Category Archives: Uncategorized

Virgin Galactic has suffered a seemingly crippling blow in confidence because of last weeks accident.  As unpleasant as it may be, it is also part of the vision that Burt Rutan (the inventor and designer of all the gadgets Virgin … Continue reading →

Well, it seems I’m back. I’ve had a long break to think about the meaning of life (even if we know that the answer is 42). To find things that I am truly passionate about, and to write about them, … Continue reading →

At heart I am an engineer, a scientist; I require, perhaps not proof, but consistency to a supposition.  If you say that you can believe enough to make something happen (special or mundane) then you should be able to produce … Continue reading →

Perfectly Amazing English There is a short speech, delivered by movie character, in which I am amazed at the authors command of the language. The speech delivers, in a satirizing manner, a short, sharp political message that is the core … Continue reading →

To know that the SA government and police have spent a great deal of time and energy in getting all of the legally registered firearms properly re-registered, so that criminal activity with firearms can be limited and controlled. It took … Continue reading →

It turns out that the compression is just fine; my methodology was wrong!  Now I have learnt a bit more; to perform a proper compression test you need to do the following: Take out ALL the spark plugs- that is, … Continue reading →

 To the start I’ll attempt to quote a few lines from John Steinbecks opening paragraphs of his book ‘Cannery Row’. “Its inhabitants are, as the man once said, ‘whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches’, by which he meant Everybody.” … Continue reading →

In the last few years I have watched a mate of mine die, watched a colleague do the same and had to hear the news of the deaths of three other pilots whom I knew.  It is a certainty that … Continue reading →

What do you do when your buddies throw you in pool at 11pm in the middle of the highveld winter?  Well, if you were in Vancouver, like my buddy Wim, you’d have your wife and family calling an ambulance to … Continue reading →

I was once asked, by an Afrikaaner, whether I was a ‘***fir boetie’, after I had defended a black storeman who worked with us. I replied, “no, but I’m not an Afrikaaner boetie either.” I have also been asked whether … Continue reading →