Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the air, well not quite as tomorrow is the first day of spring but surely with the weather is warm, the days are longer, and the scent of blooming flowers are everywhere, surely we can put a spring in our step and celebrate the season of spring.

Seagulls in Gauteng

Arriving in the East Rand to drop Matthew off, I am not surprised to see thousands of Grey headed seagulls everywhere, because we not that far from Boksburg by the Sea. Actually we are here in Gauteng, over 600km from the ocean but here before my very eyes are huge nesting flocks of gulls. I know gulls are scavengers but what is here for them to eat? Surely there has to be enough to sustain such huge flocks. Okay they must have flown here but why come so far inland?

Dogs Crossing

 

Forget the Beatles and the famous Abbey Road zebra crossing, we have a new crossing, this time a rickety wooden bridge across water to an island at Walkhaven. Below is Matthew with the dogs Patch, Jade, Podge and Maxy, all crossing over the bridge.

It is a beautiful day, and a perfect morning to take the dogs for a walk and a bit of socialising.

Weekend Baby

Yes it is Friday which means weekend baby. Yes weekend means that we can play outside all day in the warm sun.

Anti-Climax

What a day, today has turned out to be. Well I started this morning on cruise mode as I was not feeling too well and just wanted to get through the day, sane and in one piece.

So there I was just getting through my list of things that needed to be done while I still had breath, excuse the pun, asthma, get it, when William Moyses arrived at the office. Now I shared his video on Facebook exactly 3 weeks ago, and now he is here, exciting. Sorry the photo I go with him and I did not come out so well so next time, I promise. So what seemed like a dull day only got better.

Later on, I was asked to represent our company at a corporate launch to be held at the Ballroom at Montecasino (names to be withheld). And the day was only getting started. But sadly that was where it anti-climaxed. So with a change of plans, Lynda and I arrived all dressed up to this glamour filled event with heads of companies and celebrities everywhere. We joined Noma and Fez, the other two representatives of our company. Don’t get me wrong, the company was good but this is where the evening started to unravel. To start the registration table was in chaos, with a large number of labels didn’t get issued as the printer went on strike. 18:30 for 19:00 the invite stated but the doors only opened at 19:15 which meant the evening’s programme only got underway just before 20:00.

This hour delay must had the head chef walking out as the food when it arrived was cold and very well done by that I mean uneatable. Okay the starter of Smoked Salmon Carpaccio was beautiful but the main course fillet could have been cooked by a shisanyama on a street corner better. The chef should have thrown the entire lot out and started again, and of course made the organisers pay for all of it for running an hour late and ruining a good meal. Not on, as I had to use my dinner knife as a chisel on the piece of rawhide sitting on my plate, if only I had a steak knife I could have at least used it as a chisel. Even Fez commented that this meat is truly dead.

We decided to leave soon after 22h00 and as I settling up our waiter, the desserts was brought out. Oh well this is the end of a long evening and an anti-climax.

Spring is in the Air

Talk about the birds and the bees, spring is in the air although it is a few days short of the official first day of spring. Oh well better to get started early, you know what they say the early bird catches the worm.

Arriving at Bosasa this morning, the colours of spring just hit me, slap between the eyes, pink blossoms everywhere. Even the birds and animals at Mogale Business Park was getting into the swing of things.

Sadly only the bees are missing.

Ndisemathandweni

I’m in love, uh? Walking into our offices this morning, this is what caught my eye, a two litre plastic cool drink bottle with a few dregs of Lemon Twist at the bottom and a bright pink Post-It note stuck on it sitting on Mkuseli’s desk. Yes I am back at work, wheezing but blessed to be alive. Lynda wants me to go for a second option as she is sure that the doctor didn’t take into account the bouts of fever I have been having every night. But back to the skin divers swimming at the bottom of a twist bottle.

On the pink note is scrawled this message “With this drink I pronounce my love for you! Drink it in remembrance of me. Ndisemathandweni Mkhu wam!” Curiouser and curiouser!

Ndisemathandweni is the isiXhosa word for I’m in love, Mkhu is a shortened form for Mkuseli, and wam like the isiZulu word wami means mine. Oh wow looks like we have a love twist brewing here at the office in the bottom residues of a bottle. Anonymous, we don’t know who you are but would love to find out.

