Amusing Oneself
It's really not nice to laugh at other's expense. But sometimes you can't help it. And unfortunately there are people on this planet who regularly provide fodder for amusement.
Take Chitty, for example.
He attempts to fix things (unsuccessfully), walks into doors....
But his latest stunt on the elevator (I mean ESCALator - blonde day...) (almost) tops them all.
Go on, amuse yourself at his expense. He won't mind! :)
Take Chitty, for example.
He attempts to fix things (unsuccessfully), walks into doors....
But his latest stunt on the elevator (I mean ESCALator - blonde day...) (almost) tops them all.
Go on, amuse yourself at his expense. He won't mind! :)
Forbidden fruit
Well, not exactly forbidden - I did get permission to pick them from the neighbour's tree. And then realized I really, really want my own orchard. Granted, these apples you wouldn't want to just bite into - I made that mistake once and had to spit out half a worm. But you won't get fresher!
Found out something interesting the other day. If you plant an apple seed, it will never produce fruit exactly like the apple it came from. Something to do with genetics, pollination and DNA. If you want precisly the same fruit, you have to graft a new tree off the old one. So there are literally millions of different kinds of apples out there, growing from discarded cores and such. The generic ones you buy in the shops are all off a single original!
How's that for a bit of trivia on a Friday morning.
Book Fodder
Chatting to Red about writing stuff yesterday (over coffee and chocolate cake thingies), I started to wonder: if I wrote a book, what would I write about?
Novel? Nah, my imagination works, but not in the ways someone would want to read about. I like to be drawn into the stories others come up with, but I can't even tell a joke properly.
Short stories? They don't take as much imagination or effort to do, and I've written some. OK, I WROTE some a very long time ago. Like, high school long ago. Whether they're actually any good I wouldn't know - haven't looked at them in years.
Poetry? Wrote a few of those too. High school again. I think I've lost the poetry gene - or simply no longer have time to indulge in sufficient angst.
Memoirs? Of what? My life hasn't been spectacularly interesting. Someone once said I should write on my single parenting experience, but that's also been a bit dull. No exciting break-ups or messy divorces, no unending custody battles or off-the-rails children (though with the teen years approaching, I may have something to write about soon!).
I could haul out my old diaries, the ones I kept just after school. Until my mom discovered them, read one, and I suddenly lost interest in keeping a record of all my doings! There's some stuff in there, but not book-worthy.
BUT - what if I wrote a Fake Diary? Where, instead of writing down what had happened each day, I wrote what I WISHED had happened? Now that could be fun!
"Today I killed my boss. I sneaked up behind him while he was in a meeting and stabbed and stabbed with a big kitchen knife until the walls were bloody."
"I woke up sexy this morning. Perfect figure, face that would slay men at a thousand paces, and the ability to wear stilletos without falling over."
"I decided to spend the entire week in bed. I've hired some hunky slaves to bring me food and attend to my every need."
"I discovered this morning how to make colleages spontaneously combust."
"All my ex-boyfriends have turned out fat and alone, bald and slimy."
Yeah, I think that could work!
Novel? Nah, my imagination works, but not in the ways someone would want to read about. I like to be drawn into the stories others come up with, but I can't even tell a joke properly.
Short stories? They don't take as much imagination or effort to do, and I've written some. OK, I WROTE some a very long time ago. Like, high school long ago. Whether they're actually any good I wouldn't know - haven't looked at them in years.
Poetry? Wrote a few of those too. High school again. I think I've lost the poetry gene - or simply no longer have time to indulge in sufficient angst.
Memoirs? Of what? My life hasn't been spectacularly interesting. Someone once said I should write on my single parenting experience, but that's also been a bit dull. No exciting break-ups or messy divorces, no unending custody battles or off-the-rails children (though with the teen years approaching, I may have something to write about soon!).
I could haul out my old diaries, the ones I kept just after school. Until my mom discovered them, read one, and I suddenly lost interest in keeping a record of all my doings! There's some stuff in there, but not book-worthy.
BUT - what if I wrote a Fake Diary? Where, instead of writing down what had happened each day, I wrote what I WISHED had happened? Now that could be fun!
"Today I killed my boss. I sneaked up behind him while he was in a meeting and stabbed and stabbed with a big kitchen knife until the walls were bloody."
"I woke up sexy this morning. Perfect figure, face that would slay men at a thousand paces, and the ability to wear stilletos without falling over."
"I decided to spend the entire week in bed. I've hired some hunky slaves to bring me food and attend to my every need."
"I discovered this morning how to make colleages spontaneously combust."
"All my ex-boyfriends have turned out fat and alone, bald and slimy."
Yeah, I think that could work!
TreeSweaters
Via Treehugger this morning comes the TreeSweater - a nice way to keep your neighbourhoud arbour-friends "warm" in the chilly weather, or just perk up their looks a little. Somewhat wacky, but not harmful - and definitely a tree-hugger, if you know what I mean!
Urban art at its most unexpected.
Urban art at its most unexpected.
Taming the Rivers
Inhabitat has an intriguing look at waterways up on their site. As well as some pretty awesome photos taken both underground and above (I really need to get back into picture-taking!).
How tame is your nearest river?
Image from International Urban Glow via Inhabitat
How tame is your nearest river?
Image from International Urban Glow via Inhabitat
The Perfect Man
Patchouli posted this link on her blog and in the comments, and it seriously needs more exposure:
Innocent Escapes - for when you need the Perfect Man.
Although I think this type of perfect man may have me more in tears of laughter than tears of tenderness... :)
Innocent Escapes - for when you need the Perfect Man.
Although I think this type of perfect man may have me more in tears of laughter than tears of tenderness... :)
I've got a DATE!
Yes, I do, indeed. Who would have thought it?
It's no ordinary date. I'm going to be picking my date up and taking my date out. And my date is a WOMAN! Did you think I was only dating men??? :)
You see, this afternoon I get to meet Red. She's back from the USA and currently staying just down the road. I'm taking her out for coffee and a chat. She's only the second blogger I'll have met, so it's an Important Event!
I've taken the afternoon off, brushed most of the dirt out the car, and will throw in some petrol on the way to ensure I actually make it there and back.
Too cool. Can't wait.
::update (post-date)::
Want gorgeous? It's Red. Want irrisistibly bubbly? It's Red. Domestic goddess? Red again. Hours of non-stop nattering? Red has it. Wacky thought-processes? Yup, Red.
She really shouldn't be hiding behind a blog - rather out there for the world to see and admire, bow down and salivate over.
Had an absolutely awesome time over a good cup of coffee (and little chocolate cupcake thingies). Which she made herself (perhaps).
Thanks for letting me meet you Red!!! You rock, girl.
It's no ordinary date. I'm going to be picking my date up and taking my date out. And my date is a WOMAN! Did you think I was only dating men??? :)
You see, this afternoon I get to meet Red. She's back from the USA and currently staying just down the road. I'm taking her out for coffee and a chat. She's only the second blogger I'll have met, so it's an Important Event!
I've taken the afternoon off, brushed most of the dirt out the car, and will throw in some petrol on the way to ensure I actually make it there and back.
Too cool. Can't wait.
::update (post-date)::
Want gorgeous? It's Red. Want irrisistibly bubbly? It's Red. Domestic goddess? Red again. Hours of non-stop nattering? Red has it. Wacky thought-processes? Yup, Red.
She really shouldn't be hiding behind a blog - rather out there for the world to see and admire, bow down and salivate over.
Had an absolutely awesome time over a good cup of coffee (and little chocolate cupcake thingies). Which she made herself (perhaps).
Thanks for letting me meet you Red!!! You rock, girl.
Boomerang Babies
Hot on the heels of my sudden realization that my fledgling could be leaving the nest within a few years, comes the new trend of "Boomerang Babies". icWales reports:
My brother moved out of my parent's place when he got his first job. He lived with a couple of friends in a nearby apartment - but ended up eating every meal at the parent's place anyway, as they were non-cooks/ran out of food/didn't have money to buy any! Eventually he moved back home...
My parents joked after their emmigration to Australia that they'd had to go - it was the only way they could get us to leave home. And although we all laughed, in a way it had a grain of truth. It's mighty comfy living in your parent's house. Need a can opener? They've got one. Need a hammer? Got that too. Don't feel like cooking? Someone else will. Struggling with finances? Sponge off the parents for a month or two until you come right.
The extended-family home is no longer the norm in this day and age, but there are advantages to a large group of relatives under one roof. It makes certain aspects of life a whole lot easier. And others a whole lot more difficult.
I've told my son that once he's working and earning, he should be living on his own too. But perhaps it will make more economic and emotional sense if we were both still under the same roof. One never knows. I'd like for him to get a shot of independence, to find out what making one's own way is all about. Yet I'm still his mom, his family.
And he's always liked boomerangs.
Homes are being turned into ant hills as cash-strapped people in their 30s move back in with their parents, according to research published today.Granted it's nothing new...
My brother moved out of my parent's place when he got his first job. He lived with a couple of friends in a nearby apartment - but ended up eating every meal at the parent's place anyway, as they were non-cooks/ran out of food/didn't have money to buy any! Eventually he moved back home...
My parents joked after their emmigration to Australia that they'd had to go - it was the only way they could get us to leave home. And although we all laughed, in a way it had a grain of truth. It's mighty comfy living in your parent's house. Need a can opener? They've got one. Need a hammer? Got that too. Don't feel like cooking? Someone else will. Struggling with finances? Sponge off the parents for a month or two until you come right.
The extended-family home is no longer the norm in this day and age, but there are advantages to a large group of relatives under one roof. It makes certain aspects of life a whole lot easier. And others a whole lot more difficult.
I've told my son that once he's working and earning, he should be living on his own too. But perhaps it will make more economic and emotional sense if we were both still under the same roof. One never knows. I'd like for him to get a shot of independence, to find out what making one's own way is all about. Yet I'm still his mom, his family.
And he's always liked boomerangs.
Do not try this at home!
IOL is not only a news service, but also tends to post patent-pending type inventions.
This morning's one scares the heck out of me!
It's a gas-operated razor!!! From the site:
This morning's one scares the heck out of me!It's a gas-operated razor!!! From the site:
The tool contains a hollow U-shaped blade that folds out from around the handle, which is fitted with an internal flame nozzle to direct a gas flame along a narrow open slot, provided near the bottom edge of the blade.That's not something I want to try, at home or anywhere else!
A control button when depressed, activates a piezo-electric crystal that generates a spark to ignite gas that is fed from the lighter to the blade’s flame nozzle. The close proximity of the flame, along the blade opening, singes off any hair stubble protruding through the narrow slot while the blade is repeatedly stroked over the skin to remove the hair.
Seeking a MAN???
I thought I was seeking Serenity, but this afternoon, by some odd chance (perhaps a passing black hole or time anomoly) I found myself browsing a few dating sites (and at the mention of dating, watch the contents of that green bar under "advertising" to the right go one way! ;) ).
Why?
Beats me.
It's not like I'm lonely or desperate or have a ticking clock or anything. I've had my alloted one kid, I've had my wild-oats period, and I'm pretty self-sufficient thanks. But I have been wondering how people my age meet other people, and especially how single moms with nearing-teendom kids do it.
I ain't gonna hang out in no bars, thanks! And the internet is often the equivalent of a seedy bar... But I know there's cool folk out there, and wouldn't mind making some new friends. However one doesn't just throw oneself out on the street with a "MEET ME!" sign around the neck.
So I ended up on the dating sites today. For a change, I went for the Green Dating ones - all the treehuggers, meditators, crystal-gazers, musicians and free spirits. One can almost understand why a lot of them are still single...
But who am I to judge? I'M still single too! And that could say "weirdo" to any number of the population.
And then I took a step back from my quick judgement-by-profile, after having dismissed 10 pages of options as unsuitable. I started to wonder why exactly I was put off by whatever profile or photo I browsed. What, exactly, is it I'm looking for?
The ones I found attractive had more to do with their sense of humour, open mind, lack of obvious desperation and (safe) distance from here than anything else (a non-scraggly-bear appearance and certain indicators of good hygiene also helped). I'm not after a hunk (too vain) or Mr Perfect (yeah, right!). In fact, I'm not sure WHAT I'm after. And therein lies the problem.
No wonder I'm still single.
Why?
Beats me.
It's not like I'm lonely or desperate or have a ticking clock or anything. I've had my alloted one kid, I've had my wild-oats period, and I'm pretty self-sufficient thanks. But I have been wondering how people my age meet other people, and especially how single moms with nearing-teendom kids do it.
