Tue 18th July 2006

As God is my witness, never again shall I go through a single day at work without detailing exactly what happened.

I'm not going into details, but if you DO NOT KEEP A WORK JOURNAL - You're screwed!

Never ever again!!!!

2006-07-(08th to 12th)

Contents

0] Intro...
1] How am I - Physical
2] How am I - Emotional
3] Current Tasks / Projects
4] Upcoming Events
5] Recent Events
6] Entertainment Review /Anime/Movies/Music/Games/Outdoor

---

0] Introduction

My Blog entries will be structured from now on, more or less following this standard format. Occupation hazard for someone who write protocols for a living...had to happened sooner of later.

1] How am I? Physical

Category	Goal / Limits	Current
Weight	< 80 kg	83.8kg
BMI	18.5 - 25	25.9 (Arrrgggghhhh)
% Body Fat	14 - 22	20.4
Blood Pressure	<>	112/67
Cholesterol	4.1 -5.2	???
Blood Sugar	3.5 - 6.0	???

Background:
The Virgin Active computer has confirmed what I've expected...I've become a fat-ass. I've tipped over the BMI 25 line.

---

2] How am I? Emotional
Mood (1 = I wanna Die 10 = Whoohoo!) Current = 6 Same Same - Wish I had lithium

---

3] Current Tasks / Projects

Health
- See the Dentists!!! - Still must do
- Get Cholesterol & Glucose Readings - still must do !!
- Loose weight / Get toned -
- Diet !!!! -

Home
- Plans for Home extension
Got the drawing plans, must take them to a Draftsperson for submission to the municipal authorities for approval
- Get some nice paintings for lounge area - Get the garden into place - Free landscaping service anyone?
Where to start!!!!

Cyber
Update my Web Page
- Write articles on my field of work
Update my Blog
- Upload videos of visit to China
Ja... I DID this on YouTube and a few days later it ALL DISAPPEARED - Ok so let's try Clip Shack out instead
- Get efficient system for video uploads
Ditto for the above
- Getting confused again - should I stick with blogger or do I go to MSN Spaces or to Yahoo 360 UUUHHHHH

Work
Validation documentation project for the new production area - 2 week till dead line.
Made some progress here
Office relocation preparations - hmmm doesn't look like this is gonna happen soon, my new office that is
Updating of company SHE reps for the new Engineer - DOne
Arrange Safety Meeting for this month. - Done

---

4] Upcoming events

Not really an event but there are two things I really want to do

1) Get my bicycle fixed and go for a looooooog cycle

2) I haven't been clubbing for - like forever - need to call Justin and ask him if he's still alive ...

---

5] Recent events

Grahamstown Festival: It was nice all in all. It seemed a bit quieter than last year, I suspect the cold weather and the soccer world cup had an impact. I was disappointed when I found that the restaurant I normally go to didn't sell GLUVINE anymore :(

On the way to Grahamstown I got this cool footage of Declan
==> http://www.orbitfiles.com/download/id389954262
Ofcourse when I go camping, I Really rough it. I mean it was so tough out there in the wilderness I even had to run a power cable out to the DB board so that I could plug in my heater, laptop and light, and pump up the inflatable air mattresses.
And ofcourse I had to hold the camera while the woman pitched the tent.... no seriously I did help pitch the tent.
==>http://www.orbitfiles.com/download/id389955118
The end result
==>http://www.orbitfiles.com/download/id389956219

The Ride Home (Billy Idol and the Bunny Girl)
==>http://www.orbitfiles.com/download/id389957987

I was very happy with the air mattresses and I didn't even get cold :)

---

6] Entertainment Review / Anime / Movies / Music / Games / Outdoor

Viewing the first few episodes of an Anime called Speed Grapher.
It starts out with the song from Duran Duran called "Girls on Film"
It's a series about an ex-war photographer and is interaction with a powerful corporation in Japan.
Looks very promising so far.

