Last Work Day - 2006

Today's my final day at the office 'till I return on January 8th, 2007.

It's been an eventful year. There's been much growth, most out of neccesity, but we'd not change a thing if we could. What we learned this year will keep us in good stead later.
We have much to be thankful for.
To God the glory.

My goeie ou vriendin (van Grootbrak-Stranddienste-faam), Marelize Fourie (nee Van Huysteen), laat toe gister weet sy is die nuwe gesig van Bank Windhoek.

Skote petoors!

'Tis Was the Week Before Xmas

We dropped the 4 family members off at Miami Port on Sunday. They're embarking on what will be a fantastic weeklong cruise to Cancun, Mexico, Grand Cayman etc.
It's been a busy weekend having them here, but totally unbelievable. Last I saw them was at our wedding in February '05.
Sunday morn', Xmas Eve, we pick them up douvoordag and then we head North towards Sarah's parents' place. Her family is driving more than 12 hours to meet us. Looking forward to it.
After Xmas Sarah, I and the Bouwers will be touring Florida for about a week.

Craigslist Still "for the People"

During 2006 I've watched with considerable interest the boom of websites like YouTube (with revenues of more than $1 Billion in '06) and MySpace. These savvy companies understood - and exploited very cleverly - the very basic human character trait of communication - of being heard and seen, of exchanging ideas.

Which makes the following article on Craigslist refreshingly different, yet strangely odd too. The website, having been around before the beforementioned companies were even a twinkle in their creator's eyes, exists to help find web users jobs, accommodation etc. online. According to the NYTimes, it has doubled in growth for the past 3 years.
Investors cannot understand why the owners don't monetize the company. Their potential in monetary terms is mind-boggling...
Click here for the article:

NYTimes Article on Craigslist

Marriage and Gender Differences

Yesterday Salome Meintjies send me an exellent e-mail from London about what men and women really mean when they say certain things. Which made me think. Being married, you learn so much!
When a man says "I'm fine," he means that he's fine. When a woman says "I'm fine," it means I'm really ticked off and it's up to you to find out why.

If there's been a small marital disagreement, women will get together and dissect the emotional and spiritual meaning of it in detail. Men? "Hey Bill, what's up with your wife?" Bill: "Oh heck, she's stark raving mad at me, because I messed up. Here, have a beer." End of discussion.

The Bouwers Arrive

Holiday Season Upon Us

If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work, but when they seldom come, the wished for come.
- William Shakespeare

Here's to a wickedly great Festive Season.

Vanmoore op kantoor gooi ek ouder-gewoonte my blik op die lewendige web-kamera-beelde op my skerm. Kaapstad in al sy eiewêreldse glorie, Tafelberg wat skadu gooi.

Herinner my aan Lucas Maree se woorde: "Want my huis is waar my hart is, en my hart is daar by jou. Selfs ou Kaapstad.... is teen jou gemeet, maar flou."

Dalk oor my ouers more hier aanland dat die nostalgie nou so effe wurg.

(Kiekie - 12/13/06, op ons Blog, Links - regterkantste kolom, "Cape Town Webcam Views".)

Invasion of The Bouwer-Clan

The holidays are so tangibly near that it's hard to stay focused on the tasks in the office.
My family arrives in Miami Thursday night for a 4-week visit of Florida. It'll be the 2nd time I see them this past 4 years.
They'll be staying with us the weekend, then we'll drop Dad, Mom, sister Marli and JP off at the harbor for a weeklong cruise to Mexico, St. Thomas, Grand Cayman etc. with my brother, Tian.

Upon their return we'll race 5 hours North to be in time for Xmas Eve with the In-laws, the Long-family. It'll be a first time meeting between the two clans and we're pretty excited about that prospect.
A week there and then it is Westwards, Orlando, SeaWorld, Old's Town, Tampa, Busch Gardens, Southwards, St. Petersburg, Napels, and finally back to Miami for a week of R&R before they embark on another weeklong cruise, this time to the Bahamas.

Druk hom in die rooi!

