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Friday, December 30, 2005

friday-thursday

(as opposed to wednesday-tuesday)

yesterday:

the mongoose stayed in bed all day. i started my day at 11.30, and went to my old high school. i went to say hi to a couple of teachers, and get my niece's results.

firstly, i had to wait an hour. so did everyone else. my aunt arrived - congratulations all around... her daughter got 7 A's for her finals, with an average of 103%. insane. that's the cousin ("tgtbt") that the mongoose met and was taken with on arrival.

my nephew managed to miss me somehow, and i missed my niece's friend - so the only thing i did was talk to the teacher's. got boring quickly.

i went looking for hyperviper, but that proved too much of a mission. i then went to the doctor - i seem to be alright, and on my way back something clicked, and i got back into cape town mode. i'm all good *thumbs up*.

i visited my great-uncle, who's not doing so well, and then my elder niece and her boyfriend picked me and the mongoose up and we went to tank, for absolutely SUPERB sushi and sashimi. that ROCKED.

we went to the labrynth. same place (just closed off) that we've been the whole week, but kicked it's own ass [sic] completely. GRINDING trance beats the entire night, and the crowd was excellent. tgtbt was there with a friend, and i even ran into the guy who taught me to spin - he's been djing 7 years overseas, and has come back and opened up a restaurant and grill.

go figure.

i bounced my legs to death, so going to bed was in slow-mo. but i felt goooood.

today:

slow-mo wake-up, then went past my cousins' and saw my brother and both his kids. i didn't even know the younger one was in town.

my mom, the mongoose and i went off to tygervalley, to do some camping gear shopping. aeroplane rocked up, for a chat and to return my goggles, and then we head back. i went to the synagogue, which was a pleasant service, dropped off a cousin in not-at-ALL-pretentious top rd, then returned home for a brilliant supper.

now to find some rock.

now if only my sinuses would stop acting up. a day before 3 days of dust. silly human vehicle.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

aggravated damage

i spent most of the day in a pissy mood because of the vaalies.

we missioned to the waterfront for cash, then to call-a-pizza for pizza and vortex tickets, attempted to buy boardies for less than R200 (didn't manage), and went to read by the pool.

went to shadowslight's mum's place, discovered nobody there, then went to shadowslight's. it was a fun evening, in spite of the abysmal failure of my texas hold'em strategy which works just fine against the germans. go figure. the mongoose did quite well, though.

we went out on the town - eventually found a decent-ish joint which had funky music. the dj was killer - between sets he beatboxed unbelievably, well enough to make the evening worthwhile.

and now we're back.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

urgh and burble

it's 3pm, and i still haven't woken up properly. we spent yesterday on the beach. hunting, mostly. met some gorgeous german girls, and i gave them the wrong phone number. i don't know how.

we went to a lebanese restaurant for supper. the food was okay. the bill wasn't. we got horribly, horribly ripped off. sweetiepie joined us, and we all went off to see narnia. it IS the bee's knees. superbly close to the book, and thoroughly enjoyable. stunning, in fact.

we went to opium again. it was filled with johannesburg's worst - all the jewish kids. we kept hoping things would improve. but they didn't. i'd forgotten how much they agitate me.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

back in business - not too shabby!

so this morning (yesterday morning. whatever.) was quite laid back. we continued watching the devil's advocate, i introduced the mongoose to my twin niece and nephew, and we went off to the aquarium.

on the way, we found a lot of nice gifts at the waterfront, which was helpful.

the aquarium was grossly disappointing. R65 to enter, and seeing EVERYTHING (some things twice, even) took about 20 minutes. there were only three exhibits that were at all interesting: penguins (amusing), jellyfish (pretty), and enormous lobster-like beasts (creepy). that SUCKED.

we improved our mood a bit with decadent donuts (dough, i know), and then drove through to my cousin's place, to chill at the pool. the mongoose was introduced to the older niece. pity that the cute friend my niece brought along has a boyfriend...

after they left, my mom arrived. we went upstairs to play star wars - battlefront, which really is the shit. we then left to long street (m bar) for drinks with hyperviper, noddiex, and a couple of others... we drank a LOT. seriously. it was really nice there.

