A.m.eric.a.n Gangster

So, I just came from watching that movie, it was a nice movie. I always like it when D.e.nzel W.a.s.hington acts as a bad guy, so I enjoyed this one but still not as much as T.r.a.ining Day one of my favourite movies. Like T.r.a.ining Day, I will also have to watch it again in order to fully understand it. I don't know what's wrong with me these days but I think I'm growing old, firstly I have no patience to watch a full length film at home, and when I go to the movie theatre, I just cannot seem to follow and fully understand the subtleties that would lead me to fully understand the movie. You know what they say about old age, memory is the first thing to go J.

But that's not what I will remember about the movie, the weirdest thing is that we kept seeing the microphones which were recording the actors. What kind of shoddy movie making was that? Or maybe the movie theatre/company got a pirated copy of the movie, I have no idea, but I just cannot imagine how that could have happened.

Euuuuu!!!

Ugandan movie on Africa magic...yuck, even worse than the Nigerian movies. But i loved it though, even though i had goose bumps of revulsion. Nothing like a dose of the good, old Ugandan accent to make me homesick

French 101

This was an assignment we had last week.

"Moi je suis Amo. J'ai vingt-huit ans.

Je fais 1m 65. Je suis Informaticienne. Je joue au violon. Je suis genereuse et revervee. J'aime mange dans les nouveaux restaurant, regarde le television et lire. Je n'aime pas les exercise et la sport. Je deteste les chien et les chats.

Je cherche un home grand, vingt-neuf – trent-deux ans. Un peu sarcastique mais amusant. Il ne doit pas boire. Il doit joue au violon et lire. Il doit celibataire pas divorce. Il doit aussi etre honnete et gentil"

Lets see who can understand that J

Pourquoi?

- Why am i awake at midnight watching Dr 90210?

- Why am i trawling facebook at this un-godly hour?

- Why do i surf so much?

- Why do i miss home so much even after almost being here 3 years?

- Why is the grass always greener?

- Why do i never finish what i start?

- Why do i get bored so easily?

- Why is it so difficult for me to find my calling?

- Why can't I take the path that leads straight to the Lord and true joy?

- Why does that former woman on Dr 90210 want to be a man now?

- Why do i want a career change and yet i dont know if i will even like it after afew months?

- Why am i not sleepy?

- Why will it be difficult to get out of bed tomorrow?

- Why does the chick on Dr 90210 want to have surgery on her chuchus?

- Why is apple smoothie not all that?

- Why do i think that i will be happier in Canada?

- Why has this year gone so fast?

- Why am i listening to Contemporary Christian music on Yahoo radio while watching Girls of the Playboy mansion?

- Why does Hugh Hefner have 3 girlfriends?

- Why are those 3 well-educated (well atleast 2 of them are) girls all with Hef?

- Why do i want to get married so much?

- Why am i calling him Hef like they do?

- Why did i google Hef's 3 girlfriends?

- Why do i google so much?

- Why am i wondering what i gain from all this surfing?

- Why am i wondering that maybe if i gave myself some down time each evening then maybe falling off to sleep would be easier?

- Why is life so complicated in your 20s?

- Why does it all matter anyway?

J

How true

Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.
- Harper Lee (Author: To kill a mocking bird)

FYI

Psssst! You, you there...yes you reading this. Look to the right of this, see that amazon wish list? Feel free to buy me gifts...i'm waaaaiiiiting J

Sad existence

What I do all day? Stare at my computer screen

What I do most nights? Stare at my computer screen and TV screen

I wonder if there's such a thing as wearing out one's eyes because of over use. I mean how much is too much and how do I know when it's too much. Right now I can actually feel like I need to rest my eyes...but am I? 1 guess!!!

I guess you're also wondering why I'm posting so much this month, well its anyone's guess really. Sometimes I just feel like, other times I really couldn't be bothered.

