Hells bells. Was it really a week ago already we pushed out on what turned into a very wet ride out to Swellendam and back via Worcester?

Andy was the ride organizer and apparently all the favours he called in amounted to nothing.

Despite the weather (chilly and wet, mmmm what a combo) it was a very pleasant ride. Werner "Lunatic" Fouche and Riel "Unbreakable" Smit joined us.

Werner's presence was obvious from the occasional random wheelie followed by frantic clutching of brakes as the stop sign (and everyone else's adherence to it) registered.

Riel's presence was evidenced by, well, what more can I say other than Riel was present?

Amazing what a bike can do for even the most miserable day.

It was about a week ago that I thought to myself that I really must get back to blogging more frequently. Hells bells but time's flying at the moment.

We're scrambling over loose terrain in the direction of a public beta. I really can't wait to release so we can find out what the world thinks of what we've built and, more importantly, so I can bloody well tell my friends what I'm doing these days.

But progress is being made and it's finally coming together. We're in the home stretch.

For some reason this got up my nose and I've been unable to "get past it".

I'm not big on tradition. I understand that most tradition originally stems from a codification of rules, techniques or caveats that made sense at some point (and sometimes still do). But tradition for tradition's sake makes me see red. I spent most of my first month in Europe (on a school tour) arguing with my guidance counsellor about this. But I digress.

But recent events have taken even this lunacy to new heights, indeed to a level only before reached by eagles doing shrooms, or vice versa.

Friends recently got engaged. Well, no, actually, they got engaged today, but it's been in the works for, in truth I don't know how long, but it sure feels like fucking eternity.

This is how the insanity progressed. First, they came to a point of mutual agreement on the subject of marriage: yes indeed marriage it was. So they agreed to get engaged. Apparently willingness and reaching mutual agreement are necessary but not sufficient conditions to call yourself engaged. No, a ring is required. Fair enough. So they set out to find one because, control being as important as it is, there was no way he could be entrusted to choose one. Having found a ring he was now instructed by she that he was to "surprise" her with a proposal. However, the anticipation proved too much and she spent most of the intervening days (weeks? months? I've lost track) trying to determine when he was going to "pop the question".

And she's not without her skills so today was in fact no surprise at all. But, they informed us today, their nerves nearly didn't stand up to the anxiety today brought.

So now begins the long haul to the altar, with all of the fretting about who to invite and how much money to throw at the event. I think I'm going to be sick.

Or kill someone.

I hadn't realised until it was pointed out to me: it's been a year since my grandfather passed away.

A year! Where the hell did the time go. How can it possibly be a year?

The past few weeks have been hectic. Indeed, I'm sure it's been the case for longer than that but my brain is fried and I can't really tell.

We're frantically gearing up for a public offering but the jury's still out as to whether or not we'll make it. Indeed, it may come down in no small part to a small, armoured African mammal. It's a long story and after we launch one I'll happily share over a beer or six.

As a result though, not a hell of a lot been going on outside of the office. My bike's gathering dust and Claire's slowly forgetting what I look like. One day she'll accidentally have all our locks changed ("because I thought it would be a good idea") and I'll have to sleep outside.

But work's interesting, and things are coming together, and I think we're going to give the world something really interesting. So I'm looking forward to that, and I wake up excited to go to work every day, which is really all that matters in the end (for me anyway).

So in summary: tired but happy.