Funny thing. Some things I'm quite self confident in. Like business. I know I'm good and had all the affirmation I need. Like setting promotion records etc.
When it comes to being seen as attractive, especially by guys - not necessarily to someone, just by them - I feel inadequate. There are a few events that precipitated this. And no matter what has happened since, I've never felt happy with myself.
Something got me thinking of five big moments for me. Not that big in the scheme of things. But memories that make me smile.
Once as a Spur waiter it came time for the dessert order. I asked the group of rowdy middle aged ladies what they'd like for dessert. "We'd like you on a plate," they replied. I responded deadpan, "And would you like me with cream or icecream?" I think I got a big tip.
There was the time I was at a Bon Jovi concert and a women stopped me as I walked past. I turned round and she made me turn round again to have my back facing her. She lifted the sweater round my waist to show my backside to her friends who approved loudly.
And the biggest affirmation? At a fair going into a beer tent, as a friend and I walked in, two young guys were coming out. The one stepped back and pulled his friend back. "Better let this guy through - he's built!" he said smiling at me. I was playing club rugby at the time and pretty strong. It was one of the few moments I've had affirmation from other guys.
The other was when I was playing touch rugby as we entered my matric rugby season. I scored a try that made the other team look silly. One of the first team guys said to me, "Wow, are you playing this season?" It was great. Unfortunately I broke my collar bone badly in the third practice of the season. But I remember that touch rugby game and the comment well.
When I was playing touch on the beach in a random game a friend and I joined, I again made a few people look silly and this guy on the other side who was pretty good and built like a brick shithouse came up to me and asked where I played club rugby.
Funny how context determines importance. Meaningless comments that due to my context became memories that meant something.
What is also weird is how context misleads us. Misleads us into thinking that achieving something will solve an internal dissatisfaction. Madonna was once being interviewed when she explained how she had wanted to be loved and fame became the ultimate means of achieving that on a grand scale. She then told how standing in front of 100 000 adoring sycophantic fans turned out to be the loneliest she had ever been.
It's tough because while you know that's true, you still have to go through the emotional process of dealing with your shit. No one else can do it for you.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Is South Africa ready for prime time gay TV?
It wasn't that long ago that South Africa lived in censored world where a magazine called Scope was the closest we came to porn.
Now we are one of the most liberal countries in the world, although there are certainly places you'd get beaten up for being gay.
The word has moved rapidly along over the last 15 years too. And gay life is explored in "Queer as Folk" (UK and US versions) and in Skins (currently available on BBC Entertainment on the DSTV platform in South Africa.
The Charlie Hunnam Queer As Folk sex scene - click here to go to YouTube - embedding disabled.
Tonight's Skins episode about Maxxie, the gay character in Skins, might have had a few South Africans hot under the collar (for different reasons) featuring a gay kiss and blow job between teenage boys (the crazy hot Nicholas Hoult - About A Boy - and even hotter Mitch Hewer).
The kiss and blowjob scene - embedding disabled - click here to go to YouTube.
This however would be nothing compared to the few holds barred Queer As Folk. The reason I found out about this was finding out more about the crazily good looking Charlie Hunnam from Green Street Hooligans. The excerpts on YouTube would certainly raise a few temperatures in SA.
But this is probably all healthy, exposing people to what is just another life they didn't understand.
About Queer As Folk.
Mitch Hewer - Maxxie - from Skins
Fantastic dance scene from Series 2 Episode 1 - click here
Rooftop dance scene from Series 2 - click here
Charlie Hunnam - Queer As Folk (UK) and Green Street Hooligans
Now we are one of the most liberal countries in the world, although there are certainly places you'd get beaten up for being gay.
The word has moved rapidly along over the last 15 years too. And gay life is explored in "Queer as Folk" (UK and US versions) and in Skins (currently available on BBC Entertainment on the DSTV platform in South Africa.
The Charlie Hunnam Queer As Folk sex scene - click here to go to YouTube - embedding disabled.
Tonight's Skins episode about Maxxie, the gay character in Skins, might have had a few South Africans hot under the collar (for different reasons) featuring a gay kiss and blow job between teenage boys (the crazy hot Nicholas Hoult - About A Boy - and even hotter Mitch Hewer).
The kiss and blowjob scene - embedding disabled - click here to go to YouTube.
This however would be nothing compared to the few holds barred Queer As Folk. The reason I found out about this was finding out more about the crazily good looking Charlie Hunnam from Green Street Hooligans. The excerpts on YouTube would certainly raise a few temperatures in SA.
But this is probably all healthy, exposing people to what is just another life they didn't understand.
About Queer As Folk.
Mitch Hewer - Maxxie - from Skins
Fantastic dance scene from Series 2 Episode 1 - click here
Rooftop dance scene from Series 2 - click here
Charlie Hunnam - Queer As Folk (UK) and Green Street Hooligans
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Is 3G and HSDPA the biggest con out?
I recently moved my iBurst connection to my new offices while waiting for an ADSL installation. 4 months later and I'm still waiting.... (that is another blog / rant)
In the meantime I've been using my HSDPA HTC Touch Diamond to connect to the Internet from home. What a crock. I have seldom got more than 15KBs. This compared to the regular 100KBs achieved on iBurst.
Frankly I think there is too much contention on the cellphone networks and the advertised data speeds are impossible to achieve. Of course if you connect bigger and better aerials I am sure your speed improves exponentially. I am led to believe the stronger your signal, the higher priority your data requests achieve in cell contention algorithms.
