Who gives a shit ?

On the way to work on Thursday I read a local newspapers headline “Harry cavorts naked in Las Vegas” (one has to presume its Hooligan Harry from the UK.......yes Ii was right ), my first thought was “who Frikken cares” actually it was “who F^&%king cares” but thought t at would be to rude to write in the Blog. I then  thought Nah we expect it from that privileged asshole, it would be headline news if it said. Normal hardworking man from PE cavorts naked in Las Vegas and that person was me. I mean who cares if Harry is waving his “Todger” (that’s upper class speak for Willy, penis, one eyed snake “YOU GET THE PICTURE” )In some Yank skanks (that’s lower class speak for estcourt, executive sales person etc etc) face.............well a few by the sound of it. I mean really who really wants to see his crown jewels? Apparently Charles gave him a stern talking to and asked him to keep his willy out of the news for the next couple of weeks.  Mmmmmmm must be lekker to a royal ass hole.    

A board of enquiry has been set up for the Marikana shooting incident last week, well it wasn’t really an incident more like Target practice for the SAP. You may have realized that I am not really sympathetic to those miners that got shot dead, you show up in a mean  mood brandishing panga’s assegaai’s (large spears for those who may not know) as well as firearms. One of the excuses of why they decided that it would be a good idea to take on the police brandishing automatic weapons was that they had all clubbed in a few R and gone to the local witch doctor to get some muti that would make them bullet proof.  So the various organizations or unions that are trying to downplay the role of the barbaric strikers are using muti as an excuse to why they wanted to hack to pieces and a burn a few more cops or security staff. So while they feel muti might deflect the blame one thing for sure is that the muti used did not deflect the bullets.................just aske 34 pissed off customers (sorry dead customers) as well as a number who were wounded  who will want their money back next time they see the witch doctor................”hope he has muti that works for him”.

The dude that shot 77 people in Norway last year was sentenced to 21 years imprisonment..................21 years that’s 3.6 months for every person he killed. I know those Scandinavian countries are lenient and “uber” liberal but seriously 21 years for killing 77 people, surely they could have given him life. Can u imagine if he had killed fewer people he would have been out after a month or two.    

THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE and shows why we need to be vigilant that the world does not get taken over by militant Muslims and persecute those that are different (religious persecution has been responsible and is still responsible for so many people’s deaths) THESE ARE INSTRUCTIONS HANDED OUT TO ALL OFFICERS AT C.I.D COURSES AND ANTI-TERRORISTS COURSES IN THE BEDFORDSHIRE FORCE/SERVICE UK’s Bedfordshire Police’s rules regarding terrorists and dangerous criminals If they’re non-Muslim • Consider the most opportune time of day to be able to arrest suspects with minimum resistance • Apply all necessary force to enter the premises and arrest suspects accordingly. If they’re Muslim: • Community leaders must be consulted before raids into Muslim houses. • Officers must not search occupied bedrooms and bathrooms before dawn. • Use of police dogs will be considered serious desecration of the premises. • Cameras and camcorders should not be used in case of capturing women in inappropriate dress. • If people are praying at home officers should stand aside and not disrupt the prayer. They should be allowed the opportunity to finish. • Officers should take their shoes off before raiding a Muslim house. • The reasons for pre-dawn raids on Muslim houses needs to be clear and transparent. • Officers must not touch holy books or religious artefacts without permission. • Muslim prisoners should be allowed to take additional clothing to the station.  With this continuing appeasement, no wonder it’s now predicted that Britain will become an Islamic state by 2070. (Time to think about your children.)

Friday night we went to the comedy club at the boardwalk casino to see Carl do some stand up, Carl the owner of the guest house I always stay in when  I am in EL, was lekker to meet a couple of friends and have a good laugh.

Gabby is riding up a storm and also getting to practice in the traffic by either following Tania when she uses the car or we ride together on the bike and the scooter. Can’t tell you how grown she feels being able to ride her own vehicle.

The All Blacks beat the Wallabies 22/0 in a one sided match while the Boks did not bath themselves in glory by clawing back from 13/3 to draw the match 16/16 after a fortuitous charge down by Frans Steyn to score near to the posts. I am seriously worried what the All Blacks and the Wallabies will do to us when we play them. First 1 day international against the Poms was washed out so no winner or loser in that one. Proteas now are number 1 in all 3 forms of the game: 5 day, 1 day and 20/20.......let’s hope we keep that for a while.   

Don’t know (or can’t remember) if I told you that i have been asked to contribute a chapter to a book that is being published in Portugal about the Portuguese wars in Africa, I have been asked to write about Daniel Roxo, so been busy with that and nearly done. A little nervous that it will not be good enough.................oh well let’s see what happens.  

Sat afternoon we had a braai at Ryan’s as is my Nephews 4^th birthday today (Sunday 26^th) was nice to see my father in law as have not seen in a while.

Well that’s about for this week, not much else to tell you....”yeah boring week” off to EL on Monday for a couple of days.

