Well, I promised you a post on Johannesburg traffic, so I am not to let you down! Anybody who has lived in Johannesburg or has visited Johannesburg has experienced some form of our traffic. You do not need to drive 50km's on a highway to see what I am referring to- it is visible in the residential area's too.
My best is the way ladies think that they can put make up on while driving. Let me be up front- I have never put make up on- I am just not that type. However ever it does look challenging, specially when they start putting things near there eye's. I always worry that they are going to go over a bump and poke there eye out, I also imaging the lipstick ending up on there cheek. I have not witnessed it, but it must have happened.
Anyway, I am fortunate not to have to travel in to much peak hour traffic as I live 14 km's from my office. However take yesterday for instance (yes it was Saturday) and I managed to do 194.4 kilometres for work. So I can speak with some authority.
A good 10 years ago I was working in Woodmead and living in Benoni. We arranged a lift scheme and the meeting place was East Rand Value Mall at around 6h30. Now there were a few hangers on, but now now best mate Clint and I travelled together. A must was was that we had enough variety of music to get us to work and back. One of our famous ways we kept sane was that we would comment on other drivers and what they were either wearing, doing or thinking. Now earlier in the post, I mentioned about ladies doing make-up, I have seen men shave with electric razors.
One of the most memorable times was when we were driving through Edenvale and we saw a extremely good looking young lass. Now I think see realised what was going on and played us up. The next morning we left the same time and yes we saw her. I was driving and Clint said that I must bumper bash her as he wanted her number- I would not agree on that (how desperate was he??) Anyway the next morning he drove and had this determination to get her number, unfortunately for him and to my relief we did not see her. You can imagine what he was thinking.
I was driving back from work about a year ago and was driving along London Rd in Alexandra and the bakkie behind me pulled to the left and started passing us at a rate of knots. All I could imaging was somebody was going to be hurt. He had one side of the car on the road and the other on the pavement. Fortunately the pedestrians managed to flee in different directions and the only real damage was that a street stall was flattened and eventually the bakkie came to a stop wrapped around a light post. A lot of damage but thank goodness no one was injured.
I think traffic brings out the best and worse in people and I am sure that most of us have stories we can tell. From the way cars are "modified" to the safety of cars on the road to the people that drive in these cars. All I pray is that people get to there destinations SAFELY! This is not unique to Johannesburg and I am sure it happens in all area's.
So next time you in traffic, have a look at the people and cars and just think what is going on in there minds! I am sure you can all share a story with me.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Watch this space
I have got a great thought going through my head. I will share it with you during the weekend. All I am saying is JHB traffic!!
Everyone should enjoy this one!
Everyone should enjoy this one!
A Dog's Life!!!
A few of my recent posts have revolved around Jody. And guess what, here is another story about my mate Jody.
Living alone, can sometimes be rewarding, however I cannot deny I do have a lonely night from time to time and crave company. The one thing that does help is my friends on the net and TV. My other moment of madness is that I have these deep conversations with Jody- You should see the way she looks at me, I get this stare as if to say " what planet are you from?" Anyway last night I went out with some of my brothers friends and we had a few drinks and a bite to eat. I must say I real do not drink a lot these days- It is not worth it! I enjoy the odd drink, but nothing that would cause a hangover.
I am going off track, again. Anyway back to Jody, so when I got home, it was quite late and I had another early start, so bed was top priority. I feed Jody and gave her her bed and I jumped through a shower. Once finished I grabbed a cold drink from the fridge and switched all the lights out as I walked through the house. I then heard this rasping sound and wondered what was going on. So I stood in the passage and listened, this sound was regular. You here this rasping, silence, rasping, silence and so it continues. At this stage, I listened through the sliding door and established that this noise was from the washroom where my mate Jody was sleeping.
Well I realised last night my dog is deep sleeper. I have heard this sound the other night and could not work out what it was. Anyway once I knew what the sound was last night- I relaxed and carried on heading for bed. I will be honest, I was a bit noisy- I dropped a book and banged a cupboard door, which I am sure the whole of Boksburg and Benoni heard. The one person who did not hear it was Jody, she just carried on snoring away!!
Now I say that Jody did not hear me last night, I can be assured if there was a problem or something strange going on, she would be awake and alert! I have had the honour of been bitten by her previously. She was on her away to grooming and I picked her up and tried to pass her to the kennel assistant and she thought he was trying to grab something from me and she snapped her jaw. Unfortunately my hand was in the way and I had 4 holes in my finger compliments of my mate. So she will protect me if she had to!
So I let sleeping dog's lie and let her enjoy her sleep. Isn't that a dog's life?
Living alone, can sometimes be rewarding, however I cannot deny I do have a lonely night from time to time and crave company. The one thing that does help is my friends on the net and TV. My other moment of madness is that I have these deep conversations with Jody- You should see the way she looks at me, I get this stare as if to say " what planet are you from?" Anyway last night I went out with some of my brothers friends and we had a few drinks and a bite to eat. I must say I real do not drink a lot these days- It is not worth it! I enjoy the odd drink, but nothing that would cause a hangover.
