1000 albasters...

Uit die pen van Corné Grundling (Ex SAUK Joernalis)

               "Hoe ouer ek word, hoe meer geniet ek Saterdagoggende.
Miskien is dit die stil alleenheid wat daarmee kom om eerste op te staan, of miskien die uitbundige vreugde om nie werk toe te gaan nie.
Hoe dit ookal sy, die eerste paar ure op 'n Saterdagoggend is die lekkerste..

       "'n Paar weke gelede was ek op pad na die motorhuis met 'n stomende koppie koffie in die een hand en die oggendkoerant in die ander hand. Wat as 'n tipiese Saterdag begin het sou draai in een van daardie lesse wat die lewe van tyd tot tyd vir 'n mens gee. Laat ek vir jou hiervan vertel.

       "Ek is 'n radioamateur en het my ontvangstoestel ingeskakel op die telefoniese band om na die Saterdagoggend gesprekke te luister. Met die luister na die gesprekke kom ek af op 'n man wat ouerig klink, met 'n sterk sein en 'n goue stem. Jy weet 'n stem wat klink of hy in die uitsaaiwese hoort. Hy was besig om te vertel, wie ookal wou luister van 'n ding met 'n duisend albasters. Ek was skielik geinteresseerd en besluit om te luister na wat hy te sê  het.

       "'Wel Tom, dit klink sekerlik dat jy baie besig is in jou werk.
Ek is seker dat hulle jou goed betaal, maar dit is hartseer dat jy soveel weg is van die huis en jou gesin. Dit is moeilik om te glo dat 'n jong man sestig tot sewentig uur 'n week moet werk om deur te kom. Dit is hartseer dat jy jou dogter se dansopvoering gemis het. Maar laat ek jou iets vertel wat my gehelp het om my prioriteite reg te hou.'

       "Dit is toe wat die man sy teorie van 'n duisend albasters verduidelik.

       "'Jy sien, ek het eendag gesit en 'n bietjie somme gemaak. Die gemiddelde persoon leef 75 jaar. Ek weet, sommige leef meer en sommige minder, maar gemiddeld, leef mense ongeveer 75 jaar.

       "'Wat ek toe doen is om 75 te vermenigvuldig met 52 en ek het die getal 3900 gekry - dit is die aantal Saterdae wat die gemiddelde mens in sy hele leeftyd het. Hou nou net 'n bietjie uit Tom, ek kom nou by die belangrike deel. Ek het eers op die ouderdom van 55 jaar begin dink aan hierdie detail, en by daardie tyd het ek reeds deur meer as 2800 Saterdae geleef. Ek had nog ongeveer 'n duisend Saterdae oor om te geniet. So het ek na die speelgoedwinkel gegaan en al die albasters in die winkel gekoop.
Uiteindelik moes ek by nog twee speelgoedwinkels ingaan om by 'n 1000 albasters uit te kom. Ek het die albasters huis toe geneem en hulle in 'n groot, helder deursigtige plastiese fles geplaas - alles hier in my stoorkamer langs al my goed.

       "'Van daardie dag af het ek elke Saterdagoggend een albaster uitgehaal en weggegooi. Ek het agtergekom soos ek die albasters sien minder raak, ek al meer gefokus het op die regtige belangrike dinge in die lewe.

       "'Daar is niks soos om te sien hoe jou tyd op die aarde besig is om uit te hardloop, om jou te help om jou prioriteite reg te kry nie.

       "'Wel, laat ek jou vertel voordat ek van die lug afgaan om my lieflike vrou vir ete uit te neem. Vanoggend het ek die laaste albaster uit die fles gehaal. Ek reken indien ek dit volgende Saterdag maak, is ek 'n klein bietjie ekstra tyd gegun. En die een ding wat ons almal kan gebruik is 'n klein bietjie ekstra tyd.

       "'Dit was lekker om met jou te kon gesels, Tom, ek hoop jy spandeer meer tyd met jou gesin, en ek hoop ons ontmoet weer hier op die lug. Dit is 'n 75-jarige ou man, K9NZQ wat groet, oor en uit.'

       "Jy kon 'n speld op die lug hoor val toe die man van die lug afgaan.. Ek reken hy het vir ons almal iets gegee om oor na te dink. Ekself het beplan om die oggend te werk aan die antenna van my radio, en daarna was ek van plan om met 'n paar van die ander radioamateurs saam te werk aan ons klub se nuusbrief.

