I was looking at the statistics of my blog. It amazed me that there were so many page views from Russia!
I watched the series "Long Way Round" as well as "Trabant Trek", and I am kind of deflated that a visit to Russia appears to be somewhat of an impossibility. Often also the USA series of "The Amazing Race" shows like the other 2 travel shows that it gets really cold for much of the year in Russia.
2 things have made me and cold incompatible:-
1. Where I was damaged in my fight with an out of control articulated truck, my joints are affected
2. Where my heel was recently operated on, gets extremely sore in temperatures of less than 18
degrees celsius
For some reason, where the bones were broken or cut, the reasulting injury never seems to heal completely, especially where the muscle mass has been disturbed.
That being said, Russia appears to be attractively wild! I rather enjoy the wilds although my experience first hand is limited.
I love the wilds of Africa - since that is where I have always lived.
I experienced the wilds in America - around Los Angeles and Salt Lake City
I saw the rather tame wilds in England when I was driven between London, Manchester and Blackpool.
That also is a concern in that I realise that having been stung by thousands of bees, I am deathly allergic to bee stings. I was informed that my blood has converted the venom into anti venom. 1 sting and all of these will swing into action to counteract the venom of 1 sting and since there are so many that will not be used, it will be just as if another few thousand have stung me! The effect will be the same, in that the anti venoms will act just like venoms - and without urgent attention, mybody will shut down. Fancy being deathly allergic to yourself?
I do carry emergency vials of adrenelin and a syringe. I understand that this postpones the effects of a bee sting for around an hour, but then I urgently need medical assistance!
One thing that I am sure of, is that this allergy is not hereditary. My nephew in LA was stung by a bee and like his Dad - my younger brother - his face swelled alarmingly. My allergy is from MASSIVE amounts of venom, and that only comes from being stung so much!
Stragest thing is that I turned 51 before I became allergic. My brother was stung once when he was maybe 10, and he reacted badly, although it was not so serious that he needed to see the doctor! I was in the ICU unit of the nearest hospital for 4 days.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Travel
Recently I had to drive up to Parktown in Johannesburg. It was a long way and I managed it with no problem. I drove up on the Friday (everywhere from the coast, is up!) stayed overnight with friends - did what I had to on Saturday morning and drove back on Saturday afternoon.
It was a long way and made me realise how fortunate we are in coastal KZN, to recently have had a Temple announced for Durban. I can hardly wait until a Temple is an hour south instead of a further 6 hours (and huge toll fees) inland!
I had not realised that Parktown is 690 kilometers away - 120 to Durban, then the rest up the N3 to Johannesburg. I was blessed to have the use of my GPRS. Going up the N3, you are blessed to skirt past tiny little towns. Once you leave Durban, the first town/city you actually com across is Johannesburg. Then all you need to do is skirt past the high building of the Carlton Tower (highest building in Africa) and follow the offramps to the Temple.
My GPS directed us up the N3, M2 and the M1, taking an offramp to the Temple. On the way home however, it directed us through Hillbrow to the N3 and then home via Heidelberg and Standerton.
I was amazed at how run down Hillbrow appears. It has always been seedy, but age has not been kind to it!
The Durban Temple has been announced, but that will take a few years to be finished. The construction of a Temple is special, so care is taken in building it! They truly are magnificent buildings.
I have been to temples in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and been through the grounds of several others. It is not so very long ago that if members of the LDS Church wanted to visit a Temple from Africa, that they had to either go to London or to Salt Lake City. Now there are 5 in Africa - either opened or announced to be constructed. This is a really recent thing - when I joined the Mormon Church, there was only 1 Temple in Africa. Soon enough there will be 5 - with others to be announced soon!
It was a long way and made me realise how fortunate we are in coastal KZN, to recently have had a Temple announced for Durban. I can hardly wait until a Temple is an hour south instead of a further 6 hours (and huge toll fees) inland!
I had not realised that Parktown is 690 kilometers away - 120 to Durban, then the rest up the N3 to Johannesburg. I was blessed to have the use of my GPRS. Going up the N3, you are blessed to skirt past tiny little towns. Once you leave Durban, the first town/city you actually com across is Johannesburg. Then all you need to do is skirt past the high building of the Carlton Tower (highest building in Africa) and follow the offramps to the Temple.
My GPS directed us up the N3, M2 and the M1, taking an offramp to the Temple. On the way home however, it directed us through Hillbrow to the N3 and then home via Heidelberg and Standerton.
I was amazed at how run down Hillbrow appears. It has always been seedy, but age has not been kind to it!
The Durban Temple has been announced, but that will take a few years to be finished. The construction of a Temple is special, so care is taken in building it! They truly are magnificent buildings.
I have been to temples in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and been through the grounds of several others. It is not so very long ago that if members of the LDS Church wanted to visit a Temple from Africa, that they had to either go to London or to Salt Lake City. Now there are 5 in Africa - either opened or announced to be constructed. This is a really recent thing - when I joined the Mormon Church, there was only 1 Temple in Africa. Soon enough there will be 5 - with others to be announced soon!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Always things to learn
I am still learning things!
The chapel at Port Durnford has electricity connected and to save Eskom the hassle of reading meters, calculating costs, printing bills, running debtor’s ledgers and monitoring debts, the current “thing” is prepaid electricity.
It is brilliant – because there are none of the costs above, the power is slightly cheaper than if it is on tap all the time. Downside is that if the prepaid electricity runs out, there is NO power until you recharge!
You are never in debt to Eskom. Now if you are not in credit – NO POWER!
In Mtunzini – on the other bank of the Umlalazi River, we don’t have prepaid electricity! The new installation at the Chapel, is an education.
Last weekend we screened (computer displaying through a projector) one of the recent General Conference sessions. When the cable was extended to the building and connected up, it came with 2 units of power, which the outside lights used up 1 unit of! We were not sure how long this 1 unit would last! Turned out we used half a unit, so there was some power left over.
I took the card through to Eskom in Empangeni to get it enabled, to buy more power. I used the pole number of the pole just outside of the chapel, and they managed to link up the card. Hopefully tomorrow, I can use the card to purchase more power tomorrow, ready for this weekend.
Something that really amazed me was that when at Eskom, most of the staff are indigenous and the PRO person I dealt with is a minority white woman. She was really pleasant and helpful. I had to wait for her to deal with a regular customer and he was giving her grief, and I got the impression that he was not the first trouble inducing customer of the day!
I spoke to her and found out that further contact face to face was unnecessary. I had to supply the account number and the card number by Email and she could link up the card. Now I can get prepaid electricity at a store like the Spar in Empangeni or even Pickand Pay.
It is sure true what “they” say – “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!” – In other words, be pleasant ALL THE TIME! It takes less effort to smile and be pleasant than to be grumpy, and you sure get more response from a smile than from a frown. Even if you don’t get the response you want to, a smile helps you to feel better about yourself. I have the impression that modern city lifestyles are such that people are too busy to take the time to be pleasant. It is always more relaxing to greet people in store in small villages. I get the impression in cities – Durban, Johannesburg and even Richards Bay – it is a crime to smile, and if you do smile, they will call the cops and have you locked up, for insanity!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Excavation
A question that has crossed my mind – that needs someone learned to explain to me – is, how come if we need to find details of former generations, do we need to always dig?
Sure in Pompeii where it was covered by a volcanic eruption, you need to did to locate the existing remnants of a “lost” city, but everywhere else, previous civilizations (if they even WERE civilized) you need to dig! From Egypt to the Andes, even in Britain, relics are discovered by digging! Where do the “experts” think that all of this soil came from? There are heaps of digs that discover things like ancient boats, and it defeats me why the ancients took the effort to bury things like buildings or boats?
The desire to dig up history is fairly universal as I said from Ancient Britain through Egypt to the Incas of Peru.
I can see the “need” to dig up graves to find out history, as if civilized man actually “needs” to disturb the burial places of former populations. Does the quest for knowledge allow us to selectively desecrate graves or tombs? I know in Egypt there was great excitement at the discovery of tombs of ancient kings – mainly because of the wealth that people such as King Tutankhamen were buried alongside.
Another thing that astounds me is that the “learned” interpret what is uncovered, and expound their theories on what details are unveiled. It always amazes me that their theories are taken at face value by the general population to be absolute truth, and are taught as absolute fact in schools and universities!
This extends to such things like carbon dating of artifacts! They commonly show that bones etc are carbon dated to thousands or millions of years old. Surely THAT is a theory, maybe impossible to disprove, but the way I feel now, the absence of alternative explanations is hardly proof of a theory!
The way things are
Life here is interesting to say the least. The delivery drivers wanted more pay so they all went on strike. Consequently the delivery of fuel country wide was disrupted. I heard there were rumblings so I refuelled both of my Landrovers beforehand. Now I attend Church in Port Durnford, that gave me around 3 months of fuel. The fuel delivery drivers threatened to strike for 6 months if they had to, but 3 weeks with no pay, they decided to accept the offer of 10% increase. They are not ediucated enough to realise that they messed up the economy for 3 weeks, all for 1.5% increase, The way I see it is, 1 day without pay (official that no work = no pay (no strike pay either!) they are massively behind the curve. They will NEVER recover the wages they gave up. They do not think of higher taxes, higher costs at the supermarket till and everything that goes with higher wages. If they were getting any pay, they would receive less than they used to!
I have been blessed to move from Richards Bay branch, to Port Durnford branch. Now Church is virtually within spitting distance, not 120 kilometers a week round trip away! Since the strike, I have used less than a quarter (WAY less) of a tank of fuel in my V8 Discovery and a quarter of a tank of diesel in my Freelander.
Port Durnford branch is mainly a Black membership branch. There is no other way to "politically correcvtly" say that. I dont believe that they see much difference in colour to us "mhlungu's"
It makes no sense to me that the darker USA citizens claim to be "African Americans"! Does that mean that the native races of Africa need to claim to be "African Africans!" The government of SA had a series of court sanctioned operations - "Reconciliation" - to get to the causes of displeasure after Apartheid and to resolve the differences. Now everyone born in Africa (like me and my members) are South Africans, even though I was born in Southern Rhodesia. I was born there before it was called Rhodesia, and I left Zimbabwe for a better life in SA!
I have been blessed to move from Richards Bay branch, to Port Durnford branch. Now Church is virtually within spitting distance, not 120 kilometers a week round trip away! Since the strike, I have used less than a quarter (WAY less) of a tank of fuel in my V8 Discovery and a quarter of a tank of diesel in my Freelander.
Port Durnford branch is mainly a Black membership branch. There is no other way to "politically correcvtly" say that. I dont believe that they see much difference in colour to us "mhlungu's"
It makes no sense to me that the darker USA citizens claim to be "African Americans"! Does that mean that the native races of Africa need to claim to be "African Africans!" The government of SA had a series of court sanctioned operations - "Reconciliation" - to get to the causes of displeasure after Apartheid and to resolve the differences. Now everyone born in Africa (like me and my members) are South Africans, even though I was born in Southern Rhodesia. I was born there before it was called Rhodesia, and I left Zimbabwe for a better life in SA!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Life in a small (for SA) village
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!
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!
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!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Light at the end of the tunnel
My GP today suggested that I would be able to use just my right hand crutch together with the moon boot, to walk. This is again a HUGE step forward as handling 2 crutches - and my car keys - was a bit tiresome. I can easily manage the one crutch. Luckily he recommended that I still retain the use of my right hand crutch, opposite to my injured foot! That way I can still keep pressure off of my heel, but still reserve the right to one of my Weapons of Mass Destruction, to maintain my balance!
