Category Archives: Me

2012 — The year that was and looking forward to 2013

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

2012 was one of those years that was not that bad (well the world did not end) at all but I cannot say that it was great either.  So what happened during the year:

  • Work — I changed jobs.  I started the year off working for Fundamo/VISA and during the first half decided to make a change.  I got an offer from Internet Solutions and accepted the offer and started working for them on 1 July.  Must say that it was probably the best decision I made all year.  I have a great team and IS is a great company to work for and I am very excited to be part of them.  To see how the internet in SA operate is a real eye opener and I believe over next year or so we will see lots of change particularly around Fibre and wireless technologies like LTE and WiBand. 
  • Children — My son completed his Chemical Engineering degree at Stellenbosch University and obtained his degree on 13 December.  Was a very proud moment for myself and I am so proud of my son.  He is now looking for work but it is tough going so if anybody has some contact or know of something, then please contact me and let me know.  My daughter is still studying for her B.Sc (Human Sciences) degree and hope to complete next year.  I am so lucky to have 2 great kids that is doing very well.
  • Personal — My son was in an accident with my car and the car was written off, my son was fine.  This meant that I had to go car hunting and eventually decide on a Kia Rio 1.4 TEC Sedan and must say that I am very surprised how well it is behaving.  It has all the bells and whistles as standard and after driiving it for about 8 months, I do not have any complaints.  Little bit loose on the road in windy conditions but I have now got used to it with all the wind here in Cape Town.
  • Social — On the social front nothing realy changed.  Now that work has been sorted out and children are mostly done with studies, I want to spend some more time in 2013 socially and have a more balanced life.  Time to meet new people and make new friends.
  • I have to add something (and the people that know me will enjoy this) about technology.  2012 was the year I started using a Mac (MacBook Pro 13inch) and must say, I am getting used to it and it is way better than Windows I used for work.  I am a Linux person and the Mac allows me to still get to the underbelly where I can tinker and where I still have some control over what I do on my machine.  On the cellphone side, I upgrade to a HTC One X and am very happy with the phone itself.  However I am very disappointed with the support from HTC South Africa particularly in rolling out Android Jelly Bean to their user in South Africa.

I am looking forward to 2013 and make it the year where I spend more time on myself and what is important to me. I do not make new year resolutions since we break them in any case.  I just want it to be a year of happiness and prosperity.  Oh and hopefully will get some time to take out my golf clubs and get on the course again.  This is something I realy neglected in 2012.

To all my friends, family and whomever read this, I wish you all the best for 2013 and may it be a great year.

Update — so what has happened – changing jobs?

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I have not been blogging much over the past couple of months, mainly due to being so busy and tied up in my previous job.

Yes, you heard me correct, previous job.  I have left Fundamo/VISA (well offiicially only at the end of the month, currently on leave for 2 weeks) and will be starting at Internet Solutions in a permanent role on 1 July.  Fundamo was and stil is a great company to work for and I will follow their progress as a VISA company closely and see how they adapt being part of a big American company. If I can leave one bit off advice behind then it is to sometime sit back and look at the bigger picture and to not try and jump in head first trying to satisfy the customer at the cost of your own people.

Although the new role is also in Project Management, it will be a totally new experience and challenge working in the infrastructure/connectivity field rather than pure software development.  I will be based at IS Cape Town office but will be travelling to Johannesburg on a regular basis, in fact, I will see the Jhb office even before the CT office since I will be spending my first week in Jhb. 

On a personal note, the last year was very stresfull and life/work balance was about non-existant.  I will strive to change that over the next couple of months to return to a more balanced life and spending more time with my family and friends.  I have really neglected some of my friends and that is something I want to change.

Oh and I will try to blog a little bit more, on this personal blog and also my technical one.

Changes

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I had to make some hard decisions over the last day or 2.  It was time I started thinking about myself and how I want to live life.  I know the decision is going to upset some people and it is going to make that some people have to stand up and sort their life out. 

I have reached a stage where other people negatively affects the way I can live my life because they believe that other people (me) have to look after them. I have no problems helping and assisting when I know that person is in real need and have done whatever they can to help themselves.  But when a person is healthy and nothing wrong with them, and then not working, I just do not think that is right.