The Casual Observer

Zimbabwe: Quo Vadis?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Rhodesia / Zimbabwe 29 May 2016 0 Comment

Only 700 000 people among a population of 13 million have formal jobs, less than at independence in 1980. Many of those jobs are in the bloated civil service & military and are clearly unsustainable. Ninety percent of jobs reside in the informal sector, where reliance on diaspora remittances remains crucial. Compounding the problem is that 80% of government revenue is spent on civil services wages; hence no maintenance of any kind but the most rudimentary is possible.

Has the tipping point been reached?

Signs abound everywhere.

Main picture: Farm invasions destroyed agricultural production converting Zimbabwe from an exporter to an importer of agricultural products.

Could South Africa learn from Road Running?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Running 28 May 2016 0 Comment

Today’s race at the National Botanical Gardens in Pretoria was no exception. Again I was surprised by what I learned except that it was not from a South African but a foreigner who has been in South Africa for only nine months. One is not accorded a special status in road running. All runners are equal. Unlike the public discourse which is characterised by divisive racism, violent political rhetoric and the politics of rage especially by the EFF, road running does not suffer from these travails.

Main picture: The entrance to the Willows resort in Port Elizabeth. Instead of inserting some arbitrary pictures onto this blog, I have included photographs of Willows Resort near Port Elizabeth because as youngsters we spent many an Easter Holiday there.

Dare Devil Bike Races down the Third Avenue Newton Park Dip

By Dean McCleland in McClelands, Other Personal 28 May 2016 1 Comment

I cannot recall how old I was, but I must have been in High School because I never owned a bike in Primary School. Either that or I had foolishly borrowed somebody else’s bike. In what can only be described as an act of utter insanity – in retrospect – we would race down one side of the Third Avenue Dip in Newton Park, Port Elizabeth as fast as possible and then up the other side. Then one had to take into consideration the factors which bedevilled this race: a narrow winding road, fast cars and road hazards in the form of pot holes, rough patches and bumps all in strategic places. Amazingly none of us was killed or even seriously hurt.

This is the story of this mis-adventure.

Main picture: The Third Avenue Dip in Newton Park which the road submerged due to flooding. The bike races were from the top of the hill near the houses. By the time one “hit” the bridge. one could be doing at least 80 kph.

A Sunday Drive to Schoenmakerskop in 1922

By Dean McCleland in McClelands, Port Elizabeth of Yore 26 May 2016 19 Comments

After losing all their possessions in a great flood of the Gamtoos River in 1906, my paternal grand- parents purchased 3 plots in an isolated hamlet called Schoenmakerskop during July 1918. On erf 17 – what was to become Number 32 Marine Drive – they constructed a wooden restaurant, which in its early years was called “The Hut”. With only a limestone and sand road from Walmer, their customers must have been paltry. Against the odds, luck was on their side. On Wednesday 6^th December 1922, Marine Drive was opened. It became a magnet for the rich and well-heeled in Port Elizabeth. Soon The Hut was overflowing with customers and the whole family was pressed into service catering for this demand.

This blog is a pictorial replication of that drive on Sunday 10^th December 1922 with contemporary photographs and drawings.

Main Picture: The start of the drive was at the Port Elizabeth Town Hall. One hundred and fifty model T Fords line up to make the journey around the Marine Drive. This is the actual photograph of the vehicles lining up.

Landing with no Rudder or Elevator

By Dean McCleland in Military History 24 May 2016 1 Comment

Essentially this feat is akin to driving without a steering wheel. All wars produce incredible stories of people or machines surviving the most horrendous damage. So it was with this South African Air Force Dakota in May 1986. WW2 produced many such examples; the most notable was that of a B17 returning from a bombing mission over Europe. This story originally appeared on the SA Military History website but I would like to share it.

Main picture: A most graphic picture of the Dakota’s non existent rudder and shattered elevators

Aw Shucks, It’s SHUCS

By Blaine McCleland in McClelands 23 May 2016 1 Comment

In what can only be described as having extremely high aspirations by competing in the Big Boys league, Omnipless tenders on and is awarded a contract perhaps under false pretenses. This was SHUCS or SpaceHab Universal Communication System with the ultimate customer being NASA.

Much of what they committed to would require extraordinary effort. With little capital or knowledge about engineering equipment for conditions in space, any snags, glitches or deviations from plan could financially cripple Omnipless.

This is the story of a bunch of intrepid South African engineers who beat the odds and met their target albeit by a narrow margin. It had been a close-run thing.

Main picture: SHUCS finally in space: The antenna is in a roughly horizontal attitude on top of a positioner, on top of a Spacehab module at the back of the Shuttle cargo bay.

Rare Photos of American History

By Dean McCleland in Historical 22 May 2016 0 Comment

These 40 photographs span the period from the advent of photography to the 1970s. They provide a glimpse into another world. For me, the most revealing photographs are those of the nineteenth century and the early 1900s. Being almost alien in the 21^st century, I find them both enchanting and repulsing in equal measure.

Main picture: a wood-plank prison in Wyoming, 1893

Active versus Passive Funds: Is the Debate Finally Over?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Financial Matters 21 May 2016 0 Comment

Certainly Warren Buffet, an investor par excellence, has been beating the drum of Passive Funds with elevated vociferousness recently. In South Africa, most commentators hedge their bets with a paucity of actual statistics to back their case. A recent article by Patrick Cairns does just that as he nails his mast to the Passive Funds wall.

Main picture: It is your money and your future that is being invested in. Fund Managers will always steer investors towards Active Funds for self-serving reasons: their commission

Note: I have used the term Passive Funds to denote Index Funds throughout

Lateral Thinkers with Time on their Hands

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 20 May 2016 0 Comment

Just when you thought that you had seen it all before, along comes somebody with time on your hands. Each in its own way illustrates a create spark that was actualised. As can be seen from these two dozen examples, it many instances the inventor/creator is merely using discarded items with a minimal monetary investment. Instead such investment is mainly or wholly in the artist’s time.

Just Don’t Look Down

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 19 May 2016 0 Comment

Especially if one suffers from acrophobia. It might be irrational but, for sufferers, they feel a sense of panic when they are at a certain height. When gripped with this fear, they are often unable to trust their sense of balance. If you are concerned for the safety of the users of these structures, what about the workers who constructed them?

Just a word of caution. Never attempt to take the ultimate selfie. It might well be the last one that you will ever take.