I am amazed that life in Mtunzini can be so rewarding. It is a small - but growing - village (too big to be a hamlet, but too small to be a town) but life for me is preferrable to living in the fast lane!
Sure only a handful of shops can be seen as a downside, with the common misconception that we are being ripped off every time we shop for groceries. If you need to get more "bang for your buck" there are alternatives:-
There is a huge new Spar outlet in Esikhawini. This caters naturally for the darker members of the population, but the fears that existed before of black hatred of white people, is unfounded.
There is a Pick and Pay in Eshowe, that is in the line of sight of Mtunzini. Sure it is 45 kilometers away by road but in a straight line is only about 20 kilometers in the Ngoye Hills.
Empangeni has a full selection of shops - Spar Superstore, Checkers, Shoprite, Woolworths and Pick and Pay.
Richards Bay is only about 20 kilometers up the coast, but is around 55 kilometers by road.
Ballito is only just over an hour south, and has the best Woolworths that I have seen in a long time! Woolies is supposed to be expensive, but I find that the quality of food is such that if you buy a lettuce, you eat all of it,but from Spar, you throw about half away!
I find that in a small village, the people are far more accepting of me. In a town, the attitude is "Go bother someone else if you have to!" and cities are really unaccepting of disability. The attitude there is "Don't use up my oxygen!" - even if the air is foul with pollution. On the way down the coast from Mtunzini to Durban, you can see when you are getting near the city - there is too much traffic and the air is a smudgy grey colour. Driving up to Johannesburg, you can tell when you are nearing the city because you can literally cut the air with a knife it is so grey with pollution. At least in Mtunzini the air is only polluted when the sugar cane is ready for harvesting and the cane fires burn off the rubbish! Where I live, the sea breezes clear all the waste in the air!
I am so glad that I attend Church in the village of Port Durnford, where the air is similarly unpolluted. The air in Richards Bay is foul with pollution from Alusaf - the aluminium smelter - and from Mondi - the paper mill! I literally cannot breathe properly there and speech is a function of breath. If you cannot breathe properly, there is a snowballs hope of speaking properly. After about 30 minutes there, the air tends to get to my spastic diaphram and I can barely talk well!
It is apparent to me that when you view places like Singapore, New York, Bombay or London, it is easy to be discouraged that there is land for everyone - and to spare - but it is obvious to me that there are huge tracts of land that are barely inhabited. Flying to Cape Town from Durban, there are huge areas where they dont even farm! Sure lots like to live in Cape Town, but there is more to life than a view of Table Mountain over picturesque Table Bay. Living in Rural Kwa Zulu Natal (Mtunzini?) is way better than views of mile upon mile of freeway and concrete buildings!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
GPS
I have decided to invest in a second GPS unit for my cars. It is so depressing to be driving say my Disco, only to realise that my Garmin is sitting in Ladybug - my Freelander. I love driving each of them and it is impossible to drive them both at the same time - even though they are both Automatics!
Now I have a Garmin for each, one a Nuvi 500 and the other a Nuvi 50 - wider and as far as I can tell, it allows you to see on screen which lane to be in on freeways.
I see from the icon line above, that I can now post photographs again! Last time I checked, I was unable to access the function where you can post photos to the blog!
I anticipate that on Monday next, I can again go up to the Game Reserve with the 2 Elders from Port Durnford Branch. I am really stimulated at being on the Branch Presidency of Port Durnford. It gives me a way to be creative as a leader of a not so tiny branch of the Church. I feel that the members there loveand appreciate me just as much as I love them.
Now I have a Garmin for each, one a Nuvi 500 and the other a Nuvi 50 - wider and as far as I can tell, it allows you to see on screen which lane to be in on freeways.
I see from the icon line above, that I can now post photographs again! Last time I checked, I was unable to access the function where you can post photos to the blog!
I anticipate that on Monday next, I can again go up to the Game Reserve with the 2 Elders from Port Durnford Branch. I am really stimulated at being on the Branch Presidency of Port Durnford. It gives me a way to be creative as a leader of a not so tiny branch of the Church. I feel that the members there loveand appreciate me just as much as I love them.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Vehicle troubles
A while back now my Discovery's battery went flat. It was not so much of a problem except with a low battery, the vehicle thought it was being violated and the alarm went off. It was a time when I was recovering from major(?) surgery to my left heel, so I could not do very much about it except disconnect the battery and recharge it!
Anyway, someone was upset by the alarm going off and - as if by magic - my tyre was let down. Was this retribution? Who knows, but I used my 4x4 Jack - a cannister of stuff that reinflates the tyre and seals any minor holes. I could not move the vehicle and someone let a lot more air out of my tyre.
