The story of Cigar

Could Omicron be a blessing in disguise?

Staying Alive

Porsche Girl: Hey! Mr so Dark and mysterious, guess we will both be spending this Christmas together after all as car park lovers.

Maybe Christmas back home…. Next year.

I don’t think I can make it home for Christmas this year. The Omicron drama is just being played up to renewed heights and predictably governments are reacting to it by closing their borders. Or simply banning flights from certain countries all together. I was counting on an early Christmas this time round…….. But its starting to look like a long shot. Nevermind, I have some cold cuts of turkey in the fridge and loads of beer. I am sure, I will find something to watch in Netflix. Merry Christmas. 🙂

The psychology that is Omicron

In every crisis, doubt leads to confusion and this can really only create ideal conditions for fear to take hold. This is the dynamic of how the ridiculous and unsubstantiated seize the high ground – regrettably this is usually committed with the complicity of the overactive media and knee jerk decisions of politicians who simply can’t do with scare mongering to reliably stay in power. In truth when the dust settles down……… Omicron may well turn out to be a big fat nothing.

The right way to do cable squats

The Art of Walking Away

There comes a time in your life, when you should absolutely learn to develop the confidence to walk away from all the drama and fake people along with the corrosive mentality that is generated by immature and entitled folk. It’s not difficult to develop this skill. All you have to do is remind yourself that – you deserve better than this pile of shit where your life revolves around a few petulant ass holes and what you really deserve is folk who are genuine and nourishing and honestly caring. To cut right down to the chase – forget the bad and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right and walk away from those who think the world revolves around them. Life is simply too bloody short to do any different.

Don’t let anyone tell you it’s selfish to put yourself FIRST and foremost. Because if you yourself don’t have the courage to do so. No one will!

Elizabeth Taylor

Technically, she wasn’t much to shout about…she was seriously chubby and suffered terribly from cellulite and used enough make up to plaster a billboard twice over. BUT what she had, she used right up to the hilt…she knew how to turn on the juices. What this demonstrates about life is this – be good, really good in the ONE thing most people cannot or find difficult to do. Because that makes you much more marketable than a Jack of all trades.

The key is specialization.

On the subject of Restraint

Ultimately. At some point restraint especially in a man has to be incredibly intimidating and even slightly scary. Because when a man is sharp, alert and has a stomach as flat as a washboard – what that really signifies is that he’s very serious about the business of getting ahead and he doesn’t even mind denying himself….so in a sense, there’s a military dimension to this man, one that is speaks of the utilitarian and functional like one of those tool watches that seems almost stripped of all affectation and beauty leaving aside only its essence. I think a man who is able to convey this extraordinary discipline in his carriage and persona and restraint especially can be both incredibly inspiring and intimidating, but to those who know of things…such a man of restraint is dangerous. Because they will all eventually ask – what is his mission?

The “O” Variant

When Coronavirus first made its debut back in March 2020. It Pearl Harbored me so hard that it was the perfect sucker punch. I was knocked out…cold. But this time round even if this happens to be the mother of all Covid variants and the after effects on the economy happen to be considerable and far more devastating then its predecessors…Governments will once again have to impose movement curbs. This time round I am confident that I will not only thrive, but I will even do much better. You see. I had a secret plan B up my sleeves. I never expected this virus to just walk over the brow of a knoll and just disappear into history. I always had this niggling suspicion it would sneak right back as a much more muscular and aggressive variant…I am ready this time round!

Bring it on!

Returning to the Plantation

It has been difficult….very difficult, simply because so much pain has passed under the bridge of time. Its doubtful that I will ever recapture the feeling of awe, love and hopefulness I had for the land. I once had the same wasted feeling in Africa. No matter how much I tried to see beauty and hope in the land, all I could ever summon was the acrid smell of cordite and burning rubber, the rents of distant machine gun fire and the blood and tears. There were days when I would just drink myself into an alcoholic haze in an attempt to free myself from terror of war, but no matter how hard I tried. I could never forget. It took me many years to silence the demons in my head…too many to ever want to go down that road again. Now it’s really all about money and very little else.

What comes around….goes around as well

Life is not linear or chronological. But what it certainly is without a shadow of doubt is karmic.

The Coin of Debt

In the tradition of the old country. When a man ask for a favor and its granted by the benefactor. A coin is halved and one is kept by the grantee and the other by the grantor. On the day when the grantor or his descendants presents the halve to the grantee or his descendants and it matches. Then the grantee must repay back the favor.