i drove home, with only one dangerous incident. i'm not impressed with myself, but we were under time-pressure. no excuse, but it happened.

we finished watching the movie, dressed nicely, and went off to a fancy (supposedly, they were extremely unprofessional in every sense) restaurant. i had an enormous bowl filled with mussels. i made an absolute pig of myself. and the mongoose actually managed to find something nice that he could eat (he's turned out a mite picky, of late).

service aside, it was a very pleasant evening. we returned home to pick up keys, then drove through to landsdowne to meet up with sweetiepie - got a bit lost, and then all the pubs turned out to be closed, so we went to her place. i'm sorry for wasting the mongoose's time, but it was great catching up with her. we talked a lot longer than i expected, and it was interesting. nice place, too :P

we were joking about getting married, and decided against it because the whole jewish / catholic thing doesn't work for either of us. jokes aside, she's one of the few girls i would even consider marrying. *sigh*

anyways, we then went to opium. and finally got there while it was still possible to get in. and we were dressed right.

the music was great, the whole night, and the women were fantastic. incredible. unbelievable. superb. talented all round. we both enjoyed ourselves immensely. finally! we found something!

i'm the last to pass out, it seems. any minute now... (especially considering the volume of alcohol in my blood)

Monday, December 26, 2005

christmas spirit

saturday night:

the mongoose and i went to cafe erte to use the net, and have some coffee. place has become even sadder than before. swak. protoplasm joined us, and we left.

we started off the night at call-a-pizza. good music, but there were only about five people there. we went to getafix, which was also practically empty. bummer. so we missioned long street, in which every party was falling off the rails. at 3am. rediculous.

we tried opium, which actually looked like a great party - but even at 3am they weren't letting people in anymore. that really killed me. there was no way of knowing, but if we'd gone there first... nevermind. the mongoose walked into sliver, and walked out impressed at the party, but confused as to the lack of women :P

so we said goodbye to protoplasm, and went back to getafix. that lasted all of half an hour. then we farked off home. i crashed on the couch, too tired and lazy to go downstairs.

yesterday:

we got up around 12, finally left the apartment at 12.40, and made it to gordon's bay around 13.20. not bad. we got to the sandman's folks' place just as they were in their final unwrapping round. it was really nice to see everybody, and we handed our gifts over - i was not only embarrassed because i didn't know if the gifts were good or not (i don't know how these things work!), but i wasn't sure of the sandman's girlfriend's name (which i had, strangely enough, gotten right). but their reactions were a gift to me :)

we went to the beach - sending the mongoose in to his first real ocean experience, and spent the day braaiing and chatting and generally enjoying ourselves. the food was fantastic.

sandman, his girlfriend and the two of us went for a walk in the evening, which netted us some incredible photos - we'll try to post as soon as possible. we got back, and said rushed goodbyes to everyone as we tried to make the narnia movie - we really did hurry, but we got there too late. sucked. so we returned, chatted a while, and then drove back to cape town.

all in all - amazing christmas ^_^

we went to rent a movie, and i had to pay R50 to unblock my account... i've now changed the account code, so my nieces and nephew can no longer screw me over like that. right pissed me off.

we rented the devil's advocate, but we were both so tired that we only got through about half an hour before crashing.

i went to sleep at my sister's again, and i slept badly again. i think i'll just sleep on the couch from now on.

i just found out that we missed the first night of hanukkah last night :$
oh well. at least there're seven more nights.

Saturday, December 24, 2005

pretty - long - day

no entry
black flagged!

i slept at my sister's, and i slept badly. dunno why.

woke up around 9-ish, had breakfast, woke up the mongoose, and we drove off to town. christmas shopping, you know. tomorrow we'll be having lunch with an afrikaans (sandman's) family, it's both of our first christmas ever :P

started off at outer limits, which was fun, then walked around the lower end of st. georges mall and through the train station. didn't find much, aside from some beggar who pissed me off by telling me that the only reason i didn't want to give him money was because he's black. stupid fucker.

