I am not the happiest person in Zululand! The sun is shining in a clear blue sky, but it is still cold out there! The sun does not have the power - yet - to get really warm like it does in Februay! I have an opinion on wht that is! Since Zululand is well south of the Tropic of Capricorn, the days in summer are long - the sun gets up at around 4am in the morning - and only sets well into the evening! It shines for a really long time, and because we are not that far from it's southern arc in summer, it gets warm here. The temperatures further inland (Johannesburg for example) are the same - around 33 degrees celsius - but at the coast the onshore winds - that bring loads of water - also make it really humid here. High temperatures - plus - high humidity, equals Zululand!
In mid winter (about a month off!) the sun is overhead the Tropic of Cancer, so the sunlight hours are shorter and no where near as intense!
Anyway, that is my THEORY and I am sticking to it! If Global Warming is a fact (that I do not hold with) then why is it so cold outside?
I am stunned that Man can think he is so powerful (even in his ignorance) as to destroy Heavenly Fathers creation, that is stunningly beautiful. It was not just created for those alive now, but it is supremely arrogant to think that we have the power to destroy the planet! Sure we need to be more caring about our environment, but that is for our benefit! Why else do parents constantly harp at teenagers to "clean up their bedrooms!" - for the benefit of the teens, or for the benefit of the adults?
I cannot believe what a difference charging a really small amount for plastic bags at the grocery stores has cleaned up our environment in SA! It used to be a case of plastic bags being the national flower of the country, but since a small charge was levied, these "flowers" have vanished.
Seeing programs on the slums of India or even South America, I am amazed at how dirty the countryside looks with plastic bags everywhere. Often walking on the beach I saw debris washed up where sailors on ships between Richards Bay and probably Durban, used to throw their rubbish overboard. It must be years since I saw plastic bags washed up on the shore, even though I can see the boats waiting to enter the harbour at Richards Bay! I do not believe that this is because of the Theory of Global Warming (just that - theory, NOT fact). If we were globally warming, explain the lack of heating to the destitute living on the streets of Johannesburg.
How can the politicians scream "Global Warming" from the rooftops, then every year, cry for donations of blankets. When I buy a blanket, it lasts me at least 2 decades, but the downtrodden require new blankets EVERY YEAR! What do they do with them? They dont have closits to lose them in - or they would not be on the streets! Somewhere in the world, there must be mountains of unwanted blankets. Maybe that is the answer to "Global Warming" - we are drowning in discarded blankets!
My parets have blankets that my Dad was issued when he signed up in the army - in around 1961. If a blanket can last him 50 years, why do the needy, need new blankets every year! What disgusts me most is that if you try to pass down your old blankets, they kind of look down on them. Why accept a second hand blanket if you can cry on TV and get a new one? Maybe blankets from when I was born were well made and modern stuff wears out in one winter! The government should be more concerned about the deteriorating manufacturing standards than in a myth of global warming!
I understand that the "experts" have predicted that this will be a long cold winter in Zululand! How can they live with the fact that they are hippocrites - crying "Global Warming" in one breath, then saying we are in for our coldest winter for a long time! The 2 concepts simply do not gel together! It is either cold or it is hot, not the 2 at the same time - make up your minds!
Maybe someone can explain why Electricity is seen to be a "green" energy! Have you seen the areas around power stations! The vegeation is destroyed. No wonder the power stations are well outside of city limits! Sure using electricity is cleaner than using petrol in cars, but producing it is so damageing - talk of Carbon Footprints - more like Carbon slums! Look even at how building hydro electric dams damages the environments! Sure there is no carbon footprint created when the power is used, but the dams are hugely changeing to the local environment! When the authorities have to open up the flood sluices, the populations downstream are literally washed away! If you are up to your ears in flood water, you dont care that it came from a Green Energy Source!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Power of Adverrtising
This is the long awaited snapshot of "Ladybug" - my Landrover Freelander - sitting in a parking bay (Disabled Bay) at the local mall in Empangeni. I can park in these bays - legally - so I do. I feel that parking in these bays - right near the entrances to the mall - my car (whichever one I am in) is fairly safe - from damage from neighboring cars, and from theft! (not that a Freelander - or a Discovery - is a target for theft!) Generally these bays are:-Guarded (note the car guard in the photo) AND
Are bigger than the average bay!
I was amazed/amuzed by this advert on the wall in the local mall! Tell me, who in their right minds has a CUSTOM MADE outfit created, that does not fit? I bet that no-one ever has walked in here and asked for an outfit that is"custom made" too small, or worse, will only fit you in the future IF you put on weight! I also bet that no-one has ever phoned in their - wrong - dress sizes and ordered an outfit, that does not fit! Still, that is me! I saw this sign and HAD to go to my car and get my camera out! If I did not photograph it, I bet no-one would believe that I had not made this up!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Cold and wet?
