More starsign stuff LOL

The greatest of your gifts are love, compassion and generosity — and you heap them on your family and friends with abandon. Your sensitivity to people and your pastoral spirit make you a spiritual leader to many and just a plain mensch to many more. The tender, loving care you emanate without thinking twice is a tribute to your search to derive meaning from the contradictions between reality and dreams. Clearly, you're on the right track. You get depressed pondering the colossal questions of the vast universe because it makes you feel so insecure and inconsequential. Ultimately, your real value may correlate highly with your perceived value. You may not realize your full potential in this life, but your life has obvious meaning in the here and now — meaning measurable by realized potential. Look deep inside yourself, Pisces. What lies before you and beyond you are small matters compared to what lies within you. Don't be overwhelmed by the enormity of the universe. And don't be reclusive. Seek the company of the living, loving and learning. Only then can you put your intuitive, virtually psychic powers to work for the good of humanity. If you don't hear your calling, find a quiet space and keep listening. In matters of the heart, you learned that being a hopeless romantic ain't for sissies. Anyone who doesn't return your love doesn't deserve it. You deserve better.

Pisces/Taurus match (according to skyviewzone.com)

SUN in PISCES with TAURUS Both of you are basically tolerant, easy-going, soft and peace-loving people, and this goes a long way toward maintaining harmony in your relationship. Pisces really appreciates Taurus's steadiness and dependability, while Taurus responds to Pisces' gentleness, kindness, and sympathy. However, there are also very basic differences between you: Taurus seeks clear and simple answers, and approaches life in a pragmatic, down-to-earth manner. Taurus has clear preferences and dislikes, and has very predictable tastes. Taurus seeks tangible and clear results from any effort. Pisces, on the other hand, is more eclectic in approach, and is sensitive to a wider spectrum of ideas and feelings. Pisces is less rational, more emotional and intuitive, more willing to accept ambiguities and complexities than Taurus.

NEWS!

I am currently working with a slow-brain. I have a blocked up head, I think it's a cold so I feel pretty grotty. I'm in bed now, blobbing with my laptop and reading Geri Halliwell's biography.

I've been itching to blog since yesterday morning but felt to blaaaaahhhh to do it. I'm going to try now.

On Friday (a public holiday), K, sis+herG, Squishy/G and I went to Design4Living. It was a rainy floody day, but it was fun and we had a good time. Everyone came to hang out at our place afterwards for various yum hot drinks.

Saturday we met up with G's parents, then rushed around doing various things, went to a mall and checked out the motor show (nice cars!). I FOUND DMC3865!!! Seems like the last skein in the whole country LOL. That evening we just chilled and stuff. Sunday we blobbed... I think we did all chores then. Monday we went to various shops for stuff. I got aquarium plants and a snail (my snail had died recently). Chilled then too. I think I stitched sometime during the weekend hehe.

Tuesday we were up early (for us on a weekend!). I felt a bit of a scratchy feeling in my throat so I nuked myself with Infludo drops (I DIDN'T want a cold grabbing hold of me... but alas, here I am *sniff*). Went to sis's G's place, met him and sis up and trekked through to the racecourse to the my coke fest! Got there nice and early, got our Golden Circle wrist bands, checked the place out. I got 3 cool button badges. It was very very funky. The porta-potties were shit though (no pun intended) - they were REALLY disgusting, what portapotty isn't? Some of them were short drops (there was no flush mechanism, just a seat over the tank where all the *&#$%#@%*&()_ accumulates CHARMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

ANYway, onto more *nice* things... the music started at midday... it was Bed On Bricks (cool), then Dirty Skirts (cool), then Taxi Violence (don't remember, I think we went to get Tshirts then), then Love Jones (the lead singer had a PINK Hello Kitty guitar *pukes* - they were alright), then the Springbok Nude Girls who were cool but I can hardly remember/I had other things on my mind at that point because there were superdrunk (guy-)people near to us who were falling all over the place, mock-humping each other etc, and then another dude nearby puked - LOVELY). Him and his friend were really out of it and kept standing in the puke/mashing it into the mud. GROSS MAN!!

Anyway, we moved back quite a bit at that point. Then it was the Parlotones which I didn't see cos I was getting food with G. Then we went back in and it was Staind... they were pretty cool. Then it was 3 Doors Down which the group of us (we met up with W&S there) sat out (our ears and legs needed a break). Went back in for their last song, Loser, which the lead of Staind came out to sing with the lead of 3DD. Awesome!

Then it was a nice long break and loads of anticipation and then BOOM! It was Evanescence! BLOODY AWESOME WOW HECTIC YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! They rocked!! Her voice is incredible, how she can reach all the notes without any mistakes or waivering. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! Unforgettable! We were quite far back at that point, but we could see more of the stage than we could before even thought it was smaller. We could also see the 3 big screens too.

What an awesome day!!!! It was quite nuts getting back to the car and leaving the parking area... it was very uncontrolled but we got out without an incident. Dropped sis and herG off and his place then came back home and GLOWED! My face got a bit sunburnt. And my throat felt the same.

The next morning, the cold had properly set in. Yesterday was an ORDEAL. I had NO WORK at all, cos my boss is away. He phoned to say he's coming back on Friday cos his flight was delayed/mixed up. I stayed home today cos I feel like crap, with a head full of goo, and I would have died sitting at work doing buggerall like this. I hope I feel better tomorrow, cos that's when the boss is back and will probably be in a madrushrushrushchaos run after getting back.

*SNIFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF* damn blocked nose!!!!!

What element are you?

You're ice! You can be very cold and distant and you are NOT a people person. You're pretty mean but you can be nice...to a select few.


What element are you?

What planet are you?

You're Jupiter! Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and by far, the largest planet in the solar system. It is the named after the Roman king of gods. Jupiter has a great red spot which is big enough to hold two Earths. Jupiter has rings but they are very faint and small. Jupiter has 63 known moons...way too many to list.


What Planet are you?

Warpony's progress....

These pics are how Warpy has progressed over the past few days. And a pic of Warpy modelling a Qsnap frame thrown in as a bonus!

YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAA

The goodies arrived! Sis picked them up yesterday and we went to fetch them after we got home from work.

YEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAA!!!

So FUNKY!!!!!!!!!

Got the 3 charts, 4 fabrics (the fabric for Heremia is SO BEAUTIFUL!), and the thread needed for the 3 charts. Also in the package was the Qsnap frame+extension kit.

I am so excited and can't wait to get started. I have to finish Warpy first though, else I'll NEVER get it done. EEEEEeeeeeekkkk!!! Heremia! That one is going to be so fun, cos of the funky material! Then I'm going to do Gentle Strength, and then last of all Golden Ice, cos it's HUGE (about double the size of GS, Heremia and Warpy. One MASSIVE design.

