Thursday, March 29, 2007

TIME FOR A BREAK - NORMAL BLOGGING WILL RESUME SHORTLY

We will then travel to what is described as a 'luxury spa resort' by the Dead Sea, where we will spend the following several days, chilling out in surroundings like this..................

whilst also partaking in daily massages & spa treatments,

before flaking out, at the end of a hectic day of TOTALLY RELAXING, into one of these rather comfy looking perches.

Hubs is running on empty & is in dire need of some serious pampering in a place where work can't get hold of him! Good books, good food & perhaps the odd trip out to Petra are definitely the order of the day. We are going to enjoy it & we are not going to feel guilty about it!

Normal blogging will resume upon my return. In the meantime folks, be good, do it quietly & enjoy life.*grin*

P.S. If there are any news flashes about a beached whale being seen in Jordan, you'll know I've taken a dip in the Dead Sea.

P.P.S. Grandma is remaining at home, by herself. She has a sufficient supply of brandy & has been instructed to get all the toyboys out before we get home.

Posted by Jayne :: 06:21 :: 10 Had Somminc To Say

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Monday, March 26, 2007

AS VICTOR MELDREW WOULD SAY : "I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!"

Yesterday afternoon, I experienced the 'local encounter' scenario for myself first hand. Myself, Hubs & Grandma were in the SUV, coming home from lunch & a trip to the Harley shop*. We pulled into the small car park at the back of the building where we stay, as Hubs was going to drop Grandma & myself off & then return to work. As is normal in the Emirates, if there are no alloted parking spaces available, drivers will park in the middle of the road/car park. There was a car in front of us, dawdling very slowly (which was fine, as we were in the car park) but then the driver stopped - nowhere near any filled space, but with the intention of parking in the middle of the car park. We were stationary, as Hubs was waiting for the bloke to make up his mind what he was doing. He was approximately 3m in front of us. He started reversing, without looking in his rearview or side mirrors............I was watching him & he was looking at absolutely nothing - he was in a complete dwaal (daydream) & was simply staring out of the drivers side window..............but still reversing. Hubs said words to the effect of "WTF is this oke up to?" Hubs immediatley flashed his lights & put his hand on the horn/hooter & didn't let up. People stood & stared, wondering what the noise was about. The driver of the other vehicle, still in his dwaal, just kept on coming & reversed straight into our SUV! He only stopped when he felt the bump & heard the breaking of glass.

Needless to say, Hubs was bloody livid. He climbed out of the SUV & approached this other driver & said "what the hell is your problem??".

Have a guess what the driver said, when he got out of his car............

"Why did you drive into me?"

I had visions of having to pull Hubs off him, cos I'm telling you, he was ready to killlllllllllllllllllllll!!! I'm extremely proud of him though, as he told the dummy he was phoning the police to report the accident. Other driver started arm waving & declaring he had insurance, we have insurance, so why call the police..........hardly any damage to our SUV.................he's got all the damage wadda wadda wadda................

We were all absolutely stunned at the audacity of this man! He told Hubs that he didn't have any witnesses - like grandma & myself were invisible - so there really was no need to phone the police. Grandma went up to the apartment, chuckling away to herself & muttering "I don't believe it!". I waited for the (nice) policeman to arrive & whilst waiting, got chatting to a man who was on a smoke break from the next door office block. He told me he was waiting for the police, just in case they wanted an 'independant' witness. If he said it once, he said it a dozen times: "I don't believe it! I don't believe what the man did! I don't believe it!"

By the time the (nice) policeman pitched up, the 'other driver' had a sudden change of heart & despite woffling away in Arabic, apparently admitted to being 'a bit' responsible. The policeman then asked Hubs what the story was - so he told him & offered witnesses. Lots of form filling & one pissed off Palestinian driver in a dwaal was attributed to being 100% to blame.

The damage to the SUV is minor & can be fixed, but what would have been really nice was if the other driver actually had the balls to apologise. The word 'sorry' certainly wasn't in his vocabulary.

* Hubs is buying a Harley, so he just had to go check on it, to make sure no one had removed his 'Sorry I'm Sold' label.....awwwwww.

Posted by Jayne :: 04:23 :: 18 Had Somminc To Say

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Thursday, March 22, 2007

CHIKKIN UPDATE & MUMMY SHANS

Where does all the time go? Lilly Mai - a.k.a. Chikkin is now 16 months old & as we can see, has a natural talent for holding the correct shaped ball! Note the hands - a firm grip - and the sparkle in her eyes as she looks to pass the ball.................to her dad of course!

