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Centurion is quite a laid back town. But good thing is that Joburg is not too far and same applies for Sandton or Rosebank or Greenside(it getting better each day).
Botswana travel will be a bit of an issue as I need to pay some more to rental car providers and may have to bribe in some places (for no apparent reason apart from saving my ass).
I find it difficult to figure out a decent income unless I have a place in mind where I want to settle here. First choice would be Sandton which is expensive.
PHS241 wrote: Only applications from black applicants will be considered
Ridiculous.
"Bastards encourage idiots to use Oracle Forms, Web Forms, Access and a number of other dinky web publishing tolls.", Mycroft Holmes[ ^]
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Sandton mall is a gem. World class in fact. Before Sandton Square became the twee setting it's now become (Mandela Square?) it had superb restaurants. The Butcher Shop and Grill was once rated the best steakhouse in the world and it was outstanding. The inside part of the mall has/had a really good choice of eateries. We often preferred Hyde Park mall and Bryanston used to have some nice places as well. The only one that turned for the worse was Randburg's mall. Wifey used to love the bran muffins sold at Mug & Bean (?) chain. Just outside Dullstroom (eastern Transvaal) is an incredible restaurant specialising in pannekoek. Worth the three hour drive from Joburg just for those alone.
Pity the beer isn't so lekker. I mean, Castle lager is superb because that's really all there is. Unless you find somewhere that imports Windhoek lagers but then again, when it's 35degC+ I'll settle for a cold beer regardless of make. 
Greenside used to have a lot of very good Jewish restaurants although I don't know what it's like to live in that part of the world. I lived for a while in Northcliff and a bit further north in Honeydew. Both nice areas but I suspect Northcliff is also very expensive now. I'd advise against the slum flats around the Cresta area. Poorly built, poorly maintained but affordable and close to Cresta mall which is nice enough in its own way. Yeah, Sandton is lovely. Parkmore was ideally located. My mum remembered it when you could ride a horse from Parkmore to Rivonia and the Rosebank area and you had to open and close farm gates on the way. I don't think a horse has been seen there for over 50 years now!
If there is one thing more dangerous than getting between a bear and her cubs it's getting between my wife and her chocolate.
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Unfortunately, I am a vegetarian so African food just does not excite me. Beer on the other hand does. I am not a fan of lagers I like my stout and draught. I like Windhoek and Castle draughts although I have started liking Steph Weiss and some German stout I tried a Jozy beer festival last week.
Thing I liked the most about Greenside was the shabeem (?) like bar set up at one place. I found it beautiful. Although they were selling alcohol to kids dressed in school uniform.
I am not into malls as we have lots and lots of them everywhere in India. I don't know if you have seen it or not but the Vodacom building, 50 stories high or something, still stands strong and young guys hold crazy parties there on the roof I heard.
"Bastards encourage idiots to use Oracle Forms, Web Forms, Access and a number of other dinky web publishing tolls.", Mycroft Holmes[ ^]
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Shabeens are indeed fun places. They used to be rather menacing places years back and whitey folk were looked upon with grave suspicion. Post 1994 and they opened up to be places where you'd could buy a cold beer, relatively cheap and where it was okay to talk sh*t and what have you. As for selling booze to kids in school uniforms, nothing has changed. I don't know the Vodacom building but the landscape has changed dramatically over the years. There used to be some beautiful old buildings in down-town Joburg. The Rissik Street (?) poskantoor was a truly beautiful building but it's fallen into disrepair now.
Joubert Park was a nice place to walk around and the Landrost Hotel nearby was always used by the British Lions touring rugby teams but you'll never, ever see them go there anymore. We have an old mirror at home that came from the Carlton Centre hotel before it was "taken over" by new management. 
If there is one thing more dangerous than getting between a bear and her cubs it's getting between my wife and her chocolate.