As it is, I can walk for short distances without using my crutches, and this is - I believe - a good thing! Once I no longer need the moon boot, I definitely will need to be able to walk without crutches or moon boots!
Handling one crutch is far easier than handling 2 crutches, especially as my left hand crutch is so bulky - designed for me specifically since I cannot straighten my left arm!
So, I query, "Is this light at the end of the tunnel, or is it the headlight of an oncoming express train?" - time will tell!
Since I was maybe 2 or 3, I have been able to rely on my legs to get me around. At nearly 52, it rather grates to have to rely on 2 tubes of aluminium to get me around! I loathed being in hospital where I was confined, by circumstance, to the hospital bed! Then the only way I could get around to start with was in a wheelchair, and even once I started walking again, I had to push my wheelchair in front of me, hanging onto that for stability! Boy have I improved since then!
The only bright point about my hospital bed when I emerged from my coma was that from that, I could look out over the valley and see the spires of the Temple in Parktown. I distinctly imagined - before I walked - that I had gone downstairs, climbed over the wall, into the Temple Grounds. Practically this was not possible, but I felt a huge sense of love from Heavenly Father - kind of "Welcome home!"
As it is, I can walk for short distances without using my crutches, and this is - I believe - a good thing! Once I no longer need the moon boot, I definitely will need to be able to walk without crutches or moon boots!
Handling one crutch is far easier than handling 2 crutches, especially as my left hand crutch is so bulky - designed for me specifically since I cannot straighten my left arm!
So, I query, "Is this light at the end of the tunnel, or is it the headlight of an oncoming express train?" - time will tell!
Since I was maybe 2 or 3, I have been able to rely on my legs to get me around. At nearly 52, it rather grates to have to rely on 2 tubes of aluminium to get me around! I loathed being in hospital where I was confined, by circumstance, to the hospital bed! Then the only way I could get around to start with was in a wheelchair, and even once I started walking again, I had to push my wheelchair in front of me, hanging onto that for stability! Boy have I improved since then!
The only bright point about my hospital bed when I emerged from my coma was that from that, I could look out over the valley and see the spires of the Temple in Parktown. I distinctly imagined - before I walked - that I had gone downstairs, climbed over the wall, into the Temple Grounds. Practically this was not possible, but I felt a huge sense of love from Heavenly Father - kind of "Welcome home!"
Monday, July 16, 2012
Efficency
Eskom, the ONLY provider of power in the whole of SA, should be more on-the-ball than they are! There is huge outcry for the impoverished to get power supplied - that they cannot afford to pay for - but when the Church pays for connection - a week later, nothing has been done!
We had to hold our branch conference without power - that we had paid for! Surely in even the Third World, if someone pays the deposit, he should be first on the list of those who get connected? I went there with my Branch President, who is black, so it was not a colour thing where Mhlungu's pay then wait forever for connection.
Luckily we did not actually need power as the conference did not need power to get lights on (there was plenty of sunlight streaming through the windows. Even I - with a strained vocal chords - can project my voice to the back of the room.
What does need doing is that the uneven ground needs to be smoothed over. I arrived after 2 other cars, but as I have physical keys to the property, I got out to open the gate. On my way back to the car, the uneven ground conspired with my still healing heel, and I fell over. Luckily I landed - on my back - in soft sand and thick weeds. The most damage I suffered was dirt on the palms of my hands - easily fixed at the wash basins inside!
What stunned me the most was not that I fell, but that Physical Facilities have done NOTHING further at the branch than they had achieved, the week before last! My understanding is that funds for our chapel WERE advanced, but have already been spent on other units! When are we going to get what we were provided for?
We had to hold our branch conference without power - that we had paid for! Surely in even the Third World, if someone pays the deposit, he should be first on the list of those who get connected? I went there with my Branch President, who is black, so it was not a colour thing where Mhlungu's pay then wait forever for connection.
Luckily we did not actually need power as the conference did not need power to get lights on (there was plenty of sunlight streaming through the windows. Even I - with a strained vocal chords - can project my voice to the back of the room.
What does need doing is that the uneven ground needs to be smoothed over. I arrived after 2 other cars, but as I have physical keys to the property, I got out to open the gate. On my way back to the car, the uneven ground conspired with my still healing heel, and I fell over. Luckily I landed - on my back - in soft sand and thick weeds. The most damage I suffered was dirt on the palms of my hands - easily fixed at the wash basins inside!
What stunned me the most was not that I fell, but that Physical Facilities have done NOTHING further at the branch than they had achieved, the week before last! My understanding is that funds for our chapel WERE advanced, but have already been spent on other units! When are we going to get what we were provided for?
Friday, July 13, 2012
Lazy crazy days
With my foot encased in a moon boot, it is not so very hard to have lazy days! Movement is a huge thing to achieve and it is far easier to be a vegetable in front of the TV.
What bugs me most is that the folks are super scared by government pronouncements that everyone is using too much power and threats of imminent power outages is constantly on the TV. Strikes me as really strange that under the evil of an apartheid government we had no such problems - only under ANC rule has it become a problem.
Then the current cry is that your average school leaver is eminently qualified because he/she is black, to do anything! Amazing they want to be recognised as the super power because they have a university degree - in politial science. That of course qualifies then to do ANYTHING better than the former apartheid regeime!
I am all for advancement of anyone, based on their ability to do the job! Pushing an under qualified native just he was born black is no way to run a country - or a Church! I face some agonizing decisions as to letting the average member of my branch be advanced. True there are those who can fill callings, but they have disqualified themselves by falling foul of the rules of morality!
As a general rule, I love the members of my branch - and sense that they love me back, but I am genuinely concerned that their idea of morality is not the Churches take on morality - almost as if they are saying to Heavenly Father that His rules on morality are outdated, and He must get with the current programme! I admit that I have been spoilt by the way I was brought up. I come from a family that has always believed in a high standard of morality. That is what threw me most badly when my ex was cheating on me! My ideas of morality were not those of the woman I was married to, and it worries me that I may be prejudiced in a future marriage by old fashioned standards of morality.
What bugs me most is that the folks are super scared by government pronouncements that everyone is using too much power and threats of imminent power outages is constantly on the TV. Strikes me as really strange that under the evil of an apartheid government we had no such problems - only under ANC rule has it become a problem.
Then the current cry is that your average school leaver is eminently qualified because he/she is black, to do anything! Amazing they want to be recognised as the super power because they have a university degree - in politial science. That of course qualifies then to do ANYTHING better than the former apartheid regeime!
I am all for advancement of anyone, based on their ability to do the job! Pushing an under qualified native just he was born black is no way to run a country - or a Church! I face some agonizing decisions as to letting the average member of my branch be advanced. True there are those who can fill callings, but they have disqualified themselves by falling foul of the rules of morality!
As a general rule, I love the members of my branch - and sense that they love me back, but I am genuinely concerned that their idea of morality is not the Churches take on morality - almost as if they are saying to Heavenly Father that His rules on morality are outdated, and He must get with the current programme! I admit that I have been spoilt by the way I was brought up. I come from a family that has always believed in a high standard of morality. That is what threw me most badly when my ex was cheating on me! My ideas of morality were not those of the woman I was married to, and it worries me that I may be prejudiced in a future marriage by old fashioned standards of morality.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Moon Boot
On Tuesday I was graduated from a fibre cast to support my foot, to a brand new moon boot! As with most things new - unlike children - it came with an instruction manual - AND two surgical socks. I have the choice of wearing the socks - woven tubes more like it - or can use the boot without them!
It is SO much more comfortable to have a moon boot rather than the cast - that was definitely failing in it's job of giving my heel adequate support,
The moon boot is made in Scandinavia somewhere and it turns out that the self-same firm has made the running blades for Olympian runner - Oscar Pistorius. Does that mean that I am in the running for 2 jobs:-
Assistant coach to Bafana Bafana (courtesy of the titanium implants into my heel)
The SA Olympic squad of 2016?
I am actually retired on ill health grounds - and kind of too old to be an olympian, but these possibilities ARE out there!
What shocked me was the cost of the moon boot - R 1 900 - and that is not even for a matching pair! Designer shoes from someone like Prada are less than that, and having bought one Prada, you get a matching shoe for the other foot - free! I recently replaced my Nike running shoes, and the pair set me back by R 1 100 - and I thought THAT was expensive!
My moon boot does allow me to move around for fairly short distances, without having to resort to crutches. Having been unable to walk around without crutches for the last month has nearly driven me mad! I definitely feel way more for those who are unable to move without crutches, and I am so grateful that I can move around without having to resort to a wheel chair! I was brought up to be independant and having to rely on anything drives me crazy - more crazy than on any average day! I understand that the problem was as a result of the muscles in my heel that keep me upright were pulling me off balance the whole time - and that is why I could not handle down slopes, stairs or even running! My feet used to BC (before crash) be able to carry me up to 42.2 kilometers - official marathon distance (I once ran the Ford Marathon in Durban) With luck now my foot will plant on road surfaces properly. Only, if I desire to go 42.2 kilometers (26 miles) now, I can do so in the automatic, airconditioned, cruise controlled luxury of my Landrover Freelander!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Cracked cast
Am I in so much need of a headshrink that I not only have a cracked skull, but things like my cast are just falling to bits? I cannot wait (even though I HAVE to) for 19th when my cast is removed and I progress to the freedom of a moon boot! My cast is collapsing, and no amount of shoring it up will assist. I have been asked by the surgeon to drop by his rooms on Tuesday and he can redo my cast!
Sad thing is the thursday less than 2 weeks later, the cast will be changed for a moon boot! How a cast is expected to last for 6 weeks, is beyond me! My fibre cast did not survive being drowned in water for longer than 2 weeks, and the Plaster of Paris strengthening has started to disintegrate after a further 2 weeks. 4 weeks down and I am on to my 3rd cast! However, the moon boot looks really durable, and will last me 6 weeks, after it lasted the previous owner 6 weeks, and will still be fresh enough to give support for a futher many weeks!
Once the moon boot comes off, the choice is either -
Allow someone else to use it OR
Allow it to clog up the packing space (not that I have plenty of spare room as it is!)
Sad thing is the thursday less than 2 weeks later, the cast will be changed for a moon boot! How a cast is expected to last for 6 weeks, is beyond me! My fibre cast did not survive being drowned in water for longer than 2 weeks, and the Plaster of Paris strengthening has started to disintegrate after a further 2 weeks. 4 weeks down and I am on to my 3rd cast! However, the moon boot looks really durable, and will last me 6 weeks, after it lasted the previous owner 6 weeks, and will still be fresh enough to give support for a futher many weeks!
Once the moon boot comes off, the choice is either -
Allow someone else to use it OR
Allow it to clog up the packing space (not that I have plenty of spare room as it is!)
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Lazy Days
Today is just like yesterday - a whole day in which I have not much planned. The furthest ahead that I can plan is a few hours. My foot is feeling better today as the sun is shining and the air is clean, albeit cold!
Me and Cold do not mix, moreso since my operation. I can feel inside my cast, that the scars where the surgeon cut are tender, and really complain about the cold! I look forward to when I can soak it in warm water and let that heat dispurse the ache.
I also have a phobia of cold weather. When the bones that were smashed in 1991 in the MVA accident get cold, they really complain - hugely! Why is it that surgery that should help, has unfortunte and unplanned side effects? These effects last far longer than do scars and I think that some will last for the rest of my mortal life! I am so grateful that I believe that we are not here by accident and that our souls have existed for long before mortality and will exist for Eternity.