Anyway, I could not take it anymore this weekend and rather than working in the office I bought another iBurst account.
Comparative bliss.
UPDATE: Ok. Improve that: My office iBurst (downloading some stuff remotely) is bursting at 145KBs - with the wireless modem in a server room in the middle of the building - no external aerial!
In the meantime I've been using my HSDPA HTC Touch Diamond to connect to the Internet from home. What a crock. I have seldom got more than 15KBs. This compared to the regular 100KBs achieved on iBurst.
Frankly I think there is too much contention on the cellphone networks and the advertised data speeds are impossible to achieve. Of course if you connect bigger and better aerials I am sure your speed improves exponentially. I am led to believe the stronger your signal, the higher priority your data requests achieve in cell contention algorithms.
Anyway, I could not take it anymore this weekend and rather than working in the office I bought another iBurst account.
Comparative bliss.
UPDATE: Ok. Improve that: My office iBurst (downloading some stuff remotely) is bursting at 145KBs - with the wireless modem in a server room in the middle of the building - no external aerial!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Should South Africa implement "Three Strikes and You're Out" legislation?
It makes my blood boil when I read about criminals, out on bail or previously convicted, caught after another heinous crime.
I read about how brave shoppers and security guards caught a hijacker in Plumstead Cape Town. He has previous convictions for theft and hijacking.
California implemented some controversial legislation some time back taking away the court's sentencing discretion in the case of a criminal convicted for the third time. They automatically received a long term sentence.
Of course this means that someone convicted of crimes like shoplifting could end up in jail for a long time. Which is why the legislation is controversial.
The following from Wikipedia:
According to the California Dept. of Justice and the California Dept. of Corrections, for the ten years prior to the enactment of the “3 strikes law”, homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, and vehicle theft totaled 8 825 353 crimes, but for the ten years after the enactment of the law, these crimes dropped to 6 780 964. However the decline in crime was a general trend throughout the U.S., even in those parts of the country without three strikes laws.
Rates of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault peaked shortly before passage of the three strikes law.
Another common criticism is that the law puts strain on an already overcrowded prison system. However, for the ten years prior to the enactment of the “3 strikes law,” the California prison population expanded by 400% and for the ten years after there was an overall increase of only 25,5%, a massive decrease in prison population expansion, and three strikes isn't entirely responsible for the 25,5% increase. Thus, though three strikes is a significant factor in California prison overcrowding, other factors are more responsible.
Some have said that there would need to be many new prisons built to house all of these criminals. However, for the ten years prior to the law, 19 new prisons were built in California, while in the ten years after no new prisons were built. Nevertheless, the increase in prison population and lack of additional prisons has added to prison overcrowding; currently, California's prisons are at double capacity.
Finally, there is an idea that criminals on their last strike will be more desperate to escape from police and therefore will be more likely to attack police. This does not reveal whether or not the criminals in question were or were not more desperate and willing to kill."
Frankly, with one of the worst crime rates in the world, it is time South Africa tried something radical. Perhaps "Three Strikes" legislation has the other well known effect - stamp out petty crime and you bring down major felonies.
I read about how brave shoppers and security guards caught a hijacker in Plumstead Cape Town. He has previous convictions for theft and hijacking.
California implemented some controversial legislation some time back taking away the court's sentencing discretion in the case of a criminal convicted for the third time. They automatically received a long term sentence.
Of course this means that someone convicted of crimes like shoplifting could end up in jail for a long time. Which is why the legislation is controversial.
The following from Wikipedia:
According to the California Dept. of Justice and the California Dept. of Corrections, for the ten years prior to the enactment of the “3 strikes law”, homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, and vehicle theft totaled 8 825 353 crimes, but for the ten years after the enactment of the law, these crimes dropped to 6 780 964. However the decline in crime was a general trend throughout the U.S., even in those parts of the country without three strikes laws.
Rates of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault peaked shortly before passage of the three strikes law.
Another common criticism is that the law puts strain on an already overcrowded prison system. However, for the ten years prior to the enactment of the “3 strikes law,” the California prison population expanded by 400% and for the ten years after there was an overall increase of only 25,5%, a massive decrease in prison population expansion, and three strikes isn't entirely responsible for the 25,5% increase. Thus, though three strikes is a significant factor in California prison overcrowding, other factors are more responsible.
Some have said that there would need to be many new prisons built to house all of these criminals. However, for the ten years prior to the law, 19 new prisons were built in California, while in the ten years after no new prisons were built. Nevertheless, the increase in prison population and lack of additional prisons has added to prison overcrowding; currently, California's prisons are at double capacity.
Finally, there is an idea that criminals on their last strike will be more desperate to escape from police and therefore will be more likely to attack police. This does not reveal whether or not the criminals in question were or were not more desperate and willing to kill."
Frankly, with one of the worst crime rates in the world, it is time South Africa tried something radical. Perhaps "Three Strikes" legislation has the other well known effect - stamp out petty crime and you bring down major felonies.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Was 2008 a success?
2008 has been a duzi. This year saw the growth of my business, occupation of my first offices, the completion of another honours degree and the crush on someone at work.
One of my clients is a large investment bank. I've been running a large project there for over a year now. The project has proved tough - investment bankers are not the easiest clients in the world. But things have gone well and has sold into the fifth phase which is a testament to client satisfaction. There are things that could have gone better. But given that much of my team is made up of client team members and the rest by sub-contractors, the dynamic has been tough to manage. Next year is a big one to take this client to the next level. More about that later.