The only strange thing about Golden Ice is that they haven't put any black stitches. There is no black shadow of the horse, it is simply the fabric left blank. Same with Gentle Strength - they have left white bits blank, so that the aida shows through, and also made some of the stitches halfstitches so it'd be paler. Which is odd. Lucky I chose white aida for it, but I reckon I'm going to fill in all the blank with white and do full stitching throughout instead. And with Golden Ice, I'm going to have to figure out what to fill in with black stitches.

EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKK I CAN'T WAIT to start on Heremia!

I'm so tempted to just start.... but WARPY!!! Eek, Warpy's nearly done ;)

Will work on Warpy later and post a pic asap.

and that wasn't the end of it all

After we got home, we just SAT for a while, de-stressing just sitting on the couch after work.

We went to the shop a bit later, and when we got back, I bashed my hand on a cupboard while taking my jacket off. It hurt a lot and I was still grumpy anyway so it hurt more. And then we watched an Asterix movie after supper and I broke a fingernail opening a can of cooldrink. And even though I don't have fancyshmancy nails to be 'OOH I BROKE A NAIL DARLING', I was pissed off regardless.

Today is possibly better. The receptionist was late and didn't tell anyone so I had to babysit the phone for about 20mins.

Sis (hopefully) is going to the post office this morning to collect my parcel - the cross stitches!!!!!! I'm so excited I wish I could go collect it myself cos I would have gone the moment the post office opened this morning, but alas, I am miles away.

I am desperately in need of this long weekend. Friday is a holiday, then it's Weekend, then it's Monday (I've taken leave) and then Tuesday is a public holiday again. WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! I think I'm going to sleep and relax and stitch/fiddle with the new stitches!

YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

Ooh, now I'm DYING for a nono's Gorgonzola pasta. OMG MMMM.

And I'd love to be in bed now too. With Squishy. And my parcel!

Shit week/end

I have a shitty headache.

I'm starving. No lunch today. Grr

Why are things shitty? Why do neighbours HAVE to be fucktards? WHY???

What the fuck is wrong with these people?? Different people this time, but boy do they enjoy getting totally drunk. A whole herd of them thundered up the stairs (which runs up across our bedroom wall), slamming the stairway securitygate (attached to our bedroom wall), and moved furniture, screamed, thundered across the floor of the flat above, shrieked, laughed fucking loud, bashed each other, broke something glass, spilt STUFF off their balcony onto our balcony's wall (god know wtf that stuff was/is - it looks revolting). Dropped a little plastic shotglass off their balcony into ours, played fucking loud music... all of this in the region of 1am. A sunday night/monday morning. The police had to come out. Somehow, the fact that the girl has phoned to complain about other people before makes it alright for them to make a shitload of noise. Very apologetic but so bloody drunk. So mature too, slamming the security gate EXTRA loud (specially for our benefit).

I hate this week. I hate the weekend that passed (most of it)... I loved meeting up with an ex-colleague of G's, and hanging out with my sis, and having caramel hot-shots and enjoying my gorgeous fish, but other than that, it pretty much sucked (In the heat of being GRUMPY I might have forgotten something... sorry if I did).

I hate the house now... or ... hate what it is now. Or that it's not what it was. It's all shit and falling apart and disintegrating, and not simply just structurally.

It makes me feel depressed for days after we visit. And getting a phonecall too, drags me down. Everything there feels awful. I'm moving my stuff out of "my room". It still kinda is my room, in a way, but I'm taking everything out of there. My pictures/things stuck on the walls, I'm boxing up all my trinkets and goodies. I wish I could take my duvet-cover/curtains/pillowcases, but what good would a single bed set be? The room will be empty for a short while, before it starts to grow cluttered with shit. Real junk. Stuff mom collects. Mind-bogglingly SHIT stuff. Our aunt is moving so she offered my mom the sleepercouch. I don't know why they thought it was acceptable as a sleepercouch because it's so messed up it is disgusting. But what baffles me more is that mom TOOK IT! It is now in "my" room. I feel gross thinking about it in there. It is gross. And that is just the beginning.

All the junk from the rest of the house is going to fill the room, and more and more stuff will just be brought home.

Google the ebay mom house, and that's what it will end up looking like.

I honestly feel sick in my brain now.

Frustration

Things feel incomplete.

Unfinished.

I have moved out of home, but I still have a lot of stuff left in my room. But despite the fact that I haven't taken everything out, stuff is being tossed in my room like it's a junk store. Can I at least finish taking my stuff out?

My bed is covered in junk. Not my junk. I will have to take boxes and box up all my stuff. Everything.

I hate cockroaches. They are nearly making me hate the flat. It's nice otherwise. I wish it was a small house with a little garden. With no neighbours playing shit music and making noise and with no cockroaches, and then we could sort our own place out. Make everything nice and stuff. But it's temporary. We might have moved out by the time I'm finished with my next cross-stitch.

I wish things were normal. They aren't normal at all. At home it's all shitty. All problems and broken things and clutter and chaos and stuff like that. I can't deal with all that and I wish mom would just... I dunno, come right. Be normal. Move into a nice, problem-free littler place, and get rid of all the junk. All the clutter and junk. But that would never happen. Sis would like to move out I'm sure, and have a normal place. If only mom would too. I can't handle going there and then mom talks on and on about the problems and I feel upset for days. It's hard to describe in a way that anyone would understand. I don't want to talk on the phone. I do want to, but not like that. I don't want that. It hurts.

GOOD MORNING

hello boss. good morning boss. thanks for ignoring me boss. makes me feel a lot of fondness for you. maybe i didn't greet you 17 months ago on a really shitty busy day and i was on the phone, but you don't have to ignore me as if i'm not there. i look up when you walk past, to make eye contact and say hi, but you just don't look. don't greet. even if you walk into my "boss"'s office or look to see if he's there, you don't actually GREET. "is he out?" but nothing else. On my BIRTHDAY you came up to me, shoved a handful of pencils under my nose and said 'give this to your boss'. he was sitting next to me. you could have said morning. didn't even need to say happy birthday. i hope the cake made you feel ill.

Warpony!!

Warpy has grown a bit....he's looking a bit cheekier now :D

And with regard to the other 3 designs... they're on their way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Should be here this week YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!

What ELSE is news...

Work is the same.

I want to travel. Correction: I want to be on holiday. Here or there or anywhere. Not here. Somewhere new or something new.

OMG! Dr Pepper is AWESOME!!!!!!! Cherry coke isn't as nice. Dr Pepper is like stronger, more flavourful cherry coke. I found it at a shop nearby... it's pretty expensive but WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

A LOT has happened since the 2nd last post

Loads and loads....

If I can remember it all!

R&N got married on Saturday... it was a GORGEOUS day, N looked stunning. The church was cute, the restaurant had a lovely view. The weather was perfect. (I even got a worm in my food!!! - hehe)

What else... well time has flown... ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I've been chatting to a Joanne at 123stitch, and my order is on its way! It is being shipped right now! Warpy will soon have COMPANY!!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

We bought a washingmachine/tumbledryer combo. We had been planning to go to a shop on Sunday to buy one, but G's dad had a cycling accident and wasn't able to help us and even if we'd borrowed his car, we still would never have been able to get the washingmachine in from the car. Anyway, so Sunday after visiting his dad we decided to go to a huge shopping mall further away, just to go for a drive and also to get some lunch. We decided to just look in the shop we bought our fridge+bed from, to see if maybe they have it there. They did! For R200 less than anywhere else! So we bought it.

