Touch Down!  

Allan Sandilands

It was early morning on Saturday the 8th of July 2023. The conference room was full of the buzz of another Taipan Strategy Day.  This years topic, “Dreams”.   

“What a great subject,” said Mel, Amy’s new Personal Assistant.   

“Can I have your attention please,” Rob butted in. “One person talking please, everyone else listening.”   

Adi muttered something under his breath. Adi was originally from India, being in Australia was tough both from a communication and cultural perspective, that was until he joined Taipan. He had recently relocated from Rocklea inward goods to Caboolture R and D team. R and D is where Adi belonged, he was fastidious to the point of obsession.   

“What was that Adi,” said Rob.   

“I had a dream,” said Adi.   

“That’s great,” said Rob. “Let’s carry on shall we. Most people consider dreams as a childhood fantasy but here at Taipan nothing is impossible.”   

“I had a dream,” repeated Adi.   

“Yes, we all have dreams Adi,” replied Rob. “Now who can tell me what a dream is?”   

“Four wheel drives and a good goat track,” shouted Johnny from the back of the room.   

“Hot air ballooning across the Serengeti,” said Katja.  

“Pottery classes with your soul mate,” Neil piped in.   

“I had a dream,” said Adi.   

“Thanks Adi, let’s break for morning tea and be back here in 15 minutes,” enforced Rob.  

“Welcome back, now who is bold enough to share their dream,” Rob began as the team returned to their seats. Adi’s hand shot up. “I had a dream,” said Adi excitedly.   

“Why do you continue to say you “had” a dream,” asked Rob.   

“Well, last year when I went back to India I spent some time with my old colleagues from the university. We discussed the intricate detail of our project from twelve years earlier. Our project was to build a space craft that could actually fly to the moon. Of course we did it, it was my dream come true but we had one issue we could never solve.”   

“What was that?” said Maddy, who was totally intrigued.   

“We could never find a hydraulic hose with enough quality to allow us to land the craft.”   

“I don’t understand,”  said Linda looking puzzled.   

Adi stood up and very proudly announced, “On Wednesday the 23rd of August 2022 my home country landed a spacecraft on the moon and if you look closely at the live coverage, on the legs of the craft are Taipan hydraulic hoses, the only hoses with the quality to make the journey into outer space….”   

True story.