Getting there

Phew, a much needed update. I'll try seperate it where possible. Downloading T2 in the background to play on my flashy new edocs supplied laptop :D

8000ish miles to go....

Welcome to South Africa, or rather, you'll remember us when you're gone, if you can get out. In typical South African fashion inefficiency reeks in the customs department. I queued for 30 mins after checking in baggage, sorry for you if you're slightly late. 8 cubicles manned by one seriously old man and 2 women. The international visitors now departing our wonderfully useless country are left with a bitter taste in their mouths. We waited in the business class lounge just long enough to finish a free beer or two and chat to the other snobs. Anyway, that was all before 7PM on thursday night (20^th). After the last boarding queue, we had to step outside and get on a bus. The bus waited for a good 5 minutes before we almost collapsed from breathing in too much diesel. The cranky internationals were now getting vocal about the bad service. Gareth and I just grinned and beared it like South Africans I guess.

And that was that, we turned our backs on Jozy and boarded the shiny new SAA Airbus A340 600. This plane was the shit! Naturally it was 100 times better in business class. The seats were incredibly comfortable even after 11 hours of flying. Theres a retractable and adjustable light just above your right shoulder. A 13" monitor folds neatly out of your right armrest. On the left you've got your tray which folds into the armrest too, and the controls for the chairs just below it. Yes, electric motors to adjust your seat. I felt like a true rich bastid. After take off, one of the Air Stewarts (Not stewards, Gareth and I joked about how all the male flight attendants are queens) or flight attendants come by, set up your tray table with a table cloth, pass you a heated towel (what the hell?) and ask you what you want for supper. Gareth ordered the merlot and the cute air-hostess that served him. I had the seasonal salad and skipped on the air-hostess. She was all bitchy and stuff. I ordered the fillet and a few beers, oh my, melt-in-the-mouth beef, garlic rolls and good beer. Once supper was trying to settle it was DVD time! Mystic River, Along Came Polly to name a few and on the circuit they had Frasier (amongst others) which was good. Next thing I know Gareth has passed out from too much wine and I'm fading fast too. Didn't sleep well but within no time we were greeted with a traditional south african breakfast followed by our descent into Frankfurt.

What am I doing here?

Let me just state categorically that Frankfurt is a terrible airport. Imagine a socialist / industrialist setting, 70's style abuse of metal with no taste for interiors, whiffs of cigarette smoke on the fan. For 4 hours we abused the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge's coffee supply and biscuits. German males are an interesting crossbreed of up-and-coming east-randers and intellectual businessmen. Women, like the men. (harsh? :D) Paging thru german magazines is like reading a user-manual for a complicated household appliance. Lets just say, its 4 hours of my life spent in total fascination in the clothing styles of the germans, daziness and that feeling you're sleeping with your eyes open. Now, boarding was a breeze. South Africa, take note, they might have bad taste, but they're orderly. They even have automated toilet seat cleaners. Pity about the US customs, removing shoes, getting felt up by the sweaty german guards.

Following Columbus, sorta.

This time we boarded a Lufthansa Airbus A340 200, an older model, with older decor. Gareth and I agreed that business class on that flight was like economy class on SAA. (Hmm, maybe we are becoming snobs - All it takes is one flight in business class and everything else pales in comparison) At this stage I've got a sore stomach from being so lethargic for the last 15 hours. Not pleasant. At least our air hostess was more accommodating. The food was better. 8 hours later and we touched down to a beautiful spring day in Boston.

The U.S. of A, after a day.

After filling out all the paperwork, being interviewed again and fingerprinted we were in the US! Avis sent a bus over to come pick us up. (I'm still trying to get used to their weird sense of styles in motor vehicles.) After arguing with their sales rep and watching Gareth's credit card bounce we finally picked up a Ford Freestar "mini-van" (pretty similar to a Chrysler Voyager) and tried to navigate the maze of highways and routes out of Logan Internationl into Natick. All I can say is WOW. I've never seen so many leafy green maples in my life before. The Boston Reseroirs are all full, giving the area a calm lake district feel. There are no flies or gnats, plenty of sparrows and crows and these amazing trees. Drunken with fatigue we actually made it thru to the offices there and introduced ourselves around (nuts?). On the way home we picked up some pre-paid sim cards from T-Mobile (bad choice in the end, we have to pay for all incoming calls and the coverage is useless! Americans are so backwards when it comes to cellphones) Then we actually made it thru to the suites in Westborough. Boston to Natick: 50 miles. Natick to Westboroguh: 10 miles. It felt far too long. I unpacked and crashed.

