Biker Interview

 

Mark phoned me during the day, twice in fact, I thought it was good news on my Vespa but it was sadly not about my bike but Mark wanted to know if Dael was still available as he is in desperate need of extra hands. 

After work, I picked up Dael and dropped him for his interview at the new biker's workshop that Mark has partnered with.

Being a Jerk

 

My Vespa started being a jerk and when checking everything, the bike mechanic pulled out the spark plug to find this. Something is not right in the state of Denmark. At least the Vespa is getting a full treatment service and should be back as new.

Dr House Calls

The Doctor does house calls. Yip Mark from ME Motorcycles, came round this afternoon to pick up my Vespa. Last Friday, I discovered a bulge on the rear tyre and I could not ride up to Pretoria to fetch Matthew. Now Mark has to come round, pick Scarlet up and get a new rear tyre fitted.

I must say Mark is looking very grey, ja boet, we all seem to be getting old lately.

Back in the Bike Shop

I was on my way to the Canon Roadshow on Scarlet my Vespa GTS 300 Super, when I felt the distinct wobble of a flat back tyre. Oh no, I was nearly there, only 2 kilometres to go, it goes to show that I wasn’t meant to be there.

So there I was stuck on the side of the road in Midrand, far from support and the tyre was rather thread bare so I could not use my puncture kit. Dael was off today, and he was kind enough to spring into action and arrived within 45mins to pick me and Scarlet up. He took us across to Mark at ME Motorcycles where we dropped Scarlet off. Eish this will teach me to skimp with money knowing the my tyre needed replacing and I needed a service as well.

18 Weeks Skedaddle

Finally after 18 weeks, Scarlet has come home. Four months or 18 weeks or 126 days, whatever way you put it, it was 17 weeks too long.

Scarlet went into ME Motorcycles for a new drive belt, rollers, brakes, and a full service but it turned out to be more than that as the entire variator and clutch had to be replaced. Still this should have only taken not more than a week but from what Mark has told me, his supplier did a quick and dirty on him, took his money and skedaddled.

Good news, Scarlet is home and tomorrow will be my first ride on her in 18 weeks.

Chris not Craig

The weather did not help me to get out of bed this morning. With the hard downpours, I just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep but it was the thought that I on duty at BBC this morning which dragged me out of bed reluctantly.

At BBC I was taken aback when I saw someone who reminded me of a long gone friend when he walked past, I had to look twice to make sure I wasn’t not seeing Craig. Anyway this person turned out to be Chris and here he is working on the Arrow Team at BBC alongside my good friend Mark, the one with his hands in the air.

Winter is Here

A cold front has swept across southern Africa leaving a dusting of snow on all the highlands. Brrrr it is cold in Jozi as winter finally arrives. Okay before anyone says 7˚C is not cold, for us in Africa it is as our homes are not built with insulation and double glazing. So it is time to put jerseys on the Italian Greyhounds before they catch a cold.

Later on by afternoon the temperatures reached 15˚C. Warm enough for us to head out to Emmarentia Dam for the inspiring Jozi Land Art 2016, meet with friends, and of course for Mark’s birthday.

ME Motorcycles West Rand

What a start to Spring, two rear tyre punctures within a 24 hour period. The latest one made me see my life flash before my eyes as my Vespa started fish tailing on the highway while going way over 120km/h. Thankfully the car behind me started slowing down as I drifted to a stop trying my best not to lose the tyre completely or dropping my baby.

After making sure that I hadn’t soiled my undergarments, I phoned ME Motorcycles on the West Rand at 0825709995, to set the Project Tyre in motion. Mark from ME Motorcycles had already sourced two new Pirelli tyres two months back but I put it on the back burner due to budget. Now I had no choice, and after patching the current tyre I limped the bike to ME Motorcycles.

Mark has many years working on all types of bikes but his passion is for superbikes and as you can see from the photo above that superbikes come from all over Johannesburg to get that no nonsense Mark touch.

Mark Day 7

Day 7 and the thatching is still not complete with holes everywhere. The clowns didn’t put back the canvas to cover the remaining holes which meant another night under the stars. Thankfully the rain stayed at bay. When it does come, the rain that is, surely this roof is still going to leak as any layperson would tell you with one look that it is does not look right. Surely this entire half of the roof needs to be redone by a professional team of thatches.

