So, maybe posting about being positive was not such a good idea.
Did I tempt fate? It sure looks like it.
On the 15th of April I got a call from my daughter. Hysterical. My son in law had passed away. At 45.
The hospital was planning to send him home on the 16th. In absolute agony. I was busy trying to arrange for someone to assist my daughter when I got the call. I filled my car and rushed home to throw a few things in a bag. Thank God for an understanding boss. Then a six and a half hour trip down to my daughter. Forgetting that, at 74, maybe not such a good idea.
Anyway, her siblings came to the party. They rushed to support her until I got there. It warmed my heart.
So, a short explanation as to why I have not posted.
Will post again shortly. Hopefully.
In other news it looks as if we are hitting a third wave. Interesting times.
Yes, believe it or not, I am feeling positive. First of all, I found all my pictures. That is a step in the right direction. I am sure I have already posted the above picture but I love it. It was a magical morning when Jasmine and I spotted these two cuties.
Why am I feeling positive? Well, it has been an emotional roller coaster of a day. But, people were great. So good to know there are wonderful people out there.
I don’t know if I have mentioned it(Probably) but my son-in-law has bone marrow cancer. He and my daughter and grandson battle. She works, for minimum wages, for a supermarket chain. They live in a wendy house in someone’s garden. None of that is ideal. So, where is the positive side?
My Dad’s boarder is an artist. He has a website and it having a drive to raise money for them. Oh My God, you Americans are incredible. Money is starting to come in. The boarder is working all night(time difference). He has managed to get a laptop for SIL. We have discovered my SIL has some artistic talent. We are hoping to encourage this talent to provide a much needed income. And to take his mind off what he is going through.
Then, today, my deep freeze gave up the proverbial ghost. Fortunately, my Dad had a spare one they were not using. One of the residents in the complex fetched it for me. Should you not hear from me for a while it could be eating meat that has partially defrosted and been refrozen. But, I am an optimist. Also, am too mean to throw away a load of meat!!
Also. today, I discovered that one of our residents makes waterproof bags. She puts in toothepaste, a toothbrush, soap, face cloth, comb etc. And gives them to homeless people. How cool is that?
For today, at least, my positivity knows no bounds.
Damnit WordPress. Yesterday I managed to find my photos. Today I can only find the ones I have already posted. I can’t find the dashboard. I struggled to find tags. Is WordPress aware they have OLD members?
It is raining. Do I hear you say “so what”. Our main dam is on 6% capacity. If we don’t get some decent rain very soon we will be in dire straits. The rain comes up the coast from Cape Town and then goes around us. Our ruling party appears to be blissfully unaware of the pending catastrophe.
They have, however, changed our name. We were Port Elizabeth. We are now something that no-one can pronounce. A name with no historical significance. It is going to cost millions of rand. There is a brilliant voicemail doing the round. Some guy phoning an airline and trying to book a ticket here. After three attempts he says “fuck it, I’ll fly to George”(a town about 300kms from here)
We are back to loadshedding. This is when they stop electricity at various times. It is hurting our fragile economy. Why is this happening? Once again our wonderful government. They got rid of all the qualified people(mainly whites). Replaced them with jobs for pals. Outcome? No maintenance done for years.
Then we had no internet in our complex for five days. Horrors.
Hello All. If anyone remembers me! Have not posted since July last year. It is true. Time goes faster when you get older. Right now it is flying at an alarming rate. This is scary because younger son keeps reminding me I am living on borrowed time. Idiot!!!
It has been a roller coaster ride. Going from an almost complete shutdown in April to three days a week. With a pay cut. I quite liked it. Not the pay cut but four day weekends were great. I am now back to working fulltime. Am loving the extra money but my body is saying WTF.
So, why haven’t I blogged? In my defence I have been very busy. Am now the chairman of the complex. This is no great honour. No-one else wanted the job. Still handling all the finances for my brother and Stepdad. Dad will be 98 in July! Still doing all Mex’s payments.
Mex has been great seeing to meals. Unfortunately, his favourite meals are a pie and chips. A toasted sandwich or scrambled eggs on toast. In desperation I make a stew with loads of vegies. And we eat that for three days.
I have one complaint. I don’t blog and everything changes. Can’t find my dashboard. Battled to find where to download a picture. Everything was so easy before. Why fix something that wasn’t broken?
I could go on but will save some for the next blog. I am going to TRY to blog more often.
