Old Times

We had a lovely Easter. Part of its loveliness was a big family lunch!

Later in the afternoon my uncle shared two pictures he had of my mother and I, which led us into a discussion about family photographs. Over the years I have managed to get my hands on a couple of my grandfathers photograph albums. They are filled with pictures from his part in World War 2. Some of the pictures are absolutely incredible, others plan grisly.

I was a kid when my grandfather passed away, and sadly knew very little about him. My uncle however started to share many stories from his own youth about his dad. I was a little surprised at some of the things that he told me. I heard that he was a great hockey player and played the flute. My dad never played sport and so I never suspected a hockey history. Interestingly, I love hockey, and both my boys seem to have a real talent for it. Luke has been pestering us for the better part of a year to play the flute. Strangely, he had no idea why it was important to him.


It got me to wondering if there are some things hard coded into our genes?

I now have a new photographic project, to scan and fix all of these old photographs. One day I may even finish my old photographic project, which is to scan and fix my father in law’s slides.

It was a wonderful afternoon. It did highlight how important a shared history is, and the value of old photographs. They are wonderful heirlooms.

It also made me realise how sad it is that I have lost the connection with my own father...

Anti Easter by eTV

We had a lovely Easter Sunday. It obviously started with an egg hunt, a frenzied and excitable affair! It was then off to church for a beautiful service and a celebration of the true meaning of this day. In other words, not the copious consumption of chocolate, but rather the celebration of the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead. We did of course round off the day with a scrumptious lunch and lots of family.


Imagine my surprise last night when I turned on the television and saw that the movie on eTV was The Da Vinci Code?

The movie was made from the book which sold millions and millions of copies. Essentially it wove beautiful myths and conspiracy theories into a plot that fundamentally attacked the foundations of Christianity.

On Easter Sunday?

Are they mad?

Swan Puddle

Dear Agony Auntie,


Auntie, I am very fit, probably as fit as I was when I was rowing in high school. A very long time ago! I am strong too, although I still cannot pick up my wife and balance her on my bicep whilst looking cool. I will keep practising though!

I was so excited to go to Judo on Monday night. With so many Boland team members in our club, it was bound to be a tough session in order to help all of them prepare to represent our province at the Nationals in 8 weeks time.

At the end of our training, I performed a very special move. I stepped backwards to avoid a lunge from my partner. At the same time I pointed the toes of my left foot, turned away from him, and dropped all of my weight onto that same foot. I was as graceful as a gazelle. Until I heard a soft pop-pop sound and collapsed into a puddle of my own sweat. It would seem that I had sprained my foot, partially tearing one of the ligaments.

The injury is annoying but there is some else that is worrying me to bits. Is it possible that I am better suited to ballet than Judo? Even more concerning, is it possible that I am not as tough as a ballet dancer?

Footloose and Very Afraid.

PS - I have attached a photo of my foot together with my second ankle to highlight my concerns.

Too much to do in one life time

Another week has blurred past living memory...


Isabella is back on sleep training. She found herself in the bad habit of waking up every other hour at night for a bottle. Now, she is going bottle free and not loving it.

Luke came third in his weight division at the Boland Judo trials and made it onto the Boland team. The SA Nationals take place at the end of June.

Matt fought like a champ, again, and won his division. He is too young for the Nationals, and seems completely unfazed that he will not be representing his Province, just yet.

I was even asked to join the team as a master. Hmm, I will have to think about that...

Six different community projects ate up some of my time. Nothing major, but a number of steps in the right direction for all of them.

Read 2 fiction books and half a non-fiction book. It turns out that Luke has read over 4,000 pages during his first school term. Not bad for a 9 year old, especially when one considers that one of those books was the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’!

A massive fire in our nature reserve has wrecked havoc. A friend’s wooden house is still standing unscathed, even though the fire burnt everything around it! 15 other families were not as lucky...

I got stuck into work and have started to produce some deliverables for a new project.

I entered two running races. This is my year to break my 3 year old goal of running two 21km races in less than 100 minutes.