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I live and work in Port Elizabeth. Career wise there are less IT jobs here, but there are still some good opportunities. Salaries are generally lower here, but so is cost of living and the pace of life isn't as hectic as in the bigger cities. And you have the ocean. Crime is becoming worse, but not quite as bad as some of the bigger cities. And if you are interested in wildlife, there are some game reserves like the Addo Elephant park nearby. But, take your time, do more research and make an informed decision.
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PE is much better than that coastal dump, East London. East London is to Durban what Brighton is to London, namely a shithole. I'd like to think they've cleaned it up now. I knew a few people who moved from EL to PE and were thankful to have done so. Pity they don't have a great rugby team there. 
If there is one thing more dangerous than getting between a bear and her cubs it's getting between my wife and her chocolate.
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East London still sucks. I've only been there for work though, so maybe biased in that way. The Southern Kings are making progress to become a descent rugby team.
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The Southern Kings. It doesn't have the same ring as the Sharks, Cheetahs, Stormers, or my team, the Bulls although I preferred it when they were known only as Natal, Free State, WP, and Northern Transvaal. 
If there is one thing more dangerous than getting between a bear and her cubs it's getting between my wife and her chocolate.
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Ocean: no, I can't swim. I did tried scuba diving once though. To me main attraction in PE is the bring where I can do bungee. If I ever get a chance, I would.
"Bastards encourage idiots to use Oracle Forms, Web Forms, Access and a number of other dinky web publishing tolls.", Mycroft Holmes[ ^]
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Depending where you go there will always be some folk who'll throw you off a bridge, bungee cord or not.
If there is one thing more dangerous than getting between a bear and her cubs it's getting between my wife and her chocolate.
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I find him really good stand up comedian. One of the observations I have is that his language is "clean". "Stupid in school" is currently my favorite gig of his. Any fans of him here?
"Bastards encourage idiots to use Oracle Forms, Web Forms, Access and a number of other dinky web publishing tolls.", Mycroft Holmes[ ^]
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I assume there are two Brian Regans[^]
“I believe that there is an equality to all humanity. We all suck.” Bill Hicks
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So, the deal I made when moving to my current co was that I wanted X. They weren't prepared to pay X, so offered X-Y*, raising to X after a satisfactory 3 month probation period. All of this was negotiated via an agent - I think you can see where this is going...
After glowing performance reviews, my employer deny having these conversations with the agent. The agent has not written anything down, but insists that the conversations did take place.
Anybody got any thoughts or opinions** on the matter?
* Y is a reasonable amount of money, not life changing.
** "Agents are evil" or any variant thereof is not a helpful opinion, given that we all already know it.
*** In the UK, so US laws don't apply. Also, where did you find 3 asterisks in the main text?
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The agent is an idiot for not confirming it (you are also culpable here - you should have ensured it was written into your contract prior to signing).
The employer is also being an arse and not showing you any respect. I would look for a new contract ASAP - why would you want to work for a liar?
Alternatively, tell the agent the difference has to come out of their slice of the pie.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
me, in pictures
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mark merrens wrote: The agent is an idiot for not confirming it
True
mark merrens wrote: you are also culpable here - you should have ensured it was written into your contract prior to signing
True - I assumed it was in writing already so that would be ok.
mark merrens wrote: The employer is also being an arse and not showing you any respect.
I'm inclined to believe that they didn't agree it actually, but I can't be 100% sure. Agents tend to lie a lot.
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Then you should insist that agent pays the difference and should inform the employer if they say no. Most employers will not want to deal with agencies that are screwing over the employee.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
me, in pictures
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Worth a try, thanks
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The agent didn't get the deal in writing?
I now have a red mark on my forehead from a series of painful face/palms.
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My bad for assuming that they did, but no, apparently they didn't think about it.
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Any way you can get the two of them in the same room / conference call so you can hear them lie in front of one another? It's hard to blame the "other guy" when the other guy is right there.
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Alas, not that easy. Even if it were, it's their word against HR.
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You're gonna need a bigger boat room.
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Ray Harryhausen[^] who kindled my love of special effects leading to my secret hobby as 3D modeller has just passed away. Damn, but I still love films like Jason and the Argonauts, precisely because of his work.
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