New Dimensions

We decided to visit the Mall of Africa in Midrand. After all, it was Maggie's wish to go there a year ago. I wanted to pop in at the iStore and look at the latest iMac. After drooling over the computers in the iStore we went to the bank and spent a lot of time there which turned out to be a total waste of time. That was actually the previous week. This week we returned to the Mall of Africa and decided to try Incredible Connection . I was still intent on getting that iMac. Looking at the Mac I tried out the new features and it looked really cool, but it was as if I had to convince myself to choose it. Most of my software is Windows driven. Changing to a Mac would be a huge adjustment. Since I was in the store with all sorts of computers I decided to walk around and look at other makes to clear my head. That's when I discovered the gaming machines. I'm not a gamer but was intrigued by the hardware. That's when I saw the ASUS ROG G752VS I7 GAMING NOTEBOOK. Th

Why consider stained glass creations? I gave that some thought. I was pleasantly surprised at what I discovered. A stained glass creation can be a multi-coloured window or an alluring lampshade. What about door panels and cabinet panels? Okay, you get the picture. A window is a two-dimensional object. Now add light to it and it becomes three dimensional. Close your eyes and picture the most exquisite stained glass window in a church that you visited once. What do you experience? Many more dimensions, hey. You start to hear organ music and a choir singing - heavenly music. Your memories take you back to a special time in your life. The colours in the design represent many different things like the red depicting a pleasant warmth of love. The blue represents the sky and heaven - a higher dimension. The green reminds you of growth and nature. White would be purity. All these colours and emotions flood through your mind, spirit, and emotions putting you in a safe and secure plac

I was looking at my software online where I can design different things and came across a Facebook image that I could change so I gave it a try. Maybe you are interested in blogs or something to read or explore. Thanks for arriving here. Below is a post from last year. This evening I looked at how many blog posts I had written so far for the year. This is number 60. It looks like I really made progress during 2017. The topics covered very diverse subjects. Some articles had lovely photos. Some were about famous people. I managed to make a new friend in Seattle - I don't think she's sleepless. My list of readers has grown - thank you. Usually, I am advised to pick a niche and blog like hell. That's what the experts say. Don't you hate it when people bombard you with their emails every day? So far I have steered away from that. Well, I have listed a few of my blogs for the year below. If you missed something you can just scroll down and pick a topic and

The year started with great promise. We were involved with a huge project that took up a lot of our time. After months of frustrating toil, it led to a big zero and loss. I learned a hard lesson about human nature. Some people are totally dishonest and literally turn on you when things don’t go their way. All you can do is learn from such experiences and not repeat them. The Takeaway Communication is important. Make sure that the other party understands what is involved. Also, get a good idea of what their expectations are. Sometimes they build up a false picture of what they are going to get and what they are paying for. It’s better to get a rejection because you have clearly placed all your cards on the table. That was a disastrous start to the year. Learn to become a better communicator. Ask questions to make sure that you understand what they want. So, the year didn’t start well, and I had all my eggs in the wrong basket. Nevertheless, I celebrated 25 years in business

Stained glass door panels created by Petro of Tiny Dot Studio in Birchleigh, Kempton Park. Stained glass looks magnificent in any window or door. It is considered an art form which reached its height in the Middle Ages and became a graphic form which was used to depict stories from the Bible - many people were illiterate back then. To get a better idea of the history of stained glass you can visit Wikipedia where you will find lots of references and beautiful pictures relating to this noble form of art. Stained glass is still popular today but often referred to as art glass. It is prevalent in luxury homes, commercial buildings, and places of worship. Artists and companies are contracted to create beautiful art glass ranging from domes, windows, backsplashes, etc. (source - Wikipedia).  No doubt, when you stand inside a building and view a beautiful stained glass window lit by the sun, you stop and admire what you see just as you would a special painting. So i

