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.

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?".

POTD: 24 Nov 2006

Managed to catch this bolt of lightning in a storm that we had here. This photo was taken looking east from our place, towards OR Tambo International Airport.

POTD: 23 Nov 2006

View of Jhb from the 7th tee box at Observatory. Played with a guy called Sam, and an old customer of mine, Eben. We only managed nine holes though, as the rain (and hail) started to come down whilst we were having lunch, and the lightening siren was sounded.

Christmas Video - Lights Display

In South Africa, it's common practice to put up a Christmas tree with flashing lights and decorations over the festive season. We don't really go big on lighting up the exterior of our homes. Maybe the odd tinsel and berries wreath on a front door - but nothing like this home. I take it that this must be a home in the States, as they're known for decorating the interior, as well as exterior of their homes. This is incredible...

Christmas Video - John Lennon

Came across this music video the other day (found it on the Christmas For All blog), and with Christmas just around the corner, I thought it appropriate to post here.
This is the music video recorded by John Lennon (with the help of Yoko Ono) at Record Plant Studios, New York City in late October 1971. The Harlem Community Choir children can be heard singing in the background. This is my all time favourite Christmas song, which gets played on Christmas morning each year. Enjoy.

POTD: 22 Nov 2006

Current Office :-)

POTD: 21 Nov 2006

This is one plant that is not going to recover with a bit of H2O.

POTD: 17 Nov 2006

Morning ducks (or Egyptian Geese)...

POTD: 16 Nov 2006

Essential MTB gear...my helmet, water bottle, gloves, and iPod.