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Category Archives: Travel

Micho: The World’s Kewlest Cat

03 Nov

The pet-free house rules changed one day when the kewlest, fluffiest, feistiest cat rolled in off the road, had a quick look around the pad, hopped up on her newly favourite chair and fell asleep. This all happened in about 5 minutes. When I left the house I put her outside and when I got home she was asleep again on her chair. Crazy.

Micho 01 Micho 02

After searching all over for lost signs and speaking to all the pet shops, pet supply shops and vets in the area for a couple of weeks it was evident that this cat was not going anywhere. Not altogether a bad deal except there was always our intention to leave. Puccino was staying with me at the time and she named the cat Micho. It’s actually an Italian name, Mico without the “h” but that’s too confusing so Micho it is. We knew that Micho would have to go some day but it was in the future so no big deal. “We will worry about it when the time comes”.

The time came. By this stage Puccino was already back home so I had to deal with it. Some mates said they would take her and then changed their minds which pissed me off slightly. Anyhow, I eventually asked LNELL if there was anything he could do and he came to the party. He called his mother and made all the arrangements. Micho is now living in Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth for the time being. Hopefully when our lives settle down a bit we can send for her and ship her to wherever we are in the world. Another drag is the cost. We had no idea this fateful day when Micho walked into our house and hearts that she would end up costing so much. To ship her it has so far cost about $200 in shots and vet bills for export regulations and will cost a further $900 to fly her around the world on Lufthansa. My return ticket was cheaper! Worth it? Of course! She is The World’s Kewlest Cat after all! 

 
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Posted by on November 3, 2009 in Europe, Family, Friends, South Africa, Travel, World in 80 ways

 

My SA pack up

03 Nov

After sitting at home for a while wondering what the future holds and wishing I was back on the road, I decided that it would probably be better to get back on the road and then wonder which direction I was heading. Any action is better than just sitting on your ass.

It was actually while I was in Durban for Rethom’s birthday looking down over the valleys to the sea when the decision was made. To hell will SA, time to fly. It made perfect sense to head back to Alibanya and go stay with the Flying Majmun, Puccino! Or KP (Klein Puccino) as she has been affectionately known in the past. Decision made, now action.

There wasn’t a lot to do really. Pack house, sell car, buy ticket and fly. I added the rest of the stress myself. What a wonderful idea to redo your entire kitchen with an estimate completion being the day prior departure. Not advised!

Rethom offered some sound advice: Make a list. I hate lists. Lists are for people who plan shit. I don’t plan shit. My shit just happens. I said to her, “I don’t need a list. All I have to do it this, this, this, ummm that, errr this, oh yeah and that…. Oh shit! I need a list!” God I suddenly had so much to do and less than a week to do it!

As a little insert here, there was the mission to sort out regarding Micho, the worlds kewlest cat! But that’s another story.

With the help of a few mates I got it done. All of it. It was incredible. What a buzz.

With the kitchen almost done, all my crap in my house packed into boxes and loaded into a freshly build shed outside, mates ready to move in to take care of the place, car sold and my bags 14kgs over the limit, I was ready to go.

Bye bye Port Elizabeth! Bye bye South Africa! Sort your shit out!

 
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Posted by on November 3, 2009 in Africa, Albania, Europe, South Africa, Travel, World in 80 ways

 

Almost impressed – Useless government

08 Sep

Today started just like any other day. Not a lot of plans with the exception of a bit of Playstation 3 and job hunting. I was successfully sticking to those plans when my phone rang. I didn’t get to the phone fast enough and it was a number I didn’t recognise so I just left it. 10 minutes later my mate Mullac called me. He had fantastic news. The call that I had missed was the Uitenhage traffic department to advise my ordeal with my driver’s license has been sorted 3 months faster than predicted. I had fortunately listed Mullac as a secondary contact in case I had already left the country.

licences_driving

Now I am awake and I am ready to get cracking. I was in the car in a flash and on my way to Uitenhage. All the way there I was thinking how wrong I was about this country and it’s abilities (lack of) to run a streamlined government and it’s associated services. Today I was impressed. Sadly though, my original impressions were more accurate. After standing in the queue for about 45 minutes I was issued the temporary license which is to be used while the new card license gets issued. That’s when I noticed it.