Now, this shop was where we bought our fridge and bed from which they delivered them at 22:05. We were told it was going to be delivered the next day, so we waited up Monday evening/night til 22:40, with nothing delivered. G phoned the next day to be told that the lady was supposed to have told him it was going to be delivered the Tuesday, and then when he said that she hadn't they quickly said "we tried to phone you but you didn't answer". Bullcrap, ass-hats!

Anyway, we now have a washmachine/tumbledryer. Yesterday we moved it from the bedroom (we thought we'd keep it there but the pipes aren't long enough) to the kitchen. We test-ran the thing, basically letting it wash itself. It was so COOL! Ok yes we're UBERboring, watching (excitedly) at our new washingmachine doing its thang. But it was so cool... so QUIET and it spun so fast! 1200rpm. That was yesterday evening.

We then went with W&S, X&L (and some other ppls) to see 300. Very cool... VERY gory! :D

We got home and G washed some vital clothes, but we didn't know that you have to select dry before you press start. So he washed clothes but wasn't able to dry them. We have to find out how it works, else how are you supposed to wash 7kgs and then take out half so that you can dry them in 3.5kgs portions? There has to be some way.

Anyway what else is news.

Nothing much.

...................

I'll post more when I can remember.

My fish are gorgeous!!!!

LD is too cute!

G is the most special, amazing, loving guy ever!

And his car is superuberhyperposh ;)

POING!!!!!!!!!!!

My profile - Imagini VisualDNA

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

I have Put On Weight

GET THE FUCK OVER IT!!!

HAHAHAHA

Warpony - current image

This is how Warpy looks:

Hehehe, South African English - ohkeyi

Ok cuck = kak, caapie is something we don't say, cafe we don't pronounce as cayf and no one calls it a bioscope unless they're around 182 years old (if they even had bioscopes in those days). And the entry for "Shame" is VERY funny!


South African Jargon - a Survival Guide For Visitors

We're having a braai

What is a braai? It is the first thing you will be invited to when you visit a South African expat or are invited to a 'do' in South Africa. A braai is a backyard barbecue and it will take place whatever the weather. So you will have to go even if it's raining like mad and you have a hang of a cold. At a braai you will be introduced to a substance known as 'mealiepap'. Read further for an explanation of pap.

Now that you know what a braai is, here are some other words and phrases you will encounter when talking to a South African. It is also a useful guide if you happen to be visiting South Africa. The words listed here are used by folk of all persuasions, genders and ethnic backgrounds. You really do need to know what they mean!

Ag

This is one of the most useful South African words. Pronounced like the 'ach' in the German 'achtung', it can be used to start a reply when you are asked a tricky question, as in, 'Ag, I don't know'. Or a sense of resignation: 'Ag, I'll have some more pap then'. It can stand alone, too, as a signal of irritation or of pleasure.

Biltong

Similar to jerky, it is dried, salted meat and can be made from beef, ostrich, antelope or anything that was once alive and fairly large. It is usual for expatriate South Africans to say, 'What I really miss is my biltong, man'.

Bioscope

Pronounced 'byscope', and sometimes it is reduced to 'bio' or 'scopes'. Its use is going out of fashion and, in some urban areas, regrettably, it is being replaced by 'movies' and 'flicks', but you may still be asked if you would like to go to the bioscope.

Blooming

Pronounced 'blimming', it is roughly equivalent to 'helluva', as in, 'Ag, that pap I had at the braai made me blooming sick'. For emphasis, blooming can be replaced by bladdy, which in turn is a corruption of the British/Australian 'bloody'.

Bra

Not a piece of ladies' underwear, bra is pronounced with a softer, shorter 'a' as 'bruh'. It originated in Cape Town (see Caapies) meaning 'brother' or 'friend'. The Pretoria version of bra might be bru, derived from the Afrikaans word 'broer', also meaning 'brother' or 'close friend'. Both have the same meaning, but it would be a faux pas to use the wrong version when speaking to the wrong group. You would not for example say 'Hey bru' to a Caapie.

Bunny-chow

Originating in Kwa-zulu Natal (KZN), a bunny-chow is a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with minced beef. You may be offered a bunny-chow at a braai and can readily accept if you have a healthy appetite. However, never order a bunny-chow from a restaurant in KZN unless you're a chilli lover and like the sensation of your tastebuds escaping through your ears and nose.

Caapie

Generally a Capetonian, or a person who hails from, or has lived for some time in, Cape Town. Capetonians are generally thought to be affected by the magnetic influences of Table Mountain and slow down, as if operating in a time-distortion. Capetonians can be easily identified driving very slowly in the wrong lanes of highways all over Johannesburg (Vaalies assume it's because they get lost anywhere without a mountain to guide them).

Cafe

This is the generic term for convenience stores and is pronounced 'caffee' or 'cayf'. Traditionally operated by people of Portuguese, Greek or Asian ancestry, the cafe it is a good place to buy smokes, biltong or the Alka Seltzer you will need after trying pap at the braai. Corner cafes have since been replaced by petrol station 'quick-shops', but these will still be referred to as the corner cafe.

Cape Doctor

Older residents of Cape Town give this name to the south-easter that blows in summer months, usually forming a flat, rolling cloud over Table Mountain - the 'tablecloth' - and sometimes shutting down harbour operations. It was called the Cape Doctor because old-timers said it blew all of the city's bad air out to sea, along with accumulated street rubbish, discarded newspapers and suchlike.


China

Meaning friend1 or used as a substitute for the pronoun 'you' in some places. As in, 'Ag, China, you missed the braai yesterday!, or a more threatening usage, 'Watchit, China!' meaning, 'hey you, watch out!'. Most commonly used to identify male friends or between men, but can be heard amongst women in some areas.

Cuck

The less offensive and softer alternative to the swearword, sh*t. Mostly used to evaluate conversation or action, such as 'You are talking cuck', or, 'That was a really cuck thing that she did'. The descriptive use of the word when referring to people can be cuckster - a person who habitually talks cuck. These people are generally assumed to bend the truth. Cuck is also used to identify most kinds of mess, ie, 'The guys had a braai last night and now they expect me to clean up their cuck'.

Doll

A term of affection between males and females, it is used mostly in the Johannesburg area. A corrupted form of 'darling', it will be heard thus:

Your turn to take out the dustbin, Doll
But I took it out the last time, Doll
Well take the bladdy thing out again, Doll

Donner

A rude word, it comes from the Afrikaans 'donder' (thunder). Pronounced 'dorner', it means 'beat up'. Your rugby team can get donnered in a game, or your boss can donner you if you do a lousy job.

Eina

Widely used by all language groups, this word, derived from the Afrikaans, means 'ouch'. Pronounced 'aynah', you can shout it out in sympathy when someone burns his finger on a hot potato at a braai.

