Well, it's still a ghost town here... Back at work on the 30th December. Everyone else is on holiday. At least there are a few people around so it's not too boring.

My long weekend was great! We spent it up near Rustenburg (Sun City area) with Michelle's folks at their house. It was HOT! So most of the time was spent indoors with the aircon on and watching TV... But we did get to swim a bit and ride the bike around which was nice. On the way back home yesterday we got caught in a thunderstorm on the bike... Not fun and we both got wet! HaHaHa... The joys of bike riding... ;o)

I hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to 2003 just as much as I am!

The question of the day: "Why am I here?" It's Christmas Eve and I'm at work. This place is a ghost town practically. At least we get to go home at 12:30... So it's not too bad. :o)

This past weekend was quite a good one. Went to go see "The Guru" in Menlyn on Friday night with Michelle's parents. It was pretty good, but I think it should be kept as a video movie. Then Saturday Michelle and I did some shopping and bought a TV cabinet for our townhouse. Saturday evening we went to a friend's house to play Risk. A very cool world domination boardgame. Sunday was a run around day as we went to my folk's place to get the bakkie (Utility van) to collect the TV cabinet, only to find out that my parents have decided to give theirs to us instead. So back we went to get a refund for the cabinet we bought the day before. No problem with that, except with Christmas and all, I can only get my money back on the 6th January. DOH! And then last night Michelle and I spent playing Croc2 on the Playstation. It was a nice relaxing evening.

And I have to say that it SUCKS being at work this week when no one else is here. DOH! Traffic was a breeze though! I wish it could be like this all year round!

Make your own Paint-By-Numbers. Pretty cool!

Here's the next in the series of Politician Logic..

Well, today everyone in my department has brought their kids to work and this place looks like a creche! So apart from productivity hitting an (almost) all time low, I've been surfing for things to do.. This is a great pasttime.. Check it out. It's Bolle Snowboarding!! Great fun!

The logic of some of our politicians. Some are shocking, some are funny.

Well, the weekend was a blur. We had a long weekend here with the monday being a public holiday, so I have to correct my statement and say that it was a long blur! Heh heh Saturday I drove out to Pretoria (collecting a camera fine on the way.. DAMN!!) to see Michelle's parents for lunch and then later that evening we all got together at FourWays shopping mall for dinner. It was the first time that her folks and my folks met, so Michelle and I were a little nervous about the whole thing, but as it turned out we all got along great! We had a fantastic dinner and everyone enjoyed themselves. So FINALLY the parents have met and it won't be a first meeting at the wedding! HaHaHa.. It almost seemed like they would only meet on our wedding day!!!

Sunday, Michelle and I took the bike to Centurion in Pretoria again just for a bike ride and to meet up with her folks again. Nice ride, but very hot. So I had to ride fast on the way back home to keep us cool.... At least that's the excuse I'll use! Heh heh

Monday we did some shopping and I did an oil change on the bike. It was overdue about 1000 odd kilometres already, so it had to be done!

Well, today is going to be a really easy day at work. We're leaving at 12 to go for our department Christmas Lunch in Sandton. We're going to a vietnamese restaurant and I think it should be really good! There will be NO WAY that I'm coming back to work afterwards! And I think everyone else will feel the same way too! ;o) Oh, and I'm quite excited... I've bought my friend's old video camera and I can't wait for Gill to bring it back from England for me!!! It's going to be prefectly timed for Christmas and New Years and then my honeymoon in February.

I found two cool things courtesy of B3TA.com... This is something that you don't want to happen to your computer...HISS!!!. And here's something quite cool... Check it out... It's checking you out!!!.

Enjoy!

The toy run was great and even though it drizzled and rained, we had quite a big turn out of bikes... About 300 or so I reckon. It was great to be back at church that evening as well as I have missed about 3 weeks while being overseas.

This week at work is such a drag. I have loads of work, but I'm already in the Christmas Spirit! So it's tough going to get things done... Heh heh

Michelle and I have just come back from a spit braai (barbeque for those in the UK) at our bike club. It was the end year Christmas party and we all had a great time socialising. Tonight, I finally finished the Christian Motorcyclists Association web site and uploaded it... So have a look at it, and tell me what you think. Please let me know if you come across any mistakes or missing images.. That sort of thing. It's my first attempt, and I think future versions will include some Flash programming and other fancy things. Right, it's late and I'm tired. I have to get up at 6am for the Toy Run tomorrow morning. Good night.