I ain't gonna hang out in no bars, thanks! And the internet is often the equivalent of a seedy bar... But I know there's cool folk out there, and wouldn't mind making some new friends. However one doesn't just throw oneself out on the street with a "MEET ME!" sign around the neck.
So I ended up on the dating sites today. For a change, I went for the Green Dating ones - all the treehuggers, meditators, crystal-gazers, musicians and free spirits. One can almost understand why a lot of them are still single...
But who am I to judge? I'M still single too! And that could say "weirdo" to any number of the population.
And then I took a step back from my quick judgement-by-profile, after having dismissed 10 pages of options as unsuitable. I started to wonder why exactly I was put off by whatever profile or photo I browsed. What, exactly, is it I'm looking for?
The ones I found attractive had more to do with their sense of humour, open mind, lack of obvious desperation and (safe) distance from here than anything else (a non-scraggly-bear appearance and certain indicators of good hygiene also helped). I'm not after a hunk (too vain) or Mr Perfect (yeah, right!). In fact, I'm not sure WHAT I'm after. And therein lies the problem.
No wonder I'm still single.
Eco-Concience and Green Choices
Someone once said "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". (or was it a "mime"?) Unfortunately, a mind is also a terrible thing. Once you've read something or seen something or heard something, it's stuck in that mass of grey stuff inside your skull, like it or not. (I read an article 20 years ago on the little girl orphans in China that still makes me cry today)
Take my morning indulgence of coffee, for example. Last week I read that the palm oil production industry is threatening orangutan's habitat. And the main ingredient in the powdered creamer I chuck liberally into the coffee is palm oil! So as of this morning, I'm trying real cream instead of creamer. Which I guess is a good thing, but it's gonna cost me. (On a related note, I also had real butter on my proper bread this morning, as well as apples fresh-picked from a kind neighbour's tree. The most natural breakfast I've ever had!)
And then there's the contraceptive-hurts-environment issue I blogged about in a post some of you dared to read. Thanks to that, I'm off the injection. (Which is a good thing, says my newly-rediscovered womanliness, ie libido - but we won't go there)
Paint? Carpets? Furniture? All that reading has made me look at my surroundings with new eyes, noting the stuff that gives off chemicals 50 years down the line and damages our bodies. No more generic brown-spotty carpets, if I can help it. I'm refinishing my little square of parquet flooring in natural waxes and resins, and going for paint that doesn't give you asthma. I'm on the point of chucking out the lounge suite in favour of a wood and naturally-cushioned version I'm busy designing, and will make.
This weekend I replace the final 8 lightbulbs in my house with energy saving ones. I'm sitting here basically in the dark, using as little power as possible. Lights and gadgets go off and/or are unplugged when not in use. I've been stocking up on my natural fire-lighters for personal use and for sale, and looking at alternative energy sources for the future.
The recycling drive at work has seen me haul 4 CAR-loads of paper to the primary school in the past month. Every ton saves 17 trees... I'm sure I've saved a small grove.
I haven't yet reached the point where I give up deodorant, shampoo and toothpaste. Thankfully, according to my fellow-man.
But more and more I find myself trying to live greener and lighter and more naturally on the earth. All because of this blob of stuff in my head that retains information and won't let me go back to my old ways.
Take my morning indulgence of coffee, for example. Last week I read that the palm oil production industry is threatening orangutan's habitat. And the main ingredient in the powdered creamer I chuck liberally into the coffee is palm oil! So as of this morning, I'm trying real cream instead of creamer. Which I guess is a good thing, but it's gonna cost me. (On a related note, I also had real butter on my proper bread this morning, as well as apples fresh-picked from a kind neighbour's tree. The most natural breakfast I've ever had!)
And then there's the contraceptive-hurts-environment issue I blogged about in a post some of you dared to read. Thanks to that, I'm off the injection. (Which is a good thing, says my newly-rediscovered womanliness, ie libido - but we won't go there)
Paint? Carpets? Furniture? All that reading has made me look at my surroundings with new eyes, noting the stuff that gives off chemicals 50 years down the line and damages our bodies. No more generic brown-spotty carpets, if I can help it. I'm refinishing my little square of parquet flooring in natural waxes and resins, and going for paint that doesn't give you asthma. I'm on the point of chucking out the lounge suite in favour of a wood and naturally-cushioned version I'm busy designing, and will make.
This weekend I replace the final 8 lightbulbs in my house with energy saving ones. I'm sitting here basically in the dark, using as little power as possible. Lights and gadgets go off and/or are unplugged when not in use. I've been stocking up on my natural fire-lighters for personal use and for sale, and looking at alternative energy sources for the future.
The recycling drive at work has seen me haul 4 CAR-loads of paper to the primary school in the past month. Every ton saves 17 trees... I'm sure I've saved a small grove.
I haven't yet reached the point where I give up deodorant, shampoo and toothpaste. Thankfully, according to my fellow-man.
But more and more I find myself trying to live greener and lighter and more naturally on the earth. All because of this blob of stuff in my head that retains information and won't let me go back to my old ways.
In the path of Cyclone Larry
Thanks to the modern wonders of generators, my farmer friend has been able to check in by email. And I can hardly imagine what they're faced with after the cyclone swept through. They were close to where it struck, as they farm near Millaa Millaa.
Here's a bit of what he had to say:
Another friend from a nearby town sent photo and video footage of their yard - thankfully they're all OK too, including her parents (dad isn't well).
There's a part of me that wants to catch the next plane and go help out - a BIG part of me. I wish I could be there to help them work and clean and get back to whatever semblance of normalcy is possible. Farmer-friend is relatively lucky - they have a well-set-up place with backup generator power, and haven't been hit as hard as other dairy farmers. Many in the area have gone bust and given up in recent years as the industry takes a dive. Some have killed themselves. Farming's often not an easy life, as ideal as my daydreams tend to make it.
If only teleportation were possible. Beam me there, Scotty! There's not much I can do from the other side of the planet.
Here's a bit of what he had to say:
We survived but there is no power. Still hoping to get it back here tomorrow, Sunday. Just got on in to Millaa this afternoon. The place is a wreck up here, it is the worst storm to hit Australia in many decades. Tree damage is shockin round here. The cost will be well over a billion dollars worth of damage. The yard is a wreck and a few church friends are coming up from Cairns tomorrow and help to put a day in the yard, the phones have been down cause of all the power and so no net and stuff. A couple of farmers have not even milked their cows for a couple of days at all until they got generators to run things. The won't have power out this way for weeks; past here even months in some places, things are that bad. There are trees down here everywhere, places in Millaa like a church and the CWA hall and houses have roofs ripped off. The cows suvived OK . Pat out the road (nearby farmer) had a tree fall on 5 cows and had to cut them out after the cyclone. One was dead and had to shoot another one and the other 3 were OK. Innisfail, then Babinda and then Millaa had the worst damage in that order with a few extra places down the coast that were worse then Millaa. Millaa had the worst tree damage. Hope the next email I send will be with power.Thank goodness the other cyclone forming out to sea has stayed away. But there's a long road ahead for these guys.
Another friend from a nearby town sent photo and video footage of their yard - thankfully they're all OK too, including her parents (dad isn't well).
There's a part of me that wants to catch the next plane and go help out - a BIG part of me. I wish I could be there to help them work and clean and get back to whatever semblance of normalcy is possible. Farmer-friend is relatively lucky - they have a well-set-up place with backup generator power, and haven't been hit as hard as other dairy farmers. Many in the area have gone bust and given up in recent years as the industry takes a dive. Some have killed themselves. Farming's often not an easy life, as ideal as my daydreams tend to make it.
If only teleportation were possible. Beam me there, Scotty! There's not much I can do from the other side of the planet.
Home Alone
Half of Cape Town is listening to Metallica rock the mountain right about now. And I'm at home in my slippers, doing nothing.
Darn.
Darn.
Surrealism Server: Compliments for All!
Ian's Messy Desk pointed me in the direction of the Surrealist Compliment Generator. Hit reload for an endless stream of somewhat.. well, SURREAL compliments!
Here's a few examples:
* Woods nymphs sprinkle your path with bowlings balls while you dance and prowl in the sequined moonlight with leftover heads of lettuce.
* Your sunburnt skin is as beautiful as gangrenous flesh peeled from an amputated limb.
* Bleed me! My memory is fried with your pork!
* You are the sound of one lip kissing.
* Ringworm sleeps comfortably around your umbilicus.
OH, just go click and refresh! I'm sure some of these actually make sense... but I'm laughing too hard to care.
Here's a few examples:
* Woods nymphs sprinkle your path with bowlings balls while you dance and prowl in the sequined moonlight with leftover heads of lettuce.
* Your sunburnt skin is as beautiful as gangrenous flesh peeled from an amputated limb.
* Bleed me! My memory is fried with your pork!
* You are the sound of one lip kissing.
* Ringworm sleeps comfortably around your umbilicus.
OH, just go click and refresh! I'm sure some of these actually make sense... but I'm laughing too hard to care.
Disaster Zone updates
Well, it seems whatever planets were mis-aligned, they've started moving off.
* No more depression. Got chocolate.
* Since I reconnected something to the top of the brake fluid container in the car, the brakes work! I didn't know my car was quite so high-tech. Still wheel-rattlings, but nothing fatal.
* Employers have suddenly become terribly nice to me - prompting me to wonder if they've discovered my blog.... freaky, scary stuff....
* Replaced the sound card with a cheap but good one. Borrowing speakers from the work computer, as these appear to be shot. We have the Windows Opening Chorus back again!
* It's payday, and I came home with a car-load of good food. I've given up the coffee creamer in favour of real cream, and have replaced dodgy "plastic" margarine with real butter, on trial. We've got fruit and veg of all varieties, and proper bread and pasta.
* My son's watch functions perfectly well - negating the need for me to get a new one. He never uses his anyway.
* Dogs are fine, happy and healthy, bouncing around.
And the BEST of all is that I DID fix the washing machine! Not only is it pumping, but it's running smoother, cleaner and easier. Sometimes I astound myself.
Oh, and maintenace fixed the glass in the door at their own expense, plus the car doesn't sound as if it has a hole in the exhaust pipe anymore - but that could just be thanks to driving with the windows up.
All in all, I'd say those niggly, disastrous things are sorted out. YAY.
* No more depression. Got chocolate.
* Since I reconnected something to the top of the brake fluid container in the car, the brakes work! I didn't know my car was quite so high-tech. Still wheel-rattlings, but nothing fatal.
* Employers have suddenly become terribly nice to me - prompting me to wonder if they've discovered my blog.... freaky, scary stuff....
* Replaced the sound card with a cheap but good one. Borrowing speakers from the work computer, as these appear to be shot. We have the Windows Opening Chorus back again!
* It's payday, and I came home with a car-load of good food. I've given up the coffee creamer in favour of real cream, and have replaced dodgy "plastic" margarine with real butter, on trial. We've got fruit and veg of all varieties, and proper bread and pasta.
* My son's watch functions perfectly well - negating the need for me to get a new one. He never uses his anyway.
* Dogs are fine, happy and healthy, bouncing around.
And the BEST of all is that I DID fix the washing machine! Not only is it pumping, but it's running smoother, cleaner and easier. Sometimes I astound myself.
Oh, and maintenace fixed the glass in the door at their own expense, plus the car doesn't sound as if it has a hole in the exhaust pipe anymore - but that could just be thanks to driving with the windows up.
All in all, I'd say those niggly, disastrous things are sorted out. YAY.
Schipperkes and Washing Machines
Schipperkes must be the most inquisitive dogs around!I dragged my broken-down washing machine out to the front verandah yesterday to open it up and poke at the parts, hoping to fix what ails it. I unscrewed things, and opened things and took things apart.
And then stood back in horrified awe at the gross stuff lurking inside! It's a wonder any of our clothes came out clean. The outer barrel was covered with what looked like a layer of black algae, dirt, and a liberal sprinkling of lint/dog hair. A THICK layer, which you could peel off in strips. YUK!
Unfortunately I couldn't get the inner barrel out, but I did manage to do some scraping and cleaning, then got the hosepipe and sprayed it with as much pressure as I could manage. Which, of course, had me soaked every time I deviated from getting the water precisely between the two barrels.
And all this time, Didi the schipperke was poking his nose into the exposed undersides of the machine, vacuum-sniffing whatever he could reach. Push him out the way, and he's back a few seconds later. Standing in the waste water pouring out the pipe, getting cobwebs up his nose in the corners. He just HAD to see what was going on and absorb all the smells. Dogs! :)
Well, I hope I've fixed the beast (washing machine, not dog). I think all that junk was clogging up the pump so it couldn't work. I HOPE that's what the problem was. I've left it to dry out overnight in case some of the wires got drenched, and will test it later today. With a load of hot water and nothing else, just in case there's still gunk floating around somewhere.