The first saturday

Woke up about 4 times during the night and then got up at about 9. We did some much needed shopping. Um, food? We stopped by a um, Super Stop & Shop, similar to a Pick and Pay. The first isle was whacked. We found muesli and soups and stuff, but my word it was expensive. We frowned upon the lack of cereals. Then we found the other isles. FOOD! They had one isle dedicated to cereals. Heart Attack flavour, High Cholestorol flavour, Guilt with a smile flavour. My word, FOOOOOOD! Interestingly enough, all the healthy stuff was like double the price, wholewheat bread is like rye bread and twice the price of white bread. If the american government wanted to cure obesity, I reckon they should tax all the bad-for-you stuff and lift the taxes on the good-for-you stuff. :D After buying some authentic american ice cream and the usual stuff we were out of there. It takes a while to get used to driving in the USA, especially if there are no cars around. Gareth almost slipped up once, driving down the wrong side of the road. Then got a chance to catch up on more sleep and check what the suites had to offer. Kitchenette, bathroom, couch and double bed each. What more could a bachelor want? Oh, wireless internet access, room service and a TV thats what. Saturday's supper was spent at a local friendlies, a kiddies restaurant. Don't ask. :D The best chocolate shake I've ever tasted and a toasted chicken sandwich from hell, it rocked.

Sleepy Sunday

Sunday was true R&R, lazing around, reading, watching TV. That evening we took a walk thru to the local pub and learnt that baseball is an OK game, and not all americans are rude and arrogant. :P Their beers suck though. We'll make plans to go check out the Redsox kick more ass sometime. Ice Hockey and Football are not happening round this time of the year, so we won't be able to see them in action. Dunno about Basketball.

Welcome to Corporate America.

"Office space" and "Dead like me" come to mind when describing edocs' offices. Cubicles, water machines, some irriating types, but wait, they have FREE vending machines with snacks and sodas. Sekz! They have this weird coffee machine that you put a special filter cup into place and it sorts you out. edocs had arranged two brand spanking new Dell Latitude D600's for gareth and I, with everything installed. Efficiency! Everything just works here, no failed traffic lights, bad networking etc. Wireless pwns, No hassles networking. Anyway, Gareth and I are gonna be working on a dog-ugly project, fixing bugs and adding improvements where possible. Home from home :D

Back to the usual

Its now the end of day 4, and we're settling into a routine. I've arranged with Gareth to go to the local gym and work on a fitness reginme. 2 months is more than enough time to see results, especially with such a motivated fitness fanatic watching my progress. Watch this space.

I'm going to try arrange a rental mountain bike and investigate the local woodlands with my awesome little camera. Anton should hopefully be setting up the Consology Vhost for me, so I can stick up a whole lot of photos soon.

Bandwidth Sponsored by Wayport Cable (135k/s to SA, 5ms ping to first hop - can't wait to give T2 a shot on this spiffy new laptop!)

Cheers,
nD

It's been a while (Staind say it best)

So the laptop is well, on my lap again and the CD is making a hectic buzz, its like a vibrator *hubba hubba*.

Just came back from an awesome supper with our resident grey-kop, Katarn. Time spent with a friend is time well spent. Katarn and I can talk about some of the deepest shit around which is quite refreshing. And we weren't even stoned. :)

In chatting about blogging, it got me thinking as to why I started blogging in the first place. I admit, its nice being talked about or being passed compliments, but the thing driving me the most to blog was a feeling of experimentation. To explore avenues in myself and others. Its been good.