Toys for Tots

Heading North off the 595, onto Interstate 95, towards Fort Lauderdale Central, we were blocked off by the incredible sight of thousands of motorcyclists passing.
It was the annual Toys for Tots Motorcycle Run passing through Broward County. The "posse's" path was kept clear by the County Sherrifs' Department blocking the highway ramps. According to The Palm Beach Post, an estimated 75 000 riders took part in the national fundraiser for underprivileged children over the Xmas Season.
Traffic was already slow - The Miami Dolphins were playing the New England Patriots at lunch. I could kick myself for not bringing my camera.

Dragon Boat Ad

This ad for the Miami Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival appeared a few days ago in the Miami Herald.

The team in the picture is the winning team from last year - our team - the Puff Dragon's - Miami's premier team.
(Yeah I know, lame name, but a great team.)

Foto van die Week

Hierdie pragtige foto van die weerlig bo Fort Klapperkop is 'n paar dae tevore deur vriend Louis Jordaan gekliek.

Toe ek nog net 'n laaitjie was, het ons 3 jaar in Garsfontein, Pretoria gewoon. Ek onthou hoe skuitbang ek was vir daardie Hoëveldse donderstorms. Dit het altyd geklink of dit reg langs die huis afskeur aarde toe. "The sky is falling on our heads!", Asterix.

Regarding a Xmas Tree

In America they CELEBRATE Xmas.

Christmas in South Africa is also celebrated in the true sense of the Word, but there are slight cultural differences.

In Florida this is a magical time, from the lights decorating each house, to the Xmas music playing on streetcorners, to our stunning Xmas tree that arrived on Saturday! Apart from Miami, which - allow me to reiterate - is NOT America, the Xmas spirit is in the air. If you can stay more than 5 miles away from anything resembling a shopping center or a mall, then there is bliss and in general - peace...

Sunday, we spend the afternoon decorating our tree. It is a new experience for me, but one that will surely become an annual family tradition, where ever we'll be.

That and eggnogg!! Ahuhaaa!

Die Everglades Nasionale Park

Die afgelope Saterdag had ons 'n verfrissende ervaring toe ons 'n 12-myl fietsrit deur die Everglades Nasionale Park deurgedraf (lees "trap") het.
"The Everglades is really a stream of shallow water moving slowly through sturdy saw grass..." from the book The Everglades: River of Grass, by nature-lover and conservation activist Marjorie Stoneman Douglas.
It remains an extremely fragile ecosystem, and like so many other nature conservation tales, were saved just in time. Like the unique Fynbos-ecosystem in the beautiful Cape Province, there is nothing else like it on earth.

The Park, tot stand gebring deur President Harry S. Truman, beslaan die Suid-Westelike deel van Florida. Dit is die tuiste van 'n enorme getal wildslewe en ons was gelukkig om 'n groot variteit watervoëls, aligators, skilpaaie en varswatervis te kon sien.

Florida's Hurricane Season Officially ends

The 2006 Hurricane Season officially ends today.
The date conventionally points to the annual estimated time when most tropical cyclones forms in the Atlantic basin.
This season was unusual in that no hurricanes actually made landfall in the US. This is in spite of the fact that forecasts predicted it to be one of the most active hurricane seasons in many a year. Only Hurricane Ernesto caused any serious threat, hitting Haiti and killing 7. It is the quietest season since 1994, my last Eendrag-year!

Picture of the Week #2

Taken deep in the Lesotho Highlands, Southern Africa, by my friend Lawrette McFarlane, November 2006.

The SKYPE's The Limit

Are you connected yet?
Skype (www.skype.com) is a small downloadable program that makes it possible for you to make free calls over the Internet to anyone else who has Skype. Calls to landlines and mobiles are also free within the US and Canada until the end of '06.
Skype is 'n fantastiese manier om in verbinding te bly, om lang-afstand vriendskappe en verhoudings in stand te hou, uit te bou en aan te bou!
Ons Skype-naam: marcosarahbouwer
Kontak ons gerus. Ons sien uit om van jou te hoor.
(Pic: Taken from our webcam during a Skype conversation with the Hennings in Amsterdam yesterday.)

