I drove over 1000 miles in a single day in my electric vehicle

tesla_CDF2You hear it all the time – can’t go anywhere in an EV, they’ll never work in Australia, takes too long to charge. However, last week I drove 1635km in a single day in my Tesla. Yes that’s right naysayers: 1015 miles. Continue reading

10 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Living with a Tesla #4 – Checking out the Model X

WP_20170324_17_25_13_ProSo the kind folk at Tesla loaned me a Model X for a few days whilst my Model S was getting some work done… Ironic given I had openly said I don’t like urban SUVs and I reckon they’re for the Mamarazzi on soccer and school pick-up duties. And all those gimmicks on the Model X – automatic opening doors, big sky windscreen, falcon wing doors, electric adjustable centre row… Ha Tesla, you’re gonna regret this…

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under Tesla, Uncategorized

Living with a Tesla #3 – Look Ma, no hands!

no_hands2

Autopilot on; 102km/k, no hands, no feet… hmmm, Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ on the radio…

Ahhh, Autopilot. Depending on what you’ve been told it’s either an irresponsible, wrongly named, killer experiment or, it’s a fantastic, safer than a human, life-saving driving aid. This blog is about my experiences of commuting and road tripping with Autopilot – what it’s really good at and where it ain’t that great.

I reckon I’m in a good place to comment given I’ve driven well over 35,000 km on Autopilot and more than 95% of our recent ten day, 4500km Brisbane road trip and the following weekend’s 1650km Bowral road trip were on Autopilot. I have developed considerable confidence in Autopilot; I am more than happy to let the car take the lead role of driving, with me watching, as often as possible. And I have also learned the hard way not to become complacent. Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under Tesla, Uncategorized

Living with a Tesla #2 – A supercharged road trip

mac

Knockrow (Byron Bay) Superchargers

In this series of short blogs, I’m going to talk of our experiences living with a Tesla Model S P85D. I’m not going to wrap this in cotton wool. I’ll be honest about the pluses and minuses of being an early adopter.

In my last blog, I spoke about the 20 seconds I spend plugging-in and unplugging my car each day and how long the car takes to recharge is not important – it will be charged in the morning ready for another day. However, when you’re road tripping, charging times can come in to play. Today’s blog is about our 4500km road trip from Melbourne to Brisbane and back via Sydney and Canberra using Tesla Superchargers. Continue reading

4 Comments

Filed under Tesla, Uncategorized

Living with a Tesla #1 – Charging for daily use

teslachargingIn this series of short blogs, I’m going to talk of our experiences living with a Tesla Model S P85D for the past 15 months and 40,000km. I’m not going to wrap this in cotton wool. I’ll be honest about the pluses and minuses of being an early adopter.

So let’s deal with the first thing everyone asks – how long does it take to charge? That’s not really the right question so let’s change it ever so slightly… How long do I spend charging the car? For comparison, let’s start with… Continue reading

19 Comments

Filed under Tesla, Uncategorized

Helping vulnerable young people in the Care System

We’re facing a human rights tragedy in Australia. More than 43,000 children and young people were living in out-of-home care – foster care, residential care and kinship care – in Australia, as at 30 June 2015.

Nearly half of all homeless people and more than 60% of youth in detention have experienced out-of-home care. It is clear that the current system is not working and is leaving our children at risk.

The Bridge of Hope White Dove model

The White Dove ‘model of change’ is facilitated by a network of relevant peers – those with the lived experience – whether it is a vulnerable young woman in state care peered with a former vulnerable young woman from state care or former vulnerable family to a vulnerable family.
Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Bridge of Hope

Recently appointed patrons for BoH Innocence Initiative at RMIT

Very pleased to announce the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG and Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs were recently appointed as joint patrons of the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative at RMIT.

g_m

The BoH Innocence Initiative at RMIT is a collaboration between academics, university students and lawyers who investigate claims of wrongful conviction, work to achieve the exoneration and release of ‘convicted innocents’, conduct research and campaign for the reform of issues that may lead to such miscarriages of justice. The Initiative provides assistance on a pro bono basis to applicants who claim they are factually innocent of a criminal offence for which they were convicted.
Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

BOH Innocence Initiative @ RMIT takes on Keli Lane case

The BoH Innocence Initiative at RMIT getting some great press after taking on the Keli Lane case.

http://www.aww.com.au/latest-news/in-the-mag/exclusive-keli-lane-in-new-bid-for-freedom-24993

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

The death of contracting as we know it

Here’s a prediction for you… the number of opportunities for contractors will significantly reduce by the end of the decade and will be replaced by a radical new model for managing fluctuations in the demand for staff.

Don’t get me wrong. Clients will still need to use temporary staff to manage the growth, ebb and flow of their organisation’s staffing needs. However, and we’re already seeing it, clients are now making some extra demands that, to be frank, will seem impossible to meet using the old school staff augmentation/body shopping models.

Continue reading

14 Comments

Filed under Business, Everything else, Philanthropy, The Different Company, Uncategorized

7 ways to make customers love you! Hmmm… is it really this simple?

The greatest compliment anyone can receive in the business world is “I just love working with you.” That’s especially true when that compliment comes from customers, because it means that you’ll be getting their business time and time again, they’ll spend more money with you and tell everyone they know how great you are.

Happy customers keep coming back!

Geoffrey James – writer of the Sales Source column on Inc.com – says that if we follow seven simple rules, we’ll have customers buying from us again and again and again. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Which begs the question: if it’s really that simple, then why aren’t all businesses following these rules? And, can any business afford not to?

Here are the seven rules for getting customers to love you, along with my take on each. Let me know what you think. Are there any others? Enjoy!

Continue reading

8 Comments

Filed under Business