Geoff's Blog

No longer really posting here

2009-09-21T15:17:00.000-05:00

Why hello, if you're still visiting here to see if I have updated, thank you and congratulations on your dedication to knowing what I'm up to... However as you have no doubt realised, I am not very good at blogging and keeping this updated at all...

As such, I have started a new site Zimbo in Canada which is really a feed of all of my other online presences, i.e. my twitter updates, my facebook updates, my friend's facebook updates, my flickr updates and finally my google reader shared items. I'd urge you to go check it out, as I'll not be posting here very often going forward, and wont be posting there often either, but the other elements are automatically updated, so you will be able to see the latest of anything I am actually doing online (apart from work).

Thanks again for visiting, and look forward to hearing from you!

News from the land up North

2007-07-19T00:29:00.000-05:00

Hi all, well this is a long overdue update, and I really have no reasonable excuse!

I'm doing well and continue moving onward (and hopefully upward) with my Canadian experience!

Most of my travel has been to Calgary in the past few months, although I managed to travel to Dallas for work once. As for work, it's been busy, but that's good for keeping me out of nonesense...

I got my license a few weeks back, and am currently looking for a car, which is no easy feat, with a large portion of the cars being American - and I really don't know them at all! I'll probably end up getting a Honda or Toyota.

I'm slowly starting to make friends here, but it has not been easy going... Being mobile will make a big difference I suspect.

I'm hopefully coming home for Christmas and New Year, which will be awesome as I am really missing eveyone back home!
The pic is from a baseball game I was at this past weekend - the Winnipeg Goldeyes. I'd love to get my folks out here so they can experience these things... That's something I'm working on, but still have a few obstacles to overcome as yet.

This week I started the ball rolling for permanent residency here, as the goal is to be rid of the "curse of the green mamba" as soon as possible!

As always I love hearing from people, so give me a shout sometime!

Until next time, this is Geoff signing off.

March Update

2007-03-15T09:48:00.000-05:00

Yep, its been a while since I updated, however not much has happened since.

I tried out skating, went up and down the frozen Assiniboine river, fell over many times, and still feel like a complete goof with skates on... Had to give it a go though, and I am sure the more times one gets practice on the ice the easier it becomes, and the less likely you will be to fall over and injure yourself.

I also went skiing in Manitoba (which is a little bit of a shock if you look out at Winnipeg when you land at the airport, its just flat, as far as the eye can see). I went out with Rick and his fam, and went down some of the runs, which was good fun!

Tonight I am heading up to Calgary for some work tomorrow afternoon then a relaxing weekend with Jen/Adam/Henry in Calgary. Should be a fun time - I'm looking forward to it.

Oh yeah, in my last update I said I might be going to Las Vegas, but unfortunately Alan and I couldnt find a suitable weekend for both of us to meet up there, so thats off the cards, but it certainly has got me thinking that I should do some travelling to places like that while I can!

Greetings from the Frigid North

2007-02-05T10:11:00.000-06:00

Ok - it was darn cold on Sunday when I took this picture, and its still pretty cold outside... Welcome to Winterpeg!

I know I have not updated this in too long a time, and I do plan to do long posts on the happenings since I last posted - here's a tidbit of the story that is me:

I flew from the UK (albeit delayed) to Johanesburg, to be met by a whole bunch of friends, travelled down to a little town called Gingindlovu (near Durban) for Scott's wedding, which was incredible! Got to spend some quality time with friends, on the beach, relaxing.

Drove up with the mates to Zim (going through Beitbridge border post, which all Zimbo's/South Africans out there will know - is hell especially just before Christmas).

Spent Christmas with family, got to spend quality time with my folks, who I really miss a lot!!

Went up to Lake Kariba on a houseboat with 12 other friends for New Years. Caught some sun, had some fun, relaxed. Got back to Harare and jumped on a plane the next day to chilly Winterpeg.

Upon getting back to Winterpeg, I ascertained that it was a bit lonely after being with all the people I love back home, so organised a couple of weeks ago to fly across to Calgary for the weekend to spend time with Jen & Adam and Henry. Went skiing in Banff (getting better at that now) and just chillaxed with the Canadian crew!

That brings us to now, when it is darned cold outside (I may have mentioned), it was -40 this morning going to work, and that was just insane.

Alan (one of my best buds from school) is across in Dallas for a couple of months so we are trying to organise a suitable weekend for us to meet up in Vegas... (I know a couple of people out there will be jealous, and I apologise now) We will see which weekend it ends up being, but I am very keen, if only to get out of this frigid wasteland for a couple of days!

Write to me!

Geoff/mort out.

Goodbye Scotland, Hello South Africa

2006-12-12T06:45:00.000-06:00

Well I am sitting in the airport again (should really check, because a lot of my posts end up being done in the airport. Anyways, I am on my way to South Africa for Scott's wedding! Its been a long and twisty journey, but I will get there in the end.

I have really enjoyed my time in Scotland, met some great people, worked really hard, learned some lessons and generally just taken the entire experience in.

This past weekend I was down in London again. I got to stay with Kris and Ali on Friday night and just say cheers to them. Then I was able to have lunch with Casey and leave a bag with her (I'm only allowed one bag back to South), then I met up with Vera and got to catch up with her a bit, then went out to dinner, which was actually Nick's (my ex-boss) wedding dinner. From there I stayed the night with Maurice and his girlfriend Julia, before heading back to Aberdeen on Sunday night.

A quick couple of highly busy days at work and I am now done.

Its been crazy quick, but SO worth it. I shall always remember my time here, and I really want to visit again!

On that note, all people back home, I am heading there for Christmas, so I look forward to seeing you all!

Scotland explored

2006-12-07T11:50:00.001-06:00

My sister came up this past weekend, and we rented a car. We decided to follow a similar route as I did with my cousin, as there is no way you could get tired of that scenery!

Its a lot warmer now than it was when my cousin was up, so all the snow that was there had melted and as a result there was some flooding. The scenery was just as breathtaking and it was awesome to spend some fun time like that with my sis... Think it has been many a year since we have been able to spend that long together!

The objective really wasn't to go and see something specifically, but more that we were exploring, and as such, if we saw something we wanted to stop for... we did... and how much fun was that!

The next morning we took a drive up the coast, and saw the angry face of the North Sea. We parked on a pier at one of the little towns, and it was actually scary coz the waves were crashing against the car and the wind was blowing it so much it felt like there were 5 big guys rocking it from side to side!

A good time was had indeed, and really the opportunity to spend time with my sister was just the best thing ever!

That afternoon I flew back with my sister to London, as I had to physically go into the Canadian embassy in London for visa purposes (I'm not going to get started on that story now). I stayed the night with Casey, and that was great coz we got to spend some time catching up. The next morning I jumped on a tube into London and found my way to the embassy and did my business. I then found my way to Buckingham palace and Trafalgar square for a quick "I was here" picture or two, and then i jumped on the tube out to Heathrow. N.B. I was able to find my way around London on the tube, I am quite proud of myself for that - coz I was a bit nervous to do that...

A lot done this past weekend, and another full one coming up (my last one in the UK).

Here Nessie, Nessie, Nessie...

2006-12-07T11:49:00.000-06:00

Well I haven't updated for a couple of weeks, but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing things!! A couple of weeks back my cousin came up to visit me in Aberdeen. She's across here on a working holiday visa, and is staying in Cambridge. Like far too many of my loved ones I had not seen her for years, so it was just fantastic that we could take this opportunity to meet up and spend time together.

She flew up on the Saturday morning and we rented a car, ready for a long day's driving! We drove across from Aberdeen to a place called Ballater, which is a town that supplies a lot of services and goods to Balmoral Castle (the royal vacation spot in Scotland). From there we really went into the middle of nowhere as we headed north towards Inverness. This took us through the deserted, mountainous area of central Scotland.

As we were driving we noticed that the frost on the ground seemed to be thicker and thicker... until we realised that it was actually SNOW! This was the first time my cousin had seen snow, so we HAD to stop and play with the snow a bit! There was one stretch where we stopped, which was rather spooky as it was so deserted and still, it really felt like the beginning of one of those scary movies...

We kept on through the mountains towards Inverness and arrived there after lunch and then found our way down to Loch Ness (ya gotta do it - don't ya). Nessie, unfortunately, was on sabatical, so we left there and drove into Inverness and looked around there for a bit, before heading back to Aberdeen.

That may sound a little mundane, but let me tell you that the Scottish scenery is really something else. Its so changeable and perfect, every corner brought a new picture that could have been on the front of a postcard.

The next morning we drove up the coast a bit from Aberdeen and stopped and a couple of small towns, and saw some amazing dunes and beach areas, as well as a really craggy shoreline which was our last stop before heading back to the airport to drop her off for her flight.

What a fantastic weekend - 350 miles of driving - 2 days of fun!! Pictures to follow soon!

Multiple posts warning

2006-11-13T05:05:00.000-06:00

I had queued a whole bunch of posts to the blog, as I have been writing things down that I want to blog in a little book, and I managed to get around to actually typing them in and posting them today. Enjoy!

Glaswegian travels (click title for photos)

2006-11-13T04:45:00.000-06:00

So I'm sittng on a train at the moment, on my way back to Aberdeen. I've just spent the weekend down in Glasgow with my friend Felicity and her husband Juan. Its really nice to be able to see her, because she and I actually met online a long time ago (4 years ago) and have met up down in Port Elizabeth (where she is orginally from).

I took the morning train down from Aberdeen on Saturday, getting into Glasgow around lunchtime. The train ride is quite beautiful, as it winds its way down the eastern coast of Scotland before heading inland to Glasgow. I tried to get some snaps on the trip down, but unfortunately it was raining, and my camera couldnt focus properly (just one more incentive to get a camera with manual focus capability).

Felicity met up with me at the train station, and then Juan picked us up and we went straight to their apartment, which is in a little village just by Glasgow called Barhead. They have a very nice little place, which they are in the process of emptying as they are heading back to South Africa in a couple of weeks.

We sat and watched a bit of the rugby which was on, and saw Argentina's defeat of England at Twickenham... Which is a story for another day!!

Saturday night was organised as Felicity's going away night with some of her work friends, so we went out to meet up with them. After meeting at a bar, we headed out to a greyhound racing meet. Very interesting, as its the first time I've been to one of those things. I had a good time, as I placed a couple of minimum bets, and it was good fun cheering on the dogs as they raced around the track! After the dog racing we went to a club, but weren't really feeling it there, so we just went home to get a relatively early night.

Sunday morning we woke up a bit late, and jumped into a car and drove across to Edinburgh. We went straight into Edinburgh castle, which was incredible!!! It is built on an extinct volcano (which I didn't know about) and is absolutely steeped in history. We only had a couple of hours really to get around it, but to really go through it properly you need a full day!! I got to go and see the Scottish Crown Jewels, and they are spectacular, it was amazing to see these intricately designed pieces which are so significant to the history of the country and have been around for hundreds of years.

Once out of the castle we took a walk down the Royal mile, which is a cobblestone street which leads from the castle down the the palace. As can be imagined there are a lot of touristy stores along the way, which we stopped in and looked at. I was thinking about getting a kilt, but then looking at the price to get all the right stuff i.e. the kilt and belt and spooren, woulc have set me back at least 150 quid... I just couldnt justify that right now, but I was thinking it might be a nice touch to wear that kit to Scott's wedding. I shall see if I can get some good deals back in Aberdeen.