Another client is a Canadian mining company. This year saw two trips to present to their board and run workshops in Toronto. It's been some time since I used to have a hectic international travel schedule, and traveling across time zones to Toronto and back within a week is a killer. But things went well and I continue to do cutting edge financial strategy work related to their global expansion. They must be satisfied because they've asked to sign a retainer agreement.
I've neglected my global media client this year and this must mark a failure. The division MD who was my main client has left and I have not been close enough to ensure continuity in the relationship. I need to fix this but have found that I can only really stretch across two clients. I need a partner take over this relationship.
Which gets me onto hiring. Clear out-and-out failure. I started by approaching two people I used to work with. One was without doubt the most promising consultant I'd ever worked with. I wanted to hire him as a manager (mid level in my company). He's now really successful at one of the banks and it will cost a fortune to hire him back. Anyway, I offered to match his current package and he decided he needed more time in his role before moving back to consulting. The good news is we met in the last few weeks and he may well move in the next few months. This would help me a lot, so it is really exciting.
The other ex-colleague I approached is now a director of a listed company. She backed down mid year due to concerns as to whether she could be a consultant again. But we also met in the last few weeks and she may be available by June. She fits the media client in terms of skills, so I'm really holding thumbs.
Both ex-colleagues know me and I trust them. I picked them as the people to build a business with when I approached them.
Of the more than 100 CVs I've considered for analyst positions, one resulted in an offer. Sadly she turned me down as she was scared of being the first employee alone in the office during mornings when I am on client site. The analyst position is office based until sufficient experience has been gained. I can imagine joining a small new company straight out of varsity as top student, etc would be intimidating. I need to find a way to sell this.
So finding employees has been a failure thus far.
I also took occupation of new offices. This has been my biggest commitment to my business thus far. Rental is one thing, but furnishing and fitting an office is another. It's been a huge expense. And hard work - as I've done lots of the fitting and furniture purchasing myself. But the office looks amazing and I have capacity to take on 18 staff. The commitment is 3 years of monthly rentals. Wow. It certainly is motivation to hire some billing employees to spread the contribution towards rental. But it is a big milestone and is an undoubted success.
I finished another honours degree this year. I studied further in my third major as it turned out to be most relevant to what I do and where my greatest interest lay. So my reasons were due to interest and for learning rather than because I wanted another qualification. But still, my ambition was a first class / cum laude pass. I was on track but with the crazy year and the last trip overseas in particular, my grades slipped and I missed the first. This is the failure I regret the most.
On the reading front, this year has been an undoubted success. I've got through tonnes this year by catching 10 minutes here and there. It seems to work for me. In particular I've read all the Investment Banking books going. This has been enjoyable and clearly contributed to my competence with one of my clients. My list for the year includes (amongst the tonnes of academic reading):
Fiasco - Frank Partnoy
Infectious Greed - Frank Partnoy
The Predators' Ball - Connie Bruck
The Accidental Investment Banker - Jonathan Knee
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco - Bryan Burrough
Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and unknowns in the dazzling world of derivatives - Satyajit Das
Goldman Sachs : The Culture of Success - Lisa Endlich
The New New Thing - Michael Lewis
The Bonfire of The Vanities - Tom Wolfe
Monty - Mark Keohane
For those interested in investment banking, I've been through these over the past few years:
Wriston: Walter Wriston, Citibank, and the Rise and Fall of American Financial Supremacy - Phillip L. Zweig
Den of Thieves - James B. Stewart
Liar's Poker: Two Cities, True Greed - Michael Lewis
And those I bought but have yet to read (some of the many, but for the next few months):
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies - McKinsey
Paul Wilmott on Quantitative Finance 3 Volume Set - Paul Wilmott
Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell
Fooling Some of the People All of the Time: A Long Short Story - David Einhorn
I now need to think about my masters. I have discovered that Wits Business School offers a dissertation based masters. This compares much more favourably than the coursework based masters at Wits commerce faculty. The coursework based masters has lectures at 17h00 which is just incompatible with a business schedule. I will either enroll for the dissertation based masters in 2009 or complete some maths courses and do some preparatory research.
I must reinvigorate the media client relationship this year and possibly bring in a global FMCG client. This will require signing a partner.
My intention is to complete 3 to 4 hires this year - a partner, a manager, an analyst or possibly 2. This would reflect huge growth in my business and a big success in delegating and trusting others.
I also need to find a successful relationship this year - be it with a guy or girl. I really want someone who I am attracted to to be attracted to me. For the company, understanding and love.
One of my clients is a large investment bank. I've been running a large project there for over a year now. The project has proved tough - investment bankers are not the easiest clients in the world. But things have gone well and has sold into the fifth phase which is a testament to client satisfaction. There are things that could have gone better. But given that much of my team is made up of client team members and the rest by sub-contractors, the dynamic has been tough to manage. Next year is a big one to take this client to the next level. More about that later.
Another client is a Canadian mining company. This year saw two trips to present to their board and run workshops in Toronto. It's been some time since I used to have a hectic international travel schedule, and traveling across time zones to Toronto and back within a week is a killer. But things went well and I continue to do cutting edge financial strategy work related to their global expansion. They must be satisfied because they've asked to sign a retainer agreement.
I've neglected my global media client this year and this must mark a failure. The division MD who was my main client has left and I have not been close enough to ensure continuity in the relationship. I need to fix this but have found that I can only really stretch across two clients. I need a partner take over this relationship.