That temp license only has my new motorcycle license on it and was sorely lacking any indication of my light vehicle driver’s license. My heart started pumping when I enquired about this obvious mistake. That’s when she said, “Oh I think you misunderstood what the process is. When we sent your license details to Bisho to get sorted out, what they do is delete or cancel your license from your ID book, not give you a new one”. When I asked why, I was told because I never got it converted before so it just had to be removed from my ID book. Even after explaining AGAIN that I was overseas in 2003 when this stupid government came up with this ridiculous new 5 year money making renewal scheme system she simply said that there was nothing she could do there.

south_africa_rand

I asked with much dread in my gut what the next step was. She said, “Oh you will just have to rewrite your learners test and redo your entire K53 driving test.”

Please try to imagine how must constraint I had to exercise to remain calm and not hop on my imaginary soap box and scream at the top of my lungs exactly what I think of those people and their entire system of useless, fat, greedy bastard idiots in this useless Banana Republic that’s fast being “driven” down the toilet!

Thank God I still have my British diver’s license so I don’t need to put up with this crap. It can flush all on it’s own!

 
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Posted by on September 8, 2009 in Africa, Friends, Good News, Rant 'n Rave, South Africa, Transport, Travel

 

PS3 Frustrations

07 Sep

So I finally succumbed to the temptations of the gaming world. Until recently I had figured that I needn’t bother with the hype of PS3, XBox, Wii and Nintendo. That all changed when it was decided that I would cross over and pick up a new toy. After much homework and deliberation I decided on the PS3. It was partly thinking that this is something I could carry with me on overseas adventures for entertainment as it also includes the BluRay player. God help me! They are bloody expensive! Cost me R5200 for a kit with a couple of controllers and a couple games etc. But was I happy? Sure I was! Until I got the news!

PS3 Slim

Sony have just announced the release of the PS3 Slim! Can you believe it? I was a little bleak cos instantly my brand new toy is last years model! It only got worse when I then looked up the other stats and details.

“At Gamescom, Sony Entertainment confirmed that the PS3 Slim is on its way, that it will be 32% smaller, 36% less heavy and use 34% less electricity. The harddisk will be 120GB and the console does look like the leaked picture that was shown not so long ago. The redesigned console will be available as of the first week of September and will cost €299.
Also the current model will be having a price drop and will become available for the same price as the Slim version. Not so much a surprise as, just like with the PSP Go, the news was leaked not so long ago already.”

Smaller, better, cheaper! SUX when it’s a few weeks after you dropped all your cash!

 
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Posted by on September 7, 2009 in Rant 'n Rave, Technology, Travel

 

Motorcycle test – PASSED

26 Aug

I was shitting myself last night. Not for the test today but more for the weather. It wasn’t looking good at all. Any rain and they cancel the test and postpone. I really didn’t want to have the test postponed. It became frontal last night which to the lay man simply means the wind blows like a son of a bitch from the west and that drags in all the crap wet weather from Cape Town. Fortunately this morning it was holding out sufficiently.

I rushed off to the testing station for an 11:30am booking while staring at the sky and hoping like mad. The test itself was very uneventful. The rain held out and I completed my test. It went really well. I guess that comes with good preparation. I passed with flying colours

pass_fail

And then the shit storm began. The government kicked in and that’s when the happiness ended. There’s a problem with my driver’s license apparently. Supposedly in 2003 while I was out of the country I was supposed to convert my old ID book style driver’s license to an ID card license. Since I did not do the conversion there is now a block on the license. Now that I have passed my bike license they need to issue a card license with both licenses on it. Simple? NO! This is Africa. First they have to remove the license from my ID book before they can issue the card. Simple? NO! They are useless! Apparently it can take up to 4 months to sort this out in a distant town called Bisho which looks after the entire region. Only once this is done can I go in to sort out and pay for my new license. But I am going to be away by then so I have to make another plan for issue and collection. Just a real pain in the ass. I can only hope it will be sorted without too many problems.

Africa!

 
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Posted by on August 26, 2009 in Africa, Friends, Good News, South Africa, Transport, Travel

 

It’s time. Job time!

11 Aug

Now I would be a complete liar if I had said that my last year of vacation was hated, practically well spent, or would be remembered in a negative light. That would all be complete bollocks. I have had a ball. But let me be serious for just a moment. I think it sums it up quite nicely as a mate of mine, DubDub, put it during an MSN conversation over the weekend, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

WOW. Let the job hunting crack on then. It is time. Time to rejoin the working class!