Eventually, I moved the spare (an old Michelin tyre) to the deflated side and the flat to the spare. I reconnected the battery and drove through to Empangeni and bought a new BF Goodrich, so all 5 tyres match.
What stuns me most is that my first car that I bought (a Leyland Mini) only cost me R 800 and now my Disco has All Terrain tyres worth R 11 500.
I think my Porsche has now been sold! An offer has been made and accepted. I think that the Indian who made the offer either lives in Stanger or Durban.
Anyway, someone was upset by the alarm going off and - as if by magic - my tyre was let down. Was this retribution? Who knows, but I used my 4x4 Jack - a cannister of stuff that reinflates the tyre and seals any minor holes. I could not move the vehicle and someone let a lot more air out of my tyre.
Eventually, I moved the spare (an old Michelin tyre) to the deflated side and the flat to the spare. I reconnected the battery and drove through to Empangeni and bought a new BF Goodrich, so all 5 tyres match.
What stuns me most is that my first car that I bought (a Leyland Mini) only cost me R 800 and now my Disco has All Terrain tyres worth R 11 500.
I think my Porsche has now been sold! An offer has been made and accepted. I think that the Indian who made the offer either lives in Stanger or Durban.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Port Durnford
I have been requested to be First Counsellor to the Branch President at the Port Durnford branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This is a really challengeing calling and I am really enjoying being Counsellor on the Presidency. I know that taditionally Port Durnford is a black branch, but that does not really matter. I love the members there and feel that they respond with love!
It is an interesting experiment. The chapel is a really large wooden shed and this is being improved the whole time. The Physical Facilities authority has installed electric connction and is busy with paving outside the chapel door.
Our nearest branch (Esikhawini) is a short trip down a really badly erroded dirt track and they have a prefabricated chapel, imported from the USA. We were originally assigned one of these and it arrived in Cape Town. There was a delay in acquiring the land we have the chapel on, and the Area Office reassigned "our" portable chapel elsewhere. This actually turned out to be no problem as Physical Facilities relocated the chapel we were using, added to the size and we have a fairly decent structure.
I used some bricks left over from the installation, to pave a small area outside the door, so no dirt was tracked in! Our Helping Hands project was where the members replaced the door (+ frame) and 2 complete windows in the home of a destitute family. Taking the one window out, the wall colapsed. I collected all the surplus bricks on the Church lot and with a bit of effort, 15 adults rebuilt the wall and replaced the door and windows.
The whole effort - whilst not nearly professional - added significantly to the quality of life for this family. It amazed me the speed that the "Homes for Humanity" projects in the USA are completed, but even so, they are built at a comparative snails pace! Sure we did not achieve a high quality finish, but it was at least as good as it was before - and it had stood for a while!
Next door to the chapel, in a week, someone has built a tiny 1 roomed shack. This was done in a week. Sure it is not fancy, but is far better than the shacks that are regularly burnt down in Soweto township fires! It is patently obvious that need is not as imperative as housing!
What kind of stuns me is that the house of concrete blocks on the same plot, that was started after I was assigned to Port Durnford, has electric lights, and the Church was advised that it would take anything from 4 to 6 months for our electricity to be connected. We have paid so how come the delay? For sure if we dont pay the bills 2 weeks after they arrive, Eskom will discontinue the power supply! Why do we have to wait 6 months and they will not wait longer than 2 weeks? That kind of reeks of double standards.
This is a really challengeing calling and I am really enjoying being Counsellor on the Presidency. I know that taditionally Port Durnford is a black branch, but that does not really matter. I love the members there and feel that they respond with love!
It is an interesting experiment. The chapel is a really large wooden shed and this is being improved the whole time. The Physical Facilities authority has installed electric connction and is busy with paving outside the chapel door.
Our nearest branch (Esikhawini) is a short trip down a really badly erroded dirt track and they have a prefabricated chapel, imported from the USA. We were originally assigned one of these and it arrived in Cape Town. There was a delay in acquiring the land we have the chapel on, and the Area Office reassigned "our" portable chapel elsewhere. This actually turned out to be no problem as Physical Facilities relocated the chapel we were using, added to the size and we have a fairly decent structure.
I used some bricks left over from the installation, to pave a small area outside the door, so no dirt was tracked in! Our Helping Hands project was where the members replaced the door (+ frame) and 2 complete windows in the home of a destitute family. Taking the one window out, the wall colapsed. I collected all the surplus bricks on the Church lot and with a bit of effort, 15 adults rebuilt the wall and replaced the door and windows.
