Frankies Travels - Cape Town

So I landed safe and sound in the famous Mother City and after negotiating an exit from the Parking Lot we (being myself and my host)made our way across to the foot of Devils Peak to stay for the next 4 days.

I got a tour of the sights of the area which was to admire the view down onto the city (sparkly yellow and white), how close the burning mountain became burning complex (very close) then to admire the hulking great view of The Mountain (invisible due to clouds).

Yesterday we went and looked at some natural sights of the area. First a visit to the Sea - Camps Bay (altho too cold to take off shoes let alone swim) Then Hout Bay area which became a search for the Hout Bay Embassy (snooty exclusive bunch...) which resulted in a stop for a delicious Lindt Cappucino and a magnificient slice of Lemon Meringue Pie.

We gave up on the embassy and decided to go across to Simonstown. The trip across had me marvelling at the over-mountain bos and sights and once in Simonstown, we went to Boulders beach to see (smell) the penguins. We decided to walk the wooden path before paying entrance and we got so many sights of the pink eyebrowed little black birds that we decided we didnt need to pay entrance at all!

We then decided to drive back into Simonstown and walk the historic Mile - and stopped off for a very generous hake and chips along the way!

We took the scenic route home and after all the walking and eating we settled for baked veggies and a classic movie and were asleep by 10:30pm!

Felt like an old lady by the end of it but it was all together a pretty darned great first day!

Frankies Travels - Cape Town

So after flying every month this year (except February) I am finally flying without needing a passport! I haven't been to Cape Town in more than 5 years and I am pretty darned excited. Firstly I am flying down by myself - this is like a spontaneous holiday all for me... Well as spontaneous as you can be when the flights were just about sold out a month before... Secondly I haven't been to the beach in quite a fair while so being at the sea (with or with out swimming weather) is something to look forward to for this born and breed Vaalie. Thirdly I am seeing a good friend who, despite the fact I see him VERY rarely, I could consider him amongst my long standing friends. Fourthly I just got that awesome monthly email saying my bank account just grew by a salary So I can be a lot less budget conscious this weekend. And finally (five reasons is enough) I have 4 work free days ahead and Ill be flying for at least 4 hours of it.

Let the Frankies (domestic) Travels Commence!

Reason 6 - Window Seat :D

A rant for Wednesday

I read the news every morning mostly with the possibly misguided idea that Google news clips will help me expand my understanding of current affairs. And this is what has caught my eye of late:

1. Patrick Swayze's greatest achievements seem to be the movies Dirty Dancing and Ghost and... wait for it... wait for it... having been married to only one woman for his entire adult life. Extremely Rare for Hollywood it seems.

2. The Wits students are rioting... again... about the fee increase... again.
And so the ANCYL will be voted out of the Wits SRC again when all the outraged students go and vote in the SRC elections. When will the students learn that the University SRC is inversely as effective as the number of political party representatives it has.
What dumbfounds me is that the complaint is about the annual fee increase. Which is how Wits affords stuff like equipment and lecturers (I am aware they have funding from people like the government too) And yet as part of their frenzy of showing everyone that they are really not in a good mood about the fees.... they break stuff! It is almost as genius as burning the train because it is late... Now when is the train going to arrive?
Last pearl of wisdom I wish I could bestow on the student rioters is that everyone would join in the song and dance for a good excuse to bunk lectures for a worthy cause because we honestly feel for you and your lack of funding. EXCEPT you are too busy intimidating us and throwing rocks at our cars!! Yeah we really feel for you now... Stupid Rioters.