Ciao

SPAD

"Shoot to kill"

                                                                                

Don’t know about you but i believe that if some asshole shoots at you, you have the right to shoot back and defend yourself and this is even more so the case if you shoot at cops, if you do be prepared to face the consequences. Now as yet we do not know the full story surrounding the incident this week at Marikana Platinum mine other than up to 34 miners were shot after attacking the cops and that Joooooliaaaas is on the miners side (no shock there) and wants Zuma and the police minister to resign(again no Frikken surprise there either).  I mean this is what this tool had to say

“They had no right to shoot," Malema said, even if the miners had opened fire first. Malema is the first politician (and I think they are using that word very loosely here) to address the miners at the site during a more than weeklong saga in which 10 people were killed before Thursday's shootings - including two police officers butchered to death and two mine security guards whom strikers burned alive in their vehicle. He said he had come because the government had turned its back on the strikers.

 Ok so we can allow the striking miners to butcher cops and set security guards alight in their van but no action must be taken..............Are you F%$king nuts Malema. I can bet all the tea in china and all the tender money you have in hidden bank accounts that if those “poor downtrodden and misunderstood miners” came to set you alight, butcher you or fired upon you, you would shoot to kill......................so don’t be a twat.    

Seems now this “massacre” had the Liberals all clamouring to charge the cops with murder and have the fired and then what’s next ?, let’s give them cattle prods to defend themselves?  Or better yet just let people do whatever they fuck they want  because they are upset and angry.Hell even the UK now has armed cops and you can’t get more liberal than them. I know that some will argue that we can’t have cops running around excessive force and that’s a valid argument, but in this case 2 policemen had been killed earlier in the week (sorry not killed “butchered like animals”) 

If I was a cop I would also have opened up with everything i had and more, Bring on the grenades and rocket launchers...............I have no sympathy for those men because they deserved ewhat they got.................plain and simple. And i also get a “Juk” in my pants when I see that the press have made such a huge deal of this but yet we allow Farmers to be killed on a almost daily basis..................but hell no its “shame for the miners who are animals and should be allowed to kill at will and niot face any consequences”........................BULL SHIT, “SHOOT TO KILL”

Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah Port Elizabeth and the eastern cape now have a Super 15 team that will be competing in the 2013 competition, cannot wait. Although the fact that it’s for 1 year only as the last placed SA team on the log will play a relegation/promotion match with the Lions to see who will be in Super 15 in 2014. First they are assuming that Super Kings will be last and also its a biot difficult for Lions to keep a Super 15 team in place if there good players (oh yeah that’s right they don’t have any...hahaha) and it’s not fair on Super Kings to buy players for the Super 15 that may only see them play a year....................anyway let’s see how that all unfolds as the Kings do have a huge mountain to climb. 

Still with Rugby the Boks beat the Argies 27/6 yesterday but I was not convinced that this team could in fact beat Australia or the All Blacks, yes it’s a young team but surely you should be scoring 4 tries against such opposition in the first half..................I bet you NZ and the Aussies score 4 tries for a bonus point against the Argentineans.

Weather not that bad this weekend had some sun and better yet no rain for a change.  A couple of local cemeteries have been closed as not deemed safe for workers to dig holes as well as there being a possibility that body fluids etc could be seeping into the water table due to coffins etc rotting due to all the water. I stand corrected but i believe we have either beaten the record for rain recorded in a year or we are close to it and we still have 4 and a half months of the year to go.

Summer or at least Spring is on its way as when i go to work in the morning now its light and its getting darker later, can’t tell you how much i am looking forward to spending time on the beach, that’s what I really enjoy about PE.    

Well that’s it for this week, not much else to say except have a great week and be safe.

Ciao

SPAD

     

Snow Lie

A record was set in SA this week with it being the first time that it has snowed in all 9 provinces at the same time. Clarens was snowed in as were many other places in SA. Even Joburg had snow, as can be imagined much excitement by children and adults alike. Claren’s was covered with a thick blanket and on Face book many photos where uploaded to show all of us no longer living in the village just what we were missing out on.

August in SA is woman’s month and 9 August is a public holiday I thought I would re-post this post that I came across while surfing the net. (Well worth a read and I agree 100% with it)

Take your Women’s Day and shove it*

[Warning: this post contains a lot of bad language and shouting. My parents should stop reading now.]

Dear Government (big, small, national and local).Here’s an idea. Take your pathetic, meaningless, mind-blowingly expensive and stomach-churningly patronising Women’s Day and cancel it. Cancel the entire idea of “women’s month”. Tell me, what is the FUCKING point?

Trash that ridiculous, pointless, bloated Dept of Women, Children and People with Disabilities (how’s that for neatly categorising us little ladies – not only does possession of a vagina constitute a disability, but vagina-owners are as powerless and lacking in agency as children). It’s no more than a particularly sanctimonious event-planning agency. The departmental mission? “Ooh, women and children are getting raped and abused, they bear the brunt of criminally lousy education and brutal poverty: LET THEM EAT CUPCAKES! Plus we’ll throw in some glossy leaflets, and send someone in a designer suit to pat heads and make a speech full of platitudes before we jet off for another shopping trip or international conference.”

