Right - I need to start catching up on everything!
As I may or may not have said before, we were planning to go to the UK for the July school holidays and we were planning to take my mum to the james herriot MUseum etc. However, after my previous trip to find a nursing home, Mum just kind of gave up on life. She didn't want to eat and just wouldn't (she had always had an extremely small appetite anyhow) - as a result this threw her diabetes into disorder to nothing was going well and her physical condition was going from bad to worse. On Tuesday 10th June the hospital phoned me to say that she was deteriorating fast. Now I had previously tried to bring my trip a bit forward but the travel agent in the UK assured me that there was no way to change my ticket. So I phoned Flight Connections and asked them to check it out for me. Of course there was no such restriction - I would just have to pay an adjustment fee - they had phoned the agent in the UK who refused to deal with them. So... I phoned her and she told me that she knew more about the conditions of my ticket than I did and it could not be changed. Well, I blew a fuse and all of a sudden, after consulting her manager and the carrier, it could miraculously be changed! However, all the faffing around took time so I had only a couple of hours to rush home, get the kids sorted and pack for myself - no tiem to take Sam to a friend that would be able to take her to school - so she got a couple of days off! Then off I went, dropped my car at Lee's and then off to the airport. Shades of 2005 when dad died and I took the night flight the same day. It is very distressing.
I wandered around Dubai and sat in my favourite spot in the hotel and had a massage and then off to Manchester. Panic when I got there - my credit card payment for the car would not go through! Sorted it out eventually and then off to Leighton Hospital and arrived there at 9 in the evening. Mun looked dreadful, the last time I had seen her she was skinny, but now shes was skeletal and she could not speak legibly but at least she recognised that I was there and tried to communicate with me. Very unsettling was the fact that she could not blink. I sat there until after midnight and then went home to sleep.
The next morning I waited for Bruce to come around as he wanted to speak to me and then off to Leighton again. (will carry on later)
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Writers Blog
So many things keep happening and I keep on saying to myself - must update my blog ... but seem to have writers block! So instead of feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff I haven't written - I'll start with the small stuff and try to get back into the swing of things!
Most pressing problem at the moment is THE CAR - yes, the steering rack has collapsed for the third time in 5 weeks and yet again I am driving a courtesy car (thank goodness I have one!) but still. Of course this has never happened before in the history of Subaru - only ever to my car! I have obviously missed my niche in life - should have become a car tester - nothing can withstand my tender care!
Then there are the animals.
Dogs & Cats - Jenny had an op at the beginning of the month to remove some tumours on her neck and thigh and then Quidditch had a blocked bowel and had to have an emergency operation. He came home after a week with a bucket on his head and a bare shaved bottom. Notwithstanding the awkwardness of the bucket he managed to disappear for the whole of Friday and we announced his disappearnace on our 8 o'clock radio phone in - only to have him stroll into the kitchen immediately afterwards! Phew. But somehow he managed to pop his stitches so had to go back for repairs to his nether end. The vet we had used for the op had gone away to Cape Town so we had to take him to other vets - yes, the ones I had yelled and screamed at and accused of being incompetent when Shakespeare died - talk about humble pie!
Our collection has also been increased by 3 baby bunnies (Bubble & Squeak + Scrabble) - some surburban rabbits have escaped and are breeding all over the place so Hilarys sister grabs the babies whenever she can so that they don't get run over and they need a home...... so they come to us - so cute! Sam asked why did I name one Scrabble - was it because he was so knowledgeable!
Our trunks arrived form the UK with much drama on my part. The original invoice had said 140 GBP ALL INCLUSIVE but when they got here we had to pay the SA side of the operation another R1300 plus pay a shipping agent. It all boiled up because until that point everything had gone marvellously but when it got to Durban then the wheels fell off. The shipping world have a vocabulary and code of conduct known only to them and woe betide the outsider who doesn't know what to do. Apparently once I received the arrival notice that the ship had docked I was meant to spring into action and organise a clearing agent - as nobody told me this I didn't and when I finally phoned to find out what had happened to my trunks they were already accumulating storage fees. So, the moral fo the story is - don't ever beleieve "all inclusive" and read the small print in your b/l (bill of lading) (if they give you one which in my case they didn't!)