Today is a nice rainy day for a change. It bucketed down earlier, but now seems to have stopped for a while. I am very annoyed with a company here that is making a leather biking jacket for Michelle. We ordered this jacket about 5 weeks ago and had to put down a 50% deposit... FINALLY the jacket is ready and Michelle went to collect it only to find out that the jacket is the wrong colour! And we SPECIFICALLY mentioned the colour on the order!!! So now we have to wait another 3 weeks or so for them to make a new jacket. I'm waiting for the manager to phone me just now, and he's going to get an ear full from me!

I have some exciting news about our new townhouse. Michelle and her mom bought material for curtains and covers for the lounge suite yesterday and when I went past there last night, they were sewing and covering and going crazy! The place is going to look AWESOME! And while I was there, an ad came on TV for Dial-A-Bed and they are having a special on double and queen size beds at the moment... So I phoned them up and a queen size bed is being delivered today along with a free DVD player included!!! Isn't that great or what!?? I'm very impressed! ;o)

Oh well, I suppose I should get back to work...

Well, I tried to update this from Sydney airport yesterday, but it obviously didn't work. I typed a whole schpiel, but it didn't save it. Anyways, the flight back was LONGGGGG.. Our plane was delayed in Sydney for 5 hours!!! Something was wrong with the aircraft and they had to get another one from somewhere... So after sitting around in the airport being totally bored, we finally got underway back to South Africa. Instead of arriving at 3:30 in the afternoon as scheduled though, we arrived at 8:30pm!!! And then still had to drive for an hour to get home. So as you can imagine, I just dumped my stuff in my room and crashed into bed...

Today at work is interesting, because it's almost lunch time here but my "bodyclock" is telling me that it's about 7pm! Really weird. I hope I will be over this jetlag by tomorrow though.

Well, it's the last day here so we're planning to make the most of it... Early start to go to the beach before it gets too hot. At about 10am, it's already unbearable on the beach! And then my dad and I have to start packing later this afternoon... We leave for the airport at 4:30am tomorrow morning, so it's going to be a tough one getting up! Heh heh

We all took a drive into Brisbane yesterday. My brother had an appointment and so we thought it would be an opportunity to see some of the areas that we have not already seen. Anyways, after I sorted out my bank card (I'd forgotten the pin number.... Hey give me a break! It's been over a year since I last used it!) Anyways, we took a drive up to one of the nearby hills where all the TV stations broadcast from! Excellent biking road!! If I ever get the opportunity to ride a bike in Australia, I'm coming here for a "road test" Heh heh.. Or to put it more accurately, I footpeg scratching session. Anyways, we got a spectacular view over the city and the adjacent suburbs. And guess where my camera was... Nice and safe at home where it helps me nothing. DAMN! Oh well... You can't win them all. :o) It took almost 2 hours to drive back from there in the pre-peak hour traffic, and when we got home I was quite tired. We just lazed about at home that evening, and listened to the long overdue rain that fell for an hour or so... The Gold Coast is in serious drought at the moment and the local dam is at 35% capacity!

Today was another relaxing day... Typical of the Gold Coast where every day is a holiday! :o) I think my brother is a spoilt brat for being able to work and live in what I reckon is the best part of the world! But we went out this morning to do some shopping. My brother bought another air conditioner for the top floor of his townhouse. It get's unbearably hot upstairs in summer. And then later we relaxed at the pool.. Had Nando's for lunch... Not as good as in South Africa, but still an awesome chicken burger! Only a few more days left before I fly back home, so I'm going to make the most of them...

Well, this weekend has been a relaxing one. Just been chilling on the beach and playing some computer games as well. At the moment, I've just come back from the pool in the complex, but because of it being weekend, it was packed with yelling kids. Not as relaxing as I thought it would be! Heh heh. Last night we went out to see "The Ring" at the movies here... What a stupid story, but at least it was an original one. I don't recommend it to anyone. And that's about it for now...

We woke up early this morning to head off into Brisbane town centre with my brother. My dad had a few meetings to attend, and I wanted to walk around and also do a bit of shopping. We got there quite early and I took my time walking through the mangrove swamp area on the river before heading to Starbucks for the morning coffee. It was great to sit there and just watch the people walking by. After that I did a bit of shopping and bought my wedding ring at one of the jewelers there that I'd found on the internet and looked for while I was in town. It's brilliant even though they didn't have my size and so my brother will have to bring it over to SA with him when he flies over for the wedding in February next year. Anyways from there I bought a new Rich Dad book and just walked around looking at the sights. Later in the afternoon, my dad and I took a CityCat down the river until the last stop to see the city and surrounds from the river. It was brilliant and I ended up with "Hair by CityCat" as we stood on the bow of the boat. By the time my brother picked us up after his work, I was quite tired and after getting Subway for dinner, I'm catching up emails and then I'm definitely going to get some well needed sleep!

