Big discounts - and they're not making a loss

 We decided long ago that AR Gaiters would not do discounts on our products and Black Friday sales. Our pricing is fair and it is not overinflated to accommodate seasonal sales. We also didn't want someone who orders one day to score big, while someone else two days later who only just heard of us misses out and pays full price. We also did not want our sales to be affected by customers waiting six months for a clearance sale.

On Sunday morning, I went to Food Lover's Market for the first time in a long time. A friend had shared that a sale was on and one of the items was 2kg parboiled rice, which I mix in with my dog's food. The price was a win at 4 x 2kg for R100. I picked up some other items for myself and for my friend too. The special included 8 x 500g pasta for R100. The saving, just on this, was R139.92! In total, my savings on a total bill of R599 - items for me and for my friend, came to R291.79. 

Here's the thing... they are not making a loss on selling these products at significantly lower prices. They are just making less profit. It is a numbers game selling bigger volume for a lower margin to still come out right at the end.

I do love a good discount, and I would be a fool not to take advantage of offers, but it does make me feel that the rest of the time I'm being ripped off.

We never want our AR Gaiters customers to feel like this so we instead deliver an excellent product at a fair price all year.

New career path - Mediation

 I'm very proud to announce a new career path that I have chosen... I am now a qualified Family Law Mediator.

I've had a busy few months with part-time studies through Mediation Academy. The course wrapped up with two intensive practical days just before I joined up with the team for Strandloper Project.

Even a year ago, I could not have imagined that this would be my path. The silver lining to three years of encounters with the law directly (Vagabond) and indirectly (two close family members) made it clear that court, where the outcome is out of your control, is not a solution (for most non-criminal disputes) and that there has to be a better, less expensive, quicker and more successful way.

 
There is. Mediation.

The foundation of mediation studies is Family Mediation (divorce, maintenance, child care and contact). The tools and techniques acquired here apply to other types of conflict.

 
With more than 30-years in sports (participating, directing, teams, committees and organisations), this is a keen area of interest for me to mediate disputes in the sports environment (athlete-athlete, coach-athlete, association-athlete, sponsor-athlete etc).

 
Life and experiences have led me to this new second-life career. Now the hard work starts in building a new business. Lisa de Speville Mediation is online - a lot still to be built over time.

Logo elements inspired by my love for navigation.
The bodies of the people are compass arrows.
Three people for Party A, Mediator and Party B.

A friend passed on this quote recently and it holds true:

"And then it happens... One day you wake up and you're in this place. You're in this place where everything feels right. Your heart is calm. Your soul is lit. Your thoughts are positive. Your vision is clear. You're at peace, at peace with where you've been, at peace with what you've been through and at peace with where you're headed."

(popular motivational text with no single confirmed author)

Strandloper Project Research Expedition 2025

It was very special to be part of this year's Strandloper Project Research Expedition (15-25 October 2025), documenting the amount and types of waste littering Garden Route beaches. I seldom visit the beach, so I have a whole new perspective and awareness of what is going on. Chunky trash and also nurdles and microplastics on the beach is an indication of so much more that is going on than what we see.

I spent 9 days (of the 11; I joined on Day 3 in Stilbaai) walking a section of the Garden Route coastline from Blombos Nature Reserve to Wilderness. I've followed and supported this research expedition for a few years and this year I did not want to miss out. I enjoyed writing our daily posts on the Strandloper Project Facebook page.

2025 Strandloper Project Research Expedition team: Jonathan, Mandy, Lisa, Mark. Our awesome support driver Rose took this photo.

 Packaging of products by manufacturers, our purchasing of packaged products (water and other beverages included), what we do with this generated waste and what our municipalities do with this waste is a big part of dealing with contamination of waterways, drains, the sea and beaches.

If you go to the beach - or to a river, take a bag along with you to fill with litter. Picking it up - even if the tide is going to bring more in tomorrow - makes a difference in a variety of ways.

Beaches will never look the same again and I don't think I can ever set foot on a beach again without doing a Trashy20 survey first.

Strandloper Project online

Website: www.strandloperproject.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/StrandloperProjectResearch
Instagram: www.instagram.com/strandloperproject

My thanks to Mark Dixon, Mandy Pelser, Jonathan Britton and Rose Greyling Bilbrough for being such awesome, dedicated and hard-working teammates and for showing me the ropes. We had many sponsors who offered their support from a back-up vehicle to frozen, cooked meals, and sunblock. We looked like a research team with matching shirts and jackets. AR Gaiters did our gaiters again this year - this time in a custom Strandloper Project print. Every contribution made this expedition possible.

A Trashy20 (10m x 2m) survey on a pebble beach - this was just surface material.

Mark is working through the collected data. Findings will be posted on Strandloper's Facebook page.

49 Days of Running

My annual pre-birthday challenge starts a day earlier each year, and this year 1 May marked Day 1. This time around, Day 1 happened to be the first day of the Western Cape Orienteering Festival - four days of orienteering.

I had three participation days, which I've written about in separate posts (Day 3 still to come), and today, Day 4, as course planner for the sprint event.

A beautiful morning for orienteering today. 

This year I'm going to stick with same-same with a 4km/day challenge. It worked really well for me on top of my other activities of dog outings and crossfit. I certainly averaged over 4km/day last year, which is fine. But on those crazy days, getting out for 4km is doable.

Last year's birthday challenge really worked well for me after about three years of poor running. I felt great coming odd the challenge and built on that over this past year. I've been feeling really good. 

Today, my Day 4, I don't think I did quite 4km. I did run around this morning putting out some controls and then afterwards collecting controls. 

I've got a sore left knee and inner thigh muscles after a overextension slip-and-slide in the forest yesterday during orienteering. I'm going to nurse this for a day or two and see how it does. I was quite sore and limping by the time I got home today. If I need to substitute Day 5 run with something low key, so be it.

So, here begins 49 days of commitment to me. Hip hip hooray