The jokers didn’t return today, maybe they had to go to church and ask for forgiveness for the shoddy workmanship. Talking about church, I too had to go as I was on usher duty. I waited with a black cloud over my head as long as I could before leaving for BBC. Here is my old friend, Mark, trying to bring back a smile to my face, as this has been a miserable weekend with literary no roof over our heads. I must say Mark did try even though he works for a company based in Redmond, but he is a very good friend none the less.

Expectant

We haven't seen Mark and Guinevere for such a long time that I was looking forward joining them at the Market Theatre this afternoon for some culture. Somehow Mark got the numbers wrong or I didn't confirm, but Mark and Guievere got to see Agreed while Lynda and I enjoyed Expectant.

I wasn't sure what to expect other than an expectant mother going on a monologue about, well being an expectant mother. Close but no cigar, Rebecca Makin-Taylor brought a monologue nowhere near what I thought it would be. As a white, English speaking South African male, it is hard to expect a better future for us in South Africa. With our history as water under the bridge, what can I be expectant of in the "New" South Africa? What does it mean to be from South Africa?

Mark and the Leopard

Nice title for this blog if I may say so myself. It was our biggest turnout to Home Circle tonight where us homies where outnumbered by the newbies. Yes we just about doubled in size tonight. Here is Mark sitting under the awesome painting of a leopard. I have known Mark and Sue for a long time now but it is their first time to our Home Circle, so welcome and too the other two couples.

News on Matthew, well he has been booked off school till Friday which doesn't make me happy as I believe in High School every day missed makes it harder to catch up and understand the rest. But I must relent as health is more important. For the next two days Matthew will be undergoing a battery of test at the cardiologist.

Good news from my sister Theresa, she came up from Nelspruit for a follow-up after they removed her entire thyroid just over two weeks ago because of Hashimoto's Disease. All is looking well even though her throat is still very sore and making it difficult to eat solids. The doctor said it will take up three months to heal and that she must not rush eating solids.

Canon EOS Adventure Roadshow

Once again it is time for the adventurous Canon Roadshow and this morning cold rain would not hold wild horses at bay as the queue to get in went around the corner. In this photograph you can see some of the crazy Joburg Photowalkers like Mark, Pascal, Geraldine and if you look carefully Craig right at the back of the queue. Please note that Robin was still in bed.

It was good to see Roger as I walked past the registration tables and a good man hug was in order. Many other Joburg Photowalkers, that is the Canon part, were seen streaming into the building such as Alan, Candy, Clare, Desiree, Jacqueline, Johnny, Niamh and Paul. Sadly Robin was still in bed.

Roger the Man,Canon’s DSLR Product Manager, opened the Roadshow to a packed house and introduced the range of Canon EOS cameras and the new models such as the Canon 650D, Canon 60Da (for astrophotography), Canon 5D MkIII, Canon 1D C and the Canon C500. Sadly my camera the Canon 550D has been replaced by the 650D. :-( See the unhappy face here. At least Roger punted the Joburg Photowalkers towards the end of his talk, which made me smile all over again. He mentioned our names including Robin who was still in bed.

After Roger was Abri who introduced the DSC (Digital Small Camera) and printer range. He briefly mentioned my camera that I had my eye set on since it was mentioned at the last road show by Abri. I wanted a small camera to carry around instead of lugging a DSLR around and sometimes security frown upon cameras. The S100 was the perfect camera, small with most of the features of my now defunct camera.

Then it snack time and time to catch up with the other Joburg Photowalkers whom I only catch a glimpse of earlier. After the break the first of the guest photographers Richard presented some of his aerial photographs of the beautiful and not so beautiful landscape around us. Watching the slideshow of his images I thought of a perfect title for Richard’s next book, Fingerprints of Man. Next was Manus from DSLR Training who educated us on talking photos in low light, now this was very interesting and I have leant some new tricks which I have to go try out.

As usual at the end of the Canon Roadshow comes the best part. Well they do leave the best for last. Names of the attendees of the Canon Roadshow get randomly drawn and super duper prizes get given away. And smiles were broad as this time my name gets called out and I was handed a Canon 50mm f1.4 lens. Big Smiles. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday Mr President.