Then we are still waiting for the Insurance to settle the car amount. Our insurance has been great - they paid the amount for which they were liable but then there was the balance ("top up") which was meant to be covered by Hollard in conjunction with Wesbank - to date (5 weeks after the accident) they are still faffing around with paperwork and seem an extremely useless lot! What really irritatetd me was that the account number required by Wesbank in order to tell me how things were going in nowhere to be found on any of the documentation so when one of the call centre people drawled "yes, your wesbank account number...!" I just let rip and told her not to speak to me like that - if they didn't put the correct inofmration in their policy documents it was their own fault.
So between the shipping agents and Wesbank/Hollard I have been having a very traumatic time - not good for my blood pressure!
Most pressing problem at the moment is THE CAR - yes, the steering rack has collapsed for the third time in 5 weeks and yet again I am driving a courtesy car (thank goodness I have one!) but still. Of course this has never happened before in the history of Subaru - only ever to my car! I have obviously missed my niche in life - should have become a car tester - nothing can withstand my tender care!
Then there are the animals.
Dogs & Cats - Jenny had an op at the beginning of the month to remove some tumours on her neck and thigh and then Quidditch had a blocked bowel and had to have an emergency operation. He came home after a week with a bucket on his head and a bare shaved bottom. Notwithstanding the awkwardness of the bucket he managed to disappear for the whole of Friday and we announced his disappearnace on our 8 o'clock radio phone in - only to have him stroll into the kitchen immediately afterwards! Phew. But somehow he managed to pop his stitches so had to go back for repairs to his nether end. The vet we had used for the op had gone away to Cape Town so we had to take him to other vets - yes, the ones I had yelled and screamed at and accused of being incompetent when Shakespeare died - talk about humble pie!
Our collection has also been increased by 3 baby bunnies (Bubble & Squeak + Scrabble) - some surburban rabbits have escaped and are breeding all over the place so Hilarys sister grabs the babies whenever she can so that they don't get run over and they need a home...... so they come to us - so cute! Sam asked why did I name one Scrabble - was it because he was so knowledgeable!
Our trunks arrived form the UK with much drama on my part. The original invoice had said 140 GBP ALL INCLUSIVE but when they got here we had to pay the SA side of the operation another R1300 plus pay a shipping agent. It all boiled up because until that point everything had gone marvellously but when it got to Durban then the wheels fell off. The shipping world have a vocabulary and code of conduct known only to them and woe betide the outsider who doesn't know what to do. Apparently once I received the arrival notice that the ship had docked I was meant to spring into action and organise a clearing agent - as nobody told me this I didn't and when I finally phoned to find out what had happened to my trunks they were already accumulating storage fees. So, the moral fo the story is - don't ever beleieve "all inclusive" and read the small print in your b/l (bill of lading) (if they give you one which in my case they didn't!)
Then we are still waiting for the Insurance to settle the car amount. Our insurance has been great - they paid the amount for which they were liable but then there was the balance ("top up") which was meant to be covered by Hollard in conjunction with Wesbank - to date (5 weeks after the accident) they are still faffing around with paperwork and seem an extremely useless lot! What really irritatetd me was that the account number required by Wesbank in order to tell me how things were going in nowhere to be found on any of the documentation so when one of the call centre people drawled "yes, your wesbank account number...!" I just let rip and told her not to speak to me like that - if they didn't put the correct inofmration in their policy documents it was their own fault.
So between the shipping agents and Wesbank/Hollard I have been having a very traumatic time - not good for my blood pressure!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Johan on the way home
Well, after 3 days of imaging Johan lost in the Sahara, being ravaged by rabid camels and such like, he finally phoned home again - from the capital. All well and everybody acting as usual and ignoring the coup completely. Obviously one should not read too much into news reports!
