Cape Point, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.
Funny sign at the jackass penguin colony near Simon's Town.
Paul at the second southern most point of the African continent. Cape Agulhas, to the east, is the southern most point.
26 December 2006
Post-Christmas trip to Cape Town
Cape Point, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Funny sign at the jackass penguin colony near Simon's Town.Paul at the second southern most point of the African continent. Cape Agulhas, to the east, is the southern most point.
25 December 2006
17 September 2006
Short Takes
It’s been quite awhile since I posted an update. I guess the longer I’m here and begin to re-visit places, I don’t have lots new to tell you. But here are some short takes from recent travels.
Sasol
Sasol (http://www.sasol.co.za/) is one of the large energy suppliers here (coal to liquids and gas to liquids), but they make a number of other products, too. They also contribute hugely to all sorts of community projects. They are, for example, the largest corporate sponsor of the Springbok rugby team. There are several academic libraries in the country that are carry the Sasol name because they have received enormous donations from the company. The bird blind at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden was paid for by Sasol.
Their library is one of our largest corporate customers, and recently they invited Jean, Salome (our operations manager and the customer service rep for that account) and me to visit. We had a tour of their wax plant, and then went to lunch at an adorable café in Sasolburg. They also gave each of us a gift bag with several goodies. It was so very nice to be on the receiving end of such treatment for a change! It was an interesting and fun day. I’m hoping that maybe we can go tour their coal mine next year. My paternal grandfather was a coal miner, so that would be particularly interesting for me.
Birds
There are so many interesting and colorful birds here! Here are just a few that I’ve seen recently. I suggest going to Google Images (http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q=) to look up photos.
Sometime in July, Jean and I went to an open house sort of thing that the library at University of Pretoria hosted. As I parked my car, I saw on the lawn in front of me a grey lourie and a hoopoe, both really groovy looking birds. I’ve also seen a hoopoe in my front lawn, but only once.
When Colleen and I were driving from Grahamstown to Port Elizabeth the week before last, I saw what I think was a Knysna lourie. It may have been a purple crested lourie, but given the location, I think it was a Knysna lourie.
I’m also quite fond of helmeted guinea fowl. They are all over the place, including a field near my house. They are also a popular theme in craftworks; I’m sure I’ll come home with a number of representations of guinea fowl.
And the lilac-breasted rollers are small but magnificently colored little guys. I’ve seen them at Kruger National Park.
Things Have Changed
We (Rehette, Colleen and I) have just completed two weeks of “road shows”. There’s so much going on with EBSCO, and it’s difficult to phone one library and say, “May we spend 6 hours with you?” And then ask the same of other libraries in the same area. So, we decided to bring folks together for a series of one-day seminars. When I picked up the rental car in Cape Town early last week, I was surprised to discover that it had automatic transmission. I wasn’t quite sure what to do at first! We had the car for 2 days, and I was just getting used to it (not looking for the clutch when starting up) when it was time to turn it in.
Whenever I move back to the U.S., I just may need to get a car with a stick shift. Don’t they get better gas mileage anyway?
Homesick
Another reason I haven’t written much lately is that I suffered a somewhat more acute than usual case of homesickness for most of August. It wasn’t debilitating, and I don’t want you folks to worry. But I was glum, and just didn’t feel that I had much to say without whining. I’m feeling better now. :)
Jazz
A few Sundays ago, I joined Feng Hua Wang (the Chinese American woman who works in the library at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria) for a jazz brunch here in Jo’burg. It was hosted by a local jazz club, and I’ve signed up to join them. The next meeting is at the same restaurant this Thursday evening. I also found out that one of my colleagues in the Gauteng South Branch executive committee (S’bu Thembela at Wits University) enjoys jazz, so I’ll ask her to join me sometime.