3. I have a suspicion that some of the recent breach of manners that everyone seems to suffer lately is due to never having learnt to accept loosing honorably. As a Brownie Guider one of the life lessons we teach is that sometimes we let one team win and another team loose in games. None of this "Oh we didn't keep score so everyone is a winner Yaay!" If as a child, one learns that sometimes people beat you because they were simply better than you that time, I am pretty sure we'll have a lot less Storming on to stages, Storming off of Tennis courts and Storming of to the gender testing labs and then to the tabloids. I am sorry, sometimes you don't win. Time to be an adult about it.

that's all for today me thinks. Happy Hump Day - in honour of our Andy :)

Dear Friends, The bar has been raised

I received a postcard from a friend today. and it was sent to me from Switzerland. Which was a very nice gesture from a friend who lives in the UK. but! but! Not only did I receive a postcard but the aforementioned postcard had not one, not two but Three fluffy sheep on it! The bar of Ways to Impress Frances has now officially been raised.

Young hopeful Mr-Frances-Barker's across the world cry out "Curse you Frances'-Friend-who-sends-Postcards! I may be able to beat a postcard from a foreign country but a postcard with the added awesomeness of not one, not two but Three fluffy sheep! Never! My intentions are ruined! Dashed upon the rocks!"

Ha ha ha! A girl's gotta dream at least. I hereby attach a photo of the delightful piece of communication. not quite as great as the real thing but I think you get the general threefold fluffy idea.





Today has been a good day :) It's great being easily amused.

The Man in Uniform is looking at you.

So this picture was snapped with my replacement camera - I am still very snap happy with the macro function. But then who can resist a man in uniform?

I should be getting my new phone tomorrow (Finally) and again I am in great anticipation of having a marvellous gadget of my own. and as these things invariably work out, my father who has to accompany me will be not as passionate to trek across to Bedfordview to fetch it with me! "Hurry Up! Da-aa-ad!"

I am glad that teh Postal Service has suspended their strike. I am eagerly awaiting a postcard from the UK. the sender keeps asking me if it has arrived yet. As if 3 weeks is a long time for a letter via postage to arrive.... strange.

Midweek - Otherwise known as Hump Day

Wednesday is Hump Day as it is the day we change from the uphill into the week to the downhill to the weekend. Nothing more sinister or dirty...

I am at a bit of a loose wend at work these days where all the exciting work is finished for the moment and all the boring tasks are left. The things that are just too far outside of my expertise to enjoy teaching myself. And at the same time I am waiting for the go ahead on some documents that I can start some exciting activities.

I should probably go ask for some more work to do except last time i did that I got saddled with a Civil Works Spec to write. How many bricks? How much cement? How deep a hole? Thrilling indeed!

I thought I had lost my reading glasses and I have been giving myself monsterous headaches all week working with out them. They were in my laptop bag the entire time... O-L-D-A-G-E awaits!

I think Johannesburg is a very beautiful city. it's my home so I am entitled to some partiality. Since it has so many crests and hills, in the evenings you drive along the road and are greeted with a panorama of glittering yellow and white and red and green lights. Kinda sight to me home sick when I fly in late from Gaborone. Or driving home even later from that Club in Edenvale :)

The polluted and dry air makes for spectacular sunsets too. Especially in winter. The best bit is that I usually land up driving home around sunset. It always puts me in a good mood even after a long hard (or long boring) day. I was going to upload a sunset picture but I seem to be having a problem... oh well Ill have to look out the window instead.

Friday ... finally!

This week has been so beautifully sunny and warm that I have been really looking forward to the weekend so that I can be outside to enjoy it. but in my usual style I think I will enjoy it best with a good book in a sunny spot.

My brother surprised me today in a really good way. I had bought the new Regina Spektor CD a little while ago and he saw I had it and asked to copy it. Except he asked the moment the brand new CD box was opened so I said NO! because I was feeling selfish and I hadn't even given the disk a proper listen yet.

Anyway, I suspected my brother might decide to scale the disk and copy it while I was out so in a fit of spite I hid it in my laptop bag away from him... the very same laptop bag that was stolen the very next night!

So I was complaining to my brother that it was my fault for being so selfish and hiding the CD that it landed up being stolen.. and he posted a replacement CD to me.

That is the nicest thing to happen to me all week!

Yaay for big brothers!