Relative costs

Today I was going to go up to the Game Reserve with Di. I met her for lunch in Richards Bay, then we were going to go on to the Reserve. We eventually decided to window shop after lunch in a really quiet restaurant in Woolworths. We had tried a seat at the nearby Mugg and Bean, but there the month end crowds passing by, were way too noisy! Since I usually use half a tank of fuel in my Landy V8, so by not going up, I effectively saved R 500 in fuel. Whilst we were window shopping, we stopped in at a sgop that sells imported rugs. The shop has had a closing down sale ever since it was opened, so I wonder? In any event, I had bought a wool Persian carpet YEARS ago. That cost me then, about R 900.

Anyway, today I bought 2 silk weave rugs (look stunning in my lounge) and they cost R 199 and some minor change each! I had turfed the rug that came with my home, out, and wanted to replace it anyway. The rugs I was looking at were R 1 300 and some change, so I have bought silk Persians for my lounge, for way less than half of that! The owner of the shop assured that - as per the certificate on each rug - they are hand made!

I rather like some luxuries - Persian rugs (silk), cut crystal glassware, and cutlery from a boxed set! Is this wrong? Maybe, but I hardly care! Goes with owning 2 Landrovers, 1 Renault and 1 Porsche - all of these are imports, not locally built!

My Diesel Freelander has a current "problem" in that the (month old) new battery has decided to give up the ghost. It will not kick the motor over, and in fact was on charge for a full day, and is as flat as it ever was! It will be replaced on monday, and hopefully the new "new" one will work properly! I had bought a jump start box of tricks, but even this will not do the trick. Hopefully a new battery will sort out the niggle!

I have been losing sleep over the District and Branch audits! I was roped in to finalise the audits for Esikhawini and Port Durnford, and managed today to get the signature required from the Branch President out at Port Durnford! Now I need the audit papers reviewed by the Audit Comittee, probably on Wednesday! Then they can be Emailed to the Area Office and that concludes our responsibility for at least another 6 months! The audit was easy - time consuming but easy - but tying down the Branch Presidents for their signature is a headache! I even wondered if it will not be better to do an interim audit come November, then in January, all you need do is to audit 2 months, not a whole year! That will take only a fraction of time and can easily be done by February at the latest! I also question if we are not overauditing? When we were a single ward, we did one selection a month. Now we are a District, we are looking at EVERY transaction and ending up doing 6 times as much work - a load for EACH of 5 branches and 1 for the District! When I was working as an auditor, we used to do substantive tests on the year to the interim, then review the controls were working for the final month or so! If that works in the REAL world beyond the Church, why not in the Church? All I can do is to suggest this, and see if it works! I am not a qualified Chartered Accountant (CASA - auditor) for nothing! Then we need never be late - ever again - or pressured into cutting things really fine!

Amazement/amusement

Every time I log in to update my blog, I find that there have been "hits" from all over the world - literally! Some are repeat hits, and that means that some of what I blog is of interest to some people out there in cyberspace.

It makes me realise that this globe we inhabit is in fact, tiny! This was brought home to me in 1998, when I managed to get to visit Salt Lake City to attend General Conferene - the last time it was held in the old Tabernacle. True the benches were hard and close together, but to sit and listen to the words of a Prophet of God was unforgettable. If I could, I would gladly pay another thirty thousand rands to fly back!

However, there is so much locally that demands financial attention, not limited to my 2 Land Rovers (1 x Discovery and 1 x Freelander - Turbo Diesel) and the Renault Clio bought so that my daughter can learn to drive it. The bulk of even my tiny Freelander is imposing in traffic. Both are automatic and my Freelander is cruise controlled - both not great to learn to drive as gearchanges (and hill starts) are NO problem, and you dont even need to watch your speed - get up to speed and switch to cruise control and up hill and down dale, you maintain a constant speed. I love it, but for a learner, it can be disconcerting! Christine has not yet driven Ladybug (my Freelander) and has driven my Disco. She loves "La Frog" (French so Hello!) although she insists on calling her "Chloe" - apparently Mom has persuaded her that she is dislexic (hyper active, ADD, Asthmatic and a whole lot more!) so she calls my Clio, "Chloe" I refuse point blank to allow her to think she is dislexic! If she mixes words up unintentionally, how can she want to be a surgeon? I would hate to be operated on, and find my spleen has been removed, instead of my appendix, just because the surgeon happens to think she is dislexic! That assumes that she can pass the exams necessary to be a doctor!