Today was a good day. Started off with my brother's "Australian family" inviting us to the beach, so at 9:30 we headed off to the beach for a walk and a swim. It was already quite hot and I got slightly burnt, but I think it's a tannable burn, not a peeling burn! :o) Afterwards we headed to their house for lunch and later a drive up into the nearby mountains. I could not believe how dry and dead all the vegetation was. The Hinze Dam is 30 something percent full and looks bad with the bare edges everywhere. Last year when I was here the trees were on the edge of the water, and now there is a huge gap of quite a few metres between the tree line and the water. Sad. Anyways, we drove quite far into the mountains and stopped for coffee at a camping/hiking lodge type thing. Very good milkshakes!!! :o) From there back through the winding roads to my brother's house. I wish I had my motorbike here... The roads are fantastic here with only a few sections being repaired and bumpy. Now I'm quite tired and after finishing here, I'm going to catch a quick nap before Grant get's home, which should actually be any time soon. It's already 6pm. Zzzzzzzzz.....

Hello from Australia!!! I got her yesterday evening and it's just as I remembered it. It feels like I was here just last week, but in fact it's been over a year! It is great to see my brother again and I'm looking forward to going to the beach and chilling for these next two weeks. I wanted to get up early this morning to head down to the Jacuzzi but the jet lag is quite bad. At the moment, it's 11am, but for me, it's 3am!! I managed to get out of bed at 9:45... But I think tomorrow I'll be fine. Last night we stayed up and watched "The Lord of the Rings" on DVD. Jan, my brother's friend, bought the boxed special edition set with extra footage and scenes. Really good. I think the next part in the trilogy will be great too when it comes out on circuit in a month or two.

It's supposed to be a drought here at the moment, but my brother reckons that the last two days have been weird weather and they've had some thundershowers and rain. First rains in about 6 or 7 months according to my brother.

Anyways, I will write more when something actually happens. Heh heh... I'm just relaxing today and recovering from the jet lag.

HALLELUJA!! Finally found a nice townhouse to stay in. Michelle and I went to see two places last night and both were really good. Funny because everything we'd seen before that was terrible, or still being built. So it was strange that we got to see two great places in one evening. Anyways, we've decided on the second place and paid the deposit this morning. PHEW! So now I can relax. And the timing is great too because now Michelle can move in on the 1st December and I will move in after the wedding giving Michelle time to sort out the house and make it "home".

The only negative thing about this new place is that it only has two carports and no garage... Which is fine for the cars, but I'm nervous about leaving my motorcycle outside all the time. I also think it affects the insurance premium as well, but I'll have to check up on that.

Other than that, I'm off to Australia in 1 day!!! *grin* I can't wait!

Testing my comments option... Please click on the link and make a comment!!! :o)

2 days! 2 days! 2 days! Then I'm on holiday! Pity that I have to work when I'm in this mood. :o)

Well, this is an overdue update, but I have a valid excuse. I was on a team building workshop with work from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday evening. It was really good fun and we got to meet a lot of people in the Avis organisation that I would normally never meet. The activities included drumming on African drums and also clay modelling and workshops and brainstorming and don't forget drinking!! The evenings were really good social times and everyone sat about chatting and playing pool and dancing. Great fun! I came away from the workshop with a new understanding about how to handle difficult situations at work, among other things. It's good to be back though and I look forward to putting some of the taught principles into action. 3 more days..... and then I fly to Australia! I can't wait! It's going to be good to see my brother again. My dad flew out last Saturday and we're going to fly back together on the 2nd December.

Another cool thing that I look forward to every day is email jousting... medieval style. Go to Battlemail and download the Joust program. Install it. Choose a username, and away you go! I think it's free up until level 4 or 5 and then you have to subscribe. But it's really cheap and great fun! I look forward to Jousting with some of you in the near future... My Joust name is "-WN- Hobbes"

I've just taken a walk to the other side of the building to get some hot chocolate. (The kitchen near us only has coffee.) Anyways, on the way back we stopped at a friend's desk and she is feeding a baby parrot with a syringe. Apparently this bird was abandoned or something... Anyways, it's really cute and then I go open my mouth and say "All we need now is a bread bun and some Lemon and Herb seasoning". Heh heh. Oops. Not quite Nando's but a close second I would think! :o)

