A favourite photo, of a favourite passtime, in a favourite place.

Isn't this just a great photo of my old Vespa? I have been ridding here for the past few days - the weather here has been awesome (33 degrees C today!) When I arrived home from Malaysia I took this old girl out of the garage, took out my soft cloth and wiped off all the dust, pulled out the choke and she started first time! She is a wonderful machine! And I get such joy from riding her.

This photo was taken back on the 3rd of July on the UNISA university campus - I was dropping off some marked assignments. That day it was FREEZING! Today, however, I had a meeting at UNISA for a book I am writting with Professor Kretzschmar. I rode there in a short sleeve shirt!

In this light she looks like a saint - saint Vespa! The joy's and blessings of life!

Me on my the 'Orange bomber', my 1968 Orange VLB Vespa Sprint

Here is a picture of me on my 1968 Vespa VLB 150cc. I think she is looking great, and she sure is running great! (Click on the image to enlarge it).

The photo was taken by Professor Jan van der Watt, a very famous New Testament scholar with a speciality in Johannine literature (particularly John's Gospel). I edit all of his manuscripts for publication. We also share in a radio program on 'Radio Pulpit', a Christian radio station that broadcasts in South Africa.

He is the REAL scholar on the show - I think they asked me to come on because I am English speaking (whilst Prof van der Watt is Afrikaans speaking), and I have a doctorate.... Sure, I know a few things about the Bible. However, I always have to take my laptop with me and access the Libronix software (Logos) for the finer etymology of the Greek and Hebrew words, and some of the socio-cultural, socio-historical, and syntactical intricacies of the text.

Our program is intended to help people read and use the bible responsibly (i.e., to avoid fundamentalism and literalism that often causes religious bigotary, abuse, and struggle). The program is called 'Do you understand what you're reading?' (Verstaan jy wat jy lees?) People get to phone in and ask questions about the socio-cultural background to texts, the original Hebrew or Greek translations, and some of the theological issues that are presented and dealt with in different books and texts.

Anyway, back to the Vespa, I ride her just about everywhere in Pretoria! I ride between my seminary campus and the two other Universities where I teach (the University of Pretoria, where I teach New Testament, and the University of South Africa, where I teach Systematic Theology and Ethics). She (that is my Vespa, fondly known as the 'Orange bomber') is SUCH A STUNNER! She always starts on the first kick (when it is cold) and NEVER starts with the kick start when she is warm - I'm not sure why... These, my friends, are the mysteries of the faith.... ;-) Hey, but it is always fun watching this doctor pushing her down the tarmac to get her up and running! Truly dignified... It is so great to drive her through the city, there are no traffic worries, and parking on campus is also never a problem.

A new lease on life for an old bike!

Yesterday was a very exciting day!! Uncle Regie from KR and Sons panel shop phoned to say that my Vespa was ready for collection!

Uncle Regie is a member of a local Methodist Church. I was put in touch with by my friend, the Revd Ronnie van Eck. He offered to respray my old Vespa for me - you may remember that I had been trying to find someone who would do it, but no panel shop was willing because it was just too much work to strip, spray, and rebuild the bike. She was badly in need of some new paint and also needed quite a few dents knocked out. After all, she is 39 years old this year!

You may remember that this is what she looked like before:

So, after meeting Uncle Regie and his team, she was taken to pieces, a colour was agreed upon (Uncle Regie decided that she would look good in the new metalic Orange that is being used for the sporty Ford Fiesta), and I patiently waited. In the meantime I had ordered new rubbers for the side cowels, new grips for the handlebars, and a new badge for the front (a total of about $15 US (about R150 including postage) from a place in India that I found on the internet... When I first placed the order I was worried that the parts may never arrive... However, they came, well packaged in perfect order, and at a very reasonable price!)

Here's a picture of the Vespa during restoration.

The paintwork is absolutely perfect! She was stripped down, the dents were all fixed up, she was sanded down and then given a few coats of paint to get up to this shiny state! The orange used on this Vespa is quite different from that on my other one. This orange shines! It has some sort of metalic finish that makes it glimmer in the sun. It looks truly awesome!

AND!!! Here's a picture of the old girl all back together with the shiny new coat of paint, all the panels and beading, and saddle fitted! The orange draws a LOT of attention! At least I am always spotted by cars and taxis as I'm driving. I can now say that I have a truly unique Vespa. She has done 36 000 miles! And, I'm sure that I will do a few thousand more.

