A very common question at a job interview is always: what your strengths and weaknesses are. I was well into my 40’s when I went for a job interview once and got asked the question. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I did answer that if by the age of 40-something, I had not turned my weaknesses into strengths yet, I would be a very sad human being. You see, there comes a point in all of our lives, where we need to deal with the baggage that holds us back. I often reflect on my rather unsettled childhood and have come to terms with the experience. It is, after all, the building blocks or foundation of who I am today.

Interviewers have another favourite question. What is your five-year plan? To this I responded that Stalin was the originator of the concept of a five-year plan, and judging by the sticky end he met, I would rather not have a five-year plan. I did not get the job. Clearly they needed a five-year plan. Stalin will always be remembered as the heroic Soviet leader that carried Russia through World War II by some. Others will remember him for the cruel man he was, for the gulags and persecution of his fellow countrymen. In the end, he died of a massive stroke, and urban legend has it that he spent quite some time lying on the floor of his room, in a rather pathetic way (I hope that was sufficiently polite to say he lolled about in his own filth) Having alienated so many with his cruel paranoia, in the end, there was no one to call for help. Initially, his body was embalmed, and he was interred into the same mausoleum where Lenin was. Even in death, the 2 did not get on too well, and Stalin’s body was moved. Lenin had his mausoleum all to himself, and there his embalmed body would lie, only to be removed once a year, so they could clean out the mushrooms that were sprouting from his crevasse. There you have it. That is what you get for having a five-year plan.

One of my silver foxes, had a photo on WhatsApp recently. Something along the lines of: When a man loves a woman, she becomes his weakness. When a woman loves a man, he becomes her strength. Armed with this new philosophy, I went in search of Colin, and demanded to know if it was true. Am I his weakness? Poor Colin, There he was, treading water, his mind working overtime to come up with the best answer. Had he been a worm, he probably would have rolled over and played dead, just to buy enough time to ascertain if I was being serious or not. I could see that pleading look in his eyes: Please, let my phone ring, and please let it be that very difficult client. Anything, just to not have to answer my wife’s loaded question. And then he came back with that typical Colin answer: you know me, I am never good with words. And before I could gently increase the pressure, his prayers were answered and his phone rang. Man, the call center agent on the other end of the line could not believe his luck. Finally! Somebody who answered and was prepared to listen to his whole sales pitch!

But the thought stuck with me. I know that I can answer my half of the question. This past year where we have had to bat so many curved balls, Colin was my strength. We are now at that make-or-break point in our building, where if it wasn’t for Colin’s strength, I would give up and invest in a caravan. Have you ever noticed, driving around coastal towns, how many half built houses there are? I have certainly noticed it down here, and I completely understand how it happens. In building, there is a point when it seems to never end, every time you log into your bank account, it is to pay for yet more concrete to pour into a hole in the ground. I know, there comes a point where your nerves just surrender and you try to sell your half built heap of concrete.

A great weakness to us now is Domino. He has for the third time, walked back to his old house. This time round, it has taken us more than a week to catch him and bring him home, to his new house. As I write this, he is passed out next to me. Too exhausted to even resist when I rub him once too often. Life, as a stray cat, was not easy. I reminded him that if he had only co-operated in his capture, he could have been home 5 days ago, already. One of my new friends tried to console me. I was upset about “abandoning” him, when she said: maybe he abandoned us? Just maybe he has found himself a new family? Well, that had me in floods of tears, and poor friend apologising for saying the wrong thing, all the time, I could sense her mind thinking: Please, let my phone ring, and please let it be that very difficult client. Anything, just to not have to put up with this distress over a truant cat.

Had I asked builder who his strength was, he would probably opt for PPC or Afrisam. His weakness without a doubt too much sand in the mix. Or not enough water added during the mixing process. I made that mistake once doing Mosaic. I did spend an awfully long time scratching out clumps of grout. Once the grout was sorted, it took equally long to get my hands back to normal. It was stained terracotta for a few days.

Time is a good teacher. As you get older, you realise that things do not just happen at a snap of your fingers. You learn a lot about patience. How to be patient. How being patient can have positive results. Such as being able to analyze things and situations beyond their face value. It teaches you resourcefulness, calm, empathetic behaviour, and self-control. It gives you inner peace and the ability to keep smiling despite challenges.

And so, here I am. I think that I may finally have a five-year plan. It is called Meraki Mountain. And it has tremendous strengths, and very few weaknesses. It is, after all, being built on a rock.