FRIDAY WIND DOWN: In celebration of the people behind the Time+Tide scenes, including our proofreader Jeff
Andrew McUtchenJeff Jenkins is the author of the last article published on Time+Tide, about a scandal engulfing Australia Post. It is his first-ever story on Time+Tide. In a nutshell, the CEO of Australia Post Christine Holgate gifted four Cartier watches to her staff, each worth around $3000. You can read more below. The point isn’t the story, what seems on face value to be yet another 2020 example of dodgy corporate behaviour.
The point is the name of the author. You’ll know Jeff Jenkins if you’re one of two things. A music nut: for he has written multiple biographies of famous music personalities, including Molly Meldrum. (And a book we wrote together in our past lives, with a friend Barry about the Australian guitar-maker Maton – one for the guitar geeks in the crowd.) He also co-hosted a cult Community TV show Chartbusting ’80s, which he’d probably prefer we didn’t link to.
Either that, or the name rings a bell because you’re a writer for Time+Tide. Because Jeff is the person you send your copy to. Jeff is our proofreader. Jeff scrutinises every single story that goes up on the site. One glaring exception is this one, because I want to surprise him. He started out not being into watches at all. He now owns one ‘good watch’, and tends to reply with increasingly informed views of what we’re posting about.
Jeff is one of the amazingly talented people behind the scenes at Time+Tide. There are many of them. Justin, the SEO guy. Hamish, the IT guy. Jason, the photographer. Jen, the videographer. Row and Jacqui, our graphic designers. Matt, our Operations Guru. Khando, who has her fingerprints on anything you’ve received from us in the mail.
You will never see these people in bylines, but without them, we wouldn’t be here.
Spare them a thought, and have a great weekend!
And in case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve picked a side for the Australian Grand Final. Go Tiges, get that Norm Smith, Dusty (translation: MVP).
Andrew
If you read one watch review this week, read this one…
Sometimes, the quality of the writing on Time+Tide is so good, that after proofreading it, I jump on in and write an ‘Editor’s Note’ at the top of it. It’s the equivalent to a proud dad at his kid’s birthday party. Fergus’ long and winding piece about this watch was so damn enjoyable, I had to do just that. There are many ways you can admire this watch. From its technical wizardry. Its incredibly clean aesthetic, for such a complicated piece. Or from the tactile, feather-on-the-wrist feeling. But none of those ways is quite like Fergus’ touch here. A stunning piece of writing.
The curious case of the ‘Cartier bonus’ at Australia Post
Like I said above, it’s a story we’ve heard on repeat this year – like every other. Even in a pandemic, the birds will sing, the sky will be blue and business leaders will enjoy massive pay packets and big bonuses. On it goes.
The ‘spec monster’ that was Micro Mondays, Audric Watches
In the flurry of Micro Monday articles this year, this one well and truly stood out. Is it the vibrant colour scheme? (Colours have played such a vital part in brightening this year). Is it the generous specifications for the price? Or the way it all comes together? We’re not quite sure, but we can’t quite get over Audric…