If it's fixed, yay! If it isn't - well, we are due for a new machine sometime anyway. Just wish I could afford those LG Washer/Dryer combo's, with winter coming on! But it's likely to be the cheapest model I can find, with a decent capacity.
At least now I know what the insides of a washing machine look like.
Green Tea and Chocolate
I've gone into sensory overload. Everywhere I look, I see things I want to touch, small, feel. It's a bit like getting in contact with your "experiential self", I guess.
Yesterday my latest edition of House & Leisure magazine arrived. Yeah, I drool at the homes, jaw-slack gape at the prices some people pay for "style", and garner ideas for living. But I found myself browsing those - looking and moving on.
Until I got to the food section.
What is it with me? All I want to do these days is create - and a lot of it has to do with food. I want to knead bread and eat it fresh out of the oven with real butter. I want to slow-roast things and bake things and spend hours among delicious smells and burstingly-fresh ingredients. I want the earthy, the real, the newly-plucked, the natural and hand-made.
Normally I'm intolerant of too much sugar - but now I'm after chocolate like a pig after a truffle. I want to sink my hands into a box of dark beauties and let each one melt in my mouth, licking the leftovers off my fingers.
Green tea. Yup, I'm craving that too. And proper coffee with cream (after taking a look at the ingredients in my powdered creamer, and realizing it's mostly palm oil). I want to bring back mid-morning tea rituals, and high tea with little cakes. I fantasize about tables laden with real, honest-to-goodness food and the company to share it.
It must have something to do with the season. Cocooning and Comfort Food. We're out of the stage where everything has to be light and airy and mostly water. We're heading for days of snuggling up in a furry blanket, hands wrapped around a hot drink and feet before the fire (if only!). Food gets heavier and we want to spend more time around a hot stove (let's hope the electricity holds out).
But I think it also has much to do with my inner awakening. I'm taking notice of things around me, compiling a "passion portfolio" if you will. I've been mentally bookmarking things that make me get goosebumbs or feel great, and slowly but surely knitting them into an image of who I am inside. Next step is to bring that to the surface and let it shine through. Call it an inside-out makeover!
I know all these threads are coming together bit by bit - all these loves and joys and passions slowly coagulating into a picture of Me.
Starting with green tea and chocolate. Small steps, baby, small steps.
Further Reading:
Urban Abbess on Celebrating Spring
Seth on Authenticity - a good start if you're planning on making a living from your passions!
Teaology
Sweet Potato & Chickpea Curry and Chocolate Fallen Souffle Cake from Treehugger
Yesterday my latest edition of House & Leisure magazine arrived. Yeah, I drool at the homes, jaw-slack gape at the prices some people pay for "style", and garner ideas for living. But I found myself browsing those - looking and moving on.
Until I got to the food section.
What is it with me? All I want to do these days is create - and a lot of it has to do with food. I want to knead bread and eat it fresh out of the oven with real butter. I want to slow-roast things and bake things and spend hours among delicious smells and burstingly-fresh ingredients. I want the earthy, the real, the newly-plucked, the natural and hand-made.Normally I'm intolerant of too much sugar - but now I'm after chocolate like a pig after a truffle. I want to sink my hands into a box of dark beauties and let each one melt in my mouth, licking the leftovers off my fingers.
Green tea. Yup, I'm craving that too. And proper coffee with cream (after taking a look at the ingredients in my powdered creamer, and realizing it's mostly palm oil). I want to bring back mid-morning tea rituals, and high tea with little cakes. I fantasize about tables laden with real, honest-to-goodness food and the company to share it.
It must have something to do with the season. Cocooning and Comfort Food. We're out of the stage where everything has to be light and airy and mostly water. We're heading for days of snuggling up in a furry blanket, hands wrapped around a hot drink and feet before the fire (if only!). Food gets heavier and we want to spend more time around a hot stove (let's hope the electricity holds out).
But I think it also has much to do with my inner awakening. I'm taking notice of things around me, compiling a "passion portfolio" if you will. I've been mentally bookmarking things that make me get goosebumbs or feel great, and slowly but surely knitting them into an image of who I am inside. Next step is to bring that to the surface and let it shine through. Call it an inside-out makeover!
I know all these threads are coming together bit by bit - all these loves and joys and passions slowly coagulating into a picture of Me.
Starting with green tea and chocolate. Small steps, baby, small steps.
Further Reading:
Urban Abbess on Celebrating Spring
Seth on Authenticity - a good start if you're planning on making a living from your passions!
Teaology
Sweet Potato & Chickpea Curry and Chocolate Fallen Souffle Cake from Treehugger
Photoblog: Seasons Shift
The seasons are changing. I saw my son off to school at 7:30, just as the sun was coming up. In summer, it's already high in the heavens at that time. In winter, he goes to school in the dark.
This morning I noticed how far over the sun had moved on the horizon. A good couple of degrees, heading toward that big block of granite which blocks out sunrise until 9:30 in winter.
I don't know if the tsunami had something to do with it, tilting the planet just that little bit and changing our seasons - somehow it seems this year that winter is early, that things have changed ever so slightly. It's way too early for sunrise to happen where it is!
On the way to work this morning I snapped this pic. The grass is green after recent rains, the sky is blue for the day. And the place were I live still gives me a shot of joy when I look around me.
Inspiration NOW
I'm a huge fan of the Amazing Race show. I was born with itchy feet and a desire to see things and experience life in all its aspects. Unfortunately, all too often those urges are relegated to the background as mundane life takes over.
This afternoon I was looking for something on Google Earth, and wondered if anyone had tracked all the Amazing Race places (they haven't - I will soon!). Which led me to find out exactly which places they've been to. And in turn I ended up at Phil Keoghan's site NOW - No Opportunity Wasted. If you're short of a few dreams and seem to have lost your "lus vir die lewe" (lust for life), his story and website would be a good place to start in order to regain it. Specifically the Lists page.
I need to sit down and make my list. Again.
One evening my son and I watched "100 places to see / things to do before you die" and got all inspired. We started listing places and things, and it turned into quite a session. As he's still young, he had about 20 on his list - I got up to 60! Yes, I'm a dreamer.
And then I started thinking today. Why am I waiting to do the things I'd love to do? Surely my list doesn't only need the Big Stuff on it, the stuff that seems way out of reach right now?
What if I sat down at the beginning of each week, and listed one spectacular thing I could do within 7 days? Something to experience, a place to go, a fear to face or a dream to fulfil! Now that's do-able!
You see, every day we get 24 hours worth of opportunities to live. At the end of most days I can't tell you what I've done with mine, but generally they've slipped quietly away. It's like I'm treading water, waiting for something big and exciting to happen instead of pushing onward from one adventure to the next. Living.
Like that big Africa dream (see my Africa Trek blog at right...). It seems to have been put on the back burner - but why? And my love of travel - why is the furthest I've gone recently to Paarl, less than an hour's drive? Why am I sticking cash into things like broken washing machines and paint for the walls, instead of investing in the stuff I dream of?
I don't know. But I think I'm going to sit down this evening and make a list. A list of small things, a list that will have me jumping out of bed each day to enthuse over its possibilities.
Inspiration has struck.
This afternoon I was looking for something on Google Earth, and wondered if anyone had tracked all the Amazing Race places (they haven't - I will soon!). Which led me to find out exactly which places they've been to. And in turn I ended up at Phil Keoghan's site NOW - No Opportunity Wasted. If you're short of a few dreams and seem to have lost your "lus vir die lewe" (lust for life), his story and website would be a good place to start in order to regain it. Specifically the Lists page.
I need to sit down and make my list. Again.
One evening my son and I watched "100 places to see / things to do before you die" and got all inspired. We started listing places and things, and it turned into quite a session. As he's still young, he had about 20 on his list - I got up to 60! Yes, I'm a dreamer.
And then I started thinking today. Why am I waiting to do the things I'd love to do? Surely my list doesn't only need the Big Stuff on it, the stuff that seems way out of reach right now?
What if I sat down at the beginning of each week, and listed one spectacular thing I could do within 7 days? Something to experience, a place to go, a fear to face or a dream to fulfil! Now that's do-able!
You see, every day we get 24 hours worth of opportunities to live. At the end of most days I can't tell you what I've done with mine, but generally they've slipped quietly away. It's like I'm treading water, waiting for something big and exciting to happen instead of pushing onward from one adventure to the next. Living.
Like that big Africa dream (see my Africa Trek blog at right...). It seems to have been put on the back burner - but why? And my love of travel - why is the furthest I've gone recently to Paarl, less than an hour's drive? Why am I sticking cash into things like broken washing machines and paint for the walls, instead of investing in the stuff I dream of?
I don't know. But I think I'm going to sit down this evening and make a list. A list of small things, a list that will have me jumping out of bed each day to enthuse over its possibilities.
Inspiration has struck.
Happy Water Day!
Today is World Water Day. In fact, it's Water Week too.
No, this doesn't mean we're all on a water-only diet, but it does give a chance for each of us to take a good look at our water use and misuse, and think about water issues.
One of the articles I wrote for a magazine recently was about the river pollution problems we face world-wide. I used my local waterway as an example of how quickly a river can become polluted - and that we don't often think how our actions have a knock-on effect. Things like using fertilizers on your lawn, then watering it: where does that waste water end up? Heading down the gutters, and likely into your nearest stream or river.
It was interesting to chat to a group that is involved in not only caring for, but also improving this river. They are active among politicians and the community, gathering once a month to weed out alien vegetation and keeping a close eye on water quality. I stopped by the work group to take a few photos, and got a good look at the variety of vegetation and inhabitants on the river's banks. Including one guineafowl with no less than 16 babies running after her!
I know many schools are focusing on water this week - but once you're out of school it's harder to remember to do. We get caught up in making a living, and forget to stop and think.
But do so today. As you down your bottled water at work or wash your hands. As you cook or clean or water the garden. Take a moment to consider where that water comes from, the path it's travelled to reach you, and whether you're using it well.
And hey - go swimming, will ya? :)
::update::
Here's what some countries are doing around the world to conserve and manage their water.
No, this doesn't mean we're all on a water-only diet, but it does give a chance for each of us to take a good look at our water use and misuse, and think about water issues.
One of the articles I wrote for a magazine recently was about the river pollution problems we face world-wide. I used my local waterway as an example of how quickly a river can become polluted - and that we don't often think how our actions have a knock-on effect. Things like using fertilizers on your lawn, then watering it: where does that waste water end up? Heading down the gutters, and likely into your nearest stream or river.
It was interesting to chat to a group that is involved in not only caring for, but also improving this river. They are active among politicians and the community, gathering once a month to weed out alien vegetation and keeping a close eye on water quality. I stopped by the work group to take a few photos, and got a good look at the variety of vegetation and inhabitants on the river's banks. Including one guineafowl with no less than 16 babies running after her!
I know many schools are focusing on water this week - but once you're out of school it's harder to remember to do. We get caught up in making a living, and forget to stop and think.
But do so today. As you down your bottled water at work or wash your hands. As you cook or clean or water the garden. Take a moment to consider where that water comes from, the path it's travelled to reach you, and whether you're using it well.
And hey - go swimming, will ya? :)
::update::
Here's what some countries are doing around the world to conserve and manage their water.
March - the month from hell
I can't remember when last I had such an awful month, with nearly everything that can go wrong, going wrong.
* Depression, angst, ghosts from the past I thought I'd laid to rest. Friendships went from great to bad.
* Car tyre issues (replaced 3 out of 4), wheel balancing, but still the wheels rattle badly - and now almost complete brake failure. I'm scared to go anywhere, as everywhere is downhill from here! We're on the last fumes of the petrol.
* Employers deciding I'm to be moaned at, daily.
* Computer sound card conked. In the middle of a movie I was watching. Computer itself went into permanent restart and broke down after a power failure.
* We've run out of cash and are on the last of the food. Not enough fruit and veg means I'm none too healthy.
* My watch stopped working two days ago - and no, it's not the battery.
* Dog tried to die of tick-bite fever. 500 bucks and an overnight vet's stay later, he's still alive.
And now the washing machine has broken. The pump burnt out during the last load a few minutes ago. A new machine will cost half my salary - they don't replace this brand's pumps.
I guess it's back to hand-washing in the bath until I can afford one (did it for 6 months once, can do it again). Food and a car that works take priority. Even the sound card will have to wait.
There are still 10 days of March left. How much worse can it get? Do I really want to know?