Since the Big Crash of 1992 (when I was literally run down - by a truck) I have found winters to be particularly miserable - cold and wet! That is why I like Zululand. Winters last for a few days a year. "They" - whomever "they" are - are predicting a long cold winter this year. What? - a week of cold?
I watch the Temperatures on TV of the various areas of the country - and the world - and I think that I am where I should be. In the Cape, the winter maximums are way lower tha even minimum temperatures. I also watch the temperatures in Johannesburg and they too are lower than our coldest.
Sure summer gets kind of sticky hot with the humidity, but my feeling is that it is easier to get cool in summer (even if you have to go for a swim) than it is to get warm in winter. If I am cold, I tend to just retreat into myself, and not much is fun.
In Zululand we have a few days of winter - 2 or 3 days of cold weather when it snows in Nkandla or Babanango. "They" - whomever that is! - have predicted a cold winter this year! What does that mean - a week of cold?
Since I was run over and my muscles damaged, I find the cold weather unpleasant where my muscles freeze and I can hardly move! I find it is easier to get cool (swim?) than it is to get warm. Luckily Zululand is warm (really warm!) in summer, but the heat does not last for ever, but the cold seems to get into the cracks - the ones that Old Age generates. I am a whole half century old, not bad considering that I nearly died when I was:-
Run over by the truck
Wrote off 2 cars (long sad story)
I was stabbed - AND
I (narrowly) survived being stung by a swarm of bees!
I have realised that there is a point to my existance (mortality) - or why would I still be here?
There is definitely a reason to live, and that may just be so that I can bug some people! I have definite inspirations as to why I am still alive. There MUST be a point to existance. Maybe it was to own a Porsche - or a Discovery - or a Freelander - or a Clio? All at the same time?
I watch the Temperatures on TV of the various areas of the country - and the world - and I think that I am where I should be. In the Cape, the winter maximums are way lower tha even minimum temperatures. I also watch the temperatures in Johannesburg and they too are lower than our coldest.
Sure summer gets kind of sticky hot with the humidity, but my feeling is that it is easier to get cool in summer (even if you have to go for a swim) than it is to get warm in winter. If I am cold, I tend to just retreat into myself, and not much is fun.
In Zululand we have a few days of winter - 2 or 3 days of cold weather when it snows in Nkandla or Babanango. "They" - whomever that is! - have predicted a cold winter this year! What does that mean - a week of cold?
Since I was run over and my muscles damaged, I find the cold weather unpleasant where my muscles freeze and I can hardly move! I find it is easier to get cool (swim?) than it is to get warm. Luckily Zululand is warm (really warm!) in summer, but the heat does not last for ever, but the cold seems to get into the cracks - the ones that Old Age generates. I am a whole half century old, not bad considering that I nearly died when I was:-
Run over by the truck
Wrote off 2 cars (long sad story)
I was stabbed - AND
I (narrowly) survived being stung by a swarm of bees!
I have realised that there is a point to my existance (mortality) - or why would I still be here?
There is definitely a reason to live, and that may just be so that I can bug some people! I have definite inspirations as to why I am still alive. There MUST be a point to existance. Maybe it was to own a Porsche - or a Discovery - or a Freelander - or a Clio? All at the same time?
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Excitement
I can hardly believe the buzz of excitement in SA at present. Today is a day where cthe public gets to excercise the privilege of voting! The country is going to the polls, to elect the municipalities for the next 5 years.
At least what they vote for is free and fair - unlike some countries where they are kind of free to elect from an impressive list of one candidate! That is hardly fair, even if it is "free!"
I can hardly understand why there is such hype at being elected, unless it is a free ride to super wealth! If there is anyone bust for corruption, it is the elected politicions! No wonder inflation gets out of control. General theft - on a super large scale - is rife and is basically a cost of living! You only need be on the roads when a politician sweeps by - one guy in a calvacade of at least 5 speeding vehicles! The speed limit is generally 120 km/h, but that is seen by most - especially the black official vehicles - as a bare minimum speed.
When I am out in my Landrovers - or any car that I am driving, I generally do not exceed the speed limit, and without exception, I am by far the slowest vehicle on the road! Drives me nuts when the moment I go general traffic speed, I get busted by a camera, and fined! With the current demerit system (points against your license for traffic violations) there must be a huge increase in the unlicensed driver population.
Having survived a road accident where I nearly lost the ability to move, let alone walk, I am all for obeying traffic restrictions, and it horrifies me that so many choose to live outside of the law! There is a reason that there are traffic speed limits, and most drivers seem to view the posted limits as a bare minimum suggestion. It is most true that you only realise what you are blessed with when you either lose or almost lose it! Before my accident, I thought nothing about running a marathon, but now find easy movement not easy and I miss that!