Fw: 2006_07_03

Contents

0]        Intro...
1]        How am I - Physical
2]        How am I - Emotional
3]        Current Tasks / Projects
4]        Upcoming Events
5]        Entertainment Review /Anime/Movies/Music/Games/Outdoor


0] Introduction

My Blog entries will be structured from now on, more or less following this standard format. Occupation hazard for someone who write protocols for a living...had to happened sooner of later.

1] How am I? |Physical|

Category	Goal / Limits	Current
Weight	< 80 kg	84kg
BMI	18.5 - 25	25
% Body Fat	14 - 22	20.7
Blood Pressure	<140/<90	96/62
Cholesterol	4.1 -5.2	???
Blood Sugar	3.5 - 6.0	???

Background:
Optimal physical heath peaked around 2000 - 2003, where running 45 km half marathons were the norm. BMI was at 22, weight at 80.
Demands of new job (at the time) working 12 - 14 hours routinely
Contributed to the "back-sliding".
Goal and intent is to return to this state with systems in place to
maintain it, with the knowledge that the challenge will increase with
each passing year.

2] How am I? |Emotional|
Mood (1 = I wanna Die 10 = Whoohoo!) Current = 6

Background:
After several months of deep despair and general feelings of being overwhelmed, a new sense of determination is returning, I'm beginning to feel like my old self.
The first thing that is needed to set a course for task completions


3] Current Tasks / Projects

Health
- See the Dentists!!!
- Get Cholesterol & Glucose Readings
- Loose weight / Get toned
- Diet !!!!

Home
- Plans for Home extension
        Got the drawing plans, must take them to a Draftsperson for submission to the         municipal authorities for approval
- Get some nice paintings for lounge area
- Get the garden into place
  Where to start!!!!

Cyber
Update my Web Page
- Write articles on my field of work
Update my Blog
- Upload videos of visit to China
- Get efficient system for video uploads
- Getting confused again - should I stick with blogger or do I go to MSN Spaces or to Yahoo 360 UUUHHHHH

Work
Validation documentation project for the new production area - 3 week till dead line.
Office relocation preparations
Updating of company SHE reps for the new Engineer
Arrange Safety Meeting for this month.

4] Upcoming events (8th-10th July 2006)
Graham's town Festival!!! South Africa's woodstock.
I saw a couple of stage shows last year, and they were pretty good.
The actors have very little in the way of props - just a bare stage
A few lights and perhaps a sound system if they're lucky.
I've been going every year since 2000

It's already started this weekend and I'm hoping to go this weekend coming . I hope that Xin-Wen will be free this weekend so that we can both go. Last year I pitched a tent that I bought ( 8 man double layer dome construct) but two oversights on my part

1) The floor is damn hard! Yup, unlike my Grandfather and Uncle and Mother who could (and probably did) sleep in the bush veldt without a qualm, I'm not made of such hardy stuff.
- So I bought inflatable matrices, yea I know, I'm a real man - step aside John Wayne

2) It's damn cold! Grahams town is inland and in a valley, and the festival is in winter. All the restaurants sell gluvine - which I love by the way. (Warm & Drunk!) The tent site has electricity beacons, and so this time I'll be bringing a fire proof heater ..or an electric blanket if I can find one...they're all sold out.

5] Entertainment Review /Anime/Movies/Music/Games/Outdoor

|Anime|
Title: Samurai Champloo
Viewed: June 2006
Comment: I really enjoyed this one! The characters were better developed than some animes. Essentially three very different characters on a single quest. Yes, they are Samurai so there's the obligatory sword slashing, jumping through the air etc, but what really kept me watching was the sense of humour and the occasional inserts / historical facts about life in Japan during the Edo period and how they impact on modern Japan today. Although the anime is set in the Edo period it's trendy and very accessible to the young generation (and the young at heart ... that's what I call myself anyway... (^_^)

The anime was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, for the Anime folks out there - yes, it's the same guy that did Cowboy Beebop.