PET PEEVE #1

What is it with people and their mobile phones ringing during functions, ok, I acknowledge that sometimes one genuinely forgets to turn off their phone before the meeting begins. But say for example you forgot to switch it off, why would you ignore it when it started to ring? Is the logic that it will magically switch itself off? Are you too embarrassed to dive for your bag and switch it off, and if so isn't it more embarrassing to actually let it ring and have all the people in the meeting shooting you dirty looks? Where am I coming from with this? Well, yesterday I went for a poetry evening after class at Alliance (me who doesn't get poetry, I hear you say...thought I should expose myself to more French...I only understood 3 words!!! So much for that). Anyway, in the middle of a performance this phone starts ringing, and as usual everyone loses concentration and starts looking around for the culprit, we all zone in to the general area from which it is ringing, but no one is diving for a bag in a bid to turn it off. So I immediately started thinking that maybe it wasn't hers or even maybe it was a phantom ring we all were imagining. But nooooo, shortly after it stops ringing by itself, the lady picks up her bag, takes out the phone and begins to examine the missed call details...or so I thought. At this point I was staring at her incredulously...but noooo, that was not all, kumbe she was actually dialling the person back and she actually had a conversation with this person!!! At this point we were all shooting daggers, but Miss Thing didn't give a hoot, she calmly finished her conversation (thankfully it was brief!) as if it was perfectly normal to have a phone conversation during a poetry reading. To say I was shocked is an understatement; no one had the guts/courage to impress upon her the importance of common courtesy. Anyway, I don't know why I was shocked, during one French class; this one guy receives his call and proceeds to have a conversation while le professeur was teaching, again total disregard and disrespect for the teacher and the rest of us!!!

Here's what i want

Now aint that purrrrty!!!

All I want for Christmas...

..is either of these 2 babies, or both J

I love my Sly to death, but it would be lovely if she could suddenly acquire some much needed features. So here's what i with my next car has:

• Rear window wiper
  
• Those lines that are on the rear window to remove the mist.
  
• Cup holders
  
• Wipers with more than 2 speeds
  
• Power steering
  
• Automatic transmission
  
• Power windows
  
• Central locking
  
• A lever to open both my fuel place and boot while still in the car
  
• AIR CONDITIONING
  
• Warning light to alert me when fuel is dangerously low
  

 

Yet another post about Canada

So in keeping with the previous post, here's a post about the pros and cons of Manitoba and Sask

Sask

Pros

• Canada's sunniest province with an average of between 2000 and 2500 hours of sunshine annually.
  
• Health care provisions commence immediately you move to the province.
  
• Employment growth in Regina the capital city.
  
• Has some of the most affordable houses in Canada though the prices continues to rise.
  
• Prince Albert has twice been named as one of the 10 best places to live in Canada.
  

Cons

• Blizzard capital of Canada.
  
• Rising cost of rentals which has lead to a decrease.
  
• 1^st ever KKK rally was held in Moose Jaw in 1927, nothing again ever since.
  

Manitoba

Pros

• Health care provisions commence immediately you move to the province.
  

Cons

• Rentals are steadily increasing.

Indecision

So, after being convinced for the longest time that i wanted to move to Calgary, Alberta, now i'm confused. Saskatchewan aka Sask and Manitoba are slowly starting to sway me. not because there's anything wrong with Calgary, it still has all those great points i listed previously. However, the biggest draw to those 2 other provinces is that they are the only 2 that allow family sponsorship of siblings as well, unlike the others which only allow the sponsorship of only parents or spouses and children. Anyway, i don't really need to make a decision before i get there, and who knows, things could change in Alberta within the next 2 years. So keep watching this space.

Like a bad rash...

...just when you think you're rid of me, boom!!! I come back..couldn't resist the cliché.

Anyway, today I got yet regret. I mean how someone can refuse to give you a job even when you say you're willing to earn less than half the amount you're currently earning beats me. I mean they refuse, you call them and say its ok, write a motivation letter..but still, they are so unwilling to let you make the sacrifice. Frankly I don't think it was any of their business and I don't recall asking them to feel sorry for me and not wanting to let me lower the standard of my life. If you ask me, I think they are just afraid that with that amount, I would jump ship the minute I got something/anything better...which is not what I was planning.

I have decided a few things though based on today's regret. I have now tried all the companies I was targeting and have had no takers. Therefore, I'm not going to actively look any more, if I see something I like, then I will apply, but no more stalking people for jobs. I know that from time to time I will get really miserable and want to chuck it all in, but I really don't know how much more I can do other than what I've been doing so far. I will endeavour to work my hardest at my current job, get as many raises as I can, coz from now on I'm in it purely for the money. Come 2009, around January-ish which is when I'm supposed to hear from my emigration application, I will leave and go to Canada hopefully having saved all the money I need. If this application is rejected then I will still apply for my master's degree and go there anyway. So regardless of the outcome of that application, one way or another, I will be in Canada by the end of 2009!!!

