Safe to say my blogging efforts have matched my lifestyle in the last while. Non-existent.
I need to backtrack to the last post, while sitting in New York City on my second trip in the space of 6 weeks to the States and everything I got up to over there.
In-between that and now, I've submitted 8 assignments for my MBA, written 7.5hours of exams and clocked an inordinate amount of time behind my laptop. The scary thing about this is that when life is so busy, you blink and it's November. What?!
This time last year, we'd just said farewell to Joe and Melissa after their whirlwind tour of South Africa and were celebrating the end of an amazing year that is summarised in earlier blogs (for the sake of not re-hashing 2010!)
To a certain extent, my blog foray has been successful as I have captured the essence of all the goings on in my life (so as not to forget where the time goes), but on the same note, I have also failed. Things have moved so fast and so frenetically that by this stage, I should probably be on blog entry #200. Next year I will be more diligent, notwithstanding the unknown being the ongoing challenges of daily life.
There has been a lot to write about and enter into this blog in the last 2 months, an update on my new year's resolutions is imminent and I am happy to say that (spoiler alert) all is going very well.
More to follow...
Friday, November 18, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
On the road again
It's early morning in New York and mt body clock had me wide awake at just before 4am. There must be something seriously wrong with that...
Anyway, after writing exams this past weekend (Operations management:Theory of constraints and Labour Law (leading people for results) I was fortunate enough to just catch the end of the first Springok game at the Rugby World Cup. Needless to say, it was needlessly close! Besides the fact that it looked very much like our super-subs didn't come on a minute too soon (Bismark and Francois Hougaard), the cautiousness of the Boks was very evident. Let's just hope that was the result of a tricky first opponent and first match jitters!
Either way, they got the win and the tournament is under way!
I was home for all of two days before jumping back on a plane and heading over here.
I'm in the states to do some work with American Express, a partner of ours. I'll be here next week to attend a conference in financial innovation (mostly technology) called FinovateFall. So all in all, it's a trip centred around new opportunities that we're looking at, always a fun place to play.
I flew on SAA this time around and have to say (patriotism aside) that Delta had a better offering in business. I guess it was because I had been on a long haul flight so recently that I could make the comparisons, but those that stand out are:
- The layout of the seats. Delta staggers their seat/bed so that you are never really "on top of" anyone else on the plane. SAA has a very flat structure, so you literally sit right next to the guy in the seat alongside you. This is fine, except that when it comes to have a sleep, it feels a bit awkward lying down with only a very little tray between the two of you!
- Food on Delta (9/10) food on SAA (6/10)
- Service on Delta (8/10) service on SAA (7/10) Something as small as asking what you'd like to eat when you first sit down, which results in the meal being ready once the plane is in the air, is what separates the process here. On SAA, they wait till you've taken off, then come around and ask, but at the same time tell you it will take 30mins to sort dinner out once you've ordered. By the time you finish eating it is well after 10pm.
- Comfort of the bed Delta (8/10) SAA (5/10) Now don't get me wrong, up until a month ago, I would have happily taken anything flatter than a vertical seat, even if just a few degrees. But when you are flying 16 hours or more and need to be fresh to work when you arrive, the bed is very VERY important. SAA's just felt stiffer and there is a foot "plate" near the base (once the bed has flattened out) that is quite hard when you lie down.
So with all of this in mind, I was quite torn (being a loyal SAA Voyager member) in thinking that the next trip is a toss up, knowing what I know and having experienced both within a matter of weeks...
Anyway, I arrived at JFK bright and early in the morning (6:20am) only to go through my usual process of being whisked away to the passport control clearing office. This happens as routine when I enter the States. (brief flashback: I lived and worked in Colorado for half a year in 03/04 and when I left the country, the company I had acquired the work visa (J1) through failed to update my status upon exiting the country. As a result, the US government believes I stayed longer than the allotted time given in my work permit. This means I come up as a flag when entering the country EVERY time. The only way this can be fixed is if the company (no longer in existence) updates a system called SERVIS (I've done my research...))
Long story short, I sat for an additional hour trying to get through passport control. Fortunately there was no rush as it was still early in the morning and I was not catching a connecting flight. The odd thing is that when I flew into Atlanta a few weeks back, they were able to rectify the situation at the actual entry counter by making a comment on the system, in JFK, I get marched off to a separate room with my passport in the dreaded orange folder (I know the process well by now, it still doesn't make it a worthwhile way to spend my time)
I caught what felt like the longest taxi ride ever into Manhattan (the driver gave me a long story about how much he hates it when people don't tip him...subtle)
I'm staying in SoHo until Saturday at the amazing Trump SoHo. The hotel is right in the middle of this very trendy district and is very much the place to stay in downtown. I was very fortunate in that the receptionist managed to check me in to my room a 9:30am when I arrived. I certainly wasn't expecting this and was quite prepared to leave my luggage at the hotel and walk the familiar streets of downtown and midtown until later (thinking 2pm?) when I would be able to check in. None of that though and I was shown straight up to my 35th floor suite. I will post pictures after the trip, but I have a vista view out towards the financial district (I look straight out where the Twin towers would have been) and have the river and Bay to my right.
I decided to push on through to try and adjust my body clock (if you remember the start of this post, you'll know I was only partially successful) so this meant not having a sleep and not just relaxing in the room. So I did what any respectable business traveller would do, and I sat down and worked for two hours! This included finalising an assignment for my MBA and getting involved in a strategy planning discussion back in the office in SA.
When food and a need for freedom finally called, I took a walk through a very hot and sunny SoHo and made my way down Spring street and Broadway towards Chinatown. The streets of NY are always packed (apparently not during a Hurricane...) and the city is very busy at the moment as it is apparently New York Fashion week very soon. I eventually found some lunch, headed back to the hotel and promptly watched Captain America on my flat screen (which is bigger than our tv at home, for now) ;)
Not a bad movie, it is another piece in the Marvel comics storyline and starts to position the Avenger series. Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk etc are all brought together in these Stan Lee creations to build the Marvel Universe, but I digress...
While watching the end of the movie, I received the update for the evening's plans with Amex. They had organised for us to go to a baseball game at CitiField, the home of the New York Mets! The irony is that I had been chatting to my friend Joe, who lives over here, to see if we couldn't organise a Yankee's game on Monday!
I decided to once again get out of my hotel room and go for a run. This was a great idea as it really shook off the long flight and gave me an opportunity to run through the streets and down along the pier. I made my way all the way down to the World Trade Centre and back up along Broadway and greater downtown. In the end I did 7km at about 5:30/km, but while the running was relatively easy, the heat was insane! New York was so humid (a new experience for me as I have most often been here in winter)
I'd never been to baseball and it is a very typically American thing to do. So American Express organised box tickets (with the right mix if hot dogs and beer) and we proceeded to watch our "beloved' Mets get beaten 2-0 by the Washington Nationals. I can confidently say that the Mets will not be winning the World Series anytime soon.
The whole experience was fantastic though, the game is more about the advertising and crowd components than the actual baseball. They are constantly doing little things (like throwing baseballs and t-shirts into the crowd) while the game is on. It takes hours to finish a game and really very little happens. The pitcher, catcher and batter are very often the only people involved. I would imagine it would be a bit more fast paced at a more competitive match (Yankees vs Red Sox perhaps) but nevertheless the whole thing was awesome.
The Mets share a parking lot with Flushing Meadows, the home of the US open tennis. On the way out, Sydney (our MD of Card in SA) told me that Amex took him to the semi-finals this past weekend. My jaw dropped. Apparently Amex are a sponsor of the tennis and the guys went to watch Murray vs Nadal and Federer vs Djokovic. I nearly died. For a lifelong tennis fan and competitive tennis player, this would have been a dream come true. Next time. ;)
We only got home (hotel) at about 11pm. Now keep in mind that I'd flown 16 hours and stayed up all day, as well as a run. I was certifiably exhausted by this stage, but convinced that I had broken through the Jetlag barrier.
Yesterday morning started with an early breakfast at the hotel and then straight off to Amex headquarters. We work with a team called the Global Partner Network that supply services to banks and other issuing/acquiring entities. The guys we deal with are mostly based in the London office, but due to the Annual Amex partner conference in New York this week, it made sense to meet up at the HQ.
We worked with a variety of team members from across the organisation through until 6pm. After a walk back to the hotel, I went up to my room with aspirations of having a shower and heading out to walk uptown and grab some dinner (a lot of the guys, including all the Amex team, either left straight after work yesterday or are heading out today) This didn't happen...
I even made the fatal mistake of posting an update on Facebook to say that I needed to determine a plan for the evening. I fell asleep at 7pm and only woke up this morning. Fail. :)
So that brings me back to where this post began. I have some time off today (I'm hoping to be put in touch with some more of the Amex e-commerce team to do some other work during the course of today and Monday) So I am going to head downtown and stroll through the financial district and possibly grab a slice of pizza in little Italy. I'm all on my lonesome until tomorrow afternoon when I'll be meeting up with Joe after his morning studies at Columbia are completed, then it's off to NJ for the weekend with Joe and Melissa :)
For now though, I think it's time to either go for a run or have some breakfast. I think option A is the healthiest and breakfast can follow :)
Anyway, after writing exams this past weekend (Operations management:Theory of constraints and Labour Law (leading people for results) I was fortunate enough to just catch the end of the first Springok game at the Rugby World Cup. Needless to say, it was needlessly close! Besides the fact that it looked very much like our super-subs didn't come on a minute too soon (Bismark and Francois Hougaard), the cautiousness of the Boks was very evident. Let's just hope that was the result of a tricky first opponent and first match jitters!
Either way, they got the win and the tournament is under way!
I was home for all of two days before jumping back on a plane and heading over here.
I'm in the states to do some work with American Express, a partner of ours. I'll be here next week to attend a conference in financial innovation (mostly technology) called FinovateFall. So all in all, it's a trip centred around new opportunities that we're looking at, always a fun place to play.
I flew on SAA this time around and have to say (patriotism aside) that Delta had a better offering in business. I guess it was because I had been on a long haul flight so recently that I could make the comparisons, but those that stand out are:
- The layout of the seats. Delta staggers their seat/bed so that you are never really "on top of" anyone else on the plane. SAA has a very flat structure, so you literally sit right next to the guy in the seat alongside you. This is fine, except that when it comes to have a sleep, it feels a bit awkward lying down with only a very little tray between the two of you!
- Food on Delta (9/10) food on SAA (6/10)
- Service on Delta (8/10) service on SAA (7/10) Something as small as asking what you'd like to eat when you first sit down, which results in the meal being ready once the plane is in the air, is what separates the process here. On SAA, they wait till you've taken off, then come around and ask, but at the same time tell you it will take 30mins to sort dinner out once you've ordered. By the time you finish eating it is well after 10pm.
- Comfort of the bed Delta (8/10) SAA (5/10) Now don't get me wrong, up until a month ago, I would have happily taken anything flatter than a vertical seat, even if just a few degrees. But when you are flying 16 hours or more and need to be fresh to work when you arrive, the bed is very VERY important. SAA's just felt stiffer and there is a foot "plate" near the base (once the bed has flattened out) that is quite hard when you lie down.
So with all of this in mind, I was quite torn (being a loyal SAA Voyager member) in thinking that the next trip is a toss up, knowing what I know and having experienced both within a matter of weeks...
Anyway, I arrived at JFK bright and early in the morning (6:20am) only to go through my usual process of being whisked away to the passport control clearing office. This happens as routine when I enter the States. (brief flashback: I lived and worked in Colorado for half a year in 03/04 and when I left the country, the company I had acquired the work visa (J1) through failed to update my status upon exiting the country. As a result, the US government believes I stayed longer than the allotted time given in my work permit. This means I come up as a flag when entering the country EVERY time. The only way this can be fixed is if the company (no longer in existence) updates a system called SERVIS (I've done my research...))
Long story short, I sat for an additional hour trying to get through passport control. Fortunately there was no rush as it was still early in the morning and I was not catching a connecting flight. The odd thing is that when I flew into Atlanta a few weeks back, they were able to rectify the situation at the actual entry counter by making a comment on the system, in JFK, I get marched off to a separate room with my passport in the dreaded orange folder (I know the process well by now, it still doesn't make it a worthwhile way to spend my time)
I caught what felt like the longest taxi ride ever into Manhattan (the driver gave me a long story about how much he hates it when people don't tip him...subtle)
I'm staying in SoHo until Saturday at the amazing Trump SoHo. The hotel is right in the middle of this very trendy district and is very much the place to stay in downtown. I was very fortunate in that the receptionist managed to check me in to my room a 9:30am when I arrived. I certainly wasn't expecting this and was quite prepared to leave my luggage at the hotel and walk the familiar streets of downtown and midtown until later (thinking 2pm?) when I would be able to check in. None of that though and I was shown straight up to my 35th floor suite. I will post pictures after the trip, but I have a vista view out towards the financial district (I look straight out where the Twin towers would have been) and have the river and Bay to my right.
I decided to push on through to try and adjust my body clock (if you remember the start of this post, you'll know I was only partially successful) so this meant not having a sleep and not just relaxing in the room. So I did what any respectable business traveller would do, and I sat down and worked for two hours! This included finalising an assignment for my MBA and getting involved in a strategy planning discussion back in the office in SA.
