Overcoming 'internetlessness' in paradise - the verdict is...

Thanks so much to everyone who responded to my question about how one overcomes the ravages of not having a steady broadband connection.

So, the verdict is.......!

Most of those who responded (from within South Africa - that excludes Paddy the Monk with broadand in his monastic cell, and Murray the Anglican who can download videos of Morning Prayer in HDTV and still not slow down) use 3G of some sort (either via a USB dongle, a PCMCIA card, or via their cell phone).

Well, we happen to own a PCMCIA 3G card with a Vodacom prepaid sim card. Thanks to Gus and mevdominee I learned that you can convert purchased airtime to data bundles! That is just incredible!!! So, Megie has the datacard in her computer and we've got her a 500MB data bundle.

As for me and my house (the Apple Macbook Pro), we've decided to load a monthly 1 Gig data bundle to my regular MTN contract. That way I can use the data on my Nokia E90 when traveling in South Africa, and hook it to the Macbook Pro at the office and at home at HSDPA speeds for regular net connection...

Using Apple Mac OS X 10.5 I can even share my network connection via Wifi and turn my Macbook Pro into a wireless hotspot for our home for Megie, Courtney (and the neighbours) to share from their computers.

Thanks again to everyone who responded. I appreciate it a great deal. As soon as I've settled I'll be back up to bloggin speed.

I have a few VERY interesting trips coming up! In two weeks time I shall be boarding a private jet to Kenya for a 2 day trip to meet with government and business leaders, then a few weeks after that I head to Israel and Turkey... Please could I ask you to pray that my leg heals quickly! It will not be fun to travel on crutches!

Please also spare a prayer for my friends and colleagues in EMMU (and at John Wesley College). I miss them already, and I know that my departure places extra strain and expectation upon their already sparse resources and energy.

Having a little rest on a Sunday afternoon.

For the last 17 years I have either preached at, or attended, an evening service at the Church where I have been a minister. This morning we attended a service 'back home' at the Coronation Ave Methodist Church. It was great to be there! It felt familiar. Philip Buckland preached a great sermon and served communion. After the service we had a vist with our friends Andre and Kerry Fair! It is so cool to live in the same city as our Church and to catch up with old friends!

Tonight I won't be preaching, in fact I'll just be at home with Megie, Courtney and Liam. It is great to have a chance to relax! Here's little Liam getting a head start on the Sunday afternoon nap in the back of Megie's car!

Tomorrow is my first day in my new job / post! Did I mention that I'm nervous!? Spare a prayer for the new kid on the block...

Another tough day in Africa!

Ah, yes, another tough day in Africa! We're at Strand beach having bite to eat at sunset. The scenery is good, it's a fantastic day, 'en die Kaap is nog steets Hollands'!

Two ponies in their stable.

Can you believe that they managed to fit both my German luxury vehicle (aka the BMW 650GS on the left) and my Italian stalion (aka Mertyl the orange 1967 Vespa on the right) into the removal truck that brought our belongings the 1419 km's from Johannesburg to Cape Town!?

Well, here they are, two ponies safely in their stable!

Suffering from 'internetlessness' what's the best solution? A little help please!

For the past four years I have had ADSL broadband at both my home and my office.  For those in the UK and the US, ADSL is the fastest 'wired' internet access we have in South Africa.  Because of our telecommunications company, TELKOM's monopoly on the 'pipes' in and out of the country through SAIX all other providers have to rent bandwidth from them.

ADSL has been quite fine for my needs.  I seldom stream more than a few seconds of youtube, I don't download large updates, videos, or huge files.  At most I download a 40MB MP3 every other day as a podcast on iTunes.  

Now, however, my broadband needs have changed with our move.  First, I will be traveling quite a bit, so I do need a solution that will make internet access available at a fairly fast and reliable rate throughout South Africa, and even the world when necessary.  Second, we are renting our current home for just a few months while we look to sell our old house in Somerset West and buy something that is a bit larger.  So, we don't want the hassle of waiting for TELKOM to install a phone line, process our application for ADSL, charge us huge installation fees, and then have to go through all the hassle and expense in a few months time when we move.  Third, at work I am locked into a fairly restricted corporate network.  They use a Microsoft exchange server, which means that my MAC gives them headaches so they have asked if I would please use a Windows laptop (they are buying me a little Windows subnotebook for work purposes - either a Sony TZ, or the Acer 6292).  This means that my Macbook Pro (which is the machine from which I blog, record my podcasts, record my Radio Pulpit weekly shows, upload and download podcasts etc.) will not have steady broadband access through a regular network.

SO, here's the question:  What is the BEST and CHEAPEST broadband solution to meet our internet needs?