Once we were done, we jumped back into the car and raced back to Glasgow, and I managed to just miss my train, but it wasnt a big issue as I managed to get onto the next train a bit later on. I had a great weekend, and would love to get back down to Edinburgh again while I am here, I just need to figure out if timing will allow...

LONDON BABY

2006-11-06T04:44:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I caught a late flight from Aberdeen to London Luton. When I was booking the ticket I really did not have a clear concept of how FAR London Luton is from Wimbledon. May as well have landed in a different city!! I spent almost as long on the train from Luton as I did on the plane from Aberdeen!!!

Anyways, it was definitely worth it, as around midnight I arrived at my destination, Maurice's appartment. He has a really nice little two bedroomed place in Wimbledon. Definitely one of the nicer apartments that I have seen while in the UK. It was so good to see him, as I don't think he and I have actually seen eachother since he left Zim 2+ years ago!! We stayed up talking, and partaking in a bottle of Black label until the early hours of the morning. I need not say the next day my head was not appreciating the abuse from the prior night!! Maurice and I just went for a cooked breakfast once we were feeling more human and then headed back to the apartment for a bit of a lazy day Saturday. After lunch Julia, Maurice's better half from Zimbabwe, got back and it was great to catch up with her too.

That night we had arranged to head out to a South African pub called Zulus which is just by Putney Bridge (sp) I believe...(I have no idea of where things are in the Greater London Area). We were meeting up with a whole bunch of Zim folks, including Derek & AJ, Sean and Casey. Derek caught onto the fact that we have moose in Canadia, and for the rest of the evening was asking about my pet moose... which really made me really miss Mike (my pet moose). Zulus is a really good pub/club, they were playing some really decent music, and also I was thrilled to be able to look around and just see friends... Something you sorely miss when you are in a strange place like Canadia. Maurice had told me about a drink called a "Snakebite", and Derek persuaded me to try one. I believe its a mix of raspberry liquer, cider and beer, and tastes pretty good, but certainly could hit you hard if you were not careful!! We were dancing and having a good time and ended up heading toward Maurice's place at about 1 or 2am, while making the obligatory stop at a BK for a burger on the way.

On Sunday morning I had to get going early as the cheapest flight I could get also meant I had a lunchtime flight out of Luton which is pretty far (see above!!!); it was over as quickly as it had started!! Maurice came with me on the tube to see me off at the train station in London as I had to transfer, and it was a good thing as I don't know if I would have actually been able to find my way if it were not for him. It was sad having to say goodbye, but I know I will be getting down to London again to meet up with him and the crew, so that was fine.

The strange thing while I was down in England is that they don't seem to be too keen to take Scottish currency, and some places just flat out refused to take it it all. Its meant to all be legal tender wherever you go in the United Kingdom, but the Scottish currency is so different from the English, so some of the tellers do not recognise it at all. I now know to try to withdraw cash down in England when I am there, rather than up in Scotland.

Remember, remember the 5th of November...

2006-11-05T05:34:00.000-06:00

So, being the UK, they celebrate Guy Fawkes day, and in no small measures either. I got back into Aberdeen on the afternoon of the 5th and went down to the beach area where they were going to be having the fireworks display. I'm starting to enjoy photography, so along came my tripod with me and I set up to take some photos. Still not getting great pics, but c'est la vie. Enjoy! (click on title for link to all the photos)

More randomness from the North Sea

2006-10-29T04:42:00.000-06:00

I was talking to a friend the other day and he told me that it was time now; he needs to find a wife, settle down, have kids, and basically get on with the next stage of his life. I was pleased, becuase it is great when people solidify a plan for their lives. I would not be surprised if this past weekend he was been putting into place steps to meet that goal.

(If the above slideshow takes forever to load, please tell me and I will remove it from my blog.)

Now, in the past I've thought that I'm ready for a major shift into the next stage or possibly more aptly, MY next stage, as each person will have their own personal stages,metrics and doors they need to pass through.

The question I find myself posing is: Can we actively choose to follow the path to the next stage, to transition, or will this just come about more as a culmination of the development of a person on a number of different levels/fronts?

I'd like to, as an independant person, believe that I have to some extent control over my direction. I'm not sure how I would feel if my direction is majorly directed through the choices and results of the past, so like a large rolling boulder the best that one can do is nudge it from side to side, little by little?

Now you may be wondering why I am getting all philosophical on the crew, and its really because recently, and in the foreseeable future I have a number of big decisions to make, which requires a solidification of my plans, and also the cementation of my values into actionable steps and tangible boundaries.

As I said in an impromptu speech back in school, "Which road is the one to success? I can't say for certain, but what I can say is that I'll see you when you get there."(ad libbed a bit because I dont remember my exact words). Young. Arrogant. Optomistic... Perhaps even wise? Time will tell.

Ramblings from the North Sea (click here to see photos)

2006-10-29T04:36:00.000-06:00

Sitting on some rocks overlooking the North Sea, listening to the constant, yet irregular flurry of waves, and I think what would I have done without this experience, this change to outflow and think about life and the direction I am going.

This is helluva dramatic as images go, sitting on the edge of a fatally compelling stretch of water. Only the other day I heard on the news of a fishing trawler going missing with all crew.

Although my line of work is nowhere near as risky, it does make me wonder; did those men love what they did? Were they the lucky ones who do something they loved, and so were the so-envious exception to the rule - don't live to work, but work so that you can live...?

I'm in no way in a position to advise anyone on this as I am currently going through the internal debate myself as to what do I want to do with my life? There are, as I can see it, two possible solutions (NOT outcomes, as many different outcomes do not solve the quandry)

The first is the more risk adverse, obvious response, which is to find a job which suits your basic skillset, and that allows you to live. (Work to LIVE)

The second is much more difficult as it requires one to look deep inside oneself and try to come up with creative solutions to allow you to do what you are passionate about as a career. Already I hear groans from people as I say this, because people are sick of hearing this and are saying "there are not many positions as flying kites <<>>" (I'm on a beach, and there are kites about, cut me some slack with the images ;) Possibly the true solution to all of this is breaking down the specific elements that you enjoy, and then try to find careers that allows you to match those.

I'm not a career guidance person, no matter what I may profess after a beer or two, so don't ask me for a customised, detail 10 step program. This may go into a book one day, this may not, I just wanted to ramble a bit, get some thoughts down onto paper. Let me know what you think, any suggestions or comments are appreciated!

Och Aye Laddie

2006-10-19T18:14:00.000-05:00

Yeah, havent posted properly for a while, and sorry this isnt gonna be a proper post either. Just wanted to update everyone to let you know that I am currently in bonnie Scotland. I am up north in Aberdeen for work till December, then I head down to South Africa. If you are in the UK - GET IN TOUCH WITH ME PLEASE!

Calgary - take 2

2006-09-22T14:18:00.000-05:00

Well this past weekend I was back in Calgary, spending time with Jen, Adam and Henry. I arrived on Friday night, only to be greeted with a light SNOWFALL... Winter is well and truly here!! It was a very relaxing weekend overall, with only one real PARTY night where we went across to Jason (a work colleague in Calgary) and Natasha's place for a BBQ.I got to spend time with both Jen and Henry, which was really the main objective of going across, coz I'm likely not going to see them until next year now... I flew back to Winnipeg on Tuesday, and got straight back into the craziness that is my life.

Updates x 3

2006-09-16T14:48:00.000-05:00

Ok so there were a few updates I posted today, apologies for posting them all at once, I had them queued for a few days, I just needed to press send!!

I'm in Calgary again this weekend, which is likely going to be my last break until December. Things are really starting to get tightly sprung in preparation for busy season and my trip to Scotland. I'll have to send out an email to everyone in the UK to try and find out where you are to see if I can coordinate meeting up with you while I am over there (bearing in mind that I will be based in Northern Scotland).

The Windy City

2006-09-16T13:20:00.000-05:00

I've just been in Chicago for a couple of days for SAP training, which went really well. I only got told on Friday that it would be happening, so I booked my flights and got here on Monday. Its been really awful weather the entire time, but was still good to see another city. The people here seem really friendly and helpful, which I have to admit was a bit of a surprise. I had a good time and met up with a collegue from Calgary and we went for a few drinks on one of the nights. We headed down to the beach which was a little surreal as you are surrounded by skyscrapers, yet you are on a sandy beach with waves and all.

There was apparently a bit of a weather problem yesterday, so my flight was cancelled, and the airline I was booked on has a clause that they are not liable for anything if they cancel a flight. All of the hotels in Chicago were full, so I ended up going to hotel in a little hole of a town 50km away. I'm sitting in the airport again today and my flight has been delayed 3 times already, who knows if I will get back to Winnipeg today. Its very frustrating because if I knew then I would just head to the office and get some work done. There is a lot to do, and when people see how little I have gotten done this week there will be questions.

Update:
So I got back to Winnipeg on Wednesday night only to find that they lost my bag en route. Seems as though that entire trip was jst doomed from the get go... I got my bag back from the airline only on Thursday night, and I am flying to Calgary on Friday!!

Jen, Henry, Braaiing in Calgary :o)

2006-09-16T13:18:00.000-05:00

Well after my Edmonton trip I headed down to Calgary. What a welcome relief. I hadn't been to Calgary since April when I went skiing in Banff! I was greeted at the airport by an excited and enthused Jen and Henry - and damn was it good to see some friends. The whole weekend was kind of planned and I was really looking forward to the break. That night (Friday) we went for dinner together and then picked up Adam, Jen's other half and we went down 17th Ave, which is the "happening" street. I guess we took the places to go out in Zim for granted coz although there were _plenty_ of bars etc on 17th, none had a decent vibe. We had a couple of drinks out and about and got home at a reasonable hour.

The next day we woke up reasonably early and headed down to a shop called SA Meat Shops. They import a lot of South African goods and make their own boerewors, dry wors, and biltong. We grabbed a whole bunch of provisions for that evening, including boerewors, lamb, sadza, rusks, biltong, dry wors, koeksusters and got some castle lager at a local liquor store. That evening Jen had her friend and her other half over for a braai. It was really really great to be eating like a zimbo and be surrounded by friends from back home. Just what a home-sick man needed!

On Sunday we pretty much just hung out, went to Church and I tried roller blading down by the river. It was rather scary at first, as it is a completely un-natural feelign to have wheels strapped to your feet. I had Henry and Adam supporting me for a lot of the time, and everyone had a good laugh at some of my first attempts, as it looked as though I was russian dancing, with my skates shooting back and forward as I tried to steady myself. By the end of the session I was basically able to steady myself without falling too much. Definitely want to give that a go again!

On Monday we headed up to Banff, which is just as beautiful in the summer as it was during the winter. We went to a lake and just had a picnic with a few people, took some pictures and waded around in the lake. Really good fun, got some great photos which I will try post here soon.

Leaving for my flight on Monday night was rather sad, becuase I had such a good weekend, it was a bit of a let down to know I was going back to my lonely little apartment back in Winnipeg. The consolation was that I was going to Calgary again in a couple of weeks (this coming weekend)!!

