 11ish, the wood fired pizza oven was still being brought to temperature so we settled for coffee, scones (Craig) and bird seed slice (Jeff) before remounting, invited by Mickey to visit Chez Moros in Pauanui, via a stop in Whitianga for gas. Pauanui was surprisingly quiet, at least according to Mickey. He got busy playing barista, churning out coffees (but rather disappointingly, no home baking), while Kim and daughter Claire worked inside swotting for an exam (trying to ignore the distraction of 4 rowdy bikers upsetting the equilibrium), and Jeff enjoyed a through licking from Harley, a well named and much loved Springer Spaniel who’d taken a liking to him. Back on the road, Bugger Café again chosen as our next and final stop for more coffee and something for lunch before the last leg home. It appears that the place has been sold, and with it much of the character, that invisible and intangible something that even well- meaning and diligent new owners find so difficult to replicate. Butch and Jeff planned on staying on the main highway then motorway hoping the traffic would not prove too onerous, while Craig and I opted for the Sea Bird Coast option, Miranda, Kaiaua, Orere Pt, Kawakawa Bay, Clevedon, Whitford – perhaps longer, and certainly less direct with more corners, but a fabulous ride and to my mind, eminently preferable to the frustrations of Auckland’s motorways, the combination of quick straights and scenery being reward enough. So, I was home by 2.30 (with the shore guys probably an hour later), and ready for a nap, having enjoyed a day’s riding of about 500km, a ride equal to that anywhere in the world, no rain, no drama, no problems – fabulous! Thanks guys – let’s do it again soon! Having just returned from a business trip to Vietnam, and having been bombarded by Jacinda and the Greens in the build up to the election, I was motivated to consider the matter of Child Poverty. The World Health Organisation’s definition is: Poverty is associated with the undermining of a range of key human attributes, including health. ... Poverty is often defined in absolute terms of low income – less than US$2 a day, for example. But in reality, the consequences of poverty exist on a relative scale So, based on these measures, accepting that other than in very rare exceptions, Children in New Zealand live in homes, and where deemed appropriate, receive via their caregivers, funding sufficient to provide for their needs. So, well outside the bounds of this definition – so where are the 300-400,000 children in poverty we’re told we have in our society. Life is full of choices, whether to drink, to smoke, to place bets on the TAB or the pokies, to do drugs, or to buy mag wheels on tick for the Bongo wagon are all each of us, regardless of race, “social standing”, or wealth face, choices, as is the dilemma of whether to feed our children or pay tithes to a church, to remit money to family overseas – whatever. As a society most of us would shudder at the concept of not helping those in need – the philosophical question being whether there should be any expectations in return? From what I can ascertain, the Left insist that beneficiaries remain unaccountable, preferring instead to consider that any shortfall be treated as an additional problem rather than part and parcel of the root cause. Families receive benefits yet send kids to school hungry… We’re all in agreement that kids do suffer as a consequence of the decisions of their parents – perhaps more often than not, the single parent. It is unfortunate that the Co-Leader of a major political party proved such a terrible role model, a liar and a fraudster condoning breaking the law, stealing from those taxpayers whose sweat and largesse provide the safety net the poor can rely on. Maori politician and leader, Sir Āpirana Ngata (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80pirana_Ngata) is immortalised on our $50 note, but is also famous for raising the issue of creating dependence through social welfare on Maoridom – prophetic. Paying people to have children comes with real issues, particularly as many children in single parent environments suffer through a lack of a “proper father figure” – sad but true. Unfortunately the “Lowest common denominator” keeps getting lowered, and with it our expectations – young people, especially young Maori pay an incredibly high price reflected in lack of education, poor employment prospects and in incarnation rates – all too often ingrained in 2nd and third generations. The answers do actually seem fairly simple…. Regardless of their party, politicians in general rarely impress me, in fact just the opposite. Typically unusual people with more ambition than talent, the most dangerous being those rabid idealists (some of whom have never earned an honest dollar outside the cloistered halls of academia) determined to change the world, providing of course that others pay. Every modern society works on the basis that everyone (well, nearly everyone – hmmm, perhaps most) contributes towards those things society as a whole requires, by way of tax – healthcare, education, justice, roads, etc. The politicians of every country fiddle with the tax rate, some raising, some lowering, but inevitably with the view of extracting more from those who contribute (and this number is surprising few). Most Kiwis are raised in an environment where every dollar is both hard earned, and needs to be accounted for – few have the benefit of unlimited income and the ability to live without a budget. We know that to spend more than we earn today is to “borrow” from our future earnings, and the interest we pay is the “cost”, perhaps 5-6% for a mortgage, or 22- 30% on credit cards. We know that to take the family to Fiji on holiday by invoking credit card debt, comes at a high price – whilst the benefit is short lived, the cost tends to linger long into the future, typically at the expense of things we can’t afford because of the debt incurred. As a household, we have a combined household income, and usually divide this total into segments (like cutting a pizza) – if you make the “rent or Mortgage” slice bigger, the rest of the slices have to get smaller. Just because we want to spend more, unless we earn more, our pizza does not get bigger. My issue is that Governments (and I’m not being political here) have a different view. The previous government “underspent”, prudently leaving several billion in the kitty, whereas the new coalition acknowledges they’ll be spending closer to $20 billion more than they “earn” through tax – so where does this come from (think credit card debt)? Every time a politician makes a promise exceeding the existing tax take (the countries pizza) that benefits someone (the elderly, the poor, the sick, the justice system, education) , someone else has to pay. So – to fulfil a promise made to appease the Greens, we need find several billion dollars to pay for “light rail from the city to the airport” (how is that going to benefit anyone in Manurewa or Papakura, Pakuranga or Albany, Silverdale or Henderson?) – and the intelligentsia have decided the answer is to increase the tax on petrol… “Working class” people of far flung suburbs who will never get any benefit from “light rail”, and whom are reliant on their cars to drive to their jobs in East Tamaki and the Airport Oaks will have to find an extra $10-$20 each week to fund the fantasies of the intellectual greenies. These same working class people have been deprived of the $2000-$3000 tax cuts that had been legislated into law, but will be repealed under urgency when Parliament sits. Talk about beat the down trodden with a big stick. Neither of these things affect me to much – I don’t spend much on petrol, and am fortunate enough that $2-$3,000 is not life changing to me. Whilst raising the minimum wage and abolishing the “90 day trial” is great in theory, in practice it hurts those who should benefit most – whereas many employers will take a risk on a kid if there is not a lot at stake, they won’t if the cost is too high. Politicians who have never worked in the private sector, who’ve never had their house on the line to fund their business and who have never employed people simply don’t know that good staff can usually “write their own ticket” – if they are skilled and undervalued, they’ll leave and find an employer who recognises their worth. Legislating “protection” may benefit the lazy, the unreliable or the uncommitted employee, but does nothing for those worth keeping. Raising the minimum wage also makes the cost of automation more beneficial, more quickly – been to a McDonalds and seen how they’re replacing people with machines lately? Staff costs typically exceed 50% for most employers, so any increase provides motivation to shed those lower skilled people in favour of a machine. Regards home ownership - those people who have extended themselves in recent years to buy a home also face the prospect of being severely punished, many stretching themselves to their financial limits to get on the property ladder. Homeowners will no longer be permitted to sell to the highest bidder, instead the relying on the whim of Politicians to approve those who can and can’t bid. The joint effects of increasing interest rates (which exceeded 11% both previous times Winston was in a coalition), and a depressed property market must inevitably evaporate the equity of home owners, with long term owners being less affected than recent entrants to the market. |
Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
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