Zagreb .....

I don't quite know how to say how much this city has grabbed me, firstly we are staying in the Regent Hotel in Zagreb, it is straight out of an Agatha Christie book.
Then the city.... It is amazingly beautiful , parks, small winding roads and cobbled streets, markets and trams.
Nothing I can really say here will ever fully express how amazing this city is.

Getting yourself around is interesting, when looking at the street names on the road and on the map nothing really matches up, so just look for something with an approximate number of letters or one that looks similar and off you go.
Street cafés are everywhere, so when the feet are weary, stop, have coffee and watch the people.
Sightseeing....we have been to the Cathedral, St Marks, up and down side streets, markets, and museums till our legs fairly dropped off, I could quite happily do with another couple of days to see more, too much to see too little time.

My bags are packed am ready to go, dont know when Ill be back again

Back on the road again or should I say the air, off to Croatia this time for a three week trip from Zagreb to Dubrovnic with lots of places in between.
We started by flying from Johannesburg to Frankfurt with Lufthansa on an A380 - absolutely incredibly big plane, can't say much about the flight as we both slept like babies all the way.

We took a quick trip into frankfurt for a wander around rather than sit in the airport.

It was the best of days..... it was the worst of days....

Back to class and work on the Three Stoned Tiffany ring, and after all these really long breaks I am really feeling motivated; all I had left to do before final assembly was to fit the wire for the last setting and I was ready for the final hurdle.

The setting is finished, the shank is finished, following detailed instructions from my teacher, I begin the process of soldering the setting to the shank. 

This involved basically having the shank standing vertically on the soldering slab and suspending the setting between the arms of the shank and then applying the tiniest bit of solder to the assembly or should I rather call it the precarious balance of objects..... just looking at it is enough to knock the setting off its perch - a house of cards is probably more stable.

Anyhow balanced it was, and the first solder joint is duly completed YEEEHHHAAAAA

.... Sombre music now plays in the background......

I start the second solder joint and 

OOHHHMYGAAAWWDDDDDD!!!!

I could simply collapse........ the ring falls in half..... IN HALF...  not on its side.... not on its back..... not on the floor.......

.........IN BLOODY HALF!!!!.........

I could just throw up.....Let me say this ....there isn't enough language in the universe to express how this felt, I hope you can hear how hard I am typing !!!!!

So very calmly we pack up, we drive home very calmly and put ones toolbox very CALMLY!!! back in the workshop.... 

Ring in tatters

Maybe juuussstt MAYBE next week the gods will look down on me benevolently and they wont take a poke at me.... or my ring.

Notes from the Far side of the world

Well I am back in town, actually I've been back in town for a while now but haven't had the oomph to do any updates on my blog for a while; i'll call it jet lag, you can call it laziness...... 



The trip to Vancouver and beyond was for business but with a tad of pleasure thrown in, got off to an excellent start, the plane I was flying on was almost empty, if there were 50 of us on board it was a lot, so basically we all had full 4 seat rows to ourselves to be able to lie down fully stretched out and comfortable - who needs first class, well maybe for the great food and for the flights when there are two billion people all with screaming puking babies on board, and having said all that the stewardesses were fantastic, we didn't want for anything during the entire flight from Johannesburg to London.
And lo and behold not a single screaming puking baby on board.... it was heaven in the air. 

4 seats for me

When we landed at Heathrow it was snowed in at 2C and grey I had slept across 4 seats so woke up absolutely refreshed. 

The Pilots however let the plane land itself, conditions not good for a person landing, now let me say this, the landing was the best I have ever experienced - why don't they do it all the time?

London layover


Interesting side story - on leaving Johannesburg I was busy doing some duty free purchases as one is want to do in such a circumstance, I bought a bottle of perfume for Pam (100ml - this amount is significant to the story) and then went on to get some bottles of wine for colleagues, stepped up to the pay-point and get asked a leading question - "Where am I flying to?" now I had also answered this question at the previous pay point when purchasing the perfume and received no comment save to wish me a pleasant journey, Sooo I tell them I am going through Heathrow and onto Vancouver, no can do says the cashier; " you cannot take any more than 100ml of liquid through Heathrow", so grumbling and muttering I went off to the boarding gate to wait for my flight

Now back to London.....Brilliant discovery passengers are not allowed to bring ANY liquids through UK when transiting to another flight and I had a 100ml bottle of perfume that I had bought for Pam in Johannesburg, and I will say as soon as they saw my South African passport they became incredibly cautious like I was going to blow the place up, supervisors were called in to deal with me. 