At Church every month we have a meeting where the congregation is free to voice their beliefs as to the Gospel, and I often want to scream out what I was brought up with - "Speak properly!" I am convinced that I was guilty of not appreciating what I was blessed with - free speach - and to show me the incredible blessing free speech is, I almost lost the ability to speak! I know how important it is to speak clearly, and it saddens me to see people who CAN speak up, but they bemoan their plight! I want to shout at them "Wake up!" but I cannot shout anymore - maybe it is a blessing - for them! Even the most downtrodden does not realise how well off he/she actually is! True they dont get handed brand new cars and High Definition Televisions, but they are able to move without restriction. They dont realise when they are well off! A saying that strikes me as really true is "Use it or lose it!"
At least what they vote for is free and fair - unlike some countries where they are kind of free to elect from an impressive list of one candidate! That is hardly fair, even if it is "free!"
I can hardly understand why there is such hype at being elected, unless it is a free ride to super wealth! If there is anyone bust for corruption, it is the elected politicions! No wonder inflation gets out of control. General theft - on a super large scale - is rife and is basically a cost of living! You only need be on the roads when a politician sweeps by - one guy in a calvacade of at least 5 speeding vehicles! The speed limit is generally 120 km/h, but that is seen by most - especially the black official vehicles - as a bare minimum speed.
When I am out in my Landrovers - or any car that I am driving, I generally do not exceed the speed limit, and without exception, I am by far the slowest vehicle on the road! Drives me nuts when the moment I go general traffic speed, I get busted by a camera, and fined! With the current demerit system (points against your license for traffic violations) there must be a huge increase in the unlicensed driver population.
Having survived a road accident where I nearly lost the ability to move, let alone walk, I am all for obeying traffic restrictions, and it horrifies me that so many choose to live outside of the law! There is a reason that there are traffic speed limits, and most drivers seem to view the posted limits as a bare minimum suggestion. It is most true that you only realise what you are blessed with when you either lose or almost lose it! Before my accident, I thought nothing about running a marathon, but now find easy movement not easy and I miss that!
At Church every month we have a meeting where the congregation is free to voice their beliefs as to the Gospel, and I often want to scream out what I was brought up with - "Speak properly!" I am convinced that I was guilty of not appreciating what I was blessed with - free speach - and to show me the incredible blessing free speech is, I almost lost the ability to speak! I know how important it is to speak clearly, and it saddens me to see people who CAN speak up, but they bemoan their plight! I want to shout at them "Wake up!" but I cannot shout anymore - maybe it is a blessing - for them! Even the most downtrodden does not realise how well off he/she actually is! True they dont get handed brand new cars and High Definition Televisions, but they are able to move without restriction. They dont realise when they are well off! A saying that strikes me as really true is "Use it or lose it!"
Saturday, May 14, 2011
A stunning discovery or 2
I have recently managed to get my tax filing completely up to date. I have found that the tax man owes me plenty in overpaid taxes, plus interest on the refunds due! Now I have nothing outstanding, he is honour bound to cough up the cash. I think that I will only hear anything when my current bank account is overflowing with funds!
Filing your tax returns used to be a really trying thing, but now my pensions people are able to load the IRP5 tax detail onto the system and it is already there! My tax details (IRP5s for 2010 were filed by the house worker somewhere, and I was trying to get replacements. I was stunned to find that the detail is already in the system.
Despite what most would think, 2 Landrovers (1 x Discovery and 1 x Freelander) are enough and I dont need 3 or 4 landrovers.
I can see now why stay at home moms in Sandton, like huge 4x4 vehicles to drive the kids to school. I use mine - sort of - off road in the Game Reserve but the average 4x4 in Sandton does not see further off road than the parking lots at the local malls there! Since I bought my V8 Auto Landy, I have seen the benefit of upscale motoring. In traffic, you look over all the other traffic, not across at it as I used to in my Opel, or up at it as I used to in my Porsche!
My "car guy" has 2 more landrovers in stock in his selection but I have run out of storage space in my garage - and surplus cash in my account.
When I had a chance to buy my second Landy, I jumped at it! I am the secnd owner and I know the lady who owned it from new would not even let her husband drive it! Christine can count herself really blessed that I have allowed her to drive it! I am not so happy that she learns to drive in either a huge V8 4x4, or a smaller 4x4, both automatic! The blessing is that they are definitely a presence on the road, and no-one pushes them around! Ladybug is also cruise controlled, so is really easy to drive long distance - you get up to speed, and click on the cruise control and you havfe no worries about exceeding the speed limit! The latest threat is that if you are snapped exceeding the limit, you have to cough up cash, but accuumulate points on your license. 10 points and you are out - for a year! Scares me how many people are still driving - at high speed - without valid licenses!