1)  Bite the bullet and get ADSL put in at home!

2)  Sign your life away and get a VODACOM 3G card.

3)  Didn't you know that you can use xxxx solution in the Helderberg Basin!?

If you have any advice, insight, or help you can offer to cure our 'internetlessness' in the Somerset West area I would be eternally grateful!

Please, also just drop a comment to let me know what broadband solution you use!  I would be interested to know (corporate network, University network, leaching your neighbour's wifi, dialup, etc.)

Thanks!

PS.  We had our first 'flood' in our new house last night.  We started a load of washing at 10pm, only to discover at 11.30pm that the washing machine wasn't working so we had a few inches of water throughout the house (and many boxes still unpacked on the floor....)  MANY, MANY, MANY towels and buckets later we had moped up most of the mess and hit the hay.  The good news is that I have fixed the washing machine!

Babysitting, flexibility and life. If you can't bend you may just break.

I had a little revelation yesterday, nothing too profound, just a thought.  You know, life is a lot like babysitting!  

One of the struggles that we have encountered in our move this week is the fact that I am pretty useless when it comes to unpacking, moving things, and carrying anything around.  My crutches leave me rather helpless in the department where husbands normally excel...  So, my saint of a wife Megie has been bearing the brunt of getting us settled into our new home.  Together with that Little Liam has been rather unsettled for the last week and a bit.  It is quite understandable.  We have been stressed, and babies are quite sensitive to that.  But, over and above that, he has watched his whole world get packed into boxes, his movement has been restricted, his regular patterns and habits have been disturbed and he has had to spend quite a bit of time being told that he should not touch this or that, and not go here or there.  The long and the short of it is that I have done my best to keep him occupied while Megie tackles the boxes.  Liam doesn't seem to find me nearly as interesting (or useful) as his mom!  When he is with her he is quite happy just to be on her lap or hip.  When he is with me, however, he needs to entertained!

We have a number of 'props' and toys that keep him occupied.  However, I have come to understand that his attention span is about as short as that of his old dad.  Every few minutes the activity needs to change, or otherwise he goes off in search of his mom!  What keeps him occupied now will not necessarily keep him occupied in 5 minutes time.  Flexibility and novelty seem to be the keys to successful babysitting!

Well, that was the source of my revelation.  

Here I am a 36 year old doctoral graduate who has spent his adult life in ministry of one form or another (except for some time as a conscript in the South African Army, and far too many years at University).  Mid life for contemporary males is 36 years old (I'm not sure if you've ever done the Math on this!  They say that the average age at which a relatively healthy, white, South African Male dies, at this point in time, is 72 years old.  Divide 72 in half and you have 36, my exact age.  Mid life....)  Mid life is an extraordinary time!  It has caused me to reflect on what I spend my hours and days doing.  The previous 36 years have passed like a flash!  Sure, there have been very many incredible, rewarding, life altering, consciousness raising, Christ loving, moments... But boy it has passed way too quickly.  So, what shall I do with the next 36 years (which I hope to live to the full...  I should make it to 72 years old if I don't ride my scooter to often...)?

That was when I realised that flexibility and novelty are key to getting the best out of life and living.  Sure, one needs stability, and one must capitalise on what one knows (it would be stupid for me NOT to do something in theology, science, ministry etc.)... But, within those parameters one needs to have COURAGE to dare to do new things, and FLEXIBILITY to be able to role with the changes.

If you cannot venture with courage you will quickly become stagnant and stale.  And, if you cannot be flexible you will very quickly break under the pressure of an ever changing life.

How courageous are you?  How flexible and open to change are you?  These might just be two keys to greater fulfillment and blessing life!

Thinking outside the box... It sure changes one's perspective on life!

Well, our removal company arrived at 17h00 yesterday to offload our 'stuff'... They were supposed to get here in the morning but they were running late. So, once they had squeezed the truck into our driveway they started the process of unloading our belongings (even my BMW 650GS and my Vespa were on the truck). They left at about 21h30. So, today we start unpacking.

There is something comforting about knowing that all of one's possessions are in the house (even though they're boxed ans wrapped). Last night Courtney and Liam slept on their beds, Megie and I slept on our mattress (there was not enough space for our bed among the boxes).

It's another lovely day in paradise!

Here's Liam in a box. Thinking outside of the box helps, but keeping a 16 month old in a box while one is trying to unpack helps even more!

Happy to be home!

Here's little Liam enjoying our new home!

We had such a lovely 'send off' at the College on Friday - I will miss my friends (both staff and students) so much! It feels quite strange not to be at Chapel at 7h15 on a Tuesday morning. I have been thinking about the college all morning. In my prayers I have asked the Lord will take care of everything that needs to be done for the sake of the students, and also to help lighten the load that Neville, Dix, and Ruth will bear until they find a replacement to fill my post.