Thank heavens I had a full visa and not just a transit visa as I had to leave the airport and come back in through departures and check in a carry on bag with the perfume in it, at which point I was told it would cost me GBP45.00 I sort of lost it, and after a bit of blubbering and gnashing of teeth they waived the costs - South Africans have become real pariah's having to now have visa's to go to the UK and even just to transit through the airport.

And onwards to Vancouver


Flight to Vancouver fantastic, nothing like last one - only had two seats to myself, but they certainly one kept us fed and watered whole flight.
On Arriving in Vancouver I caught the sky train to the centre of town then walked about 4 blocks to get to hotel , this all at 10:30 at night..... walking through a city loaded with luggage at 10:30 at night - very interesting experience for a South African. 

Flight path - London to Vancouver

Now as I said the trip was business and I wont go into all the boring details of the work work work; But the people I was working with entertained me after hours absolutely fantastically and it wasn't just the eating out bit.... 
I went skiing for the first time in my 52 year old life; let me start off by saying I didn't hate it I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of hurtling off uncontrolled down a slope and then crashing my sorry ass off - snow is hard, real hard, and you go fast, and as with a previous skating experience I was 1000% useless and that spoiled the skiing experience a tad and I had to stop.
I was a bit disappointed in myself as one of the other guys who had also never skied was handling it brilliantly after about 10 mins of learning. 
While attempting to ski, I found that I had to involuntarily lie down an rest .... A LOT.....then I would struggle to my feet and a couple of seconds later I would have to lie down again, I also found that when I took off uncontrollably promptly lying down to rest again proved to be a very good way of stopping and preventing a nasty accident.....


Exhaustion and frustration eventually got the better of me so I surrendered my ski's to my colleague and with ski's under his arm he sailed away down the slope leaving me to a very long ignominiously slow walk down the slope back to the lodge before I either killed myself or killed my instructor, so I walked.... and walked ...... and..... well you get the picture,   I probably will never try it again and just put another tick in my bucket list.

Inuit Statue on Cypress Mountain

Cypress Ski Lodge

Off to the slopes

Just before I had to lie down and rest

During lunch times I got to stroll around town a bit, Vancouver is a simply stunning city, it is clean safe and everything works, I took a couple of trips down to Granville Island (fantastic permanent market) and also across the bay to Lonsdale key to do some more shopping.

Inside Granville Market

Aquabus that I took back to Yaletown

Burrard Inlet

Entrance to Granville Island market

Denver......

I then flew down to Denver to work at our office there, again I wont go into the boring details of work, but we did go up into the Rockies to a town called Evergreen, here we walked around on a frozen lake, watched fishermen fishing through the 

ice, and as a grande finale we took in a Monster Truck Show....... I have one thing to say about the whole experience OHMYGAWD!!!!!!

Large Ice Sculpture on a frozen Lake

Ice Fishing... aren't we just having fun

One Moose... Two Meece.....

Monster truck

"I believe I can fly..........."

I can run faster than you.......

Back to Vancouver


Back in Vancouver we took in an Ice Hockey Game.... these people really know and I mean REALLY KNOW how to enjoy themselves, I am still not sure if I took in as much as I would have liked as by now I was in the depths of a monstrous dose of flu, one of those flu's you are worried you are going to die.... then you are worried you aren't going to die.... horrible beyond words and I still had to work on regardless.

Ice Hockey

Each day I ploughed through waist deep snow, the wind howling round my ears, sleet driving into my bloodshot eyes as I struggled bravely onwards for the office, sometimes reduced to crawling as the energy sapped from my flagging body, the sled dogs howling as they also struggled through the blizzard..... NAH thats just the cough syrup talking..... strong stuff.... each day was nice and crisp with a great walk down to a rather nice little breakfast spot with Mike from the Vancouver office and then onto the office for work - my office had the greatest view as well.

