Frequently Asked Questions

• Are you available to help me?
• When/Why did you retire from teaching?

Are you available to help me?

Put simply, not any more. Regrettably.

Following the initial outbreak of Covid-19, everyone needed to take practical measures used to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. While most of these measures were easy to undertake, some required us to change our standard practices. In our case this meant we needed to only see face-to-face students individually and to ensure we cleaned all surfaces/items between each student, thus reducing the time we could spend with each student, not to mention reducing the number of students we could support. Moving all our sessions online resolved the time issue, however, despite our expertise in online learning¹, many parents were initially reluctant to move online. In addition, international students had been prevented from returning to Australia in early 2020, resulting in a significant loss of our regular client base and revenue stream².

There was some support from the State and Federal Governments that allowed us to effectively "tread water" for most of 2020, but the writing was on the wall that even if the pandemic ended quickly, it would be like trying to start the business again from scratch, especially as most of our international student clients were from word-of-mouth referrals of their peers and that chain had been broken. After many heartbreaking discussions with our existing students, parents and partners, we determined that it was time to slowly wrap up operations and, like many people, try to look for an alternative source of income that was less effected by the pandemic.

1. Matthew previous worked as the resident trainer in online learning systems, responsible for providing training for the academics and support staff across the global operations of a major university in Australia.
2. We often provided resources for institutions teaching undergraduate international students (such as final examinations) and regularly supported post-graduate international students with things like assisting in their survey design, helping them to plan/interpret analyses, and, proof-reading their thesis.

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When/Why did you retire from teaching?

Following the outbreak of Covid-19 and the effect it had on our business, we made the heartbreaking decision to slowly wrap things up, supporting our existing students for as long as possible (through our online studies portal) and taking no new face-to-face students or clients. Early in 2021, Matthew began working in construction as a traffic controller on a casual basis in an effort to keep the lights on a little longer, eventually securing a few regular shifts working at Covid testing sites and later at Covid vaccination sites in addition to the typical irregular roadwork jobs. Despite the long hours, we continued supporting the last of our students with online sessions. Eventually, however, the demands of traffic control, especially in terms of time³, made it hard to continue to provide support to our usual high standards. Reluctantly we called "time" on regular teaching sessions whilst Matthew moved into a new role as a TMA Operator⁴. Although these construction trucks are designed to keep workers and other road users safe, impacts can be somewhat scary (take a look at the embedded video from YouTube below). The mental stress of being constantly looking for danger and preparing for an impact tends to leave one fatigued by the end of a shift and hence not really able to do much more than eat and go to bed. Matthew was never involved in any serious incidents, thankfully, but did keep his fellow workers safe on many occasions, especially when impatient (or entitled) drivers attempted to enter the work zone. In spite of this, Matthew was determined to continue to provide ad-hoc support for a couple of clients who had been with us since before we formally launched the business.

Late in 2023, the decision was effectively made for us when it became clear that we would likely need to provide live-in care for a family member living in Europe, perhaps as early as mid-2024. Biting the bullet, we decided that it was finally time to fully embrace the opportunity that life was offering and so we planned our move to Europe. We sold our house in January 2024 and Matthew’s car shortly thereafter. We packed up everything we were taking with us, most of which was picked up by the movers in late March. Following Easter, we drove to Adelaide to visit family. While driving to Adelaide, Matthew was still providing support to one of our VIP clients. After a little over a week we headed back to Victoria to take the ferry to Tasmania for a tour we initially booked prior to Covid-19 but had to cancel when the pandemic hit. Arriving back in Melbourne in late April, we sold Sanja’s car while Matthew once again provided additional support for a couple of clients. Early in May we had arrived in Europe and were preparing to provide post-operative live-in care for our family member. Whilst juggling trying to buy a car, a house, arrange a residency visa for Matthew, and, catching up with other relatives and friends, Matthew was still enjoying the challenge of helping two VIP clients, even across the time zone differences.

All good things do come to an end, however, as the saying goes. We decided finally that we would "retire from teaching" (officially) by 30 June 2024. A wise person once said that "a teacher never really retires, their schedule just changes", and so it is with us. Our schedule now revolves around grocery shopping, doctor and specialist appointments, going to the pharmacy, mowing lawns and, most importantly, taking some time out to have coffee with friends or just the two of us, either by the river or on our terrace, watching the world go by. We still dabble with the odd mathematical paper or problem that piques our interest and we continue to write notes, whether they move from draft to published is yet to be determined.

3. It was not unusual for Matthew to leave home before 4.30am to get to the worksite before 6am, then work a full 10-12 hour shift (often without much more than a toilet break) before returning home, often well after 8pm, only to get up and do it again the next day (except on Fridays).
4. A Truck Mounted Attenuator (TMA) is essentially a mobile crash barrier designed to prevent workers from being injured by inattentive drivers, especially on freeways and other high speed roads.

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Real Work Zone Crashes Involving a TMA

Note: The Australian standard requires the operator to be wearing a harness similar to a racing driver when deployed. The operator shown in the video is only wearing a standard seatbelt (perhaps a US operator?). It also appears that the automatic impact braking system (AIBS) has not engaged properly as the TMA moves a significant distance. With the AIBS engaged and working properly under Australian standards, a TMA impacted by even a 70 tonne semi-trailer should stop in much less than the estimated 150-200m shown in the video. Copyright of the above video remains the property of the original uploader to YouTube