I fell upstairs whilst rushing to deal with an Isabella screaming session at night. I kicked the stair so hard that I spun around and landed my pelvis on the corner of the stair. It was a little painful, and now a little bruised...

Realisation has struck home that I have written very little that is meaningful of late. Time to find time, and do some thinking.

Easter is only a week away. I am looking forward to the time I will get to spend in prayer from Thursday onwards.

Holiday

I arrived back from the Big Smoke exhausted. The facilitation of two days of training had taken heaps out of me. My bed was calling but first my small suitcase needed to be unpacked and then the car packed with holiday stuff. In the morning, we would depart for Victoria Bay for a couple of days of family time.

The trip was eventful. For some reason I awoke at 04h00 and bundled the family into the car. This proved to be a major win as the highway was closed in two places. Our early departure meant that we managed to sneak through both detours without too much fuss. The second detour was heaps of fun as we rallied along farm roads in the pouring rain. For the many many trucks stuck on the same farms roads, not so much fun!

Vic Bay is a beautiful little cove, just outside of a town called George. There are only about 10 houses on the beachfront which boasts an incredible right hand point surf break. Part of the joy of this place is that one can watch the most incredible surfers pushing their limits all day long from the comfort of the couch in the lounge. If my family is really patient, they can see me hacking away on those same waves. Having the time of my life!

We arrived to find the sea in an unruly mess, big and thoroughly disorderly. Not a soul in the water. Every now and then, beautiful big waves would crash through the point and roll into the bay. It was enough to convince me to get out there and take my chances. Pot luck rules that session, but I scored some wonderful rides.

Sitting in the water, I could feel my whole body relaxing. I had not realised just how much I needed this break!

In our 5 days, all of the boys managed to push some surfing boundaries. Even Isabella discovered that adrenaline is her thing as she and Luke zoomed around the wet beach on his skim board. Although, I am not sure this is a good thing...

Nothing quite like a good family holiday at the beach!

Customer Service Rules

It’s Sunday night and I am in the Big Smoke. Johannesburg again!


Tomorrow will mark the start of my first ever training session. I am nervous as there is much riding on this training course. The two people who brought me onto the project have taken some big chances on both using me as a facilitator, as well as the cost, which is high. They have much to lose if this course goes wrong. The 16 candidates on the course represent the top layer of middle management, so this is a high profile intervention. If we are going to fail, we are going to do it spectacularly.

Then there are my own shortcomings. In my own business, I describe myself as a Management Consultant, and yet for the last couple of months I have been immersed in designing a customer service training course. I have never considered training to be one of my strengths, instead have been far happier to criticise classroom training as being incredibly boring. And yet here I am on the verge of delivering a two day intervention, compiled by myself. I have much riding on my performance, from the state of my ego, to my reputation, which is everything in a one man consulting business.

I wonder if I have taken too big a risk.

Nervously, I push myself through the facilitators guide for the last time, then head on over to my bed for the beauty sleep that is going to refresh and invigorate me. Instead I toss and turn all night. My plan to go for an early morning run is ditched as I try and make the last moments with my pillow count.

All too soon, I am in the training venue with the Learning & Development Specialist. I have an hour left to prepare and there are already a number of candidates in the room, furiously punishing their emails. I see the reference guides for the first time and they look awesome. Thankfully, I had enlisted the assistance of a graphic designer friend of mine and it has made all the difference.

Somewhere I summon up the facilitator ‘me’ and launch into my new role. Smiles and laughter erupt. I relax, and start to enjoy myself. Aki, who I described a couple of posts back, has a slot during the morning. He is a ball of energy and fun, and steals the show. By the time we sit for lunch, I hear a couple of the Learners already commending the training.

Two days fly by. Some of the creative methodologies which seemed way out there in the planning stage; really pull it all together. At its close, the course is rated highly, which is a huge relief. This is not just a rating of my performance but rather the team that pulled it all together both in the design and implementation.

I learn so much in this short time. I break a number of my own boundaries. I even start to look forward to the repeat of this intervention in a couple of weeks time.

Who would have known?