My family and other nutcases

 Arriving in this [pictureque town in Italy was amazing.  From the time we woke up, there was a sense of relaxation in the air, not that we were not relaxed, but the truth be told we had walked far more than we had planned and were determined not to walk too much this time around.  The town was quite small with less than 1000 inhabitants scattered all around 2000 sq/km's.  Debbie and I were always the first ones off the yacht, our enthusiasm to see new things was evident as the seasoned travellers slept late.  Our first stop had to be an ice-cream shop. My cousin Shahaada advised me about the quality of ice-cream and there we wer at 9am in the morning eating ice-cream, the very thing we tell our kids not to do.  Landing on the shore of Portofino   The town square  The town square was just waking up and was quite empty so we decided  to take a walk up the mountain, the walk to the end of town should take 10 minutes up the mountain,...

We arrived in Barcelona at about 9am and were taken to the yacht, but could only board at 1pm. I think this is Christopher Columbus. So we decided to take a walk on La Rambla which is a 1,2km walk through the city lined by trees and a some fantastic architecture dating way back to the early 1900. It was so amazing to hear all the different languages being spoken within earshot.  i was in heaven.  At the start of the walk, the flea market shops were quite expensive but just 500 metres later, you saved yourself some serious money.  The imposing statue on the left was rather large and apparently you could go up to the top of this thing in a lift. We were on a tight budget, or should I say I was on a tight budget, my wife shopped like she had all the bucks in the world.  She never stopped smiling and you could hear her oohs and aahs from across the street, with frequent shouts of "ANDRE, COME LOOK HERE", my wallet even trembled.  Debs needed me and my wallet cl...

Cape Town Airport, Jhb here we come I have never been so excited and nervous at the same time ever in my life. I had never visited any other countries and the furthest that I had been 'overseas' was Robben Island.  As the picture above shows I still looked quite relaxed with no idea what was about to happen once we hit Johannesburg.  The smile that was on my face was soon wiped out as we checked through Jhb airport on our way to Zurich.  At passport control, both Debbie and my passport were carefully scrutinised.  Now I must tell you that i had given my details to a local policeman to check before leaving so that I don't pick up any problems when leaving or entering our country and he found nothing as he could only search locally.  The passport control officer took a long time checking my passport and after joking with him he said that here was a problem. He called the police who took about 10 minutes to get there.  It was the longest 10 minutes ever. ...

Way back in 1976, when I was in Standard 6, (yes in those days they were called standards so get over it and move on), I had my first ever brush with the law. But let me take you back a few months prior.  You see, as a child I suffered from severe asthma and at one stage was in a coma for nearly 3 weeks, with machines basically breathing for me, well thats what my mother told me, because |I don't remember a damn thing.  My entire life was spent either at doctors rooms, hospitals or with my mom sitting at my side listening to my breathing. Goodness, talk about being sidetracked. After coming out of hospital at the tender age of 13, I went back to school to catch up on lost work.  It was September 11, 1976 (why is that date so familiar), we arrived at school only to find it flooded. Some fool had blocked off the doors and left all the taps running resulting in flooding of the downstairs building. While the senior guys were busy cleaning, we continued studying and playing ...

As you all know, my daughter rceived a full scholarship worth R300000 over the next 3 years with an option to study further to do her Masters and Honours towards being a CA.  We took the guy who made it all possible to supper last night at the Cape Sun hotel and had a glorious 20 course meal.  Okay it was a buffet, give me some poetic licence here. The evening was amazing and we feel truly blessed to have this awesome gift from God. We got home home around 21h30 and was about to go to bed at about 11pm when Debs got a call from work requesting her presence there as the manager on duty did not pitch up. The clown has a drinking problem so Debs and I left the boys sleeping and drove into town (about 15 monutes on a clear day).  I watched Arsenal come from behind and beat barcelona, whilst my wife slaved away doing work things.  We eventually got home at about 12h45 that morning. The wind howled so badly last night that I think that I only had 2 hours sleep before hav...

My daughter Ashleigh turned 18 this past weekend and it was just one long party. Breakfast at Commonground with her bestie Shriya then later drinks at La Med, onto Stones and eventually collected the birthday girl at around 2am on Saturday morning.I would much rather fetch and carry my kids so that I know where they are. Whle I am still able to, its important for me to know where they are and who they are with. Ashleigh is very responsible and has never had a drink before, however on Friday evening had 3 different cocktails and had that glazed donut look in her eyes whilst we were still at La Med. She never had anything else to drink after that, THANK YOU LORD. Driving home that evening or morning she mentioned the magic words. CLUBBING IS NO FOR ME. Music to my ears.  The fact that drinking is also expensive also accounts for much of the decision. I pesonally would like to believe that she went out purely because as an 18 year old she is now allowed to do that,...

I have so been enjoying being on leave. On day one I went and sat in the movies,with just my car keys as company. On top of that I went to watch a chick flick. I don't know whats wrong with me, but I cry in movies now thank heavens its dark in the movies.  I went to watch the movie LOVE & OTHER DRUGS with the gorgeous drop dead Anne hathaway and Jake Gylenhal. The movie was very touching and despite a few naked butts here and there the story line eventually came about and was insanely powerful. We take so much for granted as human beings.  A slight headache and we want to lie down and cut ourselves off from the rest of the world. Go see it with an open mind and take some tissues and calming pills because men can be real moegoes.

Today is dy ! of two weeks of rest and relaxation. I ask myself what do I want to do today, the answer, NOTHING!!! How cool is that. I can't take my mind off work though as there ws so much unfinished business to attend to. Well I have to let go and trust the rest of the guys to get on with the job and make money. I have had to take some leave because truly I have become forgetful and often find myself staring into space even when I am driving. Maybe that was why I had the accident. The maid however comes today so I am forced out of my hole. Maybe I will just relax and go see a movie. Yeah, good idea. Chat later.