This life is only a time for us to learn how to handle our mortal bodies and such emotions as love, joy and disappointment. That one I am hving a really hard time with! I am disappointed that I can no longer breathe well or do even a patch of what I used to! I do have a glimpse into what the Lord intended when he said "... Man is, so that he may have joy!" (Moses 1:39 in the Pearl of Great Price - ask your local LDS Missionaries!)
Life is a time to learn, and ever since I was disabled, I have wondered what I have to learn from the tragedy of my MVA accident and subsequent disability. What scares me is that if you dont learn, then you are going to repeat the lesson until you DO learn! That is how it works when you learn to walk for the first time! You fall (luckily not very far!), get up and try again until you achieve success!
I know that since my disability, I have learned compassion, although I do realise that I still have heaps to learn! That (I believe) is why I have gone from Elders Quorum First Counsellor in Richards Bay, to Branch Presidency First Counsellor in Port Durnford - where the members are genuinely needy, and I feel that - disabled as I may be - I can make (and am) a very real difference!
Me and Cold do not mix, moreso since my operation. I can feel inside my cast, that the scars where the surgeon cut are tender, and really complain about the cold! I look forward to when I can soak it in warm water and let that heat dispurse the ache.
I also have a phobia of cold weather. When the bones that were smashed in 1991 in the MVA accident get cold, they really complain - hugely! Why is it that surgery that should help, has unfortunte and unplanned side effects? These effects last far longer than do scars and I think that some will last for the rest of my mortal life! I am so grateful that I believe that we are not here by accident and that our souls have existed for long before mortality and will exist for Eternity.
This life is only a time for us to learn how to handle our mortal bodies and such emotions as love, joy and disappointment. That one I am hving a really hard time with! I am disappointed that I can no longer breathe well or do even a patch of what I used to! I do have a glimpse into what the Lord intended when he said "... Man is, so that he may have joy!" (Moses 1:39 in the Pearl of Great Price - ask your local LDS Missionaries!)
Life is a time to learn, and ever since I was disabled, I have wondered what I have to learn from the tragedy of my MVA accident and subsequent disability. What scares me is that if you dont learn, then you are going to repeat the lesson until you DO learn! That is how it works when you learn to walk for the first time! You fall (luckily not very far!), get up and try again until you achieve success!
I know that since my disability, I have learned compassion, although I do realise that I still have heaps to learn! That (I believe) is why I have gone from Elders Quorum First Counsellor in Richards Bay, to Branch Presidency First Counsellor in Port Durnford - where the members are genuinely needy, and I feel that - disabled as I may be - I can make (and am) a very real difference!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Moon boot
Today is another example of how I disbelieve in Global Warming. It is cold - cold enough to make my foot - encased in a cast, as it is - painfully cold. It is rerally strange that cold weather affects where you have had problems before. Where my bones were smashed when I was run over, really feels the cold!
Zululand and Cold dont exactly go together. I know that scars tend to be susceptible to cold, and my foot is severely painful. Strangely enough, my foot is painful around the heel - as I would expect, but sore along the one edge also. I understand that part of the operation was where the surgeon cut ino the side of my foot!
My GP announced that he had been advised that the warning to keep the cast on for 6 weeks was not unnecessary. I have to endure the cast on for a further 3 weeks, then I have the loan of a suitable moon boot. I am looking forward to the day when my moon boot is put to use!
My Mom reports that I have - ever since I could walk - been obsessed with cleanliness and it distresses me that I cannot either shower or bath! Sponge baths are the order of the day and I long for the day when I can relax in either a hot shower or a bubble bath. I have long felt that you dont realise what you lose (have to give up) until it is gone. I cannot shower or bath, for fear that I will get my cast wet - again! I was wearing a plastic bag to keep it dry, but the water not so much seeped as flowed into the bag. This destroyed the structural integrity of the cast and I had to have it strengthened!
Zululand and Cold dont exactly go together. I know that scars tend to be susceptible to cold, and my foot is severely painful. Strangely enough, my foot is painful around the heel - as I would expect, but sore along the one edge also. I understand that part of the operation was where the surgeon cut ino the side of my foot!
My GP announced that he had been advised that the warning to keep the cast on for 6 weeks was not unnecessary. I have to endure the cast on for a further 3 weeks, then I have the loan of a suitable moon boot. I am looking forward to the day when my moon boot is put to use!
My Mom reports that I have - ever since I could walk - been obsessed with cleanliness and it distresses me that I cannot either shower or bath! Sponge baths are the order of the day and I long for the day when I can relax in either a hot shower or a bubble bath. I have long felt that you dont realise what you lose (have to give up) until it is gone. I cannot shower or bath, for fear that I will get my cast wet - again! I was wearing a plastic bag to keep it dry, but the water not so much seeped as flowed into the bag. This destroyed the structural integrity of the cast and I had to have it strengthened!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Reliance
My GP has said he will communicate with the bone specialist and find out if - as he believes - in another 2 weeks he can remove my cast and fit me with a moon boot!
My cast recently collapsed after getting - accidentally - wet. I try to keep it dry but this proved to be impossible.
I will need to wear a supportive moon boot for at least 6 weeks. The benefit of my GP fitting me for one is, he has around 150 "pre - owned" moon boots in storage. I can use one of these, nstead of my medical aid forking out thousands on a new one for 6 weeks use. I can borrow one from him at no cost and when I am finished with it, just hand it back. What else do you do with them once you no longer need them, but pass them on to the GP for use by another! How green is that - Recycling moon boots?
Once I am allowed to wear a moon boot, I will no longer need my crutches! That WILL be a happy day as I loathe being reliant on anyone! I had a friend say to me that I am to be admired for my fortitude but I think that I am so stubborn that I dont like to be reliant on anyone else!
I have been advised that it is a sin not to want help from ANYONE and I acknowlege this but there HAS to be a point where you need to take control over what happend to you, for yourself! It jars when you can do very little for yourself, and I yearn for the time when I can be indepedant again. Sure there is nothing wrong with accepting help, graciously offered, but I do so enjoy the freedom that I usually have of something as simple as STANDING. I am maybe TOO independant.
Even though I am (unavoidably) disabled, I DO enjoy being able to do things without help. You have no idea how free you feel if you can live adequately, on your own!
My cast recently collapsed after getting - accidentally - wet. I try to keep it dry but this proved to be impossible.
I will need to wear a supportive moon boot for at least 6 weeks. The benefit of my GP fitting me for one is, he has around 150 "pre - owned" moon boots in storage. I can use one of these, nstead of my medical aid forking out thousands on a new one for 6 weeks use. I can borrow one from him at no cost and when I am finished with it, just hand it back. What else do you do with them once you no longer need them, but pass them on to the GP for use by another! How green is that - Recycling moon boots?
Once I am allowed to wear a moon boot, I will no longer need my crutches! That WILL be a happy day as I loathe being reliant on anyone! I had a friend say to me that I am to be admired for my fortitude but I think that I am so stubborn that I dont like to be reliant on anyone else!
I have been advised that it is a sin not to want help from ANYONE and I acknowlege this but there HAS to be a point where you need to take control over what happend to you, for yourself! It jars when you can do very little for yourself, and I yearn for the time when I can be indepedant again. Sure there is nothing wrong with accepting help, graciously offered, but I do so enjoy the freedom that I usually have of something as simple as STANDING. I am maybe TOO independant.
Even though I am (unavoidably) disabled, I DO enjoy being able to do things without help. You have no idea how free you feel if you can live adequately, on your own!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
WoMD
I have taken to referring to my cruthches as WoMD - Weapons of Mass Destruction. I also have a cast support where my Glass Fibre cast cracked. Personally I think it is a test to see how well I cope with the stresses of being SERIOUSLY inconvenienced.
To me it is no great shakes!
First (in my coma), I could not stand up, let alone get out of bed!
Then I could only move about with a wheelchair in front of me for support
Then I moved around really slowly, alwats scared I would fall. Even to this day, heights, slopes and stairs (downwards) terrify me!
I found out why this is though!
In your heel on both sides, are muscles that pull equally, keeping your foot aligned orrectly. In my left foot, the muscles along one side of my heel were pulling harder than the other side. My own foot was constantly pulling me off balance.
Hence the recent operation to my heel where this imbalance was corrected. They broke the heel bone and pinned it so that the muscles cannot pull me off balance! I now have 2 titanium pins in my foot!
The Orthopod reckons that, being titanium, they will not register on the security scans going into banks etc, but that makes no sense to me! If Titanium does not register, then why dont bank robbers use titanium weapons instead of steel ones? Then they can walk into banks with firearms undetected?
The cast that I had originally, was (I thought) Fibre Glass. Now it weighs a ton with Plaster of Paris around the heel and closing up the split. Watch out all you non disabled creeps who park in MY parking bay! I can threaten you with crutches, and if that does not work, I can kick even the most obese, into next week!
I was thinking, What if I try out for Bafana Bafana, what with my cast and titanium heel? I can kick the ball FAR (surely)! Just a thought! I cannot be worse than some who spend the matches running around keeping as far from the action as possible!
To me it is no great shakes!
First (in my coma), I could not stand up, let alone get out of bed!
Then I could only move about with a wheelchair in front of me for support
Then I moved around really slowly, alwats scared I would fall. Even to this day, heights, slopes and stairs (downwards) terrify me!
I found out why this is though!
In your heel on both sides, are muscles that pull equally, keeping your foot aligned orrectly. In my left foot, the muscles along one side of my heel were pulling harder than the other side. My own foot was constantly pulling me off balance.
Hence the recent operation to my heel where this imbalance was corrected. They broke the heel bone and pinned it so that the muscles cannot pull me off balance! I now have 2 titanium pins in my foot!
The Orthopod reckons that, being titanium, they will not register on the security scans going into banks etc, but that makes no sense to me! If Titanium does not register, then why dont bank robbers use titanium weapons instead of steel ones? Then they can walk into banks with firearms undetected?
The cast that I had originally, was (I thought) Fibre Glass. Now it weighs a ton with Plaster of Paris around the heel and closing up the split. Watch out all you non disabled creeps who park in MY parking bay! I can threaten you with crutches, and if that does not work, I can kick even the most obese, into next week!
I was thinking, What if I try out for Bafana Bafana, what with my cast and titanium heel? I can kick the ball FAR (surely)! Just a thought! I cannot be worse than some who spend the matches running around keeping as far from the action as possible!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Improvements?
I have recently been bugged that perfectly healthy - if fat and lazy - people park in the disabled bays at the shops - mainly because these bays are close to the entrances to the shops. I feel that I will have to write on the glass windows of those guilty most of abusing the privilege "Dear God, I desperately want to be disabled! Please help! Amen" Maybe then they will stop being so selfish! If they WERE disabled, they would be the first ones bleating that inconsiderate people park where they shouldn't!
Since my heel was operated on a week ago, it is impossible for me to walk unaided and crutches take a huge effort to use. Being disabled is no picnic and the sooner they realise this, the better!
Being actually disabled, I have a lot of time to ponder the world around me! Scares me what I see sometimes. At Sacrament meeting on the first sunday of a month, the members are able to bear their testimonies about their beliefs. I speak badly but it always amazes me that there are some out there who are barely audible - even with a microphone!
I often want to bash their heads in when they drag their feet! It drives me crazy that I have a valid excuse and try not to, but the shoe leather content of the carpet up to the pulpit increases dramatically every Fast and Testimony meeting!
Since my heel was operated on a week ago, it is impossible for me to walk unaided and crutches take a huge effort to use. Being disabled is no picnic and the sooner they realise this, the better!