the mongoose had breakfast at green's, i just had a hunter's dry (i'd forgotten about those). t'was alright. we then met protoplasm at greenmarket square, for some hefty missioning and bits of shopping and bargaining here and there. and we found an awesome smoker's utility shoppe, which will be visited for prezzies before i leave.

we then re-met up with protoplasm at canal walk, which was a bit crazy. i had some good chinese, and we got stuck in the experilab shop-thingy, which turned out lots of neat gifts and things. i found an awesome book, which i'll have to go buy for myself - a compilation of stories about murderers and motives. perfect for xmas.

went off to see my aunt one last time before she returned to canadia (yes, that thar's on purpose), which was nice but sad. on our way we got amazing photo's of the firefighting helicopters in action - the mountain was on fire. i blame the mongoose.

the two of us made our way to call-a-pizza, which had great music and better pizza's, and we're gonna go past later on to a small trancemas party they're throwing. we then sat on a fence by clifton and watched the sunset.

stunning.

on our way back we noticed another fire on the strand - some people are not having a merry christmas - and i'm still blaming the mongoose - and have come back to crash before going out.

good day, all in all.

quietly now...

shhhh... the mongoose just passed out, don't wanna wake him.

i lie, i do wanna wake him, but my mommy tells me it's not polite.

last night: shadowslight and i went to stones (what used to be ballroom). closed.
CLOSED???
CLOSED.
my word. so much history in there - my first cigarette, the first (only) time i ever got my lights punched out... actually, maybe it's not so bad.

we went through to the camps bay strip - DEAD. so we had a couple of drinks, and chatted for ages. there were some nice girls, but i was completely apathetic. the only chance of anything happening was if one of them had jumped on my lap and begun trying to seduce me.

today:

i slept until twelve. i went shopping, which was a bit of a mission really - it was the day before christmas eve... and then returned home to work on those undisclosed things. visited my brother and his son at my sister's place, and then a bit of getting-sorted-out before dropping her and her boyfriend off at the airport, sitting down for a beer, and then picking up the mongoose.

it's strange, and very cool having him here.

straight back to my place, he showered and we got ready and then rushed off to the dinner. awesome place. good food. quite fun. unsurprisingly, he's completely taken by tgtbt, i think it might've been better if he'd met other girls first :P

tried the camps bay stretch afterwards, even deader than before, so we came back here and he's just crashed. i'll be following suit shortly.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

nice day

the barmitzvah itself was really nice. i'd forgotten how to put on tefillin, so that was kinda embarrassing, and it's the first time i've heard been bass accompaniment to the torah reading (some athlone special went past).

the day event was cool - food was great, speeched were nice, and there were some pretty girls even if it was all "look, don't touch". t'was all very social.

drinks with the aunt in the evening, which was very pleasant, then coffee with the cousin (and another screening of valiant) until now. now off to play some pool with shadowslight. tomorrow be busy.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

jolly good show

i was waiting for the bus to go through to taekwondo this morning (to say hi and complain about the non-functioning dvds they sold me last year), when i saw my brother drive past, so i called him and got him to stop and give me a ride.

his kid's just been kicked off summer camp for peeing on / in (not clear) the head of his group's trunk. i think that's most amusing, for many reasons.

nobody at taekwondo, so i went to the waterfront for great doughnuts and a quick hunting mission. then i bussed back, got ready, and dragged my nephew out of his shell and we went with my sister's boyfriend to the beach.

very cool afternoon, the wind was a bit annoying, but it is STUNNING muizenberg side. tried to boogeyboard, i'm not very good. i suck, actually. and i came out with seriously hurting inner-ears. after an hour or so we met up with my cousins, and the afternoon was chilling on the beach.

my sister's boyfriend and i dropped off my nephew (who made a real noise until we agreed to let him go), and then farked off to la med for too much beer, and awesome hamburgers. talked a lot, then he dropped me off at home and i went out shoe shopping with my mom.

i don't like shopping, but eventually we found a pair i can deal with. stopped for great coffee, and did quite a bit of ogling (there were some nice women about).

off to my aunt's best friend, who i haven't seen in many years, and had a very pleasant time wrestling their crazy dog while my mom tried on dresses for tomorrow. *just* got back now, about to begin speech-writing for tomorrow morning, and then it's off to bed!

