Priceless moments (Old Mutual years: 1994 - 1999)

Willow Road life

• Willow Road braais
• Volleyball beach on Clifton
• Cane duel with Russell
• Sleep on balcony in Willow Road
• House sitting in Pinelands
• 1994 World Cup rugby win
• Skinny dip at the Houenought Hotel!
• Xmas at Willow Road

Ally

• Weekends away (Montague, Mykonos, Citrusdal)
• Restaurants (La Petite Ferme, cheese platter with fig)
• Wedding day
• Honeymoon feeling in the river
• Travel: Ireland, Turkey, India, Thailand
• Erotic emails anticipating reunion

Sport

• Tennis at Old Mutual with Dutch friend
• Tennis with Russel; Mike at UCT tennis courts
• Paintball

Beach

• Paddle-skiing with Donavan
• Clifton that summer
• Volleyball on Clifton after work - sunset
• Wild dolphins and a whale at Llandadno

Trips, camping and hikes

• Buckaneers Backpackers
• Fish River Canyon hike
• Otter Trail (x 2)
• "What the World Needs Now" in Bains Kloof
• Hardcore Hiking Club
• Swellendam first day
• Hike to Hoar Hut
• Tittiesbaai
• Camping with Ivor

1996 travels

• Italy (Capri, Sistine Chapel, Naples, Rome, Florence, Venice)
• Scotland (Eileen Donan castle, Isle of Sky)
• Lake District
• Hugging an ancient rock
• Ally reading Beatrix Potter in car

1997 travels

• Sitting in pubs in Ireland - Irish coffee, writing our journals, listening to music
• Irish Castle nookie
• Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)
• Greece (Vicos Gorge, Olympos, Meteora, Corfu)
• Olympos (boat trip, yoghurt, beach, old ruin, volleyball)
• Meteora (Greece)
• Caroline (Corfu)
• Israel (Jerusalem, sleeping on roof)
• Jordan (Dead Sea, Petra)
• Steam bath in Istanbul
• Turkey (Butterfly Valley & Olympus, Island swim, cruising in Fetiye)
• India (especially Udaipur, Jaiselmeer)
• Lake Palace (Udaipur)
• Indian bird park
• Ally's amazing travel journals
• Finding out my finances were far better than I thought (London)

London life 1997 & early 1998

• Reunion with Ally
• Museums & tourist attractions (e.g. London Tower)
• Plays (Jesus Christ superstar, Starlight Express, Phantom of the Opera)
• Porchester Turkish Baths
• Working for The Ministry of Agriculture
• Book store visits at Mall

Movies 

Challenges (Old Mutual years: 1994 - 1999)

Passing away

• Dad takes his life
• Putting Meg down

Health

• Sore neck
• Sore wrists

Depression

• 1998 return - depression caused by finances, trying to keep it together at Old Mutual
• Peter Hamp Adams negative performance review which Daniel counters

Work anxiety

• Technology presentation
• Steering Committee meetings
• Dread when water system goes in morning
• ILPA stress (especially results)
• Wake up in panic on balcony (Peter Hamp-Adams)
• Peter Hamp Adams negative review
• Gateway delays

Finances

1996, early 1997 (before travels)

• Rand plummets, obsession re getting money out of South Africa (despite forex restrictions)
• Going with Bruce, then Safren doubts (clouding excitement of travels, Ivor camping)

1997 travels

• A real sense of scarcity - rands not worth much, always decreasing in value
• Oliver falling out (took money out for me)
• Asian financial crisis
• Thailand (check index in Bangkok, the need to sell, on the island, fear Jo is doing much better) 
• London (ahead of India)
• London after travels (constant obsession, IBM underperforming)

Cape Town 1998 & 1999

• Jo's call changes my destiny (decide to leave Syfrets)
• Sell Syfrets funds as market rises - sleepless walks
• Intuition screams no to Investec but go anyway
• Going with Investec, then JSE & rand plummets, and they sell and invest in Thebe etc.
• Funds under R5 million. Charged 2%
• Investec not invest my money overseas before rand plummets
• Head in sand, avoid newspaper, constant ill ease
• Depression ahead of Ally coming home - trying to keep it together at Old Mutual
• Obsession while hiking
• Decision to move all overseas in early 2000

Reflections on finances

• Reflections re finances on Evernote

Insights (Old Mutual years: 1994 - 1999)

The Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey)

• Abundance mentality
• Start with end in mind
• The power of principles (laws)
• Mission statement (became Compass)
• Summary

A Vision of Power and Glory (John Kehoe)

• The Great Mystery
• The power of the now
• The power of belief
• Summary

The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success (Deepak Chopra)

