The Vineyard Hotel & Spa

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I was lucky enough to of been introduced to the Vineyard Hotel and Spa in Newlands. I was there on Sunday, 2 January 2011 and then again today (3 January 2011). It is a beautiful setting – much like the Kirstenbosch gardens. On a pleasant day, the outdoors seating is perfect.

The setting was enjoyable and I found it great to get away from busy shopping centers at this time of the year. This will most defiantly become a regular location for me when I am in the area. Price wise, I would say that it is on par with a normal coffee shop that one would find in any shopping center.

One line summary: High quality service and cuisine in a perfect setting, at an affordable and competitive rates.

The address is: Colinton Road, Newlands, 7700.
Online: www.vineyard.co.za

Realisations and happenings of late 2010 / early 2011

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The last few weeks have been a very eventful few. It has been a time for many positive things / changes in life – in fact all positive (well this post will only cover the positives – no need for me to grunt about my problems ;) ).

Firstly, I met my biological mother a few days before the new year. After over 13 years of no contact in any form – this was most definitely one of the highest points in my life. I had never really imagined this day – I guess I thought it would never come.

For me, I was able to have a number of questions answered, a number of personality features were highlighted – small things and then also a number of rather larger things. I’ve been spending great amount of times with her lately – I guess there is just so much to catch up on and so much to get to know. It really has been so very exciting. Possibly one of the best gifts someone could get around Christmas time.

I am very keen to see where this goes and to continue a good relationship with her in the future. (See photos below).

On a less eventful note, I have always been a very pro conservative kind of person. However I got speaking to a friend of mine, who listened to what I felt were my political views.

This friend has studied political science and works as a political strategist at the Cape Independent. After listening to my views, he informed me that I am more of a Classic Liberal. I did some reading later that evening – and it turns out that the views that I hold are in fact not entirely conservative – but in fact fall into the more Classic Liberal park.

Shock and horor?

Not really. For me politics is very important – especially in relation to Economics. The Classical Liberal view on economic is inline with those that I have adopted as my own. I will most likely be posting a little more on this a little later this month.

I think is about all I have to say for this moment.

2011 is here!

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Above: Photo taken on 1 January 2011.

So 2010 is gone. 2011 is upon us. I can honestly say that 2010 was an amazing year. I have learnt many new things, worked very hard, had great experiences and some not such amazing ones. I guess that is part of life – the good and the bad times. However, we learn from both – I finished this year with a very positive attitude with some amazing friends that I have got to know other the last 12 months.

As I traditionally do (if one can call it a tradition – considering this is the second year I am doing this), I would like to give an overview of 2010, and then also talk about my plans for 2011.

Looking Back:

  1. Possibly the most memorable experience this year was the experience of loving someone – for me this was very new.I mean, I love my family and many of my friends – so I speak of a more romantic type of love – I have gained love and lost love this year.

    However I do not regret it – I have learn so much from the process and also have come out as a better person – this person helped me make many important decisions in my life – for one – urged me to register to study in 2011.

    For this I am grateful  - I needed a kick to get that done. With love comes a fair amount of pain – this I have also experienced – yet again – I do not regret this at all – it was such an amazing experience.2011, I will be open to love. Something I was always closed to – I thought I never needed anyone else.

    So, thank you.

    “If you love someone, let them go: If they return to you, they will be your’s forever; If they do not, they were never your’s to begin with.” – Anon.

  2. In April 2010, I decided that I needed to follow my vision. I left a company I was working at for around 6 months and started my own business again – SpinningYourWeb.I started SpinningYourWeb in 2005 – when I was 13.

    It is now going into its 6th year of operation. It is finally looking financially viable and I guess this is testament to the power of hard work, consistency and dedication. I love my work – this helps greatly.

    Someone wise said something along the lines of – do what you love, then it is not work.I know where I want my business to be – I know where I want my life to be. I will succeed.

    “There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox

  3. I have made many great friends. I love my friends. They are what keeps me alive, keep me from loosing my sanity and who are there for me when I am going through a rough time. Without them, I would be nothing.In 2011, I wish to get to know my friends better, to become more involved in their lives and in general, to build some more amazing bridges.

    “You can have friends as numerous as leaves on a tree, but only one good friend will change your life. My life has been changed” – Davide Mancinelli

Looking to 2011:

I have divided this section into two – personal and work.

  1. Personal:

    I have many aims in my life.  One of my aims is to be the best friend I can be to those who mean so much to me. I want to always keep my eyes open to new relationships and bridges that can be made. I find I have a very closed mind – this year, I want to expand my horizons and I want to be open to new things and new experiences.

    I start my studies this year, while working a full time demanding job. I made a decision to drop marketing and to move to my initial interest (which I was talked out of in 2010). I will be starting a long process of extending my education.I will be starting a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics. I would like to take this far – how far – that I am unsure of.

