In the Loop

I thought I would do something different today. A very brief insight into our lives, an update if you will on things that have been happening:

• My wife is now 28 weeks pregnant with a baby girl. The pinkness which was always confined to my wife’s cupboard has started to mushroom in other parts of the house. I will need to keep an eye on this!
• My business which has focussed on management consulting for the last year will continue to do so but will also include a new twist. My partner and I are going to venture into some new and unknown territories as we pursue some opportunities which have presented themselves recently.
• Tweety, the old yellow Ford F100 that I am busy rebuilding is still looking old and sad despite 8 months of work. I have realised that I need to take more interest and get seriously involved in the creative aspects of her renewal otherwise she will always be a dog! Now that I have my mind around the artistic license required, I am keen to do more.
• The book I was writing lies within the depths of my computer, untouched. On the positive side, my mental book plan has changed again, and I really think I have an awesome angle. Excuses need to stop and words needs to be written...
• I still cannot drop in on my halfpipe (sorry, my children’s halfpipe)! All in good time...
• My surfing has come on in leaps and bounds mainly due to the halfpipe. Having a standing wave in the garden will do that for one!
• The new highlight in my boys lives are the judo lessons on a Monday and Wednesday evening. The lessons cause untold excitement and energy to explode into being. The three of us are doing it together and I hope that the end result is an increase in discipline.
• Our little stream in our garden is back to being a stream after the intense rain a couple of weeks back. I heard yesterday that our area last received that much rain about 60 years ago.

Life is good. Too good in fact. I feel guilty that I don’t do more to add value to all of the lives that surround us!

Extra, Extra

My 1956 Ford F100 has been sent in for a complete electrical rewire. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of agreeing the electrics with the man responsible for the piece of work. I can tell you that it was an exciting visit! Once the electrics are complete, we will be able to start the engine and drive the car, albeit whilst balanced on a bread crate!! Then we will be able to see what else needs to be fixed before moving on to the last stage, the interior upgrade. At long last, I can see some light with regard to this car...

The sea was also perfect yesterday, large swell without a breath of wind. Conditions unheard of here but resulting in beautiful smooth rolling waves. I could not help myself, those waves just lured me in! I had a fantastic surf and pulled off my first ever radical top turn. A tight turn at the very top of the wave, where the fins break free of the water. For any surfer out there, this is a non event, but it has been a hard long learning curve for me! For the first time in many years, I felt like a real surfer and not a fraud!

What a brilliant day, I even cracked some amazing work! And the weekend is still to come....

Project Updates

A while ago I posted about a new project, “the halfpipe”. Many people have asked me about its progress. Well at long last, I have some progress to report. Yesterday I sat down and calculated the cost of this wooden monster. Hmmmm about R6500. That seems a bit excessive for a stack of wood all screwed together looking out of place in my garden.

On the other hand Play Station 3 and a couple of games would not cost too much less. There is very little chance of serious injury on Play Station, except a case of mild thumb strain. The wooden beast on the other hand has the very real potential to maim and break a person. Psychologically it can humiliate and destroy, especially if the right people are watching at the wrong time. Such big risks all while learning to skate and surfing better right in my own back yard! And to think that it will build real reactions and muscles, with personal style thrown in as an added bonus.

Now I just have to get started!

That being said, my “Tweety” project is about to kick off as well. It has not ended up as I anticipated with me doing all of the upgrade work. Instead I have decided to call in the professionals to upgrade the engine, gearbox and interior. The rest of the bits and pieces, I will try and do myself. OK, so I will have two very eager helpers as well, the kids!

I saw a chap on Thursday night with regard to him helping me. He is in! The car goes to his shop on Wednesday next week. The first order of business will be to remove the engine, strip it, and rebuild it. At the same time, the car will go to a place that will get busy on the inside. I am too excited.

Although not too excited to get our Christmas act together. I have strung up all of our exterior lights and Father Christmas’s bum is firmly attached to the chimney. This, where he allegedly got stuck trying to deliver a load of presents to my kids!!!!

I know what you are thinking, Christmas lights strung up on the house and a honking big yellow Ford on the lawn. This sounds like redneck stuff......I hope not, although I will let you know when my wife starts to wear dresses that are strapless with bra’s that aren’t!!!!