On the home front we have had quite an eventful week - my car came back from having its service (including reconditioning the steering rack) and has been back twice again and I am still driving the courtesy car....remember I had bought THE car that does not break... well my personal car jinx is still alive and well!
It went in for a service on Monday (time to pick up kids - will have to finish later!)
On the home front we have had quite an eventful week - my car came back from having its service (including reconditioning the steering rack) and has been back twice again and I am still driving the courtesy car....remember I had bought THE car that does not break... well my personal car jinx is still alive and well!
It went in for a service on Monday (time to pick up kids - will have to finish later!)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Mauritania continues to make the news
Well Johan is still in the desert and they were totally unaware of the coup (US has now imposed sanctions) but now one of their tents has burnt down. There was a tremendous wind storm last night and the pilot flame on the gas fridge burnt high and the whole tent plus supplies caught fire. So they will be heading back a bit earlier than expected! It happened at 1 o'clock in the morning so luckily nobody was hurt - just all suffering a bit from smoke inhalation! As this is his first international contract I wonder if they are all so eventful?
On the home front we now have a 2-way radio, this is so that we can hear what is going on and if we need help our call is broadcast to the area as a whole and the patrol can come to our aid. Must say it makes me feel better about leaving the kids in the evenings when I go to my stained glass classes etc. So we had it on last night and it is a bit irritating when watching TV to have this thing crackle and pop and voices saying "there's a car circling plot 72, Over", "come in Barend" etc etc so I think we'd rather be unaware of whats going on and just have it as a call out mechanism! Am starting to feel like we are back in the Rhodesia war when we had terrorist drill at boarding school! What with the radio and the paint gun in the bedroom - feel like Annie Oakley! After 8 years of almost nothing happening in the area things have suddenly erupted! Hope it calms down soon.
Anyway, the patrols have so far caught 3 burglars and several cable theives so they are doing a good job but they can't carry on doing it for ever - these people are all volunteers driving around at 2 in the morning with jobs to go to so am sure it is an initial reaction - hopefully enough to make the baddies go away and not come back so that we can go back to normal!
However, some people are really enjoying it - look at this "over-the-top" email we got last week:
"We have to start implementing a more "organised" plan of action in the event of an emergency!
The implementation of these "stopper groups" is to prevent the criminals escaping through our fingers and MOST IMPORTANTLY keeping the reaction team members from getting injured by "friendly fire"!!
We will start building blockades for the intersections where we can......the other intersections will be blocked by vehicles. Each stopper group will have their "duties" and functions explained to them in detail.
We will need to start rehearsing these Immediate Action Drills as soon as our blockades are manufactured and are in place......however....until such time, if an emergency does arise I would expect residents to go to their respective blockade points and block them with vehicles.
If an emergency comes over the radio.....I will announce the following:
- Code DELTA.....
- All Stopper groups to their positions
- Reaction Team Members meet at intersection......?????
PLEASE do NOT hog the channel....allow the resident who called the initial emergency to speak, as reaction team members need to KNOW what the threat is....this will determine how reaction teams will approach the plot where the emergency has taken place!!
Stopper groups MUST stay within their designated areas until informed to "stand down"
If a stopper group notices a suspect...THEN ONLY do they use the radios!!"
Sounds like the A-Team is on the doorstep - but they are doing a great job and we stayathomes owe them a lot for their time and efforts!
On the home front we now have a 2-way radio, this is so that we can hear what is going on and if we need help our call is broadcast to the area as a whole and the patrol can come to our aid. Must say it makes me feel better about leaving the kids in the evenings when I go to my stained glass classes etc. So we had it on last night and it is a bit irritating when watching TV to have this thing crackle and pop and voices saying "there's a car circling plot 72, Over", "come in Barend" etc etc so I think we'd rather be unaware of whats going on and just have it as a call out mechanism! Am starting to feel like we are back in the Rhodesia war when we had terrorist drill at boarding school! What with the radio and the paint gun in the bedroom - feel like Annie Oakley! After 8 years of almost nothing happening in the area things have suddenly erupted! Hope it calms down soon.
