Another award awarded (can you say that?)

It pains me but:-
Seamanrbay, a regular reader of my blogg, has not posted anything since 21 July.
So, for his first transgression award, he can pick his toilet seat. Here is the link to his blogg,
http://seamanrbay.blogspot.com/
And here is his choice of seats...

Wear it with pride, Sir!




















Salagatle!

You just have to check this out. DAMN!

http://thatgirlemily.blogspot.com/

The freezing street child

The blowing cold, freezing
Looking for shelter, anywhere
Lying close together, hiding
From those elements, from the cold.

Oh for a warm blanket, soup
A plate of hot food, a sweater
Clothing for protection, a room
In a warm, dry home.

The street children, our legacy
Abandoned and unwanted, alone
With only each other for support
With only a cardboard box, for a home.

We should be filled with shame
We should be reaching out
We should be protesting their cause
We should, but we don't.

Salagatle!

Snow, Hockey, PDI's..... Ties

It has been the coldest 24 hours in a long, long time. The wind last night sounded like a hurricane going by. Because our home is built near the top of the hill, at the end of a "valley", the wind was accelerating on its way up, and with our bedrooms being on the top floor, the force outside was phenomenal. Kept me up most of the night. That, coupled with the cold, it was not a nice night.
However, in comparison with the thousands of homeless who must have really suffered, I should not complain. There was some rain earlier in the evening, but there was no ice around this morning.
Coming to work seemed easier today, less traffic. Was it because most decided to take the day off, and stay in bed (a la Ross)! hehehe! Or were their cars just frozen, and they would be coming in later?
Got some snow photos from a friend on email, much snow fell in some areas. Coupled to this was a damn cold front, and heavy rains / flooding in the southern Cape.
And to boot, a tornado in Dullstroom, Divemasters favourite trout fishing spot. Funny, he didn't mention it in his blogg?
Gman has been asked to try out for his schools first hockey team. If he makes it, and maintains the position for the duration of his high school career, he will be in the team for 4 years! However, he's not too confident that he will make it. Strong competition there. But he will try.

Just had another call from the bloody bank. Some time ago we all had to go to any of the authorized Financial Service Providers (look it up) which we do business with, and produce our ID documents, proof of residential address, etc., for them to update their records. Something to do with the government wanting to expose fictitious account holders who may be using these avenues to launder ill gotten funds, evade tax, etc. No problem. However, since having done so for myself, my wife, and the kids, I have had at least 3 phone calls over 6 months asking me to go in to the bank to redo / resubmit / reconfirm some or other thing. Well, I just told him to shove it. If he needs anything else he should request it in writing. He has my postal address. The fact that his dept. only does telephonic requests is not my problem. Fuck it! And the worst is it's a PDI, who speaks very bad engrish (sic), and is reading off a set script. So, there is no avenue for discussion / questioning / reasoning with them. It's just pathetic.

BTW:- I have had no response from anyone at all with regards my offer of a swop for my collection of ties for what have you! Surely there is someone out there who collects ties?

Salagatle!

Scots and stuff....