Coming soon to a blog near you

Before and after photos

Why Calgary/Alberta?

- One of the cities with the lowest crime rates in 2006

- Alberta boasts the lowest overall taxes in Canada with no provincial sales tax (PST), no general capital or payroll tax!!! For this reason alone, i will go there

- Amongst the lowest unemployment rates of 3.3% in July compared to the national average of 6.1%

- Alberta the sunniest province in Canada with an average of 1900 hours of sunshine in a year in the north and 2300 hours in the south.

- Only province with more men than women :-))

- 4th most popular destination for newcomers...so all the thugs and stuff don't come here i'm hoping

- English the major language spoken

- Alberta has led the country in economic growth the past 3 years, with a growth rate of more than double the national average

- Alberta is 2nd only to Saudi Arabia for oil sands deposits in the world

- Alberta accounts for over 80% of the natural gas produced in Canada

- Major industries in addition to the energy sector in Alberta include INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ('nuff said), agriculture, forestry, telecommunications and tourism

- If you move to Alberta from another country, you will be covered immediately by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan.

- Calgary is the largest city in Alberta

- Calgary is currently experiencing a huge skills shortage in many areas

Why not?
- Required to undergo complete testing for all classes of drivers licence
- Few available rentals in Calgary and high demand means that prices are higher than the national average

Horror is...

....turning into on-coming traffic on a one way street and almost colliding with a huge lorry! I was so embarrassed/flustered..I felt like doing "no pictures please" the way people were staring at me. This happened yesterday when I was running around lost in Pta when taking Ara's documents and trying to get to the evaluation office early enough so that I could be the 1^st one on the line and be back at work not too late. The things we do for love I'm telling you! Only to get to the office and find out that they open at all of 9am. So I had to wait about 40minutes and as a result got to work really late. Anyway, it was for a good cause..Right Ara?

Home sweet home, the real deal now

Home aerial view
Our house is the one with a black dot on top of the SQ. That is the water tank

Home sweet home...or something like that

Aerial view of my flat thanks to Google earth...coming up shortly, our house. Watch this space..how i dislike that expression. I live towards the right hand side of the block.

Who are you? And what have you done with the real me?

So it started with me starting to eat Weetbix...the bane of my growing up existence. I remember all the school mornings when i was forced to have it for breakfast and i thought for sure this was not my mother...i mean, which mother who loved her kids would force them to eat this drivel? Guess what, i now can't get enough of it.

Then came the juice. I remember all those days of orange squeezing which to me was the equivalent of some form of forced child labor in a chinese (no offense meant to them) sweat-shop. I swore i would never again squeeze another orange when we stopped making our own juice...that from then on, i would be an artificial juice kind of girl. Who knew that i would one day voluntarily start to make my own juice again...i certainly didn't!

I buy and cut my own sukuma voluntarily. Even people who live in Kenya no longer cut their own!!

Now, horror of horrors...i have started drinking oats porridge...heeeeelp..i mean, what's next? Making my own peanut butter??!!

Is this what happens, do we all turn into our mothers? Does this mean that i will one day find myself telling my child that i would beat them until they couldn't breathe?

Too long, too gone

Or was it the other way around?

Been awhile since I last posted anything i know. But nothing much going on right now and i just don't have the motivation to do this or anything else for that matter right now. So much happening in my life right now, so little of which i'm willing to write about. Work, work and did i say work? I need to start reading for some exams that i committed to do during my last evaluation, no motivation for that either.

Gotten afew regrets from some jobs that I thought would really pan out, trying not to get discouraged because i know the job i have now is such a blessing, its hard, but getting disillusioned with the whole job-search/career change is not a luxury i can afford. I feel bad moaning about this to the various people i moan about it to, because God knows they could do with proper jobs as well.

Not running any more, but really...hands up anyone who thought i'd stick with this one?

Playing my violin whenever i can, but slacking off on this one as well.

Overall, i thank God for my family, my job and for me. Don't mean to be dramatic or anything, just what i feel on a quiet Saturday night.