After the Canon Roadshow Craig, Geraldine, Pascal and myself met at The Digital Experience at Fourways Crossing. Now if you need any camera gear no matter what brand, Digital Experience is just the place with the best prices anywhere in Johannesburg. Pascal left with a battery pack for his new Canon 5 D MkIII and me the Canon S100. More about this stunning camera tomorrow as we off to an awesome late lunch at Fournos Bakery.

The End is Naai

According to stand up comedian, Mark Sampson, if the End is Naai, then the Afrikaners would be looking forward to it while us English are well in a pickle aren't we.

Tonight Craig had invited a few friends to the Theatre on the Square to watch a comedian that even I have never heard of. Who the heck is Mark Sampson, another Trevor Noah? Well off I went, not sure what to expect from what I’ve been told about this Green Comedy called Africa Clockwise. And walking into the theatre and seeing all the geriatrics out numbering us middle aged folk didn’t help at all. Are they here to learn how to turn back the clock as their time is near midnight?

Press, media, friends and grandparents night must be a hard audience for a standup to well stand up. But Mark Sampson pulled off a hilarious evening of standup comedy, well that was after climbing over all the walkers parked in the aisles. Mark had us rolling with laughter as we learnt how to be Warriors and to whatsup the Wasters with a W sign. I can now see all these geriatrics hobbling up to a large Sandton 4x4 and spraying out "We're Walker Worriers and you are Wasters". Well memory is not their strong point but they get the hand sign Wright I'm sure.

Next year in April, I think, Mark is going to pack up his family into a green groot trok and go off the grid into darkest Africa. By doing Africa clockwise he hopes to learn and teach on how Africans can live without Eishkom and be richer for it. So before he goes, make sure you get to see him on stage and of course any sponsors for the trip are welcome.

Earth will survive global warming, it is us humans who don't know how to be rich that won't. Live Long and Prosper.

Gendel

I started on some web development work at Gendel Strategic Marketing Group today. There is a deadline for month end which is next week Wednesday and because of the tight time lines, I have to put other client's work aside and focus all on Gendel. To top it all, after the Pink Floyd show last night and the early to bed this morning I had to crawl out of bed, thank goodness Mark, who is the project manager didn't notice. So after an exhausting day of mental work it is a early night for me.

The Setting Up

Woke up to Sinéad this morning singing some of my favourite haunting music. As I rushed to get ready these words of so long ago ring so true today that I had to stop and listen again.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change
Courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference

I am not like I was before
I thought that nothing would change me
I was not listening anymore
Still you continued to affect me

I was not thinking anymore
Although I said I still was
I'd said "I don't want anymore"
Because of bad experience

But now I feel so different
I feel so different
I feel so different

My whole day was sent at the 12 Decades Art Hotel in downtown Johannesburg setting up our first photographic exhibition which is opening next Sunday. You can see in today's photo four of the photowalkers trying to make sense where to put all the photos. They are left to right Darren, Matt, Dirk and Mark. Craig, Arno and Suzanne joined later.

Submitting Photos

This evening the core Joburg Photowalkers got together to discuss our exhibition at the 12 Decades Art Hotel in two weeks time. We selected sizes and submitted images that we would like to exhibited. Final selection will take place next week. Left to right are (seated) Charlotte, Craig and Mark; (standing) Jacqueline, Darren, Candice, Alan and Dirk.

Satori

This evening the Joburg Photowalkers held their first slide show evening at Morning Star in Linden. It was a great turn out and the few die hards ended up at Satori afterwards. Here are four of them sitting down for dinner - Craig with the iPad with wings, Robyn looking on in envy, Desiree and Mark with both heads in menu.

Drop the Pilot

Drop the pilot
Try my balloon
Drop the monkey
Smell my perfume
Drop the mahout
I'm the easy rider
Don't use your army
To fight a losing battle

Balderdash

After spending a great late afternoon and evening with a couple of friends playing Balderdash, whom am I trying to bluff. Quel désastre, Mark has lost his béret.

JPW Year End

The Joburg Photowalkers had their year end function at Morning Star where we ooed and aahed over each other's best shots. What a lovely time amongst friends. Seated are Maritha, myself, Colleen, Mo and Jacks. Behind the couch are Matt, Craig, Mark and Darren.