i can hear the sea

without the aid of seashells. it's right over there. i can SMELL it.

i napped a bit after posting this morning, then my canadian aunt came over for a chat with my second mom (hers too), and then we went through to another aunt's place (mom of the barmitvah boy).

walking onto her balcony is like entering a dream. the view is too beautiful to be real.

i had a chat with her daughter, who's not only amazingly smart and beautiful, but is also into full-on psychedelic trance and the crusty parties we have. that surprised me... i thought i was the only one :)

it was great seeing everybody else, too - everyone preparing like crazy for the main event on thursday and friday. i did a quick shopping trip, had coffee, and then dropped off the car with my mom, and my canadian aunt took me to sea point for lunch. we ran into my uncle and aunt from the other side of the family, and they joined us - it's the first time i've been able to have a conversation with him in hebrew (he teaches hebrew in university), so that made me feel good. we then dropped them off at my cousins', went on a quick shopping trip for pants for the barmitzvah, and then i joined everyone at my cousins' for tea.

i do enjoy spending time with my brother and cousins. my cousins' kid introduced me to star wars - battlefront (i think, there're lots of similar titles). AWESOME game. will play during housesitting.

i got a ride home, waited for my mom, and we then went through to other cousins for supper. that was most pleasant. haven't laughed that much in a long time. my mom, canadian aunt and i joined a family friend for coffee, and then when i got back home my niece arrived with her boyfriend for more coffee.

it's been a very nice day. i'm now off to bed.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

sunrise special!

i woke up laughing hysterically - i was sure my mum had left without me, and then noticed that it was 5.40am... just a couple of minutes before she was supposed to wake me up ^_^

drove her to work, then stopped in mouille point to stare at the ocean and robben island for a bit, and am now trying to plan my day... i LOVE this city!!!

good end to the weekend!

from sunday

i posted my blog, went downstairs, and got into protoplasm's new car. we had a looooong drive to the party - about 170km, through absolutely stunning scenery. and a quick stop in robertson, where i had an amusing encounter when buying cigarettes in afrikaans :P

we paid R120 to get in, which horrified me, but it was more than made up for. when we stepped through the bushes (and slid a bit down the hill) and onto the dancefloor, we'd hit what i can only describe as paradise.

hundreds of happy faces, weird and wonderful, lots of beautiful, beautiful girls and many people digging hard in the mud and tossing handfuls everywhere (to nothing but sheer delight). the dancefloor was in the middle of a gorgeous little clearing surrounded by hills, the sun was shining and everything was green and brown ^_^

and some guy did something legendary. the sound rig quit, and while the dj was tending to it he launched himself, landing face first in the mud and sliding on his chest the entire length of the dancefloor, stopping with a barely audible "dink" when his head hit something under the platform. after a couple of seconds of silence, which we needed to understand what had happened, the entire place erupted with laughter. the guy walked back a hero :)

and the music was the most powerful i've heard. i actually couldn't keep my body under control - i was constantly moving and grooving. at one point the bass was so heavy that we could only hear a slightly hollow noise, and the ground itself was shaking.

when i die, that's where i want to be.

the trip back took forever, but i spent most of it passed out. i'm not sure what time we got back to sea point, but protoplasm stopped in for a drink, and my mom joined us. we were sitting there chatting and smoking, and when my mom finished her drink she made a comment about wondering who she'd hit, and tossed the ice backwards over the balcony. i jumped up to see, and was laughing before i got to the edge - *just* in time to see the last block of ice land with a thump.