True peace

A heart that is totally surrendered to the Lord

“Mama, pith yuk for me shuye”

How i miss him!!!

My home, my sanctuary? Not!

So after boasting to all and sundry the way my area is very safe, infact it was voted the 2nd safest suburb last year, guess what happens? Yeah, you guessed it, on 3rd of July, 2 Toyota Tazz (they are kinda like a Starlet/Conquest) were stolen between midnight and 5am from our compound. Apparently, it seems the thieves timed when someone was coming home late and because people usually just drive and and don't wait to ensure that no one slips into the compound before the gate shuts, it seems that's how the thugs got into the compound and the jammed the gate so it would not completely close. I don't really know if that's what happened but that's what the notice that I read implies. So anyway, this means that I should never forget to put on the gear-lock and I must ALWAYS ensure that my boot is locked!!!

Reason #1 why the neighbours hate me

Flat - update

So instead of the earlier proposed 8% increase, the managing agent has said he will negotiate for a 6% increase instead and instead of signing another 12 month lease agreement I will now only continue on a month-month basis with a 1 month notice period in case I want to leave. All this is subject to the landlord's agreement ofcouse but I don't foresee any problems. After all, I'm a pretty good tenant if I do say so myself!

In other news, the fuel price went down by 8c so I'm pretty happy about that too.

Running

I think I'm not doing it right, I run most of 2km these days and I'm not in half as much pain I anticipated I would be in.  So either I'm not running fast enough, I need to run a longer distance, run all of it instead of brisk walking some, run more frequently than just twice a week or I'm not meant to be feeling any pain. I will try and run 3 times a week without fail next week and tonight/tomorrow morning when I run, I will try and run at least 1km without stopping (mind over body or is it pain J). Currently it's taking me about 15 minutes to do the 2km distance.

New digs?

How I hope not.

So while I was away I got an email from my landlord telling me the way my lease expires on the 31/07/07 and if I would be willing to sign a new lease. The catch is that with the new lease the rent goes up by 8%. I honestly don't feel I should pay that much but I really love this area. This is the 1^st place I've stayed at in Jhb that I'm really in love with, I mean I just love the thought of coming home and doing nothing in my house, I'm filled with joy every time I'm in sight of my complex. It's so quiet and ideal and up-market without being too expensive and now that I've started running I've discovered that the roads are always sooo clear in the evenings, and did I already mention that this area is the 2^nd safest area in Jhb? Why should I have to give up this one thing that I really love now when I've only just managed to "furnish" it?

I have asked my landlord for extra time till the middle of July (I know he won't agree), so that I can "review" my options aka so that I can look around to find anything that I would even remotely like as much as I like this flat. So far, after looking in the classifieds today, the pickings are slim! I know I will just end up here for another year, and curse myself every end of month when I have to shell out this new inflated (in my opinion) rent.

Oh, and did I mention also that my motor vehicle insurance is also being hiked by about r50? And that fuel is scheduled to come down but go up yet again, and this time I'm sure even higher than the r7.11 that we currently pay? Of course this all means that everything else has become more expensive, everything except our salaries which haven't increased accordingly. In my opinion they should be increased every time the fuel is increased!

Weekly Achievements

• Managed to drive part-way home yesterday and the whole way to work this morning with my shoes on! Yes, that is a big deal for me. I have never been able to drive with shoes on because I always believed that I could not, and this was confirmed to me because the only way I finally managed to learn how to drive (and we all know how long it took and the number of lessons too) was barefoot. So yesterday I just gave myself this stern talking to and I just got into the car, didn't remove my shoes and drove home at 40kph (thankfully it was only 4.2km to my house) all the way and I did it! So this morning I did the same and drove at the usual speeds I usually drive and it's gotten much easier. What can I say? I'm proud of me, and I'll take my small victories wherever I can thank you very much.
  
• Run 1.6km on Tuesday night, well more like jogged/walked. It took me about 15 minutes and I wasn't too tired after but the next day I was surely feeling all the muscles in my legs thanks to the pain. Anyway, I have decided to start running for exercise and I hope that I can keep it up and run a 10km marathon before the end of the year. Yes, you can all laugh at me, but I will do it! J

No heading

Still here, nothing new or fun to write about. Looking forward to going home, yay!!!

