The Welders Market

The Welders Market is South Africa’s guide to the welding and steel industry – a good site to know!

Great value getaway

There is a great value getaway Mountain Mist up offering self catering west coast accommodation here in the Cape, not far from Cape Town.  It’s a great place to spend a weekend and to recharge your batteries.

Peoples opinions

I found a site called Travelwick which is basically a collection of accommodation reviews – the positive reviews are a dime-a-dozen, but reading the negative feedback is worth a laugh!

Business is a jungle!

A jungle is nothing more than a defined area where things eat each other to survive.

 

What a perfect metaphor for business!

Spam. Porn. Spam and Porn!

I have an extreme and dire hatred for the ‘spam’ industry.  Most of it stems from the fact that it’s obviously so successful (due to the amount) and yet I’ve been left off the gravy train.  I have similar feelings towards the ‘porn’ industry, which is valued at several hundred billion dollars, and when I convert this to South African Rands it’s just too big for my calculator to handle.  To big for my brain as well.

So when I get bombarded with Spam about Porn, this is like rubbing salt into an open wound.

Fortunately, the guys at Akismet have similar feelings to me and in association with WordPress they offer an automated anti-spam lookup that can be integrated seamlessly into your Blog for ‘behind the scenes’ protection.  Now that’s the type of protection I like – it’s there, but you don’t notice it.  Nice.

I found a version for BlogEngine.Net at CodeThinked,  but it was Justin Chase that explained how it should work.

Note: Cross posted from Ready Steady Roll.


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Good Friends and Old Friends

One would think that all old friends are good friends, right?  Because if you’ve known someone for x-period and you’re still friendly then there must be something good about it.  So what then about old friends that have gone out of favour, but one follows the concept of ‘keeping your friends close and your enemies closer’?  That’s kinda twisted, but sometimes a necessity.  Ah, yes, the complex nature of relationships!

Note: Cross posted from Ready Steady Roll.


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Out for Lance’s blood

In the  built-up to the Tour de France this year it was clear that many people were out for Lance Armstrong’s blood.  Literally.  He was subjected to more tests than any other participant.  And the authority that seemed to be behind it all was the French – the French anti-doping crowd. 

France:  Nice place; good language; strange people.

But now that that the ‘tour’ is underway, this seems to have taken a backseat and they are just letting him ride – currently in the top 3, we’ll see how he fairs.

If he doesn’t win, then we’ll hear the “… I told you so, he’s too old…”.  If he wins, then he’ll be subjected to further testing and scrutiny – it’s like Lance is the worlds personal lab-rat.  I think we should make him our fall-guy as well so that we really can blame, say, 3rd-world poverty on him.

Note: Cross posted from Ready Steady Roll.


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Schengen visa application

To some of us, Schengen is a strange word. 

And to a select few, it represents the Schengen Agreement between several European countries.

But most importantly, it’s a Visa that grants you access to most of Western Europe – that’s right, one piece of paper and the freedom to wander as you like!

I recently applied for one, but before doing so you have the usual paperwork to compile.  One of the things you need to provide upon application is proof of your accommodation – and fellow travellers, the Cape Town Consulate and travel agents all gave me the same story:

“You need to have every day planned and proof of accommodation for each.  A detailed itinerary is required.”

Ok, sure, sounds fine if you’re planning a ski holiday with 2 weeks in a hotel, or if you’ve got a place lined up with some friends of family.  But what if you don’t know anyone and want the freedom to explore – like, say, backpacking.

Extensive searches on the web didn’t reveal anything terribly useful, and most accounts replayed the same story.  One option is to find a cheap hostel and pay a deposit for the duration of your travel (usually 10% required) and them use this as a bogus booking. 

But I stumbled upon one particular forum post (which I cant find anymore) and it said that all you need to do is book your first night or two.  Trying to confirm this was of no use – I was still told that I needed each day mapped out.  This left me with 2 options – I could either book some dummy accommodation and essentially forfeit the deposit – this would cost me around R250.  Or I could book the first 2 nights and hope that my Visa application is approved.  A rejected application would essentially cost me R680.

Being a betting man, I opted for the gamble of limited bookings.  I completed the form, took my money, and applied with all the surrounding paperwork.  3 days later it was time to collect, and voila, I have an approved Visa, and I am not bound by any sort of restriction.  Nice!

 

Fast facts:

Cost: 60 Euro (+- R650-R700)

Time: Netherlands Consulate – 3 days

Documentation: Medical Insurance, Proof of Funds, Accommodation, Return Airline Ticket

Note: Cross posted from Ready Steady Roll.


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It’s nice, nah, in Knysna!

In July each year, most of the country is hiding indoors snacking on chips & chocolates, perhaps drinking wine by the fire heater.  But in the Garden Route they have a different idea of what to do – they host the oyster festival.

Well, actually, the ‘”oyster” part is perhaps just a marketing plug and it’s really just an excuse for everyone to visit their area.  But either way, they do it quite successfully.

During this festival, two key events are the cycling and running events.  And of these, the cycling comprises of both a mountain bike ride and a road ride – the road ride being a seeding race for next years Argus Cycle Tour.  Hmmm.

Generally speaking, Knysna isn’t the greatest place – there aren’t long white beaches, it doesn’t have eclipsing mountains, and the sea just doesn’t seem that visible & accessible from the town.

It does however have a forest with elephants (apparently), a lagoon that reaches out to the sea, and a smallish mountain area called The Heads and Featherbed.  So this will just have to do.

Once voted the best town in South Africa, Knysna may have slipped from its pedestal in recent years, but its definitely worth the drive.  I’ll see you there.

Note: Cross posted from Ready Steady Roll.


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Rain, shmain. Water, shmawter.

It’s been raining for 3 days straight – the weather forecast says just one more day.

Our dams are fill with no capacity left.

Our boreholes are pumping record volumes with a fantastic water-table.

The newspaper says that the municipality will start using treated sewerage water in our drinking pipes.

 

Isn’t it strange how some things crop up at the weirdest time.

Note: Cross posted from Ready Steady Roll.


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