HEALth WorX

After a terrible feverish weekend, I have been forced to go to see a doctor. As I don’t have a great track record with doctors, the HEALth WorX Medical Centre was recommended to me so off I went, off to see the Doctor at the wonderful world of HEALth WorX.

I must have been spoilt as riding towards Randburg I hit all this rush hour traffic. I must have forgotten what traffic is like as my route from home to work and back never has traffic like this. Thank goodness I am on the Vespa as this would have affected my anxiety levels.

A little while later, while sitting in HEALth WorX's waiting room, I felt this fear of not getting enough oxygen again. Anyway, I eventually go see the doctor and they fear the worse, my heart, so off they rush me to Casualty for a battery of tests. ECG showed that my heart is fine, glucose levels is fine, but blood pressure is sky high and the biggest problem was that my lungs weren’t working correctly. The Lung Function Test showed that I had a lung age of a 70 year old but how can that be as I have never smoked in my life. After all the tests, the doctor has diagnosed that I may have Late Onset Asthma. Weird as this doesn’t take into account my fevers that I’ve been having. Oh dear, just breathe!

Three Generations

I am not feeling 100% well today but Robynne wanted to go to church this morning and I had to be at work this afternoon to meet a deadline.

I am battling to breathe with lots of people around me, not sure if it is anxiety but I feel that I am not getting enough oxygen, and on top of that I had a fever last night. So jump into the deep end would you.

Here is three generations of girls, well nearly as the youngest is still in Robynne’s tummy for another month or two. And of course Granny to be, Lynda by her side.

Colour me Pink

Okay which colour suits me? Red, yellow, or pink? Maybe a green or even purple? I am not feeling 100% healthy at the moment, short on breath, flushed but okay I hope. I had to go out shopping this morning to get more dog food, cat litter, water, and to scout out ideas for a baby shower, hence I found myself at a party shop.

Rockets Go Fish

Yes “gone fishing” is what I need to do rather than what I actually had to do. As I walk in the door this morning, I discover that I have a meeting in Rivonia on the other side of town with Go Fish and Coppertable, then it was off to lunch at Rockets just up the road and then rush back for a team leaders meeting. The gourmet burger that I had at Rockets was good and tasty but I wonder if it matches up to the quality of a Rocco Mama’s burger. Sigh a day in the life of Jerome.

Well today was not that bad, it just got away with me and before I knew it, it was well 6pm. One good thing is that I saw in my travels today was this interesting table at Go Fish. It had computer motherboards embedded into it. I don’t think that it would be suitable for a lounge setting but for an IT company, it becomes a interesting talking point.

DMX Temptations

I felt much better this morning after a good night’s rest with an overdose of headache pills. Today is good as a holiday as today is the DMX Conference which is to be held in the Hilton Hotel, Sandton. The three photos below where taken of some of the many Japanese masks found at the restaurant. Interesting as we always find ourselves hiding behind masks.

I suppose my aim is still the MozCon but I have to settle for something closer to home until that time I would be able to go to that not so typical marketing conference. So here we are listening to different speakers on Digital Marketing picking up a few new ideas and also to confirm that we are on the right track.

Okay there was no Google represented, nor was there a Rand Fishkin but some speakers did stand out, Scott Cundill and his Fire and Forget idea but where could we use it, Lynette Hundermark on mobile tends and opportunities, Ryan Hogarth and his off the cuff without technical aids talk, and then there was Dylan Kohlstadt which I could swear is my friend Delia’s doppelgänger.

Well anyway being the Hilton, the lunch would be perfect temptations although as you can see the salad before me which is what the doctor ordered even with all the delicious sweets on display. Okay, okay I can’t tell a lie I did cheat but aren’t going to show those photos.

Headache from Hell

Last night we went to a talk by Dr Frank Turek on his book “I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist”. The truth be told I too don’t have the faith to be an atheist so I was looking forward to this talk but as things go, the world was conspiring against me to be there.

Yesterday at the last hour work came in that needed to go out before we finish up for the day and so our team got stuck in with me one eye watching the minutes tick down. The talk was scheduled to start at 6:30pm and it would take me about 50mins to race there on my Vespa, not counting that I needed to stop for fuel and that rush hour traffic might delay. Our team pulled the rabbit out of the bag but sadly it left me 15mins to get from Krugersdorp to Bryanston in evening rush hour.