Things I like about this country

I so often am very critical of this country and yet this place has truly been very good to me. I think I have achieved so much more than I would have if I hadn't come here. So in an effort to become less critical and learn to like (maybe even love) this country, I'm going to be putting down a list of things that I like about this place in an effort to count my blessings.

1. The wonderful singing
   As evidenced by this, though I haven't had an opportunity to see them yet. I'm constantly amazed by the way the people here sing, especially the black people. Even when they are demonstrating on the streets, their protest songs are just so nice, one would think they actually meet and practice and yet it's spontaneous. I think the men sing better though.


2. Amazing race
   Though this series is not actually South African. This is where I discovered it, and boy do I love this show!
   
3. The amazing job opportunities.
   There are soooo many jobs here. I mean, look at all these here. Where else in the world would one find so many jobs listed. Mark you, this is just one of many websites.
   
4. Graduate recruitment
   This is kind of related to 4 above. Not one company came to recruit students from my university. While at Wits, they have whole 2 month period of graduate recruitment. Blows my mind. Again just goes to show how many opportunities there are here.
   
5. Clothes that fit - Need i say more?

Baby talk

Arabo = Ayabo
Vroom Vroom = Vyoom Vyoom
Rat = Yat
Rice = Waish

30 Things...

As the clock ticks relentlessly towards that big milestone age, here are a few fun things I would like to do/achieve. I originally meant to post this on my birthday but forgot. Hopefully, the achievement of the things in this list should distract me from the all – consuming fear that age inspires in me. So without further ado, presenting below is a list of 30 things I would like to do before I get there.

1. Learn to play an instrument, preferably the violin.
   
2. Learn to speak a new language, preferably French.
   
3. Leave the African continent.
   
4. See a real circus.
   
5. Watch a play at the theatre.
   
6. Go for the ballet.
   
7. Go for a concert.
   
8. Learn how to swim.
   
9. Participate in a protest match.
   
10. Eat sushi.
    

Ok, evidently, it is not yet quite 30 things yet, but your comments, suggestions and other wild ideas will be considered for my list. I will update the list periodically as and when i achieve any of the listed items or when I receive new ones. This idea was stolen from my littlest sister J

More photos

Sterkfontein caves

Bus to Suncity theme park from the parking
At the theme park
Man-made waves/sea
Death defying water slide

Weekend update - belatedly

I will do this piece-meal so that i can update the many photos i took. As usual, the photos with people other than me will come down as soon as you've all seen them.
Thursday
Went to B's house after work to pick up my braids that she was giving me as a birthday present. She said she wanted me to plait them by my birthday so i don't look bad on the day, which naturally led me to ask: was my hair really looking that bad?
Went home to change.
Went to J's for supper and then afterwards we headed out to the Blues Room to watch Dr Victor. It was really nice dancing after a really long time. We were getting home and finally going to sleep around 3.30am, with the plan to wake up and leave directly for Maropeng at 7am Friday morning and thus the reason why she slept at my place.

Friday
Finally got startled out of sleep at 8.20am (whats that they say about the best-laid plans?). After grooming and breakfast, we were leaving the house 2 hours later. Why does that sound like those trips when we always used to plan to leave home soooo early and only get on the road after 8am?
Got to Sterkfontein Caves around an hour later, thank God we were late coz the place is only about 45km out of town.
It was actually quite nice and not as claustrophobic as i expected underground. Actually it was pretty chilly down there, but thank goodness there were no bats or other creepy-crawlies, atleast not any that i could see. Instead we saw many stalactites and stalagmites (aka amabere ga nyina mwiru), i learn that the ones with the g = ground so they grow from the ground, i can't remember what the other one.

Sign showing its owned and run by Wits Uni.

Caves entrance from within
Random picture inside the cave
Hole in the cave
Us at the exit of the cave, with the picture of the guy who discovered the 1st ruins i think

Whats a perfect Friday evening/night?

Watching TV while surfing :-))

On TV?

Forest Whitaker discussing The Last King of Scotland on Oprah!

Ati Oprah is from a small village off Liberia though she soooo wanted to be Zulu...pshhhh, please. Meanwhile Forest is part Ibo and part Ghanaian, they traced their ancestry through this

Test picture upload

Woe is me

So indulge me as I wallow in self-pity.