       "Ek het egter - instede daarvan om dit te doen - die trappe opgeklim na ons slaapkamer en my vrou met 'n soen wakker gemaak. 'Komaan my vroutjie,
ek neem vir jou en die kinders vir ontbyt. Sy het regop gesit met 'n glimlag: 'Wat het gemaak om dit mee te bring?' Ek het na haar gekyk en gedink hoe gelukkig ek is. 'Ag wat, niks besonders nie, dit is slegs 'n lang tyd gelede dat ons 'n Saterdagoggend saam met mekaar en met die kinders spandeer het. En terwyl ons nou uitgaan, kan ons stop by die speelgoedwinkel? Ek het nodig om albasters te koop.'"

Adam Ondra in SA NOW !!!!

BD Tour - Adam Ondra in SA

One of the best climbers in the world is currently enjoying the bouldering scene at Rocklands, Western Cape !!!  Wow, we are privileged.

Working in Cape Town -- against all logic

My wife and I have been blessed enough to be working in Cape Town, after following what some might describe as a totally illogical path - resigning from 2 well paid, permanent jobs to work respectively, for herself and me, on contract for 12 months. We asked the Lord to help us to Cape Town, and he did. We trust that He will provide the opportunity, both in business for my wife and in personal growth and commitment from my side to enable us to grow and prosper to the point where we can help others both in guidance and financially.


God is good!

The Cracked Pot

Author Unknown

(This is not my work, but I felt it was an important message and had to be posted here....)

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots was perfectly made and never leaked. The other pot had a crack in it and by the time the water bearer reached his master's house it had leaked much of it's water and was only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, God will use our flaws to grace his table. In God's great economy, nothing goes to waste. Don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can be the cause of beauty. Know that in our weakness we find our strength

GOD IS GOOD

Waiting for God

The hardest part about faith is that it is just that - faith - nothing concrete, nothing "there" to focus on, to see. Faith is believing in that which we cannot see, hear, touch or sense in any normal way. Thus, if we have prayed to God to provide us with a solution, we must have faith that He will provide it, for that is what He promises in His word. Of course we have to do what we can from our side - we do the possible, God deals with the impossible. Two thing that are hard, for me especially, to remember are this: 1, even though we do what we can, we still only do it through God's grace and power, thus He must get all the credit, and 2, God will do the rest IN HIS TIME, which usually has NOTHING to do with our concept of time. I am usually stressed and in a semi-panic when God puts His hand on my shoulder and says (I imagine with a slight smile on His face) "What are you worried about, don't you trust me - see, here is the solution."

When life throws you around........

One life lesson I have learned with the help and encouragement of my lovely wife, is that when life throws you around and you feel as though you are going to come crashing down on your head, don't try to land on your feet - land on your knees !

From your knees you look up at the world, you learn the right attitude. From your knees you are equal to your fellow man. On your knees you are vulnerable. On your knees you are closer to the earth - away from worldly comforts. And lastly, on your knees you learn to get to the point before your knees start killing you !

God listens when we are on our knees - not because He wants us to suffer or be uncomfortable, but because when we are on our knees He knows our focus is on Him and we are serious. On our knees we show God that we do not think we are better than our brothers or sisters on earth and that we are not ashamed to show others that we are praying to God. On our knees we are also an encouragement for our fellow Christians as God wants us to be. 

So land on your knees and God will help you to your feet.

eb - 11/7/11

Miracles come in CANS: Lessons Learnt... part 1

Miracles come in CANS: Lessons Learnt... part 1: "Life is filled with irony, for example I decided in my brittle state (this was on the 1st of July 2009) to for the first time in my life, ta..."

How to Rebut 3 Common Objections to Measuring Performance

You’ve done your research, you’ve prepared your case, and your next step is to try and convince managers and colleagues to endorse your proposal for a performance measurement project. And you brace yourself because you know what’s coming…

It will be a torrent of ‘yeah-buts’ – basically, objections to giving time, money or effort to performance measurement. Are you going to sit back and take it, or do something about it before it even happens?

OBJECTION 1: Performance measurement hasn’t worked in the past.
What’s happening with this objection is that the person is assuming that because there has so far been no successful approach to performance measurement, that means there can’t be a successful approach in the future. Your focus should be on raising and challenging this assumption, and offering an approach to performance measurement that acknowledges the causes of failure and show how that approach solves those causes.