Which gets me onto hiring. Clear out-and-out failure. I started by approaching two people I used to work with. One was without doubt the most promising consultant I'd ever worked with. I wanted to hire him as a manager (mid level in my company). He's now really successful at one of the banks and it will cost a fortune to hire him back. Anyway, I offered to match his current package and he decided he needed more time in his role before moving back to consulting. The good news is we met in the last few weeks and he may well move in the next few months. This would help me a lot, so it is really exciting.
The other ex-colleague I approached is now a director of a listed company. She backed down mid year due to concerns as to whether she could be a consultant again. But we also met in the last few weeks and she may be available by June. She fits the media client in terms of skills, so I'm really holding thumbs.
Both ex-colleagues know me and I trust them. I picked them as the people to build a business with when I approached them.
Of the more than 100 CVs I've considered for analyst positions, one resulted in an offer. Sadly she turned me down as she was scared of being the first employee alone in the office during mornings when I am on client site. The analyst position is office based until sufficient experience has been gained. I can imagine joining a small new company straight out of varsity as top student, etc would be intimidating. I need to find a way to sell this.
So finding employees has been a failure thus far.
I also took occupation of new offices. This has been my biggest commitment to my business thus far. Rental is one thing, but furnishing and fitting an office is another. It's been a huge expense. And hard work - as I've done lots of the fitting and furniture purchasing myself. But the office looks amazing and I have capacity to take on 18 staff. The commitment is 3 years of monthly rentals. Wow. It certainly is motivation to hire some billing employees to spread the contribution towards rental. But it is a big milestone and is an undoubted success.
I finished another honours degree this year. I studied further in my third major as it turned out to be most relevant to what I do and where my greatest interest lay. So my reasons were due to interest and for learning rather than because I wanted another qualification. But still, my ambition was a first class / cum laude pass. I was on track but with the crazy year and the last trip overseas in particular, my grades slipped and I missed the first. This is the failure I regret the most.
On the reading front, this year has been an undoubted success. I've got through tonnes this year by catching 10 minutes here and there. It seems to work for me. In particular I've read all the Investment Banking books going. This has been enjoyable and clearly contributed to my competence with one of my clients. My list for the year includes (amongst the tonnes of academic reading):
Fiasco - Frank Partnoy
Infectious Greed - Frank Partnoy
The Predators' Ball - Connie Bruck
The Accidental Investment Banker - Jonathan Knee
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco - Bryan Burrough
Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and unknowns in the dazzling world of derivatives - Satyajit Das
Goldman Sachs : The Culture of Success - Lisa Endlich
The New New Thing - Michael Lewis
The Bonfire of The Vanities - Tom Wolfe
Monty - Mark Keohane
For those interested in investment banking, I've been through these over the past few years:
Wriston: Walter Wriston, Citibank, and the Rise and Fall of American Financial Supremacy - Phillip L. Zweig
Den of Thieves - James B. Stewart
Liar's Poker: Two Cities, True Greed - Michael Lewis
And those I bought but have yet to read (some of the many, but for the next few months):
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies - McKinsey
Paul Wilmott on Quantitative Finance 3 Volume Set - Paul Wilmott
Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell
Fooling Some of the People All of the Time: A Long Short Story - David Einhorn
I now need to think about my masters. I have discovered that Wits Business School offers a dissertation based masters. This compares much more favourably than the coursework based masters at Wits commerce faculty. The coursework based masters has lectures at 17h00 which is just incompatible with a business schedule. I will either enroll for the dissertation based masters in 2009 or complete some maths courses and do some preparatory research.
I must reinvigorate the media client relationship this year and possibly bring in a global FMCG client. This will require signing a partner.
My intention is to complete 3 to 4 hires this year - a partner, a manager, an analyst or possibly 2. This would reflect huge growth in my business and a big success in delegating and trusting others.
I also need to find a successful relationship this year - be it with a guy or girl. I really want someone who I am attracted to to be attracted to me. For the company, understanding and love.
Monday, December 22, 2008
What is your Christmas wish?
If you could have a wish granted for Christmas, what would it be?
I'm sure what we wish for for Christmas is affected by our personal circumstances. If a relative is sick you might wish for their recovery. If you are sick you might wish for your recovery.
Who asks you and where you are asked might also influence your answer. If you were competing in a beauty competition, you might wish for world peace.
I'm so lucky. I have so much. Health, wealth and often happiness. Of course we make our luck and I have worked really hard to achieve what I have. And I hope I am grateful for the simple things like my health. A friend was recently in an accident and at worst may never recover, at best could take a year. Things like that make me think. I hope I appreciate my health in more ordinary times.
Of course unless you're mother Theresa, we probably wish for something that affects us personally. I could wish for some more luck in finding the right people to hire next year. I could wish for continued growth in my client business. I could wish for success for the next step in my studies. I could wish for success with a relationship. Sure I wish for all of those things.
But it will all mean nothing if South Africa does not turn the corner in its fight against crime. There are so many positives for our country at present. The World Cup and the infrastructure build. The new competition in our politics. The relatively healthy state of our economy. Our fantastic rugby and cricketing success.
But if we continue to live under threat and lose people to crime, it will all ebb away. Earlier this year I was presenting to one of my client's boards in Toronto. News came in that one of their South African employee's families had been held up in their house. The shock and anger of the Canadians was palpable. It is one of the reasons they are investing in new opportunities outside of South Africa. Crime costs us investment, skills and lives. I wish that we turn the corner in 2009.
I'm sure what we wish for for Christmas is affected by our personal circumstances. If a relative is sick you might wish for their recovery. If you are sick you might wish for your recovery.