"ma, guess who's car that just landed on." "who's?" she asked as she stood up.
"yours." that got us laughing hysterically for the next 5 minutes. her car is going in for panel-beating anyway :P

i showered streams of mud off myself, and spent the evening napping in front of the tv, ate a fantastic boerewors hotdog supper, and was woken by my aunt who i haven't seen in about 5 years. had a nice chat. eventually i went to bed.

today:

i woke up agitated by sunburn - i look a bit like a zebra, and had a good start to the day. then aeroplane and some buddies picked me up, and we spent a few hours on clifton 4th - every time i return there it's like the first time i've ever seen a beach that pretty. proper white sand! practically empty except for a few dead-sexy girls!

we played around with a soccer ball the entire time, and at one point i tried to get in the water... i just wanted to dip my head and return, but my body refused once my legs were in such incredible pain. i ended up hobbling and stumbling back out the water with the top half of my body still dry. so sad.

i crashed when i got home, and woke up much later to go out to dinner with my mom and aunt. it was REALLY nice, the food was amazing, and we got some serious talking done :) returned home about half an hour ago... or something... and am about to disconnect and go offline. and then really go offline :)

Sunday, December 18, 2005

rushed post

i was woken around 10.30 to be invited to schpatcon. i began my day with some serious shopping - got myself some decent threads for the party, and found out that the awesome el cheapo shoes are available :)

i got dropped off at greens, for a beer and an excellent, although admittedly extremely odd, french toast and bacon and berries breakfast. sweetiepie's ex drove me home - it's the first time we've actually met, guess which subject won't come up in any event. decent guy, is now also keen on sorting out urban paintball: christmas edition.

that would be keen.

i dropped my mom off with some cousins, then drove off to campus. i haven't driven manual in a year, and my mind was a bit fuzzy, but everything came naturally, and i was paying so much attention to rage against the machine that i suddenly found myself in the right parking lot :P

it was excellent seeing everyone again, and great fun schooling tekken again ;) amusing harmonica jam session before i left, and my schpatcon shirt is already serving me well.

i met up with hyperviper on the way home, and was most entertained by the parking attendant playing the lotto...

i crashed for an hour or two watching the series channel, ate a ton of fried fish, and almost broke an irreplaceable glass lid. my mom came home, i transferred all my phone numbers to my sa sim card, made some calls, got all snazzed up, and got dropped off in long street.

the party was kind of dead when i got there, but an hour or so later it really picked up. i am fascinated and satisfied with the quality and quantity of females there, the music was great, the vibe was good.

i did, however, drink too much. ended up crashing an hour or two in hyperviper's car. very, very comfortably, i might add.

they woke me up around 4.30, and my eyes weren't working yet when we walked into what i can only thing of as wonderland. crazy bar, insane and very weird people, and they'd just closed. it was all very trippy.

-- i woke up --

we then set off to sliver, which is what's become of angels. and to whatever detour is now called. it farking rocked, just as it always has - the music was fantastic, the people rather, er... colourful. and even a couple of birds, one of whom's outfit will be one of my cherished memories from now on.

bounced around to some powerful house, then went on a gta style drive, and they guys dropped me off home. i've just brushed my teeth, changed into "dirty" clothes, and am off to the alien safari!!

watching the dawn waves crash home on a beautiful summer morning. every view of the mountain or the ocean has been breathtaking.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

a different me (first post from cape town)

wow. just wow.

i finished up the packing and the showering and the laundry, disconnected all electrical items, got dressed and walked to the lizard.

the party was great. brilliant music => LOTS of dancing and going crazy on the dancefloor, quite a few friends showed up (our team all going nuts together was quite the bonding experience), and we drank quite a bit. the mongoose's ex brought me some more of the still-undisclosed stuff, which is good.

she drove me home, where i quickly changed clothing (i partied a little too hard to go straight to the plane), and then to the airport. i walked in at 3.10am, and going through all the procedures took forever, and at some points was quite frustrating... i was soooooo wasted. the new airport is quite spanky, though.

ran into a dead sexy girl who just got released from our base (not the cute one i mentioned earlier), and the guy who took care of my group when i was in israel in '96.

that cute girl - never found her. i was dead / dying by the time (5.30am) we boarded, and all i could think of was falling asleep on the plane.

the flight sucked. i did fall asleep in bits and pieces, but aside from the seat being totally uncomfortable (causing me to wake up unable to move my head at some points), there was a baby two seats in front of me that didn't stop screaming the entire fucking flight. unbelievable. drove me mad. all in all i reckon i slept about 2 / 3 hours, and spent the rest of the flight in zombie mode.