::update::
Lucky me! I found 6 potatoes in the garden, and a handful of tomatoes. The peas will be ready tomorrow - so we won't starve... :) But I am considering investing in a chicken or two.
::update 2::
Hole in exhaust pipe, front door glass broken by wind (and due to budgetary constraints, "maintenance on homes will not be done until further notice" - so will have to replace at my own expense). Will this darned month never end?
* Depression, angst, ghosts from the past I thought I'd laid to rest. Friendships went from great to bad.
* Car tyre issues (replaced 3 out of 4), wheel balancing, but still the wheels rattle badly - and now almost complete brake failure. I'm scared to go anywhere, as everywhere is downhill from here! We're on the last fumes of the petrol.
* Employers deciding I'm to be moaned at, daily.
* Computer sound card conked. In the middle of a movie I was watching. Computer itself went into permanent restart and broke down after a power failure.
* We've run out of cash and are on the last of the food. Not enough fruit and veg means I'm none too healthy.
* My watch stopped working two days ago - and no, it's not the battery.
* Dog tried to die of tick-bite fever. 500 bucks and an overnight vet's stay later, he's still alive.
And now the washing machine has broken. The pump burnt out during the last load a few minutes ago. A new machine will cost half my salary - they don't replace this brand's pumps.
I guess it's back to hand-washing in the bath until I can afford one (did it for 6 months once, can do it again). Food and a car that works take priority. Even the sound card will have to wait.
There are still 10 days of March left. How much worse can it get? Do I really want to know?
::update::
Lucky me! I found 6 potatoes in the garden, and a handful of tomatoes. The peas will be ready tomorrow - so we won't starve... :) But I am considering investing in a chicken or two.
::update 2::
Hole in exhaust pipe, front door glass broken by wind (and due to budgetary constraints, "maintenance on homes will not be done until further notice" - so will have to replace at my own expense). Will this darned month never end?
Freedom is coming?!?!?!?!
It just hit me. And it feels weird. My son is due for high school next year - an age where boarding school is a possibility. And it's not like I'm trying to get rid of him, but it is an option.
I'm nearly at the stage where I'll be just me again, instead of me & son. Soon he will start to exit the nest, one feather at a time, and I have to figure out where that leaves me.
In a way it leaves me with a world of possibilities! I never got that just-out-of-school chance to backpack any number of countries. My son was born when I was 21, and I had to grow up fast. I haven't really had the chance to travel (cash plowed right into food and schooling every month). I haven't taken a whole lot of me-time ever, nor set aside an hour or so every day for things like a yoga class, sport, art or culture. I hardly know what it is to be a single adult - it seems there's always been the two of us.
Of course, I'll never stop being a mom. And for all the adventures I can imagine, I'd love my son to share them. But the day will come, and is coming, when he'll have a life of his own - where he won't want to hang around with mom.
And perhaps then I'll suddenly up and go to see the Himalayas, or indulge in a holiday in the south of France, or disappear for a week's silent retreat. Or even, just maybe, get a date... :)
I'm nearly at the stage where I'll be just me again, instead of me & son. Soon he will start to exit the nest, one feather at a time, and I have to figure out where that leaves me.
In a way it leaves me with a world of possibilities! I never got that just-out-of-school chance to backpack any number of countries. My son was born when I was 21, and I had to grow up fast. I haven't really had the chance to travel (cash plowed right into food and schooling every month). I haven't taken a whole lot of me-time ever, nor set aside an hour or so every day for things like a yoga class, sport, art or culture. I hardly know what it is to be a single adult - it seems there's always been the two of us.
Of course, I'll never stop being a mom. And for all the adventures I can imagine, I'd love my son to share them. But the day will come, and is coming, when he'll have a life of his own - where he won't want to hang around with mom.
And perhaps then I'll suddenly up and go to see the Himalayas, or indulge in a holiday in the south of France, or disappear for a week's silent retreat. Or even, just maybe, get a date... :)
Community
Bohemian asked a while back in the comments what thoughts I had on the "ideal" community. Well, I found I've already figured it out - but forgot completely about it.
I have a notebook I haul out now and then when I need to mull things. I write down ideas and plans, I paper-blog with a Real Pen. I use it to organize my thoughts.
This weekend I hauled it out to write down all those ideas that had suddenly coagulated last week. And found that there were bigger circles around my thoughts - more than just the Me in what I was thinking.
In fact, I blogged all about it (and other things) here.
This weekend I added to the Plan. I took a re-look at my ideal, and realized it fits in with the other aspects I was thinking of. Wow.
One of these days I'm going to have to do it.
I have a notebook I haul out now and then when I need to mull things. I write down ideas and plans, I paper-blog with a Real Pen. I use it to organize my thoughts.
This weekend I hauled it out to write down all those ideas that had suddenly coagulated last week. And found that there were bigger circles around my thoughts - more than just the Me in what I was thinking.
In fact, I blogged all about it (and other things) here.
This weekend I added to the Plan. I took a re-look at my ideal, and realized it fits in with the other aspects I was thinking of. Wow.
One of these days I'm going to have to do it.
Another working holiday
Some of us (the lucky few) are enjoying a 4-day long weekend. Tomorrow is Human Rights Day, a public holiday - and some companies have given their employees Monday off too. I fall into that category, without complaint.
So what have I done this weekend? The usual. Work. Not Work work, but Home work. I have one wall left to paint, but while doing the others have managed to change the house around a bit, clean up the masses of toys under and around my son's bed (with assorted dog hair and sneaked-in bones), and paint one unfortunate small spider into the wall (sorry!).
I've still got one day left to play with, and have carried over the washing, baking and other cleaning to tomorrow. There's the lawn that needs mowing, a couple of bulbs to plant and roses to shift into pots - but I think I'll wait until after payday for some of those, so I can get a bit of kraalmis (cowpoo, nicely matured) and mulch to bed things down for the winter and/or give the tomatoes one final push toward fruition.
Now, however, I'm just going to sit for a bit. The wind's howling along outside - nowhere near cyclone, thank goodness - so I'm having an indoors day. For at least an hour, I'm actually going to have a holiday.
So what have I done this weekend? The usual. Work. Not Work work, but Home work. I have one wall left to paint, but while doing the others have managed to change the house around a bit, clean up the masses of toys under and around my son's bed (with assorted dog hair and sneaked-in bones), and paint one unfortunate small spider into the wall (sorry!).
I've still got one day left to play with, and have carried over the washing, baking and other cleaning to tomorrow. There's the lawn that needs mowing, a couple of bulbs to plant and roses to shift into pots - but I think I'll wait until after payday for some of those, so I can get a bit of kraalmis (cowpoo, nicely matured) and mulch to bed things down for the winter and/or give the tomatoes one final push toward fruition.
Now, however, I'm just going to sit for a bit. The wind's howling along outside - nowhere near cyclone, thank goodness - so I'm having an indoors day. For at least an hour, I'm actually going to have a holiday.
On a Wind and a Prayer
Cyclone Larry hit far north Queensland (Australia) earlier today, packing winds of around 300 km/hr. Devestation is widespread, including crops, homes. Not sure if any lives were lost (news still coming in).
If you've hung around here any length of time, you'll know I have a farmer friend (well, a bit more than a friend) in that area. He's just managed to check in to say they're OK. Minor house damage, but half a billion's worth in the area. They could be without power for a week, and are on generator rations. They're still checking the dairy herd and property for any other problems.
Please keep these folk in your prayers. It's going to be not only a hard clean-up operation, but will have long-term effects on the economy in that area too.
If you've hung around here any length of time, you'll know I have a farmer friend (well, a bit more than a friend) in that area. He's just managed to check in to say they're OK. Minor house damage, but half a billion's worth in the area. They could be without power for a week, and are on generator rations. They're still checking the dairy herd and property for any other problems.
Please keep these folk in your prayers. It's going to be not only a hard clean-up operation, but will have long-term effects on the economy in that area too.
Shot Down
More and more, I'm starting to dislike being an "employee". No, I'm not moaning over a regular salary, a nice office, a job, a place to live - but every now and then the cr*p that filters down from above gets to me.
Case in point: this morning I managed to do something spectacular, that I didn't know I could, that added value to a particular area of work I thought the boss would be happy about. But instead of a "thank you", he calls me in to moan about something out of my control - an area of responsibility he told me to take over, but an event that happened before he told me to do so!
And it's not the first time. Every time I do something great and start getting the warm fuzzies, thinking perhaps I could stick it out here a few more years, that gets brushed aside by some higher power (a different one every day!) in favour of berating me for something I haven't done, or haven't done well enough.
I know I've had it relatively easy - being almost my own boss for a few years now, left alone to get on with what I need to at the pace it needs doing. I'm not a bad worker. I really do go above and beyond, doing things I'm not paid for, and doing them well. I cut short lunch hours and I come in early most days. I don't stand and gossip in other offices, or wander aimlessly in the halls. I'm at my desk, doing what I'm supposed to. But that gets no recognition. Instead, the bad things are highlighted and slapped on my head to drag me back down to floor level.
It's really discouraging. I'm doing my best. But it's simply not good enough.
Is it any wonder that I let my daydreams of what could be take over most days?
Case in point: this morning I managed to do something spectacular, that I didn't know I could, that added value to a particular area of work I thought the boss would be happy about. But instead of a "thank you", he calls me in to moan about something out of my control - an area of responsibility he told me to take over, but an event that happened before he told me to do so!
And it's not the first time. Every time I do something great and start getting the warm fuzzies, thinking perhaps I could stick it out here a few more years, that gets brushed aside by some higher power (a different one every day!) in favour of berating me for something I haven't done, or haven't done well enough.
I know I've had it relatively easy - being almost my own boss for a few years now, left alone to get on with what I need to at the pace it needs doing. I'm not a bad worker. I really do go above and beyond, doing things I'm not paid for, and doing them well. I cut short lunch hours and I come in early most days. I don't stand and gossip in other offices, or wander aimlessly in the halls. I'm at my desk, doing what I'm supposed to. But that gets no recognition. Instead, the bad things are highlighted and slapped on my head to drag me back down to floor level.
It's really discouraging. I'm doing my best. But it's simply not good enough.
Is it any wonder that I let my daydreams of what could be take over most days?
Coagulation
I've had a few "aha!" moments overnight. And they just keep coming.
Now that I'm getting back on track with dreams and stuff, I've been looking for a concrete goal to work toward, narrowing down the options to define how I want life to look one day soon. I started out with my usual big dream (to farm and move out of the city - not that this is much of a city), and then got thinking - how would that look? How would I support myself and my son's education, while still working at getting things running smoothly (all of which take cash)?
And bit by bit, other dreams have stuck their hands up and jumped off of dusty shelves to say, "hey - I fit in there!". Amazing.
Of course it's all going to take an initial financial injection to get going, but I've got the vision now of the direction to take, and something definite to work toward.
Amazing how many (energy-saving) lightbulbs can go off in a few hours, if you just let your mind wander! :)
Now that I'm getting back on track with dreams and stuff, I've been looking for a concrete goal to work toward, narrowing down the options to define how I want life to look one day soon. I started out with my usual big dream (to farm and move out of the city - not that this is much of a city), and then got thinking - how would that look? How would I support myself and my son's education, while still working at getting things running smoothly (all of which take cash)?
And bit by bit, other dreams have stuck their hands up and jumped off of dusty shelves to say, "hey - I fit in there!". Amazing.
Of course it's all going to take an initial financial injection to get going, but I've got the vision now of the direction to take, and something definite to work toward.
Amazing how many (energy-saving) lightbulbs can go off in a few hours, if you just let your mind wander! :)
Cool Links
* Mohop shoes - made from recycled tyres, Finnish birch plywood, and selected veneers. The coolest thing about them? One sole - many toppings. Change the ribbon/fabric/elastic, and you don't need a whole wardrobe of shoes! (via Treehugger)
* Easy-peasy silk-screening. Cheap, quick, no fancy materials needed. JUST what I was looking for! Watch this space for photos of my designs - one day... (via ReadyMade Blog)
* Lumen oil lamps. Better than those use-your-hands-to-make-patterns-on-the-walls thingies. (via Inhabitat)
* Freeline Skates (YouTube movie) in action! (via Josh Spear)
* Easy-peasy silk-screening. Cheap, quick, no fancy materials needed. JUST what I was looking for! Watch this space for photos of my designs - one day... (via ReadyMade Blog)
* Lumen oil lamps. Better than those use-your-hands-to-make-patterns-on-the-walls thingies. (via Inhabitat)
* Freeline Skates (YouTube movie) in action! (via Josh Spear)
Planning for the future
It's a typical Cape winter rain day. Not hard pelting stuff, but soft drifts of droplets just an iota bigger than mist, turning the whole world an even shade of grey.