The whole effort - whilst not nearly professional - added significantly to the quality of life for this family. It amazed me the speed that the "Homes for Humanity" projects in the USA are completed, but even so, they are built at a comparative snails pace! Sure we did not achieve a high quality finish, but it was at least as good as it was before - and it had stood for a while!
Next door to the chapel, in a week, someone has built a tiny 1 roomed shack. This was done in a week. Sure it is not fancy, but is far better than the shacks that are regularly burnt down in Soweto township fires! It is patently obvious that need is not as imperative as housing!
What kind of stuns me is that the house of concrete blocks on the same plot, that was started after I was assigned to Port Durnford, has electric lights, and the Church was advised that it would take anything from 4 to 6 months for our electricity to be connected. We have paid so how come the delay? For sure if we dont pay the bills 2 weeks after they arrive, Eskom will discontinue the power supply! Why do we have to wait 6 months and they will not wait longer than 2 weeks? That kind of reeks of double standards.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Developments
I was recently struck by how modern photos make it into print! When I was given my first camera (12th birthday) it was a Kodak Instamatic. Our family was not cash flush although my parents were able to provide the best of what we needed! We did not suffer not having the latest of toys, but were able to really enjoy the privilege of unrestricted life!
We saved up our pocket money and traded the canoe that we were given as a combined christmas present, for our first sailing dingy - a tiny red wooden boat with a sail size smaller than the nearest popular option, the Optimist.
We owned Mike (short for Microscopic!) for a few years until we upgraded it to a Goblin dinghy - we were looking for a Dabchick, kind of a large windsurfer, with a Mainsail, a Jib and sometimes a spinnaker. That was before Windsurfers were popular.
When we left Zimbabwe, we came to Zululand and here we bought 2 Windsurfers. We occasionally went (2 brothers and I) up to Midmar Dam (outside of Howick) in my Mini with 2 windsurfers strapped to the roof!
Nowadays, all you need do is click the shutter and the photo can be viewed on a screen as a digital photo. Then you can do a multitude of things:-
You can download them to the computer then:-
Burn them to disc
Poblish them to the Net
Print them off
Delete them if you change your mind - or can even delete them before you download them.
Gone are the days when you have to wait for months until the film is full and can be developed. The computer age is really an instant gratification thing! Modern kids have gotten into the habit of instant gratification.
So - age creeps up on you - not so very long ago, when I was in the Pay Corps at the death of Rhodesia, there were only around 3 computers in the entire country - 1 for the army, that was on the 10th and 11th floors of the Earl Grey building downtown. I was a full corporal and even with dizzying rank, I was not considered to have enough rank to even look at it! Now I have 3 laptops, in my small home!
I dont often feel older than 21, but there are days when I feel every inch my age! Having a leg that is not fully recovered yet, does not help much! Until I am assured that the bone that was broken when they fused my heel, has completely regrown, will I stop using my moon boot if I need to be out and about for a while. I am more confident walking, and can manage to get around without my one crutch. I CAN move around without my precious moon boot, but find that after 4 months, if I dont support my heel, I get really tired, and my heel tends to swell - no biggie since I CAN cope.
We saved up our pocket money and traded the canoe that we were given as a combined christmas present, for our first sailing dingy - a tiny red wooden boat with a sail size smaller than the nearest popular option, the Optimist.
We owned Mike (short for Microscopic!) for a few years until we upgraded it to a Goblin dinghy - we were looking for a Dabchick, kind of a large windsurfer, with a Mainsail, a Jib and sometimes a spinnaker. That was before Windsurfers were popular.
When we left Zimbabwe, we came to Zululand and here we bought 2 Windsurfers. We occasionally went (2 brothers and I) up to Midmar Dam (outside of Howick) in my Mini with 2 windsurfers strapped to the roof!
Nowadays, all you need do is click the shutter and the photo can be viewed on a screen as a digital photo. Then you can do a multitude of things:-
You can download them to the computer then:-
Burn them to disc
Poblish them to the Net
Print them off
Delete them if you change your mind - or can even delete them before you download them.
Gone are the days when you have to wait for months until the film is full and can be developed. The computer age is really an instant gratification thing! Modern kids have gotten into the habit of instant gratification.
So - age creeps up on you - not so very long ago, when I was in the Pay Corps at the death of Rhodesia, there were only around 3 computers in the entire country - 1 for the army, that was on the 10th and 11th floors of the Earl Grey building downtown. I was a full corporal and even with dizzying rank, I was not considered to have enough rank to even look at it! Now I have 3 laptops, in my small home!