So I've been told that a lot of of the stuff I write about comes accross as being feminine. I think our fairer sex still has a lot to teach us guys, when you think of compassion, which sex do you think of? When you think of greed, or arrogance, which sex do you think of? Off the cuff, I'm not gay. (So shoo Anthrax!) :D But as a free thinking person, I think there is much value in trying not to be such a man. I'm an emotional person, why should I reserve something so intricate?

OK, now this vibrating laptop is getting frikkin irritating.

Another thing that I found interesting recently and totally agree with, is that your best work is when you just do something cos you're passionate about it. Pay someone to do something and it just won't be the same, it'll be forced, passionless. Look at artists and authors. I reckon some artists create their best pieces when they're broke-ass or depressed. Say you'll pay them for their next piece and it just won't be the same person behind the brush. When last did you do somnething totally selfless?

The difference between madness and eccentricity is the size of the wallet.

Wholeness vs Holeness

I've been told before that searching for a relationship to make you complete is unhealthy and the wrong attitude towards a relationship. Take the circle analogy. You want to be a complete circle. You're half a circle. You want your other half to become whole. Thats bad right?

I got a different perspective to this analogy from a very special neighbour while she was on an exchange program in France. She reckons rather you should be a complete circle yourself first. You're a small circle, but you're still complete. When you meet this other small full circle, you create a bigger circle, like two bubbles in a soapy mingling, you become one another and something more.

But now I don't know. I know I'm at my most happy when I make others happy. They do complete me first. I'm a goat. If I'm not satisfying my soulmate, I'm just not satisfied. Maybe I am half a circle, yearning to be more complete, but when the two halves meet, we become more than what two halves create. Its the space between that expands inside us, like a mixing of gases with an explosive reaction, with us shielding it, absorbing it. I think you're truly whole when you know how to love. Whats wrong with wanting someone to complete you? What greater sacrifice that offering yourself to someone else completely?

Je suis a toi

Update on the travel plans

Thursday, 7pm. Finally, a date and a time to plan my life around. Gareth and I'll be flying business class to Frankfurt and then Boston in a marathon 19 hours over 8500 miles. Business class, I believe, is the shiznit! We'll be flying SAA in the new Airbus A340's. This my friends, is as good as it gets. Did I mention I'm stoked? :D

We'll be staying in the Sierra Suites in Westborough, MA. At $80 a night with breakfast included, its amazing too see just how insignificant the rand and my thoughts on spending are. The plane tickets are gonna cost $5k, return. We get a car for our uses. Words fail me, literally? My gut reaction right now, is to work my ass off and make it totally worth edocs and consology's time and money. And have a great time doing so.

Gareth has plans to drink lots, meet plenty of people, hike Vermont flat, visit New York. I have plans to tag along as much as possible :D Other than that, see all those things you never get a chance to, such as going to see Linkin Park, KoRn, Incubus, tour Harvard and walk Boston flat. Part of me wants to sit down with an american over coffee and just talk. (I hope she'll be cute :D) See what life is like on the other side. *conjures up plans to ask out someone within edocs* *plans crushed* *conjures up just going to stacks of clubs and pubs* *smiles*

Into the hands of fate

Getting into the US has changed a lot since last I went. Now, VISA applications have a mandatory interview session.

Your application has to include:

• Your current employer's letter of appointment
• A letter from your contractor in the US explaining why you're needed in the US
• 6 months worth of payslips
• 3 months worth of bank statements
• Any lease information with regards to your current residence
• 3 2"x2" colour photos
• ... and R720
• Dare I say: Penis measurements? Who knows what happens in these sessions!

At first, the only available interview appointment date was the 7th of June. People die and get buried in under a weeks time, yet to book an interview is going to take 3 weeks?! Talk about beareaucracy! Its all artificial security IMO.

On top of that, I've been trying to apply for internet banking. 4 days later, it might actually work. I've faxed branches with updated personal details, shown them my new ID number, phoned their call center 3 times. Wow. Customer Service in this country rocks, but we all know that already.

In other news...

Looks like blogger are really pulling up their socks. Rock on adaptive path! Guess I should finally put more work into my blogspot blog.

This entry dedicated to...

