SWAMBO

I came across an acronym that made me smile - SWAMBO - or She Who Always Must Be Obeyed! I know that I am divorced, but even so, I find that there are people like this in my life!

My Mom, who insists that I am out on the road no later than 5, for fear of the sun setting and BM (Bad Men) coming out to attack the innocents (Me?) - as if I am THAT innocent!

My daughter - who is paranoid about me being attacked AGAIN! - I kind of feel that I have fought off an out of control bread truck - not THAT successfully!

The ladies at Church - who dont exactly like being told "NO!"

My female dog - who has some very set ideas on who is important in this life!

Luckily the lady whom I like to share my time with, is not as insistant! Being in her company is kind of a breath of fresh air!

I was divorced in 1998, and have not exactly looked back much since then. I am important in my life, and what I do surprises even me!

I have been helping my mechanic neighbor to service "Ladybug" - my diesel 4x4. He was battling to get the air cleaner cover back on and I felt that since he had only changed the air filter, that MUST have been the problem. I looked at the one that came out, and the plastic cover, and I had a flash of inspiration that MAYBE he had put the filter in upside down. He was scratching his head, and I made my suggestion. He kind of looked like he was sighing "What does HE know?" but he tried turning the filter over. Wonder of wonders, it now fits! It is obvious to me that the manufacturers have no intention of you servicing your own car! When you open the bonnet - something that I RARELY do - you cannot even see the air filter. Most cars that I have owned, this is in A circular type housing on top of the carburettor! (even a confirmed book worm like I grew up as) can recognise that. However in my Landy, it is kind of hidden away behind the motor beneath a cover. Even then, most filters are easily fitted, but in my Landy, it can fit in 2 ways, but only the right way can you tighten up the screws!

How any monkey can be trusted to do it with a minimum of supervision defeats me!

What also amazes me is that the oil filter is tiny. The fuel filters are so much larger - by a factor of about 10 or so! Obviously the fuel is more important than is the oil! When i bought the fuel filter, they could not tell me which one should fit! There are 2 types - one under the bonnet and the other that apparently fits underneath near the rear wheel! The cars that I have owned in the past have one TINY little white gubbins that fits under the bonnet somewhere - and even then, they fit with fuel flow in either direction. Why are things suddenly so complex - and expensive! I remember on Fred, the car that I learned to drive in. The fuel filter was in a metal housing, and when you serviced the car, all you had to do was to undo the filter, take out the element and ckean that in a bowl of fuel! I suppose that someone decided that this was not economical as the owner NEVER needed to buy a new filter. All he had to do was to scrub the old element clean in a bowl of petrol and - heavens sakes - it actually worked.

I have seen examples of rooftop tents - ones that fit onto a roofrack affair on top of a roof! This is a great idea if you are out in a Game Reserve, as an ordinary tent has the downside of easily being broken into by the likes of monkeys, Elephant or even lion. How likely is it that a lion will attack you if you are a long way from the ground? I am quite keen to look at seeing if I can instal one on top of my trailer, behind the car! This ranks up with the idea that I can drive from home to London - overland! Ewan McGreggor and Charley Bornman did it from John O Groats to Cape Town - although they did travel by boat part of the way! They also did London to New York - via Russia, so I believe it must be possible - although not easy - to do Cape
Point (Africa) to Cape Horn (South America) overland.

If the presenters of Top Gear can drive to the North Pole - as unfit as they are - it MUST surely be possible to go Cape to Cape - overland (even if some of this must be over the ice in the Baering Straits. The only thing against this is they did it on British Passports and I dont think that an SA passport holds the same sway! It should, but who knows. I know that in "the Long Way Down " (John O Groats to Cape Town) they had to abandon some team members to fend for themselves when Americans were not allowed into Libya. Would I be allowed into Germany or France - or even Russia on an SA passport? Sure my daughter has been to Switzerland on an SA passport, but Switzerland only took them part of the way round the world!

It is an interesting thought though, altough I would be loath to try it, especially since I am deathly allergic to bee stings - and need to carry a supply of scheduled drugs - muscle relaxants! These are no ways "Over-the-counter" medecines! I carry ampoules of adrenelin in case I am stung and need to get to a doctor in a reasonable hurry. The last timec I was stung I was in Intensive Care for 4 days! In the far out of the way stretches of Africa - or Siberia - I am not going to survive for longer than an hour without medical attention.

It is kind of a bummer being allergic to yourself! (If I get stung the anti venoms in my body now, will react just as if I have been stung by another swarm of bees!) Chances are however that statistically, I have been stung twice in the last 50 years - true, once by one bee then by the rest of the same swarm. I am so fortunate though. Just after I was hspitalised, so too was the Branch president from our Nseleni Branch. I have recovered with only relatively minor side effects, but he has been hospitalised at least every 3 months as a result of the stings that he had! He looks quite sickly now, and I am positive that I dont look as bad as he does - even if you discount the effects of my Road Accident that left me with immense problems!

It rather scare me that the Avocado tree in my neighbours yard is currently in flower, and mid morning, it is buzzing with bees, and there ia a constant rain or tiny white flowers. At least I know that bees have more sense than to commit suicide by stinging me! When I was stung by the swarm of bees, I saw that dead bodies littered the ground where the bees had died after I was stung!