Dad and daughter weekend..

• Monday, morning walk around Stellenbosch, walked past the places I lived in 1996, 1997, 1998-2000, haircut – with clippers – which were connected to a wall socket – I guess I’m just a short-back-and-sides kinda guy, tea with Izak, chili juice with Cath at Wembley Square, swim, Lions Head walk with Andrew and Camila – carried up a tripod and took a series of photos for a panoramic photo project, nerd gathering at Hudsons in Green Point with Cath, a glass of wine at Georg’s house and fetched the last of the stuff I left there in September.
• I think I’m getting used to living in Pleasantville.
• Tuesday, omelette with Naulene in Stellenbosch, rock shandy with Alex, made a panoramic of Table Mountain, a walk around Stellenbosch, cooked my first meal at home – couscous salad, photo processing.
• Looking at some photos – 2008-2011 was a pretty fun ride – going to have to work to keep up the pace.
• Wednesday, office, got home and had no electricity, Mia visit.
• I think this heat is affecting my sleeping patterns.
• Thursday, woke up in Somerset West, took Mia to school, car service day, visited Will, sunset bubbly on Paul’s lawn, pizza at Morituri Stellenbosch with Paul and Victoria.
• I’ve managed to process all my pre-2011 photos and archive the masters – saved a fair bit of space.
• Friday, late lunch at Cuvee – Simonsig with the family, Kanonkop, De Oewer, a walk along the river in Mostertsdrif.
• Saturday, watched Stardust with Mia, lunch at Delicat – Tokara with Mia, Nikki and Andrew.. very nice ice cream, dress shopping for Mia, wine farm tour – Dornier, Hidden Valley, Uva Mira, Rust en Vrede, went to go kick a rugby ball on the Coetzenburg rugby fields.

• “No, seriously, don’t mention it. Reputations, you know – a lifetime to build, seconds to destroy.” — Captain Shakespeare, Stardust

• Sunday, raw green smoothie, we built Lego while listening to Hootie and the Blowfish, Dan Patlansky at Kirstenbosch with Mia, Paul, Claus, Jani and Philippa, pretty awesome bottle of Danie De Wet 2006 Reserve Chardonnay.
• Paul tells me Danie De Wet smuggled the first Chardonnay vine cuttings into SA.
• There is a special kind of happiness from finding Mia’s hat which I was pretty sure had been forgotten at Kirstenbosch the previous day.
• You know Mia has been visiting when there are little bits of blue feathers all over the place, from playing with her feather boa.
• Tune of the week: Die Illusie Van Veiligheid – FPK

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

A quick venting session..

I bought an Audi from Audi Centre Somerset West in December – yeah, I moved to Stellenbosch – it’s the closest one. I soon discovered the wiper fluid bottle was leaking. Nothing major, but early January I got tired of the car telling me to fill up the wiper fluid.

I made a booking to have the bottle replaced. They had already ordered the part in December. So I arrive there one morning pretty early only to discover that the plastic bottle had not arrived – mildly annoyed – surely they could have phoned me and delayed the service date.

Two weeks go by. I phone three times to try and figure out if this all singing and dancing bottle had arrived yet. I end up leaving three messages and nobody phones me back.

I phone the guy who sold me the car. He tells me that the bottle had arrived and he’ll sort it out – by making a service booking. I phone again – no service booking had been made. Really classy.

I took the car to them again this morning. I confirm that it’s only a one day job to replace this very special plastic bottle. “Yeah, should have it back by 16:00.” Cool.

I get a phone call at 15:30 saying that they are not going to be able to finish installing this plastic bottle. They need the car for another day. There is no way I can get a courtesy car. They are going to stop the work – put the car back together and give it back to me. I have to make another booking and hope that next time they can complete this super complex plastic bottle open heart surgery process in one day.

FFS!

I’m going to have to go back a third time to have a plastic bottle replaced.

Monday, the start of a whole new week..

