2008 - LETS GET IT ON!!! Dont be chicken!!!!!!

Boy has 2008 kicked into gear.

At the end of last year things were looking really good!

Now - Panic, Panic, Panic - what a lot of crock.

What has scared everyone and stuck that negative nonsense into their souls!!!

Having to buy candles and parrafin lamps (Like ouma grootjie did!)
Having to check out Canada, Aussie or anywhere safe. Maybe IRAQ
High interest rates, markets crashing like zeppelins, NCA - Oh my G..!

Panic- Yes/ NO - Switch off the lights to save money for your one way ticket!!

C'mon folks stop panicking! This is not the first time there’s been doom, gloom and boom!(for the Capetonian's). Every few years the same thing happens. Guys weve survived wars, revolutions, we even through off the shackles of apartheid(Can I mention that word!! as a whitey). We experience huge economic growth and everyone is a property baron, developer or even better a lawyer!. We buy on credit, credit, credit things like homes, buy-to-let (Thanks Nedbank) and SUV's.

Now we are so pumped that the economy melts a bit as it overheats, and then panic, panic, panic - because the economy seems to be collapsing when in actual fact it’s simply making an adjustment back to a reasonable level.

It happened in 1989, when SA defaulted on its international loans and the stock market and Rand crashed, it happened in 1994 when the ANC took power and everyone thought war would break out, it happened in 1998 when interest rates hit 25% (you remember that dont you!!) and you couldn’t give away your house, and it happened with 9/11.

And guess what - were still here!!! hmmmmmmmmmmm

And as Alan says Quote " I think 2008 will be a tough year, but I also see it as a great opportunity to seize the day whilst everyone else is whinging and get a front-seat on the inevitable boom that we’ll experience in 2009, 2010 and beyond.

Make sure you make a mental note of everything that is happening now, because it will happen again and again, and if you don’t recognize the symptoms you’ll be suckered into the same negativity, and forget to look for the opportunities.It’s easy to be negative. Subconsciously, you WANT to be negative!

Whenever you open the papers they tell you about the goriest hi-jacking and the most corrupt politicians. Why don’t they dedicate more pages to the fact that Joburg is the world’s biggest man-made forest, Pretoria or Thswane according to Gwen (Our first lady) is the centre of SA investment, or to the corruption-free achievements of the vast majority of public officials?

Because bad news sells. Good news is boring.

SA still has the best weather in world! We’re lucky enough to possess a huge chunk of the world’s resources, i.e.: gold, platinum, coal, iron. The growth in India and China will continue to accelerate (India and China sign 10mil new mobile customers every month), and so will their demand for our resources. The government has already embarked on massive infrastructure projects (some of them a tad late, i.e.: electricity), and this will pump money into the economy.We are all lucky enough to be a part of the birth of a massive and all-encompassing industry. The Internet has and will continue to change the world. The enormity of its impact is up there with the wheel, electricity, TV, telephones, and possibly man’s greatest ever invention, coffee. Not only does it open up an entirely untapped world of commerce, but it is also the ultimate disseminator of information and news.

Apartheid would not have lasted 40 years if the Internet had existed! And you’re part of it! I’m looking forward to another year of complaints, issues, parties, roll-outs, billing runs, irate customers, happy customers, faulty elevators, cops winning battles etc, etc. The nice stuff makes me feel good, and the challenges remind me why we can beat the competition. " Thanks Alan

But I think what is even more important, if you are going to buy, buy now, property will increase later. 2008 is starting out to be a brilliant year and we should enjoy every moment of it.

So stuff the doom and gloomers - get solar heating gadgets, be part of the save energy campaign. Put your glass, paper and plastic in seperate binds. use your scraps as compost and grow your own organic beggies! Love your felloww sufferers oops I meant South Africans and lets show the world that we are not woozies we are TUFF!