Big City Glow

 

I haven't quite gotten over my early starts in the morning and here I am riding my Vespa at the crack of dawn into the city. This morning the sun was causing the big city to have this orange glow as it started to peak over the horizon.  

Metrobus 239

I believe in the Broken Window Policy introduced by Rudy Giuliani, a past mayor of New York City. The policy is to replace broken windows of abandoned buildings thereby uplifting the area and the reward was that crime dropped in those areas where the Broken Window Policy was introduced. 

And now I see this, a Joburg Metrobus carrying passengers during this morning rush hour. Oh my word doesn't Metrobus have any pride in what they do. Metrobus 239 should never have left the depot. Shame on you.

Sunrise Jam

This can't go on like this, I am going crack anytime soon. These early morning sitting in rush hour traffic jam is no joke. Breathe in. Breathe out. There you go, enjoy the sunrise without the smell of surf. If only I was sitting on a tropical beach this very minute watch the sun peer over the horizon, if only.

Traffic Eejets

We all have to wait in the traffic, yet there are some eejets who simply cannot obey the law. This eejet along with the local taxis think that they are better than everyone else, that the traffic laws don't apply to them.

Breathe in, Jerome, Breathe out. Two days ago I was nearly taken out by a clap out pickup jumping a red traffic light, just because it was red doesn't apply to him, and all his passengers sitting in the bin who all would have died if I had being just a half a meter forward. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Well thankfully I am not always in this type of rush hour traffic.

Cock a doodle doo

As most people know last year, the Year of the Monkey was simple a bad year but now, cock a doodle doo, a New Year starts and a new dawn as we celebrate the Year of the Rooster in Old Chinatown.

Now before you get on your high horse, we also don’t enjoy fireworks for our animals’ sake but in a controlled environment like down town Johannesburg with the only animals close enough other than the humans are the rats and pigeons, (no one knows what happens to the cats and dogs in Chinatown). Anyways Lynda, Matthew, and I went down to Chinatown this evening, with the old year behind us for good, we let the rooster herald a new beginning.

 

Valley Sunrise

Today is a big work day so therefore the early start to the day was called for hence I managed to catch this sunrise over the valley which I stay in from the road past Pinehaven up the hill to Krugersdorp.

From here you can see the Kromdraai conservancy to the left, Muldersdrift to the right, and in the middle from the foreground going further out is Pinehaven, Avianto, Lammermoor, and Lanseria.

I could have stayed here watching the sunrise for a while but work was beckoning.

Let the Week Begin

The week broke with a beautiful sunrise this morning after a relaxing weekend at home with Matthew, now back to the grindstone.

But an easy week it looks not. Oh dear I am starting to sound like Master Yoda. With more than half our New Media off sick, the start of the week doesn’t look promising. So the two of us holding the fort ran rugged, that end of the day we raised the ceasefire flag. Not surrender as we will never give up but just need a breather.

Dragging my feet back to Scarlet my Vespa GTS 300 Super, for the quick hop home, I found Johnny the Crowned Crane waiting for me by Scarlet. After a tired goodbye to Johnny I rode home only to find my day this day was not going to be put to bed that easily. Arriving home I found Jade limping with her newly repaired leg in the air.

Oh no, so now it was a rush to the vet. Thankfully, after xrays, we found that her plate was still in place but she must have twisted her leg somehow. So the vets immobilised her leg again and gave strict bed rest orders to Jade. Thou shall not jump! Thou shall not run! Oh dear how can an Italian Greyhound comply with those orders.

After getting back home I did a few chores then crashed on the bed, only to be woken from a deep sleep about an hour later with supper.

Year of the Horned Creature in Detention

With the Chinese horse finally bolted out of the stable, in prances this horned creature or animal. Is it a goat? Is it a sheep? Is it a Ram? Or is it just maybe Pan? Could this be an entire year lost in translation?

Mystified I joined friends in the Old China Town cloaked in the shadow of the notorious John Vorster Square and the dreaded Security Branch of the Apartheid Government’s Police Force, but today we joined in mass to celebrate the coming in of the new Chinese year, the Year of the Horned Creature aka Goat, Sheep, or Ram, with loud bangs and lots of fireworks.