When food and a need for freedom finally called, I took a walk through a very hot and sunny SoHo and made my way down Spring street and Broadway towards Chinatown. The streets of NY are always packed (apparently not during a Hurricane...) and the city is very busy at the moment as it is apparently New York Fashion week very soon. I eventually found some lunch, headed back to the hotel and promptly watched Captain America on my flat screen (which is bigger than our tv at home, for now) ;)
Not a bad movie, it is another piece in the Marvel comics storyline and starts to position the Avenger series. Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk etc are all brought together in these Stan Lee creations to build the Marvel Universe, but I digress...
While watching the end of the movie, I received the update for the evening's plans with Amex. They had organised for us to go to a baseball game at CitiField, the home of the New York Mets! The irony is that I had been chatting to my friend Joe, who lives over here, to see if we couldn't organise a Yankee's game on Monday!
I decided to once again get out of my hotel room and go for a run. This was a great idea as it really shook off the long flight and gave me an opportunity to run through the streets and down along the pier. I made my way all the way down to the World Trade Centre and back up along Broadway and greater downtown. In the end I did 7km at about 5:30/km, but while the running was relatively easy, the heat was insane! New York was so humid (a new experience for me as I have most often been here in winter)
I'd never been to baseball and it is a very typically American thing to do. So American Express organised box tickets (with the right mix if hot dogs and beer) and we proceeded to watch our "beloved' Mets get beaten 2-0 by the Washington Nationals. I can confidently say that the Mets will not be winning the World Series anytime soon.
The whole experience was fantastic though, the game is more about the advertising and crowd components than the actual baseball. They are constantly doing little things (like throwing baseballs and t-shirts into the crowd) while the game is on. It takes hours to finish a game and really very little happens. The pitcher, catcher and batter are very often the only people involved. I would imagine it would be a bit more fast paced at a more competitive match (Yankees vs Red Sox perhaps) but nevertheless the whole thing was awesome.
The Mets share a parking lot with Flushing Meadows, the home of the US open tennis. On the way out, Sydney (our MD of Card in SA) told me that Amex took him to the semi-finals this past weekend. My jaw dropped. Apparently Amex are a sponsor of the tennis and the guys went to watch Murray vs Nadal and Federer vs Djokovic. I nearly died. For a lifelong tennis fan and competitive tennis player, this would have been a dream come true. Next time. ;)
We only got home (hotel) at about 11pm. Now keep in mind that I'd flown 16 hours and stayed up all day, as well as a run. I was certifiably exhausted by this stage, but convinced that I had broken through the Jetlag barrier.
Yesterday morning started with an early breakfast at the hotel and then straight off to Amex headquarters. We work with a team called the Global Partner Network that supply services to banks and other issuing/acquiring entities. The guys we deal with are mostly based in the London office, but due to the Annual Amex partner conference in New York this week, it made sense to meet up at the HQ.
We worked with a variety of team members from across the organisation through until 6pm. After a walk back to the hotel, I went up to my room with aspirations of having a shower and heading out to walk uptown and grab some dinner (a lot of the guys, including all the Amex team, either left straight after work yesterday or are heading out today) This didn't happen...
I even made the fatal mistake of posting an update on Facebook to say that I needed to determine a plan for the evening. I fell asleep at 7pm and only woke up this morning. Fail. :)
So that brings me back to where this post began. I have some time off today (I'm hoping to be put in touch with some more of the Amex e-commerce team to do some other work during the course of today and Monday) So I am going to head downtown and stroll through the financial district and possibly grab a slice of pizza in little Italy. I'm all on my lonesome until tomorrow afternoon when I'll be meeting up with Joe after his morning studies at Columbia are completed, then it's off to NJ for the weekend with Joe and Melissa :)
For now though, I think it's time to either go for a run or have some breakfast. I think option A is the healthiest and breakfast can follow :)
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Two playful Kitties
I promised to load up the pics of our two kittens, Jelly and squeaks to show how much bigger they are and to just show them off!
As I type this, I am sitting in the garden with them, while attempting to study for my exams next weekend. Admittedly, it is far more entertaining watching them chase each other around and run through the bushes, than the intricacies of people management and labour law...
Nevertheless, this is where the balance is found.
Squeaks looking all angelic in a hole he had just dug for himself
Jelly figuring out which plant to chew on
As I type this, I am sitting in the garden with them, while attempting to study for my exams next weekend. Admittedly, it is far more entertaining watching them chase each other around and run through the bushes, than the intricacies of people management and labour law...
Nevertheless, this is where the balance is found.
Squeaks looking all angelic in a hole he had just dug for himself
Jelly figuring out which plant to chew on
Friday, September 2, 2011
The weekend off!
Well it's Friday evening and I have my first non-work/non-lecture weekend since the end of July!
This means doing as little as possible, but also catching up on things I haven't been getting to, like the odd run or even a mountain bike ride!
Straight after work I let the kittens out for an hour or so to play in the garden and they used their shot at "freedom" to full affect! I can't load pictures on my iPad, so will load in the next post!
This means doing as little as possible, but also catching up on things I haven't been getting to, like the odd run or even a mountain bike ride!
Straight after work I let the kittens out for an hour or so to play in the garden and they used their shot at "freedom" to full affect! I can't load pictures on my iPad, so will load in the next post!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
A busy two weeks...
Two weeks ago Helen and I jumped into the car to drive down to the Natal midlands. We were on our way to spend the night at Gowrie Farm, the same place we stayed in Nottingham Road after our wedding. Obviously this time around it didn't involve a massive wedding party beforehand, just a drive! We had dinner at the (always fantastic) Bierfassl and allowed ourselves to actually relax after some very busy work days.
The next morning was started with a VERY cold 9 holes of golf, a fantastic brunch on the meander and lunch with Andrea and John at Andrea's parents farm in Boston. We popped off to Hilton for Mark and Candy's wedding and had a great time catching up with everyone on both sides of the wedding party. The accommodation was less than amazing, with Helen and I sharing a single room with two others (there was meant to be a 5th person in there as well, but we don't think he ever made it out of the wedding venue!)
Sunday was spent having tea at Nick and Ang Parry's new place in Hilton and then popping in to Nottingham road again to see Carolyn and Jax before driving back to Joburg.
Since then, the world was put on fast forward...
I went into lectures last Thursday and spent Thursday through Sunday lunchtime getting back into Operations management and Leading people for results. On Sunday I popped off to the airport and jumped onto a flight to San Francisco. And here I am...
Three of us, Justin Bradshaw, Steven Goodrich and myself, flew out on Sunday evening, arrived in San Francisco on Monday afternoon and went straight into two days of back to back meetings with a potential partner here in the States from Tuesday through till Wednesday evening.
We had a good laugh when collecting the rental car as they gave us a black Hummer H3! So we've been cruising around like gangsters since Monday. We didn't have too much free time on our hands, but were able to go out and drive over the Golden Gate bridge today to Sausalito and then back into the city. We drove down the extremely windy and steep Lombard road and gave loads of tourists a photo opportunity with our massive car doing all the twists.
I'm all packed up and ready to go now, it's Friday evening and Steve left earlier this afternoon on a BA flight back via London. Justin and I connect through to Atlanta in the morning and then on from there to Joburg. We are going forward by 9 hours, so jet lag should be fun...
I'm back in lectures this coming weekend again, so no rest at all, but this is the life I guess ;)
The next morning was started with a VERY cold 9 holes of golf, a fantastic brunch on the meander and lunch with Andrea and John at Andrea's parents farm in Boston. We popped off to Hilton for Mark and Candy's wedding and had a great time catching up with everyone on both sides of the wedding party. The accommodation was less than amazing, with Helen and I sharing a single room with two others (there was meant to be a 5th person in there as well, but we don't think he ever made it out of the wedding venue!)
Sunday was spent having tea at Nick and Ang Parry's new place in Hilton and then popping in to Nottingham road again to see Carolyn and Jax before driving back to Joburg.
Since then, the world was put on fast forward...
I went into lectures last Thursday and spent Thursday through Sunday lunchtime getting back into Operations management and Leading people for results. On Sunday I popped off to the airport and jumped onto a flight to San Francisco. And here I am...
Three of us, Justin Bradshaw, Steven Goodrich and myself, flew out on Sunday evening, arrived in San Francisco on Monday afternoon and went straight into two days of back to back meetings with a potential partner here in the States from Tuesday through till Wednesday evening.
We had a good laugh when collecting the rental car as they gave us a black Hummer H3! So we've been cruising around like gangsters since Monday. We didn't have too much free time on our hands, but were able to go out and drive over the Golden Gate bridge today to Sausalito and then back into the city. We drove down the extremely windy and steep Lombard road and gave loads of tourists a photo opportunity with our massive car doing all the twists.
I'm all packed up and ready to go now, it's Friday evening and Steve left earlier this afternoon on a BA flight back via London. Justin and I connect through to Atlanta in the morning and then on from there to Joburg. We are going forward by 9 hours, so jet lag should be fun...
I'm back in lectures this coming weekend again, so no rest at all, but this is the life I guess ;)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Time flies when...
It's amazing how quickly this year has gone by. It is at time like this that I look back and wonder why or how it always felt like a year was a really long time and now that most days are filled with work commitments or outstanding tasks, the days and weeks all merge and are broken only by a few fleeting hours of sleep.
Unfortunately this past week lacked the good (and necessary) sleep component. By Wednesday I was already so tired that I got arrived home at 7, was in bed by 9 and subsequently woke up at 3:30am! That'll teach me for going to bed before even CSI is finished!
August is a month I am simply hoping to survive. Two weddings, a potential trip overseas (work), two blocks of MBA lectures, a weekend away with the in-laws and work in-between and looking at all of that, it seems almost impossible that it can all be squashed in.
We are also starting the countdown to the defence of the Rugby world cup and if current Bok performances are anything to go by, we'll be watching the trophy presentation from afar. Of course, the "secret training camp" in Rustenburg is where our hopes really lie and hopefully our first string will be fighting fit for the proverbial and literal kick off.
August also brings the start of the English Premier League season and (hopefully) a consistent and committed campaign for my beloved Liverpool. Some exciting new signings this season and hopefully the new Adam, Downing, Suarez and Carroll combination will give us the edge we need to get back into the running and challenge the others at the top.
No doubt I will look back at this post in the month's to come and reflect on what I just said, so with that in mind, I will make one or two predictions just to keep things interesting!
Liverpool to finish in the top 3 this season, behind Manchester United and Chelsea. Arsenal and Manchester City will struggle to find consistent form and will slip back, with Spurs and Aston Villa keeping the top clubs honest.
Western Province and the Sharks to yet again contest the Currie Cup final and Province to take it this year.
The Boks will make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup and will run out of steam before the last hurdle.
Lets see how I do :)
Unfortunately this past week lacked the good (and necessary) sleep component. By Wednesday I was already so tired that I got arrived home at 7, was in bed by 9 and subsequently woke up at 3:30am! That'll teach me for going to bed before even CSI is finished!
August is a month I am simply hoping to survive. Two weddings, a potential trip overseas (work), two blocks of MBA lectures, a weekend away with the in-laws and work in-between and looking at all of that, it seems almost impossible that it can all be squashed in.
We are also starting the countdown to the defence of the Rugby world cup and if current Bok performances are anything to go by, we'll be watching the trophy presentation from afar. Of course, the "secret training camp" in Rustenburg is where our hopes really lie and hopefully our first string will be fighting fit for the proverbial and literal kick off.
August also brings the start of the English Premier League season and (hopefully) a consistent and committed campaign for my beloved Liverpool. Some exciting new signings this season and hopefully the new Adam, Downing, Suarez and Carroll combination will give us the edge we need to get back into the running and challenge the others at the top.
No doubt I will look back at this post in the month's to come and reflect on what I just said, so with that in mind, I will make one or two predictions just to keep things interesting!
Liverpool to finish in the top 3 this season, behind Manchester United and Chelsea. Arsenal and Manchester City will struggle to find consistent form and will slip back, with Spurs and Aston Villa keeping the top clubs honest.
Western Province and the Sharks to yet again contest the Currie Cup final and Province to take it this year.
The Boks will make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup and will run out of steam before the last hurdle.
Lets see how I do :)
Monday, July 25, 2011
So many ideas, now let's get them done!
I spent the day at a conference in Rosebank today, courtesy of a global management consulting firm (not sure about plugging companies on here...yet)
While all the speakers (local and international) were all very compelling and kept my mind ticking over with their topics, the same thing kept coming to the surface: execute on ideas fast and capture the market.
Now this is easier said than done, or is it?
Working for a bank, and being involved in cross-industry forums and engagements, not to mention MBA discussions, you often end up taking a knock from your peers about expensive charges, non-delivery or that unfriendly call centre agent (that may or may not have been outsourced to India, but still did a bad enough job to warrant doing damage control)
The advent of social media makes the connectedness of society all the more prevalent and, with valid reason, allows customers and non-customers alike, to share their views for the world to see, and hopefully, comment on.
Now this is great, as all the bank-bashing does do one thing; it allows us "bankers" to reflect on what could be done if we really put our minds (or backs) into it. So here's the truth... we do! Unfortunately it sometimes isn't fast enough, or worse, is too late.
The other challenge is meeting everyone's needs the minute they arise. But anyway, I digress, the point of this blog post was to query why it sometimes takes so long to take a really awesome idea and turn it into a reality. Fear of failure, juggling too many balls or is it just that we have lost the ability to decide what is really important and where our focus should lie?
I see this as an opportunity. If, as South Africans, we could apply the same approach to all the opportunities and challenges we face, we could probably focus our energy on many aspects of society and make great inroads into the improvement we all seek.
