2005-12-12-Monday

I had some trouble opening my car door this morning. It felt a little stiff. The key wouldn't turn. I thought that the saltwater from my other key that's attached to my board was starting to muck up my lock. That was until I put the key into my ignition, would wouldn't turn at all. After 5 minutes of wiggling, jiggling and cursing, the realisation dawned on my that what I was faced with was the remanents of an unsuccesful car robbery. Someone tried to pick the lock and in the process damaged the ingnition. It's fairly common knowledge that Mazda's and Ford Lasers are notoriously easy to steal, and are the "teeth cutting" choice of aspiring car thiefs. Well better luck next time chump!!!

I did manage to get the car started after further jiggling, wiggling. I fetched my boss from the airport, explaining the situation to him, and from there went to the insurance compny and locksmith respectively.
Because the insurance Company is right next door to Kamla's work, I dropped of her mail, which I've been lugging around in my briefcase for the last three days.

The locksmith said it would take about an hour and half to repair, and so I'm blogging and having breakfast. I've lost some time though, there were some things I needed to follow up at work, I have to put the extra time in some time during the week.

Let's see what else the day throws at me !!!

2005-12-23-Friday

Christmas just around the corner, but I'm working through. Will take leave in March.
Moved office twice and now balancing 6 projects. It gets difficult when everyone else is laid back, at the beach or clubbing your own mind is thinking about deadlines.
Well the good news is that after the second move, I now have my window view back, but now the aircon itn't up to spec, and if I came with an operating manual, it would read "Caution: Optimal operating environment 19 - 21°C. For improved performance, place unit in close proximity to coffee machine and i-station tuned to GrooveSalad.com"

Nov - Dec 2005

Recent events are setting the stage for 2006,and although it wasn't what I had planned for, I think going with the flow is the way to go.

I've been busy with the task of looking for premanent residence, and housing prices being what they are, it's not a pleasant task. Buying a (decent) on a single salary is just not possible these days. The routine involves me grabbing a copy of the property post and marking the possible options. From there it's spending my Sundays riding around and getting my hopes dashed, smashed and trampled on. Well, if I have to have my Sundays ruined, I may as well have a good breakfast. I am a creature of habit you see . I choose the same table, order the same food at the same time, and usually get the same waitress. This comforts me, as the waitress knows what I want and my order goes smoothly.

THis is how I met *her*. A Chinese national with a friendly smile and pleasant demeaner.
(I'm not putting her name here because I haven't asked permission to write it here)
Somewhat taller than I would have expected, for a Chinese person, and dammned if I have to admit, looks a little like Lucy-Lu at certain angles...I think it's the light freckles that create the likness.

In any case, I had the priveledge of her company for supper one afternoon and voraciasously learned as much as I could about her. My instincts told me she was an interesting person and I wasn't dissapointed.

Somedays, when I'm surfing the waves are really awesome, but also a bit scary, but if you stop to think about each wave, you miss most of them. This is kind of how my life's been feeling lately, so when the supper was finished and I had found myself making arrangements to go to China on holiday with my newfound companion, I had to laugh. Life is weird, and at the moment...very exciting. If all goes well, well be making our way to Hong Kong (Xiang Cang) for a few days, from there direct to Shang-Hai, her home-town. Whether she'll decide to stay or come back to S.A. remains to be seen. I think she'll stay in China, and the way things are going I will have to brace myself to come home from China alone and dare I say, broken hearted...but then I've had lot's of practice in that department so let the chips fall where they may, they're going to anyway.

2005-11-26-Saterday Road Race

2005-11-26-Saterday Road Race
Originally uploaded by Clint_Walker.

I had an early night on Friday to prep for the Remax 15km Race on Saturday....I still woke up late. The wind was quite strong, so it took some arguing with myself to get myself out of bed.

To make matters worse I could find the venue. I was just about to give up when I saw a chap come past me in his car, with a runners vest on. He had a look of extreme oncentration on his face..as if he was late for something .... ahhh!! So I just followed him and managed to arrive on time.

The wind had died down a bit so it wasn't too bad. I took it easy and I found that I had managed better than I expected. So all is not lost, I can still do a 15km at least LOL! The chap in the picture is someone I've seen around many of the road races. This gentleman is 75 years old, and that deserves some respect...he certainly has mine. :)