The City with the BIG mall

2006-09-16T13:17:00.000-05:00

Well its been a little bit since I last updated this, and I've done a bit since. Last week but one I was in Edmonton for a few days for an audit. It was my first time across there, so I was quite eager to see what it was all about. I landed there only to be greeted with a rather dismal baggage collection area, undettered I headed downtown to my hotel. My hotel was downtown, and to my dismay after 5:45pm Edmonton downtown becomes Edmonton ghosttown. I spent a couple of days there and found a couple of places that were open.

On my last night there I headed down to West Edmonton Mall, which reputedly is the biggest mall in the world or something like that. Those who know me, know that I do not like shopping at all so I guess going there was a bit of a waste on me. It is massive and rather impressive overall (Indoor rollercoaster, wavepool and icehockey rink amongst others), but certainly not something that would bring me back to Edmonton as an attraction.

On my last day I headed down to the airport (boy is it far from Edmonon - about 50 minutes away, I think its over 40km away) and the departure lounge, thank goodness is much nicer than the arrivals. I then caught a quick flight down to Calgary (it was quicker in the air to Calgary than it was to drive from Edmonton to the airport, the flight is only 43 minutes).

Another week gone

2006-08-28T10:18:00.000-05:00

Not to sound too depressing but that is how things are going. The weekend is pretty much just designating that another week has passed, and I am 7 days closer to doing my bit of travelling to the UK and 168 hours closer to getting to South Africa for Scott's wedding and 10080 minutes closer to seeing my family in my native land. Ok that sounds all desparate and all, but when you are home-sick, thats jst the way things are. I don't have a calendar with X's all over it - I'm not that extreme! Still got some exciting stuff to do and see before December, so I am sure the time will fly by (or at least that is the hope)!

The Chicks of Dixie

2006-08-20T11:50:00.000-05:00

Well as the last post said, I went to the Dixie Chick's concert last night. Now when I booked these tickets I knew of a couple of their songs and knew they had a new album out. And also that I love going to concerts so I just booked straight away! I had a friend from work, Teresa, come along with me - so I wasn't all on my lonesome.

They started off with a couple of tunes that I recognised and then went into some awesome tracks that I've never heard but were really good. The entire line-up of tracks was amazing, and they delivered it with energy and enthusiasm. The lead singer (Natalie Maines) made a couple of references to "the incident" a few years ago where they made an outspoken anti-Bush and Iraq remark, which resulted in them being shunned by radio and the media. One of her opening remarks was "Sorry we are a bit late - we just got back from kicking Bush's ass in Iraq".

All three seem to be incredible musicians, most memorable was a fiddle solo by Martie during one of the songs. All of this was just amplified by the massive, well polished backing band they had along with them.

At the end they thanked everyone with the expected "Thank You Winnipeg - Good Night", and the crowd went wild. The encore went on for at least 5 minutes with chants of "D I X I E C H I C K S" and whistling and screaming (it was a mostly female audience ). The Chicks came back on to do three more songs to end off the evening after what seemeed like an eternity.

Conclusion: Dixie Chicks in Concert - 10 thumbs up!

(P.S. If you are wondering where the pics are - we aren't allowed to take camera's into these events, so use your imagination - or do a search online for official press pictures)

I'm Batman baby, but you can call me Bob

2006-08-20T11:47:00.000-05:00

Interesting title eh? Well it was one of the lines from the opening act for the Dixie chicks that I went to go see last night (Saturday). The opening act was someone called Bob Schneider, and while we has playing he sounded really really familiar, but apparently not, he's not well known outside of Texas. He was a great crowd warmer for what followed... The Dixie Chicks!

Fishin'

2006-08-20T11:34:00.000-05:00

So on Saturday I went out with Rick et Fam to a spot on the Red river called Lockport for some fishin'. Its called Lockport because there is a lock there - coz back in the day they were trying to make river transport a viable option - so they had to accomodate a bit drop in elevation which caused rapids and they made a dam-type blockage to artificially raise the level of the river during the summer and allow free flow during winter. Needless to say river transport is a white elephant and all Lockport (or St Andrews Lock and Port which is the official name) is really used for these days is the occasional small boat.

All that said, the net result of that trip - no fish but much more relaxed after spending some time out of the city.

Quote for y'all

2006-08-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

So I heard a quote tonight, which I think is actually great:

"..you don't solve life, you live it.."

There are always going to be issues and obstacles in life that we have to negotiate, but its not a matter of solving all of the problems before you can get on with it. I'm just learning in this thing called life! I guess you could say that I'm coming out of that stage straight of school where I knew everything and could do anything. Its a constant learning exercise, and not necessarily small things either!

Statues are great!

2006-08-12T21:09:00.000-05:00

So I was doing a bit of surfing and came across a post about weird statues. One in particular caught my eye. This is right outside the Ernst & Young offices in Los Angeles. This is also how I feel sometimes. Coincidence - I think not!

Kilo-dollar

2006-08-01T11:37:00.000-05:00

Well it has finally happened - Zimbabwe has devalued it's currency. Apparently they are dropping three zero's off of everything. Sounds good doesn't it? Not really!! I wonder what the guys in the ministry of finance are feeling because a devaluation such as this is an admittal of defeat (of which everyone and their goat knew a LONG time ago).

It likely will not make anything easier in everyday life. Quite the contrary I am sure it will confuse a large portion of the population, possibly causing riots as people realise that this is just facilitating further hyper-inflation. The other part of the population who understand the ramifications are likely trying to adjust current systems and practices to deal with a brand new currency. This is an administrative nightmare of note, as can be testified by a friend of mine's recent post on his blog about having to re-do his databases retrospectively so that when he shows sales for the year, they dont just drop by 100000% in August.

Interesting times for sure.

Scotland?!?!?!?!

2006-07-29T23:30:00.000-05:00

Well, as you may have read one of the comments to my prior posts, something exciting may be happening soon. A while back I talked to my boss about doing a bit of a secondment type thing in the UK, so that I could see some people and check it all out. This was back in March-ish timeframe. I hadn't heard anything since, and I really thought it had all fallen off the radar.

I got an email in my inbox this past Monday; there may be an opportunity for an assignment in Scotland for a few months, starting soon!! So I jumped at it. Its all happening at the moment, looking to be 70% certain that it will happen. I'm really excited, gonna be doing more travelling, seeing more of the world. Its the right time for me to do this, I dont have anything tying me down anywhere at this point! So in early September I'll probably be over in Aberdeen for 3 months!! There may be opportunities to travel to Norway and London too - we'll have to see!

Stay tuned for further developments! (I'm travelling to Edmonton in a week or so, so thats another one checked off on the list!)

San Fran Pics

2006-07-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

These are a couple of sea lions just chilling down by Pier 39. Apparently this is a common sight, and something to see down at Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran. They started coming into the docs after an earthquake back in 1989 and have been a tourist attraction since.

This is a picture of a schooner in the harbour down at Fisherman's Wharf. I am not entirely sure of the details behind it, but I thought it was an awesome picture. Directly behind me in this picture is Ghirardelli Square, named after the world famous Ghirardelli Chocolate. There is a massive sign by the square which I found out later is clearly visible from off shore at night. Impressive!
This is me as we are heading down the road on Alcatraz island. That's part of the city in the background. It must have been terrible being in Alcatraz when the mainland, and freedom is so tempting and just out of reach across the Bay. Yeah I know I am terrible at posing for photos! No comments from the peanut gallery (Unless they are really humourous - keep it clean).

This is a really nice pic of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance in the fog. This was snapped out the window of a moving cab, I was surprised at how well it came out!

Yep... me in another cheesy pose at the Golden Gate Bridge - I got one of the guys in my group to take the pic, and he cropped off the top of the first tower on the bridge... sheesh - we just can't get the staff these days!

This is a view of the dock at Alcatraz. Rather imposing at dusk, especially with the birds circling and everything a little dark. Actually really glad I did Alcatraz in the end - I wasn't gonna bother in the beginning! (All the rest of the pics from this series were really blurred coz it was getting too dark, and I was on a boat so it just didn't work!)

This is a panoramic pic of Alcatraz in the Bay. Same program on the computer (rather impressed at distance panoramas with it) The fog which you can see here is just amazing. Apparently its really bad in San Fran specifically is because the hotness of the desert draws it in from the Pacific ocean, and as San Fran is a low point it all gets funneled through the bay.

This is a pic of the Transamerica pyramid. Its a very distinct building, as can be seen, and its visible from a lot of the city, therefore had to take a pic of it!

For a lot more pics of my trip (not all of them though - you'll have to email me for those) click onto my Photobucket account.

San Fran conclusion

2006-07-25T10:07:00.000-05:00

Well I'm back in Winnipeg now, and realised I hadnt concluded on my posts about San Francisco! Well the rest of the time there was basically spent in training, which was actually not that bad as training goes. I was relatively impressed with it overall. Oh and in case anyone was concerned, I got my bag back from Air Canada on Monday night, so everything turned out ok in the end!

On the Monday evening we went to dinner as a group to a "Hawaiian fusion" restaurant, which was actually really good. It is just across the road from the office. On Tuesday, a couple of guys from Calgary and I went to a really good sushi restaurant near the Golden Gate park. I am really beginning to appreciate sushi more now, even though I would still call myself an amature!

On Wednesday night most people flew out to their respective home cities, however there was NO WAY a few of us would be able to get flights all the way home leaving after 5pm on the West coast. So a few of us went to go and see the rest of the sites of San Francisco. We went to see the Golden Gate Bridge (which BTW is amazing when u stand on it - it is SOOO massive) the Bay Bridge (another of the big bridges around San Fran), Lombard street (the crookedest street in the world) and the Coit tower (a tower from which you can see most of the city, but it was closed by the time we got there - remember we did all this in ONE evening). I will have to post pictures, as those will definitely describe themselves better than I could with words.

The flight home, contrary to most people's expectations after reading about my trip there, was rather uneventful - no delays or lost luggage and generally no issues at all (its a good 7 hours on the plane, which most people would complain bitterly about, but I know better after my trip home to Zim).

San Fran - The Rock

2006-07-17T10:24:00.002-05:00

Well I woke up late today, just coz I could! I noticed that I did not have any messages from the concierge service so I gave them a call - and still no bag. This was about when I started to lose my patience with Air Canada. I called their baggage claims department, going through machine message after machine message to get to speak to someone who advised me that it should be delivered soon. Unconvinced I wandered out to go and buy some clothes, and I bought a couple of things, went back to my hotel and called Angie (one of my friends from Calgary) and met up with her for lunch (the other two were watching the SF Giants play - and although it would maybe have been nice to go, it really is not my sport, and I would not have appreciated it enough for the price of a ticket.

We mucked around downtown for the afternoon and then met up with Kelly to head back down to Fisherman's Wharf, which is where you catch a ferry to Alcatraz Island or "The Rock". Its a great ride out to the island and you get some amazing views of San Francisco City. When you got close to the island it just has that ominous, imposing feeling. We were divided into groups of about 60 for the walk up to the cell blocks, and we were told some interesting tidbits about Alcatraz (or "Pelican Island" as its name means). We then were given headsets and were guided through an audio tour of the cellblock with tons of amazing and interesting stories. I actually went into one of the cells in isolation, and it was incredible - complete pitch black - I am really not surprised people went completely crazy in places like that. We then went for a short video documentary about Alcatraz, which was very interesting. We then meandered around for a bit before jumping back on the ferry to head ashore. Just a note for anyone visiting San Fran/Alcatraz - be prepared, it gets rather nippy at night and you will likely need a jacket or something to keep you warm.