Being actually disabled, I have a lot of time to ponder the world around me! Scares me what I see sometimes. At Sacrament meeting on the first sunday of a month, the members are able to bear their testimonies about their beliefs. I speak badly but it always amazes me that there are some out there who are barely audible - even with a microphone!
I often want to bash their heads in when they drag their feet! It drives me crazy that I have a valid excuse and try not to, but the shoe leather content of the carpet up to the pulpit increases dramatically every Fast and Testimony meeting!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Inspiration
I am convinced that at the end of May, the orthopedic surgeon will want to insert steel pins in my heel. After this weekend, it cannot happen soon enough as the discomfort from my ankle was intense. Is this inspiration - or fear?
I really think that I saw the surgeon mid month last month and he suggested that it was a possibility that I need my bones "fused"! The ins and outs of the operation were not discussed, but I think that I was given a chance to come to terms with the idea of the bones being fused.
I look forward to no longer fearing slopes and stairs. I was not consciously aware of why i had developed this phobia.
It also turns out that it is not my only phobia:-
I get cold sweats in traffic heavier than 2 cars a DAY. Where I live, maybe 2 cars a day go past - and both of them live in my garage!
The one thing that I can see will not be so great is that I will battle to drive a "stick shift" as the foot controlling the clutch pedal will be "incapacitated!" Still since being in a coma, I have precious few items to set me apart from the crowd. I think that this is why I disliked my scars - they were not ostensibly chosen by me and in the sun, they went bright red, then faded to luminous white! Eventually I chose to have a tattoo covering them, since people query scars - "How did you get that?" - and no-one questions a tattoo! It was not even painful - or uncomfortable! I can live with a tattoo easier than scars.
I look forward to no longer fearing slopes and stairs. I was not consciously aware of why i had developed this phobia.
It also turns out that it is not my only phobia:-
I get cold sweats in traffic heavier than 2 cars a DAY. Where I live, maybe 2 cars a day go past - and both of them live in my garage!
The one thing that I can see will not be so great is that I will battle to drive a "stick shift" as the foot controlling the clutch pedal will be "incapacitated!" Still since being in a coma, I have precious few items to set me apart from the crowd. I think that this is why I disliked my scars - they were not ostensibly chosen by me and in the sun, they went bright red, then faded to luminous white! Eventually I chose to have a tattoo covering them, since people query scars - "How did you get that?" - and no-one questions a tattoo! It was not even painful - or uncomfortable! I can live with a tattoo easier than scars.
Apparently this will prevent my muscles from distorting the heel. For too long I have battled with balance and heights - although I am not scared of heights - tend to raise my blood level, even on a down slope in the lawn!
Since my MVA accident - 1992 - I have been unstable on both slopes and uneven ground. I used to think this was because I sustained brain damage - to my motor skills - and only recently discovered that my instability is due to the muscles in my heel puling at different strengths. I have a medical appointment at the end of this month to see if what the surgeon feels will help and I believe that sooner or later my bones in my heel will be fused.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Latest on my foot
About a month back, my left foot swelled up and was relatively painful to walk on! I consulted my GP who referred me to an Othopeadic Surgeon in the hospital at Ballito.
This guy arranged Xrays - cost my medical aid a fortune - and assessed the problem. Turns out that your heel controls how your foot is planted when you walk. The heel is a series of stacked bones, with muscles along either side, to control how straight your foot is - as needed.
Thw muscles along the outside of my heel, are more agressive than those on the inside, and this has pushed my heel out of alignment. I have been referred to an orthotics specialist and he will be constructing orthotic inserts to my shoes so that the balance of the muscle is corrected.
I was in town the other day, on my feet for a really short time and I could feel my foot was not sitting correctly and when I got home, my foot was screaming blue murder and trying to kill me!
I have a follow up appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon at the end of the month. He will assess me for a possible operation where the bones of my heel are “fused” – my opinion is that fusing means either putting in staples, or more long term, putting in steel pins. In either case, the heel will not be able to bend sideways, but the ankle should still be able to bend. I can bend my toes upwards, but not to have my heel flexing (much) sideways.
The insert will only be a temporary “fix” – until my heel is “fused”.
The one thing that I will have to get used to is going through security detectors; I WILL set off the alarms. Someone advised me that if I go through these barriers, I need to put my left foot first, so that the security guards can see that my foot is what set off the alarms, and not imaginary hidden firearms!
I have a follow up appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon at the end of the month. He will assess me for a possible operation where the bones of my heel are “fused” – my opinion is that fusing means either putting in staples, or more long term, putting in steel pins. In either case, the heel will not be able to bend sideways, but the ankle should still be able to bend. I can bend my toes upwards, but not to have my heel flexing (much) sideways.
The insert will only be a temporary “fix” – until my heel is “fused”.
The one thing that I will have to get used to is going through security detectors; I WILL set off the alarms. Someone advised me that if I go through these barriers, I need to put my left foot first, so that the security guards can see that my foot is what set off the alarms, and not imaginary hidden firearms!
This guy arranged Xrays - cost my medical aid a fortune - and assessed the problem. Turns out that your heel controls how your foot is planted when you walk. The heel is a series of stacked bones, with muscles along either side, to control how straight your foot is - as needed.
Thw muscles along the outside of my heel, are more agressive than those on the inside, and this has pushed my heel out of alignment. I have been referred to an orthotics specialist and he will be constructing orthotic inserts to my shoes so that the balance of the muscle is corrected.
I was in town the other day, on my feet for a really short time and I could feel my foot was not sitting correctly and when I got home, my foot was screaming blue murder and trying to kill me!
I have a follow up appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon at the end of the month. He will assess me for a possible operation where the bones of my heel are “fused” – my opinion is that fusing means either putting in staples, or more long term, putting in steel pins. In either case, the heel will not be able to bend sideways, but the ankle should still be able to bend. I can bend my toes upwards, but not to have my heel flexing (much) sideways.
The insert will only be a temporary “fix” – until my heel is “fused”.
The one thing that I will have to get used to is going through security detectors; I WILL set off the alarms. Someone advised me that if I go through these barriers, I need to put my left foot first, so that the security guards can see that my foot is what set off the alarms, and not imaginary hidden firearms!
I have a follow up appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon at the end of the month. He will assess me for a possible operation where the bones of my heel are “fused” – my opinion is that fusing means either putting in staples, or more long term, putting in steel pins. In either case, the heel will not be able to bend sideways, but the ankle should still be able to bend. I can bend my toes upwards, but not to have my heel flexing (much) sideways.
The insert will only be a temporary “fix” – until my heel is “fused”.
The one thing that I will have to get used to is going through security detectors; I WILL set off the alarms. Someone advised me that if I go through these barriers, I need to put my left foot first, so that the security guards can see that my foot is what set off the alarms, and not imaginary hidden firearms!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Judgment
I have a problem at my branch of the LDS Church, where one member in particular is judging me without knowing the background! She sees that because I drive 2 4x4 Landrovers, that I MUST be wealthy enough to run around and do her will. It is not so bad, except she expects me to go out of my way, and collect less active members who show no gratitude for the efforts shown to them!
They seem to believe that because they are natives, the rich Mhlungu (me) must just go out of his way to drag them kicking and screaming to Church. The way I see it is that everyone has their agency (rigt of choice) - they have agency to come to Church, and I have agency to collect them! What bugs me most is that I am expected to go out of my way to collect them, and am supposed to be grateful to thm for getting into my car!
At Church the one member glares at me because I did not arrive at Church late, just so the less affluent members could not be bothered to be ready on time!
Drives me insane that this member has judged me as affluent enough to readily waste my time, effort and money in collecting members who clearly dont wish to be at Church! That is kind of insulting to me! Try and do good, be brushed off because of it, then be judged as unchristian because I dont go all out and drag less actives to Church at gunpoint!
What gets to me most is that this member has taken upon herself the rights belonging to the branch Judge-in-Israel, despite she being ineligible.
It is not easy being a senior member, and seeing that errors are propogated.
I had a member of another branch in the District, who was joking (I hope) that because I own 4 cars, I had to give him one of them - his choice! Furthermore he said that because he could not afford a car, I was required to fill his choice of my chariots with fuel, and maintain them - when HE wanted me to! This member is a new member and it is not easy to tell him that he is sinning in at least 2 areas:-
Coveting anothers blessings AND
Judging him that he will willingly impart of his substance to the less fortunate!
I have a friend who has openly said "You only need 1 vehicle, so sell 3!" without considering that maybe I WANT 2 Landrovers. My Porsche is up for sale and my Clio has been attached by my daughter! Who is anyone to think that they have the right to judge that I only need 1 car! What is wrong that I choose to excercise my agency daily in which vehicle I want to drive?
They seem to believe that because they are natives, the rich Mhlungu (me) must just go out of his way to drag them kicking and screaming to Church. The way I see it is that everyone has their agency (rigt of choice) - they have agency to come to Church, and I have agency to collect them! What bugs me most is that I am expected to go out of my way to collect them, and am supposed to be grateful to thm for getting into my car!
At Church the one member glares at me because I did not arrive at Church late, just so the less affluent members could not be bothered to be ready on time!
Drives me insane that this member has judged me as affluent enough to readily waste my time, effort and money in collecting members who clearly dont wish to be at Church! That is kind of insulting to me! Try and do good, be brushed off because of it, then be judged as unchristian because I dont go all out and drag less actives to Church at gunpoint!
What gets to me most is that this member has taken upon herself the rights belonging to the branch Judge-in-Israel, despite she being ineligible.
It is not easy being a senior member, and seeing that errors are propogated.
I had a member of another branch in the District, who was joking (I hope) that because I own 4 cars, I had to give him one of them - his choice! Furthermore he said that because he could not afford a car, I was required to fill his choice of my chariots with fuel, and maintain them - when HE wanted me to! This member is a new member and it is not easy to tell him that he is sinning in at least 2 areas:-
Coveting anothers blessings AND
Judging him that he will willingly impart of his substance to the less fortunate!
I have a friend who has openly said "You only need 1 vehicle, so sell 3!" without considering that maybe I WANT 2 Landrovers. My Porsche is up for sale and my Clio has been attached by my daughter! Who is anyone to think that they have the right to judge that I only need 1 car! What is wrong that I choose to excercise my agency daily in which vehicle I want to drive?
Monday, April 23, 2012
My foot
The left foot - looking down at them - has been giving me grief lately. Apparently the muscles along one side are stronger than the other side, so I have been walking on the side of my foot! Apparently the heel is distorted by the muscles and this has caused the problem.
Xrays showed that the bone structure is sound but that the muscles are distorting my heel. The surgeon rekons that to sort out the problem, they need to fuse the bones in my heel - allowing me to raise and lower my toes, but the sideways movement will be eliminated!
As far as I am aware, this fusing of the bones will be acomplished by inserting steel rods in my heel.
Nett result is that my mere presence will set off alarms at Departures in airports and in banks. Still, if that is what it takes, then so be it!
With my tattoo, the artist is of the opinion that he needs to add some purple to the swalows wings - where they cover the scar tissue - and redo the black outline! I can get this done maybe on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when I need to collect my orthotic inserts for my shoes! These will counteract the strange pull my muscles are having on my foot, before the surgeon gets to do his fusing act!
Xrays showed that the bone structure is sound but that the muscles are distorting my heel. The surgeon rekons that to sort out the problem, they need to fuse the bones in my heel - allowing me to raise and lower my toes, but the sideways movement will be eliminated!
As far as I am aware, this fusing of the bones will be acomplished by inserting steel rods in my heel.