Characters:
Jin (My Favourite) I wish I looked like him!
Well kept, quite, well mannered wears a indigo blue hakama and gi (also my favourite colour) - of noble heritage

Mugen - wild haired, just plain wild vagabond, born on a penal colony on the Ryuku Islands. I assume that his fighting style is
A hybrid of so many different style that he learned on the penal colony, that his opponents get taken by surprise and do not know how to react.

Fuu - I grew to love this character. A wilful 15 year old girl (ex-waitress) is on a mission to find a Samurai who smells like sunflowers, by the way, Sun Flowers don't really have a smell -very Zen like to me..

|Anime|
Title: Bleach
Viewed: Still busy (as of July 2006)

Not as good as Samurai Champloo I think.
Too much fighting, chest beating and bravado
Still watch able in the same way soapies get you hooked to know "what's gonna happen next", but you don't really learn anything from this series - except I keep hearing the word "Bankai!!)
I watch Anime every night before I go to bed and invariably fall asleep before the 3 successive episodes has finished - I'm beginning to worry about what effect this will have on my sub conscience...maybe I'll be sitting in the boardroom one day, and I'll be trying to explain why my department needs more resources - my request will be denied, and infuriated I'll stand up and shout -
So...you dare challenge ME! NOW YOU WILL SEE THE FULL POWER OF MY SWORD'S BANKAI!!!!!
Don't laugh - it could happen!

Ohh maaaaan

(-_-)

I turn my back from my blog for a few weeks, I come back and what do I see, some idiot hacks my blog and puts up adds for adults products.

The hack seems to have been worked via flicker rather than blogger.com ...
I'll get to the bottom of it, when I have the energy, or I'm feeling vindictive. (\_/)
The poor sod tried to be poetic as well with the subscript, the person's obviously over-reaching themselves.

Anyways - either that or I'll migrate to msn spaces or something.

Lot's of stuff to be done here, seeing as I'm almost out of my hibernation phase.

2006-03-15

Extreme traffic, stressing out changing Rands to dollars @ JHB international as the Chinese currency isn't available ... We found a not too glamorous bar call the Shebeen. Xin-Wen is meeting some friends here who owe her some money. I' having a brutal fuit. Alcohol make me sleepy during the day, which is the point.....long flight ahead. Got up @ 04:00 this morning and went for a short run.
Hopefully I'll get a SIM card in Hong Kong that can be used on my Phone. I bumped into Eddie Westraadt in PE, looking rather pleased with himself...he's on his way to the Grand Prix in Malaysia. He was with two other friends one of whom I recognized from a photo he used to have on his office wall.

Our flight leaves at 12:20.
When I phoned Mom, she was at the Casino...squandering my inheritance ... Only jokes... There is *no* inheritance ... He he...why am I laughing...oh yea I'm drinking alcohol ....

2006-03-11

Wouldn't you know it... a few days before I leave to go on holiday and I get the flu... Hardly slept last night. Flu (actually just a minor cold) has been going around so it was just a matter of time. Anyway...seem to be moving through the phases quickly, you know...first the nose starts, then coughing, then the sore throat, I went through the whole thing in two days...must be a weak strain. Doping on extra Vitamin C and antioxidents plus paracetalmol to drive down pyrogens in the system.

Technically I'm on leave as of this Monday but the work wants me to attend a meeting to finalise the handover of a project I was working on earlier this year.
When I get back most of the projects will be in full swing.
This last week has been hectic trying to close up all the loose ends.

Anyway..the camcorder is ready, must start packing....

The Fool and The Goddess

There once was a man, a broken man, lost in the sea of life and love. He undertook a journey of discovery and sought enlightenment. He traveled East believing he would find some answers there. He, like Buddha, sat under trees waiting for answers, but they never came.