• Monday, first working day of 2012, Werner’s first day at the office, beer and pizza with the family in Stellenbosch.
• Tuesday, office, afternoon walk up Coetzenburg Mountain with Andrew followed by Chinese food and Chardonnay.
• Wednesday, Mia’s first school day of 2012 – Naulene was a bit emotional so we had tea at Dipped in Stellenbosch, went to go install Mia’s PC and internet, afternoon walk with Andrew in Helderberg Nature reserve and a swim followed by some Koelfontein Chardonnay 2009 and Springbok pie.
• I’m in GQ.
• Thursday, office, Paul visit, finished reading my car manual, pizza at Gino’s with Debby, Romek and Eugene.
• Friday, early morning walk to Lanzerac, a walk around Stellenbosch with Alan, late afternoon walk with Andrew in Parydyskloof, a beer at La Romantica.
• Book of the week: Oh, the places you’ll go – by Dr. Seuss
• Two days without using a car this week.
• Saturday, Love & Light near Paarl with Andrew, Paul and Claus.
• My new cooler box has a bit of a dent, but no other permanent damage.
• Sunday, photo processing, Mia visit, more photo processing – processed about 1100 photos – 4k to go – mostly Mia photos – seems about 60% of my photos are Mia/family related photos.
• Handy buzzing mosquito survival trick – get under the duvet with only your head sticking out – wait for mosquito to get really close to your face – lift up the duvet quickly to create a vacuum and suck her in – wrap her up and hug her.
• Tunes of the week: Soundboy Rock by Groove Armada.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

TrustFabric, MXit and World of Avatar mentioned in GQ…

SA GQ Page 86 January 2012

Last week of holiday time..

• Another week without Twitter.. kinda seemed like work.
• Monday, Rezonance, Tai’s house.

• What’s the parrot called? “Mugabe – he destroys everything.” — Tai

• Tuesday, watched Puss in Boots with Mia and Francis.
• Dr. Ernst figures you can get your child into pretty much any school. Just offer to donate a sensory deprivation tank for the problem kids.
• Wednesday, Paul visit, Betty’s Bay braai with Mia and Francis.
• Thursday, family outing to Fairview.
• Friday, car admin, office visit, family haircut trip to Cape Town.
• Saturday, Francis’s 3rd birthday party.. I made up the Pinata, late lunch in Gordons Bay with Paul and Victoria, Bikini Beach swim.
• Sunday, early walk to Lanzerac, wine tasting at Simonsig with Paul, Clifton 2nd (beach meerkating) and Big Beta Beach with Paul and Claus, watermelon and a swim at Philippa’s house.
• Mia now pretty much has full 2N home/parenting redundancy. Not the most efficient way, but it works.
• Tunes of the week: Spanish Train and Other Stories by Chris De Burgh.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

A week without Twitter..

• Monday, got up early, walked to Lanzerac, brunch at Melissas with the family, took Mia and Francis to Spier, Paul’s house, bubbly at L’Avenir Country Lodge with Paul and two Dutch girls, carried sleeping kids to bed.
• Tuesday, we watched Surfs Up, first braai at my new place with Georg.
• Wednesday, Mia and I went to fetch the rest of the family and drove to Hermanus, brunch with Ernst and Lisa, rock pools, late lunch at Harbour Rock, took the coastal road back to Somerset West.
• Ernst got me a Paul Smith toothbrush for Christmas.
• Thursday, man down – caught some flu bug, watched Fight Club, The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
• Disprin really is a miracle drug.
• 900 FB friends – growth has slowed a lot, I had 800 in March.
• Friday, had to get a new fridge, Johan’s at Longridge with the family, sunset walk around Stellenbosch with Mia.
• Saturday, lunch at Erinvale with Shannon and family, kicked a rugby ball around Coetzenburg with Georg, NYE braai at Andrew’s house.
• We woke up on the 31st and I said to Mia: do you know what day today is? Today is the last day of the… She answers “Holidays!” – very excited to go back to school.
• Sunday, Rezonance with Peter Pan (Paul) and Andrew.
• Tunes of the week: The Talking Heads.

Have a fun 2012, crazy kids.

Holiday time..

• Monday, day without using my car, unpacking while Mia and Francis watched a movie, family outing to the Stellenbosch botanical garden, I took a walk to Lanzerac, wedding photo processing with a few glasses of Hartenberg Chardonnay.
• I finally read my flash’s manual.
• Tuesday, migrated all my RAW (master) photos of 2010 to an external drive, some car admin, Mia visit, braai with Milk and Olwyn.
• Wednesday, woke up in Somerset West, more wedding photo processing, nap, 430GB backup, a walk around Stellenbosch.
• Ideas for technology in 2012
• 

• “The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into adulthood.”–Aldous Huxley

• My advice for 2012, don’t make a NY resolutions list, make a list of 10 people you are going to be spending quality time with 5yrs from now.
• Thursday, gym, massage, a beer at Georg’s house, Yellowtail at Sidewalk Cafe, Carlyles Xmas bash.
• Friday, hooked up my washing machine and did 4 batches of washing, supper with Paul in Stellenbosch.
• Saturday, family day, swimming, xmas dinner.
• Sunday, opened presents, set up a water slide for Mia and Francis, nap, took a walk around Stellenbosch.. ghost town, watched Igby Goes Down again.
• Tunes of the week, Shangri-La by Mark Knopfler.