Nett result is that my mere presence will set off alarms at Departures in airports and in banks. Still, if that is what it takes, then so be it!
With my tattoo, the artist is of the opinion that he needs to add some purple to the swalows wings - where they cover the scar tissue - and redo the black outline! I can get this done maybe on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when I need to collect my orthotic inserts for my shoes! These will counteract the strange pull my muscles are having on my foot, before the surgeon gets to do his fusing act!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Writers Blog
I dont post as much as I used to, mainly because I often cannot always get a strong signal on my wireless modem. It ranges between a single bar of GPRS or 2 bars of 3G - which is a really strong signal. I live below the line of sight of our cellphone tower, but when connection to that is not easy, I pick up the tower in Port Durnford.
I know that traditionally Port Durnford is seen as in the same class as Soweto outside Johannesburg - unsafe at the best of times but suicide to visit after sunset!
I have no problem with being there, and acknowlege that it may not be safe if you drive a highly risky car - attractive to hijackers - but I hardly believe that a V8 Discovery is high risk - R 1 200 to fill the tank from empty - or my Freelander - R 800 to fill from empty. The average hijacker is dirt poor and to fill and run a Landrover is kind of impossible for them.
I was kind of stunned recently that I was warned that if you are stopped by the traffic authorities, they check that you have a set of reflective triangles in the car! If you break down, you are supposed to put these out so that other drivers can see a warning sign just before they plough into a white car! I am just amazed that if you are rammed on the road, you are not imprisonned - or fined - if you dont make an attempt to brake the car that rams you! That is kind of an unreasonable thought, but it is apparent that most drivers tend to drive way too close behind me! I have even had 2 signs laminated for the rear windows of my Landrovers, aying "I'm not driving too slowly! It's called the speed limit!"because when I am driving the speed limit, I am by a really long way, the slowest vehicle on the road!
I have bought sets of triangles for each of my vehicles. I dont think that I will be checked, but if I am, I am in the clear! I only found out by accident because my neighbor wanted to borrow a set, and I loaned him the set from my Ventertjie - a comon make of luggage trailer.
I do want to find out if it is possible to put a rooftop tent on the trailer, since I am not easily able to put one on top of my landrovers. That would come in handy if I ever wanted to drive way off road and visit Mocambique.
My computer has just done something wierd! It located an "orphan" file (what that means is a mystery) but in cleaning up the file, it deleted the file and I have not experienced the usual problem that I have of my modem dropping the Internet connection. I hope it is a lasting "fix" and I will not suffer dropped connections again!
I have a kind of problem at the moment!
My left foot on Monay was terribly swollen and tender. The GP could not find any influencing problem so prescribed an anti inflammatory to reduce the swelling. Even though it is no longer swollen, it is still very tender. It feels like somehow I have managed to break one of the bones in my foot. I will go back on tuesday and he can assess it again, although it may require vme to drive through to Empangeniand have an Xray. I am tempted though to go to the Bay Hospital, as i feel that there they will if necessary, put it in a cast that is not made from Plaster of Paris. When I had a cast made for my elbow, they used a type of plastic, that I could take off to bath - it is easy enough to mould one that can be taken off to bath!
I know that traditionally Port Durnford is seen as in the same class as Soweto outside Johannesburg - unsafe at the best of times but suicide to visit after sunset!
I have no problem with being there, and acknowlege that it may not be safe if you drive a highly risky car - attractive to hijackers - but I hardly believe that a V8 Discovery is high risk - R 1 200 to fill the tank from empty - or my Freelander - R 800 to fill from empty. The average hijacker is dirt poor and to fill and run a Landrover is kind of impossible for them.
I was kind of stunned recently that I was warned that if you are stopped by the traffic authorities, they check that you have a set of reflective triangles in the car! If you break down, you are supposed to put these out so that other drivers can see a warning sign just before they plough into a white car! I am just amazed that if you are rammed on the road, you are not imprisonned - or fined - if you dont make an attempt to brake the car that rams you! That is kind of an unreasonable thought, but it is apparent that most drivers tend to drive way too close behind me! I have even had 2 signs laminated for the rear windows of my Landrovers, aying "I'm not driving too slowly! It's called the speed limit!"because when I am driving the speed limit, I am by a really long way, the slowest vehicle on the road!
I have bought sets of triangles for each of my vehicles. I dont think that I will be checked, but if I am, I am in the clear! I only found out by accident because my neighbor wanted to borrow a set, and I loaned him the set from my Ventertjie - a comon make of luggage trailer.
I do want to find out if it is possible to put a rooftop tent on the trailer, since I am not easily able to put one on top of my landrovers. That would come in handy if I ever wanted to drive way off road and visit Mocambique.
My computer has just done something wierd! It located an "orphan" file (what that means is a mystery) but in cleaning up the file, it deleted the file and I have not experienced the usual problem that I have of my modem dropping the Internet connection. I hope it is a lasting "fix" and I will not suffer dropped connections again!
I have a kind of problem at the moment!
My left foot on Monay was terribly swollen and tender. The GP could not find any influencing problem so prescribed an anti inflammatory to reduce the swelling. Even though it is no longer swollen, it is still very tender. It feels like somehow I have managed to break one of the bones in my foot. I will go back on tuesday and he can assess it again, although it may require vme to drive through to Empangeniand have an Xray. I am tempted though to go to the Bay Hospital, as i feel that there they will if necessary, put it in a cast that is not made from Plaster of Paris. When I had a cast made for my elbow, they used a type of plastic, that I could take off to bath - it is easy enough to mould one that can be taken off to bath!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The way things are
In plain old "never changes" Mtunzini, things are definitely changeing!
The doctors have relocated from the house that was the medical centre some 300 meters down the hill to where the chemist used to conduct business - the Raphia Centre. They have practiced from here for at least the last 2 decades.
The chemist had moved up the hill to a spot between the new bottle store franchise (kind of always was a bottle store owned by the people across the lane from me!) and the Spar Store. The 2 doctors in the village were operating from their homes, and decided to start consulting from a house opposite to the centre where a restaurant has opened.
Kind of shows that things are always changeing!
Ever since we have lived in the village (way to small to be a town - thankfully!) there have been mainly houses stretched around an area from the prison (only one that I know has sea views from most cells) to the Country Club. Not so long ago, the farmer between the country club and the Umlalazi Lagoon sold off his farm to developers who cut the area up into incredibly expensive plots and a new suburb is growing up. True the multi million rand homes overlook Port Durnford (an area of low cost housing) but the draw of water frontage has drawn "big bucks!"
With this development, the strangle hold that the local Spar outlet has had on food prices is looking like it is waning fast!
I was stunned the last time I went up to the nearby Game Rerserves, to see that a hotel in Mtubatuba has been replaced by a Pick and Pay development. Like the local Spar, the traders in Mtubatuba operated along the lines of "If you want to save money on groceries, shop in Empangeni - or Richards Bay!"
Even in Empangeni the local Greek cafe owner (very rich but he dresses like a pauper!) has opened yet another new Spar store ((SuperSpar) and because he is open from 7 am till 9 pm, he charges a bomb for stuff, and gets away with it! When I first came to Empangeni, he owned a really scruffy Spar in a run down bulding. That burned down and he relocated just down the hill to a bigger building. He then built Central Park, with Spar as the key tennant, and has now built a brand new mall. He has been moving further and further down the hill towards Richards Bay.
I see that at the junction of the John Ross highway (into Richards Bay from Empangeni) and the N3 freeway down the coast, construction has started on a small factory development. The other side of the John Ross (the farm land between Empangeni and Esikhawini, has been slated to be eventually dredged and the harbour extended up to the N2 freeway! That is going to be a tremendous boost to the economy of the area.
The doctors have relocated from the house that was the medical centre some 300 meters down the hill to where the chemist used to conduct business - the Raphia Centre. They have practiced from here for at least the last 2 decades.
The chemist had moved up the hill to a spot between the new bottle store franchise (kind of always was a bottle store owned by the people across the lane from me!) and the Spar Store. The 2 doctors in the village were operating from their homes, and decided to start consulting from a house opposite to the centre where a restaurant has opened.
Kind of shows that things are always changeing!
Ever since we have lived in the village (way to small to be a town - thankfully!) there have been mainly houses stretched around an area from the prison (only one that I know has sea views from most cells) to the Country Club. Not so long ago, the farmer between the country club and the Umlalazi Lagoon sold off his farm to developers who cut the area up into incredibly expensive plots and a new suburb is growing up. True the multi million rand homes overlook Port Durnford (an area of low cost housing) but the draw of water frontage has drawn "big bucks!"
With this development, the strangle hold that the local Spar outlet has had on food prices is looking like it is waning fast!
I was stunned the last time I went up to the nearby Game Rerserves, to see that a hotel in Mtubatuba has been replaced by a Pick and Pay development. Like the local Spar, the traders in Mtubatuba operated along the lines of "If you want to save money on groceries, shop in Empangeni - or Richards Bay!"
Even in Empangeni the local Greek cafe owner (very rich but he dresses like a pauper!) has opened yet another new Spar store ((SuperSpar) and because he is open from 7 am till 9 pm, he charges a bomb for stuff, and gets away with it! When I first came to Empangeni, he owned a really scruffy Spar in a run down bulding. That burned down and he relocated just down the hill to a bigger building. He then built Central Park, with Spar as the key tennant, and has now built a brand new mall. He has been moving further and further down the hill towards Richards Bay.
I see that at the junction of the John Ross highway (into Richards Bay from Empangeni) and the N3 freeway down the coast, construction has started on a small factory development. The other side of the John Ross (the farm land between Empangeni and Esikhawini, has been slated to be eventually dredged and the harbour extended up to the N2 freeway! That is going to be a tremendous boost to the economy of the area.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
What is new?
The local chemist has doses of the new (current) flu jab on order. They will be here tomorrow. I have had flu jabs for the last few decades (not just years!) and I have not had flu since I have been retired.
The last time I had flu I felt worse than usual, and if I ever feel sick, I feel like death warmed up! I suppose that being retired helps to keep me illness free since I dont have contact with the run of the mill sick people.
The worst I feel is generally when it is cold and where my bones were damaged when I was run down (literally) they seem to cause my muscles to ache. When it is colder than our usual 18 degrees celsius, I battle to walk and to breathe, hence to talk!
I am amazed at people who are fully able to walk and talk clearly, and all they can do is to moan about how they cannot get going in the morning, and that they dont use the health that they are blessed with. I listen to people giving their testimonies in Church, and if we had no loudspeaker system, a mouse would be more audible!
I have befriended a human who has terrible problems. He has been a drug addict since he was 16, and now wants to clean up his act. I know members who would write him off as one of the worst sinners, but having met him, I can see the good in him - much like Luke Skywalker could see the good in Darth Vader. No-one believed him, but in the end, this good showed up!
I know that many members would think of him as a bad person, purely because he was a drug addict, but he is trying hard to pull himself right - is in Rehab in a really picturesque town up past Pinetown! He booked himself into rehab and I hope that he will succeed! I sense a bit of what Jesus must feel - that although he has done things that are not right, there is good in him - worth saving!
I know that he had agency to start drugs or not, but I sympathise with him! He comes from a broken home and some of his friens he ended up with, kind of persuaded him that the ceasy way out was to become an addict!
It has to be easier to fall back on drugs than it is to face up to life, but rehab has to be one of the hardest things to face! If he has a headache now, he has to just grin and bear it as drugs of any sort (Aspirin tablets!) are not allowed. If they were, it is kind of a short step to hard drugs.