Picture of the Week #1

I thought this picture of the retired couple enjoying the sun on a hot Sunday on Vero Beach was a winner! Maybe some Travel Mag'll be interested. (Click to enlarge.)

Weekend On the East Coast

Sarah and I headed North on I-95 on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the traditional start of the mad Xmas shopping spree. We visited our old friends Art and Adele Termorshuizen, somewhere between Jupiter and Vero Beach along Florida's East Coast. Art was my colleague in Taichung and then Sarah's colleague last year in Miami. Small world.

It was simply fantastic to spend time with them, to get out of Miami for a breather and some cooler weather. The Termorsies live on the edge of a State Park, with the Atlantic Ocean less then 2 miles away.
I'm ready for a change of lifestyle. I'll let ye'all know when my business plan is finished and accepted...

Pics below: Florida teems with beautiful birdlife. The sandhill stork (left) and the pelicans weren't camera-shy.

Thanksgiving 2006

"'n Liederlike gevreet!"

Dit was 'n groot bird, gaargetroetel deur talentvolle hande.

Ek wil 'n paar van hierdie disse Kaap toe bring, ek sal 'n ryk man word...

Thanksgiving Prep

Meet Fred. I met this ol' farm boy recently at Miami's Harvest Festival.
He'll be joining us for a royal Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday...

Re-enactment Village

Playstation 3 To Die For

Sony's Playstation 3 game console is official released today. Since Monday, people have been camping in line at the supply stores like Best Buy. This morning, at a large retail store in Orlando, there was a very limited number of the Playstations available. The first four buyers had to be escorted to their cars by policemen, for fear of physical harm from a crowd of bystanders/failed buyers!
In another incident in Fort Lauderdale a man was attacked and shot outside a Wal-Mart, when he failed to hand over his newly purchased Playstation 3.
How does ordinary people transform into mental cases over a game console?! Part of the answer propably lies in the fact that within hours of it's release, some of these game consoles were for sale on E-Bay for 5-7 times it's retail price of $599.

Larry Did What?!

Last night CNN's Emmy Award-winning talk show host, Larry King, appeared as a guest on another talk show last week and admitted to having never used the Internet.
Wow! It is possible.

South Africa "Shines" Again on the World Stage

It's official. Gay marriages are now legal in South Africa.
No more shall there be discrimination against a person, not only on the base of race, culture, language or religious beliefs, but also on the basis of his/her sexual preferences.
All righty then...

The Florence of Florida

Busch Gardens Africa

Tampa, Naples and St. Petersburg

Table Mountain at Dusk - 11/7/06

There's a link on my Blog to live webcam views of different areas of South Africa - "Cape Town Webcam Views" (right hand column).

I visit this site often to remind myself how beautiful my hometown is.
(The picture was taken this evening, just shy of 7:00 p.m.)

US Midterm Elections - Tomorrow

The trouble with elections in America is that somebody will get elected!

Here in the States voters have been flooded with ambitious advertising and expensive and very nasty election campaigns by candidates from both the Republicans and the Democrats. This election will determine the balance of power in Washington for the next two years, leading up to the next presidential elections. Analysts predict a stronger than usual showing from Democrats during this election.

As an outsider I was startled to see what transpires when democracy evolves like it has in the land of the free = The amount of mudslinging, accusations and negative advertising has surely made the American public very hesitant to vote for any candidate. During an episode of CSI, we saw at least 5 political ads last night - Not one of them spurring the public on to vote for a certain candidate, but all asking voters NOT to vote for the opposition. "They are worse then us", is the basic message. Politicians!

In South Africa we have a young democracy, but at least with youth comes (and excuse the pun here), clearcut black and white issues. Voters have a clear idea where candidates stand on issues (definitely NOT referring to Cape Town politicians, who are worse than their American counterparts!). Apart form the huge debate about the war in Iraq, the elections has hinged on scandals and other negativities.