So, she looks great doesn't she!? She still has a few problems starting.... I will have to get the engine seen to as soon as I have a few spare clams to spend. The seat also needs to be replaced and the headlight is not working as it should (I can get a dim beam, but no brights). Also the speedometer doesn't work, so I am never quite sure how fast I'm driving... So that will also need to be fixed with time. However, when she starts, and once she is running, she goes like a dream! Italian craftsmanship with a South African flare.

She sure is a great joy to me, and she saves me hours of driving by allowing me to nip through the city traffic! I can't wait to leave the office this afternoon and take her out on the road home. Thanks Ronnie, and thanks Uncle Regie... You know what the best part of the whole deal is? Uncle Regie didn't charge me a cent! Now that's incredible!!

Church of the Vespaholics

Church of the Vespaholics
Originally uploaded by DocJelly.

Now, that's my kind of Church! All you need is a few faithful friends (of course when I say faithful, I mean more than just Vespa lovers, I mean people who can enjoy God in creation and two-stroke oil!), some reasonable weather, a good cup of coffee, and the time to enjoy being alive!

Aahhh.... The Church of Vespa. I wonder if they will still fall asleep during my sermons!? That could be dangerous! NOTE TO SELF - don't preach while people are driving...

PS. My 'old' 1968 Vespa comes back from the 'beauty shop' tomorrow. A member of a local Church owns a panel shop and has resprayed her for free! Thanks for setting it up for me Ronnie! You're a real friend. I can't wait to post a few photos!

So, check back in a day or two, you may like what you see.

What she looked like in her day... AND an update on Liam 18 January 2007

1968 vespa sprint 150
Originally uploaded by mennyj.

I found this incredible picture of a Vespa VLB Sprint on Flickr today. It shows you what my VLB would have looked like some 39 years ago when she was brand spanking new!

Today I was so pleased to have a Vespa! We only live about two blocks from Courtney's school, however traffic in Pretoria is so bad at the moment that it takes longer to drive there (about 25 minutes) than it would to walk that distance. However, we don't realy have time for either a 25 minute walk or a 25 minute drive! So, today we decided to go to school on my Vesparoogie! I managed to leave home at 7.05 and be back at the office by 7.15. Some of the other parents were still stuck in the traffic when I was already drinking my first cup of coffee and responding to emails!

Then, this afternoon I was called out to the hospital to pray with one of the parents of a baby in the ICU. The hospital is about 20km's away from my office, but it can take quite a while to get there. If I had taken my car, it may have taken even longer because there was a power outage and so none of the traffic lights were working. The cars were backed up for miles, I managed to get there in just around 20 minutes and be there in good time to pray with someone who truly needed to experience God's grace and care. It was not only great to be able to share God's love in that way, but it was fantastic to ride my Vespa; and a joy to save about an hour in the traffic on the journey there and back!

So, here's to my old girl! She is such a blessing! Tomorrow I will ride her to the studio in the morning to do a live broadcast with Prof van der Watt for the show 'Do you know what you're reading', a call-in program where folks can ask questions about the Bible and have them answered by a real Biblical scholar (Prof van der Watt) and an English guy with a Doctorate who is pretty much there because he can speak English (that's me!) Let's see if I need another push start ;-) I sure hope not! I may just park around the corner so that when we leave I won't be seen pushing my scoot down the road...

Now, onto the news that TRULY matters. Megie took Liam back to the doctor today for his checkup while I was at work. He has been home for two weeks now! He is doing very, very well indeed. The only little hickup is that he hasn't been picking up enough weight. He needs to pick up about 150 grams a week. This week he picked up somewhere between 80 grams and 100 grams, and only about 40 grams last week. So it is a bit of a worry for us. It would seem that he is still so close to that stage where feeding takes more energy than it gives him, that some feeds are actually causing him to loose weight, or simply balance out (Wow, if only I could eat and loose a bit of weight!!) Anyway, the doctor will keep monitoring his progress and we would ask for your prayers please.

Please could I also ask you to pray for the other babies that are still in the ICU, and for their parents? As I mention above, there are still some very real needs among the little kids who are there. Two of the parents who we got to know quite well have babies with serious struggles at the moment. How I wish we could waive a some magic wand and make them all better!

My father-in-law undertook to fast every Friday until Liam came home. I have undertaken to do the same until these kiddies go home with their parents. Sometimes we have to 'put our faith where our mouth is'.

God hears prayers and God answers them, but sometimes I need a little reminder that prayer is not always that easy, there is a cost associated with caring!