Greetings good people.

It has been a while. I haven’t had a chance to blog in about three years. And it feels just like yesterday.

I have noticed the trend on social media about waking up, freeing your mind. Rejecting the system. And it is really wonderful that we post and repost these amazing things ad nauseum. But posting it aint doing shit. Wake up world. If we, each and every single individual on the planet doesn’t actually change anything in our way of life, or our perceptions ...

Change vs. Holiday

Forgive me internet for I have slipped.  It has been almost a year since my last blog post. I know, and it is dreadful.  A lot has changed since I last graced the blogosphere with my infallible intellect. And a lot has changed at work. They say change is as good as a holiday, but I don’t have the time or money for a vacation at the moment, so all that’s left is to embrace the change that has befallen us.

March 2011 I was offered the opportunity to do the procurement at ...

Moving and / or shaking

So I am thinking of moving my blog to a slot on odd’s blog (http://oddthoughtsblog.wordpress.com ) as this site isn’t really growing so much, which is disheartening for any author I am sure. Thanks to Google analytics I am able to track the traffic on my site, and it gets depressing sometimes. But at least I am able to see that I am not just pouring my intellect into cyberspace to no avail, there are those faithful readers, and I appreciate all of you.  I am rev...

We complain way too much. Sure, I know this is me complaining to, but if you can’t complain in a public format, why blog in the first place. So there this guy who is unemployed, and he whines nonstop about how he can’t feed his family, life is so unfair and so on and so forth. So you get him a job right? Problem solved right? No! Not at freaking all. Now this guy needs to complain about how he has too much work or the works too hard or he is underappreciated. So you fire him right? Proble...

Something strange and unexpected happened to me the other day, something that, i’ve noticed, is happening more often lately. This is something that has started worrying me; something that I am afraid will tear apart the very fabric of the way South African business works. A strange beast is emerging in our market place which stands up against everything our commercial system is built on. A creature that is tearing at the general South African work ethic, this monster shall be known as “Go...

Top Five Regrets

By Bronnie Ware

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.
People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learned never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and e...

Today I am fuming a bit. And a bit shaken, not really stirred though. Which is strange, and perhaps a little worrying, but I will come back to that. Yesterday afternoon, on her way home from work, my wife was involved in a smash and grab. No-body was hurt, thankfully, but my son was in the car. He is about 20 months old now. What was taken, however, is inconsequential to this post, as is what the guy looked like etc...

I am also not going to use this blog as a forum to complain, and whinge a...

Poor communication is the greatest enemy of businesses everywhere. Like a ninja, she prowls the passages and halls of the corporate worlds. Silent as a cobra she strikes at her prey, crippling corporations where they stand. An unseen killer, drifting through the workosphere of our lives, ready to destroy.

Wow, that’s an amazing introduction. I am suitably impressed. I have observed varying degrees of poor communication, or even a complete lack thereof. The most dangerous kind I have ever ...

First of all, this is not a post about my son; however, he does feature in it as he is a major feature in my life.

Damien, my son, is busy learning to sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” It is the cutest thing ever, and he almost has it 100%. But that’s not the point of this post, it does however hold bearing. Since learning the song, and what a star is, he points them out to us wherever he sees them. Whether it is on a poster or up in the night sky, he is very excited about the fact...

“Look the flower, but be the snake beneath” Lady Macbeth

I think William Shakespeare managed to sum up the general working philosophy of many people out there, with this one single quote. Beware your colleagues, my friends, beware. Even comments made to them in jest, may come back and bite you later on.  It is war out there in the office environment, but a strange kind of war, anyone could be your enemy at any time, and tomorrow that same person can be your greatest ally. Throu...

Hello and welcome to 2011. Get up and go. It’s back to work time, back to school time and back to real life time. Some of us worked through the “holiday season” and that’s becoming more the norm these days than the exception. So while some out there are well rested and trying to get back into the swing of things. Others out there are exhausted and maybe a bit despondent, trying to stay in the swing of things. My advice to everybody is, close your eyes, block your nose and dive right i...

So, I was going to post about the high and low lights of 2010. We had The World Cup, Earthquakes, like Haiti, and so many other incredible things that happened. It was the year we showed the world. But then I thought, whatever, we all watched the news, and we all remember the year. The truth is it’s been a long year, it’s been a tough year, and it’s the year that nearly broke me. Nearly. The year that almost killed me. Almost.

