Day 63 - Cry Bosasa

Lockdown Day 63 - Oh cry Bosasa, cry for all the blessings that have been squandered away by greed and so much more. When I first arrived at Bosasa many moons away I was blown away on how well the property was maintained. Beautiful lawns with wild animals grazing in between the office blocks. I used to spend many hours enjoying the gardens here.

And today I found myself out the gates of African Global which were once known as the mighty Bosasa. A lonely South Africa flag is still flying, security is still looking strong, but gone are all the signage of that links to Bosasa or African Global, gone. I wonder what happened to all the animals?

Bosasa Butt

 

This morning I found these pants in my cupboard would I haven't worn for sometime. It was only after I put them on did I realize that the pants were branded  Bosasa. Wow, I thought that I had gotten rid of all the incriminating evidence, until today. 

Oh well the pants material felt nice and soft, although it needed a lint brush to rid it of a few cat hairs. I wonder if anyone noticed me wearing Bosasa on my butt, or was my sub-conscious playing tricks on me.

Bosasa African Global

It has been a year now; I think it is best to get rid of all my old Bosasa clothes which are just lying in my cupboard getting dust and cat hair. It was a traumatic end to the season of Bosasa or as they now call themselves African Global but God has put me onto a new course in my life.

African Global, is it only me who sees the irony of this oxymoron, African yet Global in the same breath. Well anyways, I had to do something with this pile of unwanted clothing that is branded Bosasa and what better way than to give it away to those who need it the most, especially over Christmas since they are not called Bosasa anymore. Double irony, I think the clothes should go to those who are looked after by Bosasa at the infamous Lindela Repatriation Centre.

2018 is going to be a new leaf, exciting times ahead. So out with the old and in with the new.

Samwise the Brave

Okay not quite Sam from Tolkein’s stories, but Sam from Bosasa. Whenever someone says that their name is Sam I think of Samwise Gamgee, and yes my hobbits, it is a quote about him from The Two Towers that bring me inspiration now in these dark days. "There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

And Sam bravely re-glues down the piece of carpet tile that has being a safety hazard in my office for a while now thereby bringing a glimmer of hope that everything will be alright in the end. Oh and did I mention we have a new Espresso coffee machine in our office. Watch me bounce off the walls now.

After 26 Years

So finally the day has come for us to say farewell to Andrew, who after 26 years of looking after this property where Mogale Business Park currently stands, is now going to spend the last of his days chilling with his family.

At first Andrew worked for Goldfields when they owned this piece of land, then Summerfields took over and Andrew stayed on. In 2005 when Bosasa bought the land and build the Mogale Business Park, Andrew became the Facilities Manager that is until today.

Well goodbye Andrew, may you continue to be blessed to be a blessing.

Farewell Andrew

I am not sure when I will see Andrew again as he is about to be medically boarded. I met Andrew over 2 years ago when I first started working here at Bosasa. Andrew is a kind hearted man who is works as the Caretaker of the Mogale Business Park. Now he will be moving back to Limpopo to spend the rest of his days close to his family.

Farewell my friend, may God continue to bless you till the end of your days, and may there be many more good days to come to enjoy the rest of your life with.

Livingstone I Presume

Assumption is the mother of all stuff ups but this is Livingstone the network guy not the Doctor that got lost in Africa when he came to spread the gospel in the scramble for Africa. Hopefully our Livingstone doesn’t get lost in all the cables else we have to send Tebogo or Songezo in.

Reception Vespas

I heard about the reception at the Scribante head office in Kyalami or was in the CEO’s office that had a collection of real Vespas on display. Well we can’t top that here but we come a close second as we have some Vespa models in pride of place at our reception area.

I am feeling a little down as I rode into my garage this evening and parked my Vespa GTS300 next to the 150. I looked at both of them, thinking that soon they will be sold and that I won’t get to ride them for much longer.

Hey Black Child

Hey black child you can do it. The possibilities are all there, if only you believe in yourself.

Steward shown above has his heart set on helping black children and Terrance has helped him design this t-shirt in support of his initiative.

Hey black child, you can be who you want to be.

Lucia Ntokoza Esme

Last night the storm intensified and I am sure the winds must have reached gale force. This morning the storm continued with hail. Later on more reports came in of tornadoes but this time on the East Rand which is far from us.

Anyway safe as houses, Lucia, Ntokoza, and Esme, from the office cleaning division took shelter in our office building. Okay, okay, where we are, it was only hail for a short while in the morning and then for the rest of the day we were shrouded in the clouds while the rest of Jozi was lashed by the storm.

Shed some Light

Yay, its Friday, woza weekend! It has been a long tough week and I am glad to see the back of it although I suppose next week will just be about the same. But for now it is the weekend and for the first time since I moved into this office, the building services have come to fix the lights, now I can see what I am doing and it doesn’t look good. Thank you Shadrick, as no more can I sing, hello darkness my old friend, as you shed some light. Oh well I have to find a new song, any suggestions?

