Winter Braai

Oh well, winters here in Jozi and cold at night but wonderfully warm during the day which means we don’t often braai in the evenings during winter until today that is. We got an invitation to a small family braai at Robynne and Marco’s home, so here we are braaing in winter.

Nou gaan ons braai!

Maria Vostradovsky

Now I never dreamed that Elvis would be sung at a funeral, a Shriek made an appearance to a friends, but never Elvis, as he softly sung Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on, at Maria Vostradovsky's memorial service.

Earlier in the memorial service, Nicole, Maria’s granddaughter, sang the modern version of the hymn "It is well with my soul". It was during this song, as I let the words wash over me, it dawned on me that Maria was born in the last great war. Yes Maria was born in the dying throws of the Second World War in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, in other words in German occupied Czechoslovakia.

After the liberation of Czechoslovakia by the Soviets, it became part of Eastern Soviet Block. It was during this time at the young age of 12 Maria lost her mom. After the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Soviet invasion, Maria in her mid-twenties along with her husband fled and as refugees arrived in Rhodesia. Later they crossed over to South Africa and started their family.

Maria gave birth to twins Richard and Anika in 1977. Now Anika and her husband Gary are good friends of ours, which is why we now stand by their side in support as we remember the life of their mother, Maria who crossed over late on Friday evening. We have met Maria only a couple of times but listening to the tributes, I can only conclude that it was well with her soul.

Fare you well Maria, till we meet again.

Marketing Roses

This morning I had to go up to the Marketing department for a briefing with Dana. While waiting for her to finish up on a call, I noticed this round bowl of orange roses on a marketing desk. A beautiful hue of orange marketing roses.

Bird on a Wire

Bird on a Wire must be one of my favourite 80s movies or was that in the 90s, oh never mind it was a favourite. I arrive home this afternoon to such a racket, the dogs were barking and the guineafowl were screeching so I went out to investigate only to find this cheeky guineafowl perched up on the fence teasing the dogs to the amusement of the cats, like a bird on a wire.

Another One

Wow, why so many June birthdays at BankservAfrica and why so many long serving employees. It seems that June a good year for financial coders and there must be something about this company that once you join they don't let you leave. Ohhh I feel a Dr Who episode can be written about these coders who once in never leave. Anyway Ashley beats Gary hands down, not just being part of the furniture but he is the furniture itself.

In 1983 Ashley joined the company as a teller in Durban when it was still know as Automated Clearing Bureau. The company went through 2 brand names changes while Ashley has been here, in 1993 it became Bankserv and then in 2010 Africa was added to the name. Today 34 years later Ashley celebrates his 54th birthday still at BankservAfrica. I say again wow to these long serving coders. Happy days Ashley, may you have many more.

Darth Gilroy Serious

This afternoon we ended up at the Ngwenya Glass Village sipping on Gilroy’s Serious Royal Dark Ale while a muso played 80s music. The Gilroy has an interesting crest, 3 dolphins representing the original Irish Gilroy family coat of arms, a beer tankard signifying the brewers, and then well what can be said about the gauntlet displaying a Hawaiian Good Luck sign, nothing much.

Later on we explored the few stores in the village that were still opened and found a Darth Vader brazier, awesome find but way too expensive.

Grind with Somizi

Walking into a super market on the West Rand, I was confronted with this in your face sight, okay now who in their right mind would put Somizi’s hip grinding dansersize dvds in this rather rude position on a cutout of Somizi. Verimark! I would never have guessed. So it seems that this pump and grind is the new dance moves in Mzansi, oh well thank goodness I can’t dance.

Part of the Furniture

Both Keegan and Gary have been with BankservAfrica for yonks. Today it is Keegan’s 35th birthday and he joined this company 12 years ago at a young age of 23. He joins Gary in being now part of the furniture. Okay Gary stills holds the record as he signed up when he was 21 years old back in 1993, 24 jaw dropping years ago. As you can see, Gary still likes photobombing Keegan on his birthday photo.

Brother to the Rescue

My brother Anthony and his wife Helene, come round to stay over on their way to Rustenburg for Helene’s birthday weekend. It was the perfect opportunity to barter trades, since Anthony needs some marketing collateral and I need a handyman to fix the mess a plumber has left us in.

First thing before it got too dark, Anthony took photographic evidence of the shoddy plumbing work, then he fixed a small leak, and connected the garden tap along with the sprinkler system onto the main water line which was conveniently not finished.

Well that is what family are for, brothers to the rescue.

Happy William

It was my birthday last week and today it is William’s turn to get a year older. As you can see by the photo William is a rather happy person who is always on the happy pills and being a year older is a celebration. No what am I writing; William is just a happy sort of person, no happy pills involved. Happy 39th birthday William.

Sunset Competition

After Matthew’s awesome photographs on Sunday with the sunsets in the kloof, I would be hard pressed to compete but today’s sunset just happened to present itself to me and I could not help myself.

Make Some Noise

I have been working a portal for a product which went from test to production on Friday after 3 years in development. Today a “Make Some Noise” launch to the company was initiated. With all the fanfare everyone in marketing were all rushing around getting ready to make some noise. Here is Gary who has been with this company for yonks, helping with setting up a display monitor in the foyer.