At school, I was a bright cookie, and was always 3rd in a bright class - and I worked hard - but even I am of a Chartered Accountant brilliance, not surgeon intelligence! I got 4 "A" Level subject passes, enough to study at University in the UK if I wanted to do so! As far as I can see, the first qualification exams you sit in SA, are Matric, that is more or less equivalent to "O" Levels. "A"s are a further 2 years intensive study, and definitely follow on from "O" Levels! I have a university degree, an honors degree and a post honors qualification, so I KNOW the effort required to be qualified! I also know that it is not a walk in the park, unlike the impression that my ex seems to be giving my daughter! Who will be around to pick up the pieces of broken dreams? That is not something that I relish, but suspect it will be left up to me. Poor little me? I cannot claim to be poor, not with 2 four by four (automatic) Landys and a Clio! I still officially own a Porsche also, although that is up for sale at present!

Sundry thoughts 2

They say that in Texas, things are bigger, but this is a snapshot of Natal weeds! Once every 7 or so years, they cut them down and send the resulting trunks to the wood chip factory for export to Japan. There they mix them with a glue and send the pressed board planks all over the world, including back to Natal!

These are Eucalyptus Saligna gum trees, originally from Australia. You cut them down and new shoots spring up from the stumps. Not much will kill them, so they are - by definition - weeds, that the farmers make a killing out of! They dont even have to farm much! Once the trees are in, they grow for 7 years, then are cut down and new trunks grow from the stumps.

They are foreign imports, so it is questionable whether they are invasive plants! There was recently a huge push to eradicate invasive foreign plants, but these are overlooked - as is sugarcane! Shows that the power of money speaks way louder than sympathies for exotic plants!

Driving from Church, I was in Esikhawini. I had been to Port Durnford to get the Audit forms signed by the Branch President, but at starting time he was no-where to be seen. Usually when I arrive, he is there, waiting! I had SMSd him saying that I would be there to discuss the audit with him, but a phonecall - at start time - determined that he was in Durban, and the Elder from the Senior Missionaries was supposed to stand in for him. About 30 seconds later, he arrived and things swung into action.

When I left, I noted that work had been done patching the potholes in the road. only to see that in places, the new tar is already - a week later - breaking up! I know that there is a push to create employment, but I query if it is working if the jobs created to fill in potholes, that are in need of further repair!

I would swear that in the rainy weather (it rains pretty well ALL year round) the potholes fill up with water, and I seriously think that in some of them, crocodiles - or hippos - take up residence!

It is apparent from the above sign that potholes are nothing new in Esikhawini, with permanent signs warning that potholes are not unexpected! Still it keeps someone employed - full time!

Gardening

I know that I only have a tiny patch of South Africa to keep neat, but ever since I was stung - nearly to death - by a swarm of bees, I have not been as active in my garden as I could have been. I commented before that everything in KZN grows like weeds, and this is never so true as when you do gardening! I had a guy helping me, but it is MY garden. I could not just sit back watching the Cricket World Cup, but felt that I had to get involved.

In my front garden were 2 trees, a huge palm tree and a smaller - very attractive - tree that grew pink flowers. I walked past it recently and there was the constant buzzing of "death on wings" so I hacked down the foliage that was attracting bees! That left a stump of the tree!

Thinking about it, this tree was - I am sure - a foreign import! With the current drive to eradicate invasive plants, aybe it was good that this tree - as attractive as it was - was removed. My neighbour came across with his chainsaw and he cut down what was keft of the tree, and 2 other stumps outside my bedroom window! This has cleaned up my garden a lot!

The assistant was busy tidying up the patch of garden between the tap and the corner of the garden. This has been overgrown ever since I have lived here. Now it has had all of the undesireable plants taken out!

I spent the time in pulling out a fren type plant - that I dislike completely. Not only is it a virulent plant - gets in everywhere - it is not attractive. Sure it is green, but everything else is green - you dont need ugly in your garden!