When I received my CISA exam notification I guess I was too excited to read the whole email correctly, so I just perused it. I thought it said something about them sending me the application forms to now apply for the certification now. So i've just been compulsively going to the post office weekly checking to see whether that has come. Then awhile back i decided, what the heck and put it on my CV that i'm CISA-certified and starting sending out this updated CV with my new qualification.

BIG MISTAKE!

Apparently after re-reading the email and going onto the ISACA website, it turns out that i can only apply for certification after a total of 5 years IT Audit experience!!! So far i only have 3 years: 2 years i get by default because i've completed a 4year university degree, 1 year i'm able to substitute for a year of other IT work. So that means that i need 2 more years of IT Audit work experience in order to apply for certification.

As if i'm not under enough pressure from myself to get a job in IT Audit, the exam results will expire if i don't register for certification within 5 years. Oh, and how do i explain this to all the people who've already received my new updated CV? I'm sure claiming to have a certification you don't have is some kind of fraud. Also, how do i put it on my CV that i've actually done the exam but need them to give me their jobs so that i can get the 2 years of experience that i need?

My day in a nutshell

Misery is...

• Forgetting to put your headlights off the whole day.
  
• Having the code break-down and breaking the whole system after 5pm on a Friday evening.
  
• Working late on said Friday.
  
• Missing an important schmooze-fest (aka networking opportunity) at the annual ISACA awards ceremony which was free in Sandton today after planning a whole year for it.
  
• Leaving the office after 7.30pm on said Friday and starting Sly and getting total silence.
  
• Realising the consequences of leaving the headlights on the whole day!!!
  

I hope this is no indication of how my weekend is going to be.

Happiness is...

• Arriving for work only 30minutes late.
  
• Finding out that an assigned task was much easier than expected after so much angst over how to solve it.
  
• Good Samaritans pushing and jump starting your car after you've already called the tow – line services for FREE!
  
• 500ml of home-made strawberry smoothie J
  

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for...

That right thurrr is my foot courtesy of some unknown sea creature. The photos are not so good and don't show anything about how itchy it was. Feast your eyes on my beautiful appendage :-)))

Deserving of their own post

Feeling much better now. Sunday night i kept waking up while choking on saliva. The following two comments are trully deserving of their own posts so that we all can appreciate what we have, and she couldn't have said it better. So here goes:

last night our dear darling Eme was cutely cuddled in Papa's arms - he fit
in so well in the nooks and crannies of papa's arms me and missy ayado were
wishing our camera was near coz it was trully a kodak moment!!! he looked so
sweet settled and peaceful, were told daddy as much that he gives the young dude
alot of peace. you should see eme, he poses exactly like daddy these days, his
expressions, thoughts, mannerisms, crossing his legs, wearing a kofia wearing a
jacket-the exact similar way papa does. Where papa keeps his shoes, even papa
keeps his too!!! its too hilarious sometimesin many ways i envy him, he gets to
spend alot of quality time with a very good man, a patient and loving man and he
is getting to learn alot of good stuff from him...oh we need to thank God for
that, papa teaches him alot, papa doesnt seem to loose his temper with him the
way we do daily!!! poor eme he gets yelled at sometimes a bit too much i
think!!! Papa reminds me of how Jesus Christ is with us, patient and kind and we
are always short tempered!!!! Basically Eme is learning alot and we thank God -
even how first he has wezad to talk is all because of papa's influence

The rat!!!How is it now that I don’t know how to put headings in this blog???!!!!Last night papa killed a rat/or yesterday papa killed a rat using that our famous rat trap. How is it now that me and Eme and papa are the only ones remaining in the sitting room because all and sundry have gone to bed – order of the day sometimes…we three remain to bond and catch up…then papa goes to check on his rat trap and finds a dead rat just like he and missy kafupi had predicted…then he calls me and asks if I want to go and see the dead fellow and so I carry my Eme and we go and do you know what? Eme says toto – he is calling the dead rat a toto!!! So we kinda scare him a bit with it and the little man is giggling himself silly not scared at all and wanting to touch it!!!! Now he is my hero, he thinks the rat is a toto!!! At this point me and papa are tickled silly so we toss the dead rat over the fence and come back in doors!!!Na haya ndio mazingaombwe yetu! And what is mazingaombwe anyway???