So ditch the pointless sodding public holiday (estimated cost to the economy: SEVEN BILLION). Stop bleating about the month of women. It’s PATHETIC, considering it’s open season on South African women 24/7, year in, year out. Our rape stats are a global disgrace (Goddess, how many times do I have to FUCKING say this, the WORST in the world for a country not at war – the scale is unimaginable, the suffering ditto), black lesbians have “carve me up and smash my brains in” signs stamped on their backs, rural women and children live in relentless, grinding misery and poverty HUGELY exacerbated by patriarchal strictures, which are of course absolutely sacred (and the fact that the Traditional Courts Bill, which would render these women even more helpless and wretched, is actually allowed to pollute national airtime is a bloody disgrace). We are failing, no, betraying, no, ABUSING children by callously pissing away their only shot at an education, their ONLY chance of a life of decent employment, a form of abuse that will affect girls worse than boys; we’re losing ground in terms of infant and maternal mortality; women without cash are being denied C-sections at state hospitals and giving birth to stillborn babies on the floor as a result. SO DON’T TALK TO ME ABOUT FUCKING WOMEN’S DAY YOU BOZOS.

Here’s a better idea. Instead of the jamborees and a long weekend of more boozing and beatings and rapes, take the money – the obscene piles and piles of it you intend to waste – and use it to fund Rape Crisis, which is having to CLOSE ITS FUCKING DOORS because you don’t think it’s worth supporting, never mind that it does priceless work, not just in enabling women and their families to pick up their lives after they’ve been blown apart, but in taking an enormous burden off both the public health and criminal justice systems. Fund the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children, which is literally having bake sales to keep running. All those NGOs that have lost their overseas funding because of the economic crisis – how about funding them, the hundreds that work with the poorest of the poor (which, SURPRISE! equates women and children), which do invaluable work for women with TB or Aids, which support women who are raising grandchildren, running crèches, soup kitchens, micro-employment schemes, food gardens, hospices and all the heroic things that South African women do to keep this country running, NO FUCKING THANKS TO YOU.

Stop whining about the Lotto (an additional tax on the poor) and big business, and how “they need to come to the party”. International funders have been warning for South African NGOs for years, you’re not a baby democracy any more, YOUR government needs to start picking up the tab for this. And so you bloody well ought. What’s next, asking the Lotto or big business to supply the state with ambulances?

So grow the fuck up. Cancel the froth and bubbles. What you have reduced the 1956 Women’s March to is a travesty. That was an occasion of extraordinary dignity and power, and we’d like to remember and honour it without having to use sickbags, please. Lilian Ngoyi and Albertina Sisulu and the thousands of brave women who took part that day are squirming in their graves at your appalling, ongoing, almost CASUAL abandonment of this country’s women, especially the poorest ones. The public spectacle of hypocrisy that is Women’s Day is just rubbing salt into their wounds.

  

(my note) If that is not bad enough  see that they are going to be building a R100 000 000  (yes 100 million) memorial to commemorate the woman’s march of 1956, are the Frikken serious just think what that money could buy and be used for that would

We won a Bronze in kayaking as well as a silver when Caster came from the back of the field to finish second in the 800m final................must say she ran her balls off to get second.............So well done Casta well done. Oscar and the rest of the 4 x 400m relay team came 8^th in the Final this after being allowed to run after the 2^nd leg runner was tripped by a Kenyan in the semi final, so he got to run which is good, rumour has it that Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) wants to make a movie about him.

So SA won 6 medals this Olympics, the best ever as far as I can remember. 3 in swimming, 2 in rowing/kayaking  and one on the track, so it would seem we are better in water than on land. Which is not what the SA navy is good at, last week on an exercise between Port Elizabeth and Durban they managed to crash a submarine into the sea bed (are they hiring taxi drivers for the navy now?) so now the three submarines that cost 8 Billion rand in the infamous arms scandal are all “F#%*kd one has been out of commission since 2007 when the person driving it hit the quay. I found this clip about a submarine tour that was taking place in SA , read the highlited part..................I mean where else would you be able to use the submarine...............On a highway ?

         

Huge accident about 200 meters from our house on Saturday morning that had two fire engines, ambulance  and even traffic police (must have been big to get them off their lazy asses). Seems two youngsters came down Constance and did not realise that there was a stop street at the bottom of the road, they then hit another bakkie at speed and parts of car etc flew everywhere. One of the bakkies hit two pedestrians and one of the occupants of the one bakkie had to be cut out of the car.............Fun and excitement.  

Been teaching Gabby how to ride her bike and she is doing really well, much better than when my dad tried to teach me all those years ago. I remember lots of crying, shouting and swearing and that was just from my dad. Anyway got to get the basics right and then we can start going on longer rides as at the moment Gabby is only allowed in the immediate area that we live in.  

Last two day in PE it’s been windy and wet, has been raining almost nonstop for the last 2 days.....................Please summer come soon, real soon .

Ok well that’s about for this week, will be presenting SAMTRAC at our PE offices for the next two weeks, so got to do some prep work.