The barrier between me and the neighbour on the left - outside my bedroom window - is a split pole barrier, that is falling down. I can see - where it has fallen down, that these neighbours are not interested in beautifying their patch of KZN, so I have planted a small bamboo along this fence! The other side, I planted some around 3 years ago to give me privacy from their bathroom, and that has flourished. The hedge that was along the front when I moved in was a fast growing hedge of really large leaves - again, really ugly - so I cut that down and to prevent regrowth, I used Roundup on the remaining leaves. Roundup is a poison taken in through the leaves, and it kills the roots!

My garden is finally looking like someone cares! I was subconsciously scared to go out in the garden - that is where bees and wasps live - as I am highly allergic to bee venom, and I think, so to to wasp venom. Someone at Church warned me that not only am I allergic to bee stings now, it is a better than even chance that I am shellfish intolerant. I refuse point blank to put this to the test! If I eat seafood, I prefer to order Calamaru Steaks than to order really messy eating prawns! My daughter freaked when I ordered Garlic Snails as a starter - sure they have shells, but they are not shell fish - or were not the last I looked!

I know that I used to think - before I tried them - that snails were kind of undesireable food! In a restaurant in Waterval Boven, I discovered that they are actually tasty things - no different to eating cows or pigs, but as a starter, are really divine! People try to get me to order shark steaks or snake or crocodile steaks. I am not that adventurous as to order something that when delivered, can eat you back! Ever since I was stung by bees, I have gone off honey, partly out of respect for bees, and partly because I am suddenly diabetic! I feel that I am diabetic as a reaction from the shock of "several thousand" bee stings, and dont wish to tempt fate at consuming the products of "death on wings" - maybe I'm irrational, but it seems to me that honey is high in sugar content, or why would it crystallise if left standing? If it is high in sugar, surely it would do my diabetes no good whatsoever!

Ever since I was diagnosed as diabetic, I have cut out sugar in my milo and sweets etc. I have dropped huge weight, and am still losing weight. I saw my General Practitioner about this and he says that I have a barrier of 20 kilogrammes of weight that he considers if I lose more than that, he will be concerned! I am wearing Longs sizes that I "grew out of" 15 years ago! When I first got my Medic Alert Bracelet for my allergy to bee stings, it fitted - just - but now is quite loose on my wrist asnd I have taken links out, making it smaller!

I have an idea that maybe it will be a good idea for me to buy a mens silver bracelet, and get the alert bracelet incorporated, so it is kind of like jewellery. I dont think that I am vain, but if I HAVE to wear a Medic Alert Bracelet, it may just as well be a great thing to look at!

Amazement

For a while now, I have been aware that a tree outside my bedroom window needed cutting down. My neighbor undertook to assist me in tidying up my garden. In Kwa Zulu Natal, everything grows like WEEDS, including - youve guessed it - weeds!

The garden assistant, was given a panga (rough knife used to slash your way through the undergrowth) and set free in my rear garden. He was told to, and I quote, "tidy the tree" so that I could employ a garden services to remove it! About 20 minutes later there was a crash of something falling, and lo and behold, he had slashed the entire tree down with his panga. I would have struggled even with a tree saw. Needless to say, the R 100 paid to him to assist in clearing away the overgrowth, has saved me at least R 3 000 in employing a tree cutter! There are painfully few gaden assistants, who earn R 100 a day! I know that the more racialistic members of South African society say, "Give a black anything and he will destroy it - totally" Generally, the most unroadworthy cars on the roads are owned by such as Garden Assistants!
It turns out that this was today, a good thing, in that a tree that I thought would be a huge problem, was removed - in error?

I had employed him about 2 weeks ago to clear away the rubbish that had built up in my garage, so now my garden looks great! I freely admit that working in the garden recently has scared me, ever since I disturbed a hive of bees, and was stung enough to be in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital in Empangeni for 4 days!

I was never allergic to bee stings before, but since being over stimulated, I am highly allergic to bee venom now! Turns out that my blood converted the venom into anti venom. If I am stung again, this anti venom will swing into action, just as if I had been stung again by thousands of bees! I am highly allergic to myself! What sort of a kick-in-the-teeth is that? One bee sting will put me back in the ICU unit of hospital!