Our farewell service at Bryanston Methodist Church was also very emotional! I cannot tell you how much I will miss our family there. That community has left an incredible impression upon us! They loved us, showed us such acceptance and care, and helped us to develop our discipleship of Jesus. It is truly a remarkable Church. I was constantly amazed that I should have the privelage to minister there.

Well, now we're back home! We had 6 incredible years of ministry here in Somerset West (a year of which was spent in Stellenbosch when I was doing my doctorate there). As we drove through Stellenbosch last night it just felt so familiar, so wonderful to be back!

Today our belongings will arrive just after lunch and the big job of unpacking will start. We will take a break just before sunset to take a walk on the beach (well, I'll sit on the side... My crutches don't cope too well on beach sand! Ha ha!)

We've arrived!

We arrived in Somerset West this evening after a pleasant drive from JHB. We left Bryanston where we stayed for the weekend with Megie's sister, at 4h00 and arrived in Somerset West at 21h30. That's a 17 and a half hour drive (if my tired brain is doing the Math correctly)! My friend Pete Grassow was an absolute star! He drove my car most of the way, I only drove for about two hours from Richmond to somewhere just past Beaufort West (when Pete drove Megie's car so that she could have a little sleep). It still amazes me that we have such a dear friend who would fly to JHB in order to help us drive back to Cape Town! Thank you Pete! What would we have done without you! Your willingness to serve, your care, kindness and friendship, are such a blessed encouragement!

When we arrived at our new home in Somerset West our friends Andre and Michelle Boer were waiting for us! This was another incredible expression of care and love! They had made a bed for Megie and I to sleep on this evening, and another for Courtney to use, there was Pizza, tea, coffee and some coke, and a whole stack of bright baloons! We feel so much at home already.

Tonight I give thanks to God for safe travels. I give thanks for my wonderful wife Megie and all her hard work, dedication, and love. I thank God for good friends such as Pete, Andre and Michelle. I thank God for our new home. I thank God for new opportunities, and for the blessing of all that is past! I thank God for the students and staff of John Wesley College, and for our family and friends at the Bryanston Methodist Church - we are loved so much more than we could ever deserve! Thank you Lord!

Now, it's time to sleep! Tomorrow the removal truck arrives and we start the job of unpacking our stuff! More news and pictures to follow soon.

Thanks for all your love and prayers!

Somewhere between Richmond and Beaufort West

We're on the road to Cape Town today! This photo was taken in 'middle South Africa', somewhere between Richmond (a one horse town where the horse up and left), and Beaufort West. Surprisingly it is quite green out here. They must have had some rain recently. That is my good wife, Megan's, car in front. My good friend Pete flew up to Johannesburg to help us drive. Right now he's driving with Megie and Courtney and myself are in my car. 600 km's to go!

Goodbye Pretoria, hello Cape Town!

It is a lovely day in Pretoria today! As you can see from this picture. The weather is great, the sun is out, and there is just a gentle breeze to keep the heat at bay. Today we say goodbye to Pretoria and begin the move to Cape Town. It will be a gradual move since I have a wedding and a final service in Bryanston on Saturday and Sunday respectively. So, while our belongings hit the long road today (1419 km's to be exact), we shall only follow on Monday.

Pretoria has been a fantastic city in which to live! The weather is great, there is a lot to do, it is very green, there's lots of space, and within a few minutes you're out in the countryside. Sure there are some issues with safety and crime (we had an attempted car hi-jacking in 2004, a 'smash and grab' in 2005, and two break ins (even though we live right across the road from the 'Scorpions's (South Africa's version of the FBI) headquarters). However, there are much worse areas for crime and safety in Gauteng (and the Cape), for example the East Rand where we have a friend who has endured 4 car hi-jackings in the last few years).

I will confess, however, that we're looking forward the beauty of Cape Town. The weather is not quite as temperate (jokingly, Cape Town is like a baby - if it's not wet, it's windy!), but the scenery is great, the beaches are fantastic, the mountains are breathtaking, and we have many, many, good friends.

It's moving time!

Yup, it's moving time. We are so fortunate that the removal company is packing for us (a first time experience)! I feel quite helpless on crutches - but at least we know that all of our belongings are safe, and will arrive in Somerset West (Cape Town) safely. I have felt quite tense about the whole move simply because we are normally all packed about a week in advance. However, by last night our home had only 3 packed boxes! Today it's a different story as you can see.

Well, seaside living, mountain air, and of course, the 'mother of all cities' - Cape Town.