We caught a cab back to the hotel, and I got back to my room to find - no bag and no message. I checked with front desk and still no word of my bag. It is now beyond a joke so I phoned the Claims department to be told that they still have it marked as "in transit" between Calgary and San Francisco. While restraining myself I asked what I was meant to be wearing tomorrow as I have training and need to dress accordingly. I was then told they would compensate me up to $50, at which I laughed coz this morning I had bought a couple of t-shirts and a shirt which cost $50!! So the assistant let me know that he could let me have $100, as if that was a *big* favour - but they have not delivered my bag more than a day and a half later - c'mon guys lets get serious! So none-the-less I'm going to go shopping tomorrow and buy some stuff (I have to furnish them with reciepts).

Its only about 10pm now, but its been a busy couple of days so I am going to sign off now, and I'll provide further updates soon! (I'll also try put some pics up here to see once I get a chance).

It continues... Saturday in San Fran

2006-07-17T10:24:00.001-05:00

Well my flight from Winnipeg to Calgary ended up being 40 minutes late, so I arrived 5 minutes before boarding time in Calgary. I then had to literally run (like you see in the movies) from the arrivals gate to the US customs baggage claim, get through US Customs, drop my bag off, get through security check and to the departure gate. Amazingly I managed to do this, but I was running the entire time... It occurred to me when I got on the plane that the time between when I dropped my checked baggage in to the time when we took off was a bit too short for my bag to have made it, however I reconciled myself to the fact that my bag may be coming on the next flight. My suspicions were confirmed when we arrived in San Francisco, and I was informed it was on the next flight and would be delivered to my hotel.

We, and by "we" I refer to 3 of my colleagues from the Calgary office and myself, head straight downtown to our hotel, dropped everything off, and then went to the trams or "cable cars". We caught a cable car from the downtown "Market Street" station to "Fisherman's Wharf", i.e. from start to finish of the line. The entire experience was truly unique, being crammed into this little cabin, being joggled around as we went up and down all these hills, but altogether something that just *has* to be done in San Fran. Down in Fisherman's Wharf we just wandered around, and its a special sort of experience there, with the whole "docks" feeling, mixed with tourist-centric attractions, with lots of souvenir shops and restaurants. We ate dinner at a seafood restaurant at pier 39 (they have a number of piers all around the bay, all with specific numbers to identify them).We took a cable car on the way back and I got to hang on the outside of the car all the way, which really just made the entire experience.

We got back to the hotel at around 10:30pm, which is 12:30am Winnipeg time, so I was pretty beat, and ended up just going to front desk to check if my bag had been delivered or not; and it had not yet been delivered. I wrote it off to a mis-communication at the airport, and went straight to bed.

The time has come

2006-07-17T10:23:00.000-05:00

So I'm waiting in the airport, its a beautiful Saturday morning, the weather is awesome, people are smiling, the squirrels are doing their thing, and I am heading to San Francisco (Yeah I know, I think I said I was going to LA in a previous post, but I didnt pay much attention to whether it was San Fran, LA, San Diego or Timbuktoo)

I have to fly through Calgary for this, and it I think the travel person at EY booked everything a bit too tight, as the flight to Calgary is running 10/15 minutes late, so who knows if I will actually make my onward flight... <sigh> Nothing to worry about, its out of my control, so going to get on board and enhoy the flight!

I just overheard some Canadians here who were complaining bitterly that they now had to use passports to travel to the US, because only recently did the US impose this requirement - before they just had to present their drivers license or some other form of identification... I really felt like tapping them on the shoulder and telling them all the hassle that I have to go through to travel anywhere! I didn't as they likely would not be able to begin to comprehend!

Ah well I think I am being called to board now, so I'm going to sign off for now!

Unhappy Planet

2006-07-12T13:49:00.000-05:00

Some academic tree huggers have put together an interesting scale that was done showing a "Happy Planet Index". This was calculated by looking at the combination of how satisfied people are, the life expectancy and how well managed the ecological aspect of the country is.

Hardly surprising is the fact that Zimbabwe comes last in the list of 178 countries with a Happy Index of 16.6. Other "happy countries" like Fiji, the Philipines, Argentina come in with a Happy Index of over 50. The "happiest country" was a little island nation called Vanuatu. Perhaps it is time to ask for a transfer...

The link for this scale is here: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/list.htm

Vancouver eh?

2006-07-10T00:17:00.000-05:00

So as you read in my previous posts I was in Vancouver last week - and I love that city! It has an awesome vibe, and is very much geared to residents and the tourists that flock to the city.

It is a port city and as can be seen in this pic there are cruise liners docked beside the rather impressive convention centre. There is construction going on on the other side of the convention centre to expand its size to nearly half a million sq metres.... Which is HUGE!

I did a lot of walking around the city and some select pictures have been uploaded here.

One of my favourite pics was a panorama that I stitched together of the city. I used a program called Interactive Studio to do it and it worked really well. I have included this below:

There is also a massive state park right near the downtown core of Vancouver called Stanley Park. I didnt get the stats for it, but it is incredible and I included some pics I took in the link above.

I got it, I got it!

2006-07-08T13:22:00.000-05:00

Its as if I won the lottery, well not quite... But close! I got my US Visa, and lo and behold I check it to see the number of entries, and I dont see a "1", I see something that I had to confirm with the security guard - a "M". That means I can come and go to the "land of the free" (sic) as much as I like for the next year... I think the Visa guy must have been charmed by my *unamused* conversational skills at the interview, where after getting to the consulate at 8:30am I eventually got into my face to face interview at 12:26, which lasted a total of 4 minutes, most of the time of which I was explaining how to identify controls in an IT environment (hey he wanted to know what I did...)

So I'm going to LA next week-ish, more on that in later posts!

Travelling to the US... Is it worth it?

2006-07-06T11:20:00.000-05:00

So I have training that I have to attend in the US, and because I have the notorious green mamba (the Zimbabwean passport) I obviously have to get a Visa to travel there. I had to go last year and went through this process in entirety, from having to fill in complicated, convoluted forms, get a letter from my work to say that they are keeping me as an employee in Canada, paying USD100, proving that I have a valid work permit for Canada. To top it all off I have to travel to another major city for a personal interview as their is no US consulate in Winnipeg. It really feels like you are going through the 3rd degree, and all for a 3 or 4 day trip to the US for training, which although its likely to be interesting, could really be held in Canada somewhere.

The crazy thing with this whole situation is that I have training again in the US in August. So I will likely have to go through this all again in a few weeks, as, because of my passport, they are unlikely to grant my request for a "multiple entry" Visa. I'm really going to try and convince them that I need this tomorrow in my interview, however the bureaucracy which these Visa agents follow could quite easily compare to most African countries (at least the waiting conditions in the consulate are better though).

I'm telling you all this because I am on a flight to Vancouver right now. My flight was delayed and I am sitting next to a rather inebriated man, so this is all adding to the whole annoyance factor.

Canadia day

2006-07-03T11:20:00.000-05:00

Well it was Canada Day this past weekend. Everyone here seems to really take advantage of long weekends, and they certainly partied this one up. The street by my apartment actually closes down a few blocks for an all day/night street party which is pretty well attended. They have street performers singing and entertaining the crowds. I'll be updating this post with pictures when I have some pictures on this machine.

There is also a big festival which takes place at the heritage site in Winnipeg called "The Forks". The Forks is actually just the place where the two main rivers running through Winnipeg join, and this is of significance because of this was a meeting place for fur traders of old. So the forks is also a family event where they have various different entertainment things going on from concerts to clowns and magicians. This past weekend was also the first weekend that they opened the new skate park there, which apparently is one of the best facilities of its sort in North America.

They also have a fireworks display on Canada day night, which everyone and their dog seemed to come to. I went to that, and it was pretty impressive, I was trying to take photographs of the fireworks, which just wasn't working without a tripod, but it was worth a try none-the-less.

As Canada day occured on a Saturday they declared Monday to be a public holiday, which meant a long weekend. In addition, because of the close ties with the US the Tuesday (4th July) was also taken by many businesses as a holiday.

As a note for all those wondering why the title of this post appears to be mispelt - this was intentional. Canadia is the "backformation" of the word Canadian which describes people from Canada. Back formation works for America (American) and Africa (African) - why did Canadia have to be different?!?

Life, she goes on

2006-06-14T08:20:00.000-05:00

So I have been keeping myself relatively busy these past few months... Its been a bit of an effort, but it can be done! I am really creating this post as a brief outline, I will have to come back later and bloat each of these into a decent story, but until then.... deal with it!

We had our departmental retreat a few weeks back just north of Toronto in a place called Nottawasaga... It was mostly training, with a few good networking opportunities. There are some photos which I will try and upload.

I was then involved in a Cancer Charity walk, which lasts 12 hours. A team has to have someone walking around a track for the full 12 hours (its a symbolic thing) and we raised money. Was tiring as I had just finished a full days work and then I didnt sleep!! Anyways it felt good to do something like that.

On the charity side, my church small group is in the process of making blankets to help re-habilitate released prisoners... Old jeans are donated to this place and we cut them up and make a quilt. We are not very good at this and have yet to finish one!!

My office had its "golf day" the other day, which was fun. We went to an out of town course, at a resort town called Gimli. I enjoyed beating a few balls, losing a lot of balls and just generally having a good time. I think it is more of a firm sponsored drinking day, coz they were handing out baileys on the bus ride out there!

This weekend, I am probably taking part in my first rugby match, which is bloody scary, coz I am not fit enough, and I am pretty sure I will be one of the smallest players on the pitch. Couple that with the fact that a few of the players do not know the rules well, so they may assume you can just tackle whoever you want like i american football... Oh well, I'm just going to try not to break anything!

Draining water & hemispheres

2006-04-19T14:17:00.000-05:00

At one point this past weekend we had a heated debate as to whether the water drains in different directions depending on which hemisphere you are in.

The Coriolis Effect was sighted at one point as the contributing factor. After doing a little research online (as I was the only one who knew that this was bogus, but was unable to convince everyone at the time) I found that this is actually the case.... for perfectly circular, symmetric containers water will drain in different directions according to the hemisphere. However no-one's bath/sink/toilet has these characteristics. In everyday life the direction that a container will drain is dictated by other factors such as inherent spin in the water or simply design of the container itself.

The whole tourist attraction (in Kenya I think) where they take you to the southern hemisphere and the water spins one way and in the northern it spins the opposite way is nothing more than a cleverly designed scam - the initial spin is induced in different ways according to which "hemisphere" you are in.

I've included links to sites explaining this in much more detail:
Scientific American,Interesting Thing of the Day and Bad Coriolis

Banff, Skiing & Fun!

2006-04-19T00:08:00.000-05:00

Before I start explaining the happenings of the weekend - I have only included a few photos here, I have put a few more up here.