From a rag down in Kwazulu Natal:-

http://www.zululandobserver.co.za/
No flowers of Scotland
Graham Spence
Imagine if KwaZulu-Natal got its own home rule. Then imagine if in the next World Cup – or any other sports event – the people of Eastern Cape, who are predominantly Xhosa, rooted for any team but KZN because the people there are predominantly Zulu. That in a nutshell is the story of England and Scotland, which is now bubbling more angrily than ever with the recent World Cup. To give a brief background: Scotland has its own parliament, which is subsidised to the tune of R70.5-billion a year by English taxpayers. However, to complicate matters Scottish MPs can vote on English issues, but the reverse is not true for English MPs who have no say in Scottish affairs. Most controversial English bills – from banning foxhunting to immigration fiascos – have got through courtesy of key votes from Scotland. Scottish MPs can vote for completely free health care in their homeland, then vote against it for England. The same with schools; Scottish pupils receive far larger subsidies than their English counterparts. To rub more salt, all top cabinet ministers are Scots: Gordon Brown, John Reid, Alistair Darling and Des Browne. Tony Blair was born in Scotland but does have English ancestry. The Liberal Democrats leader Menzies Campbell is Scottish; so was his predecessor Charlie Kennedy, who was fired for swigging back too much Highland happy-juice during office hours. Yet despite all this, Scotland has a chip on its shoulder bigger than Ben Nevis. The Scottish ‘auld hatreds’ are endless, going back to Braveheart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Highland Clearances and ... well, being regularly beaten by the Sassenachs at every sport except Elephant Polo. (No kidding, the Scots won the championships in Nepal). To spark this kindling, the Scottish Prime Minister Jack McConnell took it upon himself to announce he was supporting any World Cup team but England. The Scots cheered him to the rafters; Trinidad flags were sold out in Glasgow when the islanders took on Beckham and co. Then Scottish tennis player Andrew Murray, who relies on extensive English support, showed surprising lack of circumspection by declaring he was supporting Paraguay against England. When he next appeared in Wimbledon he was greeted with a chorus of ‘Go, Andy, go ... to Paraguay’. All harmless banter, you may say. But it soon turned nasty up north. A seven year-old child was punched by an adult for wearing an England football jersey in Edinburgh; ditto a disabled Englishman in Aberdeen. People ordering pints with English accents in pubs were abused. Cars flying English flags were given finger-salutes at traffic lights. I must say I never knew such resentment existed, and am sad it does as the Spences originally hailed from Scotland, a sub-clan of the McDuffs. However, in this case I take the side of the English. In the past they handled Scottish antipathy with amazingly good grace, even though Celtic boorishness bordered on outright malice. But something has now snapped. Perhaps it is because every unpopular law passed in England’s nanny state is done so with a Scottish accent. Perhaps it is because they see welfare benefits being bestowed on the Scots that can only be dreamed of south of Hadrian’s Wall. Perhaps because they’re sick of the North Sea Oil question continually being thrown in their faces, ie it is Scottish oil. (In fact, much of the oil fields are in international waters; British multi-nationals developed them; and North Sea oil deposits are worth R50-billion annually – R20-billion less than taxes for Scotland raised in England.) Perhaps, they’re tired of the Scottish-dominated Labour Party doing all it can to discredit English identity. Whatever. The English are now fuming and the fowls are stampeding home to roost. This World Cup saw a plethora of St George flags like never before, and for the first time ever, a poll has shown a quarter of English voters want their separate parliament – compared to just eight per cent a year ago. This is more significant than it looks, for most ethnic English voters support the Conservatives. Labour relies overwhelmingly on the Celtic and immigrant vote. Thus if there is an English-only parliament, it will almost certainly mean a change of government. So who said football was just a game?

No, no permission and stuff....


Salagatle!

Where there is smoke....

And so we continue to slide into that quagmire which is known as ZIMBABWE style governing...
From the Citizen - no, no permission (stuff it, see my previous post)

Phumzie to face questions
By Vusumuzi Ka Nzapheza
JOHANNESBURG – Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will answer to Parliament claims that a store had to be cleared of people simply to allow her to buy a bed.
A Sunday newspaper reported that Mlambo-Ngcuka’s secretary Khosi Shange demanded that @Home Livingspace in Fourways be vacated before she could do her shopping.
City Press quoted a source saying Shange had thrown a tantrum when the store supervisor refused. Bodyguards also swept the store and when manager Alick Weir arrived, Mlambo- Ngcuka bought a R15 000 bedroom suite.
The Democratic Alliance said it would submit questions to the Deputy President to establish the validity of the reports.
DA spokesman Donald Lee said if the reports were correct, Mlambo-Ngcuka would have to give reasons for her actions.
“At the time when President Thabo Mbeki is making a plea for the elite not to lose touch with the plight of ordinary South Africans, the Deputy President is using her position to do personal shopping,” Lee said.
Mbeki, speaking at the fourth Nelson Mandela Lecture on Saturday, criticised a “tendency towards the deification of personal wealth”.
Now the DA wants to know how routinely Mlambo-Ngcuka uses her bodyguards to “shut down stores to do her personal shopping”.
Mlambo-Ngcuka’s spokesman Thabang Chiloane said Shange denied being at the store on the day of the incident. Shange’s phone went unanswered yesterday.

