GrumpyOldGuy

Ha, Ha, yeah I know the feeling, its worse here in the USA, going to the movies that is, they dont issue seat numbers so its a free for all when the doors open as everyone races to secure their seats, this usually results in 200 people all clumped up in the middle of the movie spilling soda pop on each other and no one around the edges. Then I have decided kids today (and some adults) cant go 90 minutes without a bathroom break or a soda refill, so you are constantly getting up for some one to pass then on their return they spill popcorn down your jacket and stand on your toes. Drives me nuts, I went to watch the Batman / Superman movie the other day (and if you havent seen it,...dont bother!) and with all the talking, popcorn munching, packet rustling and soda slurping going on around me I could barely hear the movie, I am seriously getting old and grumpy. On the other hand I dont like watching movies at home, I am always thinking of other things to do and I generally fall asleep before the end anyway, ...so I guess I'll have to just suck it up and continue going to the movies.

Yah, I am not much of a mall rat either but I have to beg to differ here, if you find yourself in Ft Lauderdale Florida one day, pop into the Sawgrass Mills, its so big you need to drive between some sections, and they trap on this mall road, I know cos I got a speeding ticket once driving between the shops. But its great, I lose myself there, I often think you could live your entire life in the mall, it has everything, even an attached Holiday Inns,.... actually,.... you can live your entire life in this mall!

In honor of a good friend who passed away today, Bernard Binns of the Iconic SA Band of the 90's - "The Helicopters" No more emails, no more calls,.......Rest In Peace my friend.

Indeed, its probably what made the movie, well for me anyway. I often watch "The last of the Mohicans" as well,.. just for the incredible scenery......must be my creative side.

Yeah, I dunno, I didn't enjoy Deadpool, actually I was ready to leave half way,....maybe I am just too old for superhero's! I did think The Revenant was excellent though, so no issue with Leonardo grabbing the Oscar there.

Dammit, that sounds fine!

I like that......very, very true!

Ha, Ha, Boxers are just the best......those eyes.....!

I am not a fan of the serious die hard bicycle racing type books, but if you feel like a chuckle read Tim Moore's (he of French Revolutions fame) "Giro Nimo". The book follows in a similar vein to French Revolutions in that he gets into period gear, including a wooden bicycle with only 2 gears, and rides the 1914 Giro route. The 1914 Giro was considered the toughest and hardest Giro ever and of the 81 riders who started, only 8 finished, the second place going to a rider a full 2 hours behind the winner. In those days stages starting at midnight and running over 400 kms were common, and often the riders lost their support staff along the way so it was really a case of man alone against the elements and teams were almost non existent. Anyway, Tim rides the route on his own and recounts his experiences along with a history of the actual race, dont expect any insightful bits of racing info, its more a one, slightly plump, middle aged mans experience of riding the route in 2012 as opposed to 1914 and a travel dialog of the interesting folk and places he sees along the way.

Strange, I used to like Stephan King but I find his recent books of poor quality, almost like he has run out of ideas. His earlier books like "The Shining, The long walk, Christine, Cujo, Salems lot, The Mist" etc, were all much better in my opinion, he seemed to lose the plot around the time he wrote Needful things. But of course thats just my opinion, but I didnt really enjoy "IT" For me his two best books were "The Stand" and "The long walk" Classics both of them.

I also started a book thread some years back and there were a lot of great suggestions there as well, seems its gone now, or at least I couldnt find it. I am also a determined reader and read at least two books a week, these days I use a Kindle but Amazon makes a fortune out of me. I seldom read Fiction but over the holidays I read a few of the Jeremy Clarkson books, very light easy reading but worth a chuckle or two, however I just finished "When breath becomes air" by Paul Kalanithi, I bought it a few weeks back but was avoiding it due to its rather sad topic, Cancer, however I tackled it last week and it was excellent.

Yeah, its true, my brother and his family was over for a few weeks in October, he has been before but every time he comes he wants to stay, not because of the big picture, but the little things, the safety, the freedom to move around without worry at all hours, the honesty of the people, he unknowingly left his wallet at a coffee shop, we were still on our way home when he got a call on his mobile, it was the coffee shop owner saying he has the wallet, its safe and we can collect it anytime. There was over $1000.00 Canadian in the wallet and not a penny was missing, the open society, strangers will stop you on the street and say thats a nice shirt / trousers / hat / coat / beard, hairstyle / lipstick / cologne / perfume whatever, they are not trying to rape your wife or your daughter or hit you up for money, they are just normal friendly folk paying you a compliment, people in positions of public service actually believe in doing something for their salary - I love SA, make no mistake, I spent the better part of 55 years there but there comes a time when you have to make a call.