CIAO

SPAD

What an “Oarsome” week for SA at the Olympics

So the main news this week is that SA has picked up  3 x Gold medals (well 7 X if you count the extra 3 medals for the rowing dudes)  and a silver, great achievement and what really impressed me is the rowers one who has the surname Brittain pipped the Poms at the post (which made victory even sweeter) I know that certain people will lambast me for not being true to my roots, but I am  not a transplant I don’t straddle the island and SA with my private parts dipping in the ocean. I am a South African, made a conscious decision to be so and Proud that I am one. That’ what you have to do if you move to another country, as someone famous once said “you can’t have your cake and eat it. Of in this case “you can’t have your koeksister and eat it”. Love some of the expat sites and you see the same names popping up that when there is kak in SA they are “just so happy and blessed to have left that god forsaken country, but when SA achieves or does good things they are ‘Just so proud to be South Africans” ....................”Hypocrites”

But anyway Well done SA athletes not just those that have won medals so far but those who have competed and did not win and those yet to compete. Oscar Pistorius is the talk of London he is the first person with no legs to compete in the Olympics, another first brought to you by South Africa........................"Go Oscar"   

Drove up to Aliwal North (Pole)on Wednesday afternoon  and there was snow on them darn hills, not seen snow for a while so naturally I stopped and made a snowball and threw it at some unsuspecting cow across the road. When I got to Jamestown i stopped to put in some petrol and when i wound the window down I thought someone had thrown a  snowball in my face, it was that cold. The last 20kms to Aliwal was lekker because the full moon was rising  above the hills on my right and on my left the sun was setting behind the distant hills. Must say looking across the veld with the kopies in the distant and the full moon rising  with a purple hue in the sky was nothing short of breathtaking, my cell phone camera is KAK so I did not even attempt to take a picture, but that memory will live on in my mind for a long time to come. 

Got to Aliwal and thought my guest house was in a certain direction, thank goodness it was not because the area i thought it was in was not as the chosen people would say “kosher”... ..........  was booked into a guest house across the Orange river in the Free State (where nothing is free and everything is in a state). Had to cross the bridge that was damaged by a truck hitting it about 7 months ago so there was a stop and go. Checked into La Riviera a working farm with guest accommodation, must say very  nice and the under floor heating a huge hit.  Thursday morning I woke up got changed and when i walked outside my legs got so cold that for a brief moment I thought that I may have forgotten to put on my  pants. The cold clung to my skin and the material obviously not working as an effective barrier. You know it’s cold when  the fountain outside your room has frozen over and the water that the general worker threw on the car to de – frost the windows froze so quickly that I could not get the door open, it was frozen shut.....................

        

Gabby got her bike this week so as you can imagine she is chuffed, gave her a lesson today, Sunday 5^th August and must say she did not too bad, still some way to go but she will get there.

On Thursday the PE municipality announced that 2 main water pipes filling water to the metros reservoirs had collapsed due to the big rains we have had the last while, so that means areas are and have run out of watery, bit Ironic when u think about it we have had flooding but we don’t have water..................at time of writing (Thursday evening) the situation is the following

Reports are being received of taps running dry in parts of Port Elizabeth, as the current, sudden water crisis begins to bite. The crisis was caused by two of the Metro's main supply pipes being damaged in the recent heavy rain, resulting in the supply from the Churchill- and Impofu dams to the metro being interrupted.

Listeners have already advised Algoa FM News of taps that are dry in Newton Park, Fernglen, Mount Pleasant and Schauderville, among others. The municipality says it is extremely concerned that some residents deliberately fill up large containers of water, depleting the supply in the reservoirs at a much faster rate. They have been asked to consider other people, as the Municipality has issued a call that Everybody should conserve water over the next few days.

An update regards the situation is that while some people did experience the loss of water and some restaurants etc did close because of that it was not as bad as some people (The sensationalists) tried to make out, you always get people that try to make things out worse than they actually are. We have not had loss of water and don’t expect we will. So just in case you were worried we are not dying of thirst, we do not smell and most importantly “the pubs are still open”  

So the textbook fiasco is nearly over Angie “get an f “ the MEC for education in Limpopo is however not going to bend to pressure from anyone, including the “ANC Yut league” to resign until a full enquiry has been conducted, you see its not her fault, I am sure she will use what will from now on be known ‘Verwoerd defence” I had to laugh because some tool from the department of education said that the Crisis is nearly over and most students except for a minority of grade 8 students had received textbooks................well don’t give yourself a raise because its August that’s 8 months into the year, surely they should have had them in January. The MEC also now has plans to ensure this does not happen again. You say that every year and yet it continues to happen. But don’t worry the kids won’t fail because we will pass them ................Eish it was not their fault so how can they be punished.

The Super 15 was won by the Chiefs they beat the Sharks 37 / 6 it was a Snotklap of note and to be honest a bit disappointing, really thought the game would have been closer than the way it panned out. Oh well always next year I suppose.   

Well that’s it for this week

CIao

SPAD

Don’t blame it on the sunshine, don’t blame it on the moon light don’t blame it on the good times, blame it on...........................

Verwoed......................Yes Hendrik Frensch Verwoed the architect of apartheid that was assassinated by some Greek loony tunes on 6 September 1966 is still able after all those years able to reach from the grave and F%^k with black people’s lives. This is according to our esteemed, large penis’d, shower to get rid of aids and multi partnered President his honourable Mr Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma or JZ as he is fondly known by his legion of fans.

You see the reason that Limpopo has no books and that the kids are not getting education is because of Verwoed and his education policy not wanting to educate Blacks. I am actually at a loss for words so i am not going to comment at this stage other than to say “what a doos”

See that Malema has been stirring the pot regards Zuma as well: “ What could be described as his most scathing attack of President Jacob Zuma yet, former ANC youth league president Julius Malema said the president was morally unfit to conduct former president Nelson Mandela’s funeral.Speaking in Qumbu, near Mthatha in Eastern Cape last night, Malema accused Zuma of undermining Nelson Mandela’s legacy.