The people from Brakpan are quite often ridiculed. How this came about is a mystery to me. I suppose someone started with a joke and others added to his comments and it grew from there. We live in a world where we put people into boxes with labels. Most often it is cruel and incorrect. Fortunately, someone's story comes along that changes our perspective. Yesterday I accompanied my wife to her uncle's birthday party in Brakpan. The Maps app on my iPhone gave me conflicting information so I had to use intuition to home in on the venue. Luckily my decision was correct and then the voice on my wife's smartphone announced that we were at the right place. Nice! all this technology that we carry with us. Well, we pulled into the parking area and went to meet the people. First up were some folks standing outside by the braai fires - I was glad that we wouldn't have to wait too long before we could get our meat on. Her family was very glad to see my wife Maggie since w

Back in 1978, we were living in Tsumeb in Namibia where I was working for the mine. This was where I discovered the purest form of flying. It was by accident, but I didn't know it at the time. Our house was situated two blocks from the local airfield that belonged to the mine. Every so often a roaring could be heard when the company plane approached for landing or prepared for take-off. I always loved planes and the noise never bothered me. I usually went outside to watch. I'm not sure how it happened but I decided to visit the airfield and discovered that there was a model radio control flying club right next to the main runway. One of the members suggested that I order a kit from Cape Town if I wanted to join. I decided to leave things in his hands and a few weeks later my first radio controlled glider arrived. It took me quite a while to build the glider and it turned out looking fine. My new friend provided the radio control equipment and the day arrived when we m

The Matric Farewell at Maranatha Christian School on 13 October 2017 was a special occasion for me because I could try out my Canon 1DX Mark II in ever-changing late afternoon lighting conditions. The addition of a decent flashlight contributed to my success. The photo above of a stunning couple made life even easier.  I only needed to make a tiny adjustment to brighten the photo ever so slightly. It was very sharp just the way I took it. The girl's makeup was picture perfect. When I enlarged it for a closer look in Photoshop it was perfectly focused even when I zoomed right into their faces. This is a close crop from a portrait picture and all the fine detail is there. I couldn't have asked for better results. They arrived in a shiny DKW car. A closeup in the car. The couple have just arrived - car in the background They got the royal treatment arriving on the red carpet. This is the same photo as the one at the top (uncropped).

Ray-Ban Aviators sunglasses have always been my first choice in sunglasses and BMW my premium brand of motorcycle. Two things very dear to me. But there's a mystery behind this story on a particular day going back ten years from today. It flashed back into my mind and I decided to share it with you. This picture is almost exactly as I remember it. It was a sunny day with puffy clouds chasing each other against a bright blue sky - the perfect day to don my favourite Ray-Bans. After many years I managed to acquire a magnificent BMW 1200 RT motorcycle and I climbed aboard for my trip to the centre of Johannesburg. Nothing compares to the exhilaration of riding one of those machines. Travelling in a car doesn't come near. The trip into the city was fantastic and I felt like the king of the road. Midday traffic was busy and I parked my bike two blocks away from the Carlton Centre. Being in a hurry to get to the Foto Shop in the centre I grabbed my films and walked brisk

Fresh Hope Migration is an established and successful Immigration Agency specializing in South African: Immigration Visas Business Visas Work Visas Relative Visas Study Visas Visa Extensions Visa Appeals Change of Conditions Permanent Residence Applications They also assist with Nigeria tourists / work visas and passport applications. Place of Business Situated in Kempton Park on the East Rand (near Johannesburg), Gauteng, South Africa, Fresh Hope Migration have years of experience in the Immigration Industry. If you meet the requirements for a work visa call them for an appointment or send them an email. Visa Services Fresh Hope Migration - Immigration Agency Kempton Park, Johannesburg - specializes in the following visa services: immigration visas, business visas, work visas, relative visas, study visas, visa extensions, visa appeals and change of conditions. I have known them for a few years and have found them to be friendly and helpful. If you need he