Breakfast spot

Office view

Down to Seattle


I then grabbed a couple of days to pop down to Seattle to visit an old school friend that I hadn't seen in 30 years, since I hiked across Europe from Israel and visited with him in the UK.
It was really great to see Ian again and meet his wife Bunny, they treated me fantastically and took me around a number of sites that could be done in the shortest possible time I had available, I also got to drive around with Ian in an all electric car, the Nissan Leaf, a really unique experience.

Underground Tour of Seattle

Space needle

Ian and Bunny's House

Ian & Bunny

Old Gas Works

Pike Market

And round the world I go....


Then it was back to Vancouver and onwards on a flight to Hong Kong, while it was incredibly long, this completed yet another bucket list tick - to do a round the world flight - Total trip distance 42000km - not too worse.......

Flight home

Back on the road again


Sunday 6th Feb off To Vancouver to do work on global I.T. Budgeting, I am flying via London (lets not even begin to talk about having to get a transit visa -  so that I can walk from one plane to the next) and then onto Vancouver, I have been there before for an IT managers Conference so It will be really neat going back to a city I know.


Going back to the visa's let me tell you; applying to travel somewhere as a South African is akin to Mission Impossible, I have had to fill in numerous online forms, then print them out and take them for face to face interviews to see if I am an undesirable or an undesirable pretending not to be one, or a human trafficker/drug lord/mercenary/terrorist with an unpaid speeding fine all of which I kid you not are questions asked on said forms, and while I am vehemently denying all these things on the form the internet some how decides that you have taken too long and lo and heholf you are presented with......

SESSION EXPIRED


So you start again answering questions about your name, your date of birth, both your parents names dates of birth, spouses names and date of birth, kids names dates of birth (dont have any - thank heavens  or the form would have expanded exponentially) where do they live, are any of these people traveling with you.....


PING.... SESSION EXPIRED


Start again..... Parents nationalities, ID numbers, have you ever been involved in crimes against humanity, supported terrorists or encouraged terrorists in any country, glorified terrorist violence, war crimes, genocide, are you involved in human trafficking, are you coming to XYZ country to become involved in human trafficking, start human trafficking, are you involved in drugs or the distribution of drugs, are you coming to XYZ country to get involved in the manufacture or distribution of drugs,have you  done anything that may indicate you are not a person of good standing, kicked the dog, dropped the sugar bowl, Yes I am definitely going to tick YES to one of the above.


Do not tick yes to the one asking if you have any "criminal offenses in any country including traffic offences"  tick YES I have had a speeding fine .... and a whole page appears.... tick NO... *poof* no page......


PING.... SESSION EXPIRED


Start again....................have you  traveled outside of you country in the last 10 years if so detail exactly where, when and why, do you have any friends or family in the country you are going to visit - DO NOT ANSWER THAT ONE 20 more pages suddenly expand out of the form; I did, I have friends and family is said country; Names, addresses, how long have they lived there, how long are am I staying there, who is paying for my stay, If it is me; do I have enough funds for the stay, do they mow there lawn regularly.... OMG - I just remembered I don't have any friends or family.... so tick NO and voilà the form shrinks down by a whole page.....


PING.... SESSION EXPIRED


Start again....................Who do you work for, full address, telephone number, email, what position do you hold at said company, what is your job title, please give full details of all qualifications you have relevant to this type of work, please give full details of all work experience you have relevant to this type of work....


PING.... SESSION EXPIRED


PING.... SESSION EXPIRED


Start again.................... how much do you earn/how much do you have in savings/how many bonds/how many shares/what is your income from the shares/value of property....


PING.... SESSION EXPIRED


Throw up lunch over keyboard


Start again.................... blah blah blah blah, have you ever had medical treatment in XYZ country - Yes I was on holiday and thought I would have my tonsils out on the free Health system offered then I took in the sights and came home..... I mean what the hell !!!!!