Eitah

A greeting pronounced 'ay-tah'. Used in the place of 'hey there you' in greeting, ie, 'Eitah, bra!' meaning, 'Hello there, brother'.

Fixed up

This means 'good'. An example is this exchange:

You don't have to take the dustbin out, Doll, I took it already
Fixed up, Doll

Gogga

This is an insect, a bug, and all three of the g's are pronounced as though you are about to spit. South Africa is rich in goggas, some of them cute - like the harmless mantis and the intriguing stick insect - but others are disgraceful. The cockroach is the most disliked, especially when it's flying. Natal has some monsters that could challenge Florida cockroaches any day. In its early days, the country's state-run TV service earned the enmity of viewers by scheduling a documentary on cockroaches at a time when millions of South Africans were sitting down in front of their sets with their Sunday evening meals on their laps. A highlight was how to dissect a cockroach. It did not go down well with the Sunday lunch leftovers. A dissected cockroach is even more unsettling than a whole one.

Another particularly resented gogga is the Parktown Prawn - a cricket the size of a queen prawn, tastefully coloured bright red and black by Mother Nature to give a clear warning to all in its vicinity. Parktown Prawns, like skunks, spray a smelly black ink when frightened, hide in dustbins, and can be a real party-pooper at a braai.

Guava

Everybody knows that a guava is a fruit - and a bladdy lekker one too. It is especially nice stewed and served cold with smooth custard, as lots of boarding school students will affirm. Guava juice is refreshing at breakfast. But, in South Africa, a guava is also a backside, a butt, a bum. If someone is behaving in an annoying manner, you can threaten to 'skop (kick) him up his guava'. But it is inappropriate and politically incorrect to issue this warning to someone who is not a good friend; it will be taken amiss. Also, it is not polite to laugh if the Cape Doctor bowls a stranger over on to his or her guava.

Hang of

This is the same as the British/American 'heck of', as in, 'I have a hang of a headache', or, 'I had a hang of a good time at the braai'.

Hap

Pronounced 'hup', this means 'bite', and is used in the following fashion: 'Give me a hap of your apple. Ag, please'.

Howzit?

Howzit, pronounced 'how-z-eet', literally means 'how is it', but is used to ask after the health or welbeing of a bra or a china. These days it's used more as a greeting requiring no response, expediently cutting out all the pleasantries:

Hello, how are you?
Fine, how are you?

...can all be replaced by, 'Howzit!' and a like reply of, say, 'Hey! Howzit china!'

Isit?

This is a great word in conversations. Derived from the two words 'is' and 'it, it can be used when you have nothing to contribute. If someone at the brai tells you: 'The Russians will succeed in their bid for capitalism once they adopt a work ethic and respect for private ownership', it is appropriate to respond by saying, 'Isit?'

Jawelnofine

This is another conversation fall-back word. Derived from the four words 'yes', 'well', 'no' and 'fine', it means roughly 'how about that'. If your bank manager tells you your account is overdrawn, you can say with confidence, 'jawelnofine'.

Jislaaik

Pronounced 'yis-like', it is an expression of astonishment. For instance, if someone tells you there are a billion people in China, a suitable comment is, 'Jislaaik, that's a hang of a lot of people, hey'.


Just now

Universally used, it means 'eventually' and sometimes 'never'. If someone says he will do something 'just now', it could be in ten minutes or tomorrow. Or maybe he won't do it at all.

Kiff

Thought to have originated in the KwaZulu Natal region, kiff can cover everything positive, as in, 'Jislaaik, that was a kiff braai'. Or, in response to, 'So we'll pick you up some biltong at the cafe, china?' one could hear the reply 'Kiff, doll', indicating the affirmative.

Lappie

A lappie, pronounced 'luppy', is a cloth, a rag, used to wipe up a mess. You will find it in a machine shop to clean up oil spills, in a bar to wipe away spilled beer, or in the nursery where a baby who is munching a rusk2 needs its face and hands hosed down and lappied every three minutes.

Lekker

An Afrikaans word meaning 'nice', this word is used by all language groups to express approval. If you see somene of the opposite sex who is good-looking, you can exclaim, 'Lekkerrr!' while drawing out the last syllable, although that usage is now thought to be politically incorrect in some areas.

Make A Plan

You will hear this good old South African phrase quite a lot. It means 'things might be screwed right now but we'll think of something just now'. If you miss the bus to the airport, the hotel receptionist may say, 'Don't worry man - we'll make a plan'. If that plan includes the hiring of a taxi, you may want to think twice about it.

No

This word has many meanings in South Africa other than the opposite of 'yes'. Your host at the braai is likely to say, 'No, I see your plate is empty. You want some more pap? Another example: if the clerk in a shoe shop asks if she can help, you may reply, 'No, I'm looking for some tackies'. This means, 'Yes, I'm looking for some tackies'.

Oke

A 'guy' or 'chap' or 'bloke'. If you quite like someone you can say, 'Ag, he is an OK oke'. Instead of oke you can also say ou, which is pronounced 'oh'.

Pap

Encountered at braais, pap is boiled cornmeal. Pronounced 'pup' it has the appearance, consistency and, many say, the taste of moist Plaster of Paris. Lots of South Africans pretend to like it. Eating pap is character-building in the sense that an individual learns to grin and bear adversity, rather like Americans in the South have grown spiritually by consuming grits. In a religious context, this process is called self-flagellation.

Poitjie

Pronounced 'poi-kie'. This is a large cast-iron cauldron with three legs into which is thrown whatever is in the fridge or pantry - with considerable discussion and debate over the appropriate order of the layers - and left on a fire for a few hours resulting in a meal for a small army. Poitjie-art, like braaing is an acceptable pastime for a South African male, unlike traditional cooking or baking, which will take quite a few more years to catch on across the majority of the male population (from all cultural backgrounds). Be very wary of poitjies from unknown sources!

Pull in

Literally, 'come on over' or used in the form of an invitation. As in, 'That ou invited me to his braai on Saturday. You should pull in'. Thought to orginate from the days of drive-ins and roadhouses indicating that one would arrive in a bakkie3 or other motor car.

Sarmie

Sandwich.

Shame

Like no, this word can mean the opposite of its meaning in other parts of the world. If someone shows you a baby, you can say, 'Ag, shame'. This does not mean the baby is ugly, it means the baby is cute. If the baby is ugly, it is more accurate to say, 'Shame, hey'. If the baby is truly hideous, it is appropriate to say, Jislaaik'. This may not be appreciated by the baby's parents.

Sharp

With origins in the 'townships', sharp can be used as a substitute for fixed up or 'yes' or 'ok', perhaps in the following manner:

Howzit, china?
Sharp!

This is an incredibly versatile word and can be inserted just about anywhere as a one-word affirmative or encouraging response. As in:

See you at the braai, skat?
Sharp!