The perfect day for my son's school swimming gala! NOT... :) But the educational system is unbending, and the entire school sits shivering by the side of a half-olympic expanse of water, which is likely to be warmer than the air above it.
Anyway, with Eskom's track record in power supply and/or weather-related episodes, I've come prepared for a potential black-out. I've brought what will become my Office Reader's Digest Condensed Book. I'll leave it here (heck, I have another 120 at home!) in case of a couple of hours of darkness.
And talking Eskom, one of our local news services has the gumption to say what we're all thinking - that the excuses they come up with are downright ridiculous. They're the only independent news service, so are not beholden to any government regulations - they can do what they want. Where other news readers will passively carry on to the next story after an item detailing corruption/stupidness, these guys will literally shake their heads and give a wry grin before they move on.
So what are Eskom's excuses as to the power cuts?
* bird poop on the lines
* smoke from the recent fires dirtying up things enough to cause a short
* pollution and mist doing the same thing
* over-use of power (they're now going to PAY businesses not to use their power in peak times...)
* broken nuclear reactor - or sabotage - or something
* overload on remaining nuclear reactor - hence it stopped working
And then there are the unofficial excuses, the ones everyone else comes up with
* mismanagement (the bloke in charge not only got a gigantic salary, but also a bonus - earning him R13 MILLION last year! That's more than the president gets paid!)
* lack of skilled workers. They've either fired the gusy who knew what they were doing, or they've left.
* lack of planning for the area's growth rate - and probably not taking into consideration that numerous guys are plugging in to their nearest power lines illegally...
* lazy-ass do-nothingness. All those power stations they wanted to build are still unbuilt, the maintenance on current systems taking a back seat to something-or-other
* and many, many more
So far there hasn't been any real progress toward solving the situation. In fact, the government is a bit peeved that Eskom doesn't even bother to turn up to talk. They appear to have cut Eskom's financial abilities for the future, thanks to their bad track record.
Treehugger.com reported recently that Eskom will be handing out 500 million CFL bulbs to those affected by the power cuts, to ensure that they use less energy and bring the load down to manageable levels. Unfortunately, they're not free, just subsidized...
As much as I'd like to see alternative energy coming into play, I'm amazed how quickly it's shot down in favour of coal and gas. I thought we signed the Kyoto Protocol?
Anyway, I've been thinking about options to keep my little corner of the planet going should we have regular rolling blackouts in the cold dead of winter. I've looked at home-made wind power, solar options, and even thought of investing in gas heating/cooking equipment. I'd love to put in a fireplace - but where? For my part, I'm replacing the 8 bulbs still left in my house with energy-saving ones, and will probably buy a butane-gas single-plate cooking device (Benbel, R160, 9 hours worth of cooking) for emergency meals. And coffee.
And today, I've got my book. That's about as much planning as I can do for now!
The perfect day for my son's school swimming gala! NOT... :) But the educational system is unbending, and the entire school sits shivering by the side of a half-olympic expanse of water, which is likely to be warmer than the air above it.
Anyway, with Eskom's track record in power supply and/or weather-related episodes, I've come prepared for a potential black-out. I've brought what will become my Office Reader's Digest Condensed Book. I'll leave it here (heck, I have another 120 at home!) in case of a couple of hours of darkness.
And talking Eskom, one of our local news services has the gumption to say what we're all thinking - that the excuses they come up with are downright ridiculous. They're the only independent news service, so are not beholden to any government regulations - they can do what they want. Where other news readers will passively carry on to the next story after an item detailing corruption/stupidness, these guys will literally shake their heads and give a wry grin before they move on.
So what are Eskom's excuses as to the power cuts?
* bird poop on the lines
* smoke from the recent fires dirtying up things enough to cause a short
* pollution and mist doing the same thing
* over-use of power (they're now going to PAY businesses not to use their power in peak times...)
* broken nuclear reactor - or sabotage - or something
* overload on remaining nuclear reactor - hence it stopped working
And then there are the unofficial excuses, the ones everyone else comes up with
* mismanagement (the bloke in charge not only got a gigantic salary, but also a bonus - earning him R13 MILLION last year! That's more than the president gets paid!)
* lack of skilled workers. They've either fired the gusy who knew what they were doing, or they've left.
* lack of planning for the area's growth rate - and probably not taking into consideration that numerous guys are plugging in to their nearest power lines illegally...
* lazy-ass do-nothingness. All those power stations they wanted to build are still unbuilt, the maintenance on current systems taking a back seat to something-or-other
* and many, many more
So far there hasn't been any real progress toward solving the situation. In fact, the government is a bit peeved that Eskom doesn't even bother to turn up to talk. They appear to have cut Eskom's financial abilities for the future, thanks to their bad track record.
Treehugger.com reported recently that Eskom will be handing out 500 million CFL bulbs to those affected by the power cuts, to ensure that they use less energy and bring the load down to manageable levels. Unfortunately, they're not free, just subsidized...
As much as I'd like to see alternative energy coming into play, I'm amazed how quickly it's shot down in favour of coal and gas. I thought we signed the Kyoto Protocol?
Anyway, I've been thinking about options to keep my little corner of the planet going should we have regular rolling blackouts in the cold dead of winter. I've looked at home-made wind power, solar options, and even thought of investing in gas heating/cooking equipment. I'd love to put in a fireplace - but where? For my part, I'm replacing the 8 bulbs still left in my house with energy-saving ones, and will probably buy a butane-gas single-plate cooking device (Benbel, R160, 9 hours worth of cooking) for emergency meals. And coffee.
And today, I've got my book. That's about as much planning as I can do for now!
Sold Out
During my forehead-slapping wake-up-call yesterday, I realized that most of my dreams take cash. Cash that only me in this family can make.
So I've sold out. You'll notice a new AdSense addition to the sidebar. Though am still trying to make actual sense of the whole process. I'm investigating all my opportunities - working on getting my business online, selling baked goodies at the office, tempting people with home-made fudge in the hopes of an order, and clearing out clutter to donate and sell.
The thing about me is I've always been able to make a few cents if I need to - but now I have to turn it into a bit more.
I've waited too long, dreamt too long, been asleep too long. This small step (or a million of them) is a stride in the right direction.
We'll see what comes of it!
So I've sold out. You'll notice a new AdSense addition to the sidebar. Though am still trying to make actual sense of the whole process. I'm investigating all my opportunities - working on getting my business online, selling baked goodies at the office, tempting people with home-made fudge in the hopes of an order, and clearing out clutter to donate and sell.
The thing about me is I've always been able to make a few cents if I need to - but now I have to turn it into a bit more.
I've waited too long, dreamt too long, been asleep too long. This small step (or a million of them) is a stride in the right direction.
We'll see what comes of it!
There goes lunchtime!
Damn - why didn't anyone tell me the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony was on? I LOVE those big show thingies! I'm certain our local tv channel said not a blessed word about it.
I turned on the telly just after 1, expecting to see some Big Bald Guy (Dr Phil) - and got the near-end of the whole shebang. And what a shebang it seems to have been! The blast-the-city-sky-high-with-fireworks ending was totally spectacular. But I still want to see the rest!
There's a part of me that's always itched to do the lighting for a big event - rock concert, show, opening/closing ceremony, dance/rave thingy. I go goo-goo over well-executed, well-timed lighting, and this one had it in spades.
Needless to say, the actual eating part of lunch had to be done in a hurry, as I was too engrossed to do any proper cooking, and nothing would entice me to the stove during the good bits.
At the end of the event, we checked the schedule to see what we were likely to watch over lunchtimes (instead of the Big Bald Guy). Unfortunately, we'll either have to get up REAL early (1:45-6), miss work (8-1) or stay up real late (11pm to midnight) to see any action. There's always the news updates, but that's just not the same.
So what would I have hoped to watch over lunch? Truthfully, the gymnastics. Although after 8 years of trying I still couldn't do a handstand, I used to be able to do backbends without bending my knees and splits with no effort at all. There's still a part of me that would love to do Beam or Floor... But instead I live vicariously as my joints slowly stiffen with age.
Ah well - that's life. You miss out on competing in gymnastics, and then you miss out on the one thing you would have watched (and taped) on TV today.
I turned on the telly just after 1, expecting to see some Big Bald Guy (Dr Phil) - and got the near-end of the whole shebang. And what a shebang it seems to have been! The blast-the-city-sky-high-with-fireworks ending was totally spectacular. But I still want to see the rest!
There's a part of me that's always itched to do the lighting for a big event - rock concert, show, opening/closing ceremony, dance/rave thingy. I go goo-goo over well-executed, well-timed lighting, and this one had it in spades.
Needless to say, the actual eating part of lunch had to be done in a hurry, as I was too engrossed to do any proper cooking, and nothing would entice me to the stove during the good bits.
At the end of the event, we checked the schedule to see what we were likely to watch over lunchtimes (instead of the Big Bald Guy). Unfortunately, we'll either have to get up REAL early (1:45-6), miss work (8-1) or stay up real late (11pm to midnight) to see any action. There's always the news updates, but that's just not the same.
So what would I have hoped to watch over lunch? Truthfully, the gymnastics. Although after 8 years of trying I still couldn't do a handstand, I used to be able to do backbends without bending my knees and splits with no effort at all. There's still a part of me that would love to do Beam or Floor... But instead I live vicariously as my joints slowly stiffen with age.
Ah well - that's life. You miss out on competing in gymnastics, and then you miss out on the one thing you would have watched (and taped) on TV today.
To-do list
1. See Evanescence. Live. Front row. Hopefully my son will be old enough by then to come with me.
2. (still working on number two)
2. (still working on number two)
...and carry a big stick
I'm really p'd off at myself. I've been living in la-la land for the past few weeks, and it took a mere 3-word email to wake me up.
You see, I'm the independent type. I don't need no-one and nothing to complete me. I've got a life (albeit a rather mundane one mostly), I've got direction. Or I had...
But I've let it slip away recently. I don't get lonely - but started to wonder if I was ready to become someone's partner again. I don't need a sugar-daddy - but started to wonder what it would be like to have someone else there to support and help me achieve my dreams. I don't get soppy - but started to wonder if I remembered how it felt to be cherished and adored, if I ever have really been in my life. I even started to daydream about finding a guy to be with.
Bah humbug. I should know by now that's not for me.
Yet I allowed myself to drift off into dreamland, and it stuck it's creepy slimy fingers into every aspect of how I was living. The "what if's" took over, supplanting what I should have been doing to plan and work toward the goals I have for the future. I put them all on hold in favour of fantasy.
Well, no more. That 3-word email roused me from reverie, letting me know just how far-fetched my dream state had become.
Today I'm picking up those bits I let slip. Searing closed the raw parts, putting away the sentimentality. And once more carrying my big stick.
You see, I'm the independent type. I don't need no-one and nothing to complete me. I've got a life (albeit a rather mundane one mostly), I've got direction. Or I had...
But I've let it slip away recently. I don't get lonely - but started to wonder if I was ready to become someone's partner again. I don't need a sugar-daddy - but started to wonder what it would be like to have someone else there to support and help me achieve my dreams. I don't get soppy - but started to wonder if I remembered how it felt to be cherished and adored, if I ever have really been in my life. I even started to daydream about finding a guy to be with.
Bah humbug. I should know by now that's not for me.
Yet I allowed myself to drift off into dreamland, and it stuck it's creepy slimy fingers into every aspect of how I was living. The "what if's" took over, supplanting what I should have been doing to plan and work toward the goals I have for the future. I put them all on hold in favour of fantasy.
Well, no more. That 3-word email roused me from reverie, letting me know just how far-fetched my dream state had become.
Today I'm picking up those bits I let slip. Searing closed the raw parts, putting away the sentimentality. And once more carrying my big stick.
Nope
Not today. Perhaps not for the rest of this week.
Nothing on the marvellous cricket match, or 3 old friends suddenly showing up again in my life. Nothing on work or home or anything interesting online. No sex, no religion, no rants, no glowing reviews.
Not even a photoblog.
Sorry. Another day perhaps.
Nothing on the marvellous cricket match, or 3 old friends suddenly showing up again in my life. Nothing on work or home or anything interesting online. No sex, no religion, no rants, no glowing reviews.
Not even a photoblog.
Sorry. Another day perhaps.
Men & Women
Last week I posted a link to AskMen.com. Yesterday I found the woman's equivalent of that excellent site - iVillage.com.
