south africa: arrival

the trip was a long jet flight. i slept as well as anyone can on a plane. that is to say, my neck hurt when i disembarked in joburg. the jump from joburg to port elizabeth was aboard british airways. those guys server food on their flights still! i felt like i’d been thrown back in time to more civilized time.

shaun picked me up at the jetport in port elizabeth (a.k.a. p. e.). this was the first time in 37 years that i’ve seen him. he drove me from p. e. to kenton. it’s about an hour’s drive east. he pointed out a few interest spots along the way. i took pictures of the drive out. not much to see, but this was my first real viewing of the south african countryside.

milkwood manor b&b was my lodging for the duration. the place is very nice situated at the mouth of the bushman’s river. the view from their lounging area was amazing. i found myself always taking pictures of the view when i would sit and look out. the blue water of the indian ocean filling up the river at high tide. the sand dunes on the far shore had a haze from the blowing sands. it was very windy when i landed. this apparently is bad weather for them as they all kept apologizing all week for it. i however enjoyed the strong winds.

sunset at milkwood manor

chester and jean were the hosts and made me feel right at home. shaun left me to get settled in and told me that he’d come back around for me at six. after unpacking my stuff, i grabbed my camera and headed for the beach. a small path leads right down to the beach/bank of the bushman’s and from there it’s a short walk down to the rocks which make up the our corner of the river’s entrance.

i’ve seen our american beaches and i’ve seen greece’s mediteranian beaches, but nothing compared to these beaches. massive sand dunes unlike anything i’ve ever seen. and the rocks were a playground for exploring.

indian ocean at the mouth of the bushman’s river

next >> south africa: family

back home a year ago

it was about this time last year that i returned home from my journey to south africa. in fact, i had already begun work on blog posts of that event which i had planned to deliver a day at a time shortly after my return. however, i got sidetracked and the job grew daunting in my mind and it never go completed. it was a shame, actually. most of the work was done.

with the arrival of the springbok horns a week ago, i decided to revisit getting this done. plus it was the anniversary of my trip just now, so another good reason to get these posts out there. the pictures, of course, have been out on my flickr account since last year.

over the next week, a new post will show up highlighting some of that adventure. some pictures are from the set but not on flickr.

i had hoped i might get another chance to go this year before i started my new job with scripps networks, but the schedule wouldn’t allow. maybe next year. we’ll see.





next >> south africa: arrival

fall colors

as is usual, the leaves are looking awesome this year as the chlorophyll drains for their impending end of life. i love this time of year just for this reason. the few weeks of being able to drive around this side of tennessee are the most enjoyable.

last friday, i snapped a few shots of some of the dying leaves. always a fun challenge to find them. (note: you aren’t allowed to take pictures of the trees in the west town mall parking lot.)



more of this year’s captures are on flickr.

horns

a year ago, i headed off to visit family in south africa. while there, i was able to go hunting springbok on the farm of a friend of my cousin.

bagged two, originally uploaded by mocktech.

i had no intention of bringing anything back of that hunt other than pictures and memories. but when david, my cousin’s friend, cut off the skull of one of the does, i rethought the matter.

i received in the mail on tuesday those horns mounted as a trophy.



next >> back home a year ago

first days

first days are not my favorite. i like being able to go into work and get stuff done. and even though i know i can’t get anything done because i don’t know enough, i still want to be able to feel somewhat productive.

today, i started as a systems engineer at scripps networks as a contract employee. i have met more of the team i will be working with and have met some of the other teams i will interact with. someone came by and told me my phone should be working soon. i think there will be quite a bit to wrap my head around, but i am ready to start piecing all of it together.

i am glad to be here. it’s good to see some of the guys i worked with several years ago. and i’m definitely happy to have a job.

aporkalypse

i have received quite a few links recently regarding the predicted bacon shortage of 2013. i have been advised to start stocking up, which is always good advice. i even have been accused of being part of the problem, about which i have no beef (pun intended).

some on twitter recently termed this catastrophe as “aporkalypse.” well tagged, i say. if this shortage is indeed our future reality, stocking up is the best plan you can have.

am i stocking up?

please!

i have been stocking up bacon for the zombie apocalypse, which could break out at any time. i don’t need to word paint the picture of zombies overrunning the planet and having zero bacon while trying to survive.

even if you don’t believe in the possibility of a zombie apocalypse, who doesn’t have some bacon in their house? if your pantry has pancake mix and/or your fridge has eggs, then breakfast is imminent. and you know that calls for bacon! wutup?

so, you have been warned. plan now, bacon later.

move along, move along

after almost 11 years working for the e. w. scripps company, i’m moving along to another job.

in september of last year, they had shuffled people at corporate around for some upcoming organization changes. in january of 2012, they announced that they were moving operations back to cincinnati. (working remotely wasn’t a business model they felt was effective, or at least that’s the reason they conveyed for this choice.) job opportunities would be available for us if we wanted to move to cincinnati. there were a few who took them up on that offer, but most of the group started to find other jobs, most locally.

i updated my résumé, passed it along to many people, and posted on linkedin, monster, and dice. most of my relative hits came from dice. i had a few interviews for a couple of positions which were telecommute. i had wanted to stay in the area since my family lives very close to me but was willing to move if needed. however, none of these positions panned out. i am continuing to follow some local leads and have hope one of them will work out soon.

i will miss the people at scripps with whom i’ve worked. i had one of the best bosses and will miss working for mike. i enjoyed the team i worked with, the occasional long nights launching projects, collaborating on events like #coffeefriday (started by will hortman), and watching journalists in action (while sharing space at the knoxville news sentinel and visiting other papers such as treasure coast in florida). i worked with some very sharp people and learn much. many great memories.

it’s been fun!