...someone you don't know. You rock poo. I posted about wholesome people, wondering where they are, and there she is, right under my nose. (She is kinda short :P)

I want the best for her, I want to see her excell, I want her to smile. Oh boy can she smile, she makes me tickle inside :) She is natural, beautifully timid like a wild deer. I think she's trapped in her mind though, and it hurts me to see her that way. I want to take a can opener and peel away the now hardened tin shell, exposing the wonderfulness inside. I know its there, there are hints. She goes thru life, saying shes happy, but I know she hurts. I want to comfort her. I want to be her bastion of security. Open your eyes!

Now its eating me up that I have to leave her nameless. I'd happily tell the world how much I love her, but thats not fair on her. I don't think she feels the same way about me. I've always gone thru life like that, totally devoted to someone who wouldn't even think the same about me. I think its great, but it hurts at times.

Anyway, did some reading into chinese astrology. Turns out I'm a goat. After reading the description I was pleasantly surprised at how well it fits me. A cancerian goat. A cancerian goat moon child.

I wish I was the sk8r boi, but I don't want Avril Lavigne, she's wrong.

My place of serenity is only a place that I know of. Its an aura of love, love from the earth itself. I feel complete in the speckled shadows of its life-giving branches. When I run through the shadows, the sun flashes between the leaves, in that moment, I am alive. All around, there is a glow of peace, fulfillment.

I could play in the tree all day, swinging from overhangs upside down and never fear falling, cos here you just float. At night you can lie in the bows, head resting against the trunk and listen to the marsupial folk go about their nocturnal playfulness. You don't need sleep here cos you're constantly dreaming. Sometimes it feels like this is the only tree in the jungle and I wonder if my tree is lonely. With a trunk so strong and leaves bristling with vitality its evident that all is well.

Everyday our two trees move closer together. The branches reach out to the sun, and one another. Two steeples of security, with arms encircling. I play in my tree, you in yours. We don't notice the closing of the distance. Our trees see the value in that closeness, yet we're too distracted feeling gees swinging from the branches. For the first time, our eyes cross. You're shy yet playful. I'm totally curious. I chase you thru the branches, you enjoy the attention. Pretty soon, I'm not even in my own tree anymore. But my tree is not mine, its ours. I'm clambering up what used to be yours. Its great, I'm beaming from ear to ear! The trees are smiling too, because in this moment, everything is perfect.

I'm.so.excited.right.now

Eat your hearts out, I'm gonna be as far away from the 3rd world as I am a socialite.

Yep, 3 whole frikkin months in Boston, MA, on a skills exchange of sorts. Starting within the week. Our tech partner eDocs has requested 2 of us from the office, and specifically mentioned my name! I've got to teach a few of them Web Standards, Markup, CSS, while they train the two of us in some new products and J2EE Struts / Tiles. I can't wait :D

We (Gareth - total party machine) are set to leave on the 17th. We'll have a car with unlimited mileage at our disposal, and a company rented house in an upmarket suburb, 5 miles from edoc's head office in Natick. Travel Subsidy and the usual SA salary. \o/

Linkin Park, Incubus, Jewel, Sarah Maclachlan, Dave Matthews Band are all going to be performing in the greater Boston area over the time period. Rock on, its gonna be such an awesome experience moshing with americans. I'm also making plans to visit the Tribal Wars LAN in virginia and play tribes with some of the best players in the world. Be very jealous right now fellow gamer. :) I'll just have to buy a new Area51m Laptop from Alienware first :P

In the meantime I'm trying to organise my whole life around this thing - phew. Visas, Banking, Tax, International drivers license, the question of renting, My car, clothes shopping, eish, its all catching up with me. Most of that all comes second to working overseas for 3 WHOLE MONTHS! :)

Whose gonna tell me those things?
Whose gonna walk across the field with me
sorry..
ok... it is ok....
sorry just temporary malfunction here
everything is fine
just a fuse
I like that "walk accross the field"
build on it!
Go with it babes!
tell me more about the walking accross the field!
please!
ok.....
um there is a field
and we is like walking
tell me about the grass
it is green and lush.....
glowing with health
with some dew
smells fresh like a day full with opportunities
what happens when you lift your feet?
wow
(*snigger*)
the grass is gentle like a cushion
where is the sun?
so u can only have delicate steps accross it
in my face.... distorting my vision that i can only hear the person next to me
their laughter
hoping they're laughing at my jokes
but in that moment you dont really care
nope i don't
cos its a beautiful day, there is life all around
and you're with someone you trust
someone who will laugh at your jokes, or just laugh at how cute you are when you try make him/her laugh
cos the warmth of the sun is on my cheeks and everyone is giddy with laughter

Oops?