Water off a Ducks Back

Well it is downhill now till the weekend, and these forced breaks that I have been taking have helped, as the stress has rolled off me as water off a duck’s back. No I am sure that saying doesn’t quite fit with stress and workload but somehow I found myself at this duck pond with cute little ducks frolicking in the water without a care in the world. If I close my eyes, I can just about hear the weekend calling, Jerome, Jerome, come away, oh human child, to waters and the wild with a fairy hand in hand for the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

Slog Break

This week has not being a good one so for with work just merging into one big mess. Oh well it is just one foot in front of the other and aim for that bed-gasm when your head hits that pillow at the end of the day.

To break up the slog, one has to just push the mouse and keyboard to one side, get up, step out of the office, and take a walk on the wild side. Even the Springbuck are relaxing during lunch time. Time to follow their example and soak up the sun, recharging my batteries before heading back inside.

Muteness

Today started and ended much as yesterday did but I didn’t want that to get me down as yesterday somehow got to me. Fight or flight did not quite work for me nor did standing very still and hoping that Monday would not notice me.

Today I forced myself a break and took a walk into the gardens surrounding my office. Sitting by side one of the duck ponds, I could feel the heaviness roll off. Next to the stone bench on which I sat, was this square stone pillar and inside the bowl on top was three smaller square stones, intriguing.

While sitting in stony silence in the fresh winter air, my thoughts were all over. Schweigen, inside thoughts! What will my future hold? Do I settle down or do I flee. One of my options is buying a house and we have found a rather lovely one but it is near the very top of our budget.

Two young swans were inquisitive of my muteness and swam a little closer but not too close mind you.

Elvis is leaving the building

It has been a busy week, which ended in my work being shredded and with two different sets of instructions, I have to start all over again on Monday with only four days to complete. Oh my if life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.

This is Siphiwe aka Elvis, who is about to leave for home on his bicycle. After the shredding season, I packed up and walked to my Vespa to start the weekend on a low and bumped into Elvis who was about to leave the building for the weekend and as usual was full of smiles. Now with a spring in my step, my weekend can only get better.

Elvis has left the building!

Good Life Legae

I walked into the training room this morning dragging my feet and not a smile on my dial because yesterday while I was out my work colleagues nominated me for the "Taking the Boardroom to the Shop floor" seminar. Even my work antagonist sent me an email "...You have won the amazing prize of attending a seminar at MBP...", just to rub it in. With so much work, I had no time for a full day training seminar but my pleas fell on deaf ears and here I was, presented and accounted for.

My negative energy slowly lifted back into the positive as I started realising that I could benefit from this encouraging message that Legae Phahlane in his bright lemon coloured jersey brought us. Okay his Powerpoint slides were difficult to follow with too much info nonetheless Legae’s positive energy just filled the room and you could not help it, but become positive.

When life gives you lemons, no use just saying oh well that is my lot in life. Take charge, you are what you make it. Positive attitude attracts more positiveness is the Law of Legae.

So smile, let the Good Life begin.

I Fought the Law

The Clash song "I fought the law and the law won" came thumping through my head as the fumes wafted off the freshly painted walls of my office. I was sure during my punk haze I saw the law came banging at my door.

I fought the law and the law won, yes I have proof that it wasn't my imagination, Terrence put on the Boshielo costume and came through to my office. Goes to show no one is above the law. "I know what you're thinking. 'Did he fire six shots or only five'? Well to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I kind of lost track myself. But being that this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well do ya, punk?"

Two coats of paint down, thank goodness, tomorrow's the final coat. Go ahead. Make my day.

Whatcha Doin

"Whatcha doin", cries Johnny. Now I am not sure if I should continue calling our Crowned Crane, Johnny, anymore as he might be a she. Maybe I should call her Isabella after Phineas’ sister who keeps asking Phineas and Ferb "whatcha doin".

Isabella/Johnny gets so excited when s/he sees me especially when I sit outside during lunch time as s/he gets very inquisitive and inspects everything that I do. Nothing gets past her scrutiny.

"Whatcha doin? What is that me you taking a selfie of?"

Two in the Rain

The relentless rain seems to have no end, although thankfully the weather bureau states that it will start to clear tomorrow.

In the meanwhile we just have to make do with the few umbrellas that we have, as Terrence and Rob shows us how to share a brolli.

Unpleasant Pheasant

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day, this pheasant doesn't like the rain. Here is one sad looking pheasant seeking shelter on my windowsill. I am not 100% sure what type of pheasant he is as he looks like a juvenile Common or Ring Neck Pheasant but does not have the red facial wattles around the eye. So whatever pheasant he is, he sure finds the rain unpleasant and wants in.