I feel that one member in particular would class me as a drug addict, since I am prescribed to take a muscle relaxant tablet every day for the rest of my life. It is either prescribed drugs or cramped up muscles! I have no choice!
If you read my former blogs, you will be very aware that I am in love - with my 2 Landrovers! I know that it is quite extravagant to drive 2 diffferent Landrovers - depending on my mood! - but I say to some people "If not then why not?" that is kind of my motto for life. I definitely love them both far more than I ever loved my wife. I feel that - steel and fibreglass as they are - they love me more than my wife ever did! Turns out that they give me far less strife than she has - divorce not-withstanding!
I have come to realise that when I was married, my cars treated me far better than she ever did! I know that when I remarry, I will not be beguiled like I was the first time round! The beauty of hindsight! I know the women who are completely unsuitable, and I hope that I have the presence of mind to steer clear of these people.
I know that one of the sisters at church seemed to think that she had a chance to be the next Mrs Killick, and started treating me much along the same lines as my ex did! I dont like to be pushed around like that, and even have a HUGE V8 auto Landy Disco that no-one pushes around on the road! If they try, all I need do is to slip it into low range and to effortlessly go over the top of them - and they seem to sense it. My Disco is far more imposing on the road than is my Freelander and even that they steer very clear of! Maybe the splashes of wild dung on the sides (makes it look kind of rugged!) gives them the impression of "Dont mess with me!"
Do I feel superior behind the wheel of my Disco? Sure I do - and why not? I make no excuses at this - I feel superior, because I AM - Go figure!
You would figure that a V8 auto - airconditioned vehicle is a gas guzzler - and bad for Global Warming, but it costs the same to run in fuel as did my 4 cylinder "stick shift" Opel Corsa. That cost me R 500 every 2 weeks to refuel, but my Disco costs R 1 200 a month to fill - even if you factor out the increase in fuel costs per litre!. Running 2 Landys, a tank of fuel in my Disco lasts me 2 months - empty to empty. I dont like to let the guage get too low as I have found that in order to fill up completely, the pump attendants have to restart the pumps. The tank holds more than the pumps are able to dispense without being reset - and it does not even have long range tanks fitted! When the tank is full, it holds more fuel in value than some cars on the road are worth!
The last time I had flu I felt worse than usual, and if I ever feel sick, I feel like death warmed up! I suppose that being retired helps to keep me illness free since I dont have contact with the run of the mill sick people.
The worst I feel is generally when it is cold and where my bones were damaged when I was run down (literally) they seem to cause my muscles to ache. When it is colder than our usual 18 degrees celsius, I battle to walk and to breathe, hence to talk!
I am amazed at people who are fully able to walk and talk clearly, and all they can do is to moan about how they cannot get going in the morning, and that they dont use the health that they are blessed with. I listen to people giving their testimonies in Church, and if we had no loudspeaker system, a mouse would be more audible!
I have befriended a human who has terrible problems. He has been a drug addict since he was 16, and now wants to clean up his act. I know members who would write him off as one of the worst sinners, but having met him, I can see the good in him - much like Luke Skywalker could see the good in Darth Vader. No-one believed him, but in the end, this good showed up!
I know that many members would think of him as a bad person, purely because he was a drug addict, but he is trying hard to pull himself right - is in Rehab in a really picturesque town up past Pinetown! He booked himself into rehab and I hope that he will succeed! I sense a bit of what Jesus must feel - that although he has done things that are not right, there is good in him - worth saving!
I know that he had agency to start drugs or not, but I sympathise with him! He comes from a broken home and some of his friens he ended up with, kind of persuaded him that the ceasy way out was to become an addict!
It has to be easier to fall back on drugs than it is to face up to life, but rehab has to be one of the hardest things to face! If he has a headache now, he has to just grin and bear it as drugs of any sort (Aspirin tablets!) are not allowed. If they were, it is kind of a short step to hard drugs.
I feel that one member in particular would class me as a drug addict, since I am prescribed to take a muscle relaxant tablet every day for the rest of my life. It is either prescribed drugs or cramped up muscles! I have no choice!
If you read my former blogs, you will be very aware that I am in love - with my 2 Landrovers! I know that it is quite extravagant to drive 2 diffferent Landrovers - depending on my mood! - but I say to some people "If not then why not?" that is kind of my motto for life. I definitely love them both far more than I ever loved my wife. I feel that - steel and fibreglass as they are - they love me more than my wife ever did! Turns out that they give me far less strife than she has - divorce not-withstanding!
I have come to realise that when I was married, my cars treated me far better than she ever did! I know that when I remarry, I will not be beguiled like I was the first time round! The beauty of hindsight! I know the women who are completely unsuitable, and I hope that I have the presence of mind to steer clear of these people.
I know that one of the sisters at church seemed to think that she had a chance to be the next Mrs Killick, and started treating me much along the same lines as my ex did! I dont like to be pushed around like that, and even have a HUGE V8 auto Landy Disco that no-one pushes around on the road! If they try, all I need do is to slip it into low range and to effortlessly go over the top of them - and they seem to sense it. My Disco is far more imposing on the road than is my Freelander and even that they steer very clear of! Maybe the splashes of wild dung on the sides (makes it look kind of rugged!) gives them the impression of "Dont mess with me!"
Do I feel superior behind the wheel of my Disco? Sure I do - and why not? I make no excuses at this - I feel superior, because I AM - Go figure!
You would figure that a V8 auto - airconditioned vehicle is a gas guzzler - and bad for Global Warming, but it costs the same to run in fuel as did my 4 cylinder "stick shift" Opel Corsa. That cost me R 500 every 2 weeks to refuel, but my Disco costs R 1 200 a month to fill - even if you factor out the increase in fuel costs per litre!. Running 2 Landys, a tank of fuel in my Disco lasts me 2 months - empty to empty. I dont like to let the guage get too low as I have found that in order to fill up completely, the pump attendants have to restart the pumps. The tank holds more than the pumps are able to dispense without being reset - and it does not even have long range tanks fitted! When the tank is full, it holds more fuel in value than some cars on the road are worth!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Offroaders vs Softroaders
Since I bought my V8 Landrover Discovery, I have found out that it is technically an offroader. I also have a Landrover Freelander TD4, a turbo diesel vehicle - and that is technically a softroader.. The difference is not immediately apparent. Both are automatics and with my Freelander, it is an all wheel drive, whereas my huge Disco is a high/low range selection (manual shift!) when needed - which is not that often in town. Off road is technically when you pull into a tarred parking bay at the local mall!
I noticed a Range Rover Evoque the other day, and was stunned that it is classed technically as a softroader.
Why then do I have a vehicle in the same category (not the same class though!) and a much larger vehicle that is a major off-roader. It will climb vertical walls and wade through miles of mud without getting stuck, although maybe I do need to take a course in offroad driving?
You would think that in Africa, the opportunities to make full use of offroading is endless, but in larger cities (Sandton for example) many huge offroaders venture no further off road than down the driveway, or into the parking bays at the local mall! In 4x4 stores there, you can buy spray on mud, to give your vehicle a seriously used offroad look - designer mud?
Last time I went up to the Game Reserve, I drove through some fresh poop, so had Designer Poop on my offroader - way better than designer mud!
Why own 2 4x4's? I love both of them, different in feel, and I love them. I admit that to drive to the airport in Durban, I prefer my TD4, since that has cruise control. Maybe it is incomprehensible that I would have an off-roader when walking is difficult enough for me, but the freedom you get when you are out of civilisation is a feeling that makes me glad to be alive!
I noticed a Range Rover Evoque the other day, and was stunned that it is classed technically as a softroader.
Why then do I have a vehicle in the same category (not the same class though!) and a much larger vehicle that is a major off-roader. It will climb vertical walls and wade through miles of mud without getting stuck, although maybe I do need to take a course in offroad driving?
You would think that in Africa, the opportunities to make full use of offroading is endless, but in larger cities (Sandton for example) many huge offroaders venture no further off road than down the driveway, or into the parking bays at the local mall! In 4x4 stores there, you can buy spray on mud, to give your vehicle a seriously used offroad look - designer mud?
Last time I went up to the Game Reserve, I drove through some fresh poop, so had Designer Poop on my offroader - way better than designer mud!
Why own 2 4x4's? I love both of them, different in feel, and I love them. I admit that to drive to the airport in Durban, I prefer my TD4, since that has cruise control. Maybe it is incomprehensible that I would have an off-roader when walking is difficult enough for me, but the freedom you get when you are out of civilisation is a feeling that makes me glad to be alive!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Developments
WWoW (Wicked Witch of the West - my ex!) has announced that she is getting the wheels in motion to get our sealing annulled. She hoped that this news would not sress me. She has found out from her Bishop, that our daughter has been sealed to me and if she breaks our sealing it will not affect this sealing to my daughter!
The way this was explained to me 2 decades ago, is:-
I am sealed directly to my children
Michele was then sealed only for as long as she was sealed to me
The only way this link with Christine is for me to institute these proceedings.
That is just the way things work!
I have developed an eye infection (conjunctivitis) - it really bugs me that I am so seldom ill, that when I am, it is really annoying! I have been to get eye drops, and they seem to be working!
The way this was explained to me 2 decades ago, is:-
I am sealed directly to my children
Michele was then sealed only for as long as she was sealed to me
The only way this link with Christine is for me to institute these proceedings.
That is just the way things work!
I have developed an eye infection (conjunctivitis) - it really bugs me that I am so seldom ill, that when I am, it is really annoying! I have been to get eye drops, and they seem to be working!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Being retired
In the heat of Zululand, it is not always easy to get fired up about anything. I do however enjoy the relaive cool of Mtunzini. I was in Empangeni yesterday to get my head examined - again - and it was like I remember Zululand summers - not so hot, but VERY humid.
Mtunzini is so much more cool - both literally and figuratively. Just about the only downside is that there are only a few supermarket type stores, with the main one being the Spar store. Typically Spar is the most epensice chain of stores. What would be ideal is for a Pick and Pay to be built here, but that WILL happen sooner or later. I was in Mtubatuba last monday, and they have opened a Pick and Pay there - on the site of the old hotel, that served the BEST Flat Chickens. It was worth a 130 kilometer round trip to get a Flattie for supper!
If a backwater like Mtubatuba can qualify for a P&P, it is not inconceivable that the local Spar in Mtunzini will have to plan in the short term for some competition. Apart from Spar, there are a few Greek type corner cafe operations, open later than Spar, but they load the prices accordingly!
For me it is cheaper to shop in a relatively large centre - Empangeni - where there are some competing chain stores - Pick and Pay, Checkers, OK and a very nice new Spar. I am generally in Empangeni once a week, to make sure I am not getting to mentally messed up! I do my large grocery shopping then, although I DO like to shop in the local Woolworths - not a cheap option, but the quality of food there is worth the extra cost.
Our local Spar is part of a chain - one in Mtunzini, one in Gingindlovu and one in Eshowe. Apparently there is a divine butchery in Ging, where my folks buy their meat - at wholesale price!
The new Spar in Empangeni is an amazement. The owner started off with a tiny Spar where a mysterious fire destroyed the building! With the insurance payout, this guy built a new Spar, that was obviously really profitable, so he built a much more impressive centre. To look at this guy, he looks as if he could not rub 2 coins together in his pocket, but he lives in a really impressive house, directly overlooking the Golf Course. He works hard, and has not much private downtime, but it has paid hansome dividends. One is forced to wonder if a huge bank balance is worth not having much private life! I dont think he even drives much of a car - a close neighbor was killed in his Ferrari. If you have a huge bank account, that must be one of the best ways of being taken out - driving a really fast imported sports car!
