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JAYNE WITH A WHY |
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January 2006 . : On My Perch at Night, I'm Reading A Book On My Kindle: .
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010HE DID IT! After months of studying & a few weeks of impatient waiting, Hubs finally got the final results today & I'm incredibly happy & so very proud of him! He got a 'B' for his dissertation on Economic Duress & has now obtained his Masters degree in Construction Law. Congratulations my babe - see, I told you there was no need to worry!  
Sunday, June 13, 2010WALLED INSince moving to this compound/complex last year, a few changes have taken place. (Before going any further though, let me just explain that the compound on which we live is one of many that have been thrown up in recent months, to accommodate employees for the Medupi Power Station. All properties in these compounds are owned by Eskom & are rented to the contractors involved in building their project.) Initially, each stand (house plot) was divided by a 4ft wire fence. Rumour had it that this fencing would come down & concrete panel walls would be erected. This left me wondering why put the fencing up in the first place? Mind you, Eishkom (Eskom) has got heaps of money to throw away, because it got the government to let it increase the price of electricity some 98% over the next 3yrs, plus it recently announced a rather obscene profit this past financial year. But I digress................back to the walling........... Concrete panel walls have indeed now been erected around most of the houses in the compound. Some have had to be removed & re-erected, because panels were sitting at varying angles & lets face it, if you've got a 'wonky' wall, it can be rather asthetically unpleasing to the eye. Let's have straight lines people! So, the walls were thrown up & the contractor blessed with the job (oh my gawd, what a larf!) took a bit of a breather when he realised that the line the dividing wall must take, was right over the sewer manhole. Plan B - leave a gap!  Next up, the pallisade fencing was erected at the front of the properties. All very nice, but according to the contractor, Eishkom doesn't want to pay for 'double' gates. This means, if you're in a property which has 2 garages, you must manoever your car(s) through a single-sized gate, which has an opening of 2.7m. A meeting was held between the contractor & Eishkom & the latter begrudgingly agreed to pay for double gates for the properties with double garages. Now we only have a single garage, but we paid an obscene amount to get a carport erected & the contractor saw this, but insisted he couldn't put a double gate up, because "Eishkom has counted the properties wif dubbel garages". At present, the single gate hasn't been fitted & neither has the additional panel of fencing, which will be where there should be another gate.  So consequently, there will be an open space. Because I refuse to move our car. I asked the contractor to leave the 'gap' open & he informed me he couldn't because Eishkom says so. I can't have a double gate & I can't have an open 'panel' of pallisaide fencing, because Eishkom says so. I can't reverse the car, hook up the bike trailer & drive out through a single gate, because there isn't enough space. I did a 'test run' of reversing the car, from the carport & out through the 'gate' (space at the moment) & it took me 3 attempts. This resulted in me muttering "fukkit" many times & parking the car in a place where it can be manoevered easily enough. So if Eishkom would like to come & fight with me, I shall greet them with the aggressively menopausal housewife* attitude, complete with arms folded across chest & pinched lips & tell them I refuse to move my car because "I said so". Two can play at their fucking game.  Finally, I'd like to share a few photos of the standard of 'elf & safety the walling/gate contractor practices. Yesterday, a labourer asked if he could plug his extension in, as he needed to use an angle grinder on the wall panels. I s'pose I should be grateful sed labourer didn't end up all black, shrivelled & with an instant perm (there's something ironic about that description) & his work was completed without incident.    I'd like to say that this kind of thing is unusual. Sadly, it isn't - it's very, very normal. *I'm neither menopausal nor aggressive, but I can act the part when necessary :-) Labels: 'elf and safety, Eishkom, Eskom, life in Leperlarfnie aka Lephalale