Salagatle!

The end of the world as we know it

From the Citizen - a daily newspaper, and , no, i didn't ask for permission to repint this, thanx for asking anyway.

I figure they won't mind as I do mention them and in doing so give them free advertising space as such....

Snow in Sandton
JOHANNESBURG – Light snow fell over Sandton, north of Johannesburg, on Wednesday as a cold front gripped the country.
“We've got confirmed reports of light snowfalls in Sandton,” said SA Weather Services forecaster Jacqueline Riet.
“There is snow in Westonaria, Carletonville and Soweto and Sandton.”
Riet said the first reports from Carletonville, south-west of Johannesburg, came in about 8am. Reports from other areas came in from 9am.
“It’s just very little, very isolated flakes here and there.”
Employees around Morningside reported very light falls of snow at 10am.
“It was tiny little white flakes... this was definitely dry snow,” said Ashish Singh, who lives in the area. Singh lived in Canada for six years, where it snows heavily.
Weather forecaster Kevin Rae earlier said: “The very extreme southern parts of Gauteng could have some light snow during the morning.”
He said the rest of Gauteng could expect showers.
The Gauteng interior south of Pretoria was expected to be “bitterly cold” on Wednesday with a maximum of 12 degrees or lower.
“Snow over Gauteng seems to occur once every eight to 10 years,” said Rae.
He said it was “a little uncommon”.
There were also reports of snow in Bloemfontein, at the airport and in the city, said Rae.
Weather SA’s Michael Nethavhani, of the Free State weather officer, said there were light snowfalls currently over central, southern and the eastern parts of the Free State.
He said snow was falling in Bloemfontein, Bethlehem in the east and on the border between the Free State and the Eastern Cape.
Temperatures were between zero and 1 degree C.
“It cannot be ruled out that snow falls will occur tomorrow (Thursday),” said Nethavhani.
Nethavhani said the cold front was expected to lift by Thursday. Temperatures would still be a low -2 C in the evening and a maximum of 8 degrees C at midday.
Rae said there was “a range of extreme conditions on the go at the moment”.
He said there was a likelihood of further snowfalls, possibly heavy falls, over the interior of the Eastern Cape. - Sapa.

Salagatle!

Last Week

Day 1
I arrived late as I had to collect Mom at the airport, get her home, go back to my house, change cars, pick up my suitcase.....No problem. Didn't miss anything. At least I'm sharing digs with Divemaster. Someone I know and can trust. Common "culture" and all, you understand. Supper was served in a private room, but there were Turkish hookas on the tables? Not very African if you ask me.... Couldn't see the point...!
Also had a drumming session with the local entertainers. Went down quite well. There is something about the African drum.....Also discovered that drinks are priced specifically for the tours market. A local beer costing R17.50 is a real rip off. Back at the club / pub it costs about R6.00, and at local pubs around R8-R9!! This left us in a state of shock, as no one had brought anywhere near enough money with. We would have run up a tab which could have equaled the entire national debt of a small African country between us, had we been in the mood.....Luckily management decided to run a tab and pick up the cost.
Later (much) back in the room / digs / rondawel, Divemaster went to brush his teeth. I dropped a dart in the bedroom. He nearly chocked when he came back. Then whilst I was brushing my teeth, he dropped a dart. Damn!! First time in a long while I've had good competition in this field. The man is seriously sick / evil / alien......Next morning, from about 2-30 am (I think) the damn roosters started their crap!