Sick as a dog!

This is amongst the worst colds that I've had in a long while. My chest pains and my taste buds are totally gone. Will see how it goes by Monday. Imagine most private doctors here don't work on weekends. This place is really funny, even essential services are closed on the weekend. I doubt I will ever get used to that even two years later it still baffles me how any businesses in this country make money! Report at 9am, knock-off at 4-4.30pm, take numerous smoking brakes and a lunch break and various tea breaks…it baffles me.

In other news, Sylvia was fixed and I'm officially broke until the end of the month. They had to replace loads of things, but at least now she's starting much faster and that knocking metallic sound isn't there anymore. Another advantage with going to the dealer is that all their parts are guaranteed for a year or 20k km, so we all know where I will be if I hear even the funniest sound. Anyway, let me wait until tomorrow morning and see if the starting has really improved and she doesn't have a hard start any more.

This is another post from Word, it really is quite handy because it does actually spell-check and stuff. The only disadvantage, actually there are 2, firstly, the other day I also posted a photo but somehow it didn't appear, I think I just need to figure out how to do that because the functionality is there. Secondly, I can't leave my blog permanently registered on my work laptop because I don't want any of those people accidentally stumbling upon it.

Hope you are all having good weekends. I'm watching TV now, and its slim pickings I tell you, it's a choice between:

• Local football (with the commentary in a local lingua!).
  
• WWE wrestling - which I'm getting back into watching because of no other choice…I must admit I quite enjoy it once again…brings back memories of when I was obsessed with it. Right now I'm really looking forward to the "Battle of the Millionaires", between wrestlers fighting for Vince McMann and Donald Trump. Whoever's wrestler looses, will have his hair cut off. I know I'm just too sad. Imagine "The Undertaker" still wrestles; he must be the grand-daddy of them all, though I also saw Austin Powers. Ok, enough of that already.
  
• World Cup Cricket – the bane of my existence. It comes on my favourite station, which also happens to be the most interesting station. Did you guys know that a cricket game can take a whole game? I mean they even stop for lunch I think! Who takes the whole day to sit in a stadium to watch and what do they do for/about work? Thank God, we are almost at the end. But they will probably have those nasty one day internationals as well. You should hear how excitedly the men at work discuss it.
  
• Athletics – Again with a commentary in the local language.
  

Need I say more? Clearly, we all see how desperately I need cable TV. I hope I can be able to afford it soon. One the other hand maybe I should just not get it because God knows that will be the end of life as I know it, I will never leave the house again! Apparently MNet is planning to show Big Brother, Survivor and Pop Idols this year from around August. Wooo hoooo! By the way, did the free hour stop there also? Here it stopped from the beginning of this month I think, something to do with unfair advertising advantages or some such business jargon.

Blogging from Word

Just a small test to see how easy it is to post directly from MS-Word. Maybe it would be easier to upload photos and spell-checking would also be done for me.

Sick

My baby girl is sick, my Sylvia is suffering. The problem seems to have started last week before I went for Easter. She's so hard to start and she makes a metallic clanking sound when i attempt to switch her on. Then I have to step on the accelerator so she can start. Most mechanics don't work on Saturdays here, but after calling around yesterday, i managed to get an appointment for tomorrow at a Ford/Mazda dealer, but since they don't do major work on Saturdays, they will only tell me what's wrong but won't fix it...yeah, what will that help me. Anyway, i hope whatever is ailing her won't be too expensive to fix.

Hope you're all enjoying Friday 13th for those of you who believe in that. I have my annual cold already and we're not yet even in winter proper.

More tomorrow

The camera battery just died so i will continue tomorrow or after i charge. Not that there are too many more. As usual my camera was not fully charged and my phone battery was dying too..typical i hear someone say (remember Xmas).

Anyway, the 1st day we went to Camps bay, then we went to the Waterfront and took a 3 hour sunset cruise (Note to self: Never again!). The weather was very windy and me who had taken afew sips of champagne (euuuuu!!!), that was complimentary with the cruise promptly started feeling sea-sick. Good thing i was seated in the open otherwise everything was coming up for sure! After that we came back and had some really good fish and chips at some restaurant at the Waterfront. We then walked around in the shops there for abit before my aching foot got the better of me and we headed home around 8pm.

