Our warehouse manager is from South Africa. He was born and raised in Johannesburg, and came to the U. S. with his wife because her company transferred her to Washington about 10 years ago. He found work in DC, too, but one day about 4 years ago the company approached him about a promotion with the requirement that he relocate to Tennessee. He says it was the best thing that ever happened to him, as he was then able to divorce his wife and get a fresh start here in the States.

I always wondered why he didn’t just go back to South Africa, and he says that once he left there he had no intentions of ever going back there to live. He does go back at least twice a year to visit friends and family. In fact, he is leaving next week for another trip to Johannesburg.

Since I’ve never been there, I asked him to share some insights on the area with me. He says that the downtown is a thoroughly modern city, with a beautiful convention center and dozens of nice hotels. This is the one he likes, right next to the Sandston Convention Center:

The lobby is elegant and a popular gathering or meeting spot for convention delegates. Here is a photo he found of their atrium:

There are other nice hotels in that area, including this good list for a Sandton Convention accommodation.

I used the web site Cheaperthanhotels.com to find accommodation around Johannesburg here. Our warehouse manager related interesting stories from personal experience at most of them. Some of them are beautiful but not well run, others are not as fancy on the outside but run by gracious and charming hosts. I like hearing about exotic places from people who have actually lived there and can share their personal insights. He said that Sandton delegates can also check here or the saconvention.co.za web site for hotel information.

Last night was one of the first nights in over a month that we didn’t have rain or the threat of thunderstorms, so I did grill out like Sherri suggested. I have a Coleman camping grill that burns propane – nothing fancy. But since I was just cooking for moi, it is plenty big and delivers plenty of grilled flavor.

I like the little propane canisters that you can buy at any general store, like WalMart, KMart and even Tractor Supply or Ace Hardware. They sell for under $10 and last for a dozen or so grilling sessions, depending on what you are cooking and how long you leave the burners on.

Yesterday I had lunch at Cracker Barrel with my girlfriend from out in Fairview, Sherri. She had to come to the airport to drop off her parents and since she was in the neighborhood we met up.

Sherri was talking about her new barbecue grill and how they had cooked out the night before with her parents and her aunt and uncle, who live in the area. That sounded really nice and it got me thinking that I’ve not been taking full advantage of my own grill.

So tonight, it’s dinner on the Bar-B.

Today is a special day for Americans to honor their servicemen and servicewomen for all they do to protect our country and defend freedom around the world. I know how much they sacrifice – up to and sometimes including their lives – in their duty to our country. We are always grateful for their work and today is dedicated to them.

This Memorial Day weekend snuck up on me. I’m more used to it being the last weekend in May and this year it is early because the 31st falls on a Sunday. So May has 5 weekends and Memorial Day will be on the fourth weekend instead of the last one.

It used to be that Memorial Day was a big celebration and everyone would rush to the ocean beaches to welcome summer. Around here it does not seem to have much significance, although it is always nice to have a day off from work. But the closest beach is an 8 – 9 hour drive, and its not such a weekend destination with that long a drive.

On Fridays, the executive team likes to go out for lunch unless they are out of town. It’s a nice way to wind down after a busy week, and because it is lunch no one drinks alcohol or has to worry about getting home from Happy Hour.

One of our favorite lunch spots is an upscale restaurant called Bosco’s. This is the second location for the owners, as they have had a long success record with their downtown location. We were thrilled to have a landmark eatery open near our office.

We agreed to meet at Bosco’s today at 11:30 to get a jump on their busy lunch crowd, but when I pulled up and parked I noticed a white sign taped to the door. It said, “Due to Thursday’s fire we will be closed today. Sorry for any inconvenience.” Yikes!

Yesterday was a strange weather day for us. It was too cool for May and the clouds remained a rain threat for the entire weekend. We had a lot of lightning on Saturday, so I wanted to be cautious about thunderstorms on Sunday, too.

So I was not happy about trying to do any of the outdoor activities that I had planned for the weekend. Instead, I went to get a haircut and a mani-pedi. It made me feel so good to be pampered and fussed over, and I can do all the outdoor things next weekend instead.

Today was beautiful. The sun is out and there is not a cloud in the sky. At lunch I took a brisk walk for the four blocks around our office building. Just fast enough to get the heart pumping but not so fast as to work up a sweat and be all sticky the rest of the afternoon.

Well, sucks to be Intel today, according to USA Today’s headline. Intel’s been fined a record amount for illegal bullying of businesses and customers in Europe. ($1.45 BILLION fine! Holy Moley!)

You cannot do the same monopoly bullying tactics in Europe that you can do in Asia and the U.S.

I hope Google is paying attention. As far as I’m concerned they are a monopoly and should be next in line for a big smack down. Too bad the American Government doesn’t have the balls to do it. It will probably have to be the Europeans again.

This morning I slept in late and took my time getting showered and dressed. I made a big pot of Starbucks Columbian coffee and toasted an English muffin that I topped with real butter and marmelade. That was an awesome way to start the day.

Around noon my kids called from Vancouver to wish me Happy Mother’s Day. It was great to talk to them and just spend a little time with them on the phone. I can’t wait to see them this summer, too.

Today is the first of May and in olden days it was cause for great celebration. They would celebrate May Day, with a huge festival that the entire village participated in. I loved reading about the May Day, the May Pole, and the legends and traditions of our ancestors.