Skabenga

Meaning 'thief', 'liar', or 'general miscreant'. If you don't want to invite someone to your braai you could explain by saying, 'That ou is a real skabenga'. Pronounced 'ske-beng-ga'.

Skat

Or skattie. An affectionate term used between couples and originating from the Afrikaans 'skatlam'. As in:

Are you making me a sarmie, skattie?
Ja!
Fixed up!

Skinder, Skinner, Skinnerbek

Gossip is one of life's little pleasures, and that is what skinder is - gossip. The word is usually pronounced without a hard 'd' and most people will simply call it skinner. A skinnerbek is someone who does it a lot, commonly without paying too much attention to the facts. Such a person can be very popular at office tea breaks, at parties and other social gatherings - unless the skinner is about you, in which case the skinnerbek is a louse who deserves a skop up the guava.

Skop, Skiet en Donder

Literally 'kick, shoot and thunder' in Afrikaans, this phrase is used by many English speakers to describe action movies or any activity that is lively and somewhat primitive. Clint Eastwood is always good for a skop, skiet en donder flick.

Snoep

This is a favourite word, and it is used by all language groups throughout the land. Pronounced 'snoop' with a short 'o' sound as in 'book', it means 'stingy', 'mean', 'selfish'. Be discreet about using it. For example, it may not be a good idea to say to your bank manager, 'Unless I am granted this loan I shall have to conclude that this bank is snoep'. That won't help your cause. Sometimes people use this word when they fuss over their friends' infant children: 'Don't be so snoep with a kiss - gimme a big one'.

Stoorie

Pronounced 'stoor-ee'. From the Afrikaans word 'storie' meaning 'a story', it has come to be used to indicate any kind of drama or convoluted explanation. For example, 'He gave me a hele stoorie about why he was so snoep with the lappies' - in this context meaning 'a whole dramatic tale'.

Stroppy

This word means 'pugnacious', 'difficult', 'aggressive', and it can be used appropriately at any level of conversation. For instance, a child who refuses to eat his stewed guavas can be described as stroppy. Or, you may once have overheard the following comment during a discussion on international affairs: 'This Saddam Hussein - he's a real stroppy ou. But he better watch out because these Yanks are not snoep with their missiles and he could fall on his guava. Big time'.

Tackies

These are sneakers or running shoes. The word is also used to describe automobile or truck tyres. Fat tackies are big tyres, as in, 'Where did you get those lekker fat tackies on your Volksie4, hey?'

Taxi

This word has a completely different meaning in South Africa, other than the vehicles you can individually hire to transport you (on you own or with a friend) from A to B. Due to the severe limits of the public transport sytem in South Africa - which isn't recommended to tourists anyway - a system of combi-taxis has developed over the years, which travel daily or hourly on designated routes. Just about all 16-seater 'combi' vehicles in South Africa are a part of this taxi system, although a driver carrying only 16 passengers would be assumed to be having a very bad day! Taxis of this type are not usually roadworthy and it would be a mistake to assume that they will at any time obey general road usage rules. It would however also not be advisable to express road-rage at the actions of a taxi cutting you off or stopping without warning to take on or let off passengers. South African drivers in general just ignore taxis and give them a wide berth. If one is forced for any reason to catch a taxi it would be a good idea to follow the example of traditional taxi users and stow your wallet and any valuables in your hat, your shoes or in a plain plastic bag and hold this bag with both hands at all times.

Vaalie

These are the creatures that descend in hordes on Cape Town once a year at Christmas time. They traditionally drive Big Expensive Cars and are inevitably towing Venter Trailers, in which they store the kids. In the new South Africa, they are also known as Gauties, this word is derived from 'Gauteng', which is where we wish they would all go back to. Anyway, be nice to animals, hug a Vaalie.

Vrot

A wonderful word that means 'rotten' or 'putrid' in Afrikaans, it is used by all language groups to describe anything they really don't like. Most commonly it describes fruit or vegetables whose shelf lives have long expired, but a pair of takkies worn a few times too often can be termed vrot by unfortunate folk in the same room as the wearer. Also a rugby player who misses important tackles can be said to have played a vrot game, but not to his face because he won't appreciate it.

Vuka

A word of Zulu origin meaning 'wake up'. Can be used in any situation to inspire promt action, such as, 'Vuka wena5; go fetch a lappie to clean up this cuck next to the dustbin!'.

Yebo

From the Zulu word meaning 'yes'. Indicates the affirmative in just about any situation.

With this guide you should have an excellent chance of surviving a trip to South Africa or a visit with a South African expat family. It is truly a magnificent country, the people are friendly and lively and, despite the high crime rate, which one can avoid the influence of if you listen to the warnings of the locals, South Africa is a must-visit for all global travellers.

1 Perhaps borrowed from Cockney rhyming slang, as in 'china plate'='mate'.
2 A hard biscuit found in every household. All babies look like Winston Churchill and all smell of rusks.
3 A South African version of the pick-up truck, but smaller.
4 Volkswagen.
5 Wena, also from Zulu, referring to 'you' in the singular.

What type of frog are you?

Found in the dry, hilly regions of south central Madagascar, these amazing frogs escape the searing heat and dry winds of the region by burrowing into the ground for the duration of the dry season. Very shy by nature, when threatened, these frogs inflate themselves and will not hesitate to charge their assailants. These frogs can be very gluttonous, devouring a wide variety of bugs, grubs and the like.

What kind of Frog are you?

What does your candy heart say?

Your Candy Heart Says "First Kiss"

You're a true romantic who brings an innocent hope to each new relationship. You see the good in every person you date, and you relish each step of falling in love. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a romantic dinner your sweetie cooks for you Your flirting style: friendly and sweet What turns you off: cynics who don't believe in romance Why you're hot: you always keep the romance alive

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Questions (from Te)

1. Can you cook? - only a little bit

2. What was your dream growing up? - to be able to fly!

3. What talent do you wish you had? - erm.. not sure

4. Favorite place? - in bed!

5. Favorite vegetable? - asparagus

6. What was the last book you read? - am currently reading Hunting Pirate Heaven by Kevin Rushby and If Only by Geri Halliwell

7. What zodiac sign are you? - Pisces

8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? - earrings

9. Worst Habit? - biting the my cuticles

10. Do we know each other outside of lj? - yes, since years ago!

11. What is your favorite sport? - dunno yet ;)

12. Negative or Optimistic attitude? - depends hehe

13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? - start singing songs!

14. Worst thing to ever happen to you? - pets dying... father dying...

15. Tell me one weird fact about you: - I don't like hair (loose hair)

16. Do you have any pets? - yes 2 budgies and lots of fish

17. Do you know how to do the macarena? - no

18. What time is it where you are now? - 21:50

19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary? - creepy

20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? - not sure

21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? - depends on the crime ;)

22. What color eyes do you have? - grey-green

23. Ever been arrested? - no

24. Bottle or Draft? - coke!

25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it? - pay off my "debt", save it and maybe buy something I really want

26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew? - chappies (the yellow or the green)

27. What's your favorite bar to hang at? - none

28. Do you believe in ghosts? - no

29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time? - relax. stitch, read, hug Squishyman

30. Do you swear a lot? - fuck no (yes, but mostly when I'm very angry! less bad swearwords like crap and shit etc aren't SO bad are they?)