I am going off track, again. Anyway back to Jody, so when I got home, it was quite late and I had another early start, so bed was top priority. I feed Jody and gave her her bed and I jumped through a shower. Once finished I grabbed a cold drink from the fridge and switched all the lights out as I walked through the house. I then heard this rasping sound and wondered what was going on. So I stood in the passage and listened, this sound was regular. You here this rasping, silence, rasping, silence and so it continues. At this stage, I listened through the sliding door and established that this noise was from the washroom where my mate Jody was sleeping.
Well I realised last night my dog is deep sleeper. I have heard this sound the other night and could not work out what it was. Anyway once I knew what the sound was last night- I relaxed and carried on heading for bed. I will be honest, I was a bit noisy- I dropped a book and banged a cupboard door, which I am sure the whole of Boksburg and Benoni heard. The one person who did not hear it was Jody, she just carried on snoring away!!
Now I say that Jody did not hear me last night, I can be assured if there was a problem or something strange going on, she would be awake and alert! I have had the honour of been bitten by her previously. She was on her away to grooming and I picked her up and tried to pass her to the kennel assistant and she thought he was trying to grab something from me and she snapped her jaw. Unfortunately my hand was in the way and I had 4 holes in my finger compliments of my mate. So she will protect me if she had to!
So I let sleeping dog's lie and let her enjoy her sleep. Isn't that a dog's life?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Punishment of my eye's and ear's
I had a bit of an early start to my day- I was on the road at 6h20, when I normally leave home at around 7h35. The reason been is I am on a course in Glenhove that started at 8h30, however with the JHB traffic, I left early to get there on time. I arrived at 8h10 and the scary part is I only needed to drive 27 kilometre's. Anyway, I am digressing from my post's topic and I am sure I can do a number of posts on the traffic in JHB. I am getting an idea!! (Watch this space).
Back to reality, this course was not intense, but was an eye opener and worth a careful listen- I actually cannot wait for tomorrow. This is one I am really enjoying and the topic is so important in this country- BEE. My understanding and positiveness toward the topic is growing as the course progresses. Anyway, my point is that I had a early start and a different to my usual routine and then fought traffic home. So on arriving home, I got changed into a pair of shorts and got comfortable on the couch with a cold drink. After reading a bit of the Boksburg News, I decided to take up a more vertical position on the couch and watch some TV. I knew I would probably doze, so I set an alarm to wake me at 19h00. Anyway I saw the end of Egoli, and no I do not make a point of watching it, it was the only thing that was worth watching at the time.
My eye lids eventually closed and I had a 20 minute snooze, but the SHOCK was still to come. No the alarm did not wake me, I woke up naturally. Or my brain heard the screeching on the TV. I must have auto tuned the DSTV to channel 198- Idols extra. This was a BIG mistake. The quality of singing was hurting my ears.
Now I am the first to admire anybody for trying as it must be daunting, and I certainly would not have the courage to sing in front of the judges myself. But my point been is, we are in the 5th season of Idols, surely by now people know what standards the judges are looking for and if they cannot sing, they should not enter as they will not get anywhere!
Yes, the judges are hard, but the prize is life changing and there reputations are at stake. A number of the entrants are talented, but the majority just cannot sing! I was now awake and for some reason carried on watching for a few minutes- you may ask why, well the judges had me in stitches, I do not know how they did not get up and leave. I guess we seeing an edited version.
I have enjoyed most seasons of idols, I do not make a effort to watch every episode, however when the top 24 or so start I can tolerate it more. So I hope this year has some excitement near the end and all I can say is, may the winner go all the way and make a name for themselves without hurting my ear's!
Back to reality, this course was not intense, but was an eye opener and worth a careful listen- I actually cannot wait for tomorrow. This is one I am really enjoying and the topic is so important in this country- BEE. My understanding and positiveness toward the topic is growing as the course progresses. Anyway, my point is that I had a early start and a different to my usual routine and then fought traffic home. So on arriving home, I got changed into a pair of shorts and got comfortable on the couch with a cold drink. After reading a bit of the Boksburg News, I decided to take up a more vertical position on the couch and watch some TV. I knew I would probably doze, so I set an alarm to wake me at 19h00. Anyway I saw the end of Egoli, and no I do not make a point of watching it, it was the only thing that was worth watching at the time.
My eye lids eventually closed and I had a 20 minute snooze, but the SHOCK was still to come. No the alarm did not wake me, I woke up naturally. Or my brain heard the screeching on the TV. I must have auto tuned the DSTV to channel 198- Idols extra. This was a BIG mistake. The quality of singing was hurting my ears.
