Update on the new employment opportunity

Had a nice call this morning from my mate down under - Solomonster - those of you who know him, he sends his regards. Those who don't, well, same to you I suppose :).

Anyway, I'm going to refer to him as SM from now on (short for Solomonster). He asked about the accident, our health (esp. mom's) and other stuff. And then asked about the now employment opp. I didn't want him to spend another 15000 AUD on the call, so said I would post details here.

So, I recently read an article which was a piece from an interview with a very successful German butcher here in South Africa. When he had finished school, he had no idea what line of business to go into, and approached his grandfather. The response he got was something like this :- "My boy, people will always eat, drink and shit! If you are involved in anything, it must address one of these needs!" And he did, and made good of it.
Now, the food industry isn't for me - hours are way too long. And it's damn competitive. A bottle store (liquor shop) is very profitable, but I'm not sure I want to be partly responsible for more of the worlds problems, what with drunken driving, killing innocent people, spousal and child abuse attributed to alcohol abuse....... Fuck that.

So, that leaves me with shit. No, seriously. A massive problem around the world is shit. Not that which you all deposit into the big white telephone, and flush down to your local sewerage works, where it can be processed and stuff, but the tons of crap being generated in deep pit latrines, and other such make shift locations, in squatter camps etc. Where there is no proper sewerage processing, and where disease, mostly contributed to by the presence of shit, is rampant.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not suddenly becoming a bleeding heart "green world" styled terrorist, about to attack and bomb capitalism, and all the rich people who done even know this problem exists. No, I intend to exploit the situation for my own personal gain, and if some poor bastards out there do benefit from my actions, well then good for me!!!!


A mate of mine (and future employer) is a metallurgist by trade. He's also self employed, and quite the inventor, especially when it comes to filtration / separation / conveying of various forms of materials. He was approached by a big Metro here in SA to help them design a machine to resolve some of the above mentioned crap problem. They had for some years been cleaning out the deep pit latrines in their squatter camps, and so had managed to keep health problems down. But due to the number of latrines, they only go around once every couple of years. The other problem, and probably more of a problem, was disposing of the tons of human shit that they we re collecting.

Most of you have heard of the Valley of a 1000 hills, in Kwa-Zulu Natal? Well, it was fast becoming 1001 hills. According to my mate the shit pile is so big, it will take years to clear, with 4 machines to process it all! That's, ZAR100,000 x 4 per month - for years!!!!!! AND THAT'S ONE METRO, ONE PILE OF SHIT.  WITH TONS OF SHIT BEING ADDED EVERYDAY TO THE EXISTING PILE - A NEVER ENDING SOURCE OF SHIT.....


OK, so I'm getting ahead of myself. What he designed (AND PATENTED) is a machine that you dump the shit into (use a front end loader - it's safer), at about 70% dry (30% moisture content). This goes through a screw conveyor that separates hard materials from the shit. (Hard materials have included things like cellphones, TV remote controls, tins, bottles, railway truck wheel ??? {WTF???}) and other stuff. The shit is squeezed out through hundreds of holes in the sides of the screw conveyor, and the hard material is ejected at the top to be disposed of in any other way possible. The "spaghetti" strings of shit then travel through an enclosed conveyor system, fitted with a heating apparatus (this is the secret product) which in effect completely dries the product, kills off all germs / bacteria / other nasty stuff, and dumps it off the end of the belt. At this point the material is safe to handle, has no smell, and gets bagged for sale to anyone who wants it as a damn fine fertilizer for gardens or farms / etc. Stru.......!!

Because of the fact that these machines are mainly to be located in remote sites where the recycling of anything / everything is the main source of income for the inhabitants of these places, they needed to secure the plant. I did a design for him and put the whole contraption into 2 x 20ft containers, with a small container attached which houses a generator - diesel powered. The "end product" bagged and sold brings in about  6 x the overall cost of the running of the plant, diesel included!
The upside to this is that it creates jobs. People are needed to run the plant on a day to day basis. There is ongoing maintenance required, which is shopped out to one of the local engineering companies, and there is employment for the people who bag the material, and sell it.
And, the client pays a build deposit for the plant, and a monthly fee of ZAR 100,000 (depending on the size) for a minimum period of 36 months. And they are responsible for running costs and maintenance costs. Geezzz.... can u believe this shit?!?:)



Oh, and the Bill Gates Green World Foundation is talking to us, and are keen on an initial order of 1000 machines in the next 18 - 24 months! These, however, will be for export to the East, and we would sell them outright. But probably still be the prime source for spare parts and stuff. But should I care? 1000 MACHINES - If I pull that one off, I can probably make a fair commissions, and retire!!!!

Also, we are talking to several companies who want to take up a franchise. South America is the main one here.

So there you have it. I will be running the company that will sell / rent / market / produce these machines. I will, over time, have to recruit various people to assist as the business grows. I am trying to secure a share in the business. We will be taking other peoples shit and turning it into money. Sounds like a damn fine idea to me...

Salagatle!