Anyway, the patrols have so far caught 3 burglars and several cable theives so they are doing a good job but they can't carry on doing it for ever - these people are all volunteers driving around at 2 in the morning with jobs to go to so am sure it is an initial reaction - hopefully enough to make the baddies go away and not come back so that we can go back to normal!
However, some people are really enjoying it - look at this "over-the-top" email we got last week:
"We have to start implementing a more "organised" plan of action in the event of an emergency!
The implementation of these "stopper groups" is to prevent the criminals escaping through our fingers and MOST IMPORTANTLY keeping the reaction team members from getting injured by "friendly fire"!!
We will start building blockades for the intersections where we can......the other intersections will be blocked by vehicles. Each stopper group will have their "duties" and functions explained to them in detail.
We will need to start rehearsing these Immediate Action Drills as soon as our blockades are manufactured and are in place......however....until such time, if an emergency does arise I would expect residents to go to their respective blockade points and block them with vehicles.
If an emergency comes over the radio.....I will announce the following:
- Code DELTA.....
- All Stopper groups to their positions
- Reaction Team Members meet at intersection......?????
PLEASE do NOT hog the channel....allow the resident who called the initial emergency to speak, as reaction team members need to KNOW what the threat is....this will determine how reaction teams will approach the plot where the emergency has taken place!!
Stopper groups MUST stay within their designated areas until informed to "stand down"
If a stopper group notices a suspect...THEN ONLY do they use the radios!!"
Sounds like the A-Team is on the doorstep - but they are doing a great job and we stayathomes owe them a lot for their time and efforts!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Let's hope they "unseal" it before the 16th!
Yesterday, leaders of Mauritania’s presidential guard took power from recently-elected leader, President Sidi Mohamed Ould Abdallahi and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf. The presidential palace and the PM’s office were reportedly surrounded by members of the military; both Abdallahi and Waghf were seized. The whereabouts of the president are not yet clear, although it is reported that the PM is being held hostage in army barracks close to the presidential palace. There are also unconfirmed reports that the former interior minister and two other ministers close to Abdallahi have also been seized. While soldiers patrolled the streets of the capital of Nouakchott in armoured vehicles, brandishing machine guns, the mood in the country was said to be calm, with no reports of violence or unrest, apart from one incident in which a group of some 50 supporters of Abdallahi were dispersed by the police with tear gas. However, the military sealed off the international airport in Nouakchott and state television and radio stations were shut down.
Coup in Mauritania
Oh Dear!
Johan phoned me yesterday afternoon, he is living in a tent in a place called A'in bin cilli - when you look at it with Google earth it just shows dark orange - he is right in the middle of the desert. He says every 50 kms or so they might see a camel pottering around but that's all. They are camped near a solitary tree next to the skeleton of a camel... the only water they have is what they could take with them for drinking, it is very hot, over 43 degrees and wind storms come up frequently. Sounds delightful!
And now there has been a coup in the capital, Nouakchott!!!
" This is the second coup which has occurred in Mauritania in the space of three years and is the first coup attempt made during the term of the democratically elected President Abdallahi. He was the first democratically elected leader since independence in 1960, thus the situation threatens the country’s nascent democracy. It is reported that both the president and the prime minister have been held hostage in the vicinity of the presidential palace, but exactly what happens from here is unclear. Those staging this coup are not novices at this game: Aziz was instrumental in bringing down long-time dictator Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya in 2005 and the coup leaders have already formed a "military state council" plus cancelling the nominations made by the president this morning."
Hopefully it will all have resolved itself by the time they come out of the desert in a weeks or so's time!