Sure if I worked, I would probably be in a senior well paid position by now, but since I was retired on ill-health grounds, I have found that I receive plenty of cash for my needs and wants - I do not need 2 Landrover Automatics, but I WANT them! (what is wrong with that?) I sense a member in Richards Bay resents that I own 4 cars - my Dicovery Landrover, my smaller Freelander, a Porsche and a Renault - although my daughter has commandeered this car - in truth, bought for her, since a teen does not need a 4x4 Landrver, or a Porsche! I sense that this member resents that I do not just give my cars away to the black members, but little does she realise that none of them are easily affordable for repairs. New tyres on my Freelander recently cost me R 6 grand, and so too did the 2 rear tyres on my Porsche. If I gave a black member one of these cars, they could not afford to run it, and they pretty soon would be on the Branch Presidents doorstep begging for Church assistance! I know that the government is keen on wealth creation, but if I gave a "needy member" one of my cars, I would be promoting poverty! The Church promotes self reliance but I could not give a member a car to get them to Church - that would impoverish them!
Mtunzini is so much more cool - both literally and figuratively. Just about the only downside is that there are only a few supermarket type stores, with the main one being the Spar store. Typically Spar is the most epensice chain of stores. What would be ideal is for a Pick and Pay to be built here, but that WILL happen sooner or later. I was in Mtubatuba last monday, and they have opened a Pick and Pay there - on the site of the old hotel, that served the BEST Flat Chickens. It was worth a 130 kilometer round trip to get a Flattie for supper!
If a backwater like Mtubatuba can qualify for a P&P, it is not inconceivable that the local Spar in Mtunzini will have to plan in the short term for some competition. Apart from Spar, there are a few Greek type corner cafe operations, open later than Spar, but they load the prices accordingly!
For me it is cheaper to shop in a relatively large centre - Empangeni - where there are some competing chain stores - Pick and Pay, Checkers, OK and a very nice new Spar. I am generally in Empangeni once a week, to make sure I am not getting to mentally messed up! I do my large grocery shopping then, although I DO like to shop in the local Woolworths - not a cheap option, but the quality of food there is worth the extra cost.
Our local Spar is part of a chain - one in Mtunzini, one in Gingindlovu and one in Eshowe. Apparently there is a divine butchery in Ging, where my folks buy their meat - at wholesale price!
The new Spar in Empangeni is an amazement. The owner started off with a tiny Spar where a mysterious fire destroyed the building! With the insurance payout, this guy built a new Spar, that was obviously really profitable, so he built a much more impressive centre. To look at this guy, he looks as if he could not rub 2 coins together in his pocket, but he lives in a really impressive house, directly overlooking the Golf Course. He works hard, and has not much private downtime, but it has paid hansome dividends. One is forced to wonder if a huge bank balance is worth not having much private life! I dont think he even drives much of a car - a close neighbor was killed in his Ferrari. If you have a huge bank account, that must be one of the best ways of being taken out - driving a really fast imported sports car!
Sure if I worked, I would probably be in a senior well paid position by now, but since I was retired on ill-health grounds, I have found that I receive plenty of cash for my needs and wants - I do not need 2 Landrover Automatics, but I WANT them! (what is wrong with that?) I sense a member in Richards Bay resents that I own 4 cars - my Dicovery Landrover, my smaller Freelander, a Porsche and a Renault - although my daughter has commandeered this car - in truth, bought for her, since a teen does not need a 4x4 Landrver, or a Porsche! I sense that this member resents that I do not just give my cars away to the black members, but little does she realise that none of them are easily affordable for repairs. New tyres on my Freelander recently cost me R 6 grand, and so too did the 2 rear tyres on my Porsche. If I gave a black member one of these cars, they could not afford to run it, and they pretty soon would be on the Branch Presidents doorstep begging for Church assistance! I know that the government is keen on wealth creation, but if I gave a "needy member" one of my cars, I would be promoting poverty! The Church promotes self reliance but I could not give a member a car to get them to Church - that would impoverish them!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Designer poop
In upmarket Sandton, Johannesburg SA, the most common vehicle is just about any offroader - even though the furthest off road they venture is into the parking bays at the local mall. So that their 4x4's look the part, they sell "designer mud" to apply to the door sills, to prove that they are rugged vehicles.
Here in Mtunzini, I have gone one better - in my recent game reserve visit, I drove through some fresh game poop, and it has splashed over the sides of my 4x4 - designer poop!
Our Richards Bay Church District motto for this year is a quote from someone, himself quoting the Prophet (Thomas S Monson) - "It is better to look up!" Sure if you look down, you might not drive through the rhino, elephant or buffalo poop, but if you look up, you get to see the actual animals who have messed on the dirt roads!
I am amazed that - watching programs like "Trabant Trek", even the worst condition the dirt roads in the far reaches of Darkest Africa get, they are in way better condition to international highways like the Pamir Highway - Kurgistan-ish way (Asia)! The drive south through the Gobi Desert from Mongolia to China, was not even on roads, and they had to follow the train tracks through the desert. Even on "Long Way Down" there are roads - albeit not all tarred - the entire length of Africa! Who really is "Third World" then?
Here in Mtunzini, I have gone one better - in my recent game reserve visit, I drove through some fresh game poop, and it has splashed over the sides of my 4x4 - designer poop!
Our Richards Bay Church District motto for this year is a quote from someone, himself quoting the Prophet (Thomas S Monson) - "It is better to look up!" Sure if you look down, you might not drive through the rhino, elephant or buffalo poop, but if you look up, you get to see the actual animals who have messed on the dirt roads!
I am amazed that - watching programs like "Trabant Trek", even the worst condition the dirt roads in the far reaches of Darkest Africa get, they are in way better condition to international highways like the Pamir Highway - Kurgistan-ish way (Asia)! The drive south through the Gobi Desert from Mongolia to China, was not even on roads, and they had to follow the train tracks through the desert. Even on "Long Way Down" there are roads - albeit not all tarred - the entire length of Africa! Who really is "Third World" then?
Luck
Am I lucky or what?
Last week I took the Elders from Richards Bay and from Esihawini up to the Game Reserve. sometimes we go up and dont see any Elephant - or Rhino - or Giraffe (we are pretty sure that we see at least one of these every time) - but at virtually every turn thee were herds of them. The Elder from Richards Bay pointed out that a group of Rhino is a crash of rhino, not necessarily a herd!
My Discovery Landrover was reconditioned about 2 months ago, but it was taking time to log up the first thousand kilometers - whilst the motor loosens up. Anyway a month and a half and I managed 1 500 kilometers. In the Reserve, I managed to log up 500 kilometers, and the service at 1 000 kms is being done today!
The motor was bored out, so is now more like a 4 litre motor than a 3.9. It is SO MUCH quieter amd smoother than it used to be, and I have been assured that - even with a slightly bigger bore, it is likely to be more economical than before. I have been stunned that a big V8 auto, with aircon on ALL of the time (thanks to Zululand summer!) it is no more fuel hungry than was my Opel Corsa 1 4 litre motor, that was NOT airconditioned. So much for the eco freaks who view a large V8 as worse for the environment than the average small car!
I rather like my V8 in the Game Reserve as it is a seriously tall vehicle - looking down on everyone else - and no-one pushes it around in traffic. I think they fear that I will slip it into 4x4 and just go over the top of them - no sweat!
I was also stunned when I put new tyres on my Freelander. The set that came off were not worn much, but new shoes have made SUCH a difference - like a new vehicle. I have also discovered that in Drive, I can change between Normal and Sport modes, What difference this makes is a mystery.When you slide the gearlever into Normal, from Sport, it seems to make no difference whatsoever!
Since I got my body art over the scar on my arm, I have made a new friend! Roland worked at the tattoo parlour, and since he met me in December, he has decided to book himself into a drug rehab in Hillcrest! I know that he has made some poor life choices, but I feel that he is a great being. I feel for him that he is a recovering drug addict! Call me crazy, but I am grateful that we met! There was a reason that I was inspired to look into an alternative to plastic surgery over the unsightly scars, and it seems that there is a hand in my reasoning. Sure he has/had a drug problem, but he for sure has not had the easy life that I have had!
I have a friend who has married recently and he and his wife live in Kloof, just down the road from Hillcrest. I BBM'd Theunis to see if he is able to visit Roland in rehab, and he will. If my history is anything to go by, his pregnant wife is going to give him reason to be grateful to get out of the firing line on occasion! I cannot work out which is worse - a hormonal pregnant wife, or a vengeful ex wife?
Last week I took the Elders from Richards Bay and from Esihawini up to the Game Reserve. sometimes we go up and dont see any Elephant - or Rhino - or Giraffe (we are pretty sure that we see at least one of these every time) - but at virtually every turn thee were herds of them. The Elder from Richards Bay pointed out that a group of Rhino is a crash of rhino, not necessarily a herd!
My Discovery Landrover was reconditioned about 2 months ago, but it was taking time to log up the first thousand kilometers - whilst the motor loosens up. Anyway a month and a half and I managed 1 500 kilometers. In the Reserve, I managed to log up 500 kilometers, and the service at 1 000 kms is being done today!
The motor was bored out, so is now more like a 4 litre motor than a 3.9. It is SO MUCH quieter amd smoother than it used to be, and I have been assured that - even with a slightly bigger bore, it is likely to be more economical than before. I have been stunned that a big V8 auto, with aircon on ALL of the time (thanks to Zululand summer!) it is no more fuel hungry than was my Opel Corsa 1 4 litre motor, that was NOT airconditioned. So much for the eco freaks who view a large V8 as worse for the environment than the average small car!
I rather like my V8 in the Game Reserve as it is a seriously tall vehicle - looking down on everyone else - and no-one pushes it around in traffic. I think they fear that I will slip it into 4x4 and just go over the top of them - no sweat!
I was also stunned when I put new tyres on my Freelander. The set that came off were not worn much, but new shoes have made SUCH a difference - like a new vehicle. I have also discovered that in Drive, I can change between Normal and Sport modes, What difference this makes is a mystery.When you slide the gearlever into Normal, from Sport, it seems to make no difference whatsoever!
Since I got my body art over the scar on my arm, I have made a new friend! Roland worked at the tattoo parlour, and since he met me in December, he has decided to book himself into a drug rehab in Hillcrest! I know that he has made some poor life choices, but I feel that he is a great being. I feel for him that he is a recovering drug addict! Call me crazy, but I am grateful that we met! There was a reason that I was inspired to look into an alternative to plastic surgery over the unsightly scars, and it seems that there is a hand in my reasoning. Sure he has/had a drug problem, but he for sure has not had the easy life that I have had!
I have a friend who has married recently and he and his wife live in Kloof, just down the road from Hillcrest. I BBM'd Theunis to see if he is able to visit Roland in rehab, and he will. If my history is anything to go by, his pregnant wife is going to give him reason to be grateful to get out of the firing line on occasion! I cannot work out which is worse - a hormonal pregnant wife, or a vengeful ex wife?
Monday, January 23, 2012
Shock - horror
I was astounded today when the fuel pump at the Service Station, when I asked for the fuel tank to be filled. Anyway, R 990 later the fuel pump would pump no more into the tank, unless they switched off and restarted! This was the first time I had this problem, and what stunned me was that the tank was still 1/5 full before I even started.
As it was, the tank is all but full. The radio station has threatened that the refinery in Durban has to undergo upgrading - so will shut down for a month, and this could cause problems with fuel supply in the next month! Beats me how a company can SUDDENLY run into problems that will affect fuel supply. You think that they would carry out mainenance to ensure that all run smoothly. Instead the officials feel that it is more practical not to maintain the refinery, and to have it closed for a month!