speaking of zombie mode - from the time i got to the airport i stopped feeling like a soldier. as if i'd turned off that entire part of me that's been developing over the last year. freaks me out a bit, actually.

i did finish neverwhere - what a beautiful story. so wonderfully told. neil gaiman's sheer bloody genius.

and i started the adventures of tom sawyer, which is an absolute pleasure to read.

the food was actually okay! that was totally unexpected.

finally got to johannesburg, glided through passport control, waited forever for my bag, slipped through customs (i REALLY didn't have anything to declare :P), and took the long walk to domestic departures. the girl at the british airways ticket counter wasn't very helpful, but at the check-in the girl put me on standby for an earlier flight. and then, extremely helpfully, didn't explain to me what i had to do.

after some embarrassing run-ins with security, i managed to figure out where to go, and waited with the rest (11) of the stand-bys. eventually got onto the flight, went through security, and got to boarding. the girl at the boarding gate didn't have a cellphone (so i could inform my mommy of the change), and told me there wasn't enough time to go find a public phone. so i began walking down the ramp to the plane, when i realized i didn't have my bag with me.

DAMN. my hand-luggage contained all my important shit. so i legged it back to the boarding gate - not there - then SPRINTED to security, where it was still sitting on the side.

*PHEW*

close fucking call. very, very stupid of me.

someone on the plane let me sms, and then i took my seat.
and then realized my seat was in first class. NICE. not the first time british airways had flown me first class for free ^_^

the flight was very pleasant - comfortable seats, good food. i made the mistake of reading the newspaper. waste of brain cycles. i guess i slept about half an hour. i was exhausted.

got off the plane, stood breathing in cape town air before getting on the bus to the terminal, waited an inordinate amount of time for my bag... again... even though stand-by luggage is usually off first...

and then met my mum outside! happy moment :)

being back in cape town is like a lucid dream. i still don't feel like i'm really here.

supper was at my sister's. huge family do, with uncles and cousins here from all over the country, and my brother to boot ^_^ it was all very enjoyable. and the food was great. my second mom and i were as if i hadn't been away, which is nice.

long supper later, i dropped my bags off at my mom's (here), had a shower, got dressed, and got picked up by hyperviper and racer. we drove into town, picked up katelyn (that's what i *thought* i heard when i met her), and we went off to a really serious club where racer was to spin.

so many beautiful girls. rediculous, actually. lots, and lots, and lots of drinks. lots of talking. lots of seeing people i haven't seen in years. funky music. we left just after racer began playing, and came back here for coffee. my mom was going to sleep, and hysterics ensued when i introduced katelyn as "katelyn", and was informed of her actual name.

OH. penny dropped, there'd been some fun poked at her actual name earlier that had gone straight over my head.

coffee was amusing, they've just left, and i'm about to brush teeth and crash.

all-in-all, it was an awesome night. tomorrow we have breakfast planned, i *have* to do some shopping, i have to start getting phone numbers together, and i'm going to do my best to get through to schpatcon. and tomorrow night is a huge party that i've just happened to arrive in time for ^_^

hearing each wave crashing to shore brings me pure pleasure. seeing the outline of the mountain as i closed the door brings me pure pleasure. my beautiful bed invites me.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

omfgomfgomfgomfg yeeeeeeeeaaaaah!!!!!!!!

hot DAMN.

so i got a ride to the base after work, crashed at 6am. it was super cold, so i didn't really sleep a hell of a lot - i would have got inside the sleeping bag, but spot had used it last, and there was a damp patch in the middle with a bullet next to it, and i got to wondering if they were his...

i was woken at 10am. by the mongoose. not by j-girl.

because the guys in the secretariat cancelled his trip to sa. WTF??!?! so i went down to his office, and we spent the next half hour getting organized. found a loophole, and so far it seems that we've managed to get around those creeps.

j-girl arrived, looking gorgeous as usual, and after saying good morning disappeared to do her "form hiking" thing. i spent the day collecting things that cannot be disclosed here yet, working, and crashing whenever there was waiting to be done. which totalled about an hour - not nearly enough.