On the Thursday night Casey flew into Winnipeg from London. I had organised to go and watch a Manitoba Moose (Ice hockey) game that night, but I felt really bad cause she was suffering with the time difference, we ended up getting to sleep at like 5am London time!! We both enjoyed it none-the-less though! It was quite funny, coz no sooner had I finished explaining to her that they sometimes get into fist fights in ice hockey did one start up on the ice!

Casey at the ice hockey game

The next day we flew into Calgary from Winnipeg and then took a shuttle out to Banff. By the time we actually got into Banff we ended up just organising skiing for the next day and just having a look around the town. Its a very pretty town, obviously very tourist orientated, but the views in that part of the world are just plain mind-blowing!

View from one of the streets in Banff

On the Saturday we went skiing at Sunshine Mountain (one of the ski mountains in the Banff area). Neither of us had ever been skiing before so we decided to just book lessons and learn it properly! We had a full day's tuition inside the training area, with a magic carpet (a conveyor system to take you to the top of the training hill) and all. Our instructor, Kenji, was very good and decided we were all at the right stage to go down a "green" hill by the end of the day. That was awesome, the feeling is inexplicable until you actually do it! The entire day was completely surreal, fullfilling and tiring! We were both stiff and sore for the next couple of days, but it was completely worth it, and I think we'll both do it again!

Casey and I after skiing (it's bright and we are tired that is why we are squinting)

Jenny, Adam and Henry drove out on the Sunday to spend the day with us. We decided to go and see the sights in the area. The one place we were told we HAD to go and see was Lake Louise, so we went on a road trip out there. The weather got progressively worse as we drove out there, and by the time we got there it was pretty much just a white-out! What we could see what NOTHING like the postcards! It was rather sad as Jen had packed a picnic for us to have out there, but it was not pleasant at all outside, so we ended up just driving back to Banff and having lunch at a restaurant! One of the other things to see in Banff is the Banff Springs Hotel, which looks like a castle and is an impressive sight to see, worth the visit. We spent some time wondering through hotel as there is so much to see!

Me, Henry, Casey, Jen and Adam at Banff Springs Hotel

Those three then went back to Calgary and Casey and I went up to the hot springs on Sulpher Mountain. The hot springs are pretty much standard "Warm Baths"-type, but not as well done. Still very relaxing and theraputic, as we were both still suffering a bit from the skiing on Saturday!

Casey and I headed back into Calgary on Monday, where we spent the afternoon downtown looking around and shopping. Casey bought a few nice things, I am not a big shopper so was quite content to just follow the ladies around! We also went up the Calgary tower to check out the views.

The Calgary Tower

The views from the tower were amazing, you could see the Rockies quite clearly. There is a section of glass floor, just like in the CN Tower. Definitely not where you stand if you are afraid of heights!

Casey and I on the glass floor up the Calgary Tower

The whole crew from Sunday met up again on Monday night for a great dinner at a little restaurant in downtown Calgary. We were by far the loudest table there and were also the last table to leave - we were having a great time!!

Henry, Jen, Adam, Casey and I after dinner on the last night

Casey and I both flew out of Calgary at the same time. Casey was flying back to London through Montreal. It was very tough saying goodbye, as we had the most amazing weekend. We will defintely be meeting up again, however next time will probably be on the other side of the "pond".

An update - two months in coming - but an update nonetheless!

2006-03-16T13:24:00.000-06:00

So I havent updated my blog in months, and no real excuse from my side...

Before I start jst wanted to send a pic which I took from my apartment the other week - I just thought it was a nice composition - this is just before dawn with the moon still visable... The resolution on this is much lower than the original, but you get the idea!

I've had a hectic couple of months with work, as there were a number of tight deadlines, and some of the work we were doing was new for a few people so that jst exasperated the whole situation to a point! I think (touch wood) that everything is going to start slowing down here now, as the major hump has passed... We'll have to see though! I can definitely say that in terms of work these have been the toughest months I have ever gone through, but overall I survived so thats the positive!

On a social front not much has really been happening, I have been going to a church small group/bible study type group every fortnight, which has been good, so have met a few people from there... But as seems to be the case with most people across here they have specific groups of people they meet for specific things, and those don't generally cross over...

One of the guys from the Zimbabwe office (Henry) recently joined the Calgary office, so the partner agreed to fly me over there to assist for a couple of days to help with his onboarding. It was a good time, awesome to see him, and just to hang out for a bit. He's a great guy, and I think he will do well in Canada! Also got to spend a bit of time with Jen and Adam over there, so that was really good too... Here's a pic of Henry out at dinner the night I got there!

Oh it was also my birthday here a few weeks back, but that was kept rather low key, got a number of birthday wishes which was great, and a couple of people bought me little gifts. I also received a parcel from home with a gift and card from the folks, which was awesome, I have that pinned up (the card) in my cubicle...

Looking ahead there are a few things which are coming up which the office has organised or people at the office are holding... I am going to a couple of "wedding socials" here soon - and these are basically parties where they sell tickets to try raise money for a wedding. So that should jst be a good party. Then the office has organised an evening where we are going for dinner and then to watch a hockey game, so that will be nice to chat with people outside of work.
For easter I am going skiing in Banff with Casey, who I met back in Zimbabwe over new year. Neither of us have been skiing so the one day when we were chatting we decided to go! She's flying across on the Thursday night and we are heading up for a few days over easter weekend. I am really looking forward to that coz it should be really good fun, I'll get to spend time with Casey, see Jen and Adam and probably Henry, and I get to try out skiing. Apparently it is really beautiful up there, so I will try take tons of photos and post a couple up here!

Other than that I can't think of much which is really happening, its a Thursday lunchtime and I just thought (after prompting from a couple of people recently) that I should update my blog... As I always say, I'll try and make this more regular (even though I think I have been pretty regular, if not frequent :P)

Hope everyone is well, and email me sometime, its always good to hear from everyone!!

Survivor Mazvikadei - The spoils of victory - ONE MILLION DOLLARS

2006-01-17T08:38:00.000-06:00

Survivor Mazvikadei - The final two - the non-winner drowning his sorrows

2006-01-17T08:36:00.000-06:00

Bunji Jumping at Vic Falls

2006-01-17T08:05:00.000-06:00

Back in Canadia

2006-01-13T13:41:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm back in Canada and at the end of my first week of work. My time in Zimbabwe was absolutely awesome - I managed to spend time with my family and friends - something which I was sorely missing in Canada.

Went to Victoria Falls and threw myself off the bridge (I was pushed!!) and then went white water rafting with my dad! Some things I'll never forget - and the entire time in Vic Falls is one of those.

Spent a weekend with my friends at Mazvikadei just hanging out and chatting and catching up - good times!

Had the New Years party at my house, while my folks were still in Vic Falls (yes they knew about it and condoned it!), and it was pretty darned good! I actually managed to stay up until about 7 in the morning - at which point I excused myself from everyone and crashed!

The trip back was pretty bad - cramped in cattle class for more hours than I would like to mention, and then, because it is holiday season, managed to miss my connecting flight, and then missed the rescheduled flight as well (neither was actually my fault - planes arriving late and bad planning for check-in) .

In the Google stand at Heathrow airport

2005-12-14T04:44:00.000-06:00

Right - firstly excuse me if this post is a little less than comprehensive and readible... I have just gotten off a plane from Toronto - not slept much - and it is about 4:44 am Winnipeg time... but it is all good as I AM GOING HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!! I am so excited!

I was walking by and saw something and thought - deja vu - the google stand at heathrow. I saw pics of it online and yeah - i walked in - sat down and am now creating a post to my blog.

I know I havent posted for a while - and wont even start trying to explain why...

So for everyone who is in Zim or will be there over the christmas holidays - please get in touch - i would love to hear from everyone and catch up if possible...

I will likely be back - coz i have a long wait here and there is not much else for me to do here!!!

Corn Mazes and Diversity Breakfasts...

2005-10-31T09:54:00.000-06:00

So I actually had quite an eventful weekend (for me, in Canada... in case anyone has some wise cracks).

On Friday night, on the way out of the client this other guy from work, Mike (who was at that night in Calgary at the Stampede), said we should go for a couple of beers. So we went across the street to a Moxies (which is a restaurant/bar type place - v nice). So anyway one beer turned into a few and yeah went home and slept pretty well :P

Then I was invited to go to a halloween thing at a "corn maze". So I got dressed up as a cowboy (coz I still have the OTT cowboy hat from Stampede) and yeah met up with this group of people. The person organising it works at Air Canada, where I am doing a lot of work at at the moment. The corn maze was pretty kewl actually, its jst a massive field of maize with a maze cut into it; and you have to locate various point in the maze according to a checklist. So it was nice to jst spend some time with other people and chill with them afterwards.

Sunday morning I was picked up with Rick and we met up with Rowena, the other TSRS person in Winnipeg, for a "diversity breakfast". The thing is that the TSRS team in Canada is very multicultural so they often do "diversity" dinners where they will go to a Portuguese or Chinese restaurant. Well the Winnipeg team is all non-Canadian, so we decided to go out to this place called Green Gates for a breakfast, which we assume is a Canadian one. So anyways it is a buffet style and the food is amazing! 4 or 5 star type food. Lets just say I was very satisfied after leaving there! Wow!

"Other" Pics

2005-10-27T16:06:00.000-05:00

This is the view out of the boardroom at EY on a particularly gloomy summer day. You can see the local baseball team's (The Goldeyes) diamond in this. The river you see in this picture is the Red River, and further upstream (to the right) is "the Forks" where the Assiniboine and Red rivers meet. It apparently has historical relevance during the fur trading times... Not totally sure bout all tho...
This is me in the CN Tower in Toronto standing on the glass floor. The CN tower is the tallest tower in the world (somewhere around 500m high).
This is me, very tired from not sleeping well, on Canada day (July 1st). Yes, I did end up going out looking like this... But everyone was dressed up all goofy lookin!
This is at the one large tent at the Calgary Stampede. Not sure what time this was, but it looks as though it was after a number of beers. The other guy in the photo is Mike, who works at EY.
This is the municiple building in Winnipeg. Not sure if you can see it clearly but there is a golden statue of a boy on top of the building. Everyone refers to it as the "golden boy", and it looks pretty good on a sunny day (which this wasnt)!

Niagara Falls Pics

2005-10-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

This is me on the boat "Maid of the Mist" with the American Niagara Falls behind me. This is right in the beginning. The American falls are just straight falls and really arent as impressive as the Canadian falls. Look below to see me after we have been through the mist of the Canadian Niagara Falls!!!

This a pic of me pointing at the Canadian Niagara Falls after going through the mists at the bottom of the falls on a boat. Absolutely incredible overall experience as the roar of the falls was all around (the Canadian Falls are a horseshoe shape - hence the nickname "the horseshoe falls") , whats like heavy rain coming in sudden rushes, the boat churning up and down in the turbulent water, the sun being obscured at times because of mist.

Belated update

2005-10-27T15:30:00.000-05:00

Yes I know - you have all probably had a look at the date of my last post and thought - "wow he has been lazy - not updating his blog for xx number of weeks". Do I have an excuse? Yes. Is it valid? Nope.

In terms of exciting things which have happened since my last post - I dont have much to report. I have been working pretty hard, but keep getting reminded that it will get busier still as this year end comes up. None-the-less I think I am starting to become a little more comfortable with the work that I'm doing, however it will be a while still until I feel like I have a complete handle on things.