Living on the edge

Part 2 of my 50th birthday celebrations is a Photowalk into the wilds that are my back garden ending off in a Cheese and Wine Sundowner. I invited the Joburg Photowalkers and my friends to this event which was aptly called Living on the Edge and quite a number did turn up.

Since I was the host and tour guide into the kloof, I gave Matthew my son my camera and these are a few of his images that he took except the bottom one of me and my Tardis cake which was taken by my friend Zoe. The Tardis cake was difficult to cut on Friday because it was so beautiful. Anyway we did get round to cutting the cake this evening after the Cheese and Wine. More of Matthew’s photos can be seen on my Facebook album Living on the Edge.

Albertina Sisulu Orchid

Today the day in-between 2 busy function days of my 50th, a day of rest between the family braai and tomorrows photowalk incorporating a cheese and wine sundowner.

Resting but no ways putting my feet up as I had to get to a Proteadal Conservation Association’s talk at Featherbrook Estate about the Albertina Sisulu Orchid. This orchid is listed as Critically Endangered and the next step is Possibly Extinct. It was first discovered in 1918 but was only named in 1955 as the Brachycorythis conica ssp. Transvaalensis but was last seen the following year. In 2007 a group was rediscovered in Krugersdorp section of the Gold Reef Mountain Ridge. The kloof that runs past my house is part of this ridge system and about 3km south of where the orchids where found.

With just over 100 left, this last know viable population of orchid species is the reason for me being here at this talk. The conditions are the same as the Protea forested veld outside my home and I am hoping that we can find another population of these orchids here.

Interesting facts about the Gold Reef Mountain Ridge which includes the kloof is that there are 700 plant species, 200 animal species, and 22 species of birds of prey, in this area and the bonus is it is all outside my home, not that I have seen anywhere close to 1% of them.

TARDIS Braai

Nou gaan ons braai, and we did. It was my 50th birthday a few days back and today is the start of the first part of the half century celebrations, the family braai. But first the TARDIS.

Lynda had organised a Dr Who cake in form of the TARDIS on top of a 3 layered cake with an adapted Dr Who quotation "You’re getting older but not really because time is really a big ball of wibbly, wobbly, timey, wimey stuff. Happy 50th Birthday Jerome".

Wow it was a huge cake that we had to somehow get home this morning. I drove very carefully with the cake on Lynda’s lap which of course wasn’t easy aiming for every bump in the road. Even getting it out of the car, I nearly toppled it but it found its home safely on the table in the dining room.

The guests started arriving in drips and drabs; a braai invitation is not to be scoffed at. We had a lovely time with family and friends at my TARDIS braai. Thank you for all who came and especially to Lynda who worked hard to organise this half century celebration.

Guardian Angel

Today my guardian angel worked overtime. To start my story let me start 2 weeks back when I first drove my pickup. I left after work on that Friday 2 weeks ago and rushed over to Benoni to pick up Matthew. As a surprise to Matthew, I had arranged to pick up his cousin Jean-Jurie in Pretoria and drove the long road home late in the evening with 2 boys in the back unbeknown to me that my guardian angel was protecting me in overtime mode.

I arrived home quite late and parked my pickup only to get back in it this morning 2 weeks later as I had to pick up Matthew for my birthday weekend and father’s day. On my usual pre-inspection before setting out to work, I noticed that the pickup’s left front tyre was flat. Expecting that I must have picked up a nail or something those 2 weeks earlier and now have a leak I slowly drove my pickup to the nearest service station and pumped up the tyre. It was on 0.4 bar of pressure but worse was that my brakes were spongy, I must have somehow gotten air into the brake system which was very strange. I carefully drove to work in rush hour traffic.

The first gap I got, I decided to take it in to the closest tyre place to where I was working. The tyre was taken off and checked for any leaks but, this is the next strange park, no leak was found. No nail or leaking valve, nada, nothing. Someone must have let my tyre down. Not thinking that it could have been my guardian angel, as my first obvious person would be the plumber contractor that I had working on my property but things between us had soured. When the tyre was put back, the fitter discovered that my entire hub was lose, hanging on by the last thread of the centre wheel nut, the brake line, and the CV joint.

Oh my word, I was in shock. The entire wheel was about to come off. If I was driving on the highway to fetch Matthew, I could have had a serious accident. Or even worse it could have come off that night when I had the 2 boys in my pickup. Who could have loosened the centre nut? It dawned on me that my guardian angel must have let my tyre down this morning to warn me of the impending danger.

In conclusion to this story is that after the centre nut was retightened and locked into place, the tyre was put back and strangely the brakes were back to normal. My guardian angel must be working overtime protecting me and my family, thank you.

Half a Century

So I reach 50 today, half a century and not out. Happy birthday to me. Okay in a way this is an important milestone in my life but why do I feel that a lot of water is gone wasted under the bridge. Oh well I have another 50 years to enjoy life. Thank you all for all my birthday wishes and to Lynda for this lovely box of goodies to start my day off just right.