Nearly, Almost, Didn’t. I learned a lot this year, and th...

Christmas Presence

So, this month alone I have heard so many debates on the origins of Christmas, and we should or shouldn’t celebrate it, and why etc. It drives me nuts, and I am not going to go into those details here. I am sure the curious people can Google it. My story today is going around the “Christmas Spirit” and what it means to me.

For me, Christmas is all about presence. Whether I get gifts or not is immaterial to me, (‘scuse the pun). Don’t get me wrong, I always love ...

South Africa or maybe Africa in general, needs debt training. Debt is such a mystery to the uneducated people; it seems like a magical heal-all remedy offered right at the time of need. The situation plays out like this, a contract worker has spent his weekly, or bi-weekly pay already, and it is still early in his pay cycle. Dun Dun Dun, enter loan shark!! The contractor is approached by someone claiming to have the solution to all of his problems. 

“Take this money, then you just have to ...

This post serves to notify that I am no longer exclusively blogging about business; I am broadening the blog material to include various other of my interests, and based on feedback I receive, your interests too.

Mind the Gap

I have been looking around in awe lately at all of the advancements that are happening in technology these days. I am barely able to get used to the new tech, let alone understand it before something fresh arrives on the scene. Nintendo wii, okay not so new, but when it hit, wow! Now X-Box throws down the gauntlet with Kinect ©.  Complete controller-less gaming. Okay so a lot of readers may not be gaming nuts, which is fine, but the technology that Microsoft has put behin...

I would like to share a story about great customer services. We went shopping at Makro recently to buy our monthly groceries. When we got to the till the manageress (from an external company) who’s name was Marcia (name drop) informed us that the nappies we were buying were on special in a different quantity. And we can pay less if we buy a larger amount. It worked out that we paid R50.00 less and got eight extra nappies.

Why am I bothering to blog about nappies? Well two reasons actual...

Striking – who wins – who loses?

Unions win, Companies win. Employees lose.

If a strike lasts for two weeks, it will take the employee up to five years to recuperate the income lost for the two weeks without work, does that sound like a good deal to you?  The union gains from the political posturing, and increases the membership fees. Employee loss number two. The company gains by not paying all the employees for the allotted striking period, and therefore not losing much from the strik...

It’s me again, I appologise for the delay in updates – in this time of technological advancements, gremlins still thrive, if not more than ever before. Now that the formalities are out of the way, let’s get on with business.

I wish today to gripe about an irksome phenomenon I have encountered in modern business practice. The problem is the lack of loyalty in the employment world, between employer to employee, and visa versa. For the past 100 years, one would find a job, usually in a ve...

Please note this post references the post titled Love your life, Live out your Love,  dated July 28, 2010. If you haven’t read it yet, read it first.

Taking risks is necessary in business, sometimes they pay off, and sometimes they don’t. I suppose that’s why they are called risks. Many times in life I have found that there is always more than one solution to a problem, but often only one of them really works, or works the way you want it too.

Take Germany and the world cup for ex...

They say work smart, not hard. What the heck does that mean? Come on people, the smartest way to work is hard, always work hard. Tomorrow, work harder than you have ever worked in your life. Then the next day is Friday, so never mind because we all know how hard people work on a Friday. But then on Monday, work harder than you have ever worked before.

Jokes aside, if you work for hopes of promotion, recognition or advancement, you look like a fool to all those around you. But if you love y...

Every now and then you come across something in life that you really want or believe that you really need. Success can be a slippery eel. I think it is always important to have a goal, however lofty it might be, and strive for it, but not at the expense of all else.

The journey to achieving your success must be fun, never lose focus of the important things in your life. Sometimes when you achieve that ultimate goal, you will realize that it’s not all its cracked up to be. Or even worse, yo...

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood???

My professional life to date has consisted of traversing the job market seeking my niche. A waiter, a Chef, Restaurant Manager, Office Admin, IT, Database Admin, Blog Writer…

The point is, one cannot find their niche, they must create it.

A woodchuck can chuck no wood unless the woodchuck wants to. Huh?

Well, with out the express intent to go the furthest you can ever go, you won't get anywhere at all. You will...