Its funny how things work - After many years of doing different things in different industries I can honestly say that I have found my niche. I do food safe mold making for a number of huge organizations and I feel kinda humbled by their comments. I had a meeting yesterday morning with one of the companies and the MD couldn't stop raving about the molds. I could feel myself going bright red when his product manager made a comment to him in the meeting that he was skeptical when the MD said that he doesn't have to worry because I know what I am doing but that he sees that the MD is right. I made some test molds that they going to be using this week to tune the process. If the testing goes well then I will get an order from them for a full set of production molds worth about R130k. I've been going back n forth with the production manager of a different company this morning. They are abroad and they landed a huge deal to supply their product into an addition 10,000 shops across the EU. They are frantic for molds to double their production capacity. I just got an order for a truckload of work worth a beeeeg bag of money. ....and the best of it is that the work is actually $h1T easy - compared to other things that I've been into.
I'm not bragging - hell, it's humbling to have this kind of support - I'm just sharing because I'm happy that the universe finally giving me a bit of a break....
I only have 2 workers and of course my 2 daughters that live with me. My youngest daughter will get mags for her car (don't ask - LoL) and my eldest daughter will get her R4k noise cancelling headphones. I'll give the workers a fat Christmas bonus.
I really want to sponsor a young girl that is studying with my youngest daughter. Her dad is in a wheelchair and her mom doesn't work but rents out a farm for an income. They seem to get disability and child grants. Anyhow, in the beginning of the year she applied to the government for a bursary to study (at a government institution) and the bursary was granted. Then 3 months later the bursary was withdrawn because they claimed that it shouldn't have been granted in the first place for some idiotic reason. Her friends and family did a lot of fundraising and she managed to to stay on and study. She is now 60% through the course and they are demanding that she pays R40k to write exams this year. I think its absurd but the fact remains that she needs to make the payment. She also needs between R40k and R60k to complete the course next year. I just think that it is a complete waste to write the year off and have a R40k debt to end up flipping burgers for the rest of her life. To be honest - I don't really give a toss about money - I will far rather enable her to build a life for herself that spend all my cash on a new car or some nonsense. I'm not saying that I will be able to give her R100k to solve her problems but I sure am willing do something to help her along. I can tell you - a poor white 19 year old girl is completely fxcked in this country without community support.
ians (11-Oct-19)
We live in an amazing time. I got sponsorship to send my daughter to study in the UK and to pay for the studies of my youngest daughter's friend. There are people in this world who are able to commit to spending R800k a year on other people's kids education without batting an eye! All he asks is that they pay it forward.
...I don't think that either of the girls are going to sleep tonight because they are so excited.
ians (11-Oct-19)
That's wonderful news Adrian! Of course it helps that its paid for in pounds as we SAffies cannot afford tuition in the UK or the States with our exchange rate. Good to know that there are still people who are willing to assist youngsters to get somewhere in life.
Years ago my wife assisted a girl from a rural town to complete a very basic course. She has built on the knowledge gained and used her talents to start her own successful business and now she is in turn helping others.
Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...
One of the benefits of the economic downturn, BEE and retrenchments, is that people started to think for themselves, instead of opting for a long term government job. People are doing self-assessment and are honing their skills and also acquiring new skills to make themselves more marketable as employees. My heroes are the ones that go it alone and start new ventures to re-establish themselves.
A good example is the PA who had lost her job and who is now selling her services as a "Virtual PA". At an hourly rate or monthly retainer for a fixed number of hours per month, she will take your messages, organise your diary, and do basic admin to free the one man entrepreneur to concentrate on the business and not be tied to a desk. That allows her to be a PA for a CEO or small entrepreneur in Cape Town or JHB, while staying in Putsonderwater.
Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...
Totally agreed. Unfortunately, there are so many people who just want a job for the pay. They have no ambition and will do as little as possible, expecting to earn as much as possible. This is prevalent in public service positions where a clerk will close the cubicle in your face because it is now their tea break or lunch. No concern for the people who have been queuing for hours.
A recent survey showed that more than 60% of our teachers and nurses have no aptitude or compassion for the job, but just want the pay. That is why we have such poor and still deteriorating service all over. All government services have been supplemented by private services; couriers have replaced the post office, cell phones have replaced land lines and even the police now hire private security firms to protect police stations! The list goes on and on!
Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...
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