Ethereum Exchange

It is the last day of my 49 years and tomorrow I turn another year older. I may be half a century; I am never too old to learn, as Gary gives me a crash course on the Ethereum Exchange. From Bitcoin to Potcoin, my head is spinning with the smoke of buy and selling of Ethereums.

Dana’s Cactus

A wish to be a big cactus with a pink flower on it, Ahhh this little cactus in a bed of red stones reminds me of the Kimya song. This takes me back quite a few years back.

Here I am, sitting at Dana’s desk reviewing their new web pages on their site for the product launch in a few days time. And on that desk is a little cactus wishing it was a big cactus in a corporate world.

Carrot Life

When life gives you carrots, no was that lemons, oh never mind, look what carrot we pulled out of our garden today. Interesting shape of carrot. That is my life, oddly shaped but rather interesting, living life to the fullest.

Here's to Life

After yesterday’s high blood pressure day, I think I deserve a beer, what do you think?

And just so happen to have a Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale in the bar fridge. Here is to life all my friends out there. No complaints, no regrets. Non, rien de rien. Non, je ne regrette rien. Car ma vie, car mes joies. Aujourd'hui, ça commence avec toi.

Plumbers Hell Day

We have a plumber working to get a number of issues working like no cold water in our bathroom on suite, the guest toilet's wash basin, and the scullery but the straw that broke the camel’s back was that when I arrived home yesterday I found that the cottage and kitchen’s geyser was tripping. After phoning the plumber, he blamed me on burning out the geyser.

I don’t care whose fault it is, I just wanted it fixed. So this morning I decided to stay at home and try resolving all the issues with the plumber. I phoned the plumber at 8am to find out where he was, and in his half asleep voice he mumbled, "in bed". Let the Plumber's Hell Day begin.

The element and thermostat on the cottage and kitchen's geyser was replaced. Yay! But still no cold water in our bathroom, the guest toilet’s wash basin, and the scullery. Thank goodness we have a second bathroom with both hot and cold.

Padre Paulo

Yesterday I got a call out of the blue; Paulo is in town from Mozambique. So a dinner was arranged for this evening, and so it came to past that we met at Dukes Burgers in Greenside. It was a chilly evening and Paulo came dress for snow, in a way he looks like a Jesuit Padre.

We had a lovely evening of catching up on all the news, skinner, and crack over some delicious burgers. One burger was named My Vespa, I kid you not, I don’t know why a chicken fillet burger would be named after this iconic scooter.

Game of Thrones

It is not a game anymore, the power of who sits on the throne is real in our home. The cats try to rule as you can see the latest contender, Paddington, sitting on his throne overlooking the others. The game of thrones is not a game anymore with hisses, and claws, fur is going fly.

Gary at Work

I don’t see Gary much at the office as he is out a lot running to this meeting and then to the next one. Even when he is back in his corner cubicle, trying to focus and get some work done is not easy especially with me there. Take today for example, Gary had to eat his breakfast on the fly, too much work to do and so little time before the next meeting.

Wattle Bagworm

Serve me right for cutting down that grove of black wattle trees in the veldt outside my home, as this morning I discovered a wattle bagworm larva hanging from my garage’s lintel. Bagworms are a pest but now that there are no more wattles for this little fella, s/he has moved into my garden. I don’t mind as long as it doesn’t get out of control. My garden is home to all sorts of strange yet peculiar creatures and I would like to keep it that way.

Fathers and Sons

Somehow I was running late taking both boys back home. First I had to drop Jaen-Jurie back at his new home in Pretoria and then down to Benoni to drop Matthew off before heading across town.

At my sister and her husband’s home, I took the opportunity for my photo of the day, Fathers and Sons as Father’s Day is coming up in a few weeks so it was a perfect time.

Cousins in the Wild

It is Matthew’s weekend and I had arranged to pick up his cousin Jaen-Jurie to come over for the weekend without Matthew or Jaen’s knowledge. The surprise weekend for the cousins turned out to the 2 of them stuck behind the Xbox all weekend so an intervention was called for, a walk on the wild side.

Yes, we took the boys and the dogs for a walk into our back yard and it turned out to be the right decision as both boys enjoyed themselves. We stayed on the edge of the gorge while the boys explored the cliffs.

Stickered up Macbook

The sticker boldly states that Gary’s other ride is the Millennium Falcon. As you can see Gary is back from course and this is the state of his MacBook, covered with stickers to hide the fact that it is an Apple Mac. Well I don’t thing Gary would agree with that statement I just wrote as once a person gets an apple then you are tumbling down that dark rabbit hole never where few come back to the light.

NCC-1701 Bunny Foo Foo

I am sitting alone in a cubicle with a presentation deadline tomorrow afternoon. Just two does to prepare something to impress.

In the cubicle in the corner, somewhat like a corner office of an open floor office, I look around and little Bunny Foo Foo was hopping through the forest, scooping up the sci-fi characters and bopping them on the head. WAIT! Wait an minute, lets rewind a bit.

How does Bunny Foo Foo and the NCC-1701 Enterprise get into one blog post?

The desk behind me belongs to my good friend Gary, not here today, goon on course, and his desk is covered by strange sci-fi items, although how Bunny Foo Foo fits in is beyond me.