Day 2
Got up, and lo and behold, no water in the showers. We had just enough in the tap / pipe to brush our teeth. Those staying in the rooms further up the "hill / slope" had none, and had to use the water in their kettles to brush their teeth with!!! Seems the problem was caused by a burst resevoir. Ah, well, put on a hat to hide the hideous hair, and away we go. (Divemaster does not have this problem, no hair = no hat).
Breakfast was good, followed by the start of the classes / role play sessions. I'm not going to go into the detail of how this training is conducted, suffice to say that you need to have good background into how our company works, and be able to "wing it". Both of which I do very well.
Had a shower late afternoon, which was great. Dinner was followed by drinks which went on till well after midnight. Much socialising, and strategic interaction took place. I managed to convey some issues to our new "manager/ess" and also to regain some respect from fellow students. Someone actually commented that the "Old Max" was back....

Day 3
Very, very tired. Had a small breakfast, and off to classes. Did quite well as I managed 2 x 1 ratings! Supper, and then preparing for the next days calls, and presentation to the "Executive" team. Worked late. Then off to our new digs, as they had to move us to alternative quarters.....

Day 4
Didn't sleep well. They had painted the window frames (outside) and the smell of enamel paint was strong in the room. Caused me to get up with a serious headache, and everyone commented that I looked like I hadn't slept. Well guess what? I DIDN'T!
The linen looked like it has long outlived it's end of life date. It was as worn as you could get it. Pillows were quite new, but the pillow cases should have been turned into dust rags many moons ago....
It was also "single" accomodation, which meant me and Divemaster were not sharing. Not a problem, as I don't know if a combination of the paint smell, and his expressive farting would have been livable!!
In his defense though, he had me to compete with in this regard!
He was also not feeling well last night, and in fact, this morning he attended the first session, and then left to go home.
Our sessions went well, but by midmorning our team had dropped to second place in the competition, but only 700 points behind (49,000 against 49,700) with 46,200 being the next nearest.
Final presentation to the board. It goes damn well, until he who shall not be crossed / named, forgets part of his brief, and that is to get me to expose my pre approved discount. So, I don't get the contract signature I was looking for, and he didn't get the discount he should have asked for. He does however, get the
"Please excuse me, I'm an illiterate previously disadvantaged individual" sign to hang around his neck!!!! Dumbass foreigner!!!!

All's well that ends well though. In this week I have rerun sales school, successfully, I think. Have managed to restore some of my self respect, that which says I'm a damn hot salesman. Recouped the respect of some of my peers (those that matter anyway), and been nominated for a new post back at head office which will give me the freedom to do that which I believe I can do best. So, all's well, for now.

As I write this it's Friday am. Been to the office, and am now sitting in the waiting room at the Renault dealership, where, hopefully, the gearbox problem will be sorted once and for all. (Here's hoping). If it is, I can then purposefully persue my dream of getting rid of this piece of shit, and buying something more (hopefully) reliable!
It seems that the onboard computer has eventually registered a fault. A speed sensor, inside the gearbox is having intermittent problems. This will need to be replaced. Part cost R800.00. Labour? Who knows. Will get final info on Monday....

My brother and his wife arrived yesterday. His wife's step mom's son died. He was working underground in the gold mine, and suffered a heart attack. At age 36, turning 37 on Saturday, 29 July....! It's also the fourth, and last of her sons she will be burying..... so sad. Only has a daughter left now (these kids all from her first marriage). He leaves a son aged 5, a daughter aged 3 and his wife...... Very sad situation.

Overall, things seem to have taken a turn for the better, My demeanor (big word that) has changed. I'm more positive. Work looks to improve with the proposed change in role. Finances are still iffish, but I can work on that. And as usual, the family are all well. Good.

Now about the neighbor's damn chickens and rooster. This morning my brother confirmed that he was going to go next door to have a chat with the new neighbor. He's either going to move the fowls to the front yard, or get rid of them. Else my brothers going to lodge a complaint at the municipal offices, as the local bylaws dictate that such creatures are not permitted within the residential areas..... Should be interesting.

Divemaster was at the office this morning, and seemed to be feeling better. Really don't know what it was that "felled" him, but I have an idea it could have been the "African Brew" he was sipping on. Will let him explain though.

Anyhow, battery is almost dead, so might as well end off this blogg.

Salagatle!