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!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
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!
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