• Non judgement
• The power of stillness
• Introduction to consciousness and pure potentiality
• Summary

Non fiction books read (Old Mutual years: 1994 - 1999)

Spiritual

• The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success (Deepak Chopra)
• A Vision of Power and Glory (John Kehoe)
  
  

Personal development

• The Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey)
• First Things First (Stephen Covey)
• The Fifth Discipline (Peter Senge)

Fiction books read (Old Mutual years: 1994 - 1999)

 

• The Beach  (Alex Garland)
• High Fidelity, (Nick Hornby)
• My Uncle Oswald (Roald Dahl)
• A Child Called "It" (Dave Pelzer)
• Along Came a Spider (James Patterson)
• Red Dragon (Thomas Harris)
• Hannibal (Thomas Harris)
• American Psycho (Bret Easton Ellis) 
  
  

Spiritual moments (Old Mutual years: 1994 - 1999)

Being

• Motion meditation in room

Spiritual

• The desert in India on the dunes
• Butterfly Valley
• Steam Bath (Istanbul)
• Cliffs of Moher
• Monsoon Palace and the swifts at sunset
• Sunset on the Turkish castle on the Mediterranean
• Jaisselmer walls (India)
• The Monastery (Petra) - looking out from the roof
• Jerusalem
• Taj Mahal
• Reading and summarising "A Vision of Power and Glory"
• Peace in the plane flying to India

Emotional releases

• Schindler's List
• Shawshank Redemption
• Dad in hotel room with Ally
• Jenny Mallet at funeral

Wisdom

• Mantra on PSION
• 7 Secrets of Spiritual Success
• Vision of Power Glory

Camping at Palmiet River

This is a very special photo. It's from one of our camping trips to Palmiet River. Don't we all look so young! It's one of the only photos I have that has Peter Holliday (top right) in it (he passed away tragically about 8 years ago). It also has Eleda (bottom right) who we have now lost touch with - but have wonderful memories of her exuberant personality. That's Julian Rusconi in the top middle. I wonder what's happened to Steve (top left).

Affirmation (Old Mutual years: 1994 - 1999)

Speeches

• My wedding speech
• Ivor wedding speech
• Jo wedding speech

Old Mutual

• New rep project
• Farmers market
• Reports early on
• Pieter "You write so well."
• You're like Steven
• Pass ILPA

Ally's 21st

Needless to say, the theme of the party was "Pirates".
.

Graduation at University of Cape Town

My graduation from University of Cape Town

 Graduating with a Business Science specialising in Marketing.

Cards Ally made me

You are ...

Ally, 1993

You are ...

You are the the twinkle in my eye

The smile on my lips

The happiness I feel

And the song I sing

You’re the warmth that wells up inside

The word I cannot express

The joy that makes me laugh

And the beauty that makes me gaze

You’re the idea that makes me dream

The thought that makes me swoon

The feeling that makes me breathless

And the love that spins me around and around and around.

Written:  1995

Dolphins
If you ever get lonely, my love,
close your eyes and imagine that you are a dolphin and so will I
Living in a warm sea with a lush tropical island close by
We spend our days surfing the waves and exploring the coast
While at night, we float in the gentle currents and watch the stars above
Mates for life, our love is as deep as the ocean floor
While our being together is as inevitable as the ebb and flow of the tide
And our spirits fly as free as our abandoned leaps into the sky.
So when you’re lonely my love, imagine that you are a dolphin and so will I
Because then our minds will meet in a warm sea under a blue sky.

Written:  1997

If I was a bird

Paradise Island, 1996

If I was a bird
If I was a bird and so were you…
I’d kiss you with the gentle pecks of a parrot
I’d dive down for you with the lightning speed of a falcon
I’d shout out my adoration for you with the piercing calls of a cuckoo
I’d run towards you with the powerful strides of an ostrich
I’d sing for you from the highest tree with the sweet melody of a nightingale
I’d dance for you with the up and down bobs of a love-struck albatross
I’d cry out for you with the plaintive lament of a lonely fish eagle
I’d swim for you with the splashy kicks of a grebe
I’d soar to reach you with the majestic glides of a Martial Eagle on a rising thermal
I’d hover above you like a kingfisher before its plunge
I’d look at you with the unblinking gaze of a forest owl
I’d woo you with the gentle coos of a turtle dove
I’d prepare a home for you with the meticulous care of a weaver
I’d stroke your feathers with the soft caresses of a love bird
I’d fly south – across ocean and land – with the single minded purpose of a swallow seeking out the summer…
To sweep you up in my wings and hold you close.

Written:  1996

Jo´s 21st

fx

Grahamstown Festival