POTD: 2 Dec 2006

gtc's Famous Berry Shake!
(click image to enlarge)

1). Couple of Raspberries

2). Some Blackberries
3). Few Strawberries
4). Single banana
5). Chuck in a little bit of Soya milk
6). And some vanilla yoghurt
7). Half a scoop of protein powder
8). Couple of blocks of ice
9). Use the blender
10). To mix it all up
11). Pour
12). And Enjoy... :-)

POTD: 30 Nov 2006

OK, so as you can see, there is no photo for this day. Reason being is that camera's are NOT allowed onto the Gary Player course at Sun City - and probably with good reason. It would be a shame for some amateur photographer to forget to turn his flash off whilst Ernie is pitching over the ninth hole water hazard for a 1.6 million dollar first prize.
Seriously though - the day at Sun City was fantastic. Granted, I did overindulge somewhat, and the fact that we were bussed to the event and back home again probably helped the situation somewhat - still, it was a great day. Our position was perfect too. Anyone who has played the course will know that the par 5 ninth green is protected by a huge pond in front, and a water hazard at the back and left, with bunkers on the right. Due to this, most players play their tee shots, and then opt for the lay up (correction...most pro's take this option, as well as 99% of amateurs due to the fact that they don't have the distance to reach the green in two). Well, out of the 12 players on Thursday, seven went for the lay up, and five went for the green in 2. Not one player bogeyed this hole, and Sergio Garcia, after hitting his second within 10 meters of the pin, managed to sink his putt for an eagle. And all of this happened in front of us. We were positioned on the right of the fairway, about 15 meters from the waters edge - which meant that we could see all tee shots coming down the fairway...watch those that layed up, as well as those that went for the green - and then see all of them sink their putts.
So yes, like I was saying...no POTD, but I have something in mind for Saturday morning that should make up for it...

POTD: 29 Nov 2006

Magnificent Blue-gum tree on the left side of the fairway of hole number 12 at Observatory golf club. Had a decent round of golf today - shot a 92, which is not fantastic - it started off a bit pear shaped with 3 double bogeys. Anyway, the front nine finished strongly with a birdie on the ninth. Back nine also went reasonably well with a few more pars, but then finished the 18th with a double bogey. I have yet to par the 18th. Regardless of the result, I can definitely see that my iron play and putting has improved over the past 3 weeks. Its only a matter of time now before the score starts reflecting it.
Hooked up with Martin and Sagie. Martin is a member at Obs - he's a fifty something golfer who is on a "gap" year as he calls it, after a heart attack 9 nine months ago. He sold his printing business, and is now playing golf and taking it easy while he contemplates his next investment.
Sagie on the other hand is firmly in the mode of working - in fact, it sounds like he has quite a nice job - he's the commercial manager for Konkola Copper Mines in Zambia, and manages all the procurement of supplies in SA, for the mines in Zambia. We all exchanged contact details - and if anything, at least I have another two mid-week playing partners in future.

Golf...golf and golf.

Today I once again have the priviledge of spending part of my day on the golf course. I am scheduled to tee off at 8:15 this morning - the weather looks fine - no ominous rain clouds lurking about so it should be a good morning.
Further to this, I have the added honour of being invited to the Nedbank Golf Challenge tomorrow. Seeing as they are sponsoring my transport there and back, my comfortable seat in the sky box on the ninth, and my food and drink all day, I thought it only reasonable to give them a punt - I'm going with Motion - specialists in Office Automation.
Unfortunately no camera's or cellphones are allowed onto the course, so not quite sure how I'm going to get my photo of the day...will have to make a plan.

Starting a business...?

Came across this great resource today - its a manifesto / e-book written by Seth Godin, who has been labelled as one of the all-time information age entrepreneurs. Its about 100 pages in length, and is full of some great advice, and motivational tips for anyone wanting to start a business with very little start-up capital. Its called The Bootstrapper's Bible, and can be downloaded here, free of charge, until end Dec 2006.

POTD: 28 Nov 2006

Solitaire board that K and I bought in Madagascar last year.

POTD: 27 Nov 2006

Wooden puzzle - received this from Neil, who is still the only one that can put my wooden cube puzzle back together.

POTD: 25 Nov 2006

Played in the Sports Pool golf day yesterday - pictured here are Lawrence, gtc, Sean and Chris. We played at Randpark Golf club - Windsor course. First time I've played that course, and it definitely showed with a poor round of 93 carded. We then watched SA beat England at Twickenham, for the first time in 10 years. Lets just say that it made for a very festive evening at the golf club.
As for the credit card story - the saga continues. I eventually get my new credit card on Thursday last week. All fraudulent transactions have been reversed, so I'm chuffed that all the admin is behind me, when I realise that I'm short on cash after several rounds of drinks during the rugby and prize-giving. No problem I tell myself, I have my new credit card with me. I whip it out for the final round of drinks of the evening, tell the waiter to include a small tip for himself, and we continue with the festivities. I head off to the mens room, and return a couple of minutes later. Anyway, a couple of minutes later (read twenty) when everyone is finishing off their drinks and heading home, I realise that I still don't have my card. No problem, I remember the waiter, maybe he brought it whilst I was in the toilet and since I was not at the table at the time, he held onto it. Hmmm, big assumption that. He tells me that I was not around, so he got someone else to sign my slip, and gave them my card. Right! Call the manager please.
Anyway, long and the short of it is that there was no sign of my 3 day old card. On the humorous side though, when I called my bank 15 minutes later to cancel the card, the call center agent's response was quite good...it went something like this:
"But sir, according to our system, you reported your card missing a week ago".
"Yes, I know. That was for something different".
"Oh. So did you receive your new card sir".
"Yes I did. I picked it up on Thursday. Its gone".
"Oh. How did that happen sir?"
"Well....waiter...drinks...blah...blah...missing....blah...only 3 days.....blah....can you believe it?"
"Wow sir. I can't believe the waiter was so careless. Did you enjoy your meal at least sir?".