He saw the sick and the frail, knowing that one day soon he too would be nothing more than dust and still with no assurance of what lay beyond the abyss.
One road took him to India, still seeing human decay, still no philosophy to comfort him

Then one night, he saw the goddess.
The Physical manifestation of perfection.
Her face was narrow and fine. Slanted almond eyes and small perfectly framed mouth.

The man felt both elated and ill. Her beauty inspired the divine but also the carnal.
The war which raged inside him such that his body struggled to know how to respond.

Surely she was a goddess,
Surely she knew all things, because she asked no questions
Surely she had done all things, because she made no movements
Surely she needed nothing, for she said nothing.
She would never age like those around her. She was made to last.

The man pledged his life to the goddess, what small matter that she was made of stone.
Maidens came and went but none compared to the goddess.
The man became blind to the comforts of a soft embrace of flesh and bone.
But the weather changed as winter was approaching and the winds and rains came as they
often do with fury and without warning.

The man a times felt frightened by lightening and the winds and the ghosts of the past and future. At times he reached a hand out to the goddess... "Just one embrace" he begged. "Just one soft, tender embrace and I shall be fueled with inspiration, I shall weather these storms and build the castle worthy of you"

But the goddess stared on to the heavens.

After five years, the man who had forgotten much of himself heard the march of soldier feet.
"Move, scoundrel" Said the general, kicking the man.
We have been given orders to move this statue to the emperor’s garden court.
He has told us that we may each have one of his concubines in exchange for the transport of the statue. My men are eager - move or we will gladly slit your throat. The statue moves tonight!

The man lay on the ground in pain as the men stronger and seemingly better than himself worked together to raise from the ground and onto the giant cart that would transport her to where she belonged - the royal court. As she moved away - no sign or pity or emotion showed, perhaps for the briefest of moments but the sun was setting and the shadows played tricks at these times.

So now there was an Emperor about to learn what the man had learnt.

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. :)

2005-11-02/03

Audio Entry

2005-10-28-Friday-(My Birthday Bash)

2005-10-28-Friday-(My Birthday Bash)
Originally uploaded by Clint_Walker.

This was my Birthday Bash on Friday @ "The-Lennox"

P.S. To the staff @ "The Lennox" thanks for excellent upmarket service.

From Left to Right

Wesley, Me, Kamla, Ravi, Joy My Audio Blog Here

To hear this, you must have the speex codec installed. http://www.speex.org/download.html

(Why speex? - because speex = good sound quality, tinyweenie file size/quick download / Speex = Free / Speex = Windows/Mac/Linux )

(Speex Rulez OK!!!!) I take my compression alogorithms seriously. :)

2005-10-28-Friday

2005-10-28-Friday
Originally uploaded by Clint_Walker.

Yvette, Roslyn, Attila

2005-10-28-Friday

2005-10-28-Friday
Originally uploaded by Clint_Walker.

Kamla, setting up phone to take a video

You can see the video here
It's in RealPlayer format.

The Windows Media format here


i.e.

2005-10-28-Friday

2005-10-28-Friday
Originally uploaded by Clint_Walker.

The Family ;)

2005-10-25-Friday

2005-10-25-Friday
Originally uploaded by Clint_Walker.

Wesley & Me...P.S. Wesley, don't screw with my phone again...

2005-10-28-Friday

2005-10-28-Friday
Originally uploaded by Clint_Walker.

Warren

2005-10-28-Friday

2005-10-28-Friday
Originally uploaded by Clint_Walker.

Justin & Angelo...deep discussion

Fw: 2005-10-23-Sunday

Fw: 2005-10-23-Sunday
Originally uploaded by Clint_Walker.

I was just doing some washing, etc, so I called Mom and asked her if she'd like to stop by for lunch.

At about 14:00 we got to Dizzy Dolphin's beachfront restaurant. I ordered a Chicken Tramizzini and Mom ordered a caramel waffel. That and an Iced coffee, sufficiently guilty - we opted to walk the beach front.