Insights

Firstly, I need to add to more negatives to living in South Africa. One is ants. They are everywhere, and when you leave the kitchen they come out like rabid dogs. Have I not mentioned them before?
The second thing is banks. You have to go to the bank you mean to transfer money to, which means recently I have been running around to different banks. In Korea you can stand still in front of a cash machine and let you money do the running.

I woke up this morning after having a particularly distasteful dream. I was in Korea (that's not the bad part), but I was there with no phone numbers, and nowhere (seemingly to go). After I woke up I wondered why I didn't just call a recruiter - who would have had me in a job and an apartment within, possibly, an hour. I think the dream was just a metaphor for overall uncertainty.
1. Weekend of the 6th: SA Triathlon Champs, Richard's Bay OR SA Cycling champs (Gauteng) OR a wedding in Kroonstad and fashion show in Bloem
2. Weekend of the 12th. REM in Johannesburg OR the Argus in Cape Town
3. Post Ironman: CELTA in Johannesburg or Durban, and SendingFietstoer (PE to Strand immediately after the Ironman) OR Korea or Taiwan if I get some good leads from Daniel or working at the Department of English at Free State University (though in an entrepreneurial capacity), or at Quintiles, Xposure or more uncertainty.

In a world of uncertainty, one thing is certain. Natural Disasters.
I inadvertantly watched a National Geographic Documentary on what I thought was a slightly yawny topic by now: The Tsunami Disaster.
I still have an image in my head of a man, standing on a very wide beach - and this was shot from quite high above - while a black broiling wave slides quickly towards him. He does not move. Not to run, not to jump. The water simply engulfs him and he is gone.
The official number dead: 287,534
Missing: 114,922
This numbers become irrelevant on an hourly basis.

My own perception of the Tsunami that it is just like a Hawaiian pipeline, and you just need to be able to hold your breath for an extended length of time - probably no more than about a minute, which is doable if you have time to take a deep breath. I'm exaggerating. The thing is, it is not an individual wave, it is a wall of water, and behind that wall is the same height of water. It is a moving body of water, with several more behind it.
What's more is by the time this water has gone even a few metres inland, it is carrying so much debris that it becomes black and soup like and it is not a question of swimming in it, as making sure you get out of it and away from it. The surface in streets that are flooded are just cars and metal - just a black tin soup of sharp objects, scraping along. You get caught in that and any soft fruity objects get diced.

Basically this disaster made me forget about whining about Iraq. There are alll sorts of killers out there, so maybe we all just need to enjoy our lives, look out for each other and just try to stay healthy. Putting your nose in someone elses business may be altruistic, but you may not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of your efforts. Life has some difficulties hardwired into it. Life is kind've juxtaposed very closely beside SURVIVAL. If we are more than merely surviving, more than merely living, maybe we can live consciously, and thus happily and in harmony.
Thus simple things like getting up early in the morning, running through sleepy suburbia, may be one of the best ways we celebrate our lives in our bodies, wherever we are.