Yes, I am pissed off.
We are being ruled by a bunch of old people without an ounce of commonsense or logic.
We are now back on a curfew from nine at night.
We cannot visit our elderly parents.
We CAN however meet them at the casino.
WTF?
Our president would make a lousy barman.
He did not even call last round.
He just imposed another ban on alcohol.
With immediate effect.
The reasoning?
An influx of drunk arseholes to the trauma units.
What he failed to mention was that most of them get patched up and sent home.
Very few land up in ICU.
The ban on cigarettes remains.
Despite experts saying that stopping smoking for three months will have no effect on damaged lungs.
In any event, most people are buying illegal cigarettes.
At inflated prices.
AND, they are terrible cigarettes.
Doing even more damage.
The woman in charge of the state of disaster made a statement.
She said the increase in the illicit trade would counter act the loss of revenue to the government.
I rest my case.
Just to add to the general unhappiness, we have had load shedding imposed on us again(cutting off our power for hours at a time)
Again, the lack of logic comes in.
They cut off the power to the pump stations that supply our water.
So, the level drops.
And we end up with no water as well as no lights.
And you wonder why I am pissed off.
What a pleasure.
I had my first haircut since March.
Just before the shutdown.
I feel like a new person.
Albeit, a slightly sticky one.
Why do they put that gunge on your hair?
My hair was OK when I brushed it but one puff of wind….a wild woman from Borneo.
Who WAS the wild woman from Borneo?
I must google it.
Two of my friends had birthdays on the 17th.
One of them came around for supper and I gave her a big bag of Praline chocolates.
I bought two large slabs of dark Lindt chocolate for the other one.
I have not seen her yet.
The first slab is proving to be delicious.
I do hope I see her soon!
Covid is coming too close for comfort.
We have had our first case in our complex.
Fortunately, the complex is huge and she lives a couple of streets away.
I have also heard of four more cases of people I know.
Hopefully, they are all on the road to recovery.
Our stats are strange.
We had 5000 new cases yesterday.
But, we have a 55% recovery rate.
And, unless we are being kept in the dark, only a 2% death rate.
Mex has naps sitting upright in his chair.
They last about ten to fifteen minutes.
I call them a waste of time.
If you are going to have a nap do it properly.
I go off for two hours.
And then wonder why I wake up n the middle of the night.
Wide eyed and bushy tailed.
Ok, the bushy tailed is a bit of poetic licence.
A change from my usual seascapes.
But, they will be back.
Today Mex and I went to the mall.
Something I usually avoid.
However, Mex needs a new cellphone and I needed blue jeans.
It is a huge mall.
I had a great deal of exercise.
And, then some.
They took our temperatures at one shop.
We both had temperatures of 32 degrees.
So, either we have both died and forgotten to lie down or their thermometer does not work.
I suspect the latter.
I have a pair of blue jeans.
They have developed a frayed hole just above the left knee.
I love them.
Mex is horrified when I go to work in them.
He does not believe that people pay big money for jeans with holes.
I am not one of them.
They are just so darn comfortable.
The cellphone story has been the bane of my life.
For years he has been using a very old Nokia.
One that could just make and receive calls and do an sms.
I had a little cheap phone lying around.
It took him about five months to agree to try it.
I loaded Whattsapp on it.
And the fun began.
His three kids were thrilled.
They sent him jokes and photos.
And loads of messages.
He is technically challenged.
And I am being kind.
Every few minutes he came to me to ask me how to do something.
It reached the stage where I felt like stuffing it where the sun doesn’t shine.
He is finally getting the hang of it.
Now he needs a better phone.
The big problem is he is insistent he does not want a big phone.
Says it will fall out of his pocket.
Sigh.
Yes, the crazy restrictions in this country, have led me into a life of crime.
I buy cigarettes on the black market.
Not happily.
They are expensive.
And I hate the fact that I am supporting crooks.
Next week I am going to visit my hairdresser.
This is also against the law.
She sees one client at a time.
Is meticulous about cleanliness.
And she needs to survive.
And, I NEED a haircut.
They lifted the ban on alcohol.
I have stocked up on wine.
Now they are complaining that the cases of drunk driving are on the increase.
There are more gang killings.
More murders of women and children.
Am not sure the last one is anything to do with alcohol.
We have a shocking number of murders of women and children even without shutdown.
We have a sick society.
I am seeing a huge increase in depression.
Several of my friends live all on their own and are forced to work from home.
