thought of this?

How about you get confident stupid, it might change your life! Also, know that the internet does very little to validate who you are! Go out and try new things!

africa

Those Africans who seem to know Africa's problems best, seem to be the least confident. Why? Can outsiders solve corruption? NO, I don't think so. Africa needs a future. It can't be based on the same old leaders. New blood is needed.

long days

Its been a long year. I can't believe I made it to August! I have had many sleepless nights. There are many things to recall about this year, including moments alone in a corner office with 4 files and very little else.

familiar solutions

I have a project. It started with a certain telephone technician. Lets say, he was digging a hole for a new telephone pole. When he had finished his hole, he discovered some kind of petrol/diesel smelling product on the surface of the water in the hole. This discovery meant that he could not install his telephone pole, and possibly someone would not be able to make phone calls or log onto the internet. This immediately alerted him to a potential pollution problem (I just invented a tripple p reference there ... haha). Anyways, I was handed the project. I started with the usual investigation, including asking questions and trying to reconstruct what could have led to this tripple p. As I write this, I'm at the end of my investigation. The lab results are in and the drawings have been prepared. The conclusion is that there is no potential pollution problem. The results are all zero. No source of fuel has been found in the vicinity of the telephone pole that can be correlated or associated with what he claimed to have seen. Here are some questions and scenarios I've been thinking on:

1. The telephone technician didn't really see any kind or petrol/diesel

2. The petrol/diesel that he claimed to have seen is now gone

3. The petrol/diesel is probably still there, I perhaps just missed it

See, I like option 2 because it makes this a straight forward project. Consequently I'm tempted to say there is no tripple p. But a fundamental problem arises here. That is; when we are faced with life problems which have the potential to go either way, we seem happy to settle for familiar solutions. I worry that if this principle persists, we'll end up with solutions that are familiar but not necessary correct or accurate.

max's top 20 lessons for 2010

1. Learn First Aid

2. Don't use plastic bags
3. Play outside with kids
4. Switch to energy saving lights
5. Use public transport
6. Cycle to work when possible

7. Plant a tree every year

8. Switch off tv at the plug
9. Watch less tv

10. Give change to charity
11. Learn another language
12. Have more braais
13. Separate trash and recycle
14. Recycle clothes

15. Turn off the tap while brushing
16. Steam food instead of frying
17. Prepare and eat according to planned menu
18. Walk and run more
19. Write another letter to the President
20. Celebrate by adding chocolate to milk

mature student

I sat with a student today to discuss the prevention of the migration of a hydrocarbon plume in groundwater, or more simply how to stop a runaway petrol spill in water. He is writing a thesis on the topic and has chosen a site that I'm busy working on. The meeting was more of an interview than a meeting. Saying it was a meeting makes me sound important, which I'm actually not. We talked for about an hour. It was one of those roundabout conversations, but I think we did our best to understand each other. There was lots of eye contact. I even drew him a diagram. There are two interesting points about all this. One, the site is owned by BP and the dude is about 48 or 52 years old. I'm not sure of his exact age, but there were definitely some grey hair on his head. It reminded me of that Grey's Anatomy episode where Dr. Karev gets the 60 year old intern, Norman. Yeah! The result of our interaction was not a humourous, as much as it was inspiring. I think I would like to study again. Oh about BP, well they seem to have the worse end of anything spill-related these days.

driving the message

Today, while working in Wetton near Athlone, Cape Town, I took this picture of a pick-up truck with a "mirror sock" adorning a message saying Free Palestine. How creative is that for driving the message home? (Ha, lame pun effort, I know). My knowledge about of Palestine is limited. What I know hovers around the word "conflict". That's hardly fair and a harsh judgement. But how bad are things in Palestine, and why are people in Cape Town concerned? What are they even fighting about? Do we need more mirror socks or less?