Job Hunting

Ok, well it wasn’t a complete wow as the thought of job hunting is nothing new. I have even mentioned it here a few times. Time now just feels right to get back into it. All my commitments at home are complete. I can leave now content that everything here will be fine in my absence. Sure it’s only taken 6 months to get there but what’s the hurry hey?

Now the bigger issue. You see, the kind of jobs I’m looking for don’t just show up on a Google search for “Great International IT Contracts”. Although, it could still be worth a shot. Yup, just as I thought: “No results found for "Great International IT Contracts"” It’s now all about looking up old contacts and hoping they still remember me. Oh well, let’s see.

I am actually really looking forward to it. Ok there’s that dreaded week or so getting back into it. You think it’s tough getting off a 2 week vacation? Try a 52 week vacation. But apart from that I am actually looking forward to the creating, the planning, the fixing and all the challenges that IT setups bring with them in order to feel that incredible feeling of success when the project manager takes you aside and says, “Damn great job Hoox. Here’s your raise and promotion”. Ok so that doesn’t happen but I still feel all warm and fuzzy inside when it goes right even if it is a quiet celebration.

Right. Time to crack on.

 
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Posted by on August 11, 2009 in Camp, Contact, Contract, Holiday, Life, Technology, Travel, World in 80 ways

 

DH Hell vs OOPS?

29 Apr

When looking to courier important documents or require a speedy, safe and secure method of postage, one usually immediately thinks of DHL or UPS couriers. Personally I have always been fond of DHL as they are a household brand, but even though UPS is right up there, I just haven’t really given them a chance up until now. KP bless her soul didn’t want to use UPS because it sounds like OOPS and she felt that was not a good sign!

DHL UPS

UPS however, will from now on get my business wherever they are available when I require urgent secure mail. This is why:

When KP travelled here she needed to send her passport to Italy to get a visa at the South African Embassy. Immediately and without question, we thought DHL. They are the best. The passport got there just fine, but this is the return journey:

Read from bottom to top:-

DHL KP

SINGAPORE?? What the fuck? Bearing in mind that you can almost see the shores of Italy from certain parts of Albania, why did it travel to the Far East and take 5 days for an overnight courier. And then via Bulgaria and Greece? This meant that she very nearly almost missed her flight to South Africa. Needless to say I was pissed however I was grateful that it all worked out for the best and she had her passport and she was on the plane. Great. No harm no foul.

Last week I decided to get all my mail shipped in from London so I called my mail handling people at the service that I use (MBE) and asked them to set it up. They asked DHL or UPS? Again, I just said DHL as they were £5.00 cheaper. All set, lets go…

First of all I get sent 2 delivery notifications via email with 2 separate AWB (Airway Bill) numbers and when tracking them I saw one just got forgotten and left behind so I figured sensibly that there was only one package (hopefully), not that I got any notification that this was the case. I then checked regularly to plot it’s progress. I was a bit nervous as it had 2 credit cards and a debit card inside. It did ok considering public holidays etc until suddenly it went on hold at 08:29 yesterday morning:

DHL Hoox

I waited and waited but the status never changed so I called DHL’s main number and got through to someone in Johannesburg. They said the package is on hold because they have “lost the paperwork, there is no AWB attached”. For fuck sake. They are the document couriers of choice and they lose their own paperwork? So I tried to call Port Elizabeth to work things out but got no answer. Now I was pissed, so I got in the car and drove down there and had to sort this out face to face armed with the Wrath and Fury of Hoox. After 20 minutes they released it to me. I asked them what would have happened if I hadn’t been aware of this parcel or hadn’t been tracking it so closely and she said, “Well you probably wouldn’t have got it until you eventually called!” Well that’s enough! 2 out of 2 in 2 months? Now I see they put on the tracking information that it was there “Awaiting collection by recipient as requested” which is bullshit. I collected it only because they were not releasing it otherwise and it was not a request, it was a demand!

UPS, you are my new baby! Don’t let me down as I will be comparing you very closely!

 
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Posted by on April 29, 2009 in Albania, Europe, Rant 'n Rave, South Africa, Technology, Transport, Travel, UK, World in 80 ways

 

Dentists suck!