I must remember to top up when the tank gets lower than 1/3 full. Luckily a full tank gives 1 000 - 1 100 kilometers between needs to stop and refuel. I know that there are jealous people out there who think it is a gas guzzler, ruining the environment, but I get better mileage from the 4 litre motor (the 3.9 litre motor was recently bored out to a 4 litre motor!) than I got from my 1.4 litre car.
My previous Opel used to be a 1.4 litre motor, and I had to refuel twice a month - every 500 kilometers and a tank cost me R 500 to fill. Now I have a motor 3 times larger - automatic, airconditioned and 4 wheel drive if I need it to be - and it uses no more fuel. True the tank is ENORMOUS, but I dont drive so far. It has to "run in" for 1 000 kilometers, so I have been running it in for a month and it has done 577 kilometrers - in a month!
The dealer who originally sold it to me, is of the opinion that - once the cylinders have loosened up - it is likely to be slighhtly more economical than it was - not that I really care! It is BIG and no-one pushes it around in the traffic! I think they are scared that if they peeve me off, all I need do is slip it into 4x4 mode and just go over the top of them with NO qualms!
As it was, the tank is all but full. The radio station has threatened that the refinery in Durban has to undergo upgrading - so will shut down for a month, and this could cause problems with fuel supply in the next month! Beats me how a company can SUDDENLY run into problems that will affect fuel supply. You think that they would carry out mainenance to ensure that all run smoothly. Instead the officials feel that it is more practical not to maintain the refinery, and to have it closed for a month!
I must remember to top up when the tank gets lower than 1/3 full. Luckily a full tank gives 1 000 - 1 100 kilometers between needs to stop and refuel. I know that there are jealous people out there who think it is a gas guzzler, ruining the environment, but I get better mileage from the 4 litre motor (the 3.9 litre motor was recently bored out to a 4 litre motor!) than I got from my 1.4 litre car.
My previous Opel used to be a 1.4 litre motor, and I had to refuel twice a month - every 500 kilometers and a tank cost me R 500 to fill. Now I have a motor 3 times larger - automatic, airconditioned and 4 wheel drive if I need it to be - and it uses no more fuel. True the tank is ENORMOUS, but I dont drive so far. It has to "run in" for 1 000 kilometers, so I have been running it in for a month and it has done 577 kilometrers - in a month!
The dealer who originally sold it to me, is of the opinion that - once the cylinders have loosened up - it is likely to be slighhtly more economical than it was - not that I really care! It is BIG and no-one pushes it around in the traffic! I think they are scared that if they peeve me off, all I need do is slip it into 4x4 mode and just go over the top of them with NO qualms!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Keep up with technology
I was happy with Nokia cellphones, but my contract recently was upgraded. I NEED to be able to use a cell phone whenever I run into trouble with one of my cars, and am stuck on the side of the road!
I upgraded my contract recently and changed from Nokia to Blackberry - at a slightly lower monthly cost. My Nokia handsets all had the keyboard where the first key was an "A", or a "B" or a "C" depending on how the phone decided it wanted to spell a word. My Blackberry has a QWERTY keyboard, and even though the keys are small, they are easily used. I like where if you select an "A" ir remains an "A" in either upper or lower case, depending on how long you depress the key!
When I was in the army, the year before Zimbabwe came into existance, there were maybe 3 computers in the whole country, and the army one was on the 10th and 11th floors of the Earl Grey building in downtown Salisbury as it was then!
If the wind blew strongly and raised a dust storm, the computer could not add 2 and 2 and come up with the right answer. Now I have a tiny computer that fits easily in my pocket, that is:-
A radio
A GPS
A recording device
A camera
A computer - access to Google
and, by the way, also a phone!
I used to marvel at how user friendly my laptop is, and am amazed that my Blackberry is likewise incredibly user friendly. As time has gone by in the last 2 weeks, hardly a day has gone past when I have not learned something new on my Blackberry. I do have a seperate Garmin GPS that I can charge with my cigarette lighter in the dashboard. Being LDS, this is the most that I will use the cigarette lighter! Even if I were not LDS, I would in all likelihood, not smoke!
I saw an after market attachment this week where you can plug it into the lighter socket and it makes 1 socket into 3! This may be handy if I need to charge my Blackberry whilst on the move, using my Garmin at the same time.
30 years ago, a computer was ONLY a glorified adding machine, that only worked in a sterile dust free environment, but now you can get, relatively cheaply, a computer/digital camera/phone and so much more - that fits easily in your pocket!
I LOVE my Garmin GPS - an aftermarket unit that sticks to my windscreen. It squalks when I need to turn, or even if I am speeding! I have enen found that it can even tell you the elevation of where you are! I was stunned that the satellite can pinpoint where I am on the globe to within 6 meters, and even what my elecvation is!
I often know instictively where to go - inbuilt GPS in every male - but it is great that the handset can direct you, confirming your instincts. This would have been handy when I was on honeymoon, in areas that I had virtually never been! Those were the first arguements that my ex and I ever had! She had a map (what are those?) but I had my male inbuilt GPS. We were never really lost, except my brand new wife was telling me to "turn here!" when I knew full well that we needed to go straight! Turns out, we always got where we were going.
I have also found that my Garmin can be set up to direct you walking! This would be great somewhere like Cape Town, where I spent a few days walking before my accident. There was so much to see in easy walking distance of the hotel that I was staying in, since I had flown in! Those were the glorious BC days - Before Crash! Cape Town has so much in easy walking distange in the city surrounds - nassuming that you can easily walk!
I upgraded my contract recently and changed from Nokia to Blackberry - at a slightly lower monthly cost. My Nokia handsets all had the keyboard where the first key was an "A", or a "B" or a "C" depending on how the phone decided it wanted to spell a word. My Blackberry has a QWERTY keyboard, and even though the keys are small, they are easily used. I like where if you select an "A" ir remains an "A" in either upper or lower case, depending on how long you depress the key!
When I was in the army, the year before Zimbabwe came into existance, there were maybe 3 computers in the whole country, and the army one was on the 10th and 11th floors of the Earl Grey building in downtown Salisbury as it was then!
If the wind blew strongly and raised a dust storm, the computer could not add 2 and 2 and come up with the right answer. Now I have a tiny computer that fits easily in my pocket, that is:-
A radio
A GPS
A recording device
A camera
A computer - access to Google
and, by the way, also a phone!
I used to marvel at how user friendly my laptop is, and am amazed that my Blackberry is likewise incredibly user friendly. As time has gone by in the last 2 weeks, hardly a day has gone past when I have not learned something new on my Blackberry. I do have a seperate Garmin GPS that I can charge with my cigarette lighter in the dashboard. Being LDS, this is the most that I will use the cigarette lighter! Even if I were not LDS, I would in all likelihood, not smoke!
I saw an after market attachment this week where you can plug it into the lighter socket and it makes 1 socket into 3! This may be handy if I need to charge my Blackberry whilst on the move, using my Garmin at the same time.
30 years ago, a computer was ONLY a glorified adding machine, that only worked in a sterile dust free environment, but now you can get, relatively cheaply, a computer/digital camera/phone and so much more - that fits easily in your pocket!
I LOVE my Garmin GPS - an aftermarket unit that sticks to my windscreen. It squalks when I need to turn, or even if I am speeding! I have enen found that it can even tell you the elevation of where you are! I was stunned that the satellite can pinpoint where I am on the globe to within 6 meters, and even what my elecvation is!
I often know instictively where to go - inbuilt GPS in every male - but it is great that the handset can direct you, confirming your instincts. This would have been handy when I was on honeymoon, in areas that I had virtually never been! Those were the first arguements that my ex and I ever had! She had a map (what are those?) but I had my male inbuilt GPS. We were never really lost, except my brand new wife was telling me to "turn here!" when I knew full well that we needed to go straight! Turns out, we always got where we were going.
I have also found that my Garmin can be set up to direct you walking! This would be great somewhere like Cape Town, where I spent a few days walking before my accident. There was so much to see in easy walking distance of the hotel that I was staying in, since I had flown in! Those were the glorious BC days - Before Crash! Cape Town has so much in easy walking distange in the city surrounds - nassuming that you can easily walk!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Life in the fast lane
I grew very tired of living in the "fast lane" as a project manager at an international computer firm. That was then sited in downtown Sandton with various subsidiaries widespread around Johannesburg. Since I was leading a team introducing a new computerised accounting system, I had to often visit these subsidiaries. It was only after I was retired on ill health pension that the firm acquired land in Rivonia and relocated everyone to a central point!
I was getting into the swing of the job, when I took a few days off (I had worked plenty of time beforehand - after hours!) That is when I and my then wife were sealed for Eternity in the Temple of the LDS Church in Parktown, Johannesburg!
We were sealed on a Friday, and went away to a lodge in Mpumulanga (that was then called Eastern Transvaal) for a second honeymoon. This lodge was very close to the Kruger Park. We were on our way to the park when 7 kilometers away, a bread delivery truck went out of control and smashed into my car that had suffered a smashed mag wheel. My car smashed into me - changeing the wheel - leaving me in a coma for 4 months, then in hospital as a full time patient fr another 5 or so months, and then as a daily outpatient for a number more months!
I survived, but I had suffered minor brain damage (to my motor skills, not my mental capacity) and that lead my employers to decide to offer me ill-health retirement. I get a pension for the rest of my lifre, and dont have to actually work for it! At work (BC - Before Crash) life was not easy, but hard work meant that they appreciated it enough to place me on ill-health pension.
I have a major hangup with traffic and where I live, if 2 cars a day go past:-
It is busy OR
Both cars live in my garage and I have driven them - not at the same time!
Yesterday, I bought 4 new tyres for "Ladybug" - ny Freelander - and driving it now, it really feels like driving a new vehicle. Amazing how much more stable it is on the road - not that it was unsafe before!
I have started a new employment opportunity for myself where I offer to drive visitors to the Game Reserve and do a private tour for them! I love the game reserve and driving visitors is a passion of mine, rather than work!
I was getting into the swing of the job, when I took a few days off (I had worked plenty of time beforehand - after hours!) That is when I and my then wife were sealed for Eternity in the Temple of the LDS Church in Parktown, Johannesburg!
We were sealed on a Friday, and went away to a lodge in Mpumulanga (that was then called Eastern Transvaal) for a second honeymoon. This lodge was very close to the Kruger Park. We were on our way to the park when 7 kilometers away, a bread delivery truck went out of control and smashed into my car that had suffered a smashed mag wheel. My car smashed into me - changeing the wheel - leaving me in a coma for 4 months, then in hospital as a full time patient fr another 5 or so months, and then as a daily outpatient for a number more months!
I survived, but I had suffered minor brain damage (to my motor skills, not my mental capacity) and that lead my employers to decide to offer me ill-health retirement. I get a pension for the rest of my lifre, and dont have to actually work for it! At work (BC - Before Crash) life was not easy, but hard work meant that they appreciated it enough to place me on ill-health pension.
I have a major hangup with traffic and where I live, if 2 cars a day go past:-
It is busy OR
Both cars live in my garage and I have driven them - not at the same time!
Yesterday, I bought 4 new tyres for "Ladybug" - ny Freelander - and driving it now, it really feels like driving a new vehicle. Amazing how much more stable it is on the road - not that it was unsafe before!
I have started a new employment opportunity for myself where I offer to drive visitors to the Game Reserve and do a private tour for them! I love the game reserve and driving visitors is a passion of mine, rather than work!
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