There's a place and a time to get out of your comfort zone and engage in social activity. Today was one of those days for me. I woke up early this morning and managed to get to church on time. What for? That on a Monday morning, too. Once a month they host a breakfast for the business people. After "The Message," which was excellent, we went for breakfast. After finding a place in the crowded canteen I sat next to an estate agent across the table. He seemed very interested in what I shared about my work and requested a follow-up meeting. Next, I joined a friend at his table and again shared what I do for clients which resulted in a positive outcome. That was a good start to my day and month. At home, I dug into some website designing and typing in Word. Before long it got much busier and I was multi- tasking 3 projects. With more clients comes more work. Then my work became even busier as the day continued. Later I spent some time catching up on Facebook. It&#

How I miss the carpet of flowers that used to greet me when I was a young boy living in Namaqualand. During Spring those flowers always decorated the countryside where I lived in Nababeep. It was like heaven with all the colours imaginable. How fortunate I was to grow up in that mining town. Far away from the city. Isolated. Yet I wouldn't have had it any other way. Okay, I had to learn a new language, Afrikaans, because the majority of the folks there spoke it. In the beginning, my friends had to put up with my English until I picked up a few Afrikaans words. Fortunately, they were patient with me and helped me master their unusual language. After we moved closer to the mine so that my father could walk to his workshop I made friends with Dirkie Coetzee who became my best friend. We did many things together. Sometimes we just listened to his favourite Jim Reeves records and other times we read fiction books about "Die Swart Luiperd." My favourite hero was Ta

50 years on a good reason to celebrate. Five decades have passed since Okinawan Goju Ryu was introduced to South Africa by a remarkable man, sensei James Rousseau.  His journey through this period has created a wake of profound energy, immense interest in what he nurtured and a legacy that has crossed boundries, spilling over into branches that today continue to practice some form of what he brought to this country. Today we look back at all that has gone before and stand proudly beneath the great tree that has grown from the tiny seed planted in 1966 when sensei James established himself in South Africa as the founder of Okinawan Goju Ryu with the grade of Sandan. Sensei James began his karate training in the Shotokan system in 1961 and received Shodan ranking in 1964. During one of his trips to Japan he became acquainted with Goju Ryu and decided to concentrate his training in this system.  He relates many interesting experiences, crediting his wife Wendy for her supportive

I bought a green Bicycle - my Silverback replacement. Cycling is part of my DNA, just look at my Facebook avatar. Read my previous article and you'll understand. My dog, Java, is a cross between a chow and a sharpei. I reckon she is magical and possesses some kind of super powers. She sees through walls and has super hearing. If Superman is faster than a speeding bullet, then Java is a close second. With energy like that, I would be a sensation on my mountain bike - but alas. Maybe Java is also psychic because she shadows my every move in the house even if she is outside. She even knows when I'm about to bring her a treat and sits wagging her tail in delightful anticipation outside the door. Sometimes I wonder who is smarter, me or Java. When the Glam Guru recently visited us to film Maggie I decided to put her in the carport - just in case. The filming crew took a long time to bring their gear in the house and I went to investigate. Java was up to her magical

This year I was expecting Father's Day to be just like any other day. But I was in for a surprise. My wife, Maggie, had planned a special lunch for Youth Day and invited my eldest son and his family over. Some other special guests couldn't make it. Just before 1 pm my son, Mark, and his wife, Natasja, together with my grandchildren, Crystal and Dillon arrived. Mark was carrying a gift which, when he handed it to me, almost caused me to drop it. I guessed that it must have been a book and before I opened the gift I said, "This surely is a Bible." Mark smiled and said, "Yes!" It was a special keepsake edition. Immediately I started paging through the Bible and admired the quality. It is something that you record your family generations in and pass on to your descendants. We enjoyed an amazing meal of chicken and vegetables that Maggie had prepared with a lot of love. Afterwards, Maggie asked me to set up my camera on a tripod to take an action sho