Nevertheless, exciting times and loads of great opportunities on the horizon... especially for us banks ;)
While all the speakers (local and international) were all very compelling and kept my mind ticking over with their topics, the same thing kept coming to the surface: execute on ideas fast and capture the market.
Now this is easier said than done, or is it?
Working for a bank, and being involved in cross-industry forums and engagements, not to mention MBA discussions, you often end up taking a knock from your peers about expensive charges, non-delivery or that unfriendly call centre agent (that may or may not have been outsourced to India, but still did a bad enough job to warrant doing damage control)
The advent of social media makes the connectedness of society all the more prevalent and, with valid reason, allows customers and non-customers alike, to share their views for the world to see, and hopefully, comment on.
Now this is great, as all the bank-bashing does do one thing; it allows us "bankers" to reflect on what could be done if we really put our minds (or backs) into it. So here's the truth... we do! Unfortunately it sometimes isn't fast enough, or worse, is too late.
The other challenge is meeting everyone's needs the minute they arise. But anyway, I digress, the point of this blog post was to query why it sometimes takes so long to take a really awesome idea and turn it into a reality. Fear of failure, juggling too many balls or is it just that we have lost the ability to decide what is really important and where our focus should lie?
I see this as an opportunity. If, as South Africans, we could apply the same approach to all the opportunities and challenges we face, we could probably focus our energy on many aspects of society and make great inroads into the improvement we all seek.
Nevertheless, exciting times and loads of great opportunities on the horizon... especially for us banks ;)
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Why study when you can buy?
For anyone not able to watch Carte Blanche this evening, two things stand out...
1). Shrien Dewani is seemingly as guilty today as he was the night he had his wife murdered, and had the inclination to try and paint South Africa as a place where these types of accidents just "happen"
2). You can buy your masters or even doctorate qualification online.
Now, for my classmates and I, slaving away in class each weekend, handing in multiple assignments, long hours and reams of information to absorb, had we known this ahead of time, then $775 and a few phone calls and we could not only have a masters, but a fancy DR title in front of our names.
Then, even better, we could apply for board level positions and probably get them, based on our illustrious CV's and experience. Sounds good, right?
Well, for those who get away with it, perhaps a doctorate in deception and malpractice is exactly what they deserved. All strength to them.
For those who attempt to use these false qualifications for personal gain and then feign ignorance when challenged, seriously...really...what?! The worst part of it is knowing you haven't done a stitch of work, KNOWING you have no knowledge of anything, and still expecting doors to open for you and to put cash payments down on your new Range Rover. Sigh.
Anyway, sometimes things in life baffle me, but I will place these somewhere in the back of my mind, move on and hope to never have to work for one of these cornerstones of society.
On another note, we went to the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens today to watch one of my favourite bands, Prime Circle. As always, they were fantastic live and really gave the 4000+ crowd a good afternoon.
Okay, I'm off to go and peruse the web for my doctorate in advanced metaphysics and pancake flipping...
1). Shrien Dewani is seemingly as guilty today as he was the night he had his wife murdered, and had the inclination to try and paint South Africa as a place where these types of accidents just "happen"
2). You can buy your masters or even doctorate qualification online.
Now, for my classmates and I, slaving away in class each weekend, handing in multiple assignments, long hours and reams of information to absorb, had we known this ahead of time, then $775 and a few phone calls and we could not only have a masters, but a fancy DR title in front of our names.
Then, even better, we could apply for board level positions and probably get them, based on our illustrious CV's and experience. Sounds good, right?
Well, for those who get away with it, perhaps a doctorate in deception and malpractice is exactly what they deserved. All strength to them.
For those who attempt to use these false qualifications for personal gain and then feign ignorance when challenged, seriously...really...what?! The worst part of it is knowing you haven't done a stitch of work, KNOWING you have no knowledge of anything, and still expecting doors to open for you and to put cash payments down on your new Range Rover. Sigh.
Anyway, sometimes things in life baffle me, but I will place these somewhere in the back of my mind, move on and hope to never have to work for one of these cornerstones of society.
On another note, we went to the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens today to watch one of my favourite bands, Prime Circle. As always, they were fantastic live and really gave the 4000+ crowd a good afternoon.
Okay, I'm off to go and peruse the web for my doctorate in advanced metaphysics and pancake flipping...
A long "lay off"!
It's been a terribly long time since I've been on and been able to write an entry. This isn't completely due to laziness and procrastination, but mostly due to the hectically busy past month and a half! If I was to backtrack properly on everything, this would be too long to read, so I'll capture the "highlights reel"
So in no particular order, and with a lot being left out:
I've written all my subjects on my MBA that led up to the so caled mid-year break. This means that 8 subjects (out of 14 in the first year) are now completed. It's supposedly downhill from here, but with a few slippery subjects still to be done this year, the workload is only going to increase, particularly with the last few months of the year being so busy at work as well.
Helen had to flit over to Italy for a few days on a work trip, so she has been very busy lately and working long hours, the light at the end of the tunnel is hopefully around the next corner...
I went on golf tour to the garden route back in June (16 guys playing Ryder Cup format over 4 days, Cape Town versus Joburg) and playing Pezula, Pinnacle Point, Kingswood and Simola was definitely a highlight. Played solid golf all week and had some great singles games on the tour, awesome courses, good weather and a good time.
I changed jobs within Nedbank (not a minor update!) and have moved into a group function, part of a small team running innovation and step change strategy across the group. We work for the executive committee and drive large cross-business deliverables partnering with local and global companies to deliver innovative change into Nedbank. It's and exciting area to be a part of, but loads of work to be done and a lot of it sitting with me at the moment, as we aren't yet a full team.
We ran the Knysna Half Marathon. After having two bouts of flu and a week long stomach bug, I'd done absolutely no training leading up to the race and had low expectations (bordering on doubts my legs would even stand up to the distance). I ended up surprising myself and came in under 2 hours, noy my best time by a long shot, but great considering that I'd had such a long, forced layoff. Helen completed her first half, also after being very unwell the night before and came in under 2.5 hours, amazing, considering that she'd slept about 2 hours the night before the race.
We finalised our building plans with the architect at Pecanwood and are very happy with the final result, once it is built, we will have an amazing spot to relax at and spend time in the countryside in.
There was some brief drama with a lost title deed on the property, but it surfaced after a week or so and has now been lodged at the deeds office, so hopefully in the next few weeks it will be registered in our name and we can start building. We have had our plans approved at the Pecanwood HOA and have finalised all the attorney payments (which definitely add up!) so we are almost good to go. At this rate, we should have a house by Easter, which is excellent!
The two kittens are doing very well and have both grown much bigger (especially Jelly!) They hate it when we leave the house, which is every morning to go to work! We get these shocked looks on their faces, as if to say "where are you going?!"
Squeaks had to go in for his neutering, which was very traumatic for me, as he cried all the way to the vet. When I picked him up, he was visibly scared and shivered and cried all the way home, a tough day for kitten and maybe tougher for me!
Helen got her new car eventually (after her last car being the victim of an accident and being written off) and we decided to get her something that would be a safe, solid, comfortable choice. This was a Landrover Freelander, which drives like a dream and has all the modern features you'd want and expect. We took it down to Knysna for the half marathon and it is a pleasure to drive. Now to start planning my next car ;)
This is my first post on my iPad 2, which I eventually got (they are still in high demand worldwide, with very low supply!) and should be able to make entries a lot more regularly from now on, as it is with me most of the time!
So there it is, those are some of the major happenings over the past little while, but certainly not everything!
Until the next time...
So in no particular order, and with a lot being left out:
I've written all my subjects on my MBA that led up to the so caled mid-year break. This means that 8 subjects (out of 14 in the first year) are now completed. It's supposedly downhill from here, but with a few slippery subjects still to be done this year, the workload is only going to increase, particularly with the last few months of the year being so busy at work as well.
Helen had to flit over to Italy for a few days on a work trip, so she has been very busy lately and working long hours, the light at the end of the tunnel is hopefully around the next corner...
I went on golf tour to the garden route back in June (16 guys playing Ryder Cup format over 4 days, Cape Town versus Joburg) and playing Pezula, Pinnacle Point, Kingswood and Simola was definitely a highlight. Played solid golf all week and had some great singles games on the tour, awesome courses, good weather and a good time.
I changed jobs within Nedbank (not a minor update!) and have moved into a group function, part of a small team running innovation and step change strategy across the group. We work for the executive committee and drive large cross-business deliverables partnering with local and global companies to deliver innovative change into Nedbank. It's and exciting area to be a part of, but loads of work to be done and a lot of it sitting with me at the moment, as we aren't yet a full team.
We ran the Knysna Half Marathon. After having two bouts of flu and a week long stomach bug, I'd done absolutely no training leading up to the race and had low expectations (bordering on doubts my legs would even stand up to the distance). I ended up surprising myself and came in under 2 hours, noy my best time by a long shot, but great considering that I'd had such a long, forced layoff. Helen completed her first half, also after being very unwell the night before and came in under 2.5 hours, amazing, considering that she'd slept about 2 hours the night before the race.
We finalised our building plans with the architect at Pecanwood and are very happy with the final result, once it is built, we will have an amazing spot to relax at and spend time in the countryside in.
There was some brief drama with a lost title deed on the property, but it surfaced after a week or so and has now been lodged at the deeds office, so hopefully in the next few weeks it will be registered in our name and we can start building. We have had our plans approved at the Pecanwood HOA and have finalised all the attorney payments (which definitely add up!) so we are almost good to go. At this rate, we should have a house by Easter, which is excellent!
The two kittens are doing very well and have both grown much bigger (especially Jelly!) They hate it when we leave the house, which is every morning to go to work! We get these shocked looks on their faces, as if to say "where are you going?!"
Squeaks had to go in for his neutering, which was very traumatic for me, as he cried all the way to the vet. When I picked him up, he was visibly scared and shivered and cried all the way home, a tough day for kitten and maybe tougher for me!
Helen got her new car eventually (after her last car being the victim of an accident and being written off) and we decided to get her something that would be a safe, solid, comfortable choice. This was a Landrover Freelander, which drives like a dream and has all the modern features you'd want and expect. We took it down to Knysna for the half marathon and it is a pleasure to drive. Now to start planning my next car ;)
This is my first post on my iPad 2, which I eventually got (they are still in high demand worldwide, with very low supply!) and should be able to make entries a lot more regularly from now on, as it is with me most of the time!
So there it is, those are some of the major happenings over the past little while, but certainly not everything!
Until the next time...
Saturday, May 14, 2011
When is Enough, Too Much?
We live in a society, entrenched in a global economy, defined by westernized definitions of growth and expansion where the concept of enough does not exist. We are terrified that someone will steal our lunch money. The reality is that when given something, we want more of it and once we have more of it, instead of looking to share it out, we strive to hold on to it and make certain we have more of it than the next guy.
This is manifested in all aspects of society. In things as simple as driving in traffic, where the person jumping the red light must, at all costs, make it through in order to save that extra minute lest they are forced to wait for traffic to cross from the side. This behaviour is frowned upon by the inhabitants of cars from behind, forgetting of course, that had they happened to be one car further forward in approaching the intersection, that they might have been the car jumping the light to make up that lost time.
We live in a time where if we are not the holder of the advantage, we are left behind. This creates, in itself, a panic to ensure that we are first to market, best of breed and making the most profit, regardless of the cost required to make these profits. Nowhere is this worse evidenced in the expansion of Western culture into emerging markets.
The view that direct foreign investment is the saviour to backwards, undeveloped economies, has long been the platform for expansion into these markets, at the expense of domestic growth and sustainability. When “big brother” comes in to save the day, the long term cost is often far greater than the benefit initially perceived.
While it is not fair to paint all with the same brush, it must be estimated that the chance of sustainability of domestic growth once infused by the global market is at best, reduced. This is not to say that foreign involvement is not a good thing, but too much foreign flavour dilutes the taste of the local brew.
The next component is that of the benefit to the investor. If I, as a concerned citizen, look to start something that promises to create jobs, develop skills and enhance the economy, then surely everyone is a winner. At which point though, does the profit I make on this venture exceed the value created by it? Surely if these profits are not pumped back into the communities the venture aims to assist, then the long-term sustainability of the investment is nullified?
It is only when the initial investment is exponentially expanded into the greater community by those it seeks to benefit and becomes self-sustaining that it becomes truly beneficial. The true test of this is when “big brother” walks away and the investment continues to grow, and grows in such a way that it is not characterized by those who set it up, but by those who take part in it.
The dilemma here is that we live in a society where there is no such thing as enough.
Who looks to invest in something that shows no financial return and where the medium to long term goal is not that of greater wealth? It would be hypocritical to argue otherwise. We are constantly faced with a desire to increase our standard of living, driven not by what we need, but by what we didn’t have yesterday and what we would like to have tomorrow. This is the fabric of a society that is characterized by the haves and the have not’s.
It is only when we look to create growth without the promise of super-profits, where the growth is epitomized by the increased standard of living of the poorest of the poor, and where our involvement and investment is not merely to increase our own wealth, that we can say we are satisfied that enough is enough.
It is this question that shifts “big brother” from being the saviour and makes him the partner.
Cough Cough, sniff
Sitting at home on a weekend when your wife is away at the Kruger Park running a race and just generally having a fun time when you are 1). Sick with flu and 2). Have to attend lectures is a pretty poor state of affairs.
In fact, I have just got off the phone with Helen and she ran a very good 10km race up at Malelane, which is excellent!
The past week was dominated by many meetings (at one stage I wondered if I even needed a desk as I seem to roam from boardroom to boardroom throughout the day) and then the onset of this cold, which has scuppered my running and any efforts at being on top of things at Gibs.