Who asks you and where you are asked might also influence your answer. If you were competing in a beauty competition, you might wish for world peace.
I'm so lucky. I have so much. Health, wealth and often happiness. Of course we make our luck and I have worked really hard to achieve what I have. And I hope I am grateful for the simple things like my health. A friend was recently in an accident and at worst may never recover, at best could take a year. Things like that make me think. I hope I appreciate my health in more ordinary times.
Of course unless you're mother Theresa, we probably wish for something that affects us personally. I could wish for some more luck in finding the right people to hire next year. I could wish for continued growth in my client business. I could wish for success for the next step in my studies. I could wish for success with a relationship. Sure I wish for all of those things.
But it will all mean nothing if South Africa does not turn the corner in its fight against crime. There are so many positives for our country at present. The World Cup and the infrastructure build. The new competition in our politics. The relatively healthy state of our economy. Our fantastic rugby and cricketing success.
But if we continue to live under threat and lose people to crime, it will all ebb away. Earlier this year I was presenting to one of my client's boards in Toronto. News came in that one of their South African employee's families had been held up in their house. The shock and anger of the Canadians was palpable. It is one of the reasons they are investing in new opportunities outside of South Africa. Crime costs us investment, skills and lives. I wish that we turn the corner in 2009.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Am I doomed to unrequited love?
Damn near seems that way. I fell for the girl of my dreams and lost her. I fell for my best friend who is straight. I love my next best friend and could easily spend my life with him. And I'm completely gaga about this guy I work with.
Since the days of the anonymous email, I have found a way to meet and get to know him. We played golf together on Sunday. I loved it. He is a truly beautiful guy. Really nice, very sporty and easy to get along with. And straight. And getting married next year.
He does not know it is me that sent the email. Maybe he suspects it somewhere. But happily we get along great.
I so want to be close to him. Dammit. Dammit Dammit.
In parallel, I'm fully aware that I seem to be falling for unavailable (straight) guys. And I've been chasing someone on an online dating site. To say that finding a normal guy or girl on a dating site is difficult is the mother of all understatements. But the only normal guy (it would seem) on Datingbuzz appears to be avoiding me.
So if you know anyone who fits the following profile, let me know:
Boy
Athletic - I had no idea this guy I'm gaga over was a sports achiever - turns out he was an age group SA wrestler and provincial tennis player. Must be something about his build and manner than gave that away.
Slim and strong - The guy I'm gaga over has these beautiful broad shoulders. My best friend has the best build I know.
Not a hunk - I don't fall for big hairy body builders. I seem to fall for the quietly strong, boyish types. Chad Micheal Murray types...
Imperfect achievers - guys who are not the obvious winner, but made it anyway.
Girl
Naturally pretty - can't stand overly made up women. I love natural ready to go girls.
Sporty - not necessarily girls who are sports stars, but certainly girls who like sports and are game.
Laid back and dressed up - girls who wear jeans but put on heels and a cocktail dress and blow a room away. Girls like Natalie Portman and Kiera Knightly.
Tall and slim - I'm 6'3". Girl's between 5'8" and 6' match me better.
Both
Intelligent - I love chatting about everything from art to sport to economics to politics. I get bored of superficiality.
Sensitive - I like people who care about the world and others. Who listen more than they speak. Who stand up for those weaker than them.
____
Seems impossible to find.
Since the days of the anonymous email, I have found a way to meet and get to know him. We played golf together on Sunday. I loved it. He is a truly beautiful guy. Really nice, very sporty and easy to get along with. And straight. And getting married next year.
He does not know it is me that sent the email. Maybe he suspects it somewhere. But happily we get along great.
I so want to be close to him. Dammit. Dammit Dammit.
In parallel, I'm fully aware that I seem to be falling for unavailable (straight) guys. And I've been chasing someone on an online dating site. To say that finding a normal guy or girl on a dating site is difficult is the mother of all understatements. But the only normal guy (it would seem) on Datingbuzz appears to be avoiding me.
So if you know anyone who fits the following profile, let me know:
Boy
Athletic - I had no idea this guy I'm gaga over was a sports achiever - turns out he was an age group SA wrestler and provincial tennis player. Must be something about his build and manner than gave that away.
Slim and strong - The guy I'm gaga over has these beautiful broad shoulders. My best friend has the best build I know.
Not a hunk - I don't fall for big hairy body builders. I seem to fall for the quietly strong, boyish types. Chad Micheal Murray types...
Imperfect achievers - guys who are not the obvious winner, but made it anyway.
Girl
Naturally pretty - can't stand overly made up women. I love natural ready to go girls.
Sporty - not necessarily girls who are sports stars, but certainly girls who like sports and are game.
Laid back and dressed up - girls who wear jeans but put on heels and a cocktail dress and blow a room away. Girls like Natalie Portman and Kiera Knightly.
Tall and slim - I'm 6'3". Girl's between 5'8" and 6' match me better.
Both
Intelligent - I love chatting about everything from art to sport to economics to politics. I get bored of superficiality.
Sensitive - I like people who care about the world and others. Who listen more than they speak. Who stand up for those weaker than them.
____
Seems impossible to find.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Where could you live other than home?
So I've been in Toronto for a week. I like it a lot.