I am amazed that I have found 2 4x4 vehicles that are automatic - Ladybug (my Freelander is a turbo diesel) that is really economical - albeit not very sporty, and my Disco is DIVINE even though it is a "gas guzzler" V8! Usually V8 are heavy fuel users, but mine is quite economical. I fill up onc a month - R 1 000 to fill - but my small bore Opel (1.4 litre) used to use 2 tanks of R 500 each to fill, a month! Sure R 1000 a time is a shock to the bank account, but overall, driving a lusty V8 airconditioned 4x4 auto is far more relaxing than driving a tiny (unairconditioned) stick shift car - that everyone pushes around on the road!
I am still trying to find out what efuel is? I usually fill up with 95 octane unleaded for my Disco. Last time I tried to fill it, and the efuel thingy would not allow more than R 30 worth of fuel to run in at a time. This was at a gas station built earlier this year, and when I pulled in there I was asked "Do you want 93 octane, 95 octane, lead replacement fuel, Diesel, or Efuel? I still dont know what Efuel is? No-one can tell me!
Even Ladybug has a choice of 500ppm Diesel, or commercial diesel. I had been filling her from the commercial diesel pumps, but have found that some pumps have 3 outlets - Unleaded 95 or 93 Octane, or 500ppm Diesel. I have the impression that the ppm stands for Parts Per Million, I started driving in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where cars used Regular (low octane) or Super petrol and that was your choice! Passenger cars did NOT use diesel! When we came to SA, you could get 98 or 96 octane petrol, and not so long ago they only sold 95 or 93 octane fuel. Now you have the choice of unleaded fuel in 95 or 93 - with or without injector cleaner addatives, or 95 or 93 octane fuel in lead replacement also with or without the cleaner burning additives, diesel - also in various grades. Where did the simple life of fuel purchases go? Now filing up the car requires a University Degree to know what to use! You also have the choice of Shell, BP, Engen or Sasol fuel, and I have long known that my vehicles definitely run best on BP - maybe because BP stands for British Petroleum and I drive 2 British vehicles - Landrovers!
Admittedly Ladybug runs cleaner (no diesel smoke) on 500ppm diesel - from BP - and I need to fill up from the diesel pumps on the forecourt not just the commercial pumps set aside for the basic Diesel. I do get the impression that she is more economical on the 500ppm diesel than on the commercial grade diesel.
Filing your tax returns used to be a really trying thing, but now my pensions people are able to load the IRP5 tax detail onto the system and it is already there! My tax details (IRP5s for 2010 were filed by the house worker somewhere, and I was trying to get replacements. I was stunned to find that the detail is already in the system.
Despite what most would think, 2 Landrovers (1 x Discovery and 1 x Freelander) are enough and I dont need 3 or 4 landrovers.
I can see now why stay at home moms in Sandton, like huge 4x4 vehicles to drive the kids to school. I use mine - sort of - off road in the Game Reserve but the average 4x4 in Sandton does not see further off road than the parking lots at the local malls there! Since I bought my V8 Auto Landy, I have seen the benefit of upscale motoring. In traffic, you look over all the other traffic, not across at it as I used to in my Opel, or up at it as I used to in my Porsche!
My "car guy" has 2 more landrovers in stock in his selection but I have run out of storage space in my garage - and surplus cash in my account.
When I had a chance to buy my second Landy, I jumped at it! I am the secnd owner and I know the lady who owned it from new would not even let her husband drive it! Christine can count herself really blessed that I have allowed her to drive it! I am not so happy that she learns to drive in either a huge V8 4x4, or a smaller 4x4, both automatic! The blessing is that they are definitely a presence on the road, and no-one pushes them around! Ladybug is also cruise controlled, so is really easy to drive long distance - you get up to speed, and click on the cruise control and you havfe no worries about exceeding the speed limit! The latest threat is that if you are snapped exceeding the limit, you have to cough up cash, but accuumulate points on your license. 10 points and you are out - for a year! Scares me how many people are still driving - at high speed - without valid licenses!
I am amazed that I have found 2 4x4 vehicles that are automatic - Ladybug (my Freelander is a turbo diesel) that is really economical - albeit not very sporty, and my Disco is DIVINE even though it is a "gas guzzler" V8! Usually V8 are heavy fuel users, but mine is quite economical. I fill up onc a month - R 1 000 to fill - but my small bore Opel (1.4 litre) used to use 2 tanks of R 500 each to fill, a month! Sure R 1000 a time is a shock to the bank account, but overall, driving a lusty V8 airconditioned 4x4 auto is far more relaxing than driving a tiny (unairconditioned) stick shift car - that everyone pushes around on the road!
I am still trying to find out what efuel is? I usually fill up with 95 octane unleaded for my Disco. Last time I tried to fill it, and the efuel thingy would not allow more than R 30 worth of fuel to run in at a time. This was at a gas station built earlier this year, and when I pulled in there I was asked "Do you want 93 octane, 95 octane, lead replacement fuel, Diesel, or Efuel? I still dont know what Efuel is? No-one can tell me!