So as the echoes from Chris van Wyk’s poem "In Detention" ran through my mind as blasts of crackers blew up near me under the skies which sparkled against the chocking smoke as the tears of the rain began to fall.

He fell from the ninth floor
He hanged himself
He slipped on a piece of soap while washing
He hanged himself
He slipped on a piece of soap while washing
He fell from the ninth floor
He hanged himself while washing
He slipped from the ninth floor
He hung from the ninth floor
He slipped on the ninth floor while washing
He fell from a piece of soap while slipping
He hung from the ninth floor
He washed from the ninth floor while slipping
He hung from a piece of soap while washing.

All this while ominously looming over China Town. Bang! Bang! Wohoooosh!

Back to the New Year. The Mandarin Chinese character羊 denoting this new year means a horned animal of sorts which covers quite a lot of animals. Sheep are cute but not known to be leaders, more follow the pack. Goats tend to be more on the evil side but very tasty according to traditional culture. Rams on the other hand are more manly, aggressive and sadly alone. Then we have Pan. A wild mischievous mythical creature/god that was half goat half human, ahhh Puck of my Shakespearian youth.

So if you do follow the Chinese calendar, pray tell what year are we entering into? Is it the Year of the tasty Goat? Or are you going to be aggressive and say it is the Year of the Ram? Or are you going to follow the pack and say it is the Year of the Sheep? Or is it the Year of the Pan, full of wild mischievous abandonment?

Misty African Sunrise

One of my dreams is to watch a sunrise at the end of the world in Patagonia but for now I will enjoy my misty sunrise on the highvelt in Johannesburg. In Patagonia the air will bitingly fresh and cold with none of the urban pollutants of an industrial city like Jozi. And the stars, wow I can only imagine the view of the universe above from there. The closest I ever came was a view from the Karoo. Jozi can never come close but for now I will enjoy my misty sunrise in the heart of South Africa.

Day of Goodwill

After a sweltering Christmas Day which left us praying for some cooling rain, our prayers were answered in the early hours of this morning with a raging thunderstorm that had me nearly declare abandoned ship and take to the life boats. We were hit twice by lightning as it crackled around our home and tripping the mains but we were safe inside our Faraday Cage.

Sometime during this frightful storm I must have fellen asleep only to wake to the sun trying to break into the stormy action of Lá an Dreoilín, so let the hunt of the wren begin. Boxing Day, St Stephen’s Day, Wren’s Day, Day of Goodwill, or whatever you may call today has started with this awesome sunrise under the storm clouds. So whatever you do on this second day of Christmas, crack open the traditional brandy, give the poor their Christmas boxes, put the cricket on the telly, do some discounted shopping, and please rather hunt some wrenboys than foxes on this Day of Goodwill.

Yes goodwill is for foxes too. So for foxes' sake, no more bloody Boxing Days!

Jukskei Runs Through

At the bottom of our new place, the Jukskei River runs though. Although the river looks peaceful and tranquil, I wish that it was clean but that is not the case as we are downstream from many poor communities including informal settlements.

So now as we take up our long walks again, the dogs can enjoy the open spaces to run while we appreciate the surrounding scenery and the quietness of it all.

Wakeup Call

What a difference does a quiet night does to your sleep. No trucks hooting, no warehouse sirens blaring, no construction, and no all-night parties, to break your sleep, just the sounds of country life.

Except in the mornings. The birds are up early tweeting away with abandonment and the one eyed fiery ball of our sun comes peeping over the horizon with his wakeup call. Ahhh the country life, just what the body ordered.

Now to figure a way to get to work past the rush hour traffic of cattle on their way to the pastures.

Johannesburg Traffic Jam

No doubt many of you my readers have either heard about the terrible rush hour traffic jams in Johannesburg or even have your own horror stories to tell.