It is odd that when you are full of flu, things seem to be less clear than usual. I found myself talking to people and battling to understand/hear what they were saying, as my head was just so clogged up!
Anyway, lots of Corenza and Cal-C-Vita and things should be on the mend shortly.
On a brighter note, we saw good friends Nic and Kirsty Van Gysen last weekend as they were out from Australia to visit, always nice to catch up!
Our plans for Pecanwood are moving along nicely and we have met with the architect to get our plans (*sneeze*...sorry...) drawn into official site plans. He was very impressed with what we had done and is going to make it look like a virtual house for us soon! The job now is to get the builders (or prospective builders) to give us quotes once these plans are complete, so that we can get them approved at the home owners association and give them to the bank for the building loan.
Other than that, all is well, except that the two kittens are tearing the house apart (I think they are rebelling against the fact that either one, or both of us always seems to be away!!
No photo's please! (JellyPig)
In fact, I have just got off the phone with Helen and she ran a very good 10km race up at Malelane, which is excellent!
The past week was dominated by many meetings (at one stage I wondered if I even needed a desk as I seem to roam from boardroom to boardroom throughout the day) and then the onset of this cold, which has scuppered my running and any efforts at being on top of things at Gibs.
It is odd that when you are full of flu, things seem to be less clear than usual. I found myself talking to people and battling to understand/hear what they were saying, as my head was just so clogged up!
Anyway, lots of Corenza and Cal-C-Vita and things should be on the mend shortly.
On a brighter note, we saw good friends Nic and Kirsty Van Gysen last weekend as they were out from Australia to visit, always nice to catch up!
Our plans for Pecanwood are moving along nicely and we have met with the architect to get our plans (*sneeze*...sorry...) drawn into official site plans. He was very impressed with what we had done and is going to make it look like a virtual house for us soon! The job now is to get the builders (or prospective builders) to give us quotes once these plans are complete, so that we can get them approved at the home owners association and give them to the bank for the building loan.
Other than that, all is well, except that the two kittens are tearing the house apart (I think they are rebelling against the fact that either one, or both of us always seems to be away!!
No photo's please! (JellyPig)
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Progress?
So its May and the year is flying by...while there are still so many things to be done, I can also hopefully say that a lot HAS been done!
With that in mind, I thought I would use the usual dashboard...my New Year's Resolutions...to see where I stand
1). Get fit, Stay fit.
There was a definite lag following our trip to Zanzibar and studying for my statistics exam last month, so technically items 2 and 3 below are partially to blame for this. But, I can say with all honesty that I am back on the wagon and am off for another 8km run as soon as this blog is posted! (followed by a hockey game tonight)
2). Achieve in my MBA
So far, so good. Although I dont have marks for my first module yet as the first payment still needs to go through, so for all I know, I have failed everything so far!
3). Celebrate One Year Anniversary in Style.
Please visit the post detailing our trip to Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. Enough said. :)
4). Travel Less
While this has certainly been less, my weekends are now spent in syndicate discussions and classrooms, so a far swap...sort of. I have a little golf tour coming up next month, Ryder Cup style where a JHB team will be taking on a Cape team down in the Garden Route, should be lots of fun!
5). Have Christmas in our New House
This is where the biggest update comes in! We finally have our land at Pecanwood! We gave up on the crazy situation at number 3 Forest Crescent and went to see a piece of land on the same road at the end of a quiet Cul De Sac. Number 29 Forest Crescent is further down the fairway and has unobstructed views out over the 5th and 4th fairways towards the mountains. It is great and we have (today actually!) had the loan for the land approved!
Helen and I finished our designs for the house while we were away with my family in the Waterberg for Easter and are quite excited as they look amazing! We are meeting with the architect this weekend to look at how to take our plans and make them formal and then get them approved! The next step is to sit with the builder and determine the cost of it all! (exciting stuff, well...not the cost!)
As for being in by Christmas, that might be a stretch, but we'll give it our best shot!
With that in mind, I thought I would use the usual dashboard...my New Year's Resolutions...to see where I stand
1). Get fit, Stay fit.
There was a definite lag following our trip to Zanzibar and studying for my statistics exam last month, so technically items 2 and 3 below are partially to blame for this. But, I can say with all honesty that I am back on the wagon and am off for another 8km run as soon as this blog is posted! (followed by a hockey game tonight)
2). Achieve in my MBA
So far, so good. Although I dont have marks for my first module yet as the first payment still needs to go through, so for all I know, I have failed everything so far!
3). Celebrate One Year Anniversary in Style.
Please visit the post detailing our trip to Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. Enough said. :)
4). Travel Less
While this has certainly been less, my weekends are now spent in syndicate discussions and classrooms, so a far swap...sort of. I have a little golf tour coming up next month, Ryder Cup style where a JHB team will be taking on a Cape team down in the Garden Route, should be lots of fun!
5). Have Christmas in our New House
This is where the biggest update comes in! We finally have our land at Pecanwood! We gave up on the crazy situation at number 3 Forest Crescent and went to see a piece of land on the same road at the end of a quiet Cul De Sac. Number 29 Forest Crescent is further down the fairway and has unobstructed views out over the 5th and 4th fairways towards the mountains. It is great and we have (today actually!) had the loan for the land approved!
Helen and I finished our designs for the house while we were away with my family in the Waterberg for Easter and are quite excited as they look amazing! We are meeting with the architect this weekend to look at how to take our plans and make them formal and then get them approved! The next step is to sit with the builder and determine the cost of it all! (exciting stuff, well...not the cost!)
As for being in by Christmas, that might be a stretch, but we'll give it our best shot!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Exams Over, assignments in, long weekend ahead
After all the studying and long hours put into making sure I didnt completely fail statistics, the exam was written on Sunday morning (I literally worked for the enitre duration of Saturday and woke up early to do a last minute refresh on Sunday morning, much to the delight of the kittens who thought it was great fun to have me up so early to "play with" on a Sunday morning)
I learnt a long time ago not to comment on how well or how badly I think I did in exams, because, as a rule of thumb, the opposite almost always occurs.
This (or the opposite of it) was painfully experienced by a Supersport presenter recently who proudly stated "I always get it wrong, so I am going to say that New Zealand will DEFINITELY win the quarter final of the Cricket World Cup in the game against the Proteas..." we know how that turned out. Fail.
Anyway, the best part of the exam was right at the end when the finish line was in sight. I wrote to the best of my abilities given the time (and the fact that I had been in Zanzibar for a good 10 days during the course of the subject!) and was able to respond to everything asked, whether correctly or not!
So we shall see...
Anyway, that is done, the group assignment is complete and the momentum now shifts to the next block, which is Macro-economics for me (I have the credit for Financial accounting already, much to my group's dismay)
The frantic pace over the last two weeks at work (with statistics thrown in on top) has now slowed down to only a mild panic and the normal course of work is kicking in again. This means new projects to deliver, financial reviews to complete and general strategy type stuff to do. I am much less concerned about macro-economics as I actually enjoy the subject, so that should be fun. (watch this space)
This weekend we are off to the Waterberg with my family and I am looking forward to finding some form on the golf course at Elements and potentially Zebula as well. With this comes the responsibility of ranking these courses and so the Golf Digest Ranking panel card shall be accompanying me on the journey.
It will be nice to have a little break after the last two weeks and I'm definitely looking forward to it.
On that note, the running will be kicked off again (temporarily dampened by the beaches of Zanzibar and crazy, over the top working hours...
Now to find a new battery for my Garmin watch...
I learnt a long time ago not to comment on how well or how badly I think I did in exams, because, as a rule of thumb, the opposite almost always occurs.
This (or the opposite of it) was painfully experienced by a Supersport presenter recently who proudly stated "I always get it wrong, so I am going to say that New Zealand will DEFINITELY win the quarter final of the Cricket World Cup in the game against the Proteas..." we know how that turned out. Fail.
Anyway, the best part of the exam was right at the end when the finish line was in sight. I wrote to the best of my abilities given the time (and the fact that I had been in Zanzibar for a good 10 days during the course of the subject!) and was able to respond to everything asked, whether correctly or not!
So we shall see...
Anyway, that is done, the group assignment is complete and the momentum now shifts to the next block, which is Macro-economics for me (I have the credit for Financial accounting already, much to my group's dismay)
The frantic pace over the last two weeks at work (with statistics thrown in on top) has now slowed down to only a mild panic and the normal course of work is kicking in again. This means new projects to deliver, financial reviews to complete and general strategy type stuff to do. I am much less concerned about macro-economics as I actually enjoy the subject, so that should be fun. (watch this space)
This weekend we are off to the Waterberg with my family and I am looking forward to finding some form on the golf course at Elements and potentially Zebula as well. With this comes the responsibility of ranking these courses and so the Golf Digest Ranking panel card shall be accompanying me on the journey.
It will be nice to have a little break after the last two weeks and I'm definitely looking forward to it.
On that note, the running will be kicked off again (temporarily dampened by the beaches of Zanzibar and crazy, over the top working hours...
Now to find a new battery for my Garmin watch...
Saturday, April 16, 2011
The Catch-Up and Zanzibar!
Considering how long it has been since my last post, I think I need to add in a new “quarter year resolution”...basically, that I promise to post at least once a week!
Unfortunately, this is an indication of how busy things have been and the sheer volume of work thrown my way and the time it has taken that has been dominating my life over the past month. Now, Nedbank isn’t solely to blame for this, Gibs is also a strong contributor and unfortunately, going on a little holiday to Tanzania in between blocks of lectures for the MBA only made the workload even greater.
I am sitting at the office, it’s 2:30 on Saturday afternoon, the 16/04 and I have been studying for my stats exam tomorrow for a number of hours already. I have to come to the office as any attempt at working on MBA things at home is futile. Unfortunately, there is just way too much distraction and this results in fractured focus and the work never being A). Absorbed or B). Done at all
The office is dead quiet though, I think the only people here are those who are in the same position as I am, studying or working for deliverables in the next few days and trying to get it done in an environment conducive to concentration!
This entry is the closest think I will get to a study break and I figured I may as well use my time doing something value-adding and catch up on these entries, it at least gets my mind off the section on hypothesis testing I am about to undertake.
So the last entry I made was just before the surprise trip to Zanzibar. Needless to say, the trip was fantastic in so many ways.
13 March: On our actual One Year anniversary, I had lectures in the morning and this gave us time to get organized and ready for the evening flight. We were dropped off at the airport by my parents and once in duty free, I spotted a camera lens to go with the Nikon D5000 Helen had bought me for our anniversary. The camera comes with the 18-55mm lens, but I need the longer lens for the National Parks. The 55-300mm Nikon lens was at a reduced price and so I bought it J I added a Lowepro Camera bag and an 8gb memory card to the purchase and R4000 later I was sorted. Except that my camera was at home locked away. In the cupboard. I had decided not to bring it as Helen had hers and besides, I didn’t have a bag or a longer lens, so why bother. Little did I expect to find it all at the airport before we even left! Anyway, we checked into the business class lounge (using my new Amex card for the first time to make sure it gave us the access it promised!) and had some dinner before catching the flight. The flight itself was relatively quick and we landed in Dar es Salaam in the early hours of Monday morning, to be picked up by a driver (Maraji) holding a board for “Mrs Helen BrownWood and her husband” Nice one Rachel.
14 March: We checked into Hotel Rachel and promptly fell asleep (it was about 3am). The heat in Tanzania is quite something and without air conditioning, the rooms would be unbearable (well, for me at least) The next morning we woke up to breakfast set out on the table (Rachel assures us that she put it together and not her maid...the jury is still out) and we then joined up with Rachel to go and see the sights of the city and get a feel for the country a little better. Dar es Salaam is a sprawling mass of streets, where the most fascinating thing is the fact that some of the suburbs don’t have tar roads. This is most notable in the Peninsula (the Sandton of Dar) where the big houses are straight off dirt roads. This reminded me that we were, indeed, in Africa and that South Africa is actually part of Europe. We had lunch (and the first taste of Tanzanian beer, Ndovu) and then went about trying to find a property for Rachel’s new school to be based. This was not so successful (although upon our return from the island, Rachel had found and secured her location and it opens in June...) In the evening, we went out to Rachel’s local hotspot and had dinner and a few drinks before heading home.
15 March: We awoke to a similar breakfast as the night before (and no Rachel, but the maid was there...hmmmm) and relaxed at the house, reading some books before we headed off to the airport to catch our flight to the island. The planes that fly with Coastal Air are so small, you literally feel every gust of wind as you fly out over the ocean from the mainland to Zanzibar. We landed comfortably and were met by another driver (organised by a friend of Rachel’s) who took us to Stone Town, where we walked around and visited the old Palace and the little stone streets.
After an hour or so, we were taken to a local’s hang out for lunch and had chicken and rice (at local’s prices, not in dollar terms), then we went a little further north of Zanzibar Town to a spice farm, where we were shown around for a couple of hours at how the locals grow everything from cinnamon to nutmeg, to coconuts. The locals are incredibly clever and use everything at their disposal for cooking, flavouring, medicine and clothing. Our tour guide and his “assistant” were very good and really gave us a feel for the way a farm runs year round. They then fed us with all manner of fruits and sent us on our way more full than we were after lunch. After this, we headed across the island to our hotel. The taxi driver was incredibly informative and had lots of views on education, politics and the state of the economy. Quite interesting when you compare these with South Africa.