I knew about the site ages ago, but haven't been there in a while. They've made some big changes since, and it's packed with info and advice on everything a woman could hope to know. Perhaps not as flashy as the AskMen site, but good nevertheless.
If you're a woman, or if you're a man who'd like to know how women work (now wouldn't that be a novel idea!), check it out.
I knew about the site ages ago, but haven't been there in a while. They've made some big changes since, and it's packed with info and advice on everything a woman could hope to know. Perhaps not as flashy as the AskMen site, but good nevertheless.
If you're a woman, or if you're a man who'd like to know how women work (now wouldn't that be a novel idea!), check it out.
The weirder side of being Me
Ever wanted to dance outside naked on the lawn - and not particularly care what the neighbours were thinking, or whether your wobbly bits didn't stop dancing when you did?
Ever wondered, while driving pretty fast on a highway, what would happen if you rode into the sloped side of an overhead bridge, or its supporting pillar, at the speed you were travelling, and what it would feel like?
Ever dreamed you could fly - and never wanted to wake up? Ever tried to fly?
Ever pushed your way through a patch of hakea (very spiky, thorny plant) on a dare? Just because you wanted to prove you were tough?
Ever gotten so angry you literally blacked out for a split-second?
Ever dated three people at once - and had one in the lounge, one on the phone and one knocking on the front door?
Ever been too shy in primary school to raise your hand to ask to go to the loo - and ended up being the laughing-stock of the class by the end of the day?
Ever secretly delighted in a fat roll and how it wobbles?
Ever people-watched and imagined you could see them in x-ray vision - all skeletons with vague organ/skin outlines?
Welcome to the weirdness that is Me.
Ever wondered, while driving pretty fast on a highway, what would happen if you rode into the sloped side of an overhead bridge, or its supporting pillar, at the speed you were travelling, and what it would feel like?
Ever dreamed you could fly - and never wanted to wake up? Ever tried to fly?
Ever pushed your way through a patch of hakea (very spiky, thorny plant) on a dare? Just because you wanted to prove you were tough?
Ever gotten so angry you literally blacked out for a split-second?
Ever dated three people at once - and had one in the lounge, one on the phone and one knocking on the front door?
Ever been too shy in primary school to raise your hand to ask to go to the loo - and ended up being the laughing-stock of the class by the end of the day?
Ever secretly delighted in a fat roll and how it wobbles?
Ever people-watched and imagined you could see them in x-ray vision - all skeletons with vague organ/skin outlines?
Welcome to the weirdness that is Me.
Snippets
* My idiot level has gone down. Seems a lot of it was simply in my head. There's a bit of idiot residue around though.
* Heard from a long-lost friend overseas this morning, who married another friend from here. And they're getting a divorce! I don't have many friends who have taken such a drastic step, and it's kinda weird to think about them splitting. Yeah, I know it's the norm these days, but still quite harsh when it happens to people you're close to.
* Our students get a first-aid package when they register for one of the medical insurance schemes in SAfrica. Included is a single condom (as a colleague and I discovered). We were reading the instructions (for interest sake only!) and saw that it's for "normal width of 54mm". Of course we had to go haul out a ruler - which made us then burst out laughing once we saw what's considered normal! And had to cover up the joke (and the condom) when a rather conservative colleague dropped by to ask what was so amusing... :)
* Nearly had a heart-attack last night when I got this text message on my cellphone: "Have been admitted to hospital for 2 days. No worries. Will chat later". Yeah, right - like I'm not going to immediately panic and worry! Fortunately everything seems to be OK. But a message like that tends to scare the heck out of you when it arrives.
* I had to count it up on my fingers to make sure, but it's definitely Autumn here. I'm struggling to get out of bed in the mornings as the sun sleeps in, nights are a bit on the chilly side - and apparently we had a dusting of snow on Friday night in Ceres (small town near here that gets all the good snow). First time in history it's happened in March! We could be in for a rather cold winter.
* I'm starting to realize how easily one can become anorexic. I've lost a little bit around my waist for some reason, probably due to drinking more water, leaving off suppers (eat our main meal at lunch) and being a bit more active. And it's addictive to watch clothes get looser. You want to push it further, faster, and see how quickly you can get skinny. I've got a LONG way to go before I get skinny, and I love food too much to abuse it, but I can understand now the mindset and thought processes behind an eating disorder...
* However, I am SERIOUSLY stuck in a rut when it comes to meals at home. With only an hour over lunch to fetch the kid, cook the meal and eat it, I've taken to doing one-pot or quick-microwave stuff. If the power's off, it's bread. So this weekend I want to spend some time making and freezing things like lasagne, mini pies, ready-cooked spaghetti sauces, soups/stews and similar for quick defrost and/or cook during the week. (Also need to make cookies and fudge, to fill that sweet-tooth hole after a meal.) I'm not eating right, neither is my son - I need to fix it. A lot more (disguised) fruit and veg for us, and a lot less bread & spreads.
* Seems Cape Town's still experiencing power cuts. We're lucky (better not talk too soon though), we haven't had one this week. I don't know if they'll ever completely fix the problems causing this, or if it's going to be a wake-up call to try find alternatives to the single power supplier. I hope it's the latter.
* Heard from a long-lost friend overseas this morning, who married another friend from here. And they're getting a divorce! I don't have many friends who have taken such a drastic step, and it's kinda weird to think about them splitting. Yeah, I know it's the norm these days, but still quite harsh when it happens to people you're close to.
* Our students get a first-aid package when they register for one of the medical insurance schemes in SAfrica. Included is a single condom (as a colleague and I discovered). We were reading the instructions (for interest sake only!) and saw that it's for "normal width of 54mm". Of course we had to go haul out a ruler - which made us then burst out laughing once we saw what's considered normal! And had to cover up the joke (and the condom) when a rather conservative colleague dropped by to ask what was so amusing... :)
* Nearly had a heart-attack last night when I got this text message on my cellphone: "Have been admitted to hospital for 2 days. No worries. Will chat later". Yeah, right - like I'm not going to immediately panic and worry! Fortunately everything seems to be OK. But a message like that tends to scare the heck out of you when it arrives.
* I had to count it up on my fingers to make sure, but it's definitely Autumn here. I'm struggling to get out of bed in the mornings as the sun sleeps in, nights are a bit on the chilly side - and apparently we had a dusting of snow on Friday night in Ceres (small town near here that gets all the good snow). First time in history it's happened in March! We could be in for a rather cold winter.
* I'm starting to realize how easily one can become anorexic. I've lost a little bit around my waist for some reason, probably due to drinking more water, leaving off suppers (eat our main meal at lunch) and being a bit more active. And it's addictive to watch clothes get looser. You want to push it further, faster, and see how quickly you can get skinny. I've got a LONG way to go before I get skinny, and I love food too much to abuse it, but I can understand now the mindset and thought processes behind an eating disorder...
* However, I am SERIOUSLY stuck in a rut when it comes to meals at home. With only an hour over lunch to fetch the kid, cook the meal and eat it, I've taken to doing one-pot or quick-microwave stuff. If the power's off, it's bread. So this weekend I want to spend some time making and freezing things like lasagne, mini pies, ready-cooked spaghetti sauces, soups/stews and similar for quick defrost and/or cook during the week. (Also need to make cookies and fudge, to fill that sweet-tooth hole after a meal.) I'm not eating right, neither is my son - I need to fix it. A lot more (disguised) fruit and veg for us, and a lot less bread & spreads.
* Seems Cape Town's still experiencing power cuts. We're lucky (better not talk too soon though), we haven't had one this week. I don't know if they'll ever completely fix the problems causing this, or if it's going to be a wake-up call to try find alternatives to the single power supplier. I hope it's the latter.
Senior Staff?
Just popped in at the mega-boss to say hi, and got chatting. And found out something really interesting. Once a certain couple retires here at the end of the year, I'll be second-most-longest-employed staff member here!
That is pretty freaky. To think that I've hung around here for about a third of my life!
The strange thing is the amount of knowledge one gains after a few years in one place. You become the source of all info - the receptionist puts through calls that she doesn't know where else to place, people pop in to ask historical questions. If you've been around for years, you can become a human database!
And yet, new brooms sweep clean. There's no history to maintain, no "we've always done this" to uphold. A fresh perspective does wonders for how things are run.
Today, though, I'm feeling old. Senior staff indeed! :)
That is pretty freaky. To think that I've hung around here for about a third of my life!
The strange thing is the amount of knowledge one gains after a few years in one place. You become the source of all info - the receptionist puts through calls that she doesn't know where else to place, people pop in to ask historical questions. If you've been around for years, you can become a human database!
And yet, new brooms sweep clean. There's no history to maintain, no "we've always done this" to uphold. A fresh perspective does wonders for how things are run.
Today, though, I'm feeling old. Senior staff indeed! :)
An Intelligent Blonde!
Back in my days of internet dating (yes, I DID!), I used to go by the handle "Intelliblonde". Nope, not a labrador, but a real, live intelligent blonde.
And today I'm feeling intelliblonde again. I've cracked something I really didn't think I could - a computer from-scratch re-install of WinXp, network card, internet and proxy server settings! Then anti-virus, Google goodies, konfabulator and Open Office, without having to do a single google search. Mapped a drive too (but had a bit of help, I'll admit) Didn't think I had all that in me.
The computer completely died after Friday's 6-hour power failure, and when I tried to repair windows there wasn't even a whisper. I had no choice but to format the drive and start again from scratch. Which I actually did. Wow. I impressed myself so much I just had to blog it! ;)
Fortunately, I've taken to keeping a lot of stuff floating around in cyberspace instead of stuck on a hard drive, so I really didn't lose anything other than saved idea graphics (saw a nice pic of something I want to make, saved it) and a few bookmarks. I have access to another server for file storage and access from work, so everything was somewhere out there. It's been an easy set-up.
BUT I've also realized that I probably need to have disks of everything I need to do this again, just in case. And that's where I'm at now - backing up the goodies to a place other than this hard drive to store them on.
Cool. There's hope for this blonde yet!
And today I'm feeling intelliblonde again. I've cracked something I really didn't think I could - a computer from-scratch re-install of WinXp, network card, internet and proxy server settings! Then anti-virus, Google goodies, konfabulator and Open Office, without having to do a single google search. Mapped a drive too (but had a bit of help, I'll admit) Didn't think I had all that in me.
The computer completely died after Friday's 6-hour power failure, and when I tried to repair windows there wasn't even a whisper. I had no choice but to format the drive and start again from scratch. Which I actually did. Wow. I impressed myself so much I just had to blog it! ;)
Fortunately, I've taken to keeping a lot of stuff floating around in cyberspace instead of stuck on a hard drive, so I really didn't lose anything other than saved idea graphics (saw a nice pic of something I want to make, saved it) and a few bookmarks. I have access to another server for file storage and access from work, so everything was somewhere out there. It's been an easy set-up.
BUT I've also realized that I probably need to have disks of everything I need to do this again, just in case. And that's where I'm at now - backing up the goodies to a place other than this hard drive to store them on.
Cool. There's hope for this blonde yet!
The post that will be, anyway
To heck with my previous post. I don't have nuttin' to hide. So here's another post on...
SEX (usual warnings apply)
No, there's been no rain on my drought, so to speak. But my brain is still working overtime on this subject. I'm finding it fascinating to compare my attitudes/ideas about sex at age 34 with those I had at 19/20. (My views may not correlate to yours!)
At 19/20, sex was just something every guy wanted (or seemed to), that you either did or didn't do, that may not have been particularly enjoyable - but what could you do about that anyway. You weren't sure about your body, you were perhaps scared to ask big questions, and most sex was high-risk hope-nothing-happens stuff. If you were doing it, you weren't supposed to (it was wrong, Wrong, WRONG to even think about doing that kind of thing before marriage, or getting to any kind of bases). If you weren't doing it, you started looking around for a husband.
But at 34, I seem to have gained a better perspective on things. Or maybe just a different one. I'm more comfortable in my skin, for one thing. Fat or thin, wobbly or firm, I know who I am inside & out and don't need to seek approval through giving up myself for others to use. Sure, I haven't done anything for 9 years (well, not anything, but you know what I mean). However, I'm finally in control. It's a good place to be operating from - knowing your power and what you can do with it. I'm wiser when it comes to my heart's involvement, and know what I can and can't do with my emotions, as well as my body. I know which parts of me to guard and which to let loose. (My imagination seems to have had a re-birth, but we won't go there) I'm "better safe than sorry" in my thinking too. If sex were on the cards, I'd have the audacity to ask about history/testing and insist on a condom. I'd even carry a condom myself (as someone once said, it's better to have a condom and not need one than to need a condom and not have one!) instead of expecting my partner to do so.