    I want to live a healthy life style in 2011. I want to remove things that make me stressed or add additional complexity to life.Life is not meant to be complex and difficult. Living a healthy life includes relationships (both friendships and romantic), healthy eating, fitness and such. I want to be fulfilled in all these areas – however I want to be open to what fulfillment is in these areas.There is so much I could say with regard to my personal life, however as I experience things – I will write additional blog posts.

  2. Work:

    With regard to work, I aim to continue my commitment and dedication to the businesses growth and success. I want to work harder – I often feel I do not put my all into my work.

    I guess it is important to do this – in order to reach the maximum potential. I need to be more harsh on myself and I need to force myself to work towards goals.In mid 2010, I launched a software project called Capital Software. This product has been in development for over 5 months. We have a number of clients wanting to license this software. This is very exciting for me – I would love for this to become the core of my business – and I know that it has the ability to become financially viable early on in 2011 as we expand the functionality and make the correct partnerships.

I think that is about it from me for now. I wish all my readers great success in 2011 and I hope that it is a productive year for all.

Here’s to 2011 and whatever it brings us, lets be open to anything.

Thoughts and an update of sorts

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I started my business when I was 13 years old. Next year April, the business will be entering its seventh year of operation. Since then the company has grown and has in fact started to become financially viable, which for me is really exciting given my passion for technology (being a technology driven company) and my over shadowing passion for business.

As a funny thought, I look back to the first websites (how my business started) we produced and I think firstly how cheap they were (think ZAR 150 – 400 – in USD that is around $21.50 – $58.00) and secondly, I think about how we as a company have grown to this day. We have moved out of solely being in the web-design market, and have moved more into web hosting, graphic design, software development and brand consulting.

In the last 6 months, we have seen tremendous growth leading us to bring on a developer from the 1st of October to assist with the growth and development requirements at the company.

This year I’ve learnt great amounts as well (in the business realm), firstly to pick customers carefully – Id say (with caution, we as suppliers ought to filter our customers), as it can lead to unstable business relationships which become very unsavory, and essentially more effort than its worth. Secondly, choose employees and contractors carefully. This year, ive dabbled with both contractors and full time staff. I personally prefer full time staff over contractors – partially because they have dedication to the business, and also because contractors are difficult to work with as they value their freedom a little too much (thats a joke, but holds truth to it as well).

Then lastly, I’ve learnt that one needs to be flexible, yet still hold a hard, or rather strong front. This is essential in business, on one hand, you need to decide how flexible you are willing to be, and on the other hand, you need to decide on what you will not compromise, despite the financial remuneration.

Then in closing, we will be launching a new company within the next two months which will be in kind, a holding company – but more information will follow. We’re all working very hard here and cant wait to see the fruits of our labour.

By the way, my spell check said the word “learnt” was incorrect. So I checked it up and it turns out that it is past participle (past tense of the word learn (Verb)), rather upsetting that it would suggest I was wrong.

learnt: past participle, past tense of learn (Verb)
1. Gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, experience, or being taught.
2. Commit to memory.

Keep well.

Noel Harrison

Portugal vs. Spain – The Game

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I generally do not enjoy sport at all. I admit that I had a bad attitude to the entire idea of going to see one of the soccer games. However, I had the feeling that that would be turning down an opportunity of a life time. My sister and I went to the game in Cape Town where Portugal and Spain played. I know very little about the game, however decided to go against my sister’s team selection (she supported Portugal), so I supported Spain.

In the end, I really enjoyed the game and the environment. The noise that all complained of, was really not that bad, however, the traffic leaving the stadium was a total nightmare. What could one suspect with around 62950 fans in the area?

Steenberg Wine Estate

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This past month ive been at the Steenberg Wine Estate a number of times. In my humble opinion, it is one of the best settings and was one of the most enjoyable wine tasting experiences I have had so far.

I went for the classic tasting which was enjoyable (and free), however a friend of mine tried the Ultra Premium range which was amazing.

View their website here: http://www.steenberg-vineyards.co.za/

Introducing a classic

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So I have been rather silent for a number of weeks, however, not without a reason. I have been working on a number of projects – however the one that I have enjoyed the most is an open source framework that a friend and I have started. We have been working hard on getting the system to a stage in which we are ready to show the public.

Introducing the Classic Blend Framework.

Both myself and the other developer (a good friend of mine – Jonathan Wagener – http://www.espresso-online.info) have worked with many other frameworks over the many years that we have been developing. What we have done is committed to developing one of the easiest frameworks to use – both for ourselves and for anyone else – for free.

What have we done so far?

  • Database Class: We have created a powerful database class which handles all database queries – from one -> x number of database connections
  • Module Class: This powerful class allows the framework to be easily extended for any purpose. Third party developers will be able to create and edit their own modules and optionally make it a public module which will become available to any other developer in the Classic Blend community.
  • Theme Class: This is possibly one of my favorite aspects of the framework. It allows for the development of themes for the system to run. However, it also makes use of the “Smarty” template’s engine (however is heavily edited), and allows for the assigning of theme variables from anywhere in the entire framework!

That’s it for now - take a look of the first screen-shot the public has seen!