As we can see, she plays with other toys quite happily, but the rugby ball remains close at hand!

"OK mum, I'll do my photo stint, but then I'm getting back to my ball right?!"

During intervals or injury time-outs, Chikkin likes to rearrange the kitchen drawers!

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Mummy Shans has to go into hospital on Monday, for an operation. Shans sweetheart, we wish you well & insh'allah the results will be good news. You're in our thoughts & hearts - we miss you & love you heaps.

Ma2, Pa2 & Grandma

Posted by Jayne :: 23:51 :: 5 Had Somminc To Say

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---------------oOo--------------- THIS MAKES ME HEARTSORE

Nelspruit - He's only two years old and a few bricks and a tickey high, but Joshua Hulley-Miller ran all the way to his grandfather's house a kilometre away to fetch help when his mom was shot by robbers.

Louise Hulley-Miller, 25, was shot seven times by black robbers in police uniform- it's thought there were five of them - who attacked Rodeval farm on the Lydenburg road near Nelspruit. They shot Louise five times in the legs and once each in the chest and hand, and locked the bleeding woman into the main bedroom with her two children, Joshua and 16-month-old Lauren. The thugs made off with Hulley-Miller's cellphone, laptop computer, engagement and wedding rings and her Toyota car.

Louise's father-in-law, Stuart Hulley-Miller, said his son, Matthew, was near the Botswana border on business when the robbery took place.

'Someone hurt my mommy'

He said Joshua rang the bell at the gate at 07:00 on Saturday morning. "I found him at the gate just in his underclothes and knew immediately something was wrong." Joshua apparently said that "someone hurt my mommy so much". "While I phoned the ambulance and J&M Security we raced over to their house." Hulley-Miller found his daughter-in-law slumped over the bedside table in the main bedroom, watching over her daughter. She was still fully conscious. Louise had been shot three times in the right leg, twice in the left one, and in her hand and chest. Hulley-Miller snr said on Monday: "The last shot went through her lung. She's in the ICU at Nelspruit Medi-Clinic and it looks as if she's going to make it." Andrew Calitz, operational manager of J&M Security said he and Hulley-Miller had loaded her in the vehicle and met the ambulance halfway to the farm. Hulley-Miller snr said it appeared the robbery took place between 22:00 and 23:00 on Friday night. Although no one had been able to speak to her yet, it is assumed Louise helped Joshua through the burglar bars to go and fetch help.

"It's a miracle that Joshua found our house and was so brave. He can scarcely reach the bell on the gate. I'm so proud of him," he said.

It's thought that the robbers were wearing police uniforms, because Joshua became hysterical when the police arrived to investigate. He kept asking his father who these people were and if they were going to shoot his mommy again.

Hulley-Miller snr said: "I'm angry. How will Louise and the family get through this trauma? They didn't harm anybody. "Why couldn't they (the robbers) just take what they wanted and leave Louise alone?"

Police spokesperson Dawie Pretorius said the stolen vehicle was found on Saturday morning near the Riverside shopping centre in Nelspruit.

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Now for my tuppence worth:

I was horrified when I first read this story. The trauma that this toddler has gone through is unimaginable. We can only hope that as he's so young, he will - in time - forget about what happened. Somehow though, I don't think this is going to happen.

No South African politician, religious leader or any person in authority can give a logical explanation as to why the criminals seem to have the need to commit 'simple' crimes (such as burglary) with such violence. So many times I've read newspaper articles about the spiralling crime at home & have been absolutely horrified regarding the violence that is inflicted. It's not even racially based any more, although there are still cases where racial hatred plays its part, which in my opinion, is bloody sickening.

I don't write about SA politics & I don't comment very often on political blogs, because if I start, I'll never wind my neck in.

This article though.........it just touched me so much. It's not because the child is white - if the same thing happened with a non-white family, I would feel the same.

As they say at home, 'It makes me heartsore'.

Posted by Jayne :: 01:54 :: 7 Had Somminc To Say

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Monday, March 19, 2007

A LOCAL ENCOUNTER

Date: Friday

Place: Electra Street, Abu Dhabi

Setting: Our friendly neighbourhood ex-pat sits in his car, having pulled over to answer a phone call (good man!). After finishing his call, he checks his mirrors, confirms there are no approaching cars from the rear & then makes his exit back into the road.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!

Some seconds later, a vehicle pulled alongside our friendly neighbourhood ex-pat. The driver of the other vehicle gesticulated in a frantic manner that OFNE (I can't be arsed to keep typing 'our friendly neighbourhood expat) should pull over. Knowing full well that he had A) done absolutely nothing & B) knew there was nothing wrong with his car, he continued on his journey. This angered the other driver, who continued to pursue him in a very aggressive manner.