fortunately my work lead us to discover and fix some rather deep problems with our new server, so i leave knowing that things are better off :)

once j-girl left the base, the release section was on high alert and everyone there was jumpy and nervous. around 3 or 4, i got a call from my contact there saying that everything at the first station had gone superbly, and that j-girl was absolutely thrilled, and the guys working the station were really chuffed with themselves. a relatively short while later, j-girl called, and she was completely awestruck.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

and i am SO proud of myself ^_^ i sent through a special thank you to everyone involved, they all did their jobs perfectly and made j-girl's release a unique and enjoyable one. and i get to take all the credit at the end - i can't stop grinning when i think about it!

j-girl took the bus to our base, and i hopped on when i passed, and we went into tel aviv for coffee / late lunch / early supper. it was really, really nice. and the food was amazing. an enormous hot beef salad.
and j-girl wore the civilian dog-tag the entire time, which really pleased me.

we took a taxi to the bus station, said our goodbyes (which saddened me, at least), and then i made my way back to the base, where spot and the scout were still around.

i've been having a serious and rediculously illogical problem with the work i did for the mongoose, and spot's taken over. i hope he gets the job done, because if he can't, then in my opinion it's just not doable.

i got all my gear sorted out, we all did some taekwondo forms (the scout's are definitely improving, and spot's are a lot better than i expected). i then bussed home, so gosh-darn excited i couldn't help grinning and behaving like a total fool. i ran into a really cute girl from our unit who's just been released, and i'll be meeting up with her at the airport (she's off to rome), so it'll be less boring :)

i got home, am running washing and am halfway through packing, about to take a shower, and then i'm off to the lizard for some hard partying and drinking before the mongoose's ex brings me home to pick up my bags and then takes me to the airport.

infinite w00t!!! cape town, here i come!!

falling apart - grinning

yesterday:

i slept alright. the mongoose and i had a rushed get-up and run (not literally, though) to get to the base almost on time, i put some final touches on the presentation i've been working on, and then it was showtime.

it took a long time, and i took a metaphorical beating, but we all learned a bit, and overall the commanders are enthusiastic. unfortunately for the scout, i'm leaving in 26 hours or so, the dog (i think i'm going to begin calling him "spot") is on some course or other, and what remains of the "team" - just the scout - has been given a week to construct something for which the infrastructure just isn't ready yet.

sucks.

spent the rest of the day working, and teaching the scout more taekwondo - it was a lot of fun, and great exercise. and it really is pleasing to see him improve.

our team leader decided to do something risky with our servers, so i had to stay on base until everything was done to coordinate between all the involved parties.

fortunately i had work to do, or it could have been rather boring. went for a walk at one stage, ended up losing badly in a game of backgammon and talking to a couple of really cute girls - who informed me that the guard-commander's assistant (a guy in our section) got his finger sliced when checking a weapon. it always amazes me that they give these girls guns when they don't understand the basic principles of weapons-inspection. like, f'rinstance, DON'T RELEASE THE FUCKING CHARGING HANDLE WHEN SOMEONE'S FINGER IS IN THE EJECTOR PORT.

unfortunately, our team leader made a small miscalculation, and by the time 10.30pm rolled around it was clear that we were in deep shit. crazy organizing took place, i had to ensure that everyone would be in the right place at 7am.

i walked off the base at 11pm, having just been invited to yogi's birthday dinner. a seriously rushed shower and dress, and a taxi to a place called brown's.

nice place. awesome music. huge screen xtreme channel. amazing food. it was great seeing yogi, his bride-to-be, mmf, and friends. i drank too much.

taxied home, translating legalize over the phone for crasher, and got to bed around 2.30am.

today:

and woke up at 7.30 (i only overslept by an hour!) with a hangover. i bussed to azrieli, all the shops were closed. i bussed to the central station. all the shops were closed. instead of buying a starsign for a chain, i bought a little good luck symbol - last resort. went back to azrieli, still nothing doing: nothing's open before 10am. that's insane.

i realized on my way to the base that i'd left the guardian angel keyring at home. BUGGRIT.

i was so caught up in neverwhere that i missed my stop. that's rather unusual.

i arrived on base, my head still splitting, to a nightmare scene. our systems were still down, and everything in our supported section was being done by hand. suffice it to say that they weren't satisfied customers. until 11am we were all running around, and constantly working. not good for my brain.