Saturday, June 05, 2010THE SLUDGE IS TAKING STRAINThe Sludge is what I call an excuse for that mass of grey cells contained within the boundaries of my skull - i.e. my brain. I know I've got one, 'cos I've seen it on a scan, years ago when a bastard mosquito bit me in Ghana & I ended up feeling like a bag of snakes thanks to malaria. So, I know I've got a brain. And just recently, it seems to be taking strain. Worry is a key factor in my strain. I worry about stupid things. I should be worrying that my son arrives safely at his destination & remembers to buy a fridge magnet for me............I mean a fridge magnet ranks as important dunnit? Instead, I find myself worrying that he won't fall asleep in a transit lounge in one of the 6 airports he has to go through in order to reach his destination. I worry that he's going to be too knackered to concentrate on the reason he's flown half way around the world - a rugby training camp in New Zealand. It's important for him, in his career, so I worry he'll keel over from jet-lag & wake up in an airport 2 stops from his destination 3 days after the camp starts. I'm a mum. I'm entitled to worry about my boy, even if he is 29yrs old. I find myself taking silent strain for Hubs, who is anxiously awaiting to find out if he's obtained his Masters degree. He's worked so hard to achieve this & although I know from previous assignment results that he should sail through with his final assignment (his dissertation), I tend to worry about how disappointed he'll be should he fail. I keep telling him he won't fail, I just know he WON'T fail, but it doesn't stop me worrying. Since my dingbat parents decided to return to the UK after nearly 36yrs in South Africa, I've kinda guaranteed myself a weekly dose of having a mild to major stress-on, depending on their latest crisis. My dad fell in the snow & broke his shoulder. He became horribly depressed. My mother joined his misery club & the pair of them ended up on anti-depressants, which it appears the UK doctors like to hand out like Smarties. They're both in their 70's & both living on fuckin' happy pills, just to get through the day. Promises made by certain family members were not kept & they have been emotionally devastated. Thankfully, they've now moved into a place of their own, which is hardly ideal, but they can call it their own. They started their married lives some 56yrs ago, in a mobile home, as they couldn't afford even a rented house. Fast forward almost 60yrs & they're now back where they started, in a residential parkhome. They're thankfully happier now that they're in their own spot, which is a small but significant blessing. They've bought a little car & I'd be alot happier if mum hadn't told me that she thinks dad will burn the clutch out because he seems to think 2nd gear is fit for all purposes............  And now onto an additional lump of strain I've taken upon myself.......I've decided to try & lose weight. When I stood on the scales a few weeks back, I swear I heard a groan. I sucked my tummy in & looked down at the results, which were, in a nutshell, fucking frightening. I HAVE to do something about my weight, otherwise I reckon Hubs will be able to start looking for a replacement for me, much sooner than anticipated. Since getting the bikes a coupla years back, I've always said that I'm happy so long as I can still swing my leg over the bike & climb aboard. Well, thanks to some creaking joints - courtesy of my additional weightload I'm sure - I now find it can be a tad awkward to swing a leg over. In fact, to the silent observer, I may look like I'm a beached whale attempting to do a Saturday Night Fever dance move. I decided it was time for action & just the thought of it left me knackered. I'm not on a diet. I've simply changed what I eat & drink. I've also started exercising, which is something I never thought I'd do again & for that, my thanks go out to a good friend, who has a well equipped gym set up at her home. For the past fortnight, I've been to gym 5 days of the week & just recently, have varied the routine by walking 3-4km. The tape measure & scales are showing results, even if I can't really see them myself (yet). Most nights I fall into the perch absolutely stuffed & am rattling the windows with my snoring within 15 nanoseconds. I've set myself an initial goal of losing 10kg, with the next goal being 20kg. I'm not in a hurry as such, although I'd obviously love to fit into smaller sized jeans & normal female sized T-shirts, as opposed to the mens XXL I currently wear (<--- I'm talking Harley T's here) As for the cartoon above, well that's just for the 'lighter' side of my weight issue. (Just as a warning, anyone thinking of commenting that I should be 'more sensitive' because they've had to deal with the issue, can fuck right off now or simply have the comment deleted). I've got a warped sense of humour & I ain't apologising to anyone for it. I've proved that I've won the battle against anorexia by all my wobbly bits - from the chin down - plus I couldn't make myself puke, cos me denture's would get stuck & I'd end up choking meself to death! Right, I'm outta here. Time to do a spot of housework & then head out to the garage, to help Hubs (by watching & providing coffee!) who is fitting new bits of bling to T2. Photos to follow another day. She's going to look so bitchy!
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