Johan phoned me yesterday afternoon, he is living in a tent in a place called A'in bin cilli - when you look at it with Google earth it just shows dark orange - he is right in the middle of the desert. He says every 50 kms or so they might see a camel pottering around but that's all. They are camped near a solitary tree next to the skeleton of a camel... the only water they have is what they could take with them for drinking, it is very hot, over 43 degrees and wind storms come up frequently. Sounds delightful!
And now there has been a coup in the capital, Nouakchott!!!
" This is the second coup which has occurred in Mauritania in the space of three years and is the first coup attempt made during the term of the democratically elected President Abdallahi. He was the first democratically elected leader since independence in 1960, thus the situation threatens the country’s nascent democracy. It is reported that both the president and the prime minister have been held hostage in the vicinity of the presidential palace, but exactly what happens from here is unclear. Those staging this coup are not novices at this game: Aziz was instrumental in bringing down long-time dictator Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya in 2005 and the coup leaders have already formed a "military state council" plus cancelling the nominations made by the president this morning."
Hopefully it will all have resolved itself by the time they come out of the desert in a weeks or so's time!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Eish! "johanscarinditchhithorse"
Just the thing for a peacful Sunday evening - an SMS saying your husband is upside down in a ditch!
Johan had left home at about 6.30 (already dark) to go to Meyerton to collect take-aways for supper (lazy wife obviously). On the main road he had suddenly run into 3 horses on the orad - he tried to avoid them by driving onto the verge but right at that particular spot the verge was very narrow and the car rolled sideways over and over down into a steep gully.
Rob & Beth found him - saw a dead horse on the side of the road stopped to look and saw Johan crawling out of the back window of the bakkie (door wedged against a tree trunk and difficult to open when upside down!) - but another person had also seen the horse so then there was Monica come to see what could be done, then the neighbourhood watch people and the police and the owners of the horses and then finally me - with a peppering of other residents who stopped to see what was going on! Johan was completeley fine - just cut his had from the windscreen glass when he opened his safety belt! An absolute miracle.
The owners had recently had their gate repaired but apparently it kept opening and closing of its own accord (electric gate) - need I state the obvious - why were they keeping their horses in the area with a faulty gate? Huh, huh?
Then is was all waiting for the horse to be winched away, waiting for the tow truck etc - and the car is a complete write off so now Johan is back to the old white truck, cardboard window replacement tied on with bright orange baler twine, exhaust has holes in so it sounds like a tractor - Michael is going to be extremely embarrassed when that pitches up to collect him from school! And then there is the form filling in etc etc etc. Yikes.
Johan jetted off to Mauretania last night so at least he doens't need a car for the immediate future while it is all being sorted out!
Johan had left home at about 6.30 (already dark) to go to Meyerton to collect take-aways for supper (lazy wife obviously). On the main road he had suddenly run into 3 horses on the orad - he tried to avoid them by driving onto the verge but right at that particular spot the verge was very narrow and the car rolled sideways over and over down into a steep gully.
Rob & Beth found him - saw a dead horse on the side of the road stopped to look and saw Johan crawling out of the back window of the bakkie (door wedged against a tree trunk and difficult to open when upside down!) - but another person had also seen the horse so then there was Monica come to see what could be done, then the neighbourhood watch people and the police and the owners of the horses and then finally me - with a peppering of other residents who stopped to see what was going on! Johan was completeley fine - just cut his had from the windscreen glass when he opened his safety belt! An absolute miracle.
The owners had recently had their gate repaired but apparently it kept opening and closing of its own accord (electric gate) - need I state the obvious - why were they keeping their horses in the area with a faulty gate? Huh, huh?
Then is was all waiting for the horse to be winched away, waiting for the tow truck etc - and the car is a complete write off so now Johan is back to the old white truck, cardboard window replacement tied on with bright orange baler twine, exhaust has holes in so it sounds like a tractor - Michael is going to be extremely embarrassed when that pitches up to collect him from school! And then there is the form filling in etc etc etc. Yikes.
Johan jetted off to Mauretania last night so at least he doens't need a car for the immediate future while it is all being sorted out!
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