Even Ladybug has a choice of 500ppm Diesel, or commercial diesel. I had been filling her from the commercial diesel pumps, but have found that some pumps have 3 outlets - Unleaded 95 or 93 Octane, or 500ppm Diesel. I have the impression that the ppm stands for Parts Per Million, I started driving in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where cars used Regular (low octane) or Super petrol and that was your choice! Passenger cars did NOT use diesel! When we came to SA, you could get 98 or 96 octane petrol, and not so long ago they only sold 95 or 93 octane fuel. Now you have the choice of unleaded fuel in 95 or 93 - with or without injector cleaner addatives, or 95 or 93 octane fuel in lead replacement also with or without the cleaner burning additives, diesel - also in various grades. Where did the simple life of fuel purchases go? Now filing up the car requires a University Degree to know what to use! You also have the choice of Shell, BP, Engen or Sasol fuel, and I have long known that my vehicles definitely run best on BP - maybe because BP stands for British Petroleum and I drive 2 British vehicles - Landrovers!
Admittedly Ladybug runs cleaner (no diesel smoke) on 500ppm diesel - from BP - and I need to fill up from the diesel pumps on the forecourt not just the commercial pumps set aside for the basic Diesel. I do get the impression that she is more economical on the 500ppm diesel than on the commercial grade diesel.
Monday, May 9, 2011
BEST FRIENDS
When I am out in my car(s), this happens to be my new best friend. I am still getting to grips with how exactly to work it completely.
I have worked out the most important thing - how to enter my home address! Touch Screen mode of data entry is something new to me, and it takes time to get used to it!
I only hope that it is not the same as my Nokia Navigator, where I entered an adress in Mandini (on the Tugela River) for my hometeachers, but the cell phone does not recognise the name "Mandini" I panicked the first time I went to see them and phoned them to come and find me! Then I followed them to their home. After that I find my way - more by luck than judgment!
I have an idea (untried as yet) that a Garmin has access to maps from anywhere in the world, so if I input the address ANYWHERE, the GPS will direct me there. I know that Ewan Mcgreggor used a Nokia GPS to navigate from John O Groats to Cape Town, by land, so it must be possible to set an address in the UK and to travel there from Zululand, by land. Ewan Mcgreggor and Charlie Bornman travelled by motorcycle to Cape Town, and I saw interviews with people they met going up Africa. I know that someone went to Londonl by land, in a Rolls Royce, and several people have ridden on bicycles - HARD work? I bought 2 landrovers, so that travel in Africa outside of South Africa, is effortless. As a youngster, we used to drive from Salisbury (now Harare) to Beira in Mocambique, and if an old Ford Prefect can make that drive, then so to can Landrovers.
Last year, I was advised that the wreckage of the plane that my (one and only) cousin was killed in when it was shot down in Mocambique) was located. I grew up with my cousin, so when his death was announced, there was no grave that you could pay your respects at. Apparently though, the locals where the helicopter was shot down, have buried the 16 dead, so there is a grave! I would like at some stage to take a trip to the graveside! I have worked out that the best route would be to enter Mocambique via the border near the route past the southern end of the Kruger Park. Once in Mocambique, you turn along the banks of the Great Grey-green Limpopo river, and the crash site and grave are along there somewhere! I am convinced that there is a route by land up Africa through Malawi, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt. From there you can get across the Mediterranean, to Italy, then across to France and via the Channel Tunnel to London(ish)
I would be really prepared to undertake an adventure like this, except that following my MVA accident, I am physically disabled. Driving up Africa - literally single handedly - is daunting! Still, short trips now are something that I can get used to.
I discovered something yesterday! I had been filling my Freelander TD from the wrong(?) diesel pump at the garage. I was using the pump out in the open, the one with regular grade diesel. I found out that if I fill up with 500 ppm diesel, it runs much cleaner and much quieter. So much for my Dad freaking out that I bought a Diesel vehicle! A huge benefit is that since it is turbo charged, it is incredibly economical. I have been from Zululand to Durban - and back - and it has used only a quarter of a tank of fuel - that is only around R 300, unlike my Opel that used to use R 500 worth of petrol or my monster Disco, which uses around R 700 to get there and back!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
GPRS
I am astounded at the leaps in technology that I have seen in the time I have lived in South Africa.
For a fairly minor amount of cash, you can buy a GPRS - either dedicated to only GPS useage, or as a part of a cell phone. The last time my cellphone contract was updated, I chose a Nokia Navigator cellphone. The GPS system that I can access with this is truly amazing! It knows where you are, and how to get to an address even if you have never been there before - and even if you are driving faster than the speed limit!