Visitors
My friend Jeff deGraffinreid is going to Kenya to do research for his PhD, and will stop in Jo’burg for a few days at the end of this month. I’m looking forward to showing him around my adopted city. Then Mom and Claudia are coming for Christmas. I’ve got good trips lined up for them, and am really excited about their visit. The next group is my English friend Sarah Maylett (we were at the same school in Zimbabwe), her father and aunt. They will come in March, spend one night with me, drive from Jo’burg to Kruger, and then down the east coast to Cape Town. They’ll take 3 weeks for this. I’m planning to fly and meet them in Port Elizabeth so I can join them for the “Garden Route” from PE to CT.
Who else would like to visit? :)
Sasol
Sasol (http://www.sasol.co.za/) is one of the large energy suppliers here (coal to liquids and gas to liquids), but they make a number of other products, too. They also contribute hugely to all sorts of community projects. They are, for example, the largest corporate sponsor of the Springbok rugby team. There are several academic libraries in the country that are carry the Sasol name because they have received enormous donations from the company. The bird blind at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden was paid for by Sasol.
Their library is one of our largest corporate customers, and recently they invited Jean, Salome (our operations manager and the customer service rep for that account) and me to visit. We had a tour of their wax plant, and then went to lunch at an adorable café in Sasolburg. They also gave each of us a gift bag with several goodies. It was so very nice to be on the receiving end of such treatment for a change! It was an interesting and fun day. I’m hoping that maybe we can go tour their coal mine next year. My paternal grandfather was a coal miner, so that would be particularly interesting for me.
Birds
There are so many interesting and colorful birds here! Here are just a few that I’ve seen recently. I suggest going to Google Images (http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q=) to look up photos.
Sometime in July, Jean and I went to an open house sort of thing that the library at University of Pretoria hosted. As I parked my car, I saw on the lawn in front of me a grey lourie and a hoopoe, both really groovy looking birds. I’ve also seen a hoopoe in my front lawn, but only once.
When Colleen and I were driving from Grahamstown to Port Elizabeth the week before last, I saw what I think was a Knysna lourie. It may have been a purple crested lourie, but given the location, I think it was a Knysna lourie.
I’m also quite fond of helmeted guinea fowl. They are all over the place, including a field near my house. They are also a popular theme in craftworks; I’m sure I’ll come home with a number of representations of guinea fowl.
And the lilac-breasted rollers are small but magnificently colored little guys. I’ve seen them at Kruger National Park.
Things Have Changed
We (Rehette, Colleen and I) have just completed two weeks of “road shows”. There’s so much going on with EBSCO, and it’s difficult to phone one library and say, “May we spend 6 hours with you?” And then ask the same of other libraries in the same area. So, we decided to bring folks together for a series of one-day seminars. When I picked up the rental car in Cape Town early last week, I was surprised to discover that it had automatic transmission. I wasn’t quite sure what to do at first! We had the car for 2 days, and I was just getting used to it (not looking for the clutch when starting up) when it was time to turn it in.
Whenever I move back to the U.S., I just may need to get a car with a stick shift. Don’t they get better gas mileage anyway?
Homesick
Another reason I haven’t written much lately is that I suffered a somewhat more acute than usual case of homesickness for most of August. It wasn’t debilitating, and I don’t want you folks to worry. But I was glum, and just didn’t feel that I had much to say without whining. I’m feeling better now. :)
Jazz
A few Sundays ago, I joined Feng Hua Wang (the Chinese American woman who works in the library at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria) for a jazz brunch here in Jo’burg. It was hosted by a local jazz club, and I’ve signed up to join them. The next meeting is at the same restaurant this Thursday evening. I also found out that one of my colleagues in the Gauteng South Branch executive committee (S’bu Thembela at Wits University) enjoys jazz, so I’ll ask her to join me sometime.
Visitors
My friend Jeff deGraffinreid is going to Kenya to do research for his PhD, and will stop in Jo’burg for a few days at the end of this month. I’m looking forward to showing him around my adopted city. Then Mom and Claudia are coming for Christmas. I’ve got good trips lined up for them, and am really excited about their visit. The next group is my English friend Sarah Maylett (we were at the same school in Zimbabwe), her father and aunt. They will come in March, spend one night with me, drive from Jo’burg to Kruger, and then down the east coast to Cape Town. They’ll take 3 weeks for this. I’m planning to fly and meet them in Port Elizabeth so I can join them for the “Garden Route” from PE to CT.