“We must pray Mandela to live long up until Zuma is no longer president because he (Zuma) does not qualify to bury him. He does not have the moral authority to stand near his coffin (as state president),” he said, also calling Zuma a liability to the ANC and the country”.

So the Winter Olympic games in London have started, our family that live there are all agog at being in London at this time, know how they feel as was great to be in SA when  we SO SUCCESSFULLY hosted the Soccer world cup in 2010. Gotta say a part of me is hoping that the Poms drop the ball because they gave us so much shit about not being able to host a Soccer World cup. I see already we have had a anthem and a flag incident so let’s see what the rest of the games bring. Missed the opening ceremony so really can’t say what it was about other than amazing if you look at family FB comments. Apparently the show incorporated all the good things that depicts the island, Cows, sheep, Mr Bean, 007 and the queen......................”Oh Yeah”.  I wonder if they carefully edited out the highlites of British history, No Colonialism, No concentration camps in South Africa, no stealing of other countries diamonds and gold etc etc.

Great excitement and photos galore with the specially  designed Olympic torch by two alternative lifestyle designers making a 70 day journey around Great Britain....................They must have run really slowly” because surely it can’t take that long to walk/run around the island? Don’t you think the torch looks like a King Cone or a fancy cigarette lighter. 

I see that a number of athletes competing for Great Britain would not sing “God save the Queen” because of political overtones..................How rude, you want to compete at the Olympics under the Pommie flag but don’t want to sing the anthem....................SIS on you Ryan Gigs. The Scots are trying to break up Great Britain (and I say that with tongue in cheek)......................seems the Scots don’t like the POMS that much, hell come to think of it neither do the Irish or the Welsh.................mmmmmmmm you see the trend here?

Now just read this on Sky news: Olympic organisers have launched an investigation after fans expressed disappointment at the sight of rows of empty seats on the first day of the London Games. Locog were prompted to act after gaps were visible at a number of venues, including the Aquatics Centre where British medal hope Hannah Miley missed out on a podium place in the  400 metres individual medley final. In contrast, huge crowds lined the streets, where tickets were not required, to watch Mark Cavendish and Team GB compete in the cycling road race.

Oh and this really interests me ................NOT but I will tell you anyway the Beckams are planning to have sex this Olympics so they can produce an Olympic baby...........any bets on what it will be called...................another poor baby born on the island.   

So remember the day I bought Gabby a tricycle and then the big bike with training wheels, the skateboard, rollerblades, big bicycle, electric scooter and yesterday we bought her a Honda 125 XLR, so when she turns 16 she will have her own transport, She can ride the scooter pretty well so I will need to start teaching her how to ride the bike and get her booked to do licences etc etc.    

Sad about all the people killed and injured in Aurora(USA) at the midnight screening of the new Batman movie  by some lunatic with access to automatic weapons and gas. I see one of those killed was a 6 year old child. This begs a couple of questions such as what was a 6 year old doing at a midnight show that has a age restriction and how did the parents manage to get that child in the movie house? You do know that those parents of the child will now sue the movie house for allowing the child into the show, even though they made the conscious decision to do so themselves.....................God Bless America.    

      

So the Super 15 Final is Sharks VS Chiefs in Hamilton New Zealand, probably an upset final cause many believed that it would be the Crusaders VS Stormers  at Newlands. Both the Sharks and the Chiefs played really well so hopefully the Sharks will be able to take a 3^rd trip in 3 weeks and win the Super 15 for all South African Rugby supporters.  

Well that’s it for this week. Oh the reason i have not written Blogs for a while is..................Ah F#$k it  its Verwoeds fault

Ciao

SPAD

Guess who’s back

The more astute of you may have noticed that i have not written a Blog for a long long time, “what’s the excuse” ? Well to be honest i did not feel like writing for a while.

Busy writing this Blog  sitting on a 1960’s style couch watching SABC 2 with the sound disappearing and the picture fluctuating between a blue screen, or it ghosting and then splitting into a double screen you know like when a Boeing airbus flies over your house and the TV goes moggy. Staying at a place called the Palmhouse which is part of a larger lodge called the Kraaljtie (little kraal)

But I get ahead of myself, so let me tell you where i am and why i am here. I am in a village Called Joubertina that is 180kms from PE and is situated on the R62 (SA’s version of  America’s Route 66)

Well I am going to be doing some training tomorrow at ESKOM (SA electricity supplier). But in the meantime let me tell you about Joubertina or at least my impressions of it.

Have to say was not looking forward to have to come here as I was thinking of a 1 horse town that they would probably feed me for dinner, but I really like it here. It could be the Euphoria wearing off from the Shit eating grin bike ride to get here. OMG (that’s Oh my God for those that are not hip with the modern way of communicating) what an awesome ride, when I turned off the N2 onto the R62 i was wondering what the road would be like, but I believe that the road maker was either a biker and if not then he should be made an honorary one.

