POTD: 09 Dec 2006

Fridge mag's...

POTD: 08 Dec 2006

We have an Italian friend who always gives us a Panettone cake at Christmas time.
What would Christmas be without Panettone cake?
Read about the history of this Italian tradition here.

Hot, Sticky and Frustrated...

Have spent most of my day today sorting out admin issues. Left for Pretoria at about 9am this morning to collect our passports from the Austrian Embassy. Missed the offramp so had to double back and find my way back into Brooklyn. Got there at about 10am and was greeted with a hot and sweaty queue out the door and down the stairs. Anyway, stood in the queue for and hour and a half before finally making my way to the counter to get the passports. Thankfully there were no problems in getting the visas. I put this down to the hours of preparation and effort that I put into getting everything perfect. It was cruel, but funny to see the number of people turned away because they had forms in the wrong order, or they had stapled their photos to the application form and had accidentally defaced the picture. They're a tough bunch of people those Austrians. Nevertheless, we're finally sorted.
I signed up with Hillside golf club a couple of weeks ago, so that I could get a handicap card and pay affiliate rates. Anyway, figured that whilst I was in Pretoria I would do the visas and collect my card at the same time - which would save me the courier fees for the golf card from Pretoria to Jhb. On my way out of Brooklyn and wanting to turn left to head north I figure out that there in no on-ramp heading north - only one heading south. Again, I have to take the southern route, double back onto the freeway heading north. Five minutes up the road, I come across an accident involving three vehicles - and only 3 of the four northern lanes are open. No worries, the accident just happened so I don't have to wait long. Off I go. Things back on track. Until...i turn the next bend on the freeway, and all four lanes are at a dead standstill. 702 announces that 2 army vehicles have overturned just past the Zambezi off-ramp. That's 5 kms up the road from where I am. I spend the next hour sitting in my car with the windows down, watching the people all around me getting out of their cars and sitting on the grass next to the freeway. We sit, without moving for about an hour and a half before the hundreds of sunburnt motorists climb back into their cars to start moving again. By the time I had collected my golf card and made the journey back home, 6 hours had passed. Sigh....

POTD: 07 Dec 2006

This guy has been hanging in our kitchen window for about 2 years now. K's sister made it for us a couple of seasons ago. Thought it appropriate since we're nearing that time of year.
Thanks Ang.

Free (open source) apps for Windows

Came across this great list of useful and free software applications for Windows. Having recently bought myself the Sony Vaio, I needed to install everything from scratch - this list certainly would have helped back then. It covers pretty much 90% of the software needs that the average user has - and the bonus is that its all open source, and free.
I have already downloaded and played with FreeMind, which is a great mind mapping tool that is very useful for brainstorming ideas. Have also tried out Sunbird, which is a calendaring tool - the only problem is that it does not handle meeting requests as well as Microsoft Outlook does (I've also been using Google Calendar for my meeting requests, and that seems to be quite effective). Another one to watch out for is Handbrake - although they don't have a fully working Windows version as yet - but it potentially could be a very useful tool that'll allow you to rip DVD's direct to your hard drive.
Anyway, check them all out here.
Of course, those who have been running Linux for a while now, will be saying to themselves that this post was a complete waste of time. They've had these apps for years now. Go on...say it.

POTD: 06 Dec 2006

Another picture that we have hanging in our loft. I do recall the artist in this case - its Didier Lourenco.

POTD: 05 Dec 2006

Getting into the silly season I thought it silly not to include a picture of my favourite cider. Besides, the effect of the flash through the bottle is pretty cool.

Praying for snow...

Came across this sad but interesting report on the snow situation in Europe. The long and the short of it, is that global warming is starting to seriously affect the weather patterns around the world - with this report focusing on Europe. Its says that Austria has experienced its warmest Autumn temperatures on record. The fear is that many of the low lying ski resorts in Europe will no longer have snow in 15 years time due to the temperature increase.
We're going to St Anton, which is an Austrian resort that borders Italy and Switzerland, and whose town is at around 1350m above sea level, with the highest lift at around 2800m. Luckily for us, there is snow on the higher peaks (see webcam here), and the weather forecast for this week says that there is some decent snow on the way. I'm pretty certain that we'll be alright, because this is quite a high lying resort, but still - there is always the fear that the weather does not play ball.

POTD: 04 Dec 2006

Been a warm day here today. Its Grant and Stuart's birthday today...so going to have dinner with them this evening, which should be nice.
Played a round of golf at Obs this morning - was inspired to shoot the lights out after watching the Pro's at Sun City yesterday. Went up with the family to watch the final round. The heat up at Sun city is something else though - draining.
Anyway, got home from golf and found this poor lavender bush struggling in the heat of the day. Nothing that a bucket of water can't sort out though.

POTD: 03 Dec 2006

Painting that K and I have hanging in our loft. Not too sure who the painter is, but we liked the picture when we bought it a few years ago. I'm pretty sure that we did ask who painted it when we bought it, but we've since forgotten. If you know, please let us know.