Well that’s Christmas gone for another year. Next stop Easter. I believe that a large number of “Sefricans”, (especially those who have right wing inclinations) in Europe were a bit upset as they did not realise a white Christmas consisted of snow and freezing temperatures, they where contemplating a Christmas with no darkies or wogs (as our civilised British maatjies (friends) call them).
If you have seen the Checkers advert with the Nataniel talking about a Turducken (He thought was a small communist country) well it may as well be had a look at the price of one at Checkers on Monday and a small one is R450 00. I nearly fainted, I was under the impression that it was supposed to be a better priced alternative for the festive season. For those who don’t know it’s a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey, good job there wasn’t fish involved other wise the name may have been rather risqué
Europe is still under a white sheet but it seems that its not only the snow, ice and cold that they have to be worried about, terrorism has raised its ugly head in Eur
ope (England, Italy and Sweden) with bombs either going off, being defused or plans being foiled to blow up 12 (count them 12) tourist related spots in England. Sort of makes me happy to be living on the tip of Africa and away from all that apprehension. It also got me thinking about the 1980’s in SA when you had to walk through metal detectors when shopping, women’s bags being searched but men with side arms being allowed to wander around that made no sense to me whatsoever.
So what have we been up to this week, well apart from doing a little last minute Xmas shopping and pottering around the house, going to the beach not much to be honest, a “luie lekker” week as they say in the classic’s.
While we love Sards (Sardinia bay) we have found another really awesome beach called Kini bay, near Seaview. Its further than Sards but there are a couple of spots that are just great to sit and chill, snorkel, braai, drink a beer or contemplate the meaning of life, all done this last week.
Do you remember me telling you about Stumpy tail the Cat that made The Terminator look like Noddy, the cat that killed Snowball, well it would seem “ding dong, the cat is dead” have not seen him for ages and rumour in the cul de sac is that he has gone to kitty hell. So we have now started to leave windows pen again, but it’s a little like one of those slasher movies where you see the bad dude getting killed but you just have a feeling there is going to be a sequel.
Bought our cat Mischief a Christmas present, it’s a Cat Play Station, here is a photo of it. Gabby and I did a city tour on the scooter on Wednesday, we also went to the main library to look for info on The LM coup that I need for my “Phantom of the Forest” book. I had a great time with Gabby, must definitely do it more often. Some people (and not celebrities either) have hundreds of friends on Facebook (I have 90+). How do you keep up with that many people, surely it’s not possible, I know that I only keep in touch with about 20 of the 90, so I should actually can the ones I don’t keep in touch with. This then begs the question why have hundred of friends if your not actually taking an active interest in their lives or they yours. Is it like a “mines bigger than yours” competition?
I have utmost respect for those people that can wrap Xmas presents so nicely. Mine always look like they have been dragged through a hedge backwards and then dropped in a blender. I battle to find the tear in the cello tape so I can cut small strips to use to wrap the presents. Usually I stick the pieces on a table for easy access, however what usually happens is that the pieces stick to the table and cannot be used or the tape curls up and sticks on itself, rendering that piece unusable also the tape always seems to have a mind of its own and sticks to the wrapping paper, but not in the spot you want. I always have a present left but not enough paper to cover it, so it’s back to the shop to buy another roll.
On Friday I had coffee with an old boss of mine at the PE air port, actually Wayne was the owner of a few hotels I worked at, he then went into partnership with an asshole (actually 2) a father and son team who managed to break the close relationship that Wayne and I enjoyed. We have stayed in contact intermittently but I had not seen Wayne for about 8 years so it was really good to catch up on news.
Talking about air ports it’s interesting to see the emotions at different parts of the terminus, at departures the mood varies between happy and sombre, if you’re going on a journey its cool, but if you’re leaving after visiting family or leaving forever it can be pretty Kak. At arrivals however it a different matter there is a buzz and an air of expectancy with family or loved one arriving.
Been watching a programme called cops on TV lately and have to say the police in the states are just soooooooooo gay its not funny, “I am putting you in cuffs because your freaking me out” this is the quote from a cop detaining a really bad man who drove down the road with no lights………WOW. Also two huge cops have to call for backup to arrest some 90 pound weakling and then tazer the poor sod when he does not get out of the car fast enough, but only when they have more cops there than Hitler had soldiers.