After all my trepidation of what to expect (thanks to Carte Blanche putting the fear of the unknown into us every Sunday and Monday of booking online only to find the hotel does not exist) we were welcomed into Breezes Beach Club and Spa to find that not only were they expecting us, but it was a truly 5 star establishment. We had our room upgraded, were given vouchers for spa treatments, lunch (as I had paid for dinner, bed and breakfast) and more. The hotel itself is situated on Bwejuu beach on the east coast of the island and has an amazing stretch of white sand all to itself. Because the east coast is tidal, the ocean recedes for a few hours a day and leaves the tidal pool shallow enough to walk in, which is nice, as you get to literally walk between the coral and see all the fish.
An angelfish swimming near our ankles
A not-so-friendly eel hiding in the coral
16 March – 22 March: I won’t summarize everything we did every day, but just the highlights. As I mentioned, the resort was absolutely amazing. It has a large swimming pool surrounded by deck chairs and bordered by the Dhow restaurant (one of three restaurants available for lunch) which is decorated with beach sand floors, and couches underneath a ships mast. The food and cocktails/smoothies from this restaurant were fantastic (a special mention to the calamari!) For those guests on full board (breakfast, lunch and dinner) there was almost too much food to fathom.
Relaxing at the pool
The Dhow Restaurant at the swimming pool
We tried it one day when we used our voucher and almost exploded with the sheer volume (and quality!) Each morning a full breakfast buffet (local and foreign food) is laid out, you are served by waiters 24/7. At dinner time, each evening is a theme and most nights are supported by a band or support act (the best was the acrobats!) The food at Breezes is ridiculously good, they alternate between a buffet at dinner (curry, seafood etc.) and plated meals which are very fancy. Needless to say, the value for money is extreme. In fact, I’m sitting here eating a tuna salad as I type this and thinking back to what we had in Zanzibar, this is a bit lame.
SO much good food
The acrobats, who kept having to perform when the lights went out!
Breezes is also set up for complete relaxation. They don’t have tv’s in the rooms and there is no wifi or internet (except for one pc in the library) so you are literally separated from your usual daily grind. We ended up both reading a lot (which we always do on holidays) and swimming/relaxing at the pool a lot. We also played tennis on a couple of occasions and even hit the gym once (after all that food, we needed to!)
On the Friday morning we went out on a day tour and swam with dolphins (even though a tropical storm hit us while out on the boat!) and went and visited the local Jozani forest (where we saw a green snake close up on the fern fronds, not sure what it was though!) and met up with the famous Red Colabus monkeys. They reminded me a little bit of our bigger kitten, Jelly, as they seemed completely oblivious to the fact that there were people around and focused mainly on the fruits on the trees. We also popped into the mangrove swamps and saw how these are influential in creating the local environment for the plants and crustaceans/animals.
A view out over the ocean with the storm coming in the distance
Our unknown green snake, right next to the path where we were walking in the forest
A red Colabus monkey focused on the foliage and not the camera!
I did manage to slice my toe open on the coral on one of our low-tide walks (on the Thursday) and had to be fixed up at the hotel clinic (literally, everything is available on site) which was a bit stupid as it meant I could not swim for a day and was resigned to sitting at the pool, rather than in it. I had done the same thing in Thailand a year earlier (almost to the day) when I cut the underside of my foot open on a sharp rock. Something about learning from mistakes...
On one of the night’s they hosted a beach party down on the sand and all the guests seemed to come out of the woodwork. We met up with two German tourists that were a similar age to us and had a good chat with them about travelling the world, the Soccer world cup and other things.
All in all, Breezes was absolutely fantastic and we would definitely go there again for a spoilt, relaxing holiday. We were incredibly sad to leave it (and all the friendly staff, who loved to chat to me about Liverpool, as a couple of them were big fans!).
The resort surprised us with sundowners and canape's at our room on the patio one evening
We returned to Stone Town with our driver (talking this time about police corruption after being stopped at a roadblock and having to slip a sneaky few shillings into the greasy hand of a female traffic officer to get through) We did a proper tour of Stone Town and saw the slave trade and the Anglican Church, the Museum of Wonders and the small streets with a guide who knew a lot about the city and its history. Once again, we headed to the little airport and caught a (much bumpier) flight back to the mainland. We spent 7 nights and 8 days on Zanzibar and would definitely return for a great beach/island holiday at a fraction of the cost of places like Mauritius.
We joined up with Rachel at her place again and headed out to a local “English Pub” for dinner and an introduction to “Cheza Tuesday” which is the Tanzanian version of “Phuza Thursday”. For us there would be very little Cheza-ing as we needed to catch a 2am flight out of Dar es Salaam and back to Joburg!
We were picked up for one last time by Maraji and taken to the airport, where we waited for quite some time until the flight was ready to depart. It seems that in Tanzania, the flight leaves when all the people have checked in, as we took off a full 30 minutes earlier than planned! Amazing!
What this did mean was a very early arrival time in Johannesburg and a Gautrain that had not yet opened for the day’s operations! So we waited back in OR Thambo as well. Once it did start up, we were very lucky and caught the first train of the day, a bus immediately from the station and straight back to our house. All of this was an indication of how far South Africa has come in advancing parts of its infrastructure into the very first world.
I’ll say no more as the rest of the day was spent in the office J
Hopefully this has covered for a number of posts and caught my terrible lack of updates up a little. It was a fantastic holiday and besides the fact that I went straight back into lectures the weekend we returned, I think it was the absolute best way to celebrate our one year anniversary, in style!
New Year’s Resolution: Tick!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Aaaah well...
Hot on the heels of my last post, I am now sitting in a different boardroom. The same boardroom that was booked for my 8am meeting, but considering that the 8am meeting has just been moved to 4pm, this explains why I am spending more time on this blog!
Unfortunately, as these things happen, one of the key executives required for the session is finalising bonus and increase numbers for the year-end financial run and requested the meeting be moved. Alas, this means that getting here early this morning was a bit of a waste, but if nothing else, my blog is benefitting...
What this does mean is that I now have an even longer day, with my last meeting ending after 5 and my afternoon run seemingly in jeopardy. I shall make a plan!
Okay, so now that I have extra time, I'll get into some of the specifics from the last few weeks that I have not captured here...There is always a lot to update!
I've mentioned New Year's resolution number 1 and the fact that I have now run 279 kilometres (174 miles for Joe and Melissa!) this year in total. This has been an ongoing focus and even though there have been some weeks where I have let it slip (mostly due to lectures or long hours at work), I have been able to maintain some form of consistency and am well on track overall.
Yesterday Helen and I entered the Knysna Forest Half Marathon for July and (like last year's Otter Trail) this is something I have intended on doing for many years and have always had such a busy mid-year period that it has not been achievable. This time around though, we have planned for it, entered it and will be doing it!
This also has a bit of a story to it. Considering that my MBA is all consuming from a time perspective, I was of the opinion that I would need to drive down with Helen to Knysna in July, then catch a flight back to write an exam the morning after the run. This would have been fine, but I was not sure which morning the exam I needed to write would be on. So I contacted Gibs. With this in mind, I mentioned that I only needed to know when the subject "Management Accounting" would be written, as I didnt need to write "Information and Knowledge Management" because I already have the credit from my previous business degree.
It was at this point that the programme administrator surprised me by saying "I have a list of all the students with credits and you aren't on it" Needless to say, mild heart attack ensued. This was made worse by the fact that the rest of the class had just finished lectures, assignments and the exam for Economics this past Saturday! So there I was, sitting at my desk, starting to think that I had not only not attended the classes for economics based on the information that had previously been given to me regarding the credits (from another one of the admin ladies), but the exam had also gone by!
With this in mind, she said she would dig a little deeper and get back to me. A great way to start your week.
Fortunately (big sigh of relief), she got back to me later in the day, only to confirm that they had my year of graduation for my post graduate degree as 2005 and not 2006 which was when I had previously studied at the business school. This meant that on their records, the qualification had been achieved over 5 years prior to my starting my MBA, which is the gap required by the school to retain the credits and therefore no longer had them...cough cough
In the end though, this minor heart attack became a little hidden gift, as Sazi (the programme admin) told me not only did I have the four credits I originally thought I had, but I also had management accounting! What a bonus (this is huge in the context of the MBA as it means I no longer have to attend lectures for this subject, submit an individual or group assignment or write the exam)
Also, in the context of my earlier paragraph, this subject co-incides with the "Information and Knowledge Management" module, which means I now do not have to attend this "block" of subjects at all. This gives me a complete break from the mid-year schedule and I will only be required back in lectures in August again.
So from having a very bad start to the day, I ended up with a very good conclusion!
In effect, I have covered my MBA resolution as well in this update. All's well so far...
The next one is the "Celebrate our One Year Anniversary in Style"
I can write about this now as the "cat is out of the bag" so to speak (and this could refer to Jelly, as he got himself caught in a plastic bag just yesterday...naughty kitten!)
For a while I had been planning on doing something awesome and legen...dary for our one year. I looked at all the options, took my limited time into account and created a short list. At the end of the day, the requirement was to do something out of the ordinary, but that would be forever memorable.
The result: We are going to Zanzibar for 10 days :)
I managed to book us into a 5 star resort on Zanzibar for 7 nights, dinner, bed and breakfast and we will be spending some time with Helen's cousin, Rachel, in Dar Es Salaam before and after we visit the island. So it is something more than just an island trip.
So yay :)
I had to work around the fact that Helen was not allowed to be in the loop and I had to organise that she would have the leave for the trip (considering she didnt know about it, so could not book it!) As a result, I contacted her boss, organised for her to be away for the time and managed the logistics in Tanzania with Rachel.
We then went to one of the most amazing restaurants in Johannesburg (Wombles) for our anniversary dinner (with Helen wondering why we were going two weeks early!). Inbetween starters (amazing Carpaccio and a salad I could eat right now) I brought out a powerpoint presentation I had put together to share the surprise (yes, you can take me out of the office, but you can't take the office out of me :) ). The best part was Helen's confusion when she saw all of this and had no idea what was going on! It basically mentioned the fact that we were going on a trip, to an exotic location and she needed to pack her bags!
Helen said she was even more surprised than when I proposed! (job well done then on hiding it from her!!)
So all in all, we are flying out on the evening of our actual one year anniversary on the 13th March (under two weeks time) to Tanzania for 10 days! A very well timed break inbetween blocks of MBA lectures and loads of work and it is very much being looked forward to!
The land/new house situation has made no progress since I last posted about it, which is a bit of a downer as we had hoped to move on it a long time ago. Alas, this is due to factors outside of our control and we may need to make an alternative plan if it continues. The strategy is still to build something at Pecanwood though and we just need to decide where and what.... (actually the "what" is already designed...)
On that note, I will sign off now and head to the next meeting, which has also been slotted into my diary....busy day this...
Unfortunately, as these things happen, one of the key executives required for the session is finalising bonus and increase numbers for the year-end financial run and requested the meeting be moved. Alas, this means that getting here early this morning was a bit of a waste, but if nothing else, my blog is benefitting...
What this does mean is that I now have an even longer day, with my last meeting ending after 5 and my afternoon run seemingly in jeopardy. I shall make a plan!
Okay, so now that I have extra time, I'll get into some of the specifics from the last few weeks that I have not captured here...There is always a lot to update!
I've mentioned New Year's resolution number 1 and the fact that I have now run 279 kilometres (174 miles for Joe and Melissa!) this year in total. This has been an ongoing focus and even though there have been some weeks where I have let it slip (mostly due to lectures or long hours at work), I have been able to maintain some form of consistency and am well on track overall.
Yesterday Helen and I entered the Knysna Forest Half Marathon for July and (like last year's Otter Trail) this is something I have intended on doing for many years and have always had such a busy mid-year period that it has not been achievable. This time around though, we have planned for it, entered it and will be doing it!
This also has a bit of a story to it. Considering that my MBA is all consuming from a time perspective, I was of the opinion that I would need to drive down with Helen to Knysna in July, then catch a flight back to write an exam the morning after the run. This would have been fine, but I was not sure which morning the exam I needed to write would be on. So I contacted Gibs. With this in mind, I mentioned that I only needed to know when the subject "Management Accounting" would be written, as I didnt need to write "Information and Knowledge Management" because I already have the credit from my previous business degree.
It was at this point that the programme administrator surprised me by saying "I have a list of all the students with credits and you aren't on it" Needless to say, mild heart attack ensued. This was made worse by the fact that the rest of the class had just finished lectures, assignments and the exam for Economics this past Saturday! So there I was, sitting at my desk, starting to think that I had not only not attended the classes for economics based on the information that had previously been given to me regarding the credits (from another one of the admin ladies), but the exam had also gone by!
With this in mind, she said she would dig a little deeper and get back to me. A great way to start your week.
Fortunately (big sigh of relief), she got back to me later in the day, only to confirm that they had my year of graduation for my post graduate degree as 2005 and not 2006 which was when I had previously studied at the business school. This meant that on their records, the qualification had been achieved over 5 years prior to my starting my MBA, which is the gap required by the school to retain the credits and therefore no longer had them...cough cough
In the end though, this minor heart attack became a little hidden gift, as Sazi (the programme admin) told me not only did I have the four credits I originally thought I had, but I also had management accounting! What a bonus (this is huge in the context of the MBA as it means I no longer have to attend lectures for this subject, submit an individual or group assignment or write the exam)
Also, in the context of my earlier paragraph, this subject co-incides with the "Information and Knowledge Management" module, which means I now do not have to attend this "block" of subjects at all. This gives me a complete break from the mid-year schedule and I will only be required back in lectures in August again.