31. Biggest pet peeve? - PEOPLE! ASS-HAT BOSSES!

32. In one word, how would you describe yourself? - responsive

WARPONY!!

I'm so excited! I've started the 2nd half! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe I'll have finished it by the time the 3 new ones arrive :D

The truth about the four stages of life

Zim asshole!

I really can't believe they actually assaulted the guy! And our govt does nothing!

updown

What an up and down weekend this has been!

I can't remember which day it was (I think it was Thursday) G and I went shopping for groceries and stuff for the party... cheese puffs are VERY hard to find - we didn't find any there. Can't remember what we did on Friday... probably just slept! Or G worked and I stitched a bit. I think the neighbours played loud music but we just played loud music back. Not sure, might have been Saturday. Friday night the neighbours upstairs made noise til past 11, but that was alright. A few hours later, DISKAKMAN ppl started talking LOUDly which was not restful at all.

Saturday we rushed around doing laundry, buying cheesepuffs, finding eats, cooking cheesepuffs etc and rushing home for the party. Did quick cleaning before everyone came...

The party was VERY fun :D everyone was there, and there were enough cheese puffs and chips and cooldrinks and everything... everyone spilled outside again cos the inside of the flat gets very warm with so many people. Little dude enjoyed himself too, he had a lot of sounds to translate for his mirror!! The party was awesome and we had a great time!

Now, can anyone tell me which ball is lower than the other?? Someone should do a study and find out LOL!

Got LOVELY presents - LOADS of yummm chocolate! I'm gonna savour them all mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.............

Went to bed nice and late, and were really looking forward to sleeping LAAAAAAATEEEEEE. That was not to be. We were woken up at 07:56 by Michael Jackson's "how does it feel" BLARING out from those fuckers next door. It stopped after about half a minute, and then a few minutes later, "you are not alone" started BLARING too. That stopped too after about half a minute and then I dozed off. At 08:10, I woke again with doofdoofdoof bass sounds bumping through the walls. Not EXTREMELY loud but loud enough to totally ruin any idea of sleeping late. I got up at about 8:20 and started (not quietly) to wash the dishes! Then I vacuumed because I could still hear the damn music.

W popped by as G and I were getting ready to go to the shop. The dumbass across the way was playing c-rap LOUDLY, loud enough to be heard in the CBD I'm sure. W revved his bike VERY loudly outside our door - I hope that all the assholes enjoyed it. Sadly it wasn't for very long LOL!

We took a short stroll down to the shop (W was "stranded" cos the roads were all blocked up and blocked off cos of the Cycle Tour that day), then we had cokes in the lounge while ACDC really heartily sang Thunderstruck and other noisy songs! Little dude LOVED that hehe! I hope the numbskull across the way enjoyed it too... he must have cos he turned his music off to listen!

W went home and G and I went through to the mall to look for shoes - I still hadn't found any and I didn't want to risk wearing hiking boots at work again cos someone might say something. After looking around at all the fancy, fragile little "feminine" shoes with fifteen-inch sticks as heels, I found something that was work-worthy. Comfortable, not TOO expensive and most importantly: unnoticeable. I can wear the same shoes every day and no one would notice which is the whole point. They must look decent but not be so noticeable that people see that you wear the same thing daily.

Then we went to G's parents' place to drop off some stuff. Got home after the visit and someone had parked in G's parking bay. He parked them in then went around knocking at a few doors to try find out whose car it was. He knocked on the DISKAKMAN dude's door and their windows and curtains were closed and the dude had messy hair and looked really sleepy so apparently that is THEIR time for sleeping. (I have noted that and if they still make noise at NORMAL sleeping time, I will mess up THEIR sleeping time accordingly.) We quickly turned on some loud music to share with them.

Man, that was so exhausting. The stress of nuisance neighbours is enough to give anybody a stomach ulcer! So we didn't have a very "restful" weekend. Not all bad, in fact a lot of fun stuff, but not particularly relaxed LOL! This weekend will hopefully be quiet! *hopes wishes wants G to take Monday and Tuesday off!!*

Tiring weekend

In good ways and bad.

*sigh*

I will blog about it tomorrow... I'm too tired ;)

Absolutely Mean

Also "Clean"... a laundry. Not great. Last time we needed laundry done we went to the one near G's old place. We dropped the clothes off and were told they'd be ready by 7pm. They weren't. The lady incoherently said something - must have been an explanation which was like "I'm the only person here today". Which is all fair and well, but if you know that you're going to be late, let people know in advance. So anyway, we got our clothes back later. They smelled a LOT, from fabric softener. It was (and still is) awful because the smell stays in the clothes. We had to pay for that, which I don't recall us asking for.

Anyway, I needed some clothes washed, so G and I went to that same laundry again, only to be told they're full and they're only taking orders for tomorrow. So we left and went to one which is really near our place (which happens to be a branch of the first one we went to). After ringing the doorbell a few times, the lady appears out of another shop door and lets us in. She says they're full, and that we can come tomorrow morning. So I looked at G, totally out of ideas about what we could do about my washing. So then the lady chirps saying she can do it for us, but she'll do it slowly/won't hurry. So I agreed and handed the clothes over. She starts writing up the receipt and asks "you want to pay now?" so I say yes, so she says "R80". So G and I together exclaim "hey??" Cos the 3 loads we did at the other laundry including unrequested fabric softener came to R81, and this was 2 loads only. So she explains "it's cos you came late". Eh? We come at 2pm, and you fit us in, but we're late?? So G says "no, we'll go somewhere else". So then she backs down and says "ok R40". So then we agree again. Get the receipt, and make a note to come back at 4pm.

We go to G's parents' place to visit but can't stay long cos we have to rush off to fetch my washing. We rush back and are in the door at 4pm on the dot, only to be told it's in the dryer, we must come back 5:30.

That we do.

Collect the washing. We had to wait about 10 mins for her to unpack the clothes and fold them and put them in bags for us. We come home.

I discover a bit later (when I was about to start ironing the clothes) that they're damp. They are BLOODY DAMN DAMP! The bloody woman must have put it in for only a few minutes and then unpacked it because it's as damn damp as it would be coming straight out of the washing machine. I am still so angry about it! So at the moment we have G's old bed's "chassis" (no legs) propped up across from the windowcill to my chest of drawers that I pushed in to the right place. We're using that as a "clothes horse" and G's heater is busy heating away.

Damn them! I would so badly like to buy a washer/dryer myself, but no money nor credit card. Credit card wouldn't even help cos the limit I'd have on that would be laughable!

DAMN LAUNDRY!

Project Cross Stitch - status update:

The lady from 123Stitch! emailed me again saying they're putting the orders through for my stuff, but that their distributors don't stock Motion - Arabian & Swallow. I'll probably order the 'components' of that one through the designer of that chart.