Totally unrelated but one year we decided to take out an advertising contract with a very well know and established engineering magazine, it was to run for 12 months and cost a small fortune, we however rationalized it by thinking if we landed one or two extra contracts from the adverts it would have been worth it. Short story long, one day a stranger phoned me enquiring on a pump from our range, we chatted and I explained the pump to him and we closed the deal, it was, he said a great pleasure working with you and why dont you advertise these pumps, you would sell so many more? I asked him if he read this particular magazine, he replied affirmatively, every issue. I just sighed, he read every one but never saw our full page add for the last 7 months, he found us by that old fashioned method of "Word of mouth"! I cancelled the advertising contract on expiry the next day. Anyway, I think young John-Lee has a lot to be proud of, I dont much follow SA cyclists, but as one of the few who actually achieved the success he did, he was actually quite a humble young man.

Its a big issue here too (well for me anyway) kids here are treated like adults and not kids, I have heard parents discussing the merits of having / or not, another ice cream with their kids of 10, they dont just say "No" - its first a 15 minute discussion, and then after all that the kid throws a tantrum and the parents cave in anyway. In my opinion kids here are particularly precocious, many of them call their parents by their first names, they scream and demand and swear and have no respect for authority or their elders. In general SA kids are still very well behaved and respectful of authority and parents, here, not so much.

Yeah, indeed they did. Fuel was heavily controlled (well, still is) and the government leaned on the fuel companies not to supply them, they then tried another tack by giving pro-rata fuel rebates if you purchased your groceries etc at P&P and bought your fuel at their stations, effectively they said they were just cross subsidizing their own petrol stations and it was legal, but again the government leaned on the suppliers and very soon they had to toss in the towel on all fronts. Those were interesting times were they not.?

Yeah, no doubt, I remember many years ago Pick & Pay started self service gas stations at their stores, the idea was so they could effectively sell gas cheaper by a few cents. I think the public supported it, but of course in two blinks of an eye they were forced to stop due to threats of strikes etc as the theory was they were eliminating jobs.

Yeah, very common here in Toronto as well, all the supermarkets have self service lanes with the weighed bag, I cant remember when last I used a cashier lane, I just go straight to the self service lane, swipe my card and I am gone. No signing necessary here.

Yes indeed, everyone has a right to express their view, good or bad, positive or negative without been judged. Its not helpful to point fingers or thump chests, everybody is fighting their own battle and who are we to know what someone else sacrificed to make the event a reality for them. Nobody would deny the physical tragedy or the loss, but many are just despondent and frustrated, they need time to consider and evaluate and come to terms, especially when they are so emotionally and financially invested.

Yeah, this weather is not ideal for short haired dogs. I bought her one of those dog jackets but she tore it off in the first day, didn't like it one bit. .. but yeah, dogs are immensely adaptable and now its all just a big game, but given half a chance you will definitely find her on the chair in front of the heater.

Hee, Hee, boxers are just too cute as puppies. Actually I am a sucker for all puppies, were I still in SA I would have grabbed that one. Here's a pic of my boxer as a pup.....she is fully grown now but still cute as a button, goes everywhere with me, I just open the car door and she is in. Love her to bits. As a pup. Now,

Sure, I hear you, but think of the guys sitting in Limpopo or Gauteng, its not as easy as investing 200 bucks in gas round trip to my home and back, its a relatively costly exercise that they may have sacrificed a lot to achieve, a call had to be made either way, its just my opinion it should have been made earlier.

Indeed, one hopes they learn from it. History is an important part of risk assessment and if it means future events will have a proper viable alternative, then one can say it hasn't been in vain.

..and therein lies the issue "dependant on" this denotes uncertainty. The argument was rather simply remove this uncertainly and make a call based on the facts on hand at the time. People understand its a fluid issue and things can change, all they want to know is where they stand early enough so they can also make decisions, keeping them hanging till the last minute is not good PR.

I think you misunderstood, the argument is the call to ride a shortened race should have been made earlier, Monday midday preferably, whatever happens later is not the issue, the decision is made and everyone can plan accordingly.

Its unfortunate, but in my opinion the organizers waited too long to make a call and left people feeling uncertain. I have just read the posted brief and its mostly full of fluff and irrelevant points. People are very forgiving if you take them into your confidence and just tell them the facts. In my opinion the brief should have been sent out Monday midday giving people time to make informed decisions on wither to travel or not. People understand the situation is fluid, just tell them the facts, "Folks this is the information we have up to and at this point, and, because we understand people need to make arrangements, based on this information we have made the decision to shorten the race.We understand circumstances may change later, but in an effort to accommodate everyone we had to make a call." Thats all people want to know, it gives them time to make an informed decision and removes uncertainty. I suggest this would have eliminated a lot of the animosity people feel now that they may have been forced into a track they would not have taken given the choice.