An impossible task, yes but thankfully unknown to me that the talk was running late due to crowds trying to get into the venue to listen to Dr Turek. I started flying down side roads, skimming past jammed up rush hour traffic, putting in a dash of fuel just to get me there, and with the needle of my speedometer hitting 140km/h while I was low flying on the highway while I was praying to get there in one piece; I made it to the venue at 7pm with all my body parts attached and my Vespa purring.

Having missed the introduction and Dr Turek’s first point on Truth, I settled down to find out why I lack the faith.

After all the stress of yesterday evening, I arrived to work this morning with a splitting headache from hell. What is hell? Well to me hell is anyplace that is devoid of God. Surely this acute pain behind my left eye, that all the pain pills that I have already chomped have not sorted it out, could not be from God.

By end of the day as the sunset, all I wanted to do was crawl into a little hole and die. The next best thing was bed and the knowledge that I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist.

Noma Jean Thirty

Well well well, thirty years is three decades, 360 months, 1,565 weeks, 10,958 days give or take a day depending on leap years, 262,922 hours, 15,779,520 minutes or 946,771,200 seconds old at least it sounds much better in Roman numerals. It’s your party so you can smile if you want to.

The best part is that your twenties are over Noma Jean, all you got to do is make it past 36 then the best begins.

Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat

It is that time of year again, when the shrill of a peacock can be heard over the dying winter’s day. Yes it is that time for a fowl with a cry so foul to put on his amazing coat of beautiful colours and wow the ladies all over again. To see this beautiful bird come to out with his vibrant techncoloured dream coat made this Monday all worth it.

I swear as he cocked his ear towards me, I heard him whisper, "I wore my coat, with golden lining. Bright colours shining, wonderful and new, and in the west, the dusk was setting, and the day was ending; any dream will do".

Burgerbox Roast

The franchise Burgerbox Roadhouse can be found all over Gauteng, well it is not as wide spread as the popular fast food joints but the food tends to be better quality and better value.

Today we felt like a traditional Sunday roast lunch and the Burgerbox came up. Yes they serve a plate overwhelming Sunday roast lunch for only R52. We chose the roast beef which was served with 3 vegetables and roast potatoes all served on a bed of rice.

We all battled to eat all our food but you can see Matthew enjoying his corn on a cob.

Fishy Key Holder

Here fishy, fish. Saturday is about to end and I am not sure if much was accomplished. Okay two cats were taken to the vet this morning but in the afternoon it became a lazy one, so much so that all of a sudden I remembered that I haven’t taken a photograph for the day yet.

Looking around I saw my old Vespa’s Darth Vader keys still hanging on the fishy key holder. Yes Anastasiya my black Vespa ET4 is still in the garage, I haven’t got round to advertise to sell her. Maybe procrastination on my part.

What’s for Supper?

I arrived home rather late in the evening after slogging all the way out to the East Rand to pick up Matthew. Don’t get me wrong the trip is worth it but I don’t enjoy the driving all the way out there and back.

Anyway, arriving back home, we found Princess sitting on the stove waiting for her supper. The cheek of it, we were all tired but I suppose the animals come first.

Slow Daisy

Slow down, and smell the daisies. With the Educate Math and Science launch and a whole lot more, the last few days haven’t touch sides. At least it was a short week to start off with Monday being a public holiday. That leaves tomorrow as Friday.

Yay, with colours popping up everywhere, the gloom of winter seems to be coming to an end.

Rise and Shine

Wake up sleepy head, rise and shine. Yes another wonderful day in Africa has begun. It is winter so my room is heated and has a humidifier on all night so the first thing I see through my half opened eyes is water drops.

Condensation has formed on my window panes between me and the dry cold morning air. Time to rise and shine as I sit in bed sipping my coffee. The sun is rising much earlier now which means summer is coming.

Thumbs Up

Eish on the way home today, I got a puncture in my rear tyre of my Vespa. Oh no, what to do? Wait on the side of the road for help or pull out my trusty Thumbs Up Tyre Repair Kit.