Someone told me at Church, that since I am highly allergic to bee venom, I am most likely, now allergic to shell fish too. I refuse to risk an emergency trip to the ICU unit, just to find out if I AM allergic to the likes of Prawns, now! Christine is scared that I am allergic to garlic snails, but thank heavens, snails are garden creatures, not shell fish! I LIKE garlic snails as a starter for a meal.

I can live without the taste of Prawns, Lobster, Cray Fish and the likes. Is it worth an emergency trip to ICU just to see if this theory is true or not?

Lifes Problems

Computers are supposed to create a paperless, stress free lifestyle! I have found that they actually do the exact opposite! If I did not have a computer, I could not update my blog and keep friends up-to-date with what heppens to me and what I feel about it!

At Church, I am on the Elders Quorum Presidency, and the main computer linked to Salt Lake keeos on spitting up garbage! It is true, what is said "Computers operate exclusively on the GIGO principle - Garbage in, garbage out!" We find that listed on our membership records are members who have long since moved away from Zululand! Try as we may, we cannot get then transferred to the "lost file"! There is a family of members who I KNOW have moved to Johannesburg somewhere. I contacted them on Facebook, and only got abuse in return - and THEY requested that I be "friends". What sort of friend do they expect of me! I asked where they lived in Gauteng (it is a huge area) and they obviously dont want to be found! Their loss, not mine! What scares me most is that we transfer their records to the "lost file" - where they should be - but they will no doubt bounce back!

I also know where another less active member lives and works. Every time I try to get in touch with this lady, she seems friendly enough but is really not interested. Pity when I can see what she is missing in her life! It is painfully true what is said "You can lead a horse to water, but cannot make him drink!" Sad to see that no matter what we do, there are definitely people out there who are not interested.

I also know of members who need to go to the Temple and be sealed together as a family, for Eternity. I was sealed to my ex wife - and this sealing still practically stands, but since she demanded divorce, she has remarried - twice! there is no way that our sealing will be of effect in the Eternities! I do not think that Heavenly Father is vindictive! I imagine that I went through divorce as a learning curve, so that I can be of practical assistance in convincing members of the need to be endowed in the Temple and sealed to their families! I know that "learning curves" are often painful to go throug, but you need to actively learn, or risk being tested again - and again - until you learn! Disability once is often enough for me!

The words of a Reggae tune ring very true "Dont worry - be happy!"

Is summer over?

I woke up this morning, and I was cold! Is summer a thing of the past in Zululand?
During the days however, it is just like it always is in Zululand - hot, humid and really sticky! - typically, February in Zululand! I always say that February is our worst month for humidity, although half of March is just as sticky hot! April however is our best month by far - not hot and sticky, and not too cold! So far this year, it has not been sticky at all - only the last few days!


This is a snapshot taken today of La Frog! I suffered a flat tyre on monday - no particular reason for that! - and decided that now was a brilliant time to buy new tyres, and at the same time, took the opportunity to invest in mag wheels! After I fitted them, I received favourable comments on how good "La Frog" looks! It sure looks better than it did with cracked plastic hubcaps! Having good tyres is also a great thing as they HAVE to be better than the original ones! I kept the best of them as a spare, and the rest of the wheels are with the car dealer, to be sold off! The one is not very good, probably it was one of the original tyres from when the car was new! It was great as a spare, and it sure came in handy when the one tyre went flat - it was checked by the local tyre outfit and no reason for the flat was found!

It was so funny recently! Christine was on her mid term break from schooll, and just about the first thing she did when she got back here, was to find the car wash and polish, and give La Frog a complete doing over! Next holidays, she will no doubt do the same thing, but with one difference - now La Frog has mag wheels to keep clean!

About a month back, I took my Discovery up to the Game Reserve, with 2 missionery companionships. At the gate to the Park, a Warthog was lying under a bush. The Missionery Elders were astounded that I actually touched a wild animal!

Recently they came out to Mtunzini and I took them down to the beach - just to walk on it! We saw the usual red Duiker and 3 Zebra in the campsite at the beach. I could drive right up to them. Again the Elders could not believe that Game can be seen right up close - within touching distance! The last time we went to the Game Reserve, we saw a young Elephant right up on the edge of the road. The one Elder from Utah was amazed that it was so large, but in fact it was a youngster, and not very large! Goes to show that although they had seen photos of Elephant or Rhino, true life size was kind of a shock to them!