28 Apr

I hate the dentist. I hate the dentist. I hate the dentist!

At the cricket some weeks ago I chipped a tooth or rather I should say a side piece of a tooth came off next to a filling. I cringed. I knew it was going to hurt and I was right. Then the bigger fear set in. I hate the dentist!

So in my wisdom I thought if I just left it long enough the pain would go away. Believe it or not the theory actually worked. Eventually! But I had to think that I will one day soon be travelling to crazy paces again and I really don’t want to have to attempt a dentist in these places again. Also KP threatened me with my life if I never went!

So eventually I agreed. And I went last week. Now the dentist thinks I’m crazy. See why!

IMG_0427

KP, the adrenalin junkie majmun from Alibanya came along!

Turns out it was 100% pain free. This was the best dentist I have ever been to in my life! I am going back next week to quickly fix one filling and have a good clean and I’m done. How’s THAT? Brilliant!

 
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Posted by on April 28, 2009 in Good News, Life, South Africa, Transport, Travel, Wishlist, World in 80 ways

 

Welcome world. Back to the grindstone!

16 Apr

It was roughly this time last year that I decided to hell with life on the road and living in crazy places and acquiring crazy amounts of air miles. It was also then that I decided to go ahead and do my CPL (Commercial Pilot’s License). It was then that I decided to mothball and pack away my multiple passports for a while.

Well now it’s roughly one year later. Things change.

It’s time to cut the cord. Are we human?

~The Killers

Yup, I think you’ve guessed it. I am now deciding to hell with flying and going back to “The Life” out at 32000ft, departure lounges, crazy places and environmental situations that you will never truly “get” unless you have lived it and lived it hard!

There are many reasons for this re-change of mind. Many that I will talk about, many that I can’t talk about since they are simply feelings and thus relatively difficult to put into words. But in a nut-shell, I just don’t think it’s for me. I gave it a shot and by God I had some fun doing it. There were tough times, great times, nervous times and exciting times.

  • The aviation industry is a crazy, backstabbing and thankless one. I am not saying that the corporate world in the land of construction and throat cutting isn’t but at least I understand that. I might as well stay in craziness that I “get”!
  • Everyone at my level of piloting and hoping to join the industry are mostly 10 years younger than me. I don’t have an issue dealing with age but I do find it frustrating dealing with the young, dumb, full of… shit, cowboy attitude. It kills! It has killed!
  • I am very new in the industry and already I know of loads of people that have crashed by no fault of their own but they all get blamed with “pilot error” until they can prove otherwise. There is NO professional support. I had a saying in IT that I will still stand by when comparing to many careers such as flying and medical support and security. When I have a bad day, NO ONE DIES!
  • I guess I have to say it. Money is an issue. Unless by some miracle and speedy advances in the industry, I am almost too old to earn enough to retire. I am 34 years old now and the best salary I could expect per month entering the industry with my “massive” 200 hours and a baby pilot CPL is R10 000. That’s roughly $1000 to live, eat and imagine a life when not airborne. Not much at all when you consider the 75% pass mark requirements on very tough exams and almost R500 000 in expenses when taking accommodation into account for the year of training.  All of this and then to be responsible for 6, 10, 20 + lives and a $1 000 000 + aircraft which you will immediately be blamed for if anything should happen to it. Fair? Hmmm!
  • I love flying and I guess I also just don’t want to remove the fun and joy I get out of it. To make it a job and forced to work more than your legal limit while hour building in your first 2 or 3 contracts would just destroy the dream I think. I recall a situation I was in some months ago when I was forced to fly against my wishes as I wasn’t feeling well and was down right irritated but it was out of my control. I just ended up staring out the window thinking to myself, “Is this as good as it gets? Is that what I can expect for the rest of my life?” Earning reasonable money and flying privately I get to do what I want and where and how! And by that I mean actually enjoy the flying!
  • I love Port Elizabeth and I love my new life but I have to admit there is a huge something missing from it. I am missing the adventure, the new story to tell and the new drama from around the world. I have had recent adventures which I have loved and written about but even that outlined the fact that I wouldn’t have been able to do it had I not saved up enough from my previous life and if had to work a normal life and job.
  • That gets me on to the “normal” discussion. I have officially declared, that is a fallacy! There is no such thing as normal. Normal is what your blinkered views will see when you look at your life and compare it with everything else around you. If there is anything that doesn’t fit into your little cookie cutter size and shape of what you think life should be like, you declare it “not normal”. The life I live certainly doesn’t fit into the average cookie cutter, but it’s the normal that I forged for myself. Yes it isn’t always easy and I end up bitching a lot about everything but show me life that is easy. Since I have been home I have seen many people bitching about a whole lot of stuff. At least between my bitching I get to live and experience the world a million times over and meet incredible people that I can truly share this life with. That’s normal! The Old Hoox returns.