A constructive response: “You’re absolutely right that performance measurement has had problems – we’ve got too many measures, people don’t find the measures useful, they don’t align to our strategy and staff are spending too much time collecting data for these useless measures. So if we want performance measurement to succeed, we obviously need to take a different approach, and an approach that deliberately solves and prevents these kinds of problems. Here’s how my proposed approach does that…”

OBJECTION 2: We don’t have time for performance measurement.
At the foundation of this objection is the assumption that everything people are currently doing is of a higher priority than performance measurement. We already know that people spend a lot of time on urgent things that aren’t in alignment with strategy or that are rework resulting from ineffective or inefficient processes. You simply need to highlight how good performance measures can reduce the time wasted on these kinds of activities, and therefore is of a higher priority than these activities.

A constructive response: “I agree – it seems like we’re all getting busier and busier and the last thing we need is something ELSE to try and squeeze into our days. And yet I can’t help noticing how a good proportion of the things we do can be done so much easier and quicker. For example, [insert some well-research examples from your organisation]. I truly believe that it’s better to risk taking time out from some of these urgent-but-not-important activities, in order to prevent them from continuing to happen in the future.”

OBJECTION 3: We already know what matters, performance measures won’t tell us anything new.
The assumption propping up this objection is that just by looking around or relying on our experience with the work we do, we can see and know everything that matters. But the truth is, we all have biases caused by our values and moods and what we notice and what we don’t notice. And these biases prevent us from seeing objectively the patterns and trends that data can show us more quickly and easily.
It’s not hard to demonstrate this with a few examples of how data has led people to surprising and valuable insights they otherwise would have missed.

A constructive response: “Our people have a fantastic knowledge of the work they do and a very strong commitment to doing their best. Our job is to empower them, so they can more easily focus on what will produce the best results. We can’t expect them to simultaneously watch the big picture as well as what’s right in front of them. Performance measures are great for showing them what’s happening in the big picture, quickly and easily, so they can make the best choices about what’s currently in front of them. For example, [insert some examples of how performance measures have produced insights that no-one noticed from just looking around].”

Be prepared, respectful, honest and focused on the big picture.
Handling objections to performance measurement requires that you dig a little deeper to understand the assumptions people are making that lead to their objections, raising those assumptions so everyone realises they are there, and then stimulating some dialogue to move beyond the objection.

It’s not about being a smarty-pants or winning a debate with the person who voices the objection. It’s about elevating the dialogue to a constructive level, so you can all get a better understanding and movement forward.

TAKE ACTION:
Which of these three objections is blocking your path to better performance measurement? Take pen to paper for 15 minutes and prepare some well-informed, respectful and constructive responses to the ways you expect this objection to be expressed by your managers or colleagues.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stacey Barr is the Performance Measure Specialist, helping strategic planners, business analysts and performance measurement officers confidently facilitate their organisation to create and use meaningful performance measures with lots of buy-in. Sign up for Stacey’s free email tips at www.staceybarr.com/202tipsKPI.html and receive a complimentary copy of her renowned e-book “202 Tips for Performance Measurement”.

Banks are the biggest evil !!!

Money is human labor transferred to a store of value, like dollars, euros, gold or silver. For example, when someone pays $30 for a kilo of fish, they are not paying for the fish in the ocean, they are paying for it on their plate. The difference between a happy fish swimming in the deep blue sea and a grilled halibut glistening before you is human effort. All other businesses that want to get a return on an asset must first buy the asset with money earned through work. 

This is not the case for banks. They earn interest on something they don't create.

In fact, a Minnesota Judge, Martin V. Mahoney, and a jury threw out a foreclosure on defendant Jerome Daly for just that reason. Daly argued that the there was no consideration in the contract between himself and the First National Bank of Montgomery. Consideration means both parties must give up something for there to be a contract. For example, if Jack offers to paint Jill’s apartment for free, there is no contract between them. If Jack bails on his offer to paint, Jill cannot sue him. Judge Mahoney ruled the bank gave up nothing in the contract.  They created the money out of thin air hence they did not commit anything to the contract; there was no consideration and the bank could not foreclose.

For everyone except banks, money is an expression of human labor, creativitity, or even luck.  But for banks, money is something they simply 'create' in exchange for IOU's. 

See the full article here

This is why banks hate it when you pay off all your debt - this means that you don't work for them anymore !!!