The road is good, cambers awesome and with enough turns and twisties to keep you wanting more, even the setting sun in the eyes could not dampen the need for speed. The bike was going great and handling like it was on rails. The road to Kareedouw is lekker but from there to  Joubertina is a bikers paradise.

Kareedouw is a typical tourism village with the obligatory Pep store, 4 garage’s 6 butchers, 18 bottle stores and a  pot pourie of restaurants, coffee shops and gift stores. The church off the main road is however majestic and was voted the 5^th most beautiful church in SA, it’s also where John Vorster is buried.

If i was smiling about the road to Kareedouw  then i was grinning from ear to ear when i hit the road to Joubertina, AWESOME with a Capital A is what I have to say. Got into Joubertina as the sun was setting and the clouds were spilling over the mountains into the valley, got lost so stopped at the Ark to get directions, just so happen also sold beer , so had one of those and then another and then rode down to the guest house.

Settled in and then rode back to the ARK to have a couple more bers and play a couple games of pool. Barman Arno was very funny , when i asked him what youngsters like himself did for companionship he said “In Joubertina you do not get to have a girlfriend, you get a turn”.

Woke up at 2am to the sound of a cockerel that had throat cancer from the sound of it so did not get much sleep after that. At breakfast  got a call to say that the training for ESKOM had been cxd due to a number of the students on the way to the training having been involved in a car accident so that would mean only a few people at the training. After breakfast, I packed up and head the 180kms back home to PE. Can’t wait to get back as it reminded me so much of Clarens, great scenery (loved the mountains) great people and just Lekker.   

Now I know this is going to shock many of you and may even have some postponing or cancelling plans  to go and live there but it’s got to be said “ Think of it as a public service announcement” My sisters car was stolen.................. (Nicole’s car was stolen from in front of her house in a nice neighbourhood in London), yes I know I was also shocked and stunned. Apparently there are  actually criminals on the island so all the stories you hear  that you can walk anywhere, leave money out on the front pavement, leave your house unlocked, leave laptops etc in an unlocked car are not 100% accurate after all. 

I have a Theory it probably was like that until the South Africans, Nigerians and Zimbabweans started to flood onto the island, not to mention the Rumanians, Poles, Russians, Albanians as well as any other Nationality that could walk, run, swim, drive cycle, catch a rain, get stuffed into a container etc into the country. Apparently people steal cars and drive them until then petrol runs out and then abandon them. Could stay abandoned for months as either people don’t report strange car/s outside their houses or the supposed efficient police have better things to do (after all the Olympics are coming up and they probably have to safeguard the surface to air missiles that will be installed on house rooftops in residential areas) we would not want any of those to get stolen by the Hoodie brigade would we?  Hopefully they do get the car back and it has not been taken over by a family of Rumanian gypsies on welfare.

talking about cops we now have a woman as the head of the South African police services,never been a cop , never wanted to be a cop as a child but was perhaps arrested a few times by the 'Apartheid police" during the struggle years, this obviously gave her the credentials needed to be the "Top cop" of the country. but hey can she be any worse that the 4 star General  Beke Chest out stomach in Cele".....................stay tuned.

While I have been away one of the news items that stood up for me was the Jacob Zuma “Spear” painting, I mean really as though we don’t have enough kak to worry about now we have people marching and protesting about a paining with JZ’s Piel hanging out. They have had a statue of JZ in Joubertina for years already, in fact I hear its how the artist got his inspiration, don’t believe me, well here is a picture of that statue situated just of the R62 in Joubertina 

Well the Boks have beaten the Poms twice and now for the 3^rd test which will be at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium next Saturday and I will be there.  To hopefully watch them give the Poms a good hiding this time. Saturday we let them get back into the game. I see that Ireland nearly beat New Zealand and Wales nearly beat Australia this weekend and Argentina managed to beat France, so some interesting games.

  

Been asked to contribute to a book being written in Portugal that will include a chapter on Daniel Roxo and apparently I am the world expert on him at present so I am excited about that because could mean more info coming through for my book. The chapter needs to be 50 – 75 pages so I need to work on that. It also looks like my name will appear on the front cover as a co-author that would be pretty cool. 

I am now part of the Blackberry generation and while I was brought in kicking and screaming I am now learning to use it and c the benefits of having a Smart phone. I get used to something and I hate to change so when Tania said that Gabby was getting an upgrade and I could get her Blackberry I got the cold sweats as I know that somewhere along the line I am going to send someone a rude sms, bbm or mms. “We now live in an era of Smart phones and Stupid people”  

This could only happen in SA and perhaps another reason you need to have a lady passenger on the back of the bike with you.

A motorcyclist used a pair of panties to cover his registration plate to avoid being caught speeding in Johannesburg, according to a report on Wednesday. The Ekurhuleni metropolitan police eventually stopped the biker and his passenger with the help of a helicopter, after a high-speed chase, The Star reported.

The incident happened on Tuesday morning on the N17 highway. The man eventually pulled over at the exit near Rand Airport when he realized he could not outrun a police helicopter hovering above him. Ekurhuleni metro police spokesperson Wilfred Kgasago told the newspaper ground units could not keep up with the biker, who was travelling at about 200km/h.

The panties were used to cover the bike's number plate, to stop him being identified on speed cameras. The biker was expected to appear in the Germiston Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on a charge of defeating the ends of justice and reckless driving.