I often got phone calls whilst I was using the GPS function, and I often found that I either missed the call (the cell was too far away to use!) or I had to turn off the GPS whilst I answered the call!
I therefore invested a relatively small amount of cash and bought a dedicted Garmin Nuvi set.
I used it the first time yesterday, and was rather put out at first that it was telling me something in Afrikaans! I can understand that language - if you speak slowly - but choose not to speak it. I feel that I speak it with a really english accent, and probably mispronounce half of the words that I mangle in my speech! It was rather offputting to have my GPS telling me in Afrikaans to do something! I did Afrikaans at school for "O" Levels, but these are British based exams. I ended the 4 years study with a distinction, but as with anything, "you use it or lose it!" I have always used English, probably with a really colonial accent, since Rhodesia (where I was born and grew up) used to be a British Colony!
I quickly pulled over and changed the language to UK English, rather than American English! I am astounded that even in Britain, there are areas where they think that they talk English, but it is not the English I grew up speaking!
I often joke that we use the spiritual Gift of Tongues when the USA Missionery Elders come to Richards Bay and talk a really wierd dialect! By the time they return home, I am convinced that they have developed a language that even their mothers cannot easily understand!
When I was in England on my way home from the USA, I found that there are some really strange dialects - that cannot be understood even in the next village! In Africa, the next village is probably on average, 45 kilometers away, but in England, there cannot often be more than 5 kilometers between villages! Before I first came to SA, I was only aware of one computer in Salisbury (now Harare) and that occupied 2 floors of an office building that occupied 2 downtown blocks. It was on the 10th and 11th floors, so that there was a minimum of dust around! It had cost then several million dollars, and when I emigrated to SA, $1 Rhodesian would buy you $1 US. With technology, I have 2 laptops, that are in fact rather big as laptops, 1 for my home use and the other for my Church use! When I give a talk in Sacrament on behalf of the District Council, I like to draft the talk on my Church Use computer. In drafting it, I get to absorb the content and can talk for 20 minutes on a subject. I cannot talk for long in Richards Bay as the air there is very polluted, and my diaphram (muscle that controls breath - and by inference, speech!)starts to complain. I cannot talk for very long in the Bay, as my muscle that controls breath reacts to poor air quality. If I use an asthma pump, it does help, but the air still causes me to speak badly!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Feminine side? - my foot
I have been assigned to purchase a gift for the mothers in the local Branch of the LDS Church - Mormons!This is because the Branch President will not be there, and my EQ President (next most senior person in the Branch) is serving a mission in Johannesburg. That leaves me as his Counsellor as the next most senior person there!
I was awoken very early yesterday with an idea (inspiration?) of buying the mothers in the branch a gift of a hand sanitiser! This is not something that leaves your hands perfumed, only free of bacteria!
A comment came to my mind of "Now you are in touch with your feminine side!" I feel confident that I was always a male - in the Eternities before mortality - and I will always be a male! I was designed and built as a male, and alll you need for confirmation of this is to check in the front my underclothes and you will see undeniable evidence! If anything, I divorced my femnine side when I got divorced. The way I see it is, you are either male or female, not both! True, you can, as a male, have a sensitive side, but not all women are sensitive! I know this from really painful experience!
As a member of the local Branch Elders Quorum Presidency, I am very aware that mankind is divided into male and female. That is in conjunction with Heavenly Fathers plans! If I were supposed to have a feminine side now, I would still be married! That does not mean that I do not have access to feminine views! I was instructed to consult a woman in Church to ensure that I did not get a gift that apeals to the Male side of the Branch - car polish or a sponge to wipe the beads of water off of a car when it is washed! THAT is a male thing! What I was inspired to look into, has a really positive view from a mother from the Church!
I was instructed by the Branch President to buy 15 "gifts" for the mothers. That should be enough numbers, given that we lately have on average 20 females in Sacrament, of which at least half are too young to be mothers - hopefully since they are not married, they are not experimenting with the whole sex thing! - and that leaves 5 extra gifts for unexpected appearances by less actives or visitors!
He SMS'd me to remind me that this Sunday is Mothers Day, and when I advised that everything was in hand, he was (and is) grateful! Even though I cannot move freely, I can still do things. I often say to people "I am disabled - not dead!"
I was given a budget for gifts, and that is not easy in a tiny village. In the ONE shop we have here, there is an example of the gift that I was inspired to buy, but that seriously exceeds the budget I have! I am going to be in a larger centre tomorrow, and can go into the Clicks outlet where I understand that the gift I was inspired to buy, is available - apparently at 75% of my budget! I only hope that they have enough in stock to get 15 bottles. That gives enough of a leeway to buy paper bows for the gift! I have drafted - readyto print - a message for each gift, saying that we males of the Church appreciate our feminine sides - the women of the Church! Without them we Elders of the Church (males) would seriously be out in the cold!