No, I'm not partnering! :) Before you go get the wrong idea and all. But I am at the stage where I could do so and still know what I'm doing. I guess I'm all growed up!
I can see why women are said to "peak" later than men. It takes us a while to be comfortable in our skins, to get over the hormones that govern the teens and twenties, and to relax into our womanness. Once we do, we are better able to enjoy being ourselves, and that can only mean a greater enjoyment of intimacy.
Right? Or am I completely whacked out on last week's paint fumes still? :)
Anyway, apart from the sex part of things, I've realized I know more about intimacy and relationship now too. Not that I've been in one in a while, but hey - one can learn without being hands-on, you know!
I've been avoiding getting involved with anyone for many years now, too scared I'd fall back into old destructive patterns of being used and dumped, disrespected, hurt. I don't get lonely, I'm totally self-sufficient, don't need anyone...
But every now and then I think I'm ready to try again, to trust and love and let someone in. To bare who I really am (perhaps even the real me under the artfully-draped layers of problem-disguising clothing!). To actually say what I feel and be one of two. Dunno, perhaps my head's going soft in my old age. I'm losing it. :)
Well, that's the post that almost wasn't. Yes, about sex. But a whole lot milder than you probably expected!
SEX (usual warnings apply)
No, there's been no rain on my drought, so to speak. But my brain is still working overtime on this subject. I'm finding it fascinating to compare my attitudes/ideas about sex at age 34 with those I had at 19/20. (My views may not correlate to yours!)
At 19/20, sex was just something every guy wanted (or seemed to), that you either did or didn't do, that may not have been particularly enjoyable - but what could you do about that anyway. You weren't sure about your body, you were perhaps scared to ask big questions, and most sex was high-risk hope-nothing-happens stuff. If you were doing it, you weren't supposed to (it was wrong, Wrong, WRONG to even think about doing that kind of thing before marriage, or getting to any kind of bases). If you weren't doing it, you started looking around for a husband.
But at 34, I seem to have gained a better perspective on things. Or maybe just a different one. I'm more comfortable in my skin, for one thing. Fat or thin, wobbly or firm, I know who I am inside & out and don't need to seek approval through giving up myself for others to use. Sure, I haven't done anything for 9 years (well, not anything, but you know what I mean). However, I'm finally in control. It's a good place to be operating from - knowing your power and what you can do with it. I'm wiser when it comes to my heart's involvement, and know what I can and can't do with my emotions, as well as my body. I know which parts of me to guard and which to let loose. (My imagination seems to have had a re-birth, but we won't go there) I'm "better safe than sorry" in my thinking too. If sex were on the cards, I'd have the audacity to ask about history/testing and insist on a condom. I'd even carry a condom myself (as someone once said, it's better to have a condom and not need one than to need a condom and not have one!) instead of expecting my partner to do so.
No, I'm not partnering! :) Before you go get the wrong idea and all. But I am at the stage where I could do so and still know what I'm doing. I guess I'm all growed up!
I can see why women are said to "peak" later than men. It takes us a while to be comfortable in our skins, to get over the hormones that govern the teens and twenties, and to relax into our womanness. Once we do, we are better able to enjoy being ourselves, and that can only mean a greater enjoyment of intimacy.
Right? Or am I completely whacked out on last week's paint fumes still? :)
Anyway, apart from the sex part of things, I've realized I know more about intimacy and relationship now too. Not that I've been in one in a while, but hey - one can learn without being hands-on, you know!
I've been avoiding getting involved with anyone for many years now, too scared I'd fall back into old destructive patterns of being used and dumped, disrespected, hurt. I don't get lonely, I'm totally self-sufficient, don't need anyone...
But every now and then I think I'm ready to try again, to trust and love and let someone in. To bare who I really am (perhaps even the real me under the artfully-draped layers of problem-disguising clothing!). To actually say what I feel and be one of two. Dunno, perhaps my head's going soft in my old age. I'm losing it. :)
Well, that's the post that almost wasn't. Yes, about sex. But a whole lot milder than you probably expected!
Sleep
How much sleep you do need every night? Can you go with just a few hours? Have a regular bed-time?
As I age (I keep thinking I'm 35, not 34!), I find that the party-all-night option is simply not for me anymore. I seem to need more and more rest, at least 8 hours nightly, and if I get to bed after about 10:30 I'm messed up for the next day. I can't believe I used to come home and swear at the birds for starting up at 6 in the morning. How did I ever do that all-night stuff?
Afternoon naps on the weekend have become a necessity too. I get grumpy and yawny if I don't get a few hours in at least on a Saturday, if possible also on a Sunday. I do stay up later on a Saturday night, but not that late. I sleep in a bit, sometimes until 10 on a winter weekend morning.
In the past few weeks it feels like my sleep cycle is shifting again. I was in bed before 9 on Monday night, slept solidy, yet still woke up tired the next morning. Same thing Tuesday night. Although drinking loads of water and keeping hydrated usually stems the post-lunch slump, it isn't working this week. I find myself wishing to curl up under the desk (if only the floor were more padded) and sleep. As I type this, I'm yawning again.
Side-note snippet: I once had a friend who was terribly susceptible to other's yawns. Any hint of it, and he'd be set off. We used to delight in writing "yawn" on a piece of paper in church and passing it to him. Worked every time! :)
I don't know if the stresses of last week's dark bit did me in - perhaps all that thinking tired me out more than I imagined. Usually I come back from leave feeling rested and refreshed.
Maybe I am just getting old. Too old to party, too old to stay up until past midnight, too old to do without regular naptimes. Or I'm simply reverting to babyhood?
As I age (I keep thinking I'm 35, not 34!), I find that the party-all-night option is simply not for me anymore. I seem to need more and more rest, at least 8 hours nightly, and if I get to bed after about 10:30 I'm messed up for the next day. I can't believe I used to come home and swear at the birds for starting up at 6 in the morning. How did I ever do that all-night stuff?
Afternoon naps on the weekend have become a necessity too. I get grumpy and yawny if I don't get a few hours in at least on a Saturday, if possible also on a Sunday. I do stay up later on a Saturday night, but not that late. I sleep in a bit, sometimes until 10 on a winter weekend morning.
In the past few weeks it feels like my sleep cycle is shifting again. I was in bed before 9 on Monday night, slept solidy, yet still woke up tired the next morning. Same thing Tuesday night. Although drinking loads of water and keeping hydrated usually stems the post-lunch slump, it isn't working this week. I find myself wishing to curl up under the desk (if only the floor were more padded) and sleep. As I type this, I'm yawning again.
Side-note snippet: I once had a friend who was terribly susceptible to other's yawns. Any hint of it, and he'd be set off. We used to delight in writing "yawn" on a piece of paper in church and passing it to him. Worked every time! :)
I don't know if the stresses of last week's dark bit did me in - perhaps all that thinking tired me out more than I imagined. Usually I come back from leave feeling rested and refreshed.
Maybe I am just getting old. Too old to party, too old to stay up until past midnight, too old to do without regular naptimes. Or I'm simply reverting to babyhood?
The post that never was
I was going to do a follow-up to the "Sex" post... but it seems the word of my "drought" has spread far and wide to Real People I see every day, and I don't dare! :)
Pity, it would have been an interesting one.
Pity, it would have been an interesting one.
Potential
Ever sat down and considered the things you could be doing? If you could get up the guts, the willpower - and in only a few cases (surprisingly) the cash? We all have so much untapped potential just lying around, waiting for us to do something about it.
Here's a couple of things on my potentials list, off the top of my head:
* Touring Africa. Yup, packing up the kid and our lives and following roads is still on a shelf in the back of my mind. The spirit of exploration lives on, in every daydream.
* Cooking up a storm. I know I'm a good cook, and I love doing it. So why am I not doing this full-time? It's just a tiny supplement to my income currently.
* Farming. Another dream. A place to live and grow and have the family over for holidays. Kids swimming in the dam, gathering around the big old wood table at every meal, firesides and treehouses. Birds and animals and a big kitchen garden. Space and nature and an orchard out the back. I've had an image of this dream in my head since I was a kid - I wonder if it's already a physical place, or if it needs me to bring it into existance... What's stopping me? A regular job? Too many excuses?
* Creating a bunch of stuff. I've got all these ideas knocking around my head, and yet the Full Time Job doesn't allow time to do them. Everything from greeting cards to tactile home-ware to paintings and wooden goodies. There's designer clothes that both look and feel good, there's home-crafted hand-dyed thingies. Nifty gadgets and cool problem-solving stuff. Long, long list!
* Pre-fab houses. Funny enough, I've done so much research on these that I could start designing and making them. There's really no suppliers here in SAfrica - there could be a big market for the things, and if they're really cool (yet cheap) I'd make a killing.
* Running a gathering place. Think coffee bar, delicious food, comfy couches, celebration space. And a whole lot more.
* Working for change. I'm a closet environmentalist. I know I could be doing more to make this planet a better place. I'd love to be creating community through public space, sustainable housing, organic food production and local time/resource investment opportunities.
So why am I not doing all this, and more? Perhaps I'm scared I'll be successful. Does that make sense?
Here's a couple of things on my potentials list, off the top of my head:
* Touring Africa. Yup, packing up the kid and our lives and following roads is still on a shelf in the back of my mind. The spirit of exploration lives on, in every daydream.
* Cooking up a storm. I know I'm a good cook, and I love doing it. So why am I not doing this full-time? It's just a tiny supplement to my income currently.
* Farming. Another dream. A place to live and grow and have the family over for holidays. Kids swimming in the dam, gathering around the big old wood table at every meal, firesides and treehouses. Birds and animals and a big kitchen garden. Space and nature and an orchard out the back. I've had an image of this dream in my head since I was a kid - I wonder if it's already a physical place, or if it needs me to bring it into existance... What's stopping me? A regular job? Too many excuses?
* Creating a bunch of stuff. I've got all these ideas knocking around my head, and yet the Full Time Job doesn't allow time to do them. Everything from greeting cards to tactile home-ware to paintings and wooden goodies. There's designer clothes that both look and feel good, there's home-crafted hand-dyed thingies. Nifty gadgets and cool problem-solving stuff. Long, long list!
* Pre-fab houses. Funny enough, I've done so much research on these that I could start designing and making them. There's really no suppliers here in SAfrica - there could be a big market for the things, and if they're really cool (yet cheap) I'd make a killing.
* Running a gathering place. Think coffee bar, delicious food, comfy couches, celebration space. And a whole lot more.
* Working for change. I'm a closet environmentalist. I know I could be doing more to make this planet a better place. I'd love to be creating community through public space, sustainable housing, organic food production and local time/resource investment opportunities.
So why am I not doing all this, and more? Perhaps I'm scared I'll be successful. Does that make sense?
Tuesday Links
As usual, links open in a new window (see how easy I make it for you!):
* Seth Godin does Google and Global Warming.
* Someone else does a real-live Simpsons intro.
* And these guys do the McPassion (love the rocked-up "Jesus loves me" at the end).
* In the meantime I do nothing.
* The Go Fug Yourself girls have loads of fodder after the Oscars. (YAY Tsotsi for your win!)
* BBC gets an Ethical Man.
* Bigric reworks a certain power supplier's logo (ask if you need it translated).
* The Jo'bloggers are back! Finally....
* And we learn to dance.
* Seth Godin does Google and Global Warming.
* Someone else does a real-live Simpsons intro.
* And these guys do the McPassion (love the rocked-up "Jesus loves me" at the end).
* In the meantime I do nothing.
* The Go Fug Yourself girls have loads of fodder after the Oscars. (YAY Tsotsi for your win!)
* BBC gets an Ethical Man.
* Bigric reworks a certain power supplier's logo (ask if you need it translated).
* The Jo'bloggers are back! Finally....
* And we learn to dance.
Less 50%
Did you know that between 2000 and 2004, species diversity for fish, plants and animals dropped nearly 50%?
A kid in grade 1 this year has 50% less nature around him than when he was born. 50% less of the earth's resources for clean air, water and good food. 50% less future on the only planet we have available.
Climate change, misuse of the earth seems such a slow process, doesn't it? Not really.
What will the world look like when my son is 34...?
A kid in grade 1 this year has 50% less nature around him than when he was born. 50% less of the earth's resources for clean air, water and good food. 50% less future on the only planet we have available.
Climate change, misuse of the earth seems such a slow process, doesn't it? Not really.
What will the world look like when my son is 34...?
Landed.Running
The week is off to a rushed, stressed-out start. (Note to self: when on holiday, don't go back to work...) It started way before Monday hit though.