It is getting to them.
I am not depressed.
Am probably too shallow!
I have taken a 40% pay cut.
There will be no pay increase this year.
There will be no annual bonus.
I only work three days a week.
I keep telling myself I have never had such a long holiday.
Hell, I am 73 years old and so blessed to still have a job.
One of our biggest steel suppliers were hit by a huge strike.
Because the worker’s pay was cut by 20%.
The union went to court.
And they won.
They have no idea.
Things are not going to go back to “normal”.
Not for a long time anyway.
Companies have to cut costs just to remain viable.
In other news, my Stepdad turns an incredible 97 next month.
I go around to see him as often as I can.
Take him some home cooked food and little treats.
Every time I get there he says “are you coming in?”
And every time I say no.
He thinks I am over- reacting.
He does not understand that I could have the virus without symptons.
The same applies to him and my brother.
I just am not prepared to take a chance.
I tell him our infection rate is climbing at almost 4000 per day.
He just looks at the recovery rate.
I have learned to bite my tongue.
My next blog will NOT be about this damn virus or our crazy government.
South Africa went into strict lockdown on the 27th of March.
And, for the most part, we understood and rallied to the call.
We stayed home.
We sanitized.
If we HAD to go to the shops we kept our social distance and we wore masks.
We supported our president.
Unfortunately, other ministers came in with ridiculous restrictions.
We were not allowed to buy alcohol.
This one I understand.
Alcohol leads to more domestic violence.
We were not allowed to buy cigarettes.
This one I do NOT understand.
Cigarettes have a calming effect.
If you have damaged lungs, stopping smoking for a few weeks is not going to help.
Cigarette smugglers have become millionaires.
The price of cigarettes has become astronomical.
People have committed suicide.
We were not allowed to wear short sleeve T.shirts unless they are worn under another shirt or jacket.
No open toed shoes?
The list goes on.
It has now become apparent that it is no longer about Covid.
It has become a political power play.
Pro Zuma supporters against the president.
For those of you who do not know about Zuma, he was our previous president.
Under his watch corruption flourished.
Under the state of disaster Zuma’s ex wife is in charge of the Covid panel.
She is very compromised.
She has been photographed with a self confessed cigarette smuggler.
He funded her attempt to become president.
Her stepson owns a tobacco company.
His brands of smokes are flooding the black market.
The minister of water and sanitation has just hired someone to assist her.
This woman was removed in the last cabinet reshuffle.
The police and the army seem to be concentrating on arresting people for no good reason.
There was a case of a woman(caught on video) being bundled into a police van while she was out walking.
In the allotted time allowed.
She was held for a few hours before being released.
There was no basis for her arrest.
People have been killed by the police.
We are rapidly becoming a police state.
So, as concerned as I am about getting the virus, I am more worried about where my beautiful country is heading.
Hello All.
My last post was on the 11th of January when I said 2020 sucks.
Little did I know just how bad it was going to get.
So many people have died.
Not that many in South Africa.
Give us time.
We are expecting a huge surge in numbers.
Having said that, the government has set levels for Covid.
Level 5 being the toughest restrictions.
The other day the president said the national level will now be No.4.
Except for the major centres.
They have to stay on level 5.
At the moment we are on level 4.
Meaning some businesses can open.
And we can buy cigarettes.
Have no idea why they banned them.
It just added to the stress levels.
Alcohol will only be allowed at level 3.
And only at certain times.
I agree with the ban on alcohol.
People are so damn stupid when sober.
God help us when they are drunk.
The companies that do open can only operate with a third of their work force.
My boss is going to set me up to work from home.
The government have said old people must stay at home.
Having turned 73 yesterday, I am one of those!!!
My boss is in for a torrid time.
He is going to have to juggle the staff around.
Bringing people in according to the orders we get.
The whole way our company has been run will have to change.
Although I will be working from home I will probably only work about three days a week.
Which I understand and accept.
On a lighter note.
I live in a big complex.
About 130 houses so far.
I am still on the committee.
Yes, I am an idiot.
We have had several people complaining about a bad smell coming from the drains.
Got in a plumber.
The drains are not blocked.
With so many people confined to their homes, there is an awful lot of pooping going on.
It is build up of gas!!!
Mex has kept himself busy.
The house has never been so clean.
We have been getting on ok.
However, that might change soon.
He is going to run out of wine before me.
Will I share?
Probably.
Happily?
No.