So from having a very bad start to the day, I ended up with a very good conclusion!
In effect, I have covered my MBA resolution as well in this update. All's well so far...
The next one is the "Celebrate our One Year Anniversary in Style"
I can write about this now as the "cat is out of the bag" so to speak (and this could refer to Jelly, as he got himself caught in a plastic bag just yesterday...naughty kitten!)
For a while I had been planning on doing something awesome and legen...dary for our one year. I looked at all the options, took my limited time into account and created a short list. At the end of the day, the requirement was to do something out of the ordinary, but that would be forever memorable.
The result: We are going to Zanzibar for 10 days :)
The Frangipani Spa at The Breezes Resort and Spa, Bweju Beach, Zanzibar
I managed to book us into a 5 star resort on Zanzibar for 7 nights, dinner, bed and breakfast and we will be spending some time with Helen's cousin, Rachel, in Dar Es Salaam before and after we visit the island. So it is something more than just an island trip.
So yay :)
I had to work around the fact that Helen was not allowed to be in the loop and I had to organise that she would have the leave for the trip (considering she didnt know about it, so could not book it!) As a result, I contacted her boss, organised for her to be away for the time and managed the logistics in Tanzania with Rachel.
We then went to one of the most amazing restaurants in Johannesburg (Wombles) for our anniversary dinner (with Helen wondering why we were going two weeks early!). Inbetween starters (amazing Carpaccio and a salad I could eat right now) I brought out a powerpoint presentation I had put together to share the surprise (yes, you can take me out of the office, but you can't take the office out of me :) ). The best part was Helen's confusion when she saw all of this and had no idea what was going on! It basically mentioned the fact that we were going on a trip, to an exotic location and she needed to pack her bags!
Helen said she was even more surprised than when I proposed! (job well done then on hiding it from her!!)
So all in all, we are flying out on the evening of our actual one year anniversary on the 13th March (under two weeks time) to Tanzania for 10 days! A very well timed break inbetween blocks of MBA lectures and loads of work and it is very much being looked forward to!
The land/new house situation has made no progress since I last posted about it, which is a bit of a downer as we had hoped to move on it a long time ago. Alas, this is due to factors outside of our control and we may need to make an alternative plan if it continues. The strategy is still to build something at Pecanwood though and we just need to decide where and what.... (actually the "what" is already designed...)
On that note, I will sign off now and head to the next meeting, which has also been slotted into my diary....busy day this...
Where have you been?
I'm sitting in an empty boardroom this morning waiting for my first meeting. The problem with working just about anywhere in South Africa is that you can't assume you will make it on time for your meetings if you leave home when you think you have enough time. So what you end up doing is leaving much earlier than required and sitting for the better part of an hour for the rest of the crowd to arrive.
It is with this in mind that I thought I had better start to play some catch-up on here, lest I forget everything that has been happening over the last month!
With that in mind, I have a number of posts to catch up on and lots of news to update, so this is just a highlights package of the things that have been occupying my time...
Naturally February is a short month, so there is less time to get things done and it is also the time of the year where the December holidays are a distant memory, financial year end reporting is winding down and things like Valentines Day are the hot topics.
It was also the month of my first MBA exam and continued focus on lectures and assignments. The assignments went swimmingly, the exam, well lets just say I didn't have the time to write all that I needed to...
Helen took a strategy of going away on the weekends that I was in lectures, probably a wise move as I was typically at Gibs from the early morning and working until the evening anyway. So on the first block she went down to Knysna to visit our friend Lara Mare and had a great time in the Cape. The second block was spent with her parents in Mtunzini in northern Natal and some good time on the local golf course taking her dad's money.
All the while, the MBA has progressed well and our syndicate group produced some quality work in the field of Human Behaviour, presenting a well researched case for the challenges in employment equity within Nedbank Retail. It went down incredibly well and was well received by the lecturer and class.
Celebrate the small victories!
On the kitten front, the two little guys are growing fast and eating up a storm. I will need to post some pictures soon, but fear not, they are having just as much fun as ever tearing around the house, clawing the couches and purring and meowing when they think they need MORE food. A decent strategy as their mommy sometimes submits and they get some extra soft food...fat little tummy's!
In my next post I will do a proper new years resolution update, but for now, here is the update on number 1.
February, total distance run 125km. I was 5km short of my target, but this is debateable as my Garmin stopped recording the proper distance middle of last week, which needs to be sorted out!
March started with a 12km run at the Old Parks time trial, a good start to the month and a new monthly target of 150km. This will take some doing considering that I am away for 10 days in March, but only time will tell!
Now...off to my meeting :)
It is with this in mind that I thought I had better start to play some catch-up on here, lest I forget everything that has been happening over the last month!
With that in mind, I have a number of posts to catch up on and lots of news to update, so this is just a highlights package of the things that have been occupying my time...
Naturally February is a short month, so there is less time to get things done and it is also the time of the year where the December holidays are a distant memory, financial year end reporting is winding down and things like Valentines Day are the hot topics.
It was also the month of my first MBA exam and continued focus on lectures and assignments. The assignments went swimmingly, the exam, well lets just say I didn't have the time to write all that I needed to...
Helen took a strategy of going away on the weekends that I was in lectures, probably a wise move as I was typically at Gibs from the early morning and working until the evening anyway. So on the first block she went down to Knysna to visit our friend Lara Mare and had a great time in the Cape. The second block was spent with her parents in Mtunzini in northern Natal and some good time on the local golf course taking her dad's money.
All the while, the MBA has progressed well and our syndicate group produced some quality work in the field of Human Behaviour, presenting a well researched case for the challenges in employment equity within Nedbank Retail. It went down incredibly well and was well received by the lecturer and class.
Celebrate the small victories!
On the kitten front, the two little guys are growing fast and eating up a storm. I will need to post some pictures soon, but fear not, they are having just as much fun as ever tearing around the house, clawing the couches and purring and meowing when they think they need MORE food. A decent strategy as their mommy sometimes submits and they get some extra soft food...fat little tummy's!
In my next post I will do a proper new years resolution update, but for now, here is the update on number 1.
February, total distance run 125km. I was 5km short of my target, but this is debateable as my Garmin stopped recording the proper distance middle of last week, which needs to be sorted out!
March started with a 12km run at the Old Parks time trial, a good start to the month and a new monthly target of 150km. This will take some doing considering that I am away for 10 days in March, but only time will tell!
Now...off to my meeting :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
The end of the first month
Well January has come to an end, but as I sit here, the transfer market in the English Premier League is going absolutely crazy. It appears that the last few hours are going to be spent throwing around the kind of money that would have relieved the US motor industry from the recession.
Liverpool have purchased Luis Suarez (yes, the same guy who handballed away Ghana's entry into the semi-finals of the World Cup - I was at that game...not happy times) but perhaps that will need to be overlooked if he scores 30 goals a season for the Reds.
We have also seemingly secured Andy Carroll from Newcastle for an astonishingly large 35 million pounds (I think it's 15 million for his goalscoring ability and an extra 20 million for the ponytail...but that's all speculation for now.
The last potential purchase (I know of) is Charlie Adam, the midfield talisman from Blackpool who would fill some of the void left by Xabi Alonso when he left, we could only hope!
So the first two weeks of time at Gibs came to an end this past weekend. The first set of full lectures from Thursday to Friday and I can only thank my lucky stars I have the credit for economics. When the rest of the class were heading back into lectures, I was heading home for something of a weekend. Needless to say, most of it was filled with work catch up and kitten control!
Helen spent the weekend with our friend Lara down in Knysna as she is out from the UK, so I was home alone with the two kittens. Lots of fun and we spent a lot of time playing in the lounge :)
We've also started working on our first group assignment which is a study on the challenges affecting Employment Equity, we're using Nedbank as a study, keeping it close to home!
In fact, on that note, New Year's resolution update time!
1). My totals for January have come in!
Totals: 2011, January 31st, 142km to date over 22 separate runs in 13hours, burning 15381kcal
So it was a good month, with my longest run being 16.3km, shortest run 4.5km
2). So far so good with the MBA, we have a strong group and classes are going well, a lot more focus on actually taking notes and making effective summaries this time around!
3). One Year anniversary is in March, I cant believe the year has flown so fast, it seems like just yesterday we were getting married in the Midland (and now we have two little kitten kids!)
4). Travel less has so far been very effective, I havent gone further than Gibs!
5). The property update is no closer to being resolved, the seller is still sorting out her issues and we are going to just have to wait and sit tight as we really want that land!
So, all in all, things are moving along nicely and the year has been incredibly busy. But, as in all things, finding a good rythym is the key, and hopefully that will come soon!
Till next time...here's to Liverpool buying some effective world class talent (and we've lost Torres for 50 million, (R600 million...crazy stuff!)
Liverpool have purchased Luis Suarez (yes, the same guy who handballed away Ghana's entry into the semi-finals of the World Cup - I was at that game...not happy times) but perhaps that will need to be overlooked if he scores 30 goals a season for the Reds.
We have also seemingly secured Andy Carroll from Newcastle for an astonishingly large 35 million pounds (I think it's 15 million for his goalscoring ability and an extra 20 million for the ponytail...but that's all speculation for now.
The last potential purchase (I know of) is Charlie Adam, the midfield talisman from Blackpool who would fill some of the void left by Xabi Alonso when he left, we could only hope!
So the first two weeks of time at Gibs came to an end this past weekend. The first set of full lectures from Thursday to Friday and I can only thank my lucky stars I have the credit for economics. When the rest of the class were heading back into lectures, I was heading home for something of a weekend. Needless to say, most of it was filled with work catch up and kitten control!
Helen spent the weekend with our friend Lara down in Knysna as she is out from the UK, so I was home alone with the two kittens. Lots of fun and we spent a lot of time playing in the lounge :)
We've also started working on our first group assignment which is a study on the challenges affecting Employment Equity, we're using Nedbank as a study, keeping it close to home!
In fact, on that note, New Year's resolution update time!
1). My totals for January have come in!
Totals: 2011, January 31st, 142km to date over 22 separate runs in 13hours, burning 15381kcal
So it was a good month, with my longest run being 16.3km, shortest run 4.5km
2). So far so good with the MBA, we have a strong group and classes are going well, a lot more focus on actually taking notes and making effective summaries this time around!
3). One Year anniversary is in March, I cant believe the year has flown so fast, it seems like just yesterday we were getting married in the Midland (and now we have two little kitten kids!)
4). Travel less has so far been very effective, I havent gone further than Gibs!
5). The property update is no closer to being resolved, the seller is still sorting out her issues and we are going to just have to wait and sit tight as we really want that land!
So, all in all, things are moving along nicely and the year has been incredibly busy. But, as in all things, finding a good rythym is the key, and hopefully that will come soon!
Till next time...here's to Liverpool buying some effective world class talent (and we've lost Torres for 50 million, (R600 million...crazy stuff!)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
When blogging becomes a way out
So I am writing this entry as a break from my daily meetings and work, which is sad in itself, as it still requires some thought and a creative approach and at the moment I feel like I should be switching off and doing nothing!
Helen made the comment to our friends Joe and Melissa in the States that she thought 2011 would be a quieter year when compared to the craziness of 2010, but it seems the opposite and we have both been running a little flat. Unfortunately it is still January and the signs are there that nothing much will change anytime soon!
My first block of lectures/orientation at Gibs ended on Saturday evening, with us all having finished 6 days back to back of topics ranging from business in emerging markets, the bleak view of primary education and the healthcare system in South Africa, team dynamics and problem solving etc.
It was a good introduction back into the business school lifestyle, although 6 days and no weekend before heading back to work this week was a bit challenging all at once!
Needless to say, we visited the bridge at the river each evening as well to get a cat update, which meant my days went something like this:
Literally every day for 6 days was the same.
The story does have a happy ending though...
I survived the first 6 days and we have a happy, healthy and functioning syndicate group. In fact, it seems premature to say it, but the ethic in the group has been great so far and I am certain will continue to be that way, even though we know at some point there will be grumpiness, a fight or two and the ever popular statement "Well...we will just have to agree to disagree" which roughly translated means..."I really don't care what you have to say anymore"
But, at the moment...we aren't there yet, so we will relish in our happiness (long may it live)
The kitty situation also worked out wonderfully. We managed to rescue 9 kittens, of which we now have two at our house: Jelly and Squeaks. Squeaks is a little younger than Jelly (so perhaps 5,5 weeks old) and is a longer haired ginger kitten. He doesn't meow yet, but emits a little high pitched squeaky sound when he wants your attention, hence his name.
The two of them are learning to play together and we have no doubt that over the years they will become best friends. Squeaks gives as good as he gets from Jelly, but every now and then gets absolutely flattened by his slightly bigger brother and starts to...well...squeak.
Both Helen and I rush home from work now to play with our kittens and this goes on for hours until it is bedtime. Aaah...how times have changed!
Helen made the comment to our friends Joe and Melissa in the States that she thought 2011 would be a quieter year when compared to the craziness of 2010, but it seems the opposite and we have both been running a little flat. Unfortunately it is still January and the signs are there that nothing much will change anytime soon!
My first block of lectures/orientation at Gibs ended on Saturday evening, with us all having finished 6 days back to back of topics ranging from business in emerging markets, the bleak view of primary education and the healthcare system in South Africa, team dynamics and problem solving etc.
It was a good introduction back into the business school lifestyle, although 6 days and no weekend before heading back to work this week was a bit challenging all at once!