A while back I agreed to take chapel at my son's school, date to be determined later. The principal rang to remind me 3 times last week that it was today. On my office phone. While I was at home. It's a good thing he saw me at the marathon on Friday! Unfortunately, I've been particularly uninspired lately, especially when it comes to chapel-ly type subjects. Yesterday I finally threw together a few visual aids and words in the line of "care for the earth because God gave it to us as our home". Although I started to lose the little kids after about 10 minutes, it went OK.
Once at the office, it was all dive in! 93 emails to trawl (not a lot, really), website to update (thanks to a power failure on Friday my home computer is stuck in permanent restart mode, so couldn't do what I needed to from there), 9:00 meeting (with even more work added). And during that meeting, the dreaded "R" word was brought up. Retrenchment. Or, as the head honcho calls it, "creative redeployment of personnel". In other words, we'll be working our rear ends off in various different jobs, for the same pay.
And it's like my gut contracted as that hit home. Not only do I get more of the same this year, I get more of everything else too. I'm not sure I'm up to that. With new management, a lot of the working environment is being tightened up. More control, more layers of power - quite the opposite from trends happening all over the world, trends creating more efficient and pleasant work places! I feel like we're taking a big step back as we try to move forward, circling inwards instead of thinking outside the box to make Big Change happen in positive directions.
So I emailed the guys advertising the olive farm again. Sent a couple of emails, no response. Could it be a sign?
After the meeting I got stuck into a lot more work. Suddenly it's piled up, where usually I get time out about now in the year to think and plan and start work on another big project (like the re-design of the website. Again.). But I'm barely keeping up with all the other things that need doing, and that's frustrating me. More and more I find I want space to breathe, to find new and better ways to work, to improve systems and functions and environment, to rethink where I'm heading and why. It can't happen when you spend all your time stomping out fires.
I guess the holiday has truly ended. All that supposed relaxation (which didn't really work) over and done with.
But I did get out this weekend, away from my usual environment. Want to guess where we went?
Here:
and here:
Bit of a morning out, it was!
A while back I agreed to take chapel at my son's school, date to be determined later. The principal rang to remind me 3 times last week that it was today. On my office phone. While I was at home. It's a good thing he saw me at the marathon on Friday! Unfortunately, I've been particularly uninspired lately, especially when it comes to chapel-ly type subjects. Yesterday I finally threw together a few visual aids and words in the line of "care for the earth because God gave it to us as our home". Although I started to lose the little kids after about 10 minutes, it went OK.
Once at the office, it was all dive in! 93 emails to trawl (not a lot, really), website to update (thanks to a power failure on Friday my home computer is stuck in permanent restart mode, so couldn't do what I needed to from there), 9:00 meeting (with even more work added). And during that meeting, the dreaded "R" word was brought up. Retrenchment. Or, as the head honcho calls it, "creative redeployment of personnel". In other words, we'll be working our rear ends off in various different jobs, for the same pay.
And it's like my gut contracted as that hit home. Not only do I get more of the same this year, I get more of everything else too. I'm not sure I'm up to that. With new management, a lot of the working environment is being tightened up. More control, more layers of power - quite the opposite from trends happening all over the world, trends creating more efficient and pleasant work places! I feel like we're taking a big step back as we try to move forward, circling inwards instead of thinking outside the box to make Big Change happen in positive directions.
So I emailed the guys advertising the olive farm again. Sent a couple of emails, no response. Could it be a sign?
After the meeting I got stuck into a lot more work. Suddenly it's piled up, where usually I get time out about now in the year to think and plan and start work on another big project (like the re-design of the website. Again.). But I'm barely keeping up with all the other things that need doing, and that's frustrating me. More and more I find I want space to breathe, to find new and better ways to work, to improve systems and functions and environment, to rethink where I'm heading and why. It can't happen when you spend all your time stomping out fires.
I guess the holiday has truly ended. All that supposed relaxation (which didn't really work) over and done with.
But I did get out this weekend, away from my usual environment. Want to guess where we went?
Here:
and here:
Bit of a morning out, it was!
ME-day
Just got home from my pamper session etc.
It was truly lekker (divine) - a full-body salt scrub, back/neck massage, full-body wrap in a moisturizing gel while getting a head massage, and finally full-body moisturizing treatment (with two showers somewhere in there, a disposable g-string and a very soft gown). I was lucky to have booked it before the prices went up. By a third. I guess that's the last 2-hour session I'll be having! ;) But it was lovely to be pampered and chat to a very nice young lady, who didn't seem to mind my numerous fat rolls and stuff.
From there I drove to the vet. Very, very sick dog had to overnight with apparent tick-bite fever, and I wanted to check he was OK. He is, but still needs to stay a few more hours for another injection. We'll pick him up later today and see what the bill is...
Had a little time to spare, so dropped in unannounced on a previous best friend. I haven't seen her since her babyshower, and her daughter's already nearly 6 months old! It was really great to catch up over a cup of tea, and meet her beautiful child. We really need to keep in regular contact again.
My son's school marathon was this morning, and I managed to see him off before my early morning appointment (also heard I'm on to take chapel for the school on Monday morning! Oops...). But the rest of the day is going to be me-day.
The mall has another power failure, so we won't be shopping. Instead, it's time to re-colour the hair reddish, to relax and eat and chill. Total me-day. The cleaning is done, the rest of the painting can wait, I'm just going to breathe today.
Yes, I'm doing a bit better than yesterday. Still an idiot, but better. We'll see what the weekend turns up, and whether I'll continue to go uphill, or re-descend into the dark....
It was truly lekker (divine) - a full-body salt scrub, back/neck massage, full-body wrap in a moisturizing gel while getting a head massage, and finally full-body moisturizing treatment (with two showers somewhere in there, a disposable g-string and a very soft gown). I was lucky to have booked it before the prices went up. By a third. I guess that's the last 2-hour session I'll be having! ;) But it was lovely to be pampered and chat to a very nice young lady, who didn't seem to mind my numerous fat rolls and stuff.
From there I drove to the vet. Very, very sick dog had to overnight with apparent tick-bite fever, and I wanted to check he was OK. He is, but still needs to stay a few more hours for another injection. We'll pick him up later today and see what the bill is...
Had a little time to spare, so dropped in unannounced on a previous best friend. I haven't seen her since her babyshower, and her daughter's already nearly 6 months old! It was really great to catch up over a cup of tea, and meet her beautiful child. We really need to keep in regular contact again.
My son's school marathon was this morning, and I managed to see him off before my early morning appointment (also heard I'm on to take chapel for the school on Monday morning! Oops...). But the rest of the day is going to be me-day.
The mall has another power failure, so we won't be shopping. Instead, it's time to re-colour the hair reddish, to relax and eat and chill. Total me-day. The cleaning is done, the rest of the painting can wait, I'm just going to breathe today.
Yes, I'm doing a bit better than yesterday. Still an idiot, but better. We'll see what the weekend turns up, and whether I'll continue to go uphill, or re-descend into the dark....
From Idiotville to Bleakness
Maybe it's just some maladjusted hormones. Yesterday I was an idiot, by last night I was in tears, and today I can't stop crying.
I lay in bed last night, scrolling through the names on my cellphone, wishing there were one I could call and just chat. The kind of friend who doesn't mind being woken up (or is still up) around 11, when you need a distance-hug and listening ear. Finding no-one there only made things worse. I wish I weren't as "considerate" as I am sometimes, never wanting to make my problems someone else's lack of sleep. I know who I wanted to talk to, but couldn't do it.
So what's wrong? Not too sure. This is what's going through my head:
Sad, scared, alone, stupid. Too many damn ghosts rearing their heads from the past.
Typing this, I'm dripping on the keyboard again. I hate being like this. I haven't cried myself to sleep in years. I haven't felt so utterly alone in years either. So strangely friendless. (Yes, I know most of you care. You're just not here)
Damn, this is depressing. Please close this window and go find someone cheerful to read.
I lay in bed last night, scrolling through the names on my cellphone, wishing there were one I could call and just chat. The kind of friend who doesn't mind being woken up (or is still up) around 11, when you need a distance-hug and listening ear. Finding no-one there only made things worse. I wish I weren't as "considerate" as I am sometimes, never wanting to make my problems someone else's lack of sleep. I know who I wanted to talk to, but couldn't do it.
So what's wrong? Not too sure. This is what's going through my head:
Sad, scared, alone, stupid. Too many damn ghosts rearing their heads from the past.
Typing this, I'm dripping on the keyboard again. I hate being like this. I haven't cried myself to sleep in years. I haven't felt so utterly alone in years either. So strangely friendless. (Yes, I know most of you care. You're just not here)
Damn, this is depressing. Please close this window and go find someone cheerful to read.
Idiotville
Sometimes I feel like a real idiot. I say things I should rather keep quiet about, I spout out about stuff that should rather not be spouted about, to people who probably don't care. Or if they do care, they end up thinking way less of me than 5 minutes ago.
And then I feel like an idiot.
Even more so if I've done it by email or other such written word. You hit that "send" button and then smack your forehead - what the heck were you thinking. You sat hovering over "delete" for half an hour, then sent it anyway. Idiot.
Of course, I could just be paranoid. I could have the wrong impression of my idiocy. I hope so, but it's generally Idiotville that I pull up in and stop a while.
Getting a headache from beating my head against the wall. I really should become a hermit, with no internet access, no email, and no cellphone.
And then I feel like an idiot.
Even more so if I've done it by email or other such written word. You hit that "send" button and then smack your forehead - what the heck were you thinking. You sat hovering over "delete" for half an hour, then sent it anyway. Idiot.
Of course, I could just be paranoid. I could have the wrong impression of my idiocy. I hope so, but it's generally Idiotville that I pull up in and stop a while.
Getting a headache from beating my head against the wall. I really should become a hermit, with no internet access, no email, and no cellphone.
Voting Day
It's Voting Day! Nothing huge, just the local governance vote.
South Africa operates on an interesting system. We have a huge variety of political parties, and whoever gets the most votes in a particular area, gets to run it. The main government vote happens every 4 years, but in between we get to choose who our local reps are.
Not that it matters, in some ways. We have this thing called "floor crossing", so the guy you chose in January could switch allegiance in September - taking your vote with him to a completely different party! Sucks, but true.
Nevertheless, as a finally-registered-for-this-area voter, I marched the few paces down the hill to the local voting station which is conveniently set up on campus. Voters from ward 84 (quite a few km's around) come here to make their mark on two ballot papers. One for our ward, one for the city council. Yup, we have such subdivided power that we can actually vote in rings!
I was pretty surprised to have to stand in a long queue. Local elections aren't known for their impressive turn-out. It's not compulsory to vote (as it is in Australia), so many just chuck the voting and take the holiday given by the government. But ward 84 is gowing well - cars are turning up in their hordes, bearing people all eager to have their say.
And have our say, we have. For the rest of the day television coverage will give us updates on who has said what, as counting starts very quickly. Perhaps today will see a shift in power, perhaps not. It's up to each to decide what they think is best.
But I've done my bit. I've got a permanent-marker spot on my nail to show I've done it, and a little slip of paper & stamp in my ID book too.
I'll be really interested to see how the rest of my ward voted. You can be sure I'll be keeping an eye on the stats.
South Africa operates on an interesting system. We have a huge variety of political parties, and whoever gets the most votes in a particular area, gets to run it. The main government vote happens every 4 years, but in between we get to choose who our local reps are.
Not that it matters, in some ways. We have this thing called "floor crossing", so the guy you chose in January could switch allegiance in September - taking your vote with him to a completely different party! Sucks, but true.
Nevertheless, as a finally-registered-for-this-area voter, I marched the few paces down the hill to the local voting station which is conveniently set up on campus. Voters from ward 84 (quite a few km's around) come here to make their mark on two ballot papers. One for our ward, one for the city council. Yup, we have such subdivided power that we can actually vote in rings!
I was pretty surprised to have to stand in a long queue. Local elections aren't known for their impressive turn-out. It's not compulsory to vote (as it is in Australia), so many just chuck the voting and take the holiday given by the government. But ward 84 is gowing well - cars are turning up in their hordes, bearing people all eager to have their say.
And have our say, we have. For the rest of the day television coverage will give us updates on who has said what, as counting starts very quickly. Perhaps today will see a shift in power, perhaps not. It's up to each to decide what they think is best.
But I've done my bit. I've got a permanent-marker spot on my nail to show I've done it, and a little slip of paper & stamp in my ID book too.
I'll be really interested to see how the rest of my ward voted. You can be sure I'll be keeping an eye on the stats.
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