the mongoose visited my office - that NEVER happens - and brought me the relevant cards we designed together. they came out beautifully. stunning, in fact. i also received a delivery, the contents of which i cannot disclose at the moment, and continued working.

our section commander accompanied me to the clinic, where he spoke to the idiot doctor on my behalf and organized me a temporary exemption from guarding. he then gave me a ride to my place, where i picked up the keyring, and then to the induction base.

one of the guys in my section organized for me to be met at the gate to the processing base, and he took me through to the office that produces dog-tags, and i walked out with an army-issued (that didn't cost NIS 100 or R150) dog-tag that states j-girl's name and the word "civilian" instead of her id number.

it's the shit. it's without a doubt the most styling army-produced thing i've seen. and it was my idea. i'm chuffed.

so i went to the releasing section, and organized the cards and gifts into envelopes that j-girl will receive at each stage of her release tomorrow.

sometimes, i'm just an absolute genius.

i bussed and trained to herzeliya - it took me from 4pm till 6pm to get to my cousins' place. had coffee, a good chat, and received things to transport to sa. i said goodbye, and walked to my boss's place. long, interesting talk - he was most upset with me, with good reason, because i assumed that i was the last person to know that the woman we work with gave birth, and didn't inform him.

dammit.

anyway, i got the form for my work permit, and then bussed back to tel aviv. i got home at 9pm, showered, dressed, packed to sleep on base, and arrived at work at 9.30. i've been completely wasted the entire night, and the phones just haven't stopped ringing. lots and lots and lots of stupid people.

we had good sushi, though.

so in another hour or so, i'll be walking off to the base, and going to bed. this time, i've given explicit instructions that the only person allowed to wake me up is j-girl. i'm totally looking forward to her getting released. in addition to the prezzies, i invited her out to dinner (woooooooo), but i'm not sure if she'll take me up on that. then it's pack bags, party, and i'm off to the airport.

OMFG!!!!

Monday, December 12, 2005

*wheeze*

yesterday:

i kind of remember working a lot sunday morning. and i taught the scout the first pre-form from taekwondo, it was a lot of fun.

guarding:
1) had a very pleasant evening, talked for hours before going to bed. why do all the great girls have boyfriends?
2) neverwhere's been giving me crazy dreams since i began reading it, and i slept well last night, too.
3) i'm well impressed with my "working uniform", it's all mine and it's a fighter's one, so it looks awesome.
4) my guard shift (2-6) kicked ass. learned a good blues riff on my harmonica. talked most of the time. had a worrying encounter - i went to check a truck's permission, and he didn't have it. he started scrabbling frantically to search for it, and he looked mighty suspicous. there's me standing by the window, loosening my ammo clips and preparing to jump out the way and lock and load in case he pulled a gun on me.

today was chilled - i spent it napping and coffee'ing.

i checked the scout's form on my way out - he's definitely improved :) i went past the mongoose's office, we went missioning in azrieli, and he's now here as i modify the website.

the wheezing is from too many cigarettes, and lots of harmonica.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

disappointing

i crashed until the mongoose's girlfriend woke me up, around 23.30, and then gave me a ride to the club. it was a lot of fun, but two things disappointed me:

1) having to leave early, and the music tonight was great
2) myself, there was an incredibly cute girl and i just didn't have a clue where to begin

i've just shaved, i'm about to hit the shower again, and then the dreadful week begins.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

smashing

both the headache i've been nursing, and the dune miniseries. i'm going to shower, crash for a bit, then go off to the lizard for a farewell party for a buddy who's left the army.

and then i'll find something to whine about in the morning - i'm guarding tomorrow night.

sanity for sale

and i was thinking about an alternative ebay, free of legal obligations, for the auction of illicit goods (such as security flaws, and prostitution).

and something about safes that bite.

i've been walking in a strange dream the last few months. i have so much to do, and the only inclinations i have tend towards sleep, and other bedsport. and damaging things. and people.

to break out of my cage. to tear apart my leash.

to anyone who can afford my sanity: i'm open for bidding.