And while we are on the subject of travelling........... News flash - All South Africans need to get foreign passports because as a South African passport holder we “cannot travel anywhere on a SA passport”……….No its not info from the department of Home affairs or a Government bulletin, its an arbitrary (uninformed/illogical) comment that I picked up on a social interaction page, this now makes sense as to why so many South Africans are flocking overseas and waiting to qualify for a passport of the country they have chosen, its so they can travel to any destination of their choice, but wait how did they get there in the first place if you cannot travel anywhere on a SA passport, did they swim, micro light, hitch a lift with Ewan and Charlie, walk? I wonder then who fills the flights that leave from South African airports for foreign destinations? I will definitely have to look into this conundrum (puzzle/challenge) as to how as South Africans we cannot travel anywhere but manage to get to Kuwait, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada etc. Maybe what the person was trying to say is that as a South African you need visa’s to get into certain countries but with a EU or other foreign passport you can waltz in and out of those countries without even a "bye your leave". Will check on this and get back to you.
Seems that a gent was arrested in Queenstown (Eastern Cape) for driving a stolen Mercedes panel van (borrowed for the boss, a funeral parlour) without his permission, that’s bad I hear you say, yes it is but I have not finished, he had 15 stolen sheep (yes 15) as well as 6 passengers and was just a li
ttle over the legal alcohol limit, “32 times to be exact”. He said that he bought the sheep, but the cops could see that he was just trying to pull the wool over their eyes. Only in Africa,
Xmas eve we had a really nice dinner prepared by Tania (thanks my love) and dad came across to join us, sent a couple of messages on face book. The table that Tania set was also very lekker and we had a really nice evening chatting and having a couple of drinks
Xmas day woke up to a nice wet PE, Santa had been kind enough to bring us 12mm of much needed precipitation other wise we spent a
relaxed day, just Tania, Gabby, myself and Keith, woke up earlyish, and cleaned the pool, yeah I know “not normal” but then again am I normal? Had a nice breakfast and spoke to family in Gauteng and then skyped the UK family, was nice to see Amb
er and she seemed to enjoy seeing Mischief the cat. For lunch we had a do it yourself lunch of cold meats and salads, Gabby had Sushi and everyone just did there own thing, think maybe next year like Ryan has done this year we take a pilgrimage up to Gauteng and spend a Xmas with the Dunkley, Esterhuizen, Kingham (well some of them) Clans at the family estate (five and a half acre plot in Petit). Late afternoon Stephen popped in and we drove to Sards to take a walk on the beach and take my Gnome (Xmas present from Tania) for a photo shoot. Beach was busy with a number of families just relaxing and enjoying a typical SA Port Elizabeth Xmas day (on the beach).
If you have seen the Checkers advert with the Nataniel talking about a Turducken (He thought was a small communist country) well it may as well be had a look at the price of one at Checkers on Monday and a small one is R450 00. I nearly fainted, I was under the impression that it was supposed to be a better priced alternative for the festive season. For those who don’t know it’s a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey, good job there wasn’t fish involved other wise the name may have been rather risqué
Europe is still under a white sheet but it seems that its not only the snow, ice and cold that they have to be worried about, terrorism has raised its ugly head in Eur
ope (England, Italy and Sweden) with bombs either going off, being defused or plans being foiled to blow up 12 (count them 12) tourist related spots in England. Sort of makes me happy to be living on the tip of Africa and away from all that apprehension. It also got me thinking about the 1980’s in SA when you had to walk through metal detectors when shopping, women’s bags being searched but men with side arms being allowed to wander around that made no sense to me whatsoever.So what have we been up to this week, well apart from doing a little last minute Xmas shopping and pottering around the house, going to the beach not much to be honest, a “luie lekker” week as they say in the classic’s.
While we love Sards (Sardinia bay) we have found another really awesome beach called Kini bay, near Seaview. Its further than Sards but there are a couple of spots that are just great to sit and chill, snorkel, braai, drink a beer or contemplate the meaning of life, all done this last week.
Do you remember me telling you about Stumpy tail the Cat that made The Terminator look like Noddy, the cat that killed Snowball, well it would seem “ding dong, the cat is dead” have not seen him for ages and rumour in the cul de sac is that he has gone to kitty hell. So we have now started to leave windows pen again, but it’s a little like one of those slasher movies where you see the bad dude getting killed but you just have a feeling there is going to be a sequel.
Bought our cat Mischief a Christmas present, it’s a Cat Play Station, here is a photo of it. Gabby and I did a city tour on the scooter on Wednesday, we also went to the main library to look for info on The LM coup that I need for my “Phantom of the Forest” book. I had a great time with Gabby, must definitely do it more often. Some people (and not celebrities either) have hundreds of friends on Facebook (I have 90+). How do you keep up with that many people, surely it’s not possible, I know that I only keep in touch with about 20 of the 90, so I should actually can the ones I don’t keep in touch with. This then begs the question why have hundred of friends if your not actually taking an active interest in their lives or they yours. Is it like a “mines bigger than yours” competition?