I really could go on but what’s the point? If you are even remotely interested then let’s get together for that bottle of red wine and let’s have a L&J (laugh & joke) about it all and life in general! No matter what you think, I can almost guarantee I could convince you that what I have chosen is the way forward! However saying that I have been told I should have been a lawyer or politician! God help us all!

The World

So now the plans for the future? You should know better than that. I don’t discuss the future, I make it daily. So just for now the plans are to get back to work, back into the thick of it and settle back into “the life”. Options are open for now. Option 1 is I have a great opportunity to go and work for mates that I used to work with in Iraq. It’s a different company and now they are operating in Afghanistan, in and around the Kabul area. I would be heading up all their communications installations and IT infrastructure. Option 2 is an email that just popped up the other day for incredible work on a 3 on and 3 off rotation in North Africa for a major oil company. Option 3 is an unknown entity working with another good friend who has also changed companies and is trying her damndest to keep me out of war torn territories! Great girl! Miss the Italian conversations!

So I guess that sums it up. I can assure the world that this has not just been a fleeting decision. This has been coming for a some time and I didn’t want to rush into anything. I am still not rushing and these 3 options can take a while to come to fruition but at least it’s in that direction. I have not regretted taking this time and continuing my flying as I have done. It has been a wonderful year of catching up with good friends, buying a house and half settling down and spending more time with my folks than I have done in the 10 years prior to this. I have done so much in this last year. Loads of travel and seeing amazing people and learning new skills. Simply amazing. But now its time to pack that suitcase again, dust off the passports and make my way through security, immigration and the departure gates.

Goodbye Sleepy Hollow. See you soon! 8)

 
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Posted by on April 16, 2009 in Africa, Badgag, Badrash, Camp, Good News, Holiday, Kiting, L & J, Life, Money, Politics, Project, R & R, Rant 'n Rave, Road Trip, South Africa, Technology, Transport, Travel, World in 80 ways

 

The long journey home begins

06 Apr

After dropping KP off at the airport I had a fleeting thought of just hitting the road again and just keep driving home. It was late in the day already, evening actually, it had been a long day on the road and I was a little emotional and very tired. Driving just did not make any sense at all. My good friend Shan to the rescue! Thanks again!

Before leaving for Johannesburg, AH had asked if I was going back via Durban to Port Elizabeth. I just laughed. Then Rethom said if I did then she would join me through the Transkei. Deal done. That’s all it takes in this place to make plans!

N3 Durban

After a good night’s rest at Shan’s place, I ran a few errands in Johannesburg sorting out one or two things for my car that I have been needing to do for a while then I was back on the N3, back down to Durban. Moo had advised me to listen to SAFM on the way down cos they were announcing the decision made not to charge Zuma. What a fucking farce. It’s a disgrace. It quite simply made a complete mockery of this country, it’s constitution, it’s democracy and the essence of everyone being equal in the eyes of the law. Seems like George Orwell’s famous quote returns as he was describing communism and dictatorship, “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”. And that’s all I’m going to say about this fucking pathetic charade!

I got back to Durban in good time considering I had to drive the speed limit. Just because our corrupt president to be can get away with fraud, corruption, rape and other charges, doesn’t mean I will get away with breaking the speed limit.

Once back in Durban I had enough time to jump through a shower and head down to Ballito to see GIBBO Lecs for a dinner at the Spur. Awesome seeing her again and just a pity KP didn’t get a chance to meet her when she was still here. After saying our farewells I made it back up to the folks house and called it a night around midnight. There was lots of driving still to do and I needed sleep!

 
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Posted by on April 6, 2009 in Family, Female, Friends, Holiday, Home, Road Trip, South Africa, Travel

 
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