Spider Training

I have a lot of work to do this weekend and Matthew had 2 friends for a sleepover. I don’t know how many times I said to them to go to sleep. This morning I woke up to find them jumping on the trampoline in their underwear and having a pillow fight at the same time. If I was to work today I had to get rid of this energy fast so off to rock climbing I took them. With a late night or was it a very early morning plus some physical climbing they tried out very fast. Matthew and Lingani show how Spiderman does his thing.

Broad Management Forum

This is the get together of the managers of Metrorail on a bi-monthly to discuss various topics. This is what kept me very busy yesterday and today my SharePoint deadline went flying past my head. Don’t you love the sound it makes when it whizzes pass. I had to join the managers this morning in case their PowerPoints fail. Here is Joy who is an assistant manager at the Risk Department. She is today’s Programme Director which is a fancier name for MC.

Stressful day

Tomorrow is Metrorail’s Broad Management Forum and the Communications and Marketing department is jumping to get everything in order. And who do they call. Super Jerome to the rescue. Along with the Women in Rails advert that had to be at the newspapers at 10am, it was non-stop. In between all that was going on Greg pop down from the second floor to chat. Sorry but I don’t think I was a good chatter today.

Do or do not… there is no try

Work is starting to come faster than it can go out. It looks like I am going to be working all weekend. Always in motion is the future. One of the things that I need done by end of tomorrow is a Match the Photograph game for Metrorail’s Broad Management Meeting that is going to be held on Friday. Norman, our acting ICT Manager, who does not like his photo taken, now had to stand still and get snapped by order from Sisa the Regional CEO.

Hej!

Leigh surprised us this evening when she popped in for home cell. Here she is sitting next to Emmelinah and as you can see she looks a bit sun kissed or is that blushing? Leigh is down on holiday from Sweden for two weeks visiting her parents at Sedgewood in the Western Cape and of course us here in Joeys.

Busted

Well what can you say about the young single men in the ICT department. Karabo, Masilo and Sello shows how it is done by drooling over skimpy clad women. Please note this is not a reflection of how the rest of department works.

Breakfast Run

A group of us went on a breakfast run to the Sterkfontein Caves on our Vespas. The weather was good and the road smooth. That is me second from the right on Sophia. A 2004 ET8, Sophia was the most mature babe there amongst all the younger Vespas. Shown above is a GTS300 Super, two GT200, a GTS250, a LX150, my ET8 150 and another GT200. Along with us went Piaggio’s 500cc 3 wheeler Gilera Fuoco, a strange beast it was.

Cat Nap

Like Whiskey, shown above, I had a mellow day of doing nothing. More like I was recovering from a heavy week. I watched Super 14 rugby this weekend because my squeezeback advert was showing during the matches and my team was playing. Once a Shark always a Shark.

Woza Friday

Thank goodness that it is Friday and the weekend is ahead. But first I went off to Metrorail’s head office at Jorissen Place which is just a couple of blocks away from Wits. There is some nice artwork in this area of Braamfontein. I suppose it is because it is close to the Nelson Mandela Bridge and is trying to be a tourist site.

Still Agreement

After the rush of the last few days I have reached calmer waters but there are more rapids ahead. So today started off with the ICT’s departmental meeting to kick start the coming weekend. Here is Willie and José in agreement during the meeting while Zuma rushes past in his cavalcade. Are they wearing the same type of watch?

Back in the swing

I am back into the swing of things again at Metrorail. I have just completed my first TV advert one of my clients which is going to air during the Super 14 rugby on DSTV. I still have that Sharepoint deadline waiting on the wings which I have to jump into and get complete before month end. Back at home Brian and Matthew are playing on the Nintendo.

Vulture Culture

I have to get this off my chest. Last week Keba left Metrorail all of a sudden, reasons unknown to us. She left three pairs of shoes, six litres of UV milk and a large tin of coffee. I noticed that the coffee and some milk had disappeared during the week. So I contacted Keba and told her to come and pick up her stuff before it all disappears. This morning I threw my toys out of the cot. This morning there was only ONE litre of milk left. I said on top of my voice for all on our floor to hear that we have a thief in our department. Someone with long fingers is stealing Keba’s stuff. I won’t mention the person’s name as it could be liable, so just call her Ms Longfingers. While I was busy proclaiming to the department that we have a problem, Ms Longfingers stood up and said how dare I call it stealing? It was taking not stealing; there is a big difference to her. She admitted that she took the milk do I have a problem with it and now that she told me there was no problem with it. It is not stealing in her eyes but just taking. I am starting to think that there is a culture in South Africa that we can just take what is not ours because we have been discriminated against in the past. So it is our right. It is not stealing. To Ms Longfingers and many others that we can see in our government, there is a big difference from taking and stealing. Okay that was me given my 5c worth. Today’s photo is of Paul and José with their heads bowed in shame about the vulture culture. Paul who used to be our ICT manager is now the Logistics and Benchmarking manager. Who can blame him?

Feet up

I made the deadline with over 12 hours to spare. It didn’t have time to whizz pass. Can’t relax yet I have many cost estimates to get out. Here are Sello and Theo showing us how to work and relax at the same time.

