Living in Jozi

Change of venue - change of Continent...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:58:00 +0000

So what could I possibly have been doing in the last 5 months since my last post? Well, I would bore you with the details, so I will skip them, and rather refer you directly to a new Blog... Yes another... I now find myself back in London. Living in Wimbledon and having just moved into a house share and finally having a room of my own, I feel I can start sharing my experiences once more. So follow me, join me, and experience London with me at Living in London... (Name has a ring to it, don't...

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Homecoming Revolution Christmas evening

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:57:00 +0000

I was very fortunate to be invited to the Homecoming Revolution year end Christmas party, held this evening in Rosebank, Johannesburg. It was not only an opportunity to catch up with old friends and acquaintances that I first met in London in 2007 at the 2nd London Event last October, but also a very fulfilling experience spending time with other South Africans who have retuirned from prolonged periods spent overseas. Homecoming Revolution (HCR) managed to secure Ben Zander as a guest...

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An outstanding apology - and some big news

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:01:00 +0000

Yes, this is an open apology to the good people of Johannesburg... Last Saturday I washed my car... and ever since it has absolutely poured with rain in Johannesburg - the kind of rain you would usually find in Cape Town - not on the Highveld. And so for the last week I have been hiding - fearful of what my rather drenched neighbours might say - or do! Actually that's not true.... YES - it has been raining, but no, I haven't been hiding. I have been working on a small project - something...

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Make a difference with a shipping container

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:24:00 +0000

If the billboards around where I live are to be believed (and they are just an advertising campaign) then a child dies every 6 seconds in the world from hunger. Indeed, a recent study has shown that 2,500 children die in Africa alone on a daily basis just due to a lack of access to clean water. So where am I going with this? Well, just as I chellenged my fellow bloggers to promote the cause of the Blogger Bakeoff, it would not be appropriate if I myself did not promote the cause on my...

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That was the week that was...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:05:00 +0000

Yes, I know... I have been absent without leave for at least 9 days... But a lot can happen in 9 days... (And very little at the same time) Let's start with the very little... Work... Not that very little work was done - a lot of work was done, but all the same - the drudgery of completing the year end financial accounts. In my case, much of my time was taken up by learning what exactly I had to do, having been out of the country, and thus not exposed to the South African way of...

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When downloading a Widget just isn't enough...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:23:00 +0000

If you have been floating around the South African Blogosphere in the past few weeks, you have probably stumbled across posts and items relating to the Blogger Bakeoff - an initiative by Breadline Africa to raise $1m to "bring food and hope to poor communities in Africa by helping to convert shipping containers into community kitchens." But if you had looked at some of those blogs where the "Collection Widget" had been downloaded, you'd have noticed that the "Donations from this Blog" still...

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Bid or Buy - or in my case Guess and Win... and Donate

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:32:00 +0000

You might had read my post on Wednesday, talking about the Bid or Buy auction competition, and if you did, you would have seen both my guess of the closing highest bid, and my pledge to donate any prize I might win to the Worldwide Blogger Bakeoff. Well, in this modern age, apparently small miracles do happen, and this morning I learned that my guess of R67,467 was the closest of all the guesses, and that the prize of R300 was mine! And so true to my word, I have donated my R300 to the...

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IEC website – the final word

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:30:00 +0000

It seems that the more you look at this story, the more jaw dropping it becomes… This will be my last mention of the matter, as I am bored of an organisation that refuses to listen when complaints are raised. Needless to say, as I write this, I still cannot access the IEC website using my Firefox browser. If you think I am frustrated after first blogging about this just 5 days ago, let’s look at some other sources of information… It would appear that this issue was first brought to the...

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Bid or Buy for Breadline Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:24:00 +0000

Here’s something different – I have been invited to take part in a competition! Well, who am I to scoff at an invitation! The competition is open to South African bloggers and is being run by Bid or Buy – an online auction website based here in South Africa. It revolves around the auction of a VW TenaCity Golf that starts on Thursday, 23rd October. The winner is the blogger who best guesses the final winning bid – in other words guesses closest to the closing bid. There is a monetary prize for...

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There but for the grace of God....

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:56:00 +0000

Every so often there is a news story that, even though it doesn't affect you directly, still strikes a chord in you, and makes you stop and think... You may know that I am working my way (slowly) toward my Private Pilot's licence, and that since returning to South Africa I have been flying out of Rand Airport, in Germiston. So when the news breaks of a plane crash at Rand Airport, my attention is certainly caught. While I know none of the 6 individuals who lost their lives in this tragedy,...

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100 up!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:52:00 +0000

This is quite a celebration… I have noticed that in fact this is my 100th post to “Living in Jozi” and I thought I would just take a short moment to celebrate that fact. It has been quite a journey, these last 100 posts, from when I started on the 12th June this year – contemplating my boxes in my room in London, (eventually even giving them names!) Then blogging from Heathrow at some ungodly hour of the morning, waiting for my plane to Amsterdam and then Johannesburg. My arrival and the...

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A new arrival...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:36:00 +0000

Well, we have a new addition to the family… On Sunday, we got a puppy. Or more exactly, William got a puppy, who promptly stole all our hearts – so I think puppy more got a family! Shadow, or Puppy, or Baby, or Mama, or Shady – ok, I think you can see that we haven’t quite got the name sorted out yet – is a cross Pekinese and Pug (or was that a Chihuahua?) She is about 6 inches tall in total and is still learning what those four things are that are sticking out under her body… She has the...

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IEC website accessibility - follow up

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:56:00 +0000

It would appear that my posting of yesterday, IEC website only open to Internet Explorer users , has certainly caused a storm of interest. While this was not the intention of the posting, it is nonetheless reassuring to see the effective of online media to draw attention to a particular matter and to involve the wider community. There have been some interesting comments left, on this blog and other websites. One of the most controversial was left anonymously, and alleges that the IEC is not...