The worst company in the world to deal with when a problem arises. There is no sales support and each "solution" makes more problems somewhere else... Stay away from them if you can!!
I'm sure you can guess who I've just been speaking to over the phone.. *frown*

Last night we went to see a wedding photographer about our wedding pics. Margaret Tilling is exactly what we're looking for. She will do artistic and normal posed pics, but with different effects. Black and white prints, colour prints, cross process and sepia. So we're getting the whole she-bang! Which is awesome! Margaret has also done studio work for Ronan Keating and Westlife overseas, and I think it is something really special that she will be doing our wedding photos. Anyways, tonight is our Marriage course that Michelle and I are working through. So we're doing the final few chapters this week before I fly off to see my brother in Australia next weekend! That's it for now... Except if you're bored, go here.

Well, what a hectic weekend... And it was supposed to be a relaxing one. Friday night I took Michelle out for dinner at a Thai place, and it was quite nice. The food was awesome as usual, but they had two guys playing live there, and it was too loud! I think we shouted at each other through dinner! Not too good.
Saturday we spent house hunting and found nothing. Well, actually we found lots of places, but all WAY out of our budget price range. I mean, over half a million rand for a town house? You have to be kidding!!! So anyways, our search continues this coming weekend... *sigh*
Then we did some shopping and I bought two DVD's... "Ice Age" and "Sliding Doors". Both good movies...
Sunday was another day that was supposed to be relaxing, but I ended up doing house chores... Washing and dishes and such nonsense. Michelle made a proper full lunch and it went down really well! Then it was church in the evenings... Good fun! And now I'm sitting at work, the boss is away on a religious holiday. (Today is a Hindu holiday here in S.Africa).. So we're all just goofing around at work. you know the drill... Cats away, the mice play.. etc.etc.etc.

This is where I got the idea to start my own Blog from. Thanks Gill!!

Sitting at work now and I need to print 14 pages on the colour laser printer. In front of me, already printing, is a 70 page document... But requested for 14 copies. @#%$#@@# *sigh* This blog is becoming a Derek-Gripe column. :o)

Well.. Last night was supposed to be a relaxing evening at home and then I got a phone call from a friend... I had forgotten that I'd made arrangements last night to go out. So anyways, I rushed home from work, changed, and headed off to the friends house. We ended up going to the local pub near his place and played about 10 games of pool! It was great fun! Later I went to go see Michelle, and she complained that I stank of cigarette smoke. *sigh* I couldn't smell anything, but I guess it was pretty bad because she wouldn't hug me for longer than she could hold her breath! HaHaHa. Anyways. later that evening I got home and showered and watched some dumb movie on TV with Alex Baldwin and that girl who acted in "10 things I hate about you"... I think it was called "The Old Mill" but I could be wrong. Got to bed at 2:30am, so you can only imagine what today feels like at work.

My gripe for today: Embassies and Visas.
As some of you know, I am about to go visit my brother in Australia soon and I've been spending a lot of time trying to get all the information together for the visa... You know the stuff: Proof of return to South Africa, Letter from my employer, letter from my brother inviting me to Aus, Proof of foreign currency..etc.etc.etc. It's a HUGE schlepp. Anyways, I went this morning IN PERSON to the embassy to make sure that I can get a 4 year visa and then I won't have to go through this pain every year if I want to go see my brother. I was going to use an agency to get my visa, but then I was sure to only get the short stay visa. Anyways, to make a long story short... I stood there in the queue for about an hour and a half, and then it took about 2 minutes to actually get my visa.... The visa agent didn't even ask to see ANY of the above supporting documents. Just my passport and application form... and guess what... I got the short visa. ARRGGHHHHHH!!!!!
What I don't understand is that if you go apply for a visa knowing that you have ONE little piece of proof missing, they will ask for it and you won't get your visa. But how come when I had EVERYTHING in order to get a long stay visa, she didn't even ask for anything... Just bam, short visa, thanks for coming. *sigh* Oh well... Next time I see Murphy, I'm gonna take his laws and shove them right up his #@%#%. Humph.

Well, this is the start of something that I will plan to update regularly... Just kind of a diary thing. If it ends up being boring, that's not my fault.. It's merely your perception. :o)
Anyways, this past weekend was the Rhino Rally here in South Africa and we all rode down there to attend. It was expected to be a rough weekend, but in the end it turned out to be almost like a family holiday. As most of you already know, I ride a 1999 model Yamaha R1.and am a member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association. We went on an outreach there, and it was a pleasant surprise that God had already done most of the work. More tomorrow...