I seriously cannot believe how difficult it is to find a *globe* you know a model of the earch – a small one. Sen them on the side of the road however at inappropriate times so have not managed to get one yet. So we went on a saturday morning mission in search of one. Toy shop right? Nope – well Northgate now has lost ladder of learning and does not have another toy shop. Game did not have anything close. Well off to Toys R Us in Fourways – nothing – they can help with a book or an atlas that is it. Must be over 2500 sq meters of yup toys! No earth. Off to cresta – ladder of learning – nothing – they were soo doff they said go to showbizz – a party / fun store.The toy shop – nothing. Then we found one at Reggies – R1200 and the thing talks to you – yea nice a tad out of the budget though for a 4 year old. We finally found something at some educational shop in Cresta – the closest they had was a model – so guess this weekend we are building our earth and solar system. CNA – also – zip….crazy times!

Ok this has been around for a while by the loooks of Google. However first time I have recieved it so I thought I would share. Email goes something like this:

Dear Taxpayer ,

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 682.50 ZAR. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 2-3 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline. To access the form for your tax refund, please
Click here : www.sars.gov.za/taxpayers/refundation.stml

Note: For security reasons, we will record your ip-address, the date and time. Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and indicated.
Thank You
South African Revenue Service

Now investigate the link and you can see it is a scam. Have a look at the below:

Note this link leads to a site that is NOT SARS!

Are you going?

Wow the organisers of yesterdays fast one have certainly set a VERY high bar for this years races to follow. The Tshirts were great, the start was excellent and on time and the real champions have to be the Marshall’s on route. They were brilliant! Pot holes were well mark and at serious points there were traffic cones up and half a dozen Marshall’s warning of the dangers. Man brilliant, it was an absolute pleasure to ride this race yesterday, to all of you who organised thanx very much and congrats on an excellent job! Last comments – stunning medals!

Thank you

This week I have been over come by the desperation in the world – highlighted by the plight of the rescues in Haiti. The news coverage has been nothing short of brilliant. CNN must have half a dozen film crews there capturing the desperation on the faces of the Haitian people. Seeing the lady and the kids being pulled from the rubble with the final death toll and loss of the country still adding up. One of my personal triggers is that of desperation, seen in all forms however this week seeing the sheer desperation in Haiti bought me to tears. It is really sad and mulling it over in my head this week it dawned on me how catastrophic it really is. I mean imagine having nothing and having that taken away rom you? How do you take nothing away from people who have nothing? Then hit them with another 6.2 earth quake! Think about it for a second , scientifically it makes no sense however it is happening / happened in Haiti these last few days. Anderson Cooper – big up to you, I saw you get involved in a skirmish – you put humanity before work  and you could not stand there while all this is going on around you – NICE!

Ok I am a parent and certainly feel for the parents however guys come on now we are 3 years on now! Enough already, you have two kids at home and if you keep globetrotting and sequestering donations and funding all the time you are in essence neglecting the 2 kids that are alive! They are the ones that are suffering the most in all of this with the amount of time you spend away from them as you are clearly focused on the missing / departed. Are two in the hand not worth more one in the bush? Well it certainly is in my books. I am not saying it is easy to go through and accept what has happened, however please this seems to be nothing more than a PR exercise. Do you honestly prefer sitting in courtrooms, police stations and TV shows to being at work (This is what normal families do to eek out an existence) and trying to return your family to some sort of normality! Your constant face in the media – noted with out your other 2 kids – one certainly can assume they are being neglected!

Come now Mr and Mrs Mccann move on and get on with your life!

Sent numerous emails last year excluding the number of calls I have made calls in the past to the customer service lines. The start of the year and you must have 10 bikes out of commission out of a class of 35 odd bikes. Really guys this is not lekker!  “We” write what is wrong with the bikes on the board because we enjoy it? How far do members have to go to constantly advise you of the sub standard service and equipment you have going on in your gym. May I say that it could be attributed to your lack of team work and cohesion as a team. I have said this before and for the benefit of regurgitation here it is again:

I also think that this is compounded by the lack of support the instructors seem to receive from the staff at the gym. This morning was a prime example, there generally enough *decent* riders in a class ask if anyone else could take the class, have some spare CD’s in the lifestyle desk…?. When I asked this morning for assistance from the “lifestyle desk” I was advised to go down stairs to some or other office…just seems to be a lack of cohesion and team work within the staff members and instructors alike – just my two cents and some feedback as a gym member.

This non committed, I do not give a dam attitude approach is now expressed by the instructors. The poor  young lady in yesterdays class tried at least 4 different bikes before giving up and leaving the class – did the instructor help? Na man this is planet fitness Fourways they do not give a dam!

Oh and guys here is a link where you can buy some koi for your pond of a plunge pool!

NEW YORK (Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp plans to offer free Wi-Fi service at most of its U.S. restaurants, starting on January 15, a spokeswoman said on Monday.

source

Is that just not the greatest move for clients that will certainly own a new wave of service for clients. Imagine that where internet access is free while you eat. Yes certainly I believe we are years away before we see anything of this magnitude here in SA. We are generally a few years behind such bold developments however as an end use I am certainly excited at the scope and bold step of Mc Donalds. Good on you!

This is certainly what is called trend setting!

Suprise you been in the mall for 1 hour and you need to pay for parking! You saw the sign when you arrived and went into the parking you can see the sign above the cash point, then why I ask is it such a suprise when the machine says pay R7 and NOW you have to start searching for your purse and then money in your purse – this is not an age thing I have noticed this been done by young and old. I must say more often than not it is a female doing the suprise thing at the front of the que, this however I believe is slanted due to the % of men in the mall is minuet compared to the female population.

The males however do make up for themselves when it comes to the Toll gate. You see the signs for over 20 kilometers! Again and again that a toll gate is coming up and how much to pay – however you wait until you are at the front of the que to search for the R22.25 that you need to pay the toll person – and my do you look really suprised to be told you have to pay R22.25! Wait for it -

Surprise! You a looser!

Yup I am in the service industry however aren’t we all in some way or another as that is what we do for a living right. You need this I do it and you pay me. That is what work is. Now over December I am gobsmacked to experience how totally lame people become over December. Some examples   – there was an urgent matter that needed to be cleared up before xmas – needless to say I get the email sent to me yesterday that was sent for action to the 3rd person on 18 December – that is almost 3 weeks of in activity on an urgent sensitive issue. Another example was trying to get someone out to assist with a stuck car between xmas and new year, the answers received and I tried over a dozen ranged from , “no sorry cannot help call another branch”, tow the car here and we will have a look – interesting 3 places said this! or sorry to busy call someone else or another prime one, um no I am on holiday! Sure people are allowed to take vacations however surely if you are in business you make alternative arrangements so your business continues? Or maybe that there is a mechanism in place where you assist the client or potential client that came to you in the first place? Surely this will get them coming back next time? Surely? Or have a missed the boat completely and I am a workaholic and must back off? When I menti0ned this to someone this morning they put it down to level of service and yup I agree at this time of the year it seems to rear its ugly head further than other times and it is more noticeable.

With this in mind I have had 3 great experiences in the last 6 hours that has restored my humanity. First one this morning the owner from the Mac Donalds in Rivonia called me to agree that the burger was bad and they are working on it. Nice! 2nd one was my lunch – the sandwich shop was very busy so the owner bought me my lunch! Awesome service! Then lastly it was I went to a tool hire place this morning and you can judge by the warehouse they deal with larger companies – this DIY guy (me) was helped by the manager of the store who actually stopped doing what he was in the back to come and help me! Nice one guys!