The Atlantic..or is it the Pacific?

I think it's the Atlantic. Boy, is it cold! The water is as cold as fridge water. This was at Camps bay beach i think, clearly i wasn't paying close attention to the names of the places. This is the 1st place we went to after church on Friday. It is really beautiful, also on the opposite side of the road, there are many restaurants and very expensive beach front properties...too bad i forgot to take any pictures of them :-)). Clearly you can see from the wisps of water that it was very windy. The sand was really being blown and actually very painful when it hits you so we didnt stay too long. I had oiled my hair that morning so you can only imagine how full of sand it was and still is.

CT Pics

The ones with the other people will go down as soon as you guys have seen them because i don't think its fair to them to put up their photos without the permission, so only the beautiful scenes will remain.

Parliament, opposite the cathedral catholic church we went to on Friday



Table Mountain with a huge cloud covering it on the 1st Friday we went around

Patience is a virtue

God knows this is not my strong point but i'm definitely learning alot of this of late. I pray its not in vain though

Back

Easter was nice. Had a blast in CT. Got pierced by something n my leg is still itchy!

Pictures will be uploaded shortly.

Meanwhile, this post about a floater cracked me up!

Thank You....

....God for the internship. 1 down, 1 to go. I remain trusting and praying

Weeeeee!

CT here i come :-)))

Hope I remember to carry my camera and chargers

Cheaters

Just watched the most dramatic episode of Cheaters yet. This guy whose wife was cheating just drove up to the car in which his wife and the guy she was cheating with were sitting and pushed it into a lake!

So whats new?

Frontal view
Side ways

Clearly, you can see that I have no kids living with me! Forgot to ask the shop people how to clean it

Why?

Why is it that when you're really waiting for one particular phone call, EVERYONE but the person/people you're waiting to call remembers to call that day?

Wow, this is bad....

Even by my standards this is bad, not even 7 days and i'm already bored of blogging. Story of my life...never see anything that i start to the end.

Anyway, work is getting busier.

Looking forward to CT for Easter, but not looking forward to the flying part of it. I think I will try and wake up early tomorrow morning and sleep really late (if at all), tomorrow night so that I am so dead tired by the time i get onto the plane that i just black out.

Good thing that everything worked out with work and leaving early for the airport on Thursday. My friend and i were wondering how we would possibly make it to the airport on time. Our flight leaves at 6pm and yet we have to work til 5pm, so the plan was to run away at around 3pm. Luckily, i was asked to work late tomorrow and then i can leave early on thursday afternoon. Hopefully, we can navigate through the traffic, get to the airport in time to get long-term parking and check-in 90 minutes before time as required.

Vicious cycle

I wake up late, so i can't sleep early, because i overslept in the morning, so i sleep late...catch my drift?!

Help, this sleep and the lack of or abundance of at inappropriate times is killing me

Glutton for punishment

Time: 11:31pm
Day: Wednesday
Tomorrow: Work day
Question: Tell me again why i do this to myself knowing that getting up is such a struggle?

Been reading this about the situation in Northern Uganda and the situation of the people there. My Dad comes from Otuboi, which is a small town about 50Km outside Soroti on Lira road, and afew years back when the rebels reached there members of my extended family were displaced and actually part of the arrow boys groups that played a key role in forcing the rebels back. I also lost an uncle to the rebels. But still I didn't know how much the people of Gulu/Kitgum and other rebel infested areas are suffering. A real eye-opener.

Off to bed now...about time too

What I look like

Christmas 2006, Kampala Uganda. One of the most enjoyable Xmas holidays i've had in awhile. I tell you, its true what they (always wondered who they are) say, you never miss the water till the well goes dry.

Taking the plunge

So after a long while now; after spending countless hours online reading/lurking on other people's blogs, finally decided to dive in. I don't promise to be funny and/or interesting. All and any views and opinions expressed here are solely mine and meant in no way to disrespect anyone. I expect at times I will make sweeping and stereotypical statements for which I apologise in advance. I don't apologise for any spelling and/or grammatical errors. If you don't like what I write, then please exercise your right to use your mouse and move on. This blog is intended first and foremost for my family to keep in touch with me as I live so far away. Family, I hope you will feel free to comment as often as you please (oh, that's as soon as i let you know that this exists of course)