So soon I'll be getting an email to say the kits are ready to be shipped!!!! Can't wait!!!!!!

Sleeping place

Here are sneak-pics of the little dude sleeping.

Weird little chap

The little dude has a very weird place to sleep: on his mirror. One foot clutching the top of the mirror frame, the other foot through the bars gripping the blanket. I managed to take 2 pics of him which was rather difficult since it was dark and the camera didn't want to focus.

Yesterday evening, I took his cage into our bedroom to take him out for a fly. He hasn't got the hang of landing just yet. He flies around and around, not realising that he can land on the top of the wardrobe, on the curtain rail, on the doorframes or anywhere along the wood strips that are along the walls. And he can't turn around midflight, so if he misses a landing place, he just flies around again and again til he gets exhausted. He isn't afraid of fingers (as perches), so he does climb onto my finger when I retrieve him.

Last night, he was particularly exhausted and I took the opportunity to touch him. Touched his neck feathers. Tried to scratch his feathers a little, and managed to get him to allow me to scratch his head. He loved that. He really isn't afraid of much at all, so I was able to hug him, kiss him and put my ear against his back and listen to his heartbeat as I used to do with my other bird (not Porky). G got to scratch his neck too and kiss him and listen to his heartbeat. It's so cute!

Going to visit T later. I'd wanted to visit her the week before but G was sick, and then that weekend couldn't either. Finally we are able to. Sis and I are going to go. Then later on, we're going to meet G and herG at M's place (J will probably be there too...).

It's my birthday Monday. I'll have to buy cake for the office again. I hate that. It's so superficial, so fake. No one there gives a damn that it's actually someone's birthday anyway, they're just glad they get something nice to eat. Such a waste of money - I really don't have enough for stupid things like that. I need to buy new shoes (mine's soles are coming completely apart from the shoes) and new pants (for work - sucks!).

Ok, now I'm going to go read in the sun for a short bit - sis and I are going to go soon.

Carnival!

Went to the Carnival last night, G and I met up with M&J, sis&herG and K. Met up at the bookstall, where else! G and I went straight for waffles, and then met M&J at the bookstall, and then a bit later sis, herG and K met us there. We walked around for a short bit, en route to China. G and I stopped briefly to put something in our bag and the others disappeared. We weren't hungry for supper yet, so we dawdled around and looked at everything first. Had hotdogs, then met up with the others in China. They'd already had supper.

Went on from there to (I think it was) Hawaii (we left M&J in China), where we had cocktails... sis, K and I got a Gummi Berry Juice and G got a Banana Boat. It wasn't as strong or as yum as I'd expected hehe.

Walked around some more, got an sms from M saying they were tired and going home. It was still (relatively) early.

The rest of us ended up at the rides, and bought tickets enough for swings, tornado and octopus (and G and I got extra for the swinging boat rides). Wanted to go on the tornado first, but there wasn't anyone there at the moment (they obviously wait for enough people to gather). We took turns going on the swing, so that someone was looking after the bags. Sis and herG went first, then G, K and me. It was so fast and I kept feeling as if my feet would bash people's heads or kick the light pole that was right near the swing fence! VERY VERY COOL!

Came away from the swings and hung around a bit, seeing if anyone was attending to the tornado, but nothing. No one around, they'd obviously closed that one.

Went to the octopus, and G and I waited with the bags while sis, herG and K went. G and I were standing at the gate after the others had got off, and the dudes operating the ride basically walked out the gate too and the one ignored us and the other shrugged. Basically 'we're done for tonight, we're going'! So G and I went to stand by the swinging boat ride while the others went to buy Lebkuchen and we waited. We watched the ride finish and the people get off, and then there was no one. The dude operating that one shut everything down and put the cover over the machine. We were quite pissed off by then, and went to stand by the bumper cars, cos our tickets might just possibly have bought us a ride on those. But no, the ride finished and those dudes buggered off too. So basically, we bought R66 worth of tickets, and got to use R12. The bloody cows at the ticket office didn't think to let us know that "hey look, it's 10:30, they CLOSE at 11! do you really want so many tickets?". That was rather shitty.

The others took forever to come back from buying stuff, while we waited near the entrance being pointedly reminded over and over again by the security people that the "gate is that way".

At least the waffle was delicious. And I bought an interesting book. And a R5 piece of posh cheese that the woman cut with a lot of difficulty. She had an expression of complete puzzlement at me who obviously can't "afford" such things would still want some and actually *ask* for a "budget" sized piece like that.

I want another waffle. And we didn't get any candyfloss cos there was a power outage in the area of the carnival that the candyfloss people were situated.

Bummer.

How to make your employees LURVE you

Toxic boss?

Speak to your friends – most people have had at least one boss who could have been the sole subject of a psychiatric conference.

A quick whip-round among associates revealed a story of a boss who put chocolates in the pigeonholes of his two favourite employees every Thursday – in full view of the rest of the staff. Another story tells of a boss who was only seen three times in the entire time the person concerned worked at that particular company. Then there was another one who liked to tickle his nose with a feather constantly and another who was seen doing his shopping in full drag.

And stories abound of unfair dismissals, bullying, shouting, favouritism, inconsistencies and just plain lack of professionalism.

But then fortunately there are also the stories about good and kind bosses, who encourage their employees, are fair and consistent and do not take out their personal problems on those who work for them.

Being a boss is not easy. Having to deal with finances, responsibility, a potentially difficult work force, having to be a mediator, dealing with other people's personal problems, retrenchments – the list is endless. And the stress can be enormous.

So are you a boss? What are the signs of your being a problem boss? The following signs, according to Ilse Pauw, Cape Town psychologist, could point to there being problems in your domain:

Large staff turnover. If people come and go without having good reasons, such as a spouse being transferred, or wanting to change professions, there is a problem. If your staff start resigning despite not having other jobs, there is something serious underfoot.

Negative assessments. Most companies have annual assessments of their staff. If you get thrashed the minute the assessments are anonymous, but to your face people seem to be civil, there is a severe problem with your management style or general attitude.

Passive aggression. This is usually shown in a lack of co-operation, such as a refusal to take part in staff discussions, non-attendance of staff functions, minimum compliance with orders, obstructionist behaviour and a lack of team playing.

Factions on the staff. In any large group of employees, it is inevitable that certain social groups will form. This is entirely normal. Some of your employees may even become friends with one another. But if there are bitter, opposing factions, it usually indicates a lack of trust in the judgment and fairness of decisions that come from the top. People are jockeying for position, because they feel they cannot trust their boss to treat them fairly. Where a boss is ineffectual or unfair and tyrannical, much of the energy, which should go into upping production, goes into infighting and staff politics.

Work-to-rule. If one person on the staff does the work-to-rule thing (This is not in my job description), that person is nursing some private grievance. If the majority of the staff does so, there is a larger problem – and it could be you and your management style. Not being willing to go the extra mile is usually only done when people feel that the company they work for is abusing them in some way – either underpaying them, overworking them, or subjecting them to unfair or untenable working conditions.