My favourite city outside of South Africa is New York. I've spent a lot of time there and love the buzz. I like the high paced business life and the 24 hour lifestyle. I love the sidewalk culture and that you can stumble downstairs from your Manhattan flat to a pub/shop/restaurant. New York is a difficult place to live though. You need tonnes of money. Rentals are ridiculous unless you hit the jackpot and find a rent controlled apartment. The weather is extreme to the point of being ridiculous. I've been in -26C in winter and 40C with 80% humidity in summer. Your face freezes in the former and you sweat bullets in a suit in the latter. Then there is space - lack of space literally drives New Yorkers mad. And there are plenty of mad New Yorkers. I reckon more per capita than anywhere else. Also, big city people are pretty shallow. It seems they keep things superficial as a defence mechanism. The good thing about this is you can walk into a club and everyone is one the same terms. If it is a pick up joint, you will be successful. In fact girls hit on guys there. But you could meet a million people in New York and not really get to know any of them. If you have money you can live in a nice apartment, walk from your air conditioning to a waiting cab, spend your weekends in the Hamptons, and marry someone from California.
Toronto reminds me of New York a bit. It's a little more genuine, a little less high rise. It has some of the village aspects of Greenwich Village in the downtown area. And people trek to their "cottages" on the lakes for summer weekends. It doesn't seem to get quite as hot in summer, but has horrific winters - to the extent that the city has an entire underground system to avoid the streets. You plug your car in to avoid the engine freezing. On average, the people are a lot thinner than Americans and are definitely more friendly than New Yorkers. The worst thing so far? The bugs! Canada has just got ridiculous amounts of water. The great lakes and the smaller ones are everywhere. With that much fresh water, mozzies are a problem for a start. In the middle of the downtown area you get bitten to pieces at a sidewalk restaurant. And then there are the black flies. Like horse flies they have a painful bite that leaves a massive itchy bite. There is the so called black fly season here.
The CN Tower in Toronto
"Cottages" on Lake Joseph
I love Europe and identify more with British people than any other nationality outside South Africa. But I could never live in Europe. Whether it is the weather or the pace of life, something just does not click. New York and Toronto remain my favourites.
My favourite city outside of South Africa is New York. I've spent a lot of time there and love the buzz. I like the high paced business life and the 24 hour lifestyle. I love the sidewalk culture and that you can stumble downstairs from your Manhattan flat to a pub/shop/restaurant. New York is a difficult place to live though. You need tonnes of money. Rentals are ridiculous unless you hit the jackpot and find a rent controlled apartment. The weather is extreme to the point of being ridiculous. I've been in -26C in winter and 40C with 80% humidity in summer. Your face freezes in the former and you sweat bullets in a suit in the latter. Then there is space - lack of space literally drives New Yorkers mad. And there are plenty of mad New Yorkers. I reckon more per capita than anywhere else. Also, big city people are pretty shallow. It seems they keep things superficial as a defence mechanism. The good thing about this is you can walk into a club and everyone is one the same terms. If it is a pick up joint, you will be successful. In fact girls hit on guys there. But you could meet a million people in New York and not really get to know any of them. If you have money you can live in a nice apartment, walk from your air conditioning to a waiting cab, spend your weekends in the Hamptons, and marry someone from California.
Toronto reminds me of New York a bit. It's a little more genuine, a little less high rise. It has some of the village aspects of Greenwich Village in the downtown area. And people trek to their "cottages" on the lakes for summer weekends. It doesn't seem to get quite as hot in summer, but has horrific winters - to the extent that the city has an entire underground system to avoid the streets. You plug your car in to avoid the engine freezing. On average, the people are a lot thinner than Americans and are definitely more friendly than New Yorkers. The worst thing so far? The bugs! Canada has just got ridiculous amounts of water. The great lakes and the smaller ones are everywhere. With that much fresh water, mozzies are a problem for a start. In the middle of the downtown area you get bitten to pieces at a sidewalk restaurant. And then there are the black flies. Like horse flies they have a painful bite that leaves a massive itchy bite. There is the so called black fly season here.
The CN Tower in Toronto
"Cottages" on Lake Joseph
I love Europe and identify more with British people than any other nationality outside South Africa. But I could never live in Europe. Whether it is the weather or the pace of life, something just does not click. New York and Toronto remain my favourites.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
WTF? Karma gone mad?
This month has been absolutely hellish.
It started with some consulting competitors (overseas consultants paid bazillions) writing an absolutely rubbish report about an area that includes part of my project. Things had been going really well, and then I had to respond to a load of rubbish and discredit each piece of lame feedback. It really was one of the worst pieces of consulting I have ever seen. Junior consultants left to their own devices, who interviewed a selection of people and then reported back a whole lot of opinions without verifying their truth or checking with the people directly involved.
Of course I'd be the first to admit that perception is reality - if people held those views, then I needed to deal with them. Unfortunately, many seemed to be the consultants own uneducated views.
Conference call to one of the fuckers after he had returned to the UK leaving me to mop up his shit:
Me: So Rajeev, you have made a point on page 5, 6, 8, 10, 14 and 15 that the exception process is high level and needs to be taken down a level. In fact, my boss says the remark was made that the process needs to go three levels of detail deeper. Help me understand what you think it should look like.
Rajeev: I'm not sure where this three levels deeper came from...
Me: My boss who was in the presentation.
Rajeev: Anyway, you need to detail each of the exceptions that can occur and how they are fixed.
Me: That sounds like a good idea. Except: there are thousands of potential exceptions. They could include trades being booked incorrectly to a data error, to a technical problem.
Rajeev: So say how they must be fixed...
Me: Uh, typically once you know the exception, the solution is pretty self-evident. You want us to detail, say, 2000 self evident fixes?