Tired of the continual harassment, OFNE pulled over to a parking space. The 'aggressor' pulled in behind him, exited his car & proceeded to start shouting & swearing. OFNE got out of his car & asked:

"What EXACTLY is your problem? You were far from me when I joined the traffic in the road - I did nothing wrong, so I don't understand what your problem is!"

The agressive driver then raised his hands in horror & shrieked:

"You are wearing shorts! This is haram! It is forbidden! My wife could see your legs!"

To which OFNE replied:

"Wearing shorts is not forbidden & how can your wife see my legs if I'm sitting in my car?"

(At this point, OFNE was also wondering why the other driver hadn't answered his initial question regarding what he'd supposedly done wrong.)

"You.............you expats! You expats should f*ck off! We don't want you here! All you do is steal our jobs!"

The aggressor has identified himself as an Emirati.

OFNE answers:

"If it wasn't for us expats, you would still be living in a f*cking tent!"

Not another word was exchanged and the not-so-nice local person got back into his car & took off with a screeching of tyres.

Any guesses as to what nationality the expat is?

Posted by Jayne :: 23:05 :: 19 Had Somminc To Say

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Saturday, March 17, 2007

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS HOLD IT BACK

I've spent all of my life involved - one way or another - in the construction industry. I've seen some fascinating projects, in equally fascinating parts of the world. Having said that, the rapid growth of Dubai (in particular) never ceases to amaze me - an idea is thought/conjoured up & next thing you know, tenders are awarded & construction begins.

Advertisments for the mushroom farm of apartments appear way before the first shovel load of sand is moved, which I hasten to add, is normal practice. Angry purchasers have in recent months, vented their anger at the untimely delays with regard to physically moving into their new abodes. With this in mind, I thought I'd share the following set of photos.

As you can see, the retaining/diaphram wall hasn't done a very good job of holding back the sea. Excavations were down to basement level. Oooops!

In this shot, we can just see the tip of the crane poking out.

And in this final shot, we can see that all of the basement excavations have now been filled with - you guessed it - seawater!

There are going to be major arguments between the Contractor & the Engineer as to who is to blame for this little fiasco.......and more importantly, who is financially liable for it. While they fight, the buyers of the apartments are facing even lengthier delays before they can move in. I'd love to know what excuse the sales agent gives them!

Posted by Jayne :: 00:42 :: 28 Had Somminc To Say

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Wednesday, March 14, 2007

SOME THINGS YOU SIMPLY CHOOSE NOT TO FORGET

This is PP.

He is Number One in our 'family' of Kids, of the stuffed toy variety. We've got a dozen Kids now. Some, like PP were bought for a partcular reason. One has been adopted, another was a gift & a few were taken in because of the pitiful look in their eyes. We really have to stop collecting them, otherwise people are going to think we've got a few loose screws......not that many don't think that anyway, but that's a whole different story..................

PP is very special in so many ways. He likes watching movies & insists on travelling in our hand luggage when we travel. This is due to the fact that he was packed in cargo luggage & ended up in the Comores one time, when he should've been in Joburg. For 2 days he was MIA & it was a stressful time for us I can tell you! So since his Comores detour, PP has sometimes had to be squashed into a carry on bag, but he never complains - in fact he's always the first in.

He's a little old man now y'know. His fur is a tad worn & his nose has lost it's shine. He does look a bit weary sometimes, but it's kinda understandable, considering the countries he's either lived in or visited. In dog years, he is quite old, but to us, he remains the eternal puppy.

Some years back, Hubs became unemployed. There was a slump in the construction industry in South Africa & it's surrounding countries. He couldn't get work for love nor money. It was a soul destroying time, especially for him. There is no 'dole' system in SA & if you don't work, then you have no one to fall back on except yourself. I was lucky enough to be working at that time, but my salary was nowhere's near enough to keep the family going. Grandma fed us with her pension money. Good friends helped us when & wherever possible. We reached the stage where the house was going to be repossesed............that was shortly before we gave the car back to the bank. We sold furniture & personal possessions in order to survive. With the aid of some good advertising by an estate agent acquaintance, we managed to sell the house & clear enough money to live in what will forever haunt me as The Hovel. It was a run down house in the worst area of town. The paint scheme alternated between Barbie pink gloss paint, to bile green & mud brown. Window frames were hanging off, there was no kitchen & the bathroom was a disaster.