Deadline creeping closer

While my deadline was ever so closer and I find myself about halfway through. This morning I received an SMS from Willie last night that my photo, Early bird which is on the Gautrain website was displayed on TV. He said that it was on some Kyknet programme about the Gautrain. The deadline did not stop me going to BBC this morning. At BBC I met my three friends Petra, Rob and John.

I hate Deadlines

I am still trying to get into this project which has a deadline at 10am this coming Tuesday. It is like you know that you have to get stuck into it but just can’t seem to sit for long enough to do a substantial bit of the work. It is like I am distracted or just don’t feel like doing the work. I hate deadlines but I love the noise it makes when it flies past. SWOOOOOOOOOOSH. On top of it all it is Valentine’s Day. Who in his right mind works on Valentine’s Day? While I was trying to get into my work Matthew went for his first haircut for over a year so you can only imagine how long it was. I even got away with bringing him to “Bring a Girl Child to Work” day last year. Here he is with his best friend Maxy the Italian Greyhound.

One Down

My Friday’s deadline was met with flying colours. Now I have to somehow start the other. I have a whole website to do by Tuesday. Oh boy this is not enjoyable any more. Back at Metrorail there is also another deadline which is for month end looming. Strumpher (shown above) came downstairs from Train Operations to visit us in the Management Information Systems.

Come up for Air

Today and up to the end of Monday there is so much to do I don’t know when I will resurface for a breather. I will take this opportunity by posting my daily photograph as my break from the busy schedule. So today I give you Refiloe.

Deadlines Galore

The deadlines are starting to pile up. I have one tomorrow, another on Monday and one in two weeks time. My last one was set by this man Norman. He is the acting ICT Manager for Metrorail Gauteng. Well I better get cracking.

Identity Crisis

Help I need a pet behaviourist! Maxy, our Italian Greyhound thinks he is a cat. He jumps through the windows like Whiskey and Brandy, the two cats we have at home. He is often seen lying with him or grooming them. This is fine up to a point but yesterday tops it all. He was seen trying to get personally acquainted with Brandy who just stood there with a look of amusement on her face. Whiskey shown here with Maxy is still a bit shy of him compared to Brandy who plays with Maxy like they are the best of pals. I think Maxy needs to spend more time with other IGs. Are there any out there in Gauteng that are looking for a playgroup?

Changes looming

I was informed today by Sibusiso (shown) that Keba has resigned on Friday. Sibu asked me to help with getting some news articles on the intranet up to date. Petunia where are you when we need you. My contract here at Metrorail is coming to an end. I have a offer in the pipeline but it is sitting at 80% positive. Other than that I am very busy getting quotes out that it is coming out of my ears.

Gaggle of Ladies

Matthew was looking forward to go with Sophia to BBC and could not wait to show her off to his friends especially his new hornet helmet. Here is Sophia sharing a joke with Pauline holding Braelyn, Saskia and Angie.

The Uzbeks

This afternoon my baby Sophia arrived all dressed in black with a touch of tan. Sophia is a beautiful Italian Vespa ET8 150. The ET8 is the same as the ET4 but was marketed to the Chinese and with 4 being a very bad number they rebadged it 8 which is more lucky. Well it was the Chinese New Year the other day and this means it will be a good year with my Sophia. We spent the evening with Jeremy, Madeline and their three children. They have been in Uzbekistan for the last 15 years. They treated us to a cultural experience and told us what it was like to live there. Here is Jeremy and Madeline with their two daughters looking very tired. Their son was off with Matthew playing.

Toys

It is Friday again and I am finally looking forward to a weekend this year. Here is Metrorail’s LAN Administrator, Toys being industrious on a Friday.

Watching TV

Here are my two boys, Matthew and Maxy, a Italian Greyhound, glued to the television. These boys of inseparable and sometimes play rough like all boys do at this age.

Rain Rain

Ahh, the rain continues to fall not just softly but in buckets. The ground is now water logged. The rain means that the temperatures have dropped to a more comfortable level but what worries me is cholera as reports of the disease is starting to surface here in Johannesburg. Okay lets be more positive. Today’s photo is of Patrick and Motloli from the ICT department of Metrorail.

Sunrise and Rain

This morning there was a beautiful sunrise over Johannesburg with the clouds glowing orange and full of promise. But it was the only sun we saw as it rained continuously the whole day flooding part the low lying areas, roads and rail. I am sure the farmers are happy and busy dancing a little gig in the rain. Being behind a computer all day it does not affect me although I wish I was in bed with a good book.

Forward to Socialism

It is a busy Monday. The Johannesburg Metro Police are protesting over alleged corruption and the lack of disciplinary action taken against senior managers. The protest march is expected to be the first of several this week. One banner read "Forward to Socialism" and some of the marches wore yellow COPE t-shirts. The Congress of the People or COPE for short is the new ANC breakaway party. Their cry is that they will not allow the ruling party (ANC) to destroy South Africa. Back to earth. Every rail commuter’s nightmare becomes a reality when last week a train derailed and today there was two separate train collisions. The first collision was in the morning and the other in the evening. Before you ask no I had nothing to do with it as I work in the ICT department or is that Information and Commutation Technology so therefore "No Comment".

Greta

At BBC we bumped into Greta, Joy’s sister (Joy is Carol’s sister in-law or is that outlaw?) Here is Carol chatting with her, well was chatting now smiling at the birdie.