Rajeev: Perhaps pick the major ones that occur the most often.
Me: Right. And this would solve the issue you've highlighted in your review?
Rajeev: Yes. And show how they would be corrected in which system.
Me: Silence.
Rajeev: Would you be able to do that?
Me: So you want us to show how an incorrectly booked trade is corrected in each of the 17 trading systems?
Rajeev: IITQ, let me give you some advice...
Me: *going purple at a condescending snotty nosed consultant offering a partner patronising advice*
Rajeev: ...people just need to understand how the process will work in real life. You need to make it real to them.
Me: Thank you Rajeev, we'll include some examples. Thanks for your time. Good bye.
_____
So after I then went home and hit a pillow, things got worse. I had to tour the exco and explain the misinterpretations. Agree new next steps.
And then.
Two dysfunctional idiots on my client project team decided they were unhappy. One was almost booted from the organisation. I saved his arse and ended him up on my project team as a result. The other wouldn't know his arse from his elbow.
After much corridor chatter, one approaches me to let me know how unhappy he is. Except he says, "IITQ, the team is really frustrated with you right now."
Now one of the first rules of feedback is "Speak from the I." Don't talk on behalf of others.Keep it to your own issues. Anyway, I let him carry on.
After another one-on-one - where he interviewed me: "So IITQ, what do you see your role is?" After some response from me, he said, "I noticed you did not say 'Build the team' - that should be your primary role."
FARK. Anyway, I sucked it up and then interviewed the whole team to find out if they had any issues. Almost all the others did not. I then presented a plan of action and got feedback. Pretty much two weeks wasted.
In the meantime, I'd been preparing for a workshop with a client in Canada. Except I discovered 5 weeks prior that my passport had expired. Fuck a duck. My travel agent put me in touch with a shady character to "expedite" the process and get it done in two. I'll spare you the gory details on this one - I'm sure you can see where it is going.
Friday comes and I'm supposed to be flying out via London. No passport. Move all flights to Monday upon more promises. Still nothing. I had to phone my client and let them know I could not get my passport and visa sorted out. They had been in the loop, but hit the roof anyway. They had 20 people flying in from all over to the workshop. 20 business class fares. Months of organisation. Just the airfares = R1m. It was the worst call I've ever had in my life.
Client then calls one of their SA directors who is very well connected. He speaks to a top government official and arranges for me to get my passport the next day - today. They redo the whole minimum 6 week process overnight.
I phone the Canadian Embassy - can I go straight through their process and get a visa in an hour? Who am I working for? X - ok.
It ends there? Oh no. So I have not slept in days due to work for clients. I traipse out this morning with everything triple checked. My bags packed for my evening flight in case I am held up in our nations capital. 08h00 and I walk to my car. Ignition. No. Flat battery - from nowhere. For no rhyme or reason. Frantic call to visa specialist who is meeting me in Pretoria. Can he pick me up? Anyway, he jump starts my car and I follow him to Pretoria. Whole process sorted out in 2 hours - both Home Affairs and Canadian visa.
I'm in the airport lounge now. I'm too scared to tie my own shoelaces in case something goes wrong. This episode has reduced me to a quivering wreck. Yesterday, the tiredness and stress virtually made me lose my voice.
Karma? Funnily enough, there is a psychological equivilent. Our psyches are like see saws. If we overplay our strengths we become overconfident, we ignore our weaknesses and they become under-practised. The whole thing tips and we are then flung out of our comfort zone. So life has a way of putting us through these cycles.
But it just seems like too much out of my control has gone wrong. Of course, me being me I'm beating myself up about it.
Now I have to face my client. A client absolutely fuming. I missed the first day of their management breakaway and they had to reorient the whole thing to have the fun event on the first day when I couldn't be there. I spoke to the MD last night in Canada. There was a lot of fuming silence on the other side of the phone.
This means I'm going to have to grovel and offer some free work to make up for it. Which will cost me a fortune.
But not as much as if I hadn't made it and been sued. That could have cost me my house. Worst case I could still lose this client. That would be a disaster in itself.
But karma owes me some upside. Dammit.
It started with some consulting competitors (overseas consultants paid bazillions) writing an absolutely rubbish report about an area that includes part of my project. Things had been going really well, and then I had to respond to a load of rubbish and discredit each piece of lame feedback. It really was one of the worst pieces of consulting I have ever seen. Junior consultants left to their own devices, who interviewed a selection of people and then reported back a whole lot of opinions without verifying their truth or checking with the people directly involved.
Of course I'd be the first to admit that perception is reality - if people held those views, then I needed to deal with them. Unfortunately, many seemed to be the consultants own uneducated views.
Conference call to one of the fuckers after he had returned to the UK leaving me to mop up his shit:
Me: So Rajeev, you have made a point on page 5, 6, 8, 10, 14 and 15 that the exception process is high level and needs to be taken down a level. In fact, my boss says the remark was made that the process needs to go three levels of detail deeper. Help me understand what you think it should look like.
Rajeev: I'm not sure where this three levels deeper came from...
Me: My boss who was in the presentation.
Rajeev: Anyway, you need to detail each of the exceptions that can occur and how they are fixed.
Me: That sounds like a good idea. Except: there are thousands of potential exceptions. They could include trades being booked incorrectly to a data error, to a technical problem.
Rajeev: So say how they must be fixed...
Me: Uh, typically once you know the exception, the solution is pretty self-evident. You want us to detail, say, 2000 self evident fixes?