We have a new pet , she is called Toffee and is a bunny, she is getting used to the house, garden, 2 cats another pissed off Bunny and a Rat  (who is almost as big as she is) She arrived on Wednesday and was not here 5 minutes and she ran straight inro the pool, Gabby dove in after her but she need not have worried because Rabbits can swim. In fact as i am writing this she has just fallen in again, "not the brightest bunny in the hutch".

Ok well that’s it for now have a great day and to all the Dads out there have a Happy Fathers day and keep up the good work.

CIAO

SPAD

Whats in a name ?

Tuesday I rode to Umtata some 530 kms to the East of PE. Getting to EL was a  doddle but the trip to Umtata  as I have just said was not  Lekker probably due to  due to a combination of traffic, stop and goes, animals of various sizes and species crossing the roads, multitudes of school kids walking back from school and it was cold. I think also my brain had decided in EL that the trip was over so the road ahead was always going to be a stretched out affair. Have to be honest stretches of the road are awesome and a bikers dream, but the Triumph was not holding the road as she normally does and the air filter that I badly need to change (is on order from mud island) is making the bike splutter at lower revs, which means I have to keep the bike above 5 000 RPM or use the choke to achieve that at low speeds. I  also have not seen so much road kill on the roads since I watched deliverance.

Got into Umtata at peak hour and it was like the start of a manical car race, with taxis, cars, buses and pedestrians all vying for space on the road as well as the sidewalk. It was like a combination of Frogger, and Need for Speed with all the participants on Acid. I eventually manage d to find the guest house (Cumberland guest house) do yourself a favour if you are ever looking for accommodation in Umtata then DONT ‘ I repeat” Don’t call them.....................”What a dump”. the base of my bed was too small for the built bed and headboard, as you can see by the photograph

It’s always difficult to go to new places and find the guest house and venue your training at but when you decide to not have street signs as well, then it becomes a little if a mystery tour. What should have been a 5 minute 2km ride from the guest house to Coca Cola lasted 15 minutes and I rode 7 km’s avoiding potholes of various sizes including Sloote (that’s Afrikaans for trenches).

I now never need to go to Nairobi, Lunada or some other God forsaken African City up North as the trip to Umtata showed me what a real African city looks like, while Umtata was bad Butterworth was wall to wall street vendors, people animals and cars all vying for space on the road or sidewalk.  I also know what it would feel like to be the only white person left on the planet

Trip to ERL on Wednesday afternoon after training was as frustrating as on Tuesday a trip that should take 2 hours took me close to 3 .........................was nice to see Carl and Glenda again (Owners of Tindale Lodge) as have not been to Tindale lodge for a while. The ride back to PE on Thursday was uneventful and I rode as hard and fast as I could to get back in just over 2 hours. (310 kms)

Did my first ever moderations on Tuesday morning at the office before I left for Umtata, I passed my Moderators exams so now I can assess as well as moderate exams in the Occupational Health and Welfare   

Friday (27/4) was Freedom day in SA so as is the norm we get a holiday, 18 years ago South Africa had its first democratic election and the ANC came into power and while they have managed to do some good they have also managed to F%$k a number of things up as well.  Here are the ANC’s all-time 10 most disturbing quotes as sent by a friend.

1). "We've been standing here for 26 seconds and nobody has been raped."  2). "[The ANC is] more important" than the Constitution. "No political force can destroy the ANC - it is only the ANC that can destroy itself... "[the Constitution is only there] to regulate matters." 3. "We need to look at the question that is posed, understandably I suppose: does HIV cause AIDS? AIDS the acronym stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Now I do believe that is a sensible thing to ask: does one virus cause a syndrome? A virus cannot cause a syndrome. A virus will cause a disease." 4.) "God expects us to rule this country because we are the only organisation which was blessed by pastors when it was formed. It is even blessed in Heaven. That is why we will rule until Jesus comes back. We should not allow anyone to govern our city [Cape Town] when we are ruling the country." 5.) "I did not join the struggle to be poor." I 6). "The African National Congress congratulates the people of Zimbabwe for a successful 2002 Presidential Election."

7). "I think it's very important for coloured people in this country to understand that South Africa belongs to them in totality, not just the Western Cape. So this over-concentration of coloureds in the Western Cape is not working for them. They should spread in the rest of the country ... so they must stop this over-concentration situation because they are in over-supply where they are so you must look into the country and see where you can meet the supply." 8). "I, for my part, will not keep quiet while others whose minds have been corrupted by the disease of racism, accuse us, the black people of South Africa, Africa and the world, as being, by virtue of our Africanness and skin colour - lazy, liars, foul-smelling, diseased, corrupt, violent, amoral, sexually depraved, animalistic, savage - and rapists." 9.) "Same sex marriage is a disgrace to the nation and to God. When I was growing up, ‘ungqingili' [homosexuals in isiZulu] could not stand in front of me, I would knock him out." 10). "This rot is across the board. It's not confined to any level or any area of the country. Almost every project is conceived because it offers opportunities for certain people to make money. A great deal of the ANC's problems are occasioned by this. There are people who want to take it over so they can arrange for the appointment of those who will allow them possibilities for future accumulation."