ESKOM !

Ok - so let me get this straight. You underperform, forget to do maintainence, don't understand the basics of capacity planning or predictable expansion, make a huge loss, pay your execs millions in bonusses, give them an average salary increase of over 110% and then YOU EXPECT US TO PAY UP TO 31% MORE TO SUBSIDIZE YOUR STUFF-UP !!!!!! 

This is why the world laughs at us !  We reward idiocy, corruption and lawlessnes with fame and money.

SA Consumers - are we all so pathetic that we cannot even stand together against this CRAP !!!!

Sorted, but maybe not as planned

Well, I have decided not to take any of the 'deals' offered to me, as they would all end up costing me more per month and paying the dealer for his losses. I told him I would accept my BMW back in a fully repaired state. As I speak, they are replacing the worn out gearbox with a NEW one. I decided the undisclosed accident damage was not so serious as the car was not re-classified as rebuilt, which it would have been if it was a major chassis bender. The replaced gearbox will give me a reliable car for the next 100,000 km which is all that I want. 

This may seem a cop-out to some as I would have been fully within my rights to cancel the deal outright, but the hassles of then re-applying for finance, trying to get my deposit back, etc, made this current option the better one for me. The CPA definitely helped as without it, I would have to fork out R18,000 from my pocket above and beyond what the insurance paid for the gearbox repairs.

Thank you CPA.

Transport at last

At last I have transport - the dealership has provided me a vehicle to drive with until they have sourced another BMW for me. Thanks guys.

Sick in bed, waiting for transport

Here I am, sick as a dog, waiting for the dealership to deliver on their promise. Will update as soon as I have news.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Buccaneer St,Pretoria,South Africa

BMW Saga - a solution in sight and a good outcome for CPA

Met with the owner of the car dealership today. I did not even say anything, he offered to find me a replacement vehicle, preferably a newer model, and said that he would arrange a loan vehicle while I was waiting. Excellent service, I just wonder where I would have been WITHOUT the Consumer Protection Act ?

So far, so good - it seems that I will at last have reliable transport again........

Thank you God for your timing in everything.

BMW Saga continues -- Meeting with Secondhand Car Dealership

Well I have this meeting at 11 o'clock - am curious as to what their strategy will be. Will they offer me a fair deal or try to push me into some one sided deal ? I hope they try to be fair - I found out yesterday what my HP settlement was and they can easily settle my car and sell me another without losing. All I want is a reliable vehicle with no skeletons in the closet (or under the hood).

Home Made HEALTHY Hot Chocolate

Yummy - I have thought out a Hot Chocolate recipe and it works !!!! Very yummy and guess what -- no sugar, no dairy........ very, very guilt free.

Very Easy - combine one medium tin of Cocoa with one packet of Nature's Choice Swiss Dream milk replacement (approx 1:1) .
    
Sweeten with Xylitol to taste.

Job seekers scammed in Pretoria

Job Mail has an article about an upsetting practice that preys on the desperate, jobless and then steals what little money they have. They also have an excellent article about what to avoid. See job-seeker-tips-to-avoid-scams and read the article at gauteng-jobseekers-conned . Personally, I think this is a despicable practice. Hopefully RICA and CPA will help curb these vultures.

Legal answer by a lawyer on BMW question and dealer response

Got 2 positive happenings -

1. The dealership owner phoned me and requested a meeting - hope this is a positive .... 

2. Got an answer on this issue from a legal perspective with regards to the new Consumer Protection Act.

This from a GREAT website -- Just Answer

Good day.