Rick has been awesome, having me round to his house on weekends, keeping me out of mischief, helping with my sanity! Ted, the IT guy from work, has been really good too - I have been round to his place a few times too.

Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks back (for some reason Canada and the US have different dates for thanksgiving - no idea why!) and I went to Ted's house and had dinner with them. Peggy also had a dinner on the Friday night, which was awesome.

Everyone seems to be getting all excited about halloween now here, with decorations going up all over the place. I guess it must be one of those things that you grow up being excited about. I may be going to some party at someone from work's house this weekend, which should be interesting!

I am heading home to Zimbabwe in December (the 14th for all you interested people) and thats getting pretty close now. I am so excited to be able to see my family and friends. Not so sure about being excited about being back in the country, but y'know its still home no matter what happens to it...

Update for the past 2 weeks...

2005-09-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't posted here for a while, and I apologise for that!! The week before last was just a whirlwind of confused emotions as you can imagine with my Ouma(grandmother) dying. Everyone that I know here was SO supportive and I really appreciated that. My partner in Calgary left me a voicemail expressing his condolences and basically saying that the firm would support me in whatever way it could! Rick was so supportive, offering to have me over for dinner and checking in on me regularly, which really helped to ground me in reality.

I was scheduled to go to Toronto last week for the whole week, which I went on, because it would take my mind off things a bit, so that was good to see a different part of the country and to work on a new client. I had a good time in Toronto, went and saw the beaches area, the downtown area including the CN tower (the tallest tower in the world!!).

After the week was over (it was a short one, as the firm gave Friday off for the last long weekend of the summer) my colleague and I went to Niagara falls, which is about a two hour drive. All I can say is that it was majestic, beautiful and awe inspiring! These peeps say it it one of the seven natural wonders of the world, but I checked it out and - nope! But still got a chance to see one of those this winter - the northern lights!!

BTW in case anyone was wondering - here are the 7 natural wonders of the world.

Mount Everest
Northern Lights
Paricutin Volcano
The Harbour at Rio De Janeiro
Victoria Falls
Grand Canyon
Great Barrier Reef

Ouma

2005-08-24T09:41:00.000-05:00

I received news from Zimbabwe yesterday after lunch that my grandmother/Ouma had passed on. I know she has been really bad for a while, and to a certain extent I should have been prepared for it, but one never is prepared for that sort of news.

My parents had just gotten back from their holiday in South Africa, and my Ouma was still in Dandaro medical centre (which is like a medical centre for older people). My mom says she had visited with my Ouma already that morning for a long time, but something told her she should visit again in the evening. When she got there my Ouma was making a fuss with the nurses etc and her medication, so my mom told them to go and she would sort it. Once that was done my mom was going, and at the door, whem my Ouma called her in a very sweet and quiet voice asking if could just come and rub her feet for a little bit (My Ouma was in so much pain all over, esp. her feet). So as my mom was doing that, my Ouma stopped breathing.

I am so thankful that my mom was there at the last, and that my Ouma passed peacefully. That is always what I prayed for her, that she would pass peacefully when it was time.

My Ouma was an amazing person in so many different ways, not just as a grandmother for me. She was persistent and mostly successful in things that she put her mind to. She was loving and kind and had one of the most beautiful hearts I know. She was very loved, and I know will be missed sorely by more people that I think even she realised! I could go on about the times we spent together, but I think it will suffice to quote something I often wrote in cards to her; "Thank you for being the Best Ouma in The World".

Ouma, I know you are up in Heaven right now, and I just ask that you nudge God in the side and ask him to send just a little bit extra strength and understanding to my family right now.

I love you Ouma. Forever.

3 months later, many uncomfortable nights

2005-08-20T10:11:00.000-05:00

I should be getting my couch today... Yay!!! Can you people believe that is the highlight of my weekend!!! So yeah I ordered it with the rest of my furniture and it only came into stock recently... I think (I dont remember fully) that is is a VERY soft suede and is a darker beige sort of colour... Should look really great, and it was comfortable too...

Then I also got a new PC here... (Yeah a lot of spending I know). Its a P4 HT 2.8 on with Intel and SiS MoBo components, 160 GB SATA drive, 1Gb ram, DVD-RW. But something is not working and i suspect it is the windows installation cd... anyways... when it starts working it will be a nice pc!!

My Vancouver visit

2005-08-18T09:40:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend I went to Vancouver. I flew in on the Sunday afternoon and I walked around a bit and it seems like a very pretty city, but it has that big city feel. Y'know! I went there for training so the next two days were perty boring! It was mostly irellevant to me and I feel I got VERY LITTLE out of it. Anyways, I got to the see the city.

Monday night was awesome coz my Great Aunt Thea just happened to be in town from the UK for a conference. I hadnt seen her since I was like 10!!! We went out to dinner and just chatted, and it was really really kewl. She is such a nice person to chat to! She's like 83, but only in body (and thats only her back which makes her bend over), she is still a vibrant interesting person when you chat to her. So that was great, I look forward to seeing her again if I can next year if/when I go visit the Uk.

On the last night we went out as a group to some restuarant, which was kewl, had a very nice meal then some few beers. The partner then decided it was time for him to make an exit, but apparently when partners make an exit here it doesnt necessarily mean they stop paying... He told someone that they should continue paying and he would approve the expense claim... So we went from there to some pool lounge and had a pool tourney....

It was kewl coz we had Canada vs the rest of the world (there were a lot of immigrants there)Now any of you who have played against me in pool know that I can play, but not what you would call good.. Then how is it that team Zimbabwe/China won the whole thing!!?

So that was great and then one guy and I decide to walk home now, it is only apparently a few blocks away. So as we are walking he recognises this club that his mate works in, and yeah we get in for free there, felt v good coz there was a long queue of people to get in the door!! So it was quite a nice club, pretty girls, alright music. We had two drinks there and then left, it was pretty late by now and I had a flight at like 7 in the morning!!

Well thats about it - not much time for sightseeing etc, but its a great place, and definitely somewhere I would like to visit for longer and get to see more fully.

Now back in Winnipeg!

2005-08-06T10:08:00.000-05:00

Its been a bit of a hectic week workwise, but its the weekend now, which is great! On Thursday night I went with Peg and co to some "Folkorama pavillions". Basically what happens is that countries set aside a hall and do a song/dance and serve the local food for that country. Its actually pretty well organised and there are like 26 different countries doing it. I went to the "African" one and the Israeli one.

The "African" pavillion was ok, very commercialised as you can imagine, with lots of dancing and drumming etc. Didn't want to burst too many people's bubbles, but it was NOTHING like the stuff I have seen in Zim or elsewhere in Africa. And the food was basically stewed beef and samosas (they dont call them samoosas here, and they also dont pronounce it with an "oo" its an "o" - so when I tried to order one the other day I got some v strange looks!!)

The Israeli one was also pretty good, but I am sure just as commercialised as the African one. Enjoyed it none-the-less. Last night (Friday) I looked after Rick's kids, coz their eldest, Robert is now the "legal-age" to baby sit, so I was jst there in case something horribly wrong happened. They are such good kids really, polite and friendly, so was actually a pleasure. I stayed the night at Ricks place afterwards, and today (Sat) we are going to Gimli, which is on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. Its basically like a beach town I have been told. If you have time sometime, to
understand how big Lake Winnipeg is, have a look at it's size in comparison to somewhere like Kariba. Kariba is 5,580.00 km2 (thanks to some Googling) and Lake Winnipeg is 24,500.00 km2 - around 4 and a half times as big!!

Back to Reality?!?

2005-07-29T12:01:00.000-05:00

Well this afternoon I am flying back to Winnipeg, which will actually be a welcome return. It has been absolutely AWESOME spending time in Calgary, spending time with Jen and Adam, but in a strange sort of way it is time to get back to some sort of familiarity, and I have to say that Winnipeg is the closest thing that I have in Canada to that!!

I went to a South African restaurant with Jen, Adam and a couple of their friends last night. It is called Jabulani (which means celebrate or something like that). It was soooo great, I had a starter with biltong and driewors, then had boerewors and pap/sadza, all the meantime sipping on a Castle... Very nostalgic time for me! So much so that on the way we managed to find a liquor store which stocked Castle, and I bought a 6-pack to take back with me to Winnipeg!

Its gonna be weird getting back to my appartment, I will have laundry to do that I left, I wont have any food in the house, I will have to vacuum etc etc... I sound far too domesticated don't I!!!

Got so many things to sort out when I get back too, like sorting out a savings account so that I can facilitate savings for when I get back to Zim... Also got the bills to pay, and just sorting out the work on that side!! Its all good tho!!

London bombings

2005-07-22T17:04:00.000-05:00

I'm sure most of you got my email "Roll Call" the other week to find out if you were affected by the blasts at all. I was very concerned as I know a LOT of people who are in the UK and in London specifically. Luckily no-one that I know was actually affected at all.

The latest couple of bombs that were found on busses are a worry tho. It just shows how vulnerable society is to these sort of threats. Even with the whole city still at a heightened state of emergency these bombs found their way onto the busses.

I heard on the news last night (I was listening to some American channel) that people travelling by the underground and busses may encounter similar precautions as the ones in airports to check baggage etc. I shudder to think what sort of chaos would prevail if everyone had to be checked before jumping on public transport... Everyone would have to leave an hour earlier everyday just to compensate for these checks!!

Its crazy, but it may actually be necessary. Not sure what the end impact of these bombings is going to be, but one thing is for sure, it is definitely raising the temperature in a pressure cooker which is already steaming...

(I thought I had updated this... my bad)

2005-07-22T09:53:00.000-05:00

Well I've been in Calgary since my last post and nothing all that exciting has happened, I have been working hard, and its been a little bit difficult. Trying to do things the way that they do things in EY Canada is a little bit of a mind-twist for me! Just remember that I only really know the way things worked in Zimbabwe, and that was probably not quite right but it was the best that we could have done. Then I had like 6 (six) months where I basically did nothing to do with IT audit, and now i'm in full swing with everything in a different way! I just hope that what I am doing is adequate!

I saw Adam and Jen last weekend which was kewl, we jst caught some flicks and chilled, was good to just be able to relax and chat to someone for a bit! I went to church with Jen on Sunday, we found some church relatively near her and that was good coz she hadn't really been going much. So yeah all good on that front!

This weekend I probably will go shopping for some clothes, coz that seems to be what people do here... Not so sure if I am all enthusiastic about it - but gonna do it none-the-less!! May also catch a movie and chill in one of the parks around here... Its a beautiful city, really beautiful, the guys are mostly the cowboy type, which can get a little annoying, but c'est la vie!

I'm kind of looking forward to going back to Winnipeg in a strange kind of way as it is the closest thing I have to a home at the moment!

Stampede weekend

2005-07-11T14:39:00.000-05:00

Well this past weekend I spent in Calgary, and it was pretty good. On Friday the whole of the downtown area closes down and there is a parade which goes through the middle of the town with floats and everything. Actually pretty good, I was a bit skeptical initially as I did not think that just watching some floats go by would be worth the time!

Then I went to one of the malls with Jen and Adam (Jen's one of my friends from Zim and Adam is her other half). It was fun, they bought some roller blades and we jst had some fun going around the mall. We then went and watched "The Fantastic Four", as it was new on the circuit. I am not a movie critic and will not pretend to be one. Put it this way - it way entertaining enough that you can veg and watch it.