Needless to say, we visited the bridge at the river each evening as well to get a cat update, which meant my days went something like this:
- Wake up and go to Gibs
- Spend the day in lectures taking notes and building the syndicate culture
- Finish work and go home
- Sit down for 3 minutes
- Go and try to catch cats under a bridge (sometimes in the rain)
Literally every day for 6 days was the same.
The story does have a happy ending though...
I survived the first 6 days and we have a happy, healthy and functioning syndicate group. In fact, it seems premature to say it, but the ethic in the group has been great so far and I am certain will continue to be that way, even though we know at some point there will be grumpiness, a fight or two and the ever popular statement "Well...we will just have to agree to disagree" which roughly translated means..."I really don't care what you have to say anymore"
But, at the moment...we aren't there yet, so we will relish in our happiness (long may it live)
The kitty situation also worked out wonderfully. We managed to rescue 9 kittens, of which we now have two at our house: Jelly and Squeaks. Squeaks is a little younger than Jelly (so perhaps 5,5 weeks old) and is a longer haired ginger kitten. He doesn't meow yet, but emits a little high pitched squeaky sound when he wants your attention, hence his name.
The two of them are learning to play together and we have no doubt that over the years they will become best friends. Squeaks gives as good as he gets from Jelly, but every now and then gets absolutely flattened by his slightly bigger brother and starts to...well...squeak.
Both Helen and I rush home from work now to play with our kittens and this goes on for hours until it is bedtime. Aaah...how times have changed!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Where has the holiday season gone?
The last few days have been absolutely manic, and as a result, it has been at least 4 days since I last wrote something on this blog.
While this included a weekend, it also involved:
1). We are still without the positive response on the piece of land we have made an offer on at Pecanwood. Without going into all the gory details, the seller has twice requested an extension to "sort her issues out with her attorney". This is a cause for major frustration as we don't seem to be making enough progress and would like to close this deal up sooner rather than later!
As a result, the offer is now open till this Friday and we are waiting to see if we will be extending it again!
My parents, Helen and I went to have another look at the land on Saturday morning and once again confirmed it is absolutely what we are looking for and the location within the estate is superb, not to mention the pecan nut trees out in front of where our garden would be. Nevertheless, we shall perservere, as always.
2). I have run approximately 34km's in the last 4 days since I posted and have just about reached the 100km mark for the year. This is particularly significant as we are just past the halfway mark in the month and my target for the month was to do approximately 120km in total. At this rate I should hit the 150km mark well before the end. I will update the actual runs at the end of this post.
3). Following on the run situation, on Sunday evening I went for a hilly 5km and spotted a strange sight just after crossing the River Club Bridge, a collection of fluffy little kittens just sitting down below the bridge. So I hastily finished the run, called Helen and we made a decision to go and see what we could do.
The kittens were all sitting out in the open (we counted 7 of them) and a few of them eagerly approached the milk we put down. We managed to catch one, but the others seemed to pick up on our strategy and nullified the effect of our ongoing attempts. As a result, we did not catch any more as it became too dark. This was all rather stressful as we knew there were a handful of little kittens living down in the wet and cold.
BUT, we had one and he was incredibly relaxed, which was a surprise in itself, considering their circumstances. So we took him to the local vet (for an exhorbitant after hours fee) and did the innoculations and had him checked out. Much to our surprise, he was in very good condition and very healthy. Needless to say, we had already decided this little guy would not be going anywhere. And so, Jelly was welcomed to the family!
He is 7 weeks old, has an extremely calm nature and has settled into the house amazingly quickly. He loves to be tickled and squeeks a little when you do something he doesnt like, which in his case is very little, what an amazing little kitty! yay! :)
4). MBA started yesterday and we're straight into the grind. The first day was spent discussing the opportunities in Africa and dynamic markets. This was an eye opener for most who havent spent much time on the continent or in other countries included in the BRIC nations. So, without going into too much detail, the big debate was whether or not South Africa deserved to be included in this emerging/dynamic powerhouse grouping. The debate will rage on and I know some economist's have very strong views!
Day 2 (today) was spent working on group dynamics and an Amazing Race through inner city Johannesburg. My syndicate group has proven one thing, we're all amazingly relaxed in getting things done! There was never any panic, frustration or disgruntled MBA-er driven disagreements. This, in a team of hard working, over achiever types is quite something when thrown into a taxi with R200 to our names and a list of destinations and tasks at hand.
Even a hijacking situation in newtown was taken in our stride (there was an attempted hijacking of a car in front of us, so our driver hooted to alert the driver of the car, to which he pulled off and the hijackers proceeded to be very upset with our driver (as if to say "come on, you should support us in this!" haha...only South Africa!
Some pictures from the day...
Edwin and Rima at the world of samoosa's at Oriental Plaza
A photo of the group (except for the lady in the middle with the glasses who was the checkpoint person) at the Art Gallery next to Joubert Park, checkpoint 3
Getting in with security at Nelson Mandela Square at the start of the day before we hit downtown
5). Waking up early to get to Gibs in the morning and do actual work (catch up because I'm not in the office at the moment) before we go into class and then having to do the same (as well as try to catch cats under bridges each night) when I go home in the evening, means that I am pretty tired by the time it comes to going to bed, and don't feel like I've had enough sleep by the time I go to bed...catch 22 :)
But I may as well get used to it, as it's going to be two more years of the same :)
Totals: 2011, January 18th, 97.93km to date over 16 separate runs in 9hours and 03 minutes, burning 10596kcal
Thursday Run (13/01): 8.12km in 49min02 secs, average pace: 5min59/km (Slow run with Helen and Jax)
Friday Run (14/01): 4.93km in 27min59 secs, average pace 5min41/km (Hills)
Saturday Run (15/01): 16.3km in 1hr 35min 19 secs, average pace 5min51/km (Long run)
Sunday Run (16/01): 4.56km in 25 min 28 secs, average pace 5min 35/km (The cat spotting run...with hills)
While this included a weekend, it also involved:
- Further failed property bids
- Lots of running
- A new addition to the family
- The start of the two year slog
- Not enough sleep
1). We are still without the positive response on the piece of land we have made an offer on at Pecanwood. Without going into all the gory details, the seller has twice requested an extension to "sort her issues out with her attorney". This is a cause for major frustration as we don't seem to be making enough progress and would like to close this deal up sooner rather than later!
As a result, the offer is now open till this Friday and we are waiting to see if we will be extending it again!
My parents, Helen and I went to have another look at the land on Saturday morning and once again confirmed it is absolutely what we are looking for and the location within the estate is superb, not to mention the pecan nut trees out in front of where our garden would be. Nevertheless, we shall perservere, as always.
(The plot from the road)
(Our front garden and the extension on from our lawn out under the trees)
(The little park across the road from our front door, big enough for a game of soccer or cricket and to give us the feeling of a front and back garden)
2). I have run approximately 34km's in the last 4 days since I posted and have just about reached the 100km mark for the year. This is particularly significant as we are just past the halfway mark in the month and my target for the month was to do approximately 120km in total. At this rate I should hit the 150km mark well before the end. I will update the actual runs at the end of this post.
3). Following on the run situation, on Sunday evening I went for a hilly 5km and spotted a strange sight just after crossing the River Club Bridge, a collection of fluffy little kittens just sitting down below the bridge. So I hastily finished the run, called Helen and we made a decision to go and see what we could do.
The kittens were all sitting out in the open (we counted 7 of them) and a few of them eagerly approached the milk we put down. We managed to catch one, but the others seemed to pick up on our strategy and nullified the effect of our ongoing attempts. As a result, we did not catch any more as it became too dark. This was all rather stressful as we knew there were a handful of little kittens living down in the wet and cold.
BUT, we had one and he was incredibly relaxed, which was a surprise in itself, considering their circumstances. So we took him to the local vet (for an exhorbitant after hours fee) and did the innoculations and had him checked out. Much to our surprise, he was in very good condition and very healthy. Needless to say, we had already decided this little guy would not be going anywhere. And so, Jelly was welcomed to the family!
He is 7 weeks old, has an extremely calm nature and has settled into the house amazingly quickly. He loves to be tickled and squeeks a little when you do something he doesnt like, which in his case is very little, what an amazing little kitty! yay! :)
4). MBA started yesterday and we're straight into the grind. The first day was spent discussing the opportunities in Africa and dynamic markets. This was an eye opener for most who havent spent much time on the continent or in other countries included in the BRIC nations. So, without going into too much detail, the big debate was whether or not South Africa deserved to be included in this emerging/dynamic powerhouse grouping. The debate will rage on and I know some economist's have very strong views!
Day 2 (today) was spent working on group dynamics and an Amazing Race through inner city Johannesburg. My syndicate group has proven one thing, we're all amazingly relaxed in getting things done! There was never any panic, frustration or disgruntled MBA-er driven disagreements. This, in a team of hard working, over achiever types is quite something when thrown into a taxi with R200 to our names and a list of destinations and tasks at hand.
Even a hijacking situation in newtown was taken in our stride (there was an attempted hijacking of a car in front of us, so our driver hooted to alert the driver of the car, to which he pulled off and the hijackers proceeded to be very upset with our driver (as if to say "come on, you should support us in this!" haha...only South Africa!
Some pictures from the day...
Edwin and Rima at the world of samoosa's at Oriental Plaza
A photo of the group (except for the lady in the middle with the glasses who was the checkpoint person) at the Art Gallery next to Joubert Park, checkpoint 3
Getting in with security at Nelson Mandela Square at the start of the day before we hit downtown
5). Waking up early to get to Gibs in the morning and do actual work (catch up because I'm not in the office at the moment) before we go into class and then having to do the same (as well as try to catch cats under bridges each night) when I go home in the evening, means that I am pretty tired by the time it comes to going to bed, and don't feel like I've had enough sleep by the time I go to bed...catch 22 :)
But I may as well get used to it, as it's going to be two more years of the same :)
Totals: 2011, January 18th, 97.93km to date over 16 separate runs in 9hours and 03 minutes, burning 10596kcal
Thursday, January 13, 2011
2011: Picking up pace
It seems as though everyone is back in Joburg now. The schools are back, all the new little grade 1's have been introduced to their teachers and are probably trying to find their way around what must feel like a massive school with impossibly large numbers of pupils.
I went for a run yesterday morning past our local primary school, Bryneven, and without fail, every parent climbed out of the car with sunglasses on (this was early morning) and a camera in hand. There is absolutely no doubt it is much harder for parents to drop their kids off at school, than it is for the kids themselves!
The indication that cemented this was when I returned from my run and not a single car had moved. This means that all the parents were still inside the school, no doubt battling to separate themselves from their offspring.
While I thought this was quite emotional and funny at the same time, I then realised that I also go back to school this coming Monday and there will be no-one to drop me off. This is even sadder!
In any event, we had registration for the MBA at GIBS yesterday and instead of being introduced to our teachers who would be the guiding force in us learning how to read and write, we were taken through the business school rules and regulations, copyright and harvard business review formats and why overseas travel for anything but work purposes would be considered grounds for failure.
A sobering wake up to the "back to school" theme while all the grade 1's were meeting new friends on the playground with their plastic lunchboxes in tow...
We have already had to read copious amounts of work for next week and while this does take time, the silver lining is that it is (so far) all quite interesting. Long may this continue.
The office is also filling up fast and the indication of this is when all of a sudden my diary is no longer blank and vacant, but meetings and strategy reviews start to populate the Monday to Friday view I had spent so much time enjoying in December because of its blankness.
The challenge now is how to balance this with all my time at GIBS, which should be fun. But that's okay, I wouldnt have it any other way :)
So, onto other things...
1). Tomorrow we should have some resolution on the property buying process we have engaged in...fun fun
2). Liverpool can't seem to win a game anymore and I sat up until midnight last night watching them lose to Blackpool (this is more stressful to me than most things)
3). The Proteas smashed India in mini-India (Durban) and all the Indian flags that were waving round the stadium suddenly became South African flags when India were 44/4.
4). Helen has developed a new mechanism for cutting onions, wearing sunglasses regardless of the time of day seems to do the trick.
5). I have now run 64.16km this year on resolution 1. Styling.
and on that note:
Totals: 2011, January 13th, 64.16km to date over 12 separate runs in 5hours and 45 minutes, burning 6929kcal
Tuesday Run: 5.08km in 26min07 secs, average pace: 5min09/km (old Parks time trial)
Wednesday Run: 5.48km in 30min16 secs, average pace 5min32/km
I went for a run yesterday morning past our local primary school, Bryneven, and without fail, every parent climbed out of the car with sunglasses on (this was early morning) and a camera in hand. There is absolutely no doubt it is much harder for parents to drop their kids off at school, than it is for the kids themselves!
The indication that cemented this was when I returned from my run and not a single car had moved. This means that all the parents were still inside the school, no doubt battling to separate themselves from their offspring.
While I thought this was quite emotional and funny at the same time, I then realised that I also go back to school this coming Monday and there will be no-one to drop me off. This is even sadder!
In any event, we had registration for the MBA at GIBS yesterday and instead of being introduced to our teachers who would be the guiding force in us learning how to read and write, we were taken through the business school rules and regulations, copyright and harvard business review formats and why overseas travel for anything but work purposes would be considered grounds for failure.
A sobering wake up to the "back to school" theme while all the grade 1's were meeting new friends on the playground with their plastic lunchboxes in tow...
We have already had to read copious amounts of work for next week and while this does take time, the silver lining is that it is (so far) all quite interesting. Long may this continue.
The office is also filling up fast and the indication of this is when all of a sudden my diary is no longer blank and vacant, but meetings and strategy reviews start to populate the Monday to Friday view I had spent so much time enjoying in December because of its blankness.