This will be the third time, I had to pull out this tyre repair kit but in the previous two times, I didn’t get to use it because the first time there was a 2cm slash in the tyre which made the kit useless and the second time, I stopped to help someone else with a flat tyre but found out that their tyre wasn’t tubeless.

So third time lucky. Thank goodness the Thumbs Up Tyre Repair Kit worked flawlessly. It normally takes me 35 mins from work to home but with the flat tyre it took me 50 mins. Not bad for a 15 mins tyre repair plus stop at service station for an air pressure top up. Thumbs Up!

Let the Summer Begin

With the days warming up for the coming spring season, and it being a public holiday today, it was a perfect reason to "nou gaan ons braai"!

I chopped up some vegetables for roasting as they are a perfect companion to rib eye steak, and mini beef sausages. Okay, okay, no braai can be called a braai without some boerewors, but this is all we had left in our freezer after a long African winter. Oh dear, nou lieg ek. Anyways this is our first braai of the season, let the summer begin.

Weaver of Dreams

So off we went this afternoon, to Decorex, an annual décor and lifestyle exhibition, and we weren’t disappointed. Okay we didn’t get to see everything as it was quite spread out. With so many want to haves everywhere, only a few stood out for us, and this is one of them, Dreamweaver Studios, with their inspired interiors and of course this floppy polar bear lying under a “Don’t Grow Up! It’s a Trap.” sign.

Freddy Springs and Shocks

Only in South Africa can we overload 15 people in the back of a half ton pickup plus 2 in the front for balance. I am not sure that the owner Freddy Springs & Shocks have put extra strong springs and shocks on this Nissian 1400 pickup, WKY347GP, as was rocking like a boat as it turned off the N14 highway. The small pickup steadied itself once it got into a straight line and made a dash past me at speed. I also don’t want to confront them on their very unsafe transport manner as they were all armed to the teeth with traditional weapons.

What you looking at?

It looks like the nesting Nene aka Hawaiian Geese are doing fine. They are a feisty pair now that they are sitting on eggs. I don’t know how many eggs they have but it is usually 3 eggs. With my cellphone zoomed as far as it can, you can see here is the Nene gander making sure I keep my distance with his “What you looking at” stare while the goose sits snugly on the nest. Soon it will be spring and we will have a brace of goslings running around.

Where have all the Bees Gone?

I know that it is winter and most of the summer flowers are long gone, but the bees still have to eat, don’t they? This question tells me that I still have a lot to learn about the birds and the bees.

I have this dream, a dream of owning a piece of land, and on this land I dream about a small scale integrated aquaculture/hydroponic farming system along with some goats to make cheese; chickens for eggs and a bit of Sunday roast protein; and some bees for the honey. As for the bees I would have to grow bee friendly flowers everywhere especially during winter.

So because of this dream, I have started to notice things like flowers and the lack of bees. So where have all the bees gone? I know in the Western Cape they have this bee bacterium, the American Foul Brood Disease, which I have heard, I think on the Carte Blanche, our local investigative journalism television program, that this dreaded disease is believed to have been introduced into our local bee population via China. Go figure, along with their colonisation of Africa, the Chinese  have launched a secret biological attack using bees to wipe out our honey industry and therefore their dubious plan is that we would be forced to buy honey from China. I can now see all our conspiracy theorists running around like Chicken Little but you never know how close this could be to the truth.

So bee aware, when you see a little bee or two causing some mayhem during your outside sun downers, spare a though that this fellow is critical in our food chain and vital to our future.

I Chat

With the death of BBM, and Mxit falling along the wayside, what are the different mobile chat platforms that are still used today in South Africa? Okay SMS or Short Message Services are still relevant but exorbitant expensive, thanks to the likes of Vodacom and MTN’s tight hold and Cell C’s lack of data coverage.

From my research using a small focus group has revealed that WhatsApp is still holding out in the lead, with Twitter a trailing second place. Following up on the two leaders are the rest of the pack, Instagram’s chat, Snap Chat, Facebook’s Messenger, the Chinese WeChat, Microsnot's Skype, and Google’s poor attempt to swim in the social pool, Hangouts.

Here is Noma showing how it is all done, chatting away on her cellphone.

Don’t Forget

Don’t Forget, uhmmm, surely I have forgotten something but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it is that I forgot. Sometimes I even miss people that I don’t even remember, uh, go figure.