Have a fun NYE, crazy kids.

I’m about 3/4 way unpacked…

• Monday, office, visited Andrew and Mia in SSW, slept like a baby.
• Tuesday, got a new Nokia C1-01 and got iSync to work, Mia visit and brunch at Manuka, A8 test drive, WoA end of year function at Gino’s.
• Wednesday, office, got two beds for the spare rooms, got a Nokia E5, haircut in SSW, Mia visit, watched Moneyball at the mall.. pretty good.
• Thursday, office, Izak visited the office, got a family car, Delheim and Uva Mira with Georg, Brampton bar and Genki (the other sushi spot) with Paul and Georg.
• Phones I’ve had this year: Nokia E72, Nokia E6, HTC Cha Cha, Nokia C3, Nokia C1, Nokia E5 – lost one, gave away two, returned one, broke one.

• “Reputation, reputation, reputation.” — Alan

• Friday, fetched the family, drove to The Baths near Citrusdal, we stopped at the Spur in Piketberg (Car Nav’s suggestion), rock pools and hot spring pool, drinks and potjiekos at the pre-wedding bash at Elephants Leisure, carried a few sleeping children to bed.
• Saturday, bacon and eggs, swimming at The Baths, filled up two compact flash cards with photos of Deborah and Harold’s wedding.. awesome wedding, carried a few sleeping children to bed.
• Sunday, drove back to SSW for Lily’s 3rd birthday party, Olwyn and Milk are back in town, nap, took Mia and Francis for a walk at Coetzenburg, fish and chips at Jimmy the Fish, bath read sleep.. Mia is getting pretty good at reading bed time stories.

Have a fun holiday, crazy kids.

I’m about 1/2 way unpacked…

• Monday, day without using my car, office, some more unpacking, power nap, a walk around Stellenbosch, sushi at Golden Wheat.
• Nice read about Africa
• Tuesday, got up at 5:00, walked to Lanzerac (my new Clifton 1st for morning walks), office, lunch at Neo, Heavy Chef, Georg made us supper.
• I watched Contagion this week.. pretty scary, but good.
• Wednesday, walked to Lanzerac, office, lunch with Theo and Paul at Greengate, MXit iPhone app design session, Mia visit, Will made an awesome Thai curry and we had a deep geek photography workflow session drinking red wine and eating dark chocolate.
• Thursday, walked to Lanzerac, office, unpacking, walked around Stellenbosch, burger at Binnehof, watched The Empire Strikes Back.
• Nokia C3 – the third world dog of mobile phones.
• Friday, met with Izak, Arksey Village Pub with Andrew, fetched Mia and Francis, Mooiberge, walk along the Eerste Rivier, we watched Despicable Me, bath, read, sleep.
• Saturday, Megamind, Megan’s 5th bday party at Waterworld in Strand, seared tuna at Long Table at Haskell Vineyards, took a walk around Stellenbosch, watched Gerald, Schalk and Dave Furgeson in Andringa Street, packing and photo processing.
• Mia weighs 24kg now, Francis 14kg.
• Sunday, fetched Andrew at 7:00, Flying Circus near Stanford with LKB, Hermanus, Buena Vista.
• I seem to have lost the 3rd world dog phone.

• “I think it’s time for a road soda.” — Andrew

• Mid-town Stellenbosch rocks.

Rock ‘n Roll, crazy kids.

Completing the move to Stellenbosch..

• Monday, woke up in SSW, dropped Mia at school, day at the office in Stellenbosch, installed Ubuntu 11.10 on my old Macbook Pro, Alan’s talk at MIH Media Lab, made supper.
• Don’t you just feel more alive while things are busy changing?
• Tuesday, dropped Mia and Francis at school, Stellenbosch, house shopping, drove through to Cape Town, dinner party at Cath’s.
• Wednesday, woke up in Tamboerskloof, World of Avatar strategy day at the Grand Daddy in Long Street, supper at Neighbourhood with the team.
• Thursday, woke up in Long Street, more strategy workshop time, Neighbourhood, Cafe Africa at Herritage Square, Deadmau5 at CTICC with Andrew, Marcia and Georg, Grand Daddy.