I created an offline journal entry and was meant to upload it, but I think it was subconciously deleted. And I can't figure out if thats bad or not.

So yeah, went thru a total bender recently. Looks like I got some solid sleep last night which is helping da mood.

Goodbye and thanks for all the fish

Fuck you bloody full moon

Emptiness is

Laptop, on top of my lap, 1:22 hours remaining battery, but thats OK, Hybrid Theory is not a long album. Pity that.

I've been feeling so empty lately. Unfulfilled. I think its cos I've been too much of a hermit recently. Go to work, work, go to home, lounge. No exercise, I feel like I'm falling apart. I don't think I've been out for close on a month. Sheesh. Anyway, had some good chats to my fellow capper and shrike jockey Mburr. There need to be more mburrs in the world we know. He's a Paladin in an evil world, battling with those who can't see the value in his faith, battling with evil, battling with himself. And I agree with him.

Is there any value in morals these days? I get the idea that morals are failing in the world. How many people do you know that would shag without loving? To fuck is to be thoghtless, emotionless. Damn all you types who abuse something so magical as sex. How dare you take it for granted. AIDS is there to remove you from the face of my planet, get off now please. Sex is the ultimate expression of your love for someone, if you don't love them, you don't deserve it. Plain and simple. To shag is to be a base primate, without thoughtlessness. You're fulfilling a primeval instinct, common in jocks. We've been gifted with thoughtfulness, what better mental and emotional experience to be that close to someone you truly love. Show her just how much you love her.

Is my horse too high if I think like that? Does anyone else thik like that?!

There is no perfect partner, just a perfect couple.
Thanks Karl

I'm too involved in finding the perfect partner, yet I don't even bother looking. I've been cruising ICQ, meeting new people from all over the world, getting different opinions and tastes for life. (Hi Fatima, Fabiana! :D) But I don't even bother meeting new people I can actually see. Work has been a god-send with regards to meeting new people, but its all too professional. I'm happy at work though, I get on well with everyone which is great, but still. With so many other guys my age, and gamers, we don't really create chances to meet new people outside of the gaming social circle. Part of me just wants to avoid that whole scene, partly cos I think its all so false. Its the alcohol talking. Am I wrong? Where have all the wholesome people gone.

Today, I felt like I was thinking out loud.

How do you love someone who's afraid of commitment? With a sore-heart. Fuck it hurts. Is all this worth it?

So reader, what would you do to meet wholesome people? You know, the salt-of-the-earth types, the ones digging.

I'm stuck in a sea of people, clawing my way to the surface. I can see all the other heads bobbing in the waves, just their foreheads. They don't even want to breath. SOMEONE HELP THESE PEOPLE! I can't save all these helpless souls by myself and I'm cross with myself because of it. Suddenly the sharp realisation hits me with a dull thud, thor's hammer: they don't want to be saved, they like their obscured vision beneath the miniscus created on their faces. They like the asphyxiation, they're all cheap druggies. If they chose to drown, should I pull them out? Is it selfish of me to think like that? FUCK, I can't let this continue. I pull the closest head out the water, but the stare is vacant, this is not a person. Suddenly I'm pinned under a few of the zombies, they're trying to pull me under. I resist, cos I have to. Everything I stand for, exists in the air above. In a great explosion of zealous power, I erupt from below, shooting out the water like a freak spout of divine energy. Blinded by the light, the mindless ones cower in sheer fear, there fixations are replaced with cold-hard-reality. They didn't think it possible, no one can escape. But I'm free. Free of all that conciouslessness.

So, 45 minutes left eh? Bugger that, I'm off to bed.