Now I am the first to admire anybody for trying as it must be daunting, and I certainly would not have the courage to sing in front of the judges myself. But my point been is, we are in the 5th season of Idols, surely by now people know what standards the judges are looking for and if they cannot sing, they should not enter as they will not get anywhere!
Yes, the judges are hard, but the prize is life changing and there reputations are at stake. A number of the entrants are talented, but the majority just cannot sing! I was now awake and for some reason carried on watching for a few minutes- you may ask why, well the judges had me in stitches, I do not know how they did not get up and leave. I guess we seeing an edited version.
I have enjoyed most seasons of idols, I do not make a effort to watch every episode, however when the top 24 or so start I can tolerate it more. So I hope this year has some excitement near the end and all I can say is, may the winner go all the way and make a name for themselves without hurting my ear's!
Friday, January 30, 2009
My Buddy Jody
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have a Fox Terrier named Jody! For those of you have not spent this week in Johannesburg, we have had continual on/ off periods of rain through out the day and night.
Anyway Tuesday morning turned into a bit of a nightmare, I could not get my B into G (could not get going) and ended up running late. Now Jody sleeps inside at night and in the morning just before I go I open the sliding door and put some fresh food and water down for her. I then let her out. This process of letting her out can take a good few minutes. We have to scratch, talk and help her stretch.
I was already late, so I did not bother rushing the process unfurther. Anyway eventually I insisted that she go out- I wish I had a camera to show you the look I got. She must have sensed the weather. Anyway that was a sight on it's own. The best was still to come!!!
She walked onto the patio where her kennel and food are, smelt and checked that there was food. That all in order, I thought she would make a run for the grass to do her toilet business. Not this morning, she placed 1 paw on the wet grass after a long stare at the grass. She then looked at this wet paw and looked back at me as if to say I must come and dry it. I had already closed the door and security gate and just stood watching this.
The next move was a reverse step and into her kennel! I then proceeded to gather my keys, fruit and yogurt and work bag and after putting the alarm on, I proceeded out the side door. Now I am always meet at the door by Jody and we have a good bye chat for the day. Not this morning- she did not come and see me off. I decided to put my belonging's in the car and went back into the yard to see what was going on- there was madam Jody lying in her kennel. She was not venturing into the rain!!
I thought this was so strange, yet it put a smile on my face. On arriving home I was greeted like usual, she must have realised that she would have to get wet sometime.
Anyway Tuesday morning turned into a bit of a nightmare, I could not get my B into G (could not get going) and ended up running late. Now Jody sleeps inside at night and in the morning just before I go I open the sliding door and put some fresh food and water down for her. I then let her out. This process of letting her out can take a good few minutes. We have to scratch, talk and help her stretch.
I was already late, so I did not bother rushing the process unfurther. Anyway eventually I insisted that she go out- I wish I had a camera to show you the look I got. She must have sensed the weather. Anyway that was a sight on it's own. The best was still to come!!!
She walked onto the patio where her kennel and food are, smelt and checked that there was food. That all in order, I thought she would make a run for the grass to do her toilet business. Not this morning, she placed 1 paw on the wet grass after a long stare at the grass. She then looked at this wet paw and looked back at me as if to say I must come and dry it. I had already closed the door and security gate and just stood watching this.
The next move was a reverse step and into her kennel! I then proceeded to gather my keys, fruit and yogurt and work bag and after putting the alarm on, I proceeded out the side door. Now I am always meet at the door by Jody and we have a good bye chat for the day. Not this morning- she did not come and see me off. I decided to put my belonging's in the car and went back into the yard to see what was going on- there was madam Jody lying in her kennel. She was not venturing into the rain!!
I thought this was so strange, yet it put a smile on my face. On arriving home I was greeted like usual, she must have realised that she would have to get wet sometime.
Monday, January 26, 2009
I was tagged
Well the other day I was tagged and the process is to look at where you keep your photo's and choose the 6th file and then the 6th photo. I unfortunately do not have my photo's well grouped so I double clicked on my pictures and choose the 6th file which contained 1 photo and that is a scanned photo of my brother (Allan) and his wife (Ros) on there wedding day, 15th January 2000. 
This was a special day for them and everyone that was there. It was also the last time we spent together as a family before my dad died and for me, it was the day I injured my back.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Shayamanzi II
Shayamanzi is the Zulu term for Hit the Water, and that is exactly what we did for our 6 monthly strategy meeting. We arrived at Jozini Dam on Saturday afternoon.
Our home and conference venue was the house boat called Shayamanzi II. This is a 20 sleeper house boat on the Jozini Dam which is situated in Northern Natal on the Swaziland Border. The lake is 30 km's long and 10 km's wide.
This was a first time experience for me and cannot fault it one little bit. It was amazing to live on the water for 3 days. These are just some of the photo's of the boat and the sights we saw.
Some of the animals we say where elephants, Hippo's, Crocodiles, Zebra, Rhino and Tiger Fish.
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