PING.... SESSION EXPIRED


I would make a copy of the form and post it but the shortest form was 14 pages long..... 14 PAGES, and then you have to give them finger prints, the colour of my underwear, what I had for breakfast, and then it takes 10 working days to process.....


PING.......TRAVELLER EXPIRED


I then go onto Denver to help setup their I .T. Budgets as well.


Great news is that I am going to make a side trip to Seattle To visit an OLD school friend that I haven't seen a trip to the U.K. in 1981 which makes It about 30 years ago, Its rather ironic but at 52 all ones old friends are indeed OLD Friends, so I really looking forward to that visit.


Back at the bench


In the meantime Back at the workbench, I am working on a three stone tiffany ring started in a previous entry , so far I have the setting  basically complete this Involved making three individual settings the two side settings are 3 mm high and 3 mm in diameter and then joining them to the main central setting - for this I was taught a rather interesting technique, in that I drilled 0.7 mm holes in the sides if all the settings then threaded a piece of 0.7mm wire through the holes, this gives them support and holds them in exactly the porition I want them to sit while I solder them, it will also give the structure strength.

Unfinished setting

I have started working on the shank of the ring - already onto the second iteration of the shank as I wasn't happy with the first, and that is where it will sit in a holding pattern until I return from my travels or is it travails, only time will tell

First failed attempt at a split shank

Second attempt, still a way to go

Eternity Ring is complete

Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to you.... Happy Birthday dear Pam.... Haaapppyyy Birthday to yooouuuuu!!!!

What does one give one's wife for a birthday present who has everything.... AND I MEAN EVERYTHING!!!!

Well one sits down and makes a ring...... in past episodes I started with details of the making of an eternity ring, I wont repeat all the details, but I will just give a brief reiteration of how I started and what it finally looks like.

The ring was originally to be an eternity ring with nine 3mm Iolites set in it.

I started off by making the basic ring; ring "L" size with square profile 3.2 mm x 2 mm deep. 

Eternity Ring... In the beginning

Into this I drilled nine 1mm holes down the centre of the ring, evenly spaced 3.1mm apart, in the beginning there wasn't just one ring there were three; reason being they all looked like a herd of drunken woodpeckers got hold of them (p.s. Drunken woodpeckers come in herds).

At this point I had a feeling this ring was going to take an eternity to finish......

The rings that didn't make the grade

After much trial and error, maybe just a tad bit of colour to the language the ring finally started to make the grade.
Drilling complete and a lot of sawing and filing later the settings were starting to take shape:
I had to cut a Saw groove down the length of the holes and across each hole and between each hole, then using a triangular file followed by a round file I filed into each of the saw cuts to form the facets for the nine stones that were to be set into the ring. 

The ring that made the grade

The next step was to get the stones for setting and send it off to the setters (stone setting is and art and a specialisation all of its own, and while I will learn the basics for my own personal interests  (I have set a few cabochon's quite nicely), I will more than likely continue to send my work to a professional setter for final setting.


So moving right along....here is the ring complete, sans stones, now you will remember that I originally said I was going to mount Iolites into the ring, well Pam had been talking a lot about black diamonds since the last Jewellex Show (annual Jewellers Show) and how she would just absolutely love to have one herself (subtle hint to husband who may just  have to now make something).

Eternity Ring

With the ring finished and done up with a nice polish it was now a case of ordering the stones and getting them set into the ring.
So at this point I decide.... birthday coming up what does one give the woman who has everything .....I make a swift about turn, out the back door go the nine Iolites - they can re-invent themselves in an upcoming piece - and in the front door step nine 3mm round Black Diamonds.


And off to the setter just before Christmas.......


Now at this point I was just a tad nervous as to what it was going to look like complete - what one sees in ones minds eye and what appears in the flesh (or should I say the metal) can sometimes be two very different beasts, and to make matters worse I was only going to see the ring complete for the first time the day before Pam's birthday - No Pressure here!!!, All you control freaks out there can relax - yes I heard a gasp or two; I did make contingency plans just in case of a disaster.


Today the 15th January 2012, I gave Pam her completed ring for her birthday....

Completed ring

Ring being modelled by Pam

As Shakespeare said "Alls well that ends well...