Rajeev: Perhaps pick the major ones that occur the most often.
Me: Right. And this would solve the issue you've highlighted in your review?
Rajeev: Yes. And show how they would be corrected in which system.
Me: Silence.
Rajeev: Would you be able to do that?
Me: So you want us to show how an incorrectly booked trade is corrected in each of the 17 trading systems?
Rajeev: IITQ, let me give you some advice...
Me: *going purple at a condescending snotty nosed consultant offering a partner patronising advice*
Rajeev: ...people just need to understand how the process will work in real life. You need to make it real to them.
Me: Thank you Rajeev, we'll include some examples. Thanks for your time. Good bye.
_____
So after I then went home and hit a pillow, things got worse. I had to tour the exco and explain the misinterpretations. Agree new next steps.
And then.
Two dysfunctional idiots on my client project team decided they were unhappy. One was almost booted from the organisation. I saved his arse and ended him up on my project team as a result. The other wouldn't know his arse from his elbow.
After much corridor chatter, one approaches me to let me know how unhappy he is. Except he says, "IITQ, the team is really frustrated with you right now."
Now one of the first rules of feedback is "Speak from the I." Don't talk on behalf of others.Keep it to your own issues. Anyway, I let him carry on.
After another one-on-one - where he interviewed me: "So IITQ, what do you see your role is?" After some response from me, he said, "I noticed you did not say 'Build the team' - that should be your primary role."
FARK. Anyway, I sucked it up and then interviewed the whole team to find out if they had any issues. Almost all the others did not. I then presented a plan of action and got feedback. Pretty much two weeks wasted.
In the meantime, I'd been preparing for a workshop with a client in Canada. Except I discovered 5 weeks prior that my passport had expired. Fuck a duck. My travel agent put me in touch with a shady character to "expedite" the process and get it done in two. I'll spare you the gory details on this one - I'm sure you can see where it is going.
Friday comes and I'm supposed to be flying out via London. No passport. Move all flights to Monday upon more promises. Still nothing. I had to phone my client and let them know I could not get my passport and visa sorted out. They had been in the loop, but hit the roof anyway. They had 20 people flying in from all over to the workshop. 20 business class fares. Months of organisation. Just the airfares = R1m. It was the worst call I've ever had in my life.
Client then calls one of their SA directors who is very well connected. He speaks to a top government official and arranges for me to get my passport the next day - today. They redo the whole minimum 6 week process overnight.
I phone the Canadian Embassy - can I go straight through their process and get a visa in an hour? Who am I working for? X - ok.
It ends there? Oh no. So I have not slept in days due to work for clients. I traipse out this morning with everything triple checked. My bags packed for my evening flight in case I am held up in our nations capital. 08h00 and I walk to my car. Ignition. No. Flat battery - from nowhere. For no rhyme or reason. Frantic call to visa specialist who is meeting me in Pretoria. Can he pick me up? Anyway, he jump starts my car and I follow him to Pretoria. Whole process sorted out in 2 hours - both Home Affairs and Canadian visa.
I'm in the airport lounge now. I'm too scared to tie my own shoelaces in case something goes wrong. This episode has reduced me to a quivering wreck. Yesterday, the tiredness and stress virtually made me lose my voice.
Karma? Funnily enough, there is a psychological equivilent. Our psyches are like see saws. If we overplay our strengths we become overconfident, we ignore our weaknesses and they become under-practised. The whole thing tips and we are then flung out of our comfort zone. So life has a way of putting us through these cycles.
But it just seems like too much out of my control has gone wrong. Of course, me being me I'm beating myself up about it.
Now I have to face my client. A client absolutely fuming. I missed the first day of their management breakaway and they had to reorient the whole thing to have the fun event on the first day when I couldn't be there. I spoke to the MD last night in Canada. There was a lot of fuming silence on the other side of the phone.
This means I'm going to have to grovel and offer some free work to make up for it. Which will cost me a fortune.
But not as much as if I hadn't made it and been sued. That could have cost me my house. Worst case I could still lose this client. That would be a disaster in itself.
But karma owes me some upside. Dammit.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Why can't we just order a mate?
For some reason the guy who I anonymously hit on continues to haunt me. I see him at my client and I tingle. He's just so attractive to me.
It bugs me all the more because there are so few people I find attractive. There was the girl I never got over. There have only been a few others. In celebrity terms, Kiera Knightly, Natalie Portman, Chad Michael Murray and Hayden Christensen do it for me. Their names spring instantly to mind. But I feel absolutely nothing for most other celebrities. This client guy is like that. Just unbelievably attractive to me.
Given this, why can't we just order the person we want? Life would be so much easier ordering from a catalogue.
Online dating hasn't really fulfilled its promise in this regard. Firstly, there aren't too many of those guys or girls I find attractive and when there are, there probably aren't...
If only I had a mail-order catalogue like this one:
I'll take one of each please.
It bugs me all the more because there are so few people I find attractive. There was the girl I never got over. There have only been a few others. In celebrity terms, Kiera Knightly, Natalie Portman, Chad Michael Murray and Hayden Christensen do it for me. Their names spring instantly to mind. But I feel absolutely nothing for most other celebrities. This client guy is like that. Just unbelievably attractive to me.
Given this, why can't we just order the person we want? Life would be so much easier ordering from a catalogue.
Online dating hasn't really fulfilled its promise in this regard. Firstly, there aren't too many of those guys or girls I find attractive and when there are, there probably aren't...
If only I had a mail-order catalogue like this one:
I'll take one of each please.
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