In Florida, Charlie Christ, the Republican candidate for governor, reclined to appear at a large rally in Pensacola with president G.W. Bush. This underscored the reluctance of some of Bush's own candidates to be closely linked with him in public.
(Picture: NYTimes/Reuters)

South Africa's Growing Exports

The Business Report had a very interesting report on South Africa's growing exports to the US.
According to the US International Trade Commission, SA exported goods to the US increased by 29% during the past 12 months. Around $5 billion worth. These goods are mostly made up of platinum group metals, diamonds and cars. (Cars? Interesting.)
Another interesting fact is that SA are in fact only the third-largest sub-Saharan exporter to the US, with Nigeria and Angola being ahead of the Republic.

Click below to view the full article.
Exports To The US Soar

Countdown

There's only nine more of these left.

Bachelor's...

Out into the dark night we went, to spring a few surprises for a friend soon to be wed.
Enough said...

Aan Huis By Die Joubert's

Nou onlangs had ons weer 'n heerlike kuier by die Jouberts op hul forelplaas.
Melanie het my kniege laat knak met 'n fantastiese bobotie-gereg. Dit laas in die Republiek gesmaak, skuins duskant vier jaar gelede.
Ons vroue skud ook steeds net hul koppe vir ons belaglike ou grappetjes. Tog veel leuk.

PICTURE OF THE MONTH

Want to do Africa with me?!

This awesome pic was recently taken by friend Lawrette McFarlane, as she and her sister Christa was taking some foreign friends on a road trip of SA.
(Notice the passengers anxiety as ol' Dumbledorf is approaching.)

Florida Humor

We're halfway through hurricane season and the Sunshine State's not half that bad.

Manhatten - Surprises Around Every Corner...

In Manhatten something exciting is always "happening", most of it unsolved!
We were walking through the city's famous Financial District when I came across this familiar emblem/crest, life-sized on the side of a bank building.
(I grew up in Cape Town, and it's still home.)

Air Travel and Fabulous Manhatten Rendevouz

We have come a long way since the Age of Aviation began many moons ago. A hundred years ago it would have taken us about 10 days to travel from Miami International to La Guardia Airport in New York. These days it might take up to 20 days with a mayor American airline. Travel was brutal in the old days because back then there were rarely TV's in the hotel rooms.

The airline business began when the Wright-kids, in the Carolinas, build the first simplistic flying machine, while also inventing airline food from left-over cow cud.
Thanks to improvements in technology over the past few years, air travel is safer than it has been for the past three weeks!
Honorable mention must also go to Baggage Claims: this is where you spend three relaxing hours after u'r flight watching/searching luggage - none of it your's - being coughed up by a mysterious tunnel that is apparently connected to an airport in Nagasaki.

This latest trip of ours was another adventurous fun-filled trip. It started when the flight was delayed twice and we missed our connecting flight from Memphis - Elvis's birthplace. (The king of airport security here is a man named Earl. Do exactly as he says.) Our bags were send to the Vatican or somewhere. Imagine our excitement.

I'm not sure if it's done the same eveywhere, but in the States you go through metal detectors. These machines ("Don't worry, it's totally harmless," the security personnel assured us, although you'll NEVER see them go through it.) shoots out puffs of air/invisible rays that goes through your body. Airport security cooks their lunch in this device when nobody's around. And you have to take off some of your clothes to go through it.
Of course, travellers with obvious names like Mohammed or Abdul or Osama are excempt from this fun excercise, since that would be discrimination. This is true!

Accommodation in New York:
When calculating cost of accommodation in NY, always multiply your total holiday budget by 3. This is a conservative estimate.
Our hotel, although in a very convenient, pleasant location in Queens, close to the subway, was not really worth the $'s. The rooms were pretty small - if you wanted to change your mind, you had to go stand outside in the hallway. The hotel elevator was powered by two ageing oxen.

We got our luggage back just in time for our wedding on Saturday morning and enjoyed the rest of the time enjoying the wonderful sights and sounds of New York. And the taxi drivers!

We truly love the diversity, the surprise around every corner, the people. We'd stay here in a heartbeat.

Saturday night and Sunday we spend with our good old friends Brian and Sophia Womack. Brian and I were colleagues in Taichung and the four of us attended the same church. We hanged out a lot on weekends and it was pretty special to see them again, spend some time together and renew old ties.