Who else would like to visit? :)
03 August 2006
Winter
The recent heat wave in the U.S. has prompted some of you to ask me how hot it is here.
Basic Geography Reminder: South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere. The seasons are reversed from those in the Northern Hemisphere (where the U.S. is located).
It is winter here!
And boy howdy, is it ever. Yesterday as I drove to work, it was 2.5C (around 36F), and I don’t think it warmed up much above 8C (46). There were rumors in the morning of snow in nearby suburbs Krugersdorp, Sandton and Honeydew, but I never saw anything myself.
I made sure to be home in time for the 7.00 p.m. news so I could see how the rest of the country fared. The southern and Eastern Cape areas are having flooding rainstorms. Roads and bridges are washing out, flights delayed, some people dead. The central Free State had snow. Bloemfontein had about 5 inches! (I was in Bloemfontein last week, and it was -9C when the plane landed that morning!) Interior Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces also had snow. The border to Lesotho (a mountainous country that is surrounded by South Africa) was closed because the road was impassable.
The high today will be only 10C (50F). As I’ve mentioned to some of you before, this may not seem all that cold, but keep in mind that most buildings – homes and offices alike – don’t have central heating. Our offices have individual units in each office, but the hallways, break room and bathrooms are icy. At my house, I bought a small space heater for the bedroom and another for the lounge. I have an electric mattress pad on my bed, plus a nice, fat down comforter. Sleeping is fine. It’s getting out of bed in the morning that’s a mission!
When I was here last winter (July and August), it was pretty mild. Daytime temps were in the mid teens (14-18C = 57-64F), sometimes warmer. “This is winter?” I thought. “I can live with this!” So, when I was packing things up in Birmingham, I had trouble deciding if I should bother bringing any wool sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. Thank goodness that I did!
Here are some news stories and photographs:
http://tinyurl.com/qp8zx
http://tinyurl.com/hyo6t
Basic Geography Reminder: South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere. The seasons are reversed from those in the Northern Hemisphere (where the U.S. is located).
It is winter here!
And boy howdy, is it ever. Yesterday as I drove to work, it was 2.5C (around 36F), and I don’t think it warmed up much above 8C (46). There were rumors in the morning of snow in nearby suburbs Krugersdorp, Sandton and Honeydew, but I never saw anything myself.
I made sure to be home in time for the 7.00 p.m. news so I could see how the rest of the country fared. The southern and Eastern Cape areas are having flooding rainstorms. Roads and bridges are washing out, flights delayed, some people dead. The central Free State had snow. Bloemfontein had about 5 inches! (I was in Bloemfontein last week, and it was -9C when the plane landed that morning!) Interior Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces also had snow. The border to Lesotho (a mountainous country that is surrounded by South Africa) was closed because the road was impassable.
The high today will be only 10C (50F). As I’ve mentioned to some of you before, this may not seem all that cold, but keep in mind that most buildings – homes and offices alike – don’t have central heating. Our offices have individual units in each office, but the hallways, break room and bathrooms are icy. At my house, I bought a small space heater for the bedroom and another for the lounge. I have an electric mattress pad on my bed, plus a nice, fat down comforter. Sleeping is fine. It’s getting out of bed in the morning that’s a mission!
When I was here last winter (July and August), it was pretty mild. Daytime temps were in the mid teens (14-18C = 57-64F), sometimes warmer. “This is winter?” I thought. “I can live with this!” So, when I was packing things up in Birmingham, I had trouble deciding if I should bother bringing any wool sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. Thank goodness that I did!
Here are some news stories and photographs:
http://tinyurl.com/qp8zx
http://tinyurl.com/hyo6t
22 June 2006
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