I have been invited to a celebration of a marriage. I have confirmed that I can take a "plus 1" with me, and when I asked her, she was really keen. I fail to see that she is just keen for a party, and that she wants to go with me! That is strange to me as my experience has been that I am not seen as a suitable mate! I truly believe she can see the me that existed when I was married, not the accident damaged me who exists now!
I understand that in the afterlife - and there IS an afterlife! - I will get to be without my injuries! I feel that they are only (what - "only"?) physical damage to my muuscles, and my spirit is still intact on the inside of me, and that is what drove me nuts to begin with - my undamaged spirit was creating to get ot of the prison (formerly a skinny road runner ) that holds it in mortality! I know (can sense) that when I pass on to the Etyernities (die at a respectable age!) I will have my spirit freed. I dot think that the perfect body that I was promised, will be reconstructed as damaged, only to be fixed later!
In the real world, if they build a car with problems (like they forget to put wheels on!) this is rectified before it leaves Quality Control.! They dont ship it until it looks OK! If it works that way in a world created for us "to have joy",why would there be a production line in the eternities where imperfect bodies are turned out, only to be fixed later under warranty? Either we have a perfect God (quality control) or He is open to mistakes! I know what I think.
I know questions are asked "Why does He allow things to happen that create imperfections? To that I answer, it is like a perfect car leaving the factory. I look on my injuries as a test to see how I (and others) cope with them! I need to learn something from them (empathy for stroke victims?) I feel that those with healthy bodies are kind of disadvantaged - they have to work, where I have the freedom to enjoy Heavenly Fathers creations!
In a factory, Quality Control has no control over how the car is treated once it leaves the factory! Cars collect minor damage in parking lots, where people open doors carelessly and bump, scrape or dent the car next to them! That is one of the reasons that I am happy enough to be disabled! I get to park in the Disabled Bays at the shops that are generally wider than usual, and are protected by a line of bricks from the general public! I once parked in a disabled bay and when I came out of the shop, another disabled person had parked in the same bay, next to my car!That cannot happen with my Landrovers, as they kind of fill the bay entirely!
I also have come to realise that the way we are, is a test for us, to see how we haldle it! I have to handle the change from a healthy skinny road runner, to someone who cannot run at all! My test is not only for me! Others have the opportunity to either accept my damage or to be repulsed by it! I have grown to be able to see in a persons face which camp they live in! They are either sympathetic or are completely dismissive!
My neighbor was recently struck down by a minor stroke! Now he to can no longer form properly the words he wants to say, and cannot move about so easily! I had a thought that may be part of why I am disabled, is to show people like this, that there is a recovery phase and then you are still alive and able to do things! Sure it is frustrating (nearly past endurance) but a quality life IS available IF you want to live it! Being entitled to park in the Disabled Bays at the shops, does not mean that I am useless - especially with 2 automatic 4x4 vehicles!
I LOVE the Game Reserves, and a 4x4 is better there than a usual road car! My Porsche would never have been useful in the Reserve - it would have scraped on the "middlemannetjie? on the dirt roads and you could not see over the soil - let alone the grass - along the roadside! My Landrovers are higher than the average car, so are easier to view the Game from!
I know that recently some deranged person was so insanely jealous of a high rise 4x4, that he slashed one of my tyres - whilst we were at lunch at Hilltop Camp in the Hluhluwe Reserve! I just hope for his sake he can answer for that in the Eternities! We changed the tyre, but found that the spare too had a slow leak. That took some ingenuity to get fixed, since the nearest tyre shop is about 5 hours drive away in Mtubatuba. Thank Heavens I could get it fixed, and the next day I purchased 4 new All Terrain tyres in Empangeni - SERIOUS off road tyres!
I was awoken very early yesterday with an idea (inspiration?) of buying the mothers in the branch a gift of a hand sanitiser! This is not something that leaves your hands perfumed, only free of bacteria!
A comment came to my mind of "Now you are in touch with your feminine side!" I feel confident that I was always a male - in the Eternities before mortality - and I will always be a male! I was designed and built as a male, and alll you need for confirmation of this is to check in the front my underclothes and you will see undeniable evidence! If anything, I divorced my femnine side when I got divorced. The way I see it is, you are either male or female, not both! True, you can, as a male, have a sensitive side, but not all women are sensitive! I know this from really painful experience!
As a member of the local Branch Elders Quorum Presidency, I am very aware that mankind is divided into male and female. That is in conjunction with Heavenly Fathers plans! If I were supposed to have a feminine side now, I would still be married! That does not mean that I do not have access to feminine views! I was instructed to consult a woman in Church to ensure that I did not get a gift that apeals to the Male side of the Branch - car polish or a sponge to wipe the beads of water off of a car when it is washed! THAT is a male thing! What I was inspired to look into, has a really positive view from a mother from the Church!
