When you see a big flash in the sky...

duck... wait for the boom... then take a look outside.
Rule #1 from the Meteor Strike Survival Guide, adapted from the "How to survive a nuclear strike handbook.". 
Jokes aside it must have been an awesome and somewhat frightening experience to have been in the Ural mountains Friday last week.
This all happened while MD and I were on our way to a real Boeretroue in Hoopstad. For those that have not attended one and wish to maintain some form of diet... do not accept the invitation!
It was virtually non stop eating from the moment we arrived on the farm until we left on Sunday morning late. Biltong by the bucket load and other delights, then at the reception even more followed by salads and bykosse to die for and enough braai to feed a small army.


Coming back to the meteor... it reminds me of this passage from Matthew 24;
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 

Let us therefore be prepared and live our lives as if each day is the day we will meet Jesus face to face.

How soon we forget

It was ten years ago...

It changed our world.
But did it change us?
Some of us will never forget others seem to have forgotten, I hope that those who have forgotten never have to witness something like this again.
This song from Demi Lovato seems to sum up the feelings of that day and how people rose out of the heartache.

"Skyscraper" Sung by Demi Lovato - Songwriters: Robbins, Lindy / Gad, Toby / Kerli

Skies are crying, I am watching
Catching tear drops in my hands
Only silence, as it's ending
Like we never had a chance

Do you have to make me feel like
There's nothing left of me?

You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
Like a skyscraper

As the smoke clears, I awaken
and untangle you from me
Would it make you, feel better
to watch me while I bleed?

All my windows still are broken
But I'm standing on my feet

You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
Like a skyscraper

Go run, run, run
I'm gonna stay right here, watch you disappear
Yea--ohh
Go run, run, run
Yeah, it's a long way down
But I am closer to the clouds up here

You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
Ohh Ohhhh!
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
Like a skyscraper

(Like a skyscraper)

Like a skyscraper
Like a skyscraper

"How do I respond when I see that in some Islamic countries there is vitriolic hatred for America? I'll tell you how I respond: I'm amazed. I'm amazed that there is such misunderstanding of what our country is about, that people would hate us. I am, I am -- like most Americans, I just can't believe it. Because I know how good we are, and we've go to do a better job of making our case. We've got to do a better job of explaining to the people in the Middle East, for example, that we don't fight a war against Islam or Muslims. We don't hold any religion accountable. We're fighting evil. And these murderers have hijacked a great religion in order to justify their evil deeds. And we cannot let it stand." --George W. Bush, press conference

Enough already

Woke up at 6 am to more rain... it is now 10 am and it has not let up for a moment... this is 1988 deja vu! Many parts of the country are now flooded! We need a rainbow or two!
We have been having good, nay extraordinary good rains since before Christmas but since last Friday it has become Noachian rain!
While fitting new crashbars to Shrek I had to duck back inside a few times as the rain was flooding the carport... thankfully no tools or parts got washed away.

The black box was brim full by midday Saturday... and it is once again overflowing!

The access road has been a river on and off for the past few days...

So it seems we may need those rubber ducks and gumboots soon just to get to work...
I also had the resident engineer check out the new crash bars, L's kitten Misha is extremely inquisitive...

apparently they met her approval after a thorough looking over and nuzzle!

In between showers I was able to take the new bars for a test ride... Must say the new bars have tamed the vibes a lot... I can even see out of the bikes mirrors at 5000rpm... with the old bars it became a blur... Thanks to Harold and Matthew at Bike Gear for letting me be a Guinea pig...
"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." Dolly Parton

The end of the world as we know it

Photo - By Marco Fulle on April 16th, 2010.
Sounds bad I know but looking at the grounding of flights in the EU due to Eyjafjallajokull volcano on Iceland makes one realize that humanity has become dependent on technology for survival. Imagine what would happen if another few volcanoes decide to go active? This serves to remind us how powerless we are against nature. It also serves to remind me that no matter what, God is always in control and that no powers or principalities can come against him.
Maybe we need to re-evaluate both our techno-dependency and our relationship with God, the creator of the splendors of nature we are now witnessing in Iceland?
While getting some of the links for this I came across this funny poem about the recent travails at BoingBoing... By Jeff Skoll... E-Bay's first president... Sums it up thus...

This is an ode to the volcano
That sent our travel plans into the draino
I'm not really one to complaino
But this all hurts my little braino
Madrid, Casablanca, Amsterdam, Rejkavik on cruiseships
The trains will fail
All the escape routes that we planned
Are blocked by nature or by man
We heard the French trains may soon be striking
At this rate we'll all be biking
With our luck we'll all be struck by lightning!
This is all rather frightening
So better we all meet at TED
That is what I should have said
So thank you June and thank you all
Damn the volcano, let's have a ball

"[Poetry] is the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake." Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)

Important Need to Know Stuff

Some very important info on the ki4u site... take some time to get informed! Since the end of the Cold War Civil Defence has gone due to the complacency of many goverments;
"Instead, Homeland Security continues to be focused primarily on two missions:

1. Interdiction – stopping nuclear materials and terrorists at the border
2. COG – Continuity of Government for when No. 1 fails

The most important mission has been largely ignored:

3. Continuity of the Public – proven mass media Civil Defense training of the public that would make the survival difference for the vast majority of Americans affected by a nuclear event.

This tragic and deadly oversight won't change until the crippling myths of nuclear un-survivability are banished by the good news that a trained and prepared public can, and ultimately has to, save themselves."
Become prepared... no one else is going to be able to help you for at least two weeks!