I dont often feel older than 21, but there are days when I feel every inch my age! Having a leg that is not fully recovered yet, does not help much! Until I am assured that the bone that was broken when they fused my heel, has completely regrown, will I stop using my moon boot if I need to be out and about for a while. I am more confident walking, and can manage to get around without my one crutch. I CAN move around without my precious moon boot, but find that after 4 months, if I dont support my heel, I get really tired, and my heel tends to swell - no biggie since I CAN cope.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Expectations
It is hard enough to live life, without always trying to live up to expectations:-
I expect that I will be able to progress from my moon boot back to my Nike Trainers. I recently went from 2 crutches to one crutch and I can cope with my moon boot and 1 crutch! I have the ability to walk without my moon boot, but this is only in my house and I dare not go outside.
I have a spoilt daughter who expects me to maintain the car that she drives.
I have an ex wife who expects that I maintain the car registered in my name, even though I dont drive it!
She - and my daughter - dont expect to survive without access to others wealth!
On the Branch Presidency, I know that I am extremely blessed - I have cars registered in my name that I am unable to have the room in my garden to house them all! I have enough to feed myself in a manner that frankly embarrasses me when I can see that there are others who live in circumstances that I would not put up with. Does that make me a snob? Maybe, but I am grateful that I have enough to live extremely comfortably on.
I expect that I will be able to progress from my moon boot back to my Nike Trainers. I recently went from 2 crutches to one crutch and I can cope with my moon boot and 1 crutch! I have the ability to walk without my moon boot, but this is only in my house and I dare not go outside.
I have a spoilt daughter who expects me to maintain the car that she drives.
I have an ex wife who expects that I maintain the car registered in my name, even though I dont drive it!
She - and my daughter - dont expect to survive without access to others wealth!
On the Branch Presidency, I know that I am extremely blessed - I have cars registered in my name that I am unable to have the room in my garden to house them all! I have enough to feed myself in a manner that frankly embarrasses me when I can see that there are others who live in circumstances that I would not put up with. Does that make me a snob? Maybe, but I am grateful that I have enough to live extremely comfortably on.
Monday, July 23, 2012
FREEDOM
My GP has advised that now - if comfortable - I can move around with only 1 crutch - in my right arm! I have found that I can manage with only my moon boot for support, but am only confident to do this around the house.
Tomorrow I can move back to the freedom of my own home - where I have DSTV and am not beholden to anyone! There have been times where I have had ti bite my tongue because my Dad is so violently a racialist in his behavior! He rants at the TV about how bad the blacks are at everything - including speech,but he omits to accept thar a singer can - at her own agency - be called "Sharday" (Sade) instead of how he thinks it should be pronounced! He is like many old British - really set in his ways and dont you DARE to go against the way he thinks! Suddenly he is a fully qualified orthopaedic surgeon and has ben offering "helpful" advice on how I should treat my recovery!
That brings to mind how my ex behaved! When I was in a coma, she was THE BEST neurosurgeon, then when I was recovering, she was a fully trained psycologist - and physiotherapist, and going through divorce, she knew more about the law than did lawyers or judges. I freely admit though that when I was in my coma, she was the best wife I could have hoped for, but after she insisted on divorce, she fell from grace rather fast! I also think now that she is onto her third marriage, so has more life experience than I do! Whether this will be of any use when she passes through the vail is anyones guess!
Tomorrow I can move back to the freedom of my own home - where I have DSTV and am not beholden to anyone! There have been times where I have had ti bite my tongue because my Dad is so violently a racialist in his behavior! He rants at the TV about how bad the blacks are at everything - including speech,but he omits to accept thar a singer can - at her own agency - be called "Sharday" (Sade) instead of how he thinks it should be pronounced! He is like many old British - really set in his ways and dont you DARE to go against the way he thinks! Suddenly he is a fully qualified orthopaedic surgeon and has ben offering "helpful" advice on how I should treat my recovery!
That brings to mind how my ex behaved! When I was in a coma, she was THE BEST neurosurgeon, then when I was recovering, she was a fully trained psycologist - and physiotherapist, and going through divorce, she knew more about the law than did lawyers or judges. I freely admit though that when I was in my coma, she was the best wife I could have hoped for, but after she insisted on divorce, she fell from grace rather fast! I also think now that she is onto her third marriage, so has more life experience than I do! Whether this will be of any use when she passes through the vail is anyones guess!
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