Those three letters strike fear into my heart every time I hear them because I know a) it will mean I have to spend Money, b) it will lead to much swearing and arguments c) after battling for hours and hours on what should have been a 30 minute job what you have had to do looks nothing like what you had in your mind.
Yes I am talking about........................... “Do it yourself” or in my case “Destroy it yourself”
There is a Huge Builders Warehouse not too far from my house (in fact I can see it from my bedroom balcony) and let me tell you that its probably one of the most visited shops in PE. Over weekends and Public Holidays one battles to find a parking bay and then you have to battle the hordes that throng the various departments ranging from gardening to plumbing. If there is a Sale then its even worse.
Probably worse than actually doing the DIY is looking for the items that you need to get the job done, as a guy I get a feeling you’re supposed to know all the technical names for parts and tools that you need to get the job done and asking for a “metal thingy that hooks onto a goodgymebob to ensure the dingamalairy does not fall off” does not go down well with a staff member who will invariably give you a “WTF” is this tool talking about. So embarrassed to ask anyone I go in search of the items I need, sometimes (but very rarely) I get lucky and find what I am looking for quickly but most times its like searching for the Holy Grail and then when you do find it you have to decide what size, shape and colour do I need. The worst for me is screws, wall plugs and drill bits as I never ever seem to be able to match the items up to the job, they are either too long, short, not thick enough, or the wrong type. As I have said I always get the wrong ones and that means another trip and you just know that ten sales staff are saying to themselves “look at that asshole”.........”Take a sample” I hear you say, yeah yeah I always say that when I am cursing under my breath (but more often than not so most people within a 12 km radius can hear me).
Once you have chosen the items you need and have persuade yourself that they are in fact the right item/s you trudge off to go and pay for those items, this in itself a mission as the queue is half a km long.
Don’t you just love shops that have a 5km walk to the tills and they then line that pathway with shelves of items you would not normally even consider buying but because you are moving along slowly you end up at the till with a number of items that seem to have jumped up into your arms. If you have kids it must be a nightmare as the shops always seem to place the “as I kid I want” items at eye level for those 3-5 year olds that will not take no for an answer and instead of having a fight in a queue with a toddler who is turning blue because they have decided to hold their breaths.
The Marketing department of that shop know that most parents will get embarrassed and not want to have social services called on them by some irate customer so they give in and buy 2 of each which then means you have to put the purchases on 6 month budget or call the bank manager for an extension to your home loan..
Monday afternoon the wind came up and we had a windy afternoon in PE, the sort were you don’t take a Yorkshire terrier for a walk, 108kms per hour at Casa Dunkley and that’s ok unless you have unpacked boxes on the weekend and put those boxes outside to be collected on Wednesday. Got SMS from Tania and I quote “ Winds are 105 per hour. The boxes outside the house are gone! We had to pick up all Gabby’s old schoolbooks you left in the boxes. Were spread up and down the street!! Phew. The swimming pool looked like it had not been cleaned in months and the one downpipe will need replacing. We are doing a stock take on the washing that was on the line at the time, so far we think we have lost 3 socks, a T shirt and a pair of knickers. Tania said the Bunny hunkered down and kept low.............”obviously did not want to become a dust bunny”!
Gave Ryan a lift home on the scooter, that was also interesting due to the fact that the bush at Willows/Overbaakens area caught fire and was blowing all the way towards home, in fact going through 3rd avenue dip with 2 up and a smog that you could cut a knife with is always going to be an interesting proposition, add 100km + winds and it becomes an adventure sport.
Been a busy week this week, with SAMTRAC week 2 and then meetings regards my KPA (Key Performance assessment), as well as one with TNPA regards facilitating. I also had to get study material ready for Haz Chem, HIRA and job observations as well as assess Intro to SAMTRAC papers from the week before last. Worked on Saturday as well presenting Hazardous chemical workshop to a local company, I am always happy to earn some extra R.Has rained basically nonstop from Wednesday to Saturday and have had 70 mm of rain, was a nice soft rain, got soaked twice on the scooter but it’s a small price to pay for the rain we need.
Today (Sunday) is trip to EL until Wednesday and the training in Office on Thursday and Friday, so “No rest for the wicked” as they say in the classics.
Borrowed a book from my Regional Manager about 3 months ago that I wanted to read to help me with my facilitating and learning in general. 2 days ago Tania asked me to give it back to him as I had not read it..........to be honest I forgot I had it. What is the book called? ................ “Super Memory”. I am reading a good book at the moment, it’s called the “Bang Bang Club” it’s about photographers during the period late eighties and early nineties. Excellent read. After work on Saturday went to Ryan’s place and had a Braai, and watched the opening games of the 6 Nations, with France besting Italy and England beating Scotland. With a Botha and a Barrit playing for the Poms and at least 4 Sefricans playing for the Italians we could chose an overseas team just from those playing for the 6 nations teams.
Regards Sports this week, It seems that the EP Super Kings will be competing in the Super 15 next year, Oh Yeah O Yeah, some Awesome rugby right on my doorstep , How cool is that, the next 3 weekend they are playing the Blue Bulls , Stormers and Sharks as warm up games for those teams prior to start of this year’s Super 15. The EP Kings played the Blue Bulls in a warm up match on Saturday and the Bulls held on for a 16-12 win, the Cheetahs beat the Stormers 22-14 at Newlands. Next week the EP Kings play the Stormers here in PE.
A stampede at an Egyptian football game resulted in the deaths of 74 people, and injured over 1,000 on Wednesday night in Port Said. Politicians lashed out at a lack of stadium security in the fixture between home team al-Masry and Al Ahly, as fans stormed the field after the match. Many of the casualties were as a result of being trampled, as rival fans fought throughout the stadium, including on the pitch, but others were killed after being thrown off upper parts of the stadium. Forty-seven people were arrested after the violence was quelled. Deputy health minister Hesham Sheiha quite aptly described it as “the biggest disaster in Egypt's soccer history”.I see the Sunday papers headlines are that Juju has been stripped of his powers as ANC youth league leader, wonder if Juju and his big mate Cyril Ramaphosa will look to start their own ‘we hate all and everything about whites” party. Let’s hope that Juju goes quietly.
While I am finishing this Blog off I am watching Steve Erwins dangerous adventures.....................”what a twat” I mean when you sit next to a Hippo carcass so you can get close to a Nile Crocodile, not just a Crocodile mind you, but a Frikken Feeding frenzy.............i am surprised it was just a stingray that killed him.Breaking news from the States: ‘New York has legalised Marijuana” – see photo.
Ok gotta go
Have a great week
SPAD
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