For 51 weeks of the year, Hubs remained unemployed. Our first Christmas in The Hovel was incredibly depressing, but the main thing was we were together as a family. Money was really tight, so whatever gifts we got were minimal. And that's where PP came in. He was my gift to Hubs that Crimble.............just a little stuffed toy, with bright eyes & a silly toothless grin on his face.

The rest, as they say, is history. There's never a day goes by when I don't either look at or talk to PP. I'm not mad (although that's highly debatable!) but I'm not scared to admit there are somethings in life I simply choose not to forget. PP is a reminder of some very tough times, but he's also a reminder for over-coming those times & never taking life for granted.

Posted by Jayne :: 22:27 :: 3 Had Somminc To Say

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Monday, March 12, 2007

A VERY BIG THANK YOU

Just a quick one this morning, cos I'm on my way to go see 'Gummy Bear' & the other chaps at the rehab centre...............

I THANK YOU

I THANK YOU

I THANK YOU

To Bob, for nominating me.

To friends & family who phoned.

To M & J for the stunning piece on both their own & the UAE Community blog.

To everyone who has left such kind comments.

I am truly humbled.

Now, excuse me but there's a Little Grey Haired Old Lady who needs sortin' out, cos she's holding the paper to ransom!

Posted by Jayne :: 06:39 :: 6 Had Somminc To Say

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Thursday, March 08, 2007

THE OLD LADY OF ABU DHABI SHOPPING MALLS

I live a stone's throw from Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre. It's well handy I can tell you, having such a variety of shops & a supermarket 2 minutes walk away.

Just recently, I've noticed how this obviously once proud shopping centre (one of the first 'malls' in Abu Dhabi I believe) has declined. It's as if the city has neglected the 'old lady' of malls, because there are new ones - so much bigger & better.

Brass hand rails have been wrenched from their bolt fixings. If this was in any African city mall, I could understand it - but here???

This is not only unsightly, it's also dangerous. This cable has been lying like this for weeks

The water feature is just another dumping ground for those that think rubbish bins are for decorative purposes only.

Yet another example of senseless vandalism.

I have no idea what this says, but I guarantee it doesn't say 'Welcome to Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre'

The majority of flower beds look like this - forlorn, neglected & rather sad......although there are a couple that look like this - such a lovely splash of colour amongst the drab surroundings.

I wonder what will become of the old lady of Abu Dhabi shopping malls? Will she slip further in decline, to end up as derelict 'has been' or will she end up being demolished in a few years time, to make way for either a newer/bigger/better mall or several towers of upmarket apartments?

I wonder.

Posted by Jayne :: 00:49 :: 17 Had Somminc To Say

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---------------oOo--------------- IF SHE DIES, I'LL KILL HER!

For Crimble, Spadge & Shanna gave Hubs & myself this beautiful oil painting...........it's significance being Chikkin - a.k.a. Lilly, our granddaughter.

I have a 'thing' about the arum lily. It's a psychological hang-up that's been with me for some 32yrs now & I'm seriously wondering if I'm tempting The Gods by being brazen in my attempt to face my 'thing'?

Many moons ago & in another world, I enrolled at a small one-horse-town hospital, as a trainee nurse. (There were still hitching posts outside the two hotels, but I never saw any horses tethered there.)

I really enjoyed my job. I have wonderful memories of the place, as well as scary memories, really funny memories & downright painful memories. Getting slapped across the tits by a schoolboy who'd OD'd on dagga* still causes me to flinch when I think about it.

There were some rather interesting characters amongst the nursing staff. The Matron was as much use as a handbrake on a canoe & senior ward Sisters thought they were the bees knees. One Sister van Osch springs to mind. Whenever there was a full moon & I happened to be on nightshift, it was guaranteed she'd be in a vile mood. I came to dread full moons.

I'm really not sure how the 'myth' came about, but I was told by a particular nurse, that whenever a visitor brought arum lillies to a patient, there would be a death on the ward within 24hrs.

Sod me if she wasn't right.

It happened.

More than once I might add.

As a result of this, I came to fear this particular bloom. For the past 32yrs, I have never had an arum lily growing in my garden, have never been sent one in a bouquet, have never had one in my house & have forbidden Grandma to bring any into the house/plant any for fear of someone dropping dead.

One oil painting has changed all that!

So now, I find myself really 'pushing the boat out' as it were. Yesterday, Grandma persuaded me to buy some artificial arum lillies, which are now plonked in a nice glass vase & perched on the dining room table.

I did this - gave in to a Little Grey Haired Old Lady's wish - on the agreement that if she goes ahead & dies, I'll bloody kill her!

Posted by Jayne :: 00:08 :: 4 Had Somminc To Say

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