Tag: blogging

The first 1000

I would like to get to 1000 daily blog posts. Imagine all the words I will have written.

At the low points – the dips in mood and confidence – the idea of writing my own blog seems narcissistic, presumptuous, annoying and laughable.

But at the high points, a blog seems like a valuable resource. It is a daily mantra, a way to make sense of the world around me. It is a creative outlet and a personal asset to cherish.

I have gone in waves with this blog of posting and then dropping off. Part of that is laziness, but part of it is also just the fact that I run a company, have 2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 fish and a whole life away from the computer.

However, consider this to be hopefully the first of a thousand successive blog posts. Imagine the words I will have written.

Security

It’s a strange existence sometimes in Africa.

We’re on our last night of a two week holiday. I just took out a plate of food for the guard who’s been patrolling our holiday house at night time. He’s a young Zulu chap. He smiled and thanked me for the bryani. Then I got a call from the security company at home telling me our home alarm system has triggered – Is everything ok? Shall we come and assist?

We’re hundreds of miles away I tell them, but sure please go and have a look. Be nice to my dogs.

They found nothing except my grumpy dogs. We never actually put the alarm on. I think it was a power cut causing all the commotion. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

It is so easy to cause havoc if you really want to, but we still try to control the risk. Some countries don’t have this issue.

But they also don’t have whales and zebras and sunshine and snakes and zip lines and beaches like I experienced this holiday.

Pros and cons. The grass is always greener.

Microsoft

I just downloaded edge browser for my phone.

I am also moving all my mail and calendar stuff to outlook.

Excel Word and PowerPoint are all work mainstays on my computer.

I am going to Microsoft because I pay for it. The idea is that I will be the customer rather than the product.

Hardware is probably next. Liking the look of windows surface and laptops.

Wind and whales

It’s a gusty day here by the sea. our kids are bothered by the sand and the choppy water. The whales don’t seem to care.

I just saw my first breach – like a rocket launching out the ocean.

Coming up from the deep with such force, the whale’s head and shoulders pushed into the air. It looked for a moment like the giant learned how to fly.

Then with half of its body out the water, the launch failed. The rocket fell down to the sea with a monstrous crash. I could see the explosion of water from kilometers away.

They’re still lolling about out there as I type this. Viva whales.

Sun

After a rainy couple of days in the mountains we are on the beach.

The thick bush reminds me of the Kenyan coastline.

We have had scores of whales hanging around for the last few days.

Spouts of water rising up in the air and lazy gigantic tails flopping down onto the surface of the sea.

It’s absolutely beautiful.

Rain

The rain has set in. The last few days on holiday have been hot and humid but now the cold front is here and we’re enveloped in cloud and cold air.

No hiking with the little ones. We’re playing table tennis and dominos with other guests at the hotel to pass the time.

For a few years we were in a drought, missing the rain in Cape Town. One wet winter and I find I’m wishing for the drought again. Fickle and selfish thoughts set in when you get bored I guess.

For now, indoors and bunkered down is the way forward. I find I am rearranging the apps in my phone for no particular reason.

The mind is a funny thing.

Work and play

We went on a beautiful hike this morning. You can get an idea of the vibe from the pic below.

When I got back I had a look at my phone: Meeting requests, complaints, fires to put out all over the place from work.

The contrast is jarring. But at least with a software based business it is possible to travel and work at the same time.

I need to practice juggling the two because I’m loving the hikes but I need to pay for it somehow!

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods has completed a comeback for the ages, winning his 80th (!!) PGA tournament after huge public meltdowns, divorce, multiple surgeries, and all the uncertainty that goes with it. I am a big fan. I think this comeback is a great thing.

Why is this great? I saw on Twitter a person questioning why so many people are interested and are applauding Tiger when he has clearly shown his faults and vices to us over the years. The basic gist was that he’s a nasty man not worth celebrating. He’s a womaniser and a snob. A drunken philanderer. A thug Alpha Male. But this simplistic assessment misses the point.

So what is the point then? The point is that we see ourselves in Tiger. We see a microcosm of all our talents, our possibilities, all our failures and all our potential for redemption. His is a complete comeback story with a near-perfect arc in terms of drama and recovery. To write off such a story as immoral and uninteresting is to misunderstand what being a human is. We humans relate best to stories. To archetypes. Tiger’s story has everything required for an amazing spectacle. He has been through hell and come out the other side with a new back and a changed personality. And my God, he plays nice golf!

Judging celebrities is easy. What’s rare is a celebrity who can offer us such a journey to the top, the bottom and back up to the top again. Enjoy the drama as it unfolds in real-time. I’m backing him to win another major soon.