I have utmost respect for those people that can wrap Xmas presents so nicely. Mine always look like they have been dragged through a hedge backwards and then dropped in a blender. I battle to find the tear in the cello tape so I can cut small strips to use to wrap the presents. Usually I stick the pieces on a table for easy access, however what usually happens is that the pieces stick to the table and cannot be used or the tape curls up and sticks on itself, rendering that piece unusable also the tape always seems to have a mind of its own and sticks to the wrapping paper, but not in the spot you want. I always have a present left but not enough paper to cover it, so it’s back to the shop to buy another roll.
On Friday I had coffee with an old boss of mine at the PE air port, actually Wayne was the owner of a few hotels I worked at, he then went into partnership with an asshole (actually 2) a father and son team who managed to break the close relationship that Wayne and I enjoyed. We have stayed in contact intermittently but I had not seen Wayne for about 8 years so it was really good to catch up on news.
Talking about air ports it’s interesting to see the emotions at different parts of the terminus, at departures the mood varies between happy and sombre, if you’re going on a journey its cool, but if you’re leaving after visiting family or leaving forever it can be pretty Kak. At arrivals however it a different matter there is a buzz and an air of expectancy with family or loved one arriving.
Been watching a programme called cops on TV lately and have to say the police in the states are just soooooooooo gay its not funny, “I am putting you in cuffs because your freaking me out” this is the quote from a cop detaining a really bad man who drove down the road with no lights………WOW. Also two huge cops have to call for backup to arrest some 90 pound weakling and then tazer the poor sod when he does not get out of the car fast enough, but only when they have more cops there than Hitler had soldiers.
And while we are on the subject of travelling........... News flash - All South Africans need to get foreign passports because as a South African passport holder we “cannot travel anywhere on a SA passport”……….No its not info from the department of Home affairs or a Government bulletin, its an arbitrary (uninformed/illogical) comment that I picked up on a social interaction page, this now makes sense as to why so many South Africans are flocking overseas and waiting to qualify for a passport of the country they have chosen, its so they can travel to any destination of their choice, but wait how did they get there in the first place if you cannot travel anywhere on a SA passport, did they swim, micro light, hitch a lift with Ewan and Charlie, walk? I wonder then who fills the flights that leave from South African airports for foreign destinations? I will definitely have to look into this conundrum (puzzle/challenge) as to how as South Africans we cannot travel anywhere but manage to get to Kuwait, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada etc. Maybe what the person was trying to say is that as a South African you need visa’s to get into certain countries but with a EU or other foreign passport you can waltz in and out of those countries without even a "bye your leave". Will check on this and get back to you.
Seems that a gent was arrested in Queenstown (Eastern Cape) for driving a stolen Mercedes panel van (borrowed for the boss, a funeral parlour) without his permission, that’s bad I hear you say, yes it is but I have not finished, he had 15 stolen sheep (yes 15) as well as 6 passengers and was just a li
ttle over the legal alcohol limit, “32 times to be exact”. He said that he bought the sheep, but the cops could see that he was just trying to pull the wool over their eyes. Only in Africa,Xmas eve we had a really nice dinner prepared by Tania (thanks my love) and dad came across to join us, sent a couple of messages on face book. The table that Tania set was also very lekker and we had a really nice evening chatting and having a couple of drinks
Xmas day woke up to a nice wet PE, Santa had been kind enough to bring us 12mm of much needed precipitation other wise we spent a
relaxed day, just Tania, Gabby, myself and Keith, woke up earlyish, and cleaned the pool, yeah I know “not normal” but then again am I normal? Had a nice breakfast and spoke to family in Gauteng and then skyped the UK family, was nice to see Amb
er and she seemed to enjoy seeing Mischief the cat. For lunch we had a do it yourself lunch of cold meats and salads, Gabby had Sushi and everyone just did there own thing, think maybe next year like Ryan has done this year we take a pilgrimage up to Gauteng and spend a Xmas with the Dunkley, Esterhuizen, Kingham (well some of them) Clans at the family estate (five and a half acre plot in Petit). Late afternoon Stephen popped in and we drove to Sards to take a walk on the beach and take my Gnome (Xmas present from Tania) for a photo shoot. Beach was busy with a number of families just relaxing and enjoying a typical SA Port Elizabeth Xmas day (on the beach). Boxing or family day as we know it in SA was also “rustig” (quiet for those who don’t understand the “taal”…sorry language) but do you know the origins of the day??...No well I checked and here it is The reason that the December 26th was known as 'Boxing Day' was the fact that many centuries ago, the Lord and Lady of the manor/castle/estate gathered together at the manor house, castle etc., the workers including those from the outlying fields, forests and streams, the day after Christmas Day and organized the distribution of the annual necessities, done according to the status of the worker and the size of the family. Into boxes and barrels would go supplies of cloth spun by the spinsters, the cobbler’s leather goods, new tools and supplies of salt and spices. Also dried goods such as meat, fish, vegetables and some fruit and cereals grown on the estate for bread making. This the giving out of such boxes became "Boxing Day".