The challenge now is how to balance this with all my time at GIBS, which should be fun. But that's okay, I wouldnt have it any other way :)
So, onto other things...
1). Tomorrow we should have some resolution on the property buying process we have engaged in...fun fun
2). Liverpool can't seem to win a game anymore and I sat up until midnight last night watching them lose to Blackpool (this is more stressful to me than most things)
3). The Proteas smashed India in mini-India (Durban) and all the Indian flags that were waving round the stadium suddenly became South African flags when India were 44/4.
4). Helen has developed a new mechanism for cutting onions, wearing sunglasses regardless of the time of day seems to do the trick.
5). I have now run 64.16km this year on resolution 1. Styling.
and on that note:
Totals: 2011, January 13th, 64.16km to date over 12 separate runs in 5hours and 45 minutes, burning 6929kcal
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Property Portal (I mean...Black Hole)
This story starts back in 2008. Helen and I had decided to buy our first property together.
We had dinner one evening with our friends, Ian and Cath at their place in the Bantry's and with the wonderful location, proximity to Sandton and surrounds and very small number of units in a complex, the whole setup was ideal.
Needless to say, one day after golf at Royal Johannesburg, we popped into a few of the Bantry show days and found a unit we thought we could love (if you looked beyond the shocking carpets, ridiculous colour schemes and badly decorated living areas) So we put in an offer.
We got the house. Easy as that.
At the time, we treated it as an investment property and decided not to move in, but rather to get tenants and generate some revenue off the rental income. We went overseas in the December of 2008 and while away, decided that we would actually quite like to live in our own home. So we booted our tenants out and went about moving in.
We went about effectively gutting the place and putting new wooden floors in, re-painting, ripping out the sideboard and decorating with matching colours and Samsung appliances throughout (I had a friend who worked for Samsung...) :)
Then on the day of Trevor's bachelors, Helen (with the support of some trusted friends) proceeded to move everything into the house, so that on my arrival (some 26 hours later) it was all in...a job well done (I still maintain I worked harder at Trevor's bachelors, but it isn't remembered that way)
Fast forward two years and upon return from our Honeymoon, Helen and I swore we would not look at property for a while, content that our spot in Bryanston is perfectly lovely and meets our needs for now.
This being said, we decided to ("just for fun") pop into a few show days. This is where it all goes wrong people. There is no such thing as casual house shopping (or window shopping for property). Before you know it, you are on every agent's distribution list and are skipping golf or mountain biking on weekends to go and look for houses. It was that quick.
The first place we were serious about was an amazing spot (cluster home) on Chesterfield Road in Bryanston. Stately, large and amazing to look at, it was the kind of home that requires its own soundtrack. The only problem, there were a few things we didnt like. Once this sets in, you can bet it's a slippery slope to walking away. Which we did.
We then decided to be really adventurous and spread our wings slightly further afield to Craighall Park. This didnt last long and we were soon back in the leafy suburbs of Bryanston.
It was at this stage that we found a lovely little area within Bryanston proper (on the East side) called the Devonshire Park enclosure. Accessible only through a boom on two sides, the area has about 6 streets and a great little park for dogs called Hamilton Park. We immediately knew we wanted something here.
The only problem, the average established house in the area was on the market for R6.5m and upwards. Great!
We then came across a piece of land that was being sub-divided for development into four cluster homes. Each with an expanse of 1100m2 and a show house that had some very tasteful ideas on what could be built. So we went for it, we drew up our own plans and we both agreed we knew exactly what we wanted. Such was our conviction, we even met with the builder to look at options.
Then, out of the blue, the seller decided he'd actually really quite like to put his price up. As you do, when someone wants to buy. This was not what we had in mind and strategically backed away. He had tried to motivate that his selling price excluded VAT and as a result, we would need to cough up a further 14% on the purchase price of the land. No thanks my friend, no sale.
At this stage, however, we had decided we wanted to live in this area, come what may. So we started to visit show days, look at houses fit for the average CEO of a Fortune 500 company and just generally do the rounds. Eventually we popped into a property which had just been released onto the market and was being sold without transfer duties applying (i.e. the developer had never sold it (he rented it to an ambassador) and as a result, the saving on the transfer duties would be massive)
This house was amazing, four en suite bedrooms, huge entertainment areas, chef's kitchen, underfloor heating, CCTV camera's, beams in the garden, optional 5th bedroom, wine cellar, swimming pool...the works! The best part, we could afford it, at a stretch.
So we made an offer. The seller turned his nose up. Quite surprisingly, considering that our offer was only just below his asking price. So we went back, had another look and decided that we really wanted to live here. So we made another offer. This time, meeting his asking price (keeping in mind, we were and still are, in a time of recession and lower housing prices...that's how much we wanted this house)
We, as well as the agent, were so convinced he would accept, we almost started buying furniture.
Then we waited...and waited...and waited.
The seller vanished. He didnt respond to phone calls, he never came back on email.
Helen and I were so confused, we had met the asking price and could not seem to make any progress. The agent assured us it was the first time in 25 years she had come across something like this. For us, it meant a lot of frustration. You know what it's like when you see something you want, so you go to the shop and it's sitting there on the shelf, but the shop owner won't let you have it? This was it...just worse.
Anyway, long story short, we waited for 2 months until we gave up. Who knows what went through his mind, but we eventually decided it was no use and let this fish get away.
At this stage, the prospect of going to show houses and speaking to agents, only to see things we didnt want was not in any way exciting. So we pulled the plug. We also backed out of wanting to sell our spot in Bantry as we decided that what we had built there was worth more than any buyer could give us. It is our home.
Then we went to play golf at Pecanwood with our friend Dave. While on the course, Helen made a comment to me about the fact that the lifestyle out near the Magaliesberg and the Dam is so peaceful. She suggested we look at some of the houses for sale and measure the prices against what we had seen in Bryanston.
That was all it took and before we knew it, we were shooting around the golf estate on a golf cart, looking at EVERYTHING!
It was all very exciting, as the price of property at Pecanwood, a top 20 golf course in South Africa and the first to be designed by Jack Nicklaus in the country, is much more affordable than what we had seen near our own home in the suburbs. We then shifted our attention to the land available (about 15% of the total development is still not yet built)
The same process as before kicked in and we designed what we felt would be the perfect house for us. Pecanwood allows you to build up to 60% of the total size of the land. We found a great piece of land, went for it and the seller (once again) decided he would like to receive his asking price and nothing less, for it. Once again, we felt this wasn't the best situation for us and we moved on.
We were then alerted to another piece of land, north east facing and in a lovely crescent on the estate. This is where we are now...and so we find ourselves in the position we are in...we have made an offer, designed a house, and the seller has debts to pay before the clearance certificate can be issued.
After this past friday (see http://cjwood1981.blogspot.com/2011/01/weekend-that-was.html) we have now amended the offer to purchase and we are waiting until this friday, 14th January to get final resolution on the purchase.
If it goes through, and transfer is affected fully within the usual period of time, we could be building within 3 - 4 months from now.
So 10 months later, multiple Sunday's, frustration and confusion, we find ourselves looking at a piece of land 40 minutes drive from Bryanston. How far we've moved!
Resolution 5 is no closer yet to having some positive feedback, but rest assured, you'll hear it here first!
We had dinner one evening with our friends, Ian and Cath at their place in the Bantry's and with the wonderful location, proximity to Sandton and surrounds and very small number of units in a complex, the whole setup was ideal.
Needless to say, one day after golf at Royal Johannesburg, we popped into a few of the Bantry show days and found a unit we thought we could love (if you looked beyond the shocking carpets, ridiculous colour schemes and badly decorated living areas) So we put in an offer.
We got the house. Easy as that.
At the time, we treated it as an investment property and decided not to move in, but rather to get tenants and generate some revenue off the rental income. We went overseas in the December of 2008 and while away, decided that we would actually quite like to live in our own home. So we booted our tenants out and went about moving in.
We went about effectively gutting the place and putting new wooden floors in, re-painting, ripping out the sideboard and decorating with matching colours and Samsung appliances throughout (I had a friend who worked for Samsung...) :)
Then on the day of Trevor's bachelors, Helen (with the support of some trusted friends) proceeded to move everything into the house, so that on my arrival (some 26 hours later) it was all in...a job well done (I still maintain I worked harder at Trevor's bachelors, but it isn't remembered that way)
Fast forward two years and upon return from our Honeymoon, Helen and I swore we would not look at property for a while, content that our spot in Bryanston is perfectly lovely and meets our needs for now.
This being said, we decided to ("just for fun") pop into a few show days. This is where it all goes wrong people. There is no such thing as casual house shopping (or window shopping for property). Before you know it, you are on every agent's distribution list and are skipping golf or mountain biking on weekends to go and look for houses. It was that quick.
The first place we were serious about was an amazing spot (cluster home) on Chesterfield Road in Bryanston. Stately, large and amazing to look at, it was the kind of home that requires its own soundtrack. The only problem, there were a few things we didnt like. Once this sets in, you can bet it's a slippery slope to walking away. Which we did.
We then decided to be really adventurous and spread our wings slightly further afield to Craighall Park. This didnt last long and we were soon back in the leafy suburbs of Bryanston.
It was at this stage that we found a lovely little area within Bryanston proper (on the East side) called the Devonshire Park enclosure. Accessible only through a boom on two sides, the area has about 6 streets and a great little park for dogs called Hamilton Park. We immediately knew we wanted something here.
The only problem, the average established house in the area was on the market for R6.5m and upwards. Great!
We then came across a piece of land that was being sub-divided for development into four cluster homes. Each with an expanse of 1100m2 and a show house that had some very tasteful ideas on what could be built. So we went for it, we drew up our own plans and we both agreed we knew exactly what we wanted. Such was our conviction, we even met with the builder to look at options.
Then, out of the blue, the seller decided he'd actually really quite like to put his price up. As you do, when someone wants to buy. This was not what we had in mind and strategically backed away. He had tried to motivate that his selling price excluded VAT and as a result, we would need to cough up a further 14% on the purchase price of the land. No thanks my friend, no sale.
At this stage, however, we had decided we wanted to live in this area, come what may. So we started to visit show days, look at houses fit for the average CEO of a Fortune 500 company and just generally do the rounds. Eventually we popped into a property which had just been released onto the market and was being sold without transfer duties applying (i.e. the developer had never sold it (he rented it to an ambassador) and as a result, the saving on the transfer duties would be massive)
This house was amazing, four en suite bedrooms, huge entertainment areas, chef's kitchen, underfloor heating, CCTV camera's, beams in the garden, optional 5th bedroom, wine cellar, swimming pool...the works! The best part, we could afford it, at a stretch.
So we made an offer. The seller turned his nose up. Quite surprisingly, considering that our offer was only just below his asking price. So we went back, had another look and decided that we really wanted to live here. So we made another offer. This time, meeting his asking price (keeping in mind, we were and still are, in a time of recession and lower housing prices...that's how much we wanted this house)
We, as well as the agent, were so convinced he would accept, we almost started buying furniture.
Then we waited...and waited...and waited.
The seller vanished. He didnt respond to phone calls, he never came back on email.
Helen and I were so confused, we had met the asking price and could not seem to make any progress. The agent assured us it was the first time in 25 years she had come across something like this. For us, it meant a lot of frustration. You know what it's like when you see something you want, so you go to the shop and it's sitting there on the shelf, but the shop owner won't let you have it? This was it...just worse.
Anyway, long story short, we waited for 2 months until we gave up. Who knows what went through his mind, but we eventually decided it was no use and let this fish get away.
At this stage, the prospect of going to show houses and speaking to agents, only to see things we didnt want was not in any way exciting. So we pulled the plug. We also backed out of wanting to sell our spot in Bantry as we decided that what we had built there was worth more than any buyer could give us. It is our home.
Then we went to play golf at Pecanwood with our friend Dave. While on the course, Helen made a comment to me about the fact that the lifestyle out near the Magaliesberg and the Dam is so peaceful. She suggested we look at some of the houses for sale and measure the prices against what we had seen in Bryanston.
That was all it took and before we knew it, we were shooting around the golf estate on a golf cart, looking at EVERYTHING!
It was all very exciting, as the price of property at Pecanwood, a top 20 golf course in South Africa and the first to be designed by Jack Nicklaus in the country, is much more affordable than what we had seen near our own home in the suburbs. We then shifted our attention to the land available (about 15% of the total development is still not yet built)
The same process as before kicked in and we designed what we felt would be the perfect house for us. Pecanwood allows you to build up to 60% of the total size of the land. We found a great piece of land, went for it and the seller (once again) decided he would like to receive his asking price and nothing less, for it. Once again, we felt this wasn't the best situation for us and we moved on.
We were then alerted to another piece of land, north east facing and in a lovely crescent on the estate. This is where we are now...and so we find ourselves in the position we are in...we have made an offer, designed a house, and the seller has debts to pay before the clearance certificate can be issued.
After this past friday (see http://cjwood1981.blogspot.com/2011/01/weekend-that-was.html) we have now amended the offer to purchase and we are waiting until this friday, 14th January to get final resolution on the purchase.
If it goes through, and transfer is affected fully within the usual period of time, we could be building within 3 - 4 months from now.
So 10 months later, multiple Sunday's, frustration and confusion, we find ourselves looking at a piece of land 40 minutes drive from Bryanston. How far we've moved!
Resolution 5 is no closer yet to having some positive feedback, but rest assured, you'll hear it here first!
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