August 2008 News

It is still very cold and wet and August 2008 is the wettest and coldest in >35years! Just our luck to time it like this. We are still reeling from the shock of the first gas and electricity bill after running the gas heaters all day and the electric blankets all night! We still haven’t received our furniture and I have just been informed that the driver who was supposed to deliver it tomorrow phoned in sick for today and tomorrow! I offered to push the truck to my house but Peter didn’t even see the funny side of that!

Chris van Rooyen, another boertjie who studied with me at Stellenbosh and worked with me in RSA, stays next to the Old Collegians Rugby (Union) Club and we have now watched two games there and then baaaarbied at his place afterwards. It really brings back good memories of watching netball and rugby at the Burgersdorp and Lichtenburg fields on a Saturday afternoon. It is the same spirit and very amateur orientated as Rugby Union isn’t very big in Adelaide. It is a bit like watching schools or college rugby in RSA.

I did the really stupid thing of purchasing something without seeing it: where else but eBay! It finally arrived and the paper with the assembly instructions was thicker than the metal it was manufactured from! Yes, I bought a gas BBQ. We are not allowed to make fires in summer so I decided to get to grips with this gas braaing idea. It is actually pretty (r@ppy as there is no fire smell or taste in the food and you can wait till you want to eat, flash it up and 20 minutes later the food is cooked, but I wont call it braaied.

I decided that getting along with just 1 car is difficult but that license fees and costs are so high that I will rather get a scooter or small bike to ride to work and back. I got very excited for a few days while shopping and testing motorbikes only to come to the devastating realisation that we can get along with just the car because “Carina is willing” to walk 2km to the shops! It started with a Honda 125CBR: what a stunning looking bike and it was considered as the speed limit which is enforced and obeyed here is 110km/h on the open roads but only 80km/h is a few sections that I frequent but mostly 60km/h. I then tested the 125 but realised that it will be too small. Especially after riding a 650 again after 7 years, the decision was made that I will not be satisfied with a small bike, having tasted the power and acceleration of a bigger bike again. The cars in RSA is still not sold so it will be a bit reckless to not leave money in the bank for emergencies and in the end, sanity unfortunately prevailed and the bike has been put on ice for now.

I have been “promoted” to Project Manager for the Hardware Development, this position comes with a lot more responsibility and exposure to the clients and big boys at the parent company but unfortunately no salary benefits.

The big 50 is here and we have scraped together a few South Africans and neighbours to share the big occasion with me. Check on Picasa for the pictures. Struggled to limit the numbers to 50 in RSA and just managed to pass the 5 couples mark in Oz!

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/strumfie