We South Africans stretch facts so that they are a little bigger than they really are. This causes lots of stress in our lives. As we describe an event with strong emotive words, many of them just four letters long, we enlarge the smallest issue into the end of the world. And we are already … Read more

A South African without a problem to ponder is like a Norwegian without a ski. In the same way that the object of our love is front and centre mind-wise, so is Eskom. The phrase, “If you love something set it free” is attributed wrongly to Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, just as electricity seems wrongly attributed … Read more

We worry about not having enough time. What if it’s a conspiracy? Reading on the Internet is not the same as reading a real book. Reading a book is the kind of thing that does not enjoy interruption. You read quietly, alone, whenever you can find a place to stop for while. (When last was … Read more

Yesterday, what with driving between my home and my office, I travelled 23,294,400 kilometres. It was one heck of a trip. I will tell you about it in a moment. I was talking to the Business Warriors on Tuesday night, trying to get perspective on the anxieties most of us carry with us. Mostly regarding … Read more

It is inspiring to complete your 12th year of schooling. The future beckons bright. And while we might not be bushy tailed at least we still have a lot of hair. Except our parents do not think so. Parents worry. And journalists are happy to trot out trite articles each year about school leavers facing … Read more

In late 1995 I began presenting seminars to teach folk about the dangers of signing sureties. But I had no way to accept payment. I had closed a firm in 1992. The sureties I had signed gave birth to judgments. No bank would to touch me. This meant no cheque account. In turn this meant … Read more

A reader named Doug sent me an email this morning asking for help. It seems that he is in England trying to help his dad who needs urgent eye surgery at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. I replied asking how I might help. After all I have been out of South Africa for almost 10 … Read more

In October 1984, just thirty years ago, I started my first firm. No mobile phones yet. No fax machines. Nada Internet. My sound system needed LPs. The fellows that later started Google were messing with Fisher-Price technology. My first portable PC, aka luggable, weighed 12^kg, looked like a suitcase, and cost $3500. ($1.00 = R1.1276 if memory serves.) When … Read more

In 1973 I needed a microscope, as one does in Standard 8 in Fish Hoek. I scoured the local library to find a supplier. I wrote to a firm in London. Their reply arrived three months later. They wanted a formal order, along with a bank draft for the device and p&p. My Dad saw the price, went … Read more

After working from home for about twenty years, I left home last month. I didn’t want to but my basement office began to cool down as the Norwegian autumn went orange. After a particularly crispy day left me with icicles hanging from my nostrils I gave up and moved into an office down the hill. … Read more