Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Associate Pastor

This one's just a pretty picture. It's my so-called "associate pastor" with his wife and daughter. We have had a warm relationship for many years, and one heart for the gospel -- and while his Church uses ours on a contractual basis, it has been a friendship between all of us, and a shared spiritual vision. Our office secretary took the photo at my/our engagement celebration earlier this week.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Terror Of Cape Town


This is the terror of Cape Town -- the Noon Day Gun on Signal Hill. Actually, it's one of two identical guns -- in case one fails. In 206 years, both guns have failed only once (in 2005). Once, the rammer was inadvertently left in the bore, and killed an unfortunate horse. OBSERVATION: You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.

Monday, May 21, 2012

"Thus Far ..."

 
This verse is frequently found on South African Churches -- here in Dutch on the wall of the Moravian Church in Wittewater. The English is: "Thus far the LORD has helped us" (1 Sam 7:12). I imagine that many stories of faith lie behind such verses.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

My Runaround

 
This is my regular transport -- a Mahindra Alfa pickup. It proved absolutely reliable for a year and a half -- until its made-in-India battery failed last week, apparently way too soon. It is good as a runaround, for short distances. However, I can see that the day is coming when I'll need four wheels (son M. and I have shared his car -- but it's less often available these days, now that his doctoral research is hotting up).

Monday, May 7, 2012

Goedverwacht Interior

This is a wide-angle shot of the interior of the Moravian Church in Goedverwacht (see also Goedverwacht Church). It has just been prepared for Harvest Festival. Notice the board running down the centre of the Church. Until recently, this used to separate the men from the women. The pews are typical of Moravian Churches.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Brainstorming

I still have a go at electronic design from time to time, although my halcyon days are past (the designs are in my head, but my emphasis has changed). However, I still get approached regularly for brainstorming -- mostly college students with term projects -- but sometimes much more interesting things. A recent question was how to protect rhino from poachers. Some other challenges: how to free avalanche victims, how to automate fossil cleaning, how to optimise solar geysers, and how to detect car thieves before they strike. Solutions need to be workable, not sci-fi.