I went back to my hotel after that - and as I was getting out of the cab I saw some EY people from Winnipeg outside the hotel as well. They were here for training, and they invited me to join them for dinner, which I did and then I went out with them afterwards. A group of us went to the stampede grounds to the one stage and bar there called "Nashville North". It wasnt bad at all if you dont mind country music. Needless to say we had a number of beverages each and by about four in the morning we were ready to leave. On the way out some people stopped at one of the rides, which for some reason was still operating. So me, in my wise, brave state decided to go on the ride. It is basically a massive beam hinged in the middle with baskets on either side. At the top I would estimate that you are about 80ft up. All this "ride" basically does is spins you round at some massive Gs. I went on that and, surprisingly, was fine afterwards.

The next day was pretty much a recovery day as you can imagine. Yesterday, Sunday, I went out again with Jen, Adam and Randy (Randy is Jen & Adam's friend). We went to the stampede grouds and looked around and they went on some rides, and it was a pretty good time. After that we went back to Jen's appartment and watched a DVD - "the Life Aquatic" and it was pretty good, even though the first 20 minutes were very confusing and not all that compelling. (and here I was saying I am not a movie critic!!!)

My section at EY in Calgary are all visiting the Stampede today, just now actually, as a group. Should be fun, but not going to go on any rides or go overboard I dont think. We will have to see though!

Typed in Winnipeg Airport, on my way to Calgary

2005-07-05T11:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I am typing this while sitting in the airport waiting for my flight as it has been delayed! No internet access that I have found yet, so jst cracked open my laptop and thought I had better update my blog. By the way in case you dont realise why I am in the airport I am going to Calgary for about 4 weeks for work. Doing a SOX audit for a major Cable and Comms company there. I will also be there for Stampede (which I explained in another blog post). I was being told different things for the past couple of weeks as to whether I would or wouldnt be going to the Stampede - and well now I am - got my ticket in hand - my room at the Sheraton (yeah yeah I know I am totally spoilt) reserved and I am there!!!

Let me think - what has happened since I last updated this - well we have had Canada day this past Friday (1 July)! Was pretty kewl - everyone here is so patriotic!! Well it seems like that anyways! The main street just near me (Osborne Road) was closed off for a couple of days and there was just a massive street party going on for all hours (yeah I could hear it all going on at about 3 in the morning - but it was not keeping me awake - couldnt sleep for some reason) So I went to that the one night - and yeah everyone seemed to be having a great time - they had bands playing at different points down the street and yeah a good time was just had by all!

Oh right - the night before Canada Day I went to a Karaoke evening with Peg, her daughter, Unity, and Peg's best friend and fiance. Yeah I was not keen to do any songs as my last experience was in the Bull & Bush in Botswana and it was nothing I want to be reminded of. I did end up helping both Unity and Peg out with their songs so I did get up on the stage and it wasnt that bad - so next time I go to a Karaoke evening I will probably get up and sing!

This past Saturday I spent helping Peg (my relocation agent - but more jst a mate here) move into her new appartment (which jst happens to be in the same building as me!!!) So that was a very tiring day, but we got it done - still the main work is still ahead of her with unpacking all the boxes etc!!

Update

2005-06-24T12:26:00.000-05:00

I went to watch a baseball game last saturday, which was really good fun actually. I had watched a couple back in Zim when I was very young (coz my Dad was a baseball pitcher back in his day - he played for Rhodesia and for Eastern Province). The local team is called the Goldeyes (its some fish apparently). Anyways they won against a Kansas City team (as you can guess they are not in the major leagues!)

On Sunday I flew in to Calgary to see Jen (my friend from Zim) and she is well. I got to meet her boyfriend, Adam, who is really great! So I just had a day visit there and spent time with them and went to a formal doo thing with them too. Looking forward to when I get to go to Calgary for work as I will be able to hang with them a bit!

This week has been a bit of a non-event in terms of things to write - it got REALLY hot on Wed and Thur and then rained on Thursday evening. When I say really hot I mean it was probably 28/29 degrees C, but the humidity was unreal - I have never experienced anything like that - even at the coast!!! On Wednesday night I hardly slept it was so hot - my entire bed was soaked in the morning! So I am starting to see what the whole story with the summers here is like. Now just gotta wait for the winter......

No real plans for this coming weekend tho - just gonna do the domestic thing and clean my appartment and all that... Might go shopping for some more stuff that I have realised I need. So much fun hey!

Calgary watch out!

2005-06-14T17:09:00.000-05:00

So Rick told me yesterday that I will be going to Calgary at the beginning of July for 3 or 4 weeks!! Great news, as I really thought it looked like a nice place; well, all that I could tell from my fly in fly out visit a couple of weeks ago!

I will be there during "Stampede Week", which apparently is something like the biggest outdoor exhibition in the world. Something like that anyways. Check out this website - I believe it has all the info. It is basically one week out of the year when the whole city just goes crazy, people wear jeans to work etc. They have rodeos going on, as well as "chuckwagon races" which I have been told I have to see to believe. These chuckwagon races have wagons being drawn by four horses and each wagon has four outriders. That constitutes one team - and four teams compete at the same time through an inital loading section to a circuit. Still not quite sure what all that means but that is my understanding.

They also have live music by well known artists going on the whole time there, which is awesome as I should be able to go to some concerts!

I am also excited as I will be able to see Jen (my friend from Zim) and meet her boyfriend, Adam, who I have heard so much about! So this promises to be a good time all in all - with a bit of work thrown in there !

BBQ Time

2005-06-12T17:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to a braai/BBQ (depending on where you are in the world). Rick was having another family round so he invited me. It was great, he had a brand new gas barbeque which he had assembled that morning. Its a massive thing, and as we found out gets really hot really quick!

I made a quick marinade for the beef, which actually worked quite well, everyone commented on it (in a good way people). But the weather was rather disappointing to say the least. It was cloudy and drizzling for a lot of the time. That really annoyed me as in the morning it was hot and sunny!

So we had the braai and some good chats with everyone over a few glasses of red wine, and my first Barbeque in Canada was over. Mission successful!

Bears on Broadway

2005-06-12T16:51:00.000-05:00

On Friday night I saw the Bears on Broadway! Ok clarification needed here - there is a street in Winnipeg called Broadway - and as a charity spectacle the cancer society has had over 50 huge bear sculptures all along Broadway. Each has been uniquely painted and are sponsored by a company or individual.

I went there with Peggy, her best friend & best friend's boyfriend. It was pretty kewl seeing all of these close up - some of the detail is amazing! I havent actually checked all the photo's yet, but I got sent all the photos - and they are here (click here) if you would like to see them!

Another week past, many still to come!

2005-06-09T16:44:00.000-05:00

Well it's Thursday here, and time seems to be passing pretty quickly. I am enjoying my appartment, its great to have my own space, but then again I have to keep it tidy, which is the main issue at the moment. I am trying my best to be tidy; but for those who know me; but I find it quite difficult. And doing things like washing dishes, doing laundry, all that stuff, its all totally foreign to me!

I have managed to get around a bit on the bus system here, albeit a bit of a jump on a bus and hope it was the correct one. They are all numbered and have their specific routes etc. The inside is really pretty clean and the whole system is very acceptable. I am just used to being able to jump into a car and go where I need to go, and more importantly KNOW where I can go!! But that will all come with time.

All the emails from back home have been slowing down, so I am presuming that one of the following has happened:

the government has completely shut down emails and all forms of external communication
PTC is not working (a very likely one)
people have gotten so bored of my blog posts that they dont feel motivated enough to email me
I have been unofficially labelled as completely crazy and everyone has been warned off emailing me in case it causes a breakdown

If none of the above apply to your person, please do feel free to email me at will, even a "one-liner" would be great, not expecting novels (needless to say none of you should be expecting anything like that from me).

And yes, yes, yes, I know that everyone asked about pictures and want to see stuff and everything. I apologise for not taking any and posting them somewhere, I shall endevour, when I get home tonight to take some photos and then post them somewhere and then put the link up here!!

I'm alive

2005-06-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes I know, I havent posted to my blog in 9ish days! And I apologise for that! I've been so hectic with stuff this side.

I had all my furniture delivered this past weekend, and well everything comes in pieces! So now my mission has been to try and put all this stuff together! I am not all that much of a DIY person either so thats not helping out!

Then on Sunday I went shopping with Peggy, for all of the stuff that I need for the house, from vacuum cleaners to linen to garbage bin liners!! So that was good fun (not really but its essential I guess). So now my appartment is full of stuff. Well not quite FULL, but its got the essentials - I hope!!

I am hoping to move everything from the hotel (all my clothes and everything that I brought from Zim) to the appartment on Saturday morning. Only then because, I am going to Calgary tomorrow. Flying in, going to a workshop, flying back tomorrow night!

I will endevour to take some photos in the next couple of days and figure out the best way to get them to everyone!

The May Long Weekend

2005-05-24T10:51:00.000-05:00

This past weekend (incl Monday) was a long weekend - not quite sure what for (Memorial Day or something like that)!

As you have read in previous posts here I have an appartment; well that means I then needed to furnish it - hence what I did on Saturday! I went shopping with Peggy, who has been really great I might add, and we started at the one store, but the salesman was really pushy and they didnt really have the range of furniture I was hoping for. I ended up going to "The Brick", another furniture store, and buying everything there. I spent quite a bit of money as furniture is ridiculously priced here (I mean totally over the top priced compared to other things like electrical goods and clothes etc). I managed to get the following:

A sofa - which is really nice - its beige and SO comfortable - but was out of stock and will only be delivered in about 5 weeks.
A bed - Queen size - which is also really comfy - and it came with a free 24" TV, DVD player, and digi cam - so finally I shall be able to post pictures for those of you who have been asking for pics!!
A single chair and ottoman(sp) - its all kind of colour co-ordinated so it looks ok - this is just to sit in until my sofa comes!
A table and chairs - its a glass top, and the colours also all kind of go.

So the above came to a ridiculous amount - but it had to be done and well from here I can just buy slowly slowly and build up my collection of stuff.

Then on Sunday I was picked up by Rick after church and I went round to his place. We went to the park and flew a couple of kites with his one son, Paulo. That was really fun, as I have not flown a kite properly for quite a while.

Yesterday (Monday) Rick picked me up in the morning and I joined his family on a trip to the beach!! Yes, Winnipeg has a beach! Its on Lake Winnipeg, so it is not an ocean beach, but its pretty darn good none-the-less! We had a picnic out there and the kids had an awesome time making sand castles and everything. The water was pretty chilly, but bearable! It was Rick's family's first time out there as well, and I think a good time was enjoyed by all.

Interesting Winnipeg fact #1

2005-05-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

'Winnie-the-Pooh' is named after Winnipeg. Read a short history of this below!

http://www.just-pooh.com/history.html

And the results are in...

2005-05-19T16:25:00.000-05:00

I have been accepted for the appartment!! I will be moving into a south facing (much lighter) appartment on one of the top floors of the Penth0use Towers (sounds all fancy hey!!)! I am very excited as now I have my first place of residence of my OWN!