They have contravened a number of sections of the Consumer Protection Act. I am going to refer to these sections, so, if you can get a copy of the act, then that will be great. A copy is available on the website of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Section 25 says that if something has been reconditioned or refurbished, then it must be disclosed. In my opinion, that will include a car that was in an accident.
Section 55 of the Consumer Protection Act gives you a right to safe and quality goods and section 56 gives you an implied warranty in the goods. I will post section 56 for you.
56. Implied warranty of quality.—(1) In any transaction or agreement pertaining to the supply of goods to a consumer there is an implied provision that the producer or importer, the distributor and the retailer each warrant that the goods comply with the requirements and standards contemplated in section 55, except to the extent that those goods have been altered contrary to the instructions, or after leaving the control, of the producer or importer, a distributor or the retailer, as the case may be.
(2) Within six months after the delivery of any goods to a consumer, the consumer may return the goods to the supplier, without penalty and at the supplier’s risk and expense, if the goods fail to satisfy the requirements and standards contemplated in section 55, and the supplier must, at the direction of the consumer, either—
(a)repair or replace the failed, unsafe or defective goods; or
(b)refund to the consumer the price paid by the consumer, for the goods.
(3) If a supplier repairs any particular goods or any component of any such goods, and within three months after that repair, the failure, defect or unsafe feature has not been remedied, or a further failure, defect or unsafe feature is discovered, the supplier must—
(a)replace the goods; or
(b)refund to the consumer the price paid by the consumer for the goods.(4) The implied warranty imposed by subsection (1), and the right to return goods set out in subsection (2), are each in addition to—
(a)any other implied warranty or condition imposed by the common law, this Act or any other public regulation; and
(b)any express warranty or condition stipulated by the producer or importer, distributor or retailer, as the case may be.
In my opinion, you can cancel the agreement and be refunded because of the transgression of section 25, alternatively, ask that the price be reduced.

( EGSBSTTSKNSE )

New development on the BMW Saga

Phoned BMW today - great company - requested some service background on my vehicle - found out it had been involved in an accident in 2005 - a fact the secondhand dealer did not disclose. When confronted, the dealer denied knowledge of the fact that the car had been in an accident. According to the new CPA (Consumer Protection Act) this does not indemnify the dealer as it is his responsibility to discover these things when he buys a vehicle or before he sells it.

I am following the steps advised by the Motor Industry Ombudsman - approaching the company that sold me the vehicle and asking them to make reperations by either cancelling the deal or supplying me an equivalent, accident free vehicle. Will have to wait and see what happens......

Bad decisions, bad service, car dealerships............

I have really had it with bad service............how far do you have to go to find someone who is PROUD of there job....anyway, to get to the point.... 

I bought a 2004 330d (Automatic...yes, I know, wrong choice) from a national dealership that for some odd reason spells 'inspect' with a 'Q' - should have known then that something would go awry..... 

The car had 147,000 odd km on the clock (warning bell, I know...) and I took it for a test drive - which went well enough, except that I thought it a bit strange that I could not take it to a highway or road where I could at least test it at approximately our national speed limit. 

The price was right and I requested that a set of new tires be included in the deal. Time came to collect the car and guess what -- no new tires - 'sorry, we forgot' was the excuse, by which time the bank papers had already been drafted and approval granted, etc.

I elicited a promise of at least 2 new tires and then had to rush of to Natal, bearing kids to their grandparents, all in the new (2nd hand) car. On the way, heard and felt strange vibrations at highway speeds. Put it down to the bad tires ( how did they make it through roadworthy or the 100 point checklist ?) After 280km of highway speeds, the one rear tire had had enough and blew, giving us all a nasty scare. Changed for the spare and completed the journey, a bit more skeptic. 

Returned (safely) and insisted on my 4 new tires - got 2. Told salesman about vibration - he said 'It must be the tires'. Waited a month to gather the finances and replaced other 2 tires - lo and behold, still vibrations, and not the Beachboys 'good' kind. 

Then 4th and 5th gear started acting funny and fuel consumption started climbing. Told salesman - he said I must bring the car to them, their mechanic would take a look and repair under the mechanical warranty I had purchased as part of the deal. 

I asked what I would be driving while this was happening - 'Sorry, we have no vehicles available' was the answer. Arranged for the salesman to collect the vehicle, which he did. 30 minutes later he phones me to say that he is stuck in the middle of town with no gears. 'Justice at last' was my first thought, then I spared a sympathetic word or two for him. 

He arranged a tow, I chatted to the mechanic who assured me that he would only need the car for 2-3 days at the most and that coming in under the R7,000 insured amount would be no problem........

The car went in on Monday - today is Wednesday and the quote has not even been completed yet, let alone approval been given for repairs....... I get told that I will have to pay for anything above what the insurer approves !!! 

I tell the salesman that they have sold me a dud and will have to pay for repairs themselves or take back the car -- a statement which was met with utter disbelief - surely I cannot expect THEM to pay for the 45 odd days worth of damage I did to the gearbox !!!!! 

Such wonderful service.......

My point is that I would have been willing to pay R20,000 more for a newer model if they had told me that there may have been issues with that car.......

Why the cat and mouse games ?