Big Apple Wedding

We were fortunate enough to attend Robert and Julia Manning's wedding in Westbury, Long Island, on Saturday - the reason for our trip to NY.
Julia and Sarah were colleagues and close friends back at Morrison in Taichung, Taiwan. She witnessed the early days of our relationship and "shared the road" with us, which made attending her wedding even more special.

The wedding itself was beautiful and Julia shined.
The reception was held in an old Inn, one of the first in the New York area, dating back to 1676. I wasn't even aware there were Europeans here that long ago!

Bloemfontein Currie Cup Final

NOT!
Free State 28
Blue Bulls 28

New York, New York

As Frank Sinatra used to sing in that beautiful, but horrendously overexposed hit show tune: "New York, New York!"
We're flying there today and apart from putting all our valuables in a safe deposit box in Switzerland before we step onto NY soil, we're all set and extremely excited. We'll be attending our friends, Bob and Julia's wedding and then hopefully meet up with old friends from Taiwan.

Sarah's on Cloud nine over the prospect of going back to one of her favorite places. I'm bracing myself for another opportunity to try and get around the Big Apple in their convenient, simple subway system. Unlike in Asia, where userfriendly colorcoded lines are used, in NY there are lines like IRT, BMT, the SAT, LSD, RSA, USA etc, which operate through downtown, uptown, crosstown, midtown, throughtown and those trains that only stop at alternating stations. only when it's abalone season and somtimes only for passengers holding odd-numbered transfers.

In spite of the above - we are indeed looking forward to a great long weekend!

Tito on Afrikaners

Tito Mboweni, governor of the South African Reserve Bank, made some interesting, though"controversial" (sic) statements recently at a breakfast in Johannesburg. He certainly did not do his chances of being invited to the next ANC or Black Empowerment Forum-barbeque much good, not after voicing his opinion on the Afrikaner workforce.

Click here for the article as it appeared on AOL.co.za
I'll Stick with Afrikaners.

Guesthouse Bouwer Operational

My old housemate and friend, Marius Acker, visited us from the nearby Grand Cayman Islands this past weekend.
We had a good time, and it was fun dining, shopping, playing tourguide, catching up and reminiscing about old times.

Currie Cup Semi's!

After the spectacular regulation Currie Cup matches of the past five weeks, the two semi-finals was rather an anti-climax.
W.P., my team, my home. But the Cape Town-based team still is to me like a brother in jail - you love him, but you'r to embarrassed to talk about him.
And the Sharks losing out to the Cheetahs - I mourn for them!

Ek glo egter, dat indien die Cheetahs die span uit die Noorde klop vlge Saterdag, die hele land saam met hulle sal feesvier.
I'm trading in my regular rugby chair - be it in front of the computer for Kuduclub at home, the Ninneman's comfy couch or Kalahari Bar's springbokvel-benches - in for a rugby-friendly pub somewhere in Manhattan, New York on Saturday...

Driving in Cars with Boys and Girls

I believe that a car for a man is like an extention of his personality. Men keep their cars in order, uncluttered, clean and make sure it stays in shape.
A car for a woman is just a giant purse.

The Bodies Exhibition

While we lived in Taichung, the fascinating exhibit by professor Gunther von Hagens was on display there for the better part of a month. Sarah desperately wanted to see it.
The display was then moved to the capital, Taipei, where it casued quite an uproar. Sarah wanted to se it even more. The opportunity just never came.
Two months ago, while we visited New York, this world-famous exhibit was there. However, due to "monetary restrictions", we had to forego that opportunity.

It is currently in Miami and last night I surprised Sarah with tickets. The bodies undergo a process called plastination, whereby the body tissue is saturated with special plastics, which preserves the body indefinitely.
I was a little hesitant myself, having fainted once before in the presence of a cadaver, when a bunch of friends - all medical students at the time - played a macabre practical joke on me. (The details will remain undisclosed!)

It was wondrous. The bodies are displayed with sensitivity, and yet it was obvious that elaborate planning went into focussing the visitor's attention on the intricate, delicate, miraculous wonders of the human body.
We are fearfully and wondrously made.