Traffic has all gotten worse with the eTolls pushing traffic onto the side roads but that is not all, now we hear that a Eskom coal storage silo has collapse damaging a feeding conveyor system at Majuba power station. With this setback, Eishkom has announced load shedding which means traffic lights will be out. But as things are up here in Jozi, traffic lights have a mind of their own and heaven forbid if it rains as we have the only water phobia traffic lights in the world. And here comes the rain on cue.

So how has your Monday been in this chaos? Well it is day two of our move to our new home and above this is my traffic jam. Far from the normal madding traffic jams, I get stuck behind some Farmer Brown and his livestock.

View from the Stoep

So today the move begins to our new temporary home. The issues with our previous home has become untenable with the huge influx of low cost rooms being built on the property.

Away with the noise from the surrounding factories, sirens, all night parties, hooting trucks, building construction, and did I say all the drunken revelry, this is our new view from our front stoep or as you say in English veranda. Ahhh finally peace and tranquillity. But serenity comes with a cost, a little extra further to travel from the city although not much further than before.

Sign of the Times

With Nicolas Cage missing the Rapture and being left behind, the Israelis dancing the horah around the Gaza bonfire while children are burning, the Economic Freedom Front already 1 year old, ebola knocking at our door, and now cemeteries are coming up for auction. Surely the sign of the times is written all over.

Anybody interested in acquiring an operating cemetery with over 25,000 graves available as one is coming up for auction in Cosmos City. Hopefully those are available grave plots and not already filled graves.

Nkokheli’s Imbizo

Now I am a morning person but when it comes for first light shoots in the morning I can be a little on the grumpy side, well that is until I get my first cup of coffee. Ahhh Nespresso, now let this day begin.

Today is Nkokheli or Gavin’s Imbizo. The name Nkokheli means leader and today is a big day, where the staff get to have a conversation with the CEO and the entire executive board of Bosasa so everything from branding to the place settings have to perfect. So there I am, spit and polish on the shoes, a cue card with mug shots of all the important people in pocket, and cameras in hand. All that is left is for me to be all professional like.

Gum Tree Row

It is in the middle of a long weekend. Last night BBC was packed to the seams, with cars parked down the road and around the corner. I think a better contingency plan is needed for services like these. But that was Friday, Sunday is a coming!

Today we had two appointments to look at some potential homes and the last one has lots of potential but prayer is needed to make sure if it is the right move. Near the first house we looked at was this row of gum trees along the road. They are also known eucalyptus trees they originate from Australia and are water thieves, stealing from the local tress the insufficient water. Now I am used to the rows of oak trees in Benoni, but here in the West Rand, not to be out done, they have rows of gum trees.

Sunset of National Positions

Tomorrow is my last day at National Positions, and on Tuesday I will be starting a new journey with Bosasa in the West Rand. I am a bit apprehensive but at the same time feeling positive that this new season will bear much fruit.

While driving back from after dropping Matthew off in Benoni, we drove into this amazing sunset. As you can see the thunderstorm over Sandton is diffused by the light of the setting sun. My future is bright in the west.

Cyber Curries

The rain has set in and after a long Monday at work, I didn't feel like cooking. The rain means curry, and the best place for curry is Cyber Curries which can be found at the Buzz Centre in Fourways. It is not much of a place to look at but I am only there to pick up my mild beef curry on the way home. One way to tell if a restaurant makes a good authentic curry, is if the local Indian community buys from it, and they sure do from Cyber Curries.

David and Emperors

This evening, we went and saw a Dutch superstar, Herman van Veen, well only for the Dutch that is. Anyway, it was a lovely break from our Northern suburbs of Johannesburg, going east to Emperor's Palace to be entertained by song, mimes, sketches, and what every else you may call Herman's gigs on stage. At some stages, I was concerned that Herman would suffer a heart attack but Edith Leerkens, Willem Wits, and Dave Wismeijer, kept the pace on an even trim.

The evening started bringing back good thoughts of the time I spent in Netherlands, and of my family living in the Bible belt. Matthew still has fond memories of the two of us cycling around. Back to earth, strolling around the edges of the casinos, smoking rooms, we came upon the food court of Emperors, we there is this large replica of the David statue in the middle of a fountain. Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.