During Covid. Many of my businesses were hit so hard that at the lowest point in my life it was impossible to conceive ever breaking the surface to steal a breath….but I managed to survive to fight another day it seems….and if I had to point to one compelling reason, it is simply this – during good and uneventful times. I rendered help to many….there were many who drank from my well. Yes, some were scoundrels and others were just opportunist and then there were of course the fairweathered friends. But included in this circus were also very serious men who knew the weight of the coin of debt along with it’s many chapters of implications. It was these men who I turned too in my darkest hour and I told them…I want this to be done, that to be put in this or that place and they have successfully delivered me to the safety of a new dawn.

Beware of the man who understands the taking of a favor and the debt that follows and all the customs that it entails…such a man is dangerous. I want you to understand. I don’t mean to come across as rude and dismissive. But. Men who do not know of these things have to be inconsequential, shallow and should best avoid serious enterprises and understakings….as to them, life is probably one unending stroll in the park which you and I know…It never is.

China vs USA Dialogue

It’s conceivable that whether the China vs USA conflagration is or is not such a good thing depends entirely on three factors – where are you located? What’s your vocation? And possibly even whether you are an Asian or Caucasian or Eskimo. Because as it is, the loggerheads factor that continues to divide these two great superpowers is actually benefiting alot of nations and industries and people who are allied to China. But of course it all comes at the expense of countries like Australia and Canada and other western countries that have been blacklisted by the PRC. Let me be frank, from my industry standpoint, I may not necessarily want relations to normalise between China and the USA simply because that would hit my bottom line real hard and I would probably have to compete on an equal footing with out producers in the edible oils sector. This way, there’s always a joker in the pack. Maybe it’s best if both super powers continue strangling each other. After all, during the cold War era when the US was pitted against the once mighty USSR. The main beneficiaries from that epic ideological conflict were the poor nations of the world who could always play off one superpower over another to get the best deal. So just imagine, if the US and China share the same philosophy and values and are in perfect agreement….under those ideal conditions, folk like me would probably be screwed……As you can see. I have changed my views concerning the China vs USA conflict…..let the games begin!

The Covid Threat in Perspective

I think perspective is everything! Because without it. Its almost impossible to ascribe a sense of scale and context to anything to see it as it is and not what we FEAR it to be. For me. The immideate threat is stuff like how much salt and sugar I am consuming along with reminding myself to focus just on driving and nothing else whenever I am in the car….as for Covid, its there, I guess. But its also not…if you know what I mean.

The problem I have with Minimalist

When you reduce everything in your life to the simplest and most basic common denominator……all it really means is greedily hoarding and accumulating too much of ME, ME and ME.

On nurturing talent

When someone has a gift and you dont, it doesn’t mean you cant be part of their beauty and share in celebrating their talents. One doesn’t need to possess that talent like being able to blow bubbles with your spit, resolving really complex math in your head or just being able to figure out how best to fit the highest number of cars into a vacant land….its not about ownership, its really only about appreciation.

Making an investment in REAL things, people and experiences

There’s no surefire way to be rich, not even if you follow all the tried and tested axioms and safe pathways. There isn’t. And people who tell you this is good to go today! Could just as well be crying their eyes out tomorrow on an account of a lousy investment. If there’s a guide to investing wisely, it simply this – go for real things. Not pie in the sky stuff. I am not saying crypto currency or E-commerce are all bad. They have their rightful place in every investment portfolio. Only when you put your money and time and energy in real people for instance. It never ever comes back to give you grief. You can always rely on them to get you up on your two feet again even if you fall real hard. They don’t ever set limits on their friendship because they want the best for you. And even should you rub them the wrong way. They will forgive and remember your goodness. That to me is the definition of a good investment. But if you invest in things and people and experience who just want to take you apart because they themselves are messed up or simply have an axe to grind with the world or haven’t really given the idea of growing anything seriously….then I think you will always be waiting for the day when your investment turns around and since that day will never ever come. Its best to just cut your losses. This is why people move on and simply fade right out of the scene……they just know deep down its not worth it.

Get down on your knees and thank your lucky star!

To speak of life and not to mention the preponderance of luck at least ten times has to be ingratitude at its best and simply arrogance at its worst – luck is the great upsetter as well as great redeemer….the goal at the final turn of minute, getting a decent girl to come into your life, getting dealt a good hand, or simply being in the right place at the right time. But one thing you have to understand is this – some people get luck handed to them early on in life. Others get bum luck in the first half of their life and they never ever recover from the fall…that’s why if something goes your way. Be grateful….kneel down kiss the earth and just give thanks….its the only way I know how to remain gainfully humble.

What’s the meaning of life?

I don’t ever think it’s a question. As much as an experience.