Do anyone remember the sirens that went off every day to remind you of the time?

[Cherry (Alcock)]

Ummmm, Mike, they've been saying that forever - njust like up until the day I left, there was supposed to be only 17 yrs of life left on the mine - that was in 1994 so you have 3 yrs left!  :emot19:

[Michael Alexander]

when my dad got here in 72, they told him that the mine only had 8 years to go... anyhow, I'm banking on the Arabs building my school here for me....   ::

[Cherry (Alcock)]

Better get your gitls learning Arabic quick quick :-)

[georg ruf jr.]

do you think there's a Spar in Dubai Cherry.
By the way Michael. Did yiou see the link of the German Spar I once posted?

[Florrie van Zyl (Muir)]

Boarding school isn't what it was in our days. My older kids were in borading school and it taught them nothing. They never had room inspections etc and actually seemed to have more freedom and less discipline there than they were getting at home, so when the laat-lammetjie had to go to school, I moved to town.

[Alfred Boehme]

Do you think you would still be there (stay) Mike when your cuties (girls) have to go to boarding school?  I think that must be one of the hardest decisons parents have/had to make when living there.  I must say that for me, I am glad I left when I did and had the oppoortunity to have my kids at home during their teenage years even if I can count a number of grey hairs they caused me as a single mum! 

Got two girls in boarding school it's not nice would rather have them at home but there is no other way

[Clive Symes]

Reading through all the latest  comments, and I have to agree with Florrrie, boarding schools have changed and do not have the same or even similar disciplines as we had growing up  away from home.
If I had had less time invested in the company I would have left earlier, hell I went through the motions enough times - anyway when the right opportunity presented (wild horses couldnt hold me back)

Cherry, I am glad that I was able to give one of my daughters the opportunity of making the choice of being either a day scholar or to be a weekly boarder ( she elected to remain in boarding school as a weekly  boarder)
What a pleasure it was to be able to collect her every Friday, and to have her friends stay over ( being able to reciprocate and getting to know the girls she lived with )

Mike, the mine had five (5) year plans, then 10 year plans from way back.
I hear that the mine (in some form or other ) should still be running until 2022, This concerns me greatly since Nostradamus and the Mayan's predict the world end in 2012 ( Just shows De Beers determination and to what lengths they will go to get the last few stones out of the mine ( Mine to the end and beyond)

Have a laugh and lets see the responces.

[Michael Alexander]

Hey Clive, any chance you could give the exact day in 2012? I need to give my staff at Spar the day off.....   

[georg ruf jr.]

>Mike, the mine had five (5) year plans, then 10 year plans from way back.<

Is this a form of socialism?
:emot19:

[Clive Symes]

Hey Mike,
Long time since I have logged on, the day is supposed to be 26 December.

[Michael Alexander]

Damn, we're closed on the 26th anyhow.... maybe the next ebd of the world then..... 

[Lance Olivier]

Hiya gang
I remember the sirens, had to be home when the second hooter went at about 4 o'clock. I think the first hooter meant the employees could start getting ready to go home and the second meant end of shift (not sure about this, please enlighten). I have been reading the comments on this topic and having been born in OMD in 1960 I tend to agree with what Clive, Cherry and others have said (apologies for omitting anyone). When I left in 1988 it was a huge step for my wife and I although we were just "relocating" to another De Beers operation as such. All I basically knew was OMD, boarding school and two years in the army. The rest of the time was spent in this little oasis in the desert and people telling you how tough it was on the outside. Don't get me wrong, as I think it is a great place for kids to grow up, never regretted growing up in OMD, made good friends and met great people over the years, but one has to fly the nest at some time. Parents in OMD don't have to really worry about the general safety of their kids, except if the kids go catching snakes and scorpions (which a lot of us did at some or other time). I think this is the reason why many people choose to remain in OMD, but can be a difficult decision when it comes to sending kids to boarding school or leaving OMD so that the kids can be at home every night. In them days we were almost brainwashed into the fact that when you finished Std 5 you would be going to boardding school whereafter you would do your time in the military forces and then continue with your life. As far as I'm concerned the way
companies do business these days has changed and De Beers is changing as well,  nou maar toe. De Beers' motto is "A Diamond Are Forever" but as we all know the deposits don't last forever. Just a thought.

[Patricia Lotte]

I agree with you Lance. As kids growing up in Oranjemund, we never worried about being abducted, assaulted, etc. We felt safe and our parents didn't have the same concerns as those living in the 'outside world'. Sure, it wasn't easy leaving Oranjemund, but we were brought up with strong foundations that made us capable of enduring what life throws at us. I don't think I could have had a better childhood than I did in Oranjemund. When the time comes to move on and start life elsewhere, we can all deal with it because of the way we were raised.

[SandyB]

Another  memory of the sirens  was  the   amount of  dogs that would  start howling  when the siren  went off .. sounded like a   wolf pack sometimes .. in  fact i think  some  of the  dogs looked  forward to  it  as it  prompted them yo  connect with  their  primitive roots ..

[Carl Wrbka]

Hi Lance, thanks for the brainwashing theory regarding the boarding school issue in OM. You nailed it just right. I remember receiving my first callup instructions in Std 8 whils't at Centaurus. In those days almost everybody from Centaurus was called up to the dreaded Ossona base in Okahandja, and I was no exception. We had all been brainwashed by friends of ours who had been there and were preparing ourselves mentally allready since Std 6. Fortunately I got "uitstel" for the next 4 years and was called up to a more civilized base in SA.

I must say, my years as a "hostel brak" at Centaurus provided just the right preparation for the 2 years of NS that followed.