11 02 2010

(image source Wikepedia)

I had a carefully conceived plan today to post on the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's (Madiba) release from prison - the walk to freedom and the movement of South Africa away from the apartheid years - the great man can be seen here recently with his former jail guard ( link) I was musing with recent news items as to what I was doing 20 years ago, of course the release came close on the heels of the breaching of the Berlin Wall the year before. It was of huge import to my wife's family as her aunt lives in South Africa and has done for many years, indeed Deb herself had visited her relatives in the dark apartheid days of the 1970's when a South African stamp in a passport meant questions asked and possible rejection in many other parts of the 'right thinking' world.

The one thing that I can still hear as clear as a bell are the chuckles of joy from Archbishop Desmond Tutu at seeing Mandela walk free in 1990 - magical!

Unfortunately at 7.30 am I was faced by a much more mundane problem - see below!
Indeed a smashed rear screen on my beloved Audi! All esoteric, culture driven and doubtless worthy blog posts flew from my mind as I came down to earth with a bump - or a crash followed by a the tinkle of falling glass. It was straight on to my insurance company and through to their windscreen replacement service for the low down on the repair and its implications ( mainly an excess of £75!)
Above you can see the cleaned up window following around an hour of work to prepare it for the 35 mile trip to Autoglass in Cardiff - above is the cleaned up window with the glass in a recycling bag!
This was followed by a slightly chilly trip down to Cardiff with youngest Laura following in her car which will be my transport to work tomorrow! As with all of these happenings there is never a good time, things are extremely busy in the world of IB online with workshops for Diploma teachers beginning next Wednesday and all of the things which have to be in place beforehand - 30 globally spread leaders to be prepared and their workshop spaces etc.. etc....

I must however be grateful that much like the recent flat tyre, it was a clear dry day - if cold. By Sunday I hope to be reunited with Audi and able to see clearly behind me.... safer but again a little bit poorer until the next time!