I will be going furniture shopping on Saturday with Peggy to buy everything I will need and I will hopefully schedule delivery for next Saturday (28th) and will move in soon after that!

I'll try get some photo's of it for everyone when I can, I'll probably have to ask Rick if I can borrow his digi cam and take some snaps!

Found an appt!

2005-05-17T16:34:00.000-05:00

I have found the appartment that I wanna stay in. Its on a road which is right by the river (I think its the Red river). It is very very nice. I have had a look at quite a few appartments today and this is by far the best I have seen! Its all carpeted, and has stove and fridge. The building itself is well maintained and you can see they are putting a lot of money into the building. Once my application is approved I should be able to move in on Jun 1!!

I am going into a 2 bedroom one first of all, coz that is all that is available - its on the expensive side, but definitely worth it. Once a 1 bedroom one is available the building manager said it should be ok for me to move into that. The 1 bedroom one is a bit cheaper (coming more into my affordable range), but the building is actually just too good for me to pass up any appartment.

So all I gotta do now is fill in the application form, send it in with a security deposit, and then (thinking positive here) I will be moving in!! I'm very excited about this, it's gonna be a bit of a project for me to put my own touches on my own place! (Considering this will be my FIRST place)

Same old

2005-05-17T11:30:00.000-05:00

Well, the work here seems to bring about the same old problems as it did back in Zimbabwe, or Botswana. Not too sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing tho!!

I'm pretty busy trying to get this one section of work done for a client, and well, the same sort of differences pop up the whole time! At least I kind of know what sort of direction to take from here!

I am going appartment hunting with Peggy just now, but its gonna be a bit of a problem as I will have to try and get the renters to wait until about the 28th of the month till I have enough in my account to actually pay the deposit and the rent! Its a bit of a problem when you are coming from a country like Zim where you dont really have savings, and if you do they are minute! Oh well, I am sure I will work a plan, I kinda have to!

untitled due to lack of inspiration

2005-05-15T15:58:00.000-05:00

Its not as bad as the title describes! Its Sunday afternoon and none of the plans which I had have actually materialised...

I was meant to head to that barbeque yesterday - if you look further down in my posts you will probably find that... But the weather was shocking and as it was an outdoors thing it was cancelled! :(

None-the-less Peggy still picked me up for a bit of a look around for an appartment. We went and had coffee and looked through the papers etc.. There is so much on the market, it is going to be difficult to decide on where I should live... Also quite a few deciding factors like accessability to main bus routes and large shops (as the smaller shops are generally a lot more expensive). We will have to see what I can organise though!

Then today I went to the same church just around the corner from me - and it is fine - nothing to make me too worried about their theology just yet - and well the people are pretty friendly!

Peggy's daughter, Unity, was going to take me around town today a bit on the buses jst to show me the town from that point of view, but she had to cancel coz her dad needed her for something or other... I'll be heading with Rick an his fam to a fair in a bit - which should be fun!

I read a short book this weekend - and when I say short it took me like 1 hour, which shows you how short it is - called "Who moved my Cheese". Its a very simple story, but definitely worth the read! It talks about 4 characters who are like mouse size and how they deal with their cheese supply being moved (basically changes in life). Its well written and very easy reading - I would recommend it to anyone to read if they have a chance! I actually have an electronic copy of it so if anyone would like that just email me and I'll send it to you!

Its Thursday and...

2005-05-12T15:05:00.000-05:00

... I am still completely overwhelmed! Work is really starting to kick into full swing, which is great, as it keeps me busy and not getting home sick!

Something which keeps amazing me each time I come across it is the bandwidth out of this place. (For the non-techie people - bandwidth is basically the speed of your internet - if you can imagine a water pipe, if you have a very small pipe - i.e. Zimbabwe - you can only get a small amount of water through, but if you have a big pipe you can obviously move water through the pipe a lot faster).

On a daily basis my machine is backed up to a data centre in Cleveland - and not just my documents or anything like that - my ENTIRE machine - all 15 odd gigabytes of it... And quickly too - initially it took about half an hour but now it takes 10 minutes to scan through the drive for changes and back those changes up.

Let me put that into perspective - it probably updates about 100 Mb of my backup a day - depending on how many changes i have made. In Zimbabwe if you were lucky on a dial up you would get about 10 true Mb through in an HOUR. This does 10x that in 10 minutes - with most of that time actually scanning through the drive!

I downloaded a 2Mb file just now and it took 10 seconds!

Anyways - as people who know me well will understand - I am extremely happy with that part of the 'Canadian Experience'!

Yesterday I went shopping for groceries at a Canadian SuperStore. The store is just completely ginormous - even that does not describe it! At a complete guestimate you could probably fit about 15-30 Jaggers size stores INSIDE this one store! So shopping there was amazing - apart from the standard bombardment with choices!

After that I went with Peggy (my relocation agent) to a recital. It was some scholarship recital where young people got the chance to sing in public. There were four singers altogether each performing about 4 songs. I was impressed at the voices these youngsters had - and I mean they are not much older than about 18 and their voices were so well developed.

Anyways from there I went back to the hotel and had some pasta for dinner (Yes, I mostly just bought pasta, coz that is the quickest and easiest thing to do for one person!!).

Oh yes and I have a high speed internet connection to my room so I can connect to the work network from my room using a VPN (Non-tech note: Virtual Private Network - it allows you to connect to your work network securely and use it as if you were sitting at work - you can even print to one of the printers!!)

There is a cheese and wine event going on in the board room today at 4:30 so I might head there and try and meet some of the top dogs in EY Winnipeg. Not too keen on the whole combination of cheese and wine, but anyways!

K, well, work beckons, shall post again soon!

The first day

2005-05-10T07:15:00.001-05:00

I arrived a little late for work on the first day unfortunately as I was
trying to find a dry walkway (but failed) to the office!

It was another eyeopener as they are SO up-to-date with all the technology!!
I got my laptop and spent the morning filling out forms and chatting with
the HR lady. In the afternoon I was grabbed by Rick whospent a long time
trying to update me from Zimbabwe TSRS to Canada TSRS. I still think it
will take quite a bit of time to get there, but i will most definitely make
it!!

Well its Tuesday now, and I have an Audit breakfast I need to be in about 20
minutes, and I have not started getting ready at all!!! So I will have to
love you and leave you!

Shall try update this soon!!

The first weekend

2005-05-10T07:15:00.000-05:00

Well this weekend I spent quite a bit of time at Rick's place on Fri and
Sat, and well thats when I sent the group email you saw in the previous
post. That is such a welcoming family, you have to see it to believe it!

On Sunday, I woke up a little bit early, in anticipation of going to the 9am
church service at a Presby church a few blocks away. I walked and walked
and walked, but to no avail! I could not find this church for love or
money. So I started my walk back and stopped at a Starbucks. They are big
into "building" their own coffees here, which I was not brave enough to try
and so I just took something off the menu. Pretty good nonetheless!

Then, as I was walking back, I saw another church just around the corner
from me who had services at 11. So I went to that service, which was very
pleasant, a bit too happy-clappy for me (which I didnt think I would say).

I was then reading the entertainment mag in my room and found that the
Ballet was having a matinee on Sunday afternoon. I decided to head to that,
and found it was actually not all that bad! Added to that the audience was
mainly just chicks as well (smile)!

On my way home I thought I would explore the downtown area (Its not actually
that bad an area in case anyone was beginning to worry a little) and I
walked a v long way. Most shops were closed however, being 5:30 in the eve
on a Sunday.

A copy of my first email to everyone

2005-05-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

I am in Winnipeg!! It took a lot of organisation and support and patience (Thanks to my mom and my dad esp as well as to my friends who supported and helped me so much). Sorry, that sounded a lot like a Oscar speech!

It was a VERY long flight, as those of you who are on the other sides of the globe from Zimbabwe will most likely know. It is enough to say that it is not something I would like to go through again in a hurry! Even today, two days later, I am still absolutely exhausted and a bit jet-lagged! Unfortunately I did not sit next to any very interesting people for any of the flights (no-one for the Hre-Jhb leg, an older woman from PE who was a bit slow for the Jhb-Lon leg, and a strange, virtually mute Belgian guy for the Lon-Tor leg!). I have to say that after the two long hauls I know exactly why people call "Economy Class" :Cattle Class", there was hardly enough room to sit upright with your arms crossed!!

When I arrived in Toronto it was a bit of a rush as I only had two hours to sort out all of the immigration stuff and work permit etc and also check into the Winnipeg flight. I was given wrong directions at first and ended up running around the airport like a headless chicken, only to be told that I had to go to a different terminal by bus. As I was rushing up some stairs one of the handles on one of my suitcases snapped off!! At that point I just lost it, as can be imagined! The people around me must have been a little worried for their lives, but I think I handled it fine for someone who was already jetlagged and had been travelling for over 30 hours with very little sleep. Needless to say I JUST made the flight after pleading with the check-in agent!

I arrived in Winnipeg and was met by a relocation agent called Peggy, who has been very very sweet to me, helping me open up a bank account and get a Social Insurance Number (which apparently you need for lots of things). She has also shown me around town quite a bit and I will be going to a Barbeque (a braai for those still in Zim) with her daughter and her next Saturday afternoon.

What I have seen of Winnipeg so far is very impressive, everything actually works!! The shops (or stores as they call them here) have so much choice, I thought stores in South Africa had a lot of choice, but this is just plain mind-blowing.

At this stage I am still in a bit of a state of shock as everything is new, but I have a feeling it will all get familiar and things will work out well! (A lot better than my first impressions of Botswana at least!!)

I will endevour to keep in touch with everyone individually in time, but I just thought a decent length first email was in order to bring everyone up to speed!

Well, thats all for now people, I will email again next week when I have more time and my own PC (I am at Rick's house - my boss in Canada, also was my boss in Zim - and he is very kindly letting me sit on his PC and email away)

If there is someone I may have forgotten please could you forward this on to them!

From me in Canada, this is Geoff signing off!

Love to all

P.S. If you do not want to receive these sort of emails or you have another address you would like to receive them at, please just email me and let me know.

The week before...

2005-04-26T02:36:00.000-05:00

It's Tuesday, 8 days before I head off into the big wide wilderness of Canada. Things are pretty hectic, and this is where I would use my prioritisation skills (if I had some) to decide what is important to do and what is not important.

I went to Nyanga this weekend for 3 nights - the first two with Jim and Dog (Just nicknames - actually James and Matthew) and then we had Nicky, Barry and Michelle join us for the last night. It was really cold the first night and we had a power cut! Three guys trying to cook a pasta dish over a fire in the lounge! It worked and was pretty tasty in the end - but not an experience I would like to repeat by choice!

We played a round of golf at Troutbeck - and well thats all I am going to say as I have tried to block that out of my memory! We also visited Worlds View which is even more spectacular than I remember it to be.

All in all I loved it, the scenery and the places, but above all it was really good to be able to spend time with mates before I bugger off!

That said I better get my list together and start trying to tick things off!

Work Permit

2005-04-13T03:43:00.000-05:00

Finally! My work permit came through by DHL on Monday.

Things are now in full swing till I go. I have a long list of things to do, and I am trying to get through all of them asap so I can just relax for a bit before I head off!

My ticket is booked for 5 May, which is not all that far away, but gives me enough time (i hope).