I was instructed by the Branch President to buy 15 "gifts" for the mothers. That should be enough numbers, given that we lately have on average 20 females in Sacrament, of which at least half are too young to be mothers - hopefully since they are not married, they are not experimenting with the whole sex thing! - and that leaves 5 extra gifts for unexpected appearances by less actives or visitors!
He SMS'd me to remind me that this Sunday is Mothers Day, and when I advised that everything was in hand, he was (and is) grateful! Even though I cannot move freely, I can still do things. I often say to people "I am disabled - not dead!"
I was given a budget for gifts, and that is not easy in a tiny village. In the ONE shop we have here, there is an example of the gift that I was inspired to buy, but that seriously exceeds the budget I have! I am going to be in a larger centre tomorrow, and can go into the Clicks outlet where I understand that the gift I was inspired to buy, is available - apparently at 75% of my budget! I only hope that they have enough in stock to get 15 bottles. That gives enough of a leeway to buy paper bows for the gift! I have drafted - readyto print - a message for each gift, saying that we males of the Church appreciate our feminine sides - the women of the Church! Without them we Elders of the Church (males) would seriously be out in the cold!
I have been invited to a celebration of a marriage. I have confirmed that I can take a "plus 1" with me, and when I asked her, she was really keen. I fail to see that she is just keen for a party, and that she wants to go with me! That is strange to me as my experience has been that I am not seen as a suitable mate! I truly believe she can see the me that existed when I was married, not the accident damaged me who exists now!
I understand that in the afterlife - and there IS an afterlife! - I will get to be without my injuries! I feel that they are only (what - "only"?) physical damage to my muuscles, and my spirit is still intact on the inside of me, and that is what drove me nuts to begin with - my undamaged spirit was creating to get ot of the prison (formerly a skinny road runner ) that holds it in mortality! I know (can sense) that when I pass on to the Etyernities (die at a respectable age!) I will have my spirit freed. I dot think that the perfect body that I was promised, will be reconstructed as damaged, only to be fixed later!
In the real world, if they build a car with problems (like they forget to put wheels on!) this is rectified before it leaves Quality Control.! They dont ship it until it looks OK! If it works that way in a world created for us "to have joy",why would there be a production line in the eternities where imperfect bodies are turned out, only to be fixed later under warranty? Either we have a perfect God (quality control) or He is open to mistakes! I know what I think.
I know questions are asked "Why does He allow things to happen that create imperfections? To that I answer, it is like a perfect car leaving the factory. I look on my injuries as a test to see how I (and others) cope with them! I need to learn something from them (empathy for stroke victims?) I feel that those with healthy bodies are kind of disadvantaged - they have to work, where I have the freedom to enjoy Heavenly Fathers creations!
In a factory, Quality Control has no control over how the car is treated once it leaves the factory! Cars collect minor damage in parking lots, where people open doors carelessly and bump, scrape or dent the car next to them! That is one of the reasons that I am happy enough to be disabled! I get to park in the Disabled Bays at the shops that are generally wider than usual, and are protected by a line of bricks from the general public! I once parked in a disabled bay and when I came out of the shop, another disabled person had parked in the same bay, next to my car!That cannot happen with my Landrovers, as they kind of fill the bay entirely!
I also have come to realise that the way we are, is a test for us, to see how we haldle it! I have to handle the change from a healthy skinny road runner, to someone who cannot run at all! My test is not only for me! Others have the opportunity to either accept my damage or to be repulsed by it! I have grown to be able to see in a persons face which camp they live in! They are either sympathetic or are completely dismissive!
My neighbor was recently struck down by a minor stroke! Now he to can no longer form properly the words he wants to say, and cannot move about so easily! I had a thought that may be part of why I am disabled, is to show people like this, that there is a recovery phase and then you are still alive and able to do things! Sure it is frustrating (nearly past endurance) but a quality life IS available IF you want to live it! Being entitled to park in the Disabled Bays at the shops, does not mean that I am useless - especially with 2 automatic 4x4 vehicles!
I LOVE the Game Reserves, and a 4x4 is better there than a usual road car! My Porsche would never have been useful in the Reserve - it would have scraped on the "middlemannetjie? on the dirt roads and you could not see over the soil - let alone the grass - along the roadside! My Landrovers are higher than the average car, so are easier to view the Game from!
I know that recently some deranged person was so insanely jealous of a high rise 4x4, that he slashed one of my tyres - whilst we were at lunch at Hilltop Camp in the Hluhluwe Reserve! I just hope for his sake he can answer for that in the Eternities! We changed the tyre, but found that the spare too had a slow leak. That took some ingenuity to get fixed, since the nearest tyre shop is about 5 hours drive away in Mtubatuba. Thank Heavens I could get it fixed, and the next day I purchased 4 new All Terrain tyres in Empangeni - SERIOUS off road tyres!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)