Captain Fastbastard Mayhem

COSATU should really check their press releases... "COSATU will be filling corruption charges against the DA for spending public funds on their friends in wealthy areas when there is such a desperate need for services in poor communities"

Just returned from my honeymoon, on an all inclusive basis. That means 2 courses for breakfast, 3 for lunch and 3 for dinner. All the weight I lost has gone back on, and some has come back off again. Came back from Mauritius at 100kg, now back down to 97 or so. Changing jobs in 2 weeks, and that will give me the opportunity to train more than I am able to at the moment. Will also be 2km from Tokai, so if I'm having a bad day....

my guess would be... Ibis & first Nicolai.

Damn, dude... I want your bikes!

makes perfect business sense though... buy local for shoes. with something like that, you can't really order from a catalogue due to the sizing issues, unless you have tried on the exact same pair.

I told you...

Congrats on finishing then! And it started 2 weeks ago :-)

WRT the potential badmouthing - quite possible that the reason is due to them not having agency agreements in place, and therefore not wanting to get you to buy one. In addition, they might just be snobs that see the name "silverback" and promptly rush for the nearest loo for a good chunda. Kinda like the okes who buy a Lexus and insist that it is NOT a Toyota.

try "felching" for a true gross-out...

just beware the 40% import duty on shoes/clothing - before VAT is levied.

War war, or figurative War?

I thought it was a great advert as well. However, I don't think it was an attempt to metaphorise the atrocities of war with the race, rather the attributes of soldiers and medics on the field of battle, thereby capitalising on the warrior's mantras of "no one left behind" and the constant need to cover your partner's back, not to mention the feeling of camaraderie that soldiers on the field of battle - ie: The Cape wilderness & the constant battle with your own mind as a competitor, warring with your body's every attempt to get you to give up the hope of success in exchange for just a brief respite. I think it was very cleverly put together. Together with the emotional aspect of soldiers as well - the constant pressure and anxiety that they undergo in an environment filled with danger and possible death and the stress that results from that. In addition - the whole aura of the Epic - that it is only for the very toughest (mentally & or physically) competitor draws a very clean tangent to the aura of the armed forces - that it is not for p*ssies. I really think the whole "atrocities of war" aspect is one that you yourself are looking for when critiquing the ad, and a reasonable person (Joe Public) would not have concluded the same as you when viewing the ad. Just my view though...

BASTARD!!! I WAAAAANT one!

YIPPIE Kai YEA!!!

+1

No, he means adjusting the head angle. Didn't you know that all the NEW bikes have an adjustable section at the apex of the top & downtubes? :D

the problem with this is that there are a multitude of fellows who will just see a bit of red tape and the sign that says "trail closed for maintenance" and just barrel on through the needles a bit further on and circumvent the trail head entirely, but joining the "closed trail" a bit further down than intended, creating a whole new, unspoiled, entry point. I see some of these okes on a weekly basis, and they are the same okes that try to a: Blag an entry saying "I'll pay on the way out!" b: "Ag, come on bro, you know me, right? Let me in!" c: Drag back brakes on the berms d: feed the trolls e: ARE the trolls f: shout "HOLD YOUR LINE" when there is only one line to hold g: go up the Down Only single tracks and get indignant when peeps come barrelling down. I know it's not all of us that do this, but if one "new" person sees it happening, they follow suit thinking it's the accepted thing. And I'm riding Tokai tomorrow, testing out my new front tyre and getting some much-needed trail time in. Also, I need to crit your efforts :-) Just bummed I couldn't be there this time! A certain event containing a couple of rings was in the way of my efforts...

Yes - it's called the Medical Savings Booster or MSB if you like TLA's - and you can draw it out at any time, subject to a 33% penalty on the amount that you draw out (levied on the amount left in the MSB) so that in effect, you get 50% of your spend back when you draw it out. Just bear in mind that if you activate the MSB, you will sacrifice your normal Pick 'n Pay cashback benefit. So you have to weigh up whether the benefit of taking the 75% on healthy food alone versus the max 35% on Healthy Food (10% Discovery Card cashback on top of the 25% healthy food) plus the 10% on everything else... The remainder of your savings gets carried over to the next financial year, and there is NO "use it or lose it" situation. One of the main reasons my wife joined my med aid from Wooltru.

Basically because there will be an exclusivity agreement between Vitality & Polar. Nothing we can do about it until the contract comes up for review, or if terms suddenly change due to external influences. Take the old partnership between Vitality & WW into account. More clients were using their Discovery Credit cards to buy at WW than were using their WW cards, even though the clients in question were WW cardholders. WW and Vitality parted ways as a result of that, and PnP stepped in. Who knows though? The exclusivity might come to an end at any time!

Yeah, and as for the payback - client can get a max of 60% of ALL premiums (ex vitality & any RA / Endowment premiums) back every 5 years, depending on Vitality status and health claims (if they are on DH) or up to 25% of all premiums back every 5 years if only on Vitality. And even if you're a DH member, and you think "Oh well, I claim a shed-load on Discovery Health, so there's no way I'll EVER get any money back" - you can still get 22.5% of all premiums back IF YOU MANAGE YOUR STATUS and get to Diamond. I know of several okes who have received upwards of 70k from a Payback benefit. As for the points from the SA Active events, that's really one of the slower ways to get to Gold. Read what Tankman says regarding the online questionnaires, HIV tests & Non smokers declarations, and then do the fitness assessment, which costs less than the Vigne a Vigne this year AND you can claim the cost from the MSA. HIV test is approx R 120 (depending on where you go, and you can claim for it from MSA) and the rest of the screening tests are free of charge if you do them at Dischem or Clicks. If you go to your doc to do them, you will pay the consultation fee (or it will come from your MSA - Medical Savings Account) Vitality is NOT just about the discounts though - it was designed as a Wellness Program, geared towards informing the client as to how fit & healthy they are in order to push them to get fitter and healthier, due to the fact that Disco are providing the client with the tools with which to determine their health statuses (or statii, if you will :-]) The discounts are just an added benefit of managing your status. Any other questions, shout them out!

ditto...

I think you have the answer right there, Cap. Even with the 40% duty smacked on top of them, they're cheaper than locally sourced equivalents...

those look awesome, Patches... might even convince some xc okies to put them on for a while! They'll shrivel and die after 5 minutes, but it'll be worth the wait!

conveeeeeeeeersion conVEEEEEEEEEEERsion CONVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERSION!!!

@ DJR - I'm currently on an XC machine but happen to take risks that I know push the edges of my (current) capabilities. However, I am seriously looking at knee/elbow guards as a next investment. Already use armoured full finger gloves, and you should see the amount of looks I get. The carbon shell on the knuckles would make a nice imprint on someone's face though! :-)