We received this in the post , now it’s not something you receive everyday (especially if you are living in “Civilised” countries)   but is typically South African. I have to say that the whole ceremony (it was to mark the 2nd anniversary of Mr’s Hani’s husband’s death over a year ago. Some of you may remember the Blog that I wrote about this, if not you can go to www.thediariesofavillageidiot and search for “So where did I go wrong”) was very tame. I was expecting a horde of people to be singing and dancing followed by a mad chase of some poor goat  along the cul de sac by people brandishing large panga’s and a assegai or two..............”nothing of the sort” it was a quiet affair , in fact the Hillbillies that now unfortunately live behind us made much more noise last public holiday and there were only 4 of them.     

I see the major discussion topic this week has been the postponing of the E-Tolls on the Gauteng – Pretoria (or Tshwane, depending on your politics) for a month, it would seem that only 10 000 of a possible 300 000 road users have actually registered for E-tags.( The implementation of Gauteng’s e-tolling system will be postponed for a month, after an agreement between the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the ANC, the ruling party and the union federation said in a joint statement on Thursday 26/4/2012)

Here are some  thoughts  about this whole fiasco. I feel a legitimate action against a forced upon tolling without provision of alternative routing is justified in not paying, registering or complying regards the E tag system you have all but  agreed, in principle, that it is lawful and constitutional to "take over" existing infrastructure, add one lane and then charge a fee to use any of the four. Previous tax funds paid for and funded these roads, is there a reimbursement for this? No, there is not

If SANRAL was to provide a new route, which did not remove peoples  freedom of movement, it may  be supported and road users could then make a choice to continue with the existing roads or utilize new ones. SANRAL have however stolen or hijacked the motorways for profiteering and greed. The toll roads are a theft from the general public, a compounded tax on your after tax income and worst of all an infringement on our rights as a South African Citizen.

Saturday Ryan and I played good Samaritan and assisted Lindy (one of our work colleagues) to move house. So had two gym sessions on Saturday. I have put on 2kgs now since starting the gym.............hope it’s that muscle that’s putting on weight.  

As if the fact those little monkey faced shits in the Far East cannot get their dicks up without grinding up some Rhino Horn leading to the decimation of the Rhino population I now read that Lion Bones are in big demand because the Tiger bones the Chinese use for other medicinal purposes are almost extinct. So now not only will the Rhinos be hunted but the Lions will also get their turn............so advanced yet so backward. Also I am a tad pissed off with the Chinese because I have not been able to ride my scooter for the last month......................”why is that the Chinese fault” I hear you ask?..............Well have you tried lately to buy a scooter or motorbike battery?..............Good luck as they are in very short supply this is because the Chinese closed down 5 of the biggest battery manufacturers in the world due to lead poisoning. This means that scooter batteries are like hens teeth and the situation is only expected to get worse before it gets better.  I mean this is the same people who used tanks to crush a student demonstration and regularly persecute Tibetan monks, now they get a conscience and decide that they can’t kill people with lead poisoning anymore......What am I going to do about my scooter Slant eyes ?????? 

Report from News 24:......................Johannesburg - South Africa should push for a "decent" and "responsible" trade in lion bones or risk losing its wild lion population to poaching in the future, according to a report on Saturday. The Saturday Star reported that there was a surging demand for lion bones in Asia. "There is a market, a need for lion body parts and this will grow in exactly the same manner as the market for ivory and rhino horn," said Dr Herman Els, manager of the SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association. "If you don't do a decent responsible trade... we will not achieve the situation we want..." Lion bones were sought as a replacement for tiger bones and used in traditional medicine, the publication said."The Chinese believe there's a medicinal value attached to these animal parts and will continue to use them.      

Super Rugby this weekend saw the Stormer’s beat the Western Force 17/3 the Lions lost 20/34 against the Brumbies. And the Cheetahs once again managed to squander a huge lead against the Highlanders  (21 points in fact) with a mere 20 minutes to go by 36/33. It also does not help when your kicker misses 3 x penalties (1 right in front of the posts)........So pissed off.

Sunday (today) was go to gym and then Tania Gabby and I went to St Georges park to go look at the flea market there, then we took a drive to the main beachfront to search the local market there for Fudge (Tania and Gabby have been craving it). After buying about 5 kgs each we then dropped Gabby off at her new boyfriend (Bradley) and then Tania and I went to Sards to sit on the sand dune ,watch the  sea and have a beer or cooler in Tania’s case.    

 
 QUOTE OF THE WEEK‏

Interesting observation regarding Affirmative Action: "South Africa is the only country in the world where affirmative action is in favour of the majority who have complete political control. The fact that the political majority requires affirmative action to protect themselves against a 9% minority group is testament to a complete failure on their part to build their own wealth making structures, such that their only solution is to take it from others."

and, a word recently coined to describe South Africa's current political situation.eneptocracy (in-ep-toc'-ra-cy)   - A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

Well that’s about for this week, I have to work tomorrow but I will be off on Tuesday, its MAY DAY.....Wekkers day in South Africa, well at least I have something to thank the Commies for. Oh have you seen the new car on the road? Its what I call a Tunmmer......................Yes a Tummer, “A Toyota Hummer” "Ugly looking thing".

 
Ciao
 SPAD