South Africa 2008
We try to go to Africa every year if we can. We went there to get married and negotiate lobola. We took our first son there to meet his Grandmother, and now we head back to introduce Son #2 to Gogo.
We're all packed and the house is safe in the hands of the house-sitter. We've got about 25 hours of travel ahead of us with a 1 year old and a 3 year old in tow.
If I'm connected at all on this trip, it'll be to blog about our travels, so temporarily, this blog will turn into an Africa Travel Blog, as it has every year (or every other year) in December, so be warned. If you're not interested (as Jeff is not) in such gripping topics as Black Hair, "Waiting for Death's Sweet Release" or Finding a Fundi, then I'll see you in January. If I get a chance, we'll podcast from the other side of the world as well.
One other thing, I'll be stopping by two User Groups while ekhaya, first on the 8th at 6:30pm in Gauteng in Johannesburg, South Africa:
When: 8th December 2008 18:30 - 20:30
Venue: Microsoft Auditorium 2, Bryanston (directions)
Topic: Probably MVC and very open Q&A - Vote here.
RSVP: Please RSVP including your full name as Microsoft security now requires this upfront.
Then in Cape Town on the 17th at 1:00pm in Mowbray:
When: 17th December 2008 13:00 (sharp) (yes, that's 1pm)
Venue: Microsoft Cape Town - Golf Park 3, Engen House, Raapenberg Road, Mowbray
Topic: "Building a Real Website with ASP.NET MVC: Suffering and Pain and Joy" and (very) open Q&A
RSVP: Please RSVP including your full name as Microsoft security now requires this upfront, at hilton at giesenow.com or at http://dotnet.org.za/sadevelopercapetownevents/
Please feel free to spread the word if you're in RSA, but remember that RSVP'ing is needed. See you there!
About Scott
Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.
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Rich
We should be in SA again in the first half of next year. Hope you have a good trip. Stay away from Zim.
Delighted you could make it to Cape Town, we're really looking forward to it...
I found your blog because we're looking at how well Silverlight can suit us (Would love it to be the .Net equivilent of Adobe AIR already with similar features and deployment options). Since 2003 we've been developing a virtual worlds platform, www.vastpark.com, that we've been developing as a light weight multiuser visualization platform and it's totally written in .Net. So we would love Silverlight to be a bit further along as a platform. Fingers crossed for 2009 announcements.
Anyway, loved your blog (Great info) and found Babysmash (Just what I was needing!). I've got a 6 month old. She's mixed race. I'm Australian caucasian and my partner is African (Uganda/Sudan). So it was absolutely lovely to read through your site and discover your story. Wishing you and the family the best.
By the way, my girl absolutely loves pressing buttons (or in fact tearing buttons off keyboards), but this weekend i'm planning to intro her to Babysmash and her own keyboard.
Best wishes.
Bruce Joy
Australia
I would like to hear about how the people in the poor areas are connected to the net (if at all), how they use their computers and whether the One Laptop Per Child goal materialized and to what extent.
Have a safe trip.
Totally jealous - Cape Town - haven't been there since we did the 17 hour drive from Pretoria the year after we were married. And haven't been back to South Africa since 1989, better not let my wife see me reading you blog for the next few weeks as she is really wants to visit again (and introduce our kids to Africa)
Have fun.
Simon
Of course, every time you blog about it, I get this song stuck in my head for hours.
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
Please, somebody, MAKE IT STOP!
Good luck, have fun and be safe.
I have 3 kids of my own and trying to balance my neverending desire to be on the computer while still keeping the family happy can sometimes be challenging. However, I find that the older I get I tend to take more pride in my non-technical achievements. Perhaps that why people get away from the real "techy" stuff later in thier career and become managers.
Anyway, enjoy the trip and I look forward to reading the details on your blog.
Mowbray - now that's the hospital where I was born, Mowbray Maternity hospital.
Cheers,
Kirsten
Hope you have an awesome time here in South Africa.
Wish I could have been in Bryanston tomorrow night, but wont be able to make it due to other commitments :(
- Matt Geri
I'd better stop writing before I start sounding like too much of a "fanboy". It was great. Someone at Microsoft must make a note to send him back here ... OFTEN. :-)
It stems from the fact that the Home Affairs department who administer this area is one of the most inept , chronically underfunded and mismanaged in SA. With the odd exception , getting one's fingernails removed with pliers is preferable to interacting with a Home Affairs employee. By Far.
I apologise on behalf of my erstwhile country and I hope it didn't leave a permanently bad taste - Home Affairs rude and sullen attitude should not be taken as representative of the people.
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