We have had some rain this week, mostly drizzle and the Xmas 12mm but dam levels have only risen from 31.5 % to 31.6%, I never thought that having a bath would be a luxury, I am not a shower fan, but if you want to have a bath you don’t shower for a week to save up the water to have a very shallow bath, so mostly we just shower. Talk about being optimistic there is a Chinese guy trying to sell hosepipes on the side of the road just around the corner from us….I don’t know if he knows there is a ban on hosepipes as well as a drought. Maybe we should tell him.
It’s possible that the December sevens that is usually hosted in George is moving to PE from next year, we have competition from Cape Town and Rustenburg, so its not a certainty…but here is hoping.
Here is a little story that I found interesting that came from an e-mail contact who has been assisting me with information on Daniel Roxo.
"And by the way, I was born in number 26 Dunkley Street in Cape Town, which was a rather poor area in my childhood days but our old house has been declared a National Monument - along with all of the other houses in Dunkley Street - and has now become a sort of Yuppie hangout. So naturally, Dunkley Street has made way for Dunkley Square but the old Dunkley Street sign still hangs on the wall to the left of our old house (facing the house, that is). I thought I had to share that with you".
Maybe some of you remember at the beginning of the year that I was going to collect 5c pieces that I had picked up over the year, well I have just counted them (yeah slow day) and there are 241 which is the grand sum of R12.05, enough for a Quart of Millers.
It’s possible that the December sevens that is usually hosted in George is moving to PE from next year, we have competition from Cape Town and Rustenburg, so its not a certainty…but here is hoping.
Here is a little story that I found interesting that came from an e-mail contact who has been assisting me with information on Daniel Roxo.
"And by the way, I was born in number 26 Dunkley Street in Cape Town, which was a rather poor area in my childhood days but our old house has been declared a National Monument - along with all of the other houses in Dunkley Street - and has now become a sort of Yuppie hangout. So naturally, Dunkley Street has made way for Dunkley Square but the old Dunkley Street sign still hangs on the wall to the left of our old house (facing the house, that is). I thought I had to share that with you".
Maybe some of you remember at the beginning of the year that I was going to collect 5c pieces that I had picked up over the year, well I have just counted them (yeah slow day) and there are 241 which is the grand sum of R12.05, enough for a Quart of Millers.
Got to love the new angle that the Nigerians are using to scam money out of people, have to say this one had some thought and effort put into it….Who falls for this shit?
“Hello I am a British soldier currently in Afghanistan. I am with the 40th Regiment Royal Artillery in Afghanistan. We hijacked a suspected Van painted black between the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Door gunners sitting behind machine guns in the Black Van tried shooting at our direction but we lunched a combat backup attack on the Black Van none of the Taliban survived the attack. We discovered other currencies including US dollars of about $ 16 million loaded inside the Black Van with so many types of machine guns. We want to move this money out of this place, before we declare other items in the van to the international press. This place is a war zone you will keep our share pending the end of our assignment here in Afghanistan. We will take 60%. You take 40%. No strings attached, just help us move it out of Afghanistan, Afghanistan is a war zone. We plan to use secured logistics courier to ship the money out in a large box.
If you can help to receive the box for us, I will send you the full details. Kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone/fax numbers for quick communication also your contact details. This should be a secret and must be a secret between us.” Respectfully,Gen Sir David Richards (right)
Well on that innovative note, that’s about it for this week , only 1 week left and its 2011, some people cant wait for it to arrive, others are sad that 2010 is on the way out, “Time stands still for no man, or woman for that matter”.
Here are a couple of sayings/quotes that I read this week.
"I would like to see your point of view on this argument but I can’t shove my head up my ass that far"
Well on that innovative note, that’s about it for this week , only 1 week left and its 2011, some people cant wait for it to arrive, others are sad that 2010 is on the way out, “Time stands still for no man, or woman for that matter”.
Here are a couple of sayings/quotes that I read this week.
"I would like to see your point of view on this argument but I can’t shove my head up my ass that far"
"I have not met anyone that I was not able to annoy"...(Must get me a T shirt that say that)
Ciao
SPAD
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