• “There’s three ways to do things, the right way, the wrong way and the way that I do it.” – Robert De Niro (Casino)

• Friday, woke up in Long Street, Mia’s xmas school concert, Vergelegen, nap.
• Saturday, woke up in SSW, moved all my stuff from storage to Stellenbosch, family day, lunch at Greengate, stroll around the botanical gardens, snack at De Stomme Jonge, Mia stayed over, bath, read, sleep – first night in the new house.
• Started teaching Mia some Afrikaans – can’t live in Stellenbosch and not speak Afrikaans.
• I now live about 15min away from Mia, down from about 45min.
• Sunday, perfect day, woke up in Stellenbosch, breakfast + arts and crafts at the Aquarium, gift shopping, Izzy’s 5th birthday party at the Blue Train in Mouille Point, Phantom of the Opera at Artscape Opera House with Mia and Cath.. Mia loved it – I thought it was really good, fetched some boxes at Georg’s house, dropped Mia at her mom’s, a walk around Stellenbosch, conveyer belt sushi at CTFM.. I have two sushi restaurants in my street now, fell asleep while doing some photo processing.
• There is in fact a lake under the Paris Opera House – well, more like a few flooded rooms, but still a good story.
• Nice to stay live in one place again.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Getting used to Stellenbosch again…

• Monday, a 7:00 walk around Stellenbosch, first day in the new Stellenbosch office, house viewing in Stellenbosch.
• Funny, this is the same Stellenbosch building where I worked in my very first job.

• “once again, I find myself with my friends.”

• Interesting read about honest blogging : “My own personal motto is: honesty to a point. I will never harm anyone.”
• One thing I’m not going to be miss from staying in Somerset West: the pets.
• Tuesday, had to de-tangle Mia’s hair after she washed it with soap, Stellenbosch meeting, day at the office, glass of wine with Andrew.

• “Who needs a grumpy girlfriend?” — Andrew

• Charl wrote about TrustFabric’s next phase.

• “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky

• Wednesday, day at the office, visit to Piet’s house on the way back home.
• Had about 6 cups of coffee this week, coffee machine in the office, I remember why I stopped drinking coffee in 2001.
• MTU issues with the VPN, very annoying not having root on the office routers.

• “Jesus Christ Super Spar” — Anton, about the Spar

• Thursday, day at the office, Gavin moved into the office, I’m a sucker for healthy buffet lunches, visited the mountain bike shop, drove to Cape Town, burger at Da Vinci’s with Georg, gin and dry lemon at Carlyle’s with Milton, White Russian at Daddy Longlegs – I stayed in the Far Away from home room.
• Friday, woke up in Long Street, fresh chili juice and omellette on the red sofa, gym, wheel alignment, car wash, fetched Deadmau5 tickets, Sentient party at Jason’s Bakery on Bree, sundowners at the Radisson with Aiden, Chris and Georg, Fight Night at The Armoury Boxing Club with Cath and Nechama, La Bottega, The Power and the Glory.
• I definitely become less of a nice person if I don’t get enough exercise.
• Saturday, drove through to SSW for Stage Coach, lunch at Cafe Zest, a walk around Radloff park, probably the first time I had take away sushi, photo processing.

• “Crab sticks – the polony of the sea.” — Georg

• A year ago getting 20 photos was easy, now I have to work fairly hard to get 20 photos I’m happy with.
• Sunday, Blaauwklippen Family Market – Gerald let Mia sing Shosholoza, nap, Blues Broers at the Helderberg Nature reserve with Andrew and Gavin, pizza.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

If you ever need a quick temporary ADSL account…

I got to the office today and the fibre line is down. No problem – let’s just reset the ADSL router in the corner, cool – it syncs – now I just need an ADSL account. Easy.

I phone up Web Africa. I explain it’s an emergency and I probably only need the account for the day – but I have no internet access.

Abigail sells me a 2GB pre-paid account by credit card. Cool.

She ask me to check my email for account details. Nope, can’t do that – no internet remember. Ok, I get put through to support.

Darryl tells me to find the account details by logging into their client portal – nope, can’t do that – no internet, he sends me an SMS with the account details. I try those – nope – can’t get an IP – I figure out that he SMS’d me details to their client portal – and NOT the ADSL login details I asked for.

I phone support again. Darryl reads me the ADSL login details. It connects this time but I get a page which asks me to top-up my account? Then he tells me that they’ve been having a problem with their top-up system today and I can only use the account “later” – it’s a “minor thing” which they are working on.

All I wanted was an ADSL account for the day which would work as soon as I paid.

RSAWeb worked out way better. One call which ended with working account details in the router. I needed to talk to only one person and I got 3GB of traffic at less than what I paid for the 2GB Web Africa traffic.

UPDATE 12:05

Got a call from RSAWeb to check if everything is working. Nice.

UPDATE – the next day at 13:30

The Web Africa top-brass sent me an email and added some extra traffic to my account (thanks). They seem keen to improve the customer experience for the case above.

UPDATE – Dec 5 11:25

I get a text message saying RSAWeb is billing me R158.00 – which I can only assume is them mistakenly signing me up to some form of recurring service. *sigh*