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IEC website only open to Internet Explorer users

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 07:30:00 +0000

With all the interesting things happening in South African poilitics just at the moment, I decided to check out the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) website, to find out how our constitution might impact the date of the elections and when they can be called and how a new political party would have to register for the 2009 Elections. To my absolute horror I was confronted by an error page, politely informing me that "the current website is only compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer...

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Breaking News - we are engaged!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:54:00 +0000

Yes, the lovely lass that for the last while has carried the title, "girlfriend", has said "Yes" and Ulricha and I are officially engaged! And so begins a road of excitement and terror and stomach turning nervousness as we start preparing for our wedding, which will be some time late next year. We have some ideas for a venue, and for a time, but we will still plan these things. We have already been looking around at wedding dresses, and I think Ulricha has just about every wedding website on...

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Summer is here – because it is raining

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:10:00 +0000

It had finally happened – the Summer rains have arrived and on each of the two previous evenings we have enjoyed the spectacle of Highveld thunder storms, complete with magnificent lightning shows and rolling thunder that shakes you right down into your belly. And beautiful rain, lovely rain, quenching a very thirsty earth that has been crying out for some kind of moisture since I arrived back in South Africa in June. Ulricha and I were sitting by the pool on Saturday morning just enjoying the...

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What shall we do with a wayward Springbok?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:34:00 +0000

What shall we do with a wayward Springbok? I always thought that pulling on the colours of your national team was supposed to be the stuff that dreams were made of – dreams of young children when they watch their heroes on television or see their photographs in the newspaper or in magazines. So what then when a member of a national team describes how his national team colours cause him to feel nauseous, that he feels like getting sick on his national jersey? Now I know that there is much...

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Road Trip to the Mother City #10: The Long Road Home

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:03:00 +0000

Sunday was our drive home… We set off again in the early hours and managed to arrive in Laingsburg just as the sun was rising and about to blind us. By the time we arrived in Three Sisters Ulricha and I were both exhausted. We had already driven for just shy of 5 and a half hours, and knew the longest stretch of rode was still to come. Already the temperature was starting to reach toward the 30 degree mark – and that was at 9 o’clock, as we enjoyed breakfast in an air conditioned greasy...

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Road Trip to the Mother City #9: Boland visit

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:56:00 +0000

On Saturday, our last day in the Cape, we decided to actually NOT spend it in the Cape, or at least not in Cape Town itself, but headed inland to Worcester, to an old friend of mine who has moved there this year. Rather than taking the Huguenot Tunnel on the journey up, I took the old duToit’s Kloof pass – something I have not done for many years. The weather was clear and warm and we enjoyed spectacular views of Table Mountain and the Paarl Valley as we travelled. I say the day was clear –...

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Springbok Emblem does unite South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:37:00 +0000

It is ironic that yesterday Butana Komphela, proclaimed, with a fair degree of arrogance, that he could not find one piece of empirical evidence to support the notion that the Springbok was a unifying force within South Africa. Ironic, because today, just 24 hours later, that little emblem has unified a nation against Mr Komphela and his ideas. Today the ANC and the Democratic Alliance – so both the governing party and the opposition, came out in support of the Springbok emblem, saying that...

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Road trip to the Mother City #8: Taking to the Air

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:37:00 +0000

Today (Friday) we went up, up, up and away as I contacted the local Flying Club at the Cape Town airport and arranged for a flight around the peninsula. Unfortunately my original plan of taking myself and two passengers fell through as the clubs aircraft are quite small training planes, and so myself and Ulricha joined Gareth the instructor and we set off. Having already flown in both London and Johannesburg, and with around 10 hours of training experience behind me, this was not something new...

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Magic with PaintShop

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:36:00 +0000

I am amazed.... I am by no means a graphic artist or in fact an artist of any kind. But with a little, OK, a LOT of help from the latest version of PaintShop and some reading of the instruction manual (yes, for a bloke to read an instruction manual is not bad!) I have managed to create a little piece of art... On Tuesday we took some pictures of the sun setting as we drove back from Franschoek. The original picture looked like this: I decided to have a go at manipulating it and doing a bit...

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"Ditsem" to Dischem!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:31:00 +0000

As you may have worked out by now, ulricha and I are on a week long holiday in Cape Town. So you can imagine how we panicked slightly when we realised that we had not gone to the Northgate Dischem to get the next month supply of a course of medication that has been prescribed to Ulricha. So unsure of what might happen, we went to the Claremont branch of Dischem and enquired about whether we could get the next course of medication. After a few clicks of the mouse some swift hand movements over...

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South Africa to lose the Springbok?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:20:00 +0000

Apparently the Springbok symbol does not unite South Africans, and it has to go. This is the opinion of Sports Portfolio Committee chairman, Butana Komphela, who was speaking at the first day of the 2-day Sports Indaba in Durban. He continued, “Minister, I want you to observe the arrogance of white people on the Springbok emblem." Now I am not sure where Mr Komphela was in 1995 and 2007 – but perhaps I can update him as to what happened… In 1995, President Nelson Mandela wore Francois...

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Road trip to the Mother City #7: Catching up with Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:17:00 +0000

Whenever I am in Cape Town, one of my “pilgrimages” is always to visit Suikerbossie – a beautiful restaurant situated above Hout Bay and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. I used to work there when I was in University but had originally met one of the owners when I worked with him at a local family restaurant in Bergvliet – all the way back in 1990. And so every time I am in Cape Town, I make the journey to Hout Bay, to visit David and to enjoy Suikerbossie. On Wednesday I made that pilgrimage...

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