Low productivity. Frustrated and unmotivated employees are unproductive employees. If people are not happy in their jobs, they also feel resentment towards the company that employs them and they will not make an effort to up their production. Low productivity is a sure sign of autocratic and ineffectual management – or under-trained staff.

Frequent complaints. Happy employees do not complain about minor things constantly. Once vicious fights start breaking out about minor things such as the type of coffee bought for the coffee club or the type of toilet paper that is used in the staff toilets, there is usually a problem that is much larger. And which employees are hesitant to mention. And it could be you. If official complaints get lodged regularly, or members of staff constantly demand to see those above you, you need to take a good look at yourself.

High amount of sick leave. If there are constantly people taking a day off here and a day there and you are pretty certain there is nothing wrong with them, they either have personal problems of which you know nothing, or there is a problem or a person at work, which they are trying to avoid, because they find it upsetting. On every staff, there is usually one person who abuses their sick leave, but when more and more people start doing it, there is usually a bigger problem.

Sudden silence when you enter a room. It could just be a lull in the conversation, but it could also be that you were the topic under discussion. And people don't suddenly keep quiet if they've been saying nice things.

Unpleasant atmosphere at work. It could be that you have one or two bad apples among your staff, that are poisoning the work force. Or it could just be that people are unhappy with your decisions, with your appointments or with your management style. Work is not a social venue, but it is so much nicer when there is a pleasant atmosphere, rather than a polarised back-biting situation.

Little co-operation or teamwork. If getting people to do things or make changes feels like dragging a dead horse through soft sand, there is a problem. Have you spoken to the people who actually do the job to find out if they have suggestions? Did you take them seriously? Most people do not take kindly to top-down decisions. If people feel they have not been consulted, they are unlikely to be enthusiastic about a new decision or project.

Nervous employees. If people are jumpy, it is usually because they feel their boss is unpredictable and not to be trusted. They probably get shouted at – often for no justifiable reason and they don't trust whoever is in charge. If it's you, the time for some soul-searching and possibly a management course or two. The only way to manage people effectively in the long run is to get their willing co-operation. That doesn't mean that you're not in charge. On the contrary. But the way in which you do things is so very important.

Misinterpretation of instructions. If one of your employees keeps on getting things wrong, there may be problem with that one person. But if everyone constantly misinterprets what you say, it could be that you don't give good, clear instructions. Try writing them down – in this way there can be no confusion. Often managers have an idea in their heads, but are unable to convey it clearly to employees.

Disrespectful behaviour. If a large number of your employees are 'off' to you, or simply disrespectful, you need to find out why. Remember that respect is something that is earned, not something that is part and parcel of any position.

(Susan Erasmus, Health24)

How to drive your colleagues NUTS! part I

Are you an open-plan office pest? (from Health24)

It should be a basic human right – your own office. But in our downsized, open-plan, multitasked, working world, you’re likely to share workspace. You can hate it or thrive.

Work with someone long enough and there’s a chance you’ll either develop a crush on them or wish they’d leave the company. Most people fantasise about some of their colleagues and for many people working in close proximity to one another, those fantasies may involve buckets of wet cement and deep rivers.

That’s because people who work together tend to get on each other’s nerves. It’s partly because we’re all human and fallible, but also a matter of not taking some basic steps in office etiquette.

How bad can it get? If you’ve ever had a colleague who coughed incessantly for months on end, without getting better, or dying, you’ll know. Or a colleague who makes long and loud personal phone calls when you’re trying to negotiate some international deal with a hard-of-hearing Albanian who’s on a cellphone in a subway a thousand miles away.

Main irritants at work
A survey conducted by one UK recruitment agency found that nearly 40% of office workers polled had considered changing jobs because of a colleague’s irritating habits. The magazine ComputerWeekly report on the survey by Office Angels listed the top five irritants as:


Being e-mailed by people who sit a few feet away (85%)
People who listen to voicemails on speaker phone (75%)
People who swear at their computers (68%)
Colleagues’choice of radio station (68%)
Colleagues who don’t share tea-making duties (60%).
One problem with working close to others is that once you’re sensitised to their irritating idiosyncrasies, things that wouldn’t normally irk you become unbearable. Is so-and-so talking to himself or actually soliciting a reply? Nobody will begrudge you a muttered tirade at Bill Gates if you lose valuable work due to some sudden technological malfunction. It’s when a pattern of disruptive behaviour develops that people begin to harbour malicious thoughts.

Something that affects everyone – your computer network collapsing or the Sheriff of the court arriving to take away all the furniture – warrants some justified, even therapeutic exclamation of dismay. Hitting the wrong key on your keyboard doesn’t.

Habits that drive colleagues round the bend


Talking loudly on the phone;
Asking a colleague how to spell a word – and thereby disrupting their concentration - when every computer on the planet now has a spellchecker;
Talking to yourself or singing to yourself;
Interrupting others' work telephone conversations to make some further suggestions regarding the conversation they're having;
Chipping in to a discussion that strictly speaking has nothing to do with you;
When you’re stressed, assuming everyone else is, and when you’re not, assuming nobody else is either. Perhaps your workload only builds on Monday afternoons, while you have a colleague who has to file a report by midday. Ambling over to chat about the All Blacks and the Springboks can wait. Offering to bring over a cup of tea or to shoulder some of the workload might be better.
Breaking wind. Fumes travel. If your nether regions are noxious, pop some charcoal tablets. They’ll make the gas disappear quicker than Saddam’s WMDs;
Use of resources: if you print out a 60-page document, make sure the printer tray is still at least half-full;
Commenting on private calls or conversations. if you have a colleague who’s fighting with his girlfriend over the phone, commiserating with him after the call means you were listening in. Even if you overheard it unintentionally, pretend to be elsewhere. Saying “Ah, chicks! Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em!” might not get you punched on the snout or even told to mind your own business, but it might rankle, not just him, but the other chicks in the office. If your colleague wants to talk about it, he will. Similarly, if you’re in someone’s workspace and they have a phone call, at least offer to leave. It affords them the option of telling the caller “I’m in a meeting, can I call you back?”
Cleanliness. if your office has a communal kitchen, leave it cleaner than you found it. The same applies to meeting rooms or boardroom tables, which may be strewn with cups and sugar packets after meetings. Gathering up the detritus together will probably take about 20 seconds.
Respect privacy. Some people wear headphones to mask off the noise around them. Some of the headphones are even switched off a lot of the time, but the fact that the wearer has them on may at least stop people from asking them how to spell “pharmacopoeia” every four minutes.
Is all this tiptoeing around your colleagues a waste of time? Surely people must just learn to deal with lack of privacy and personal space? Surely all this pickiness warrants a retort like, “Oh, deal with it”?

Well, perhaps. But the Office Angels survey yielded some surprising results about people who behave badly in the office. Nearly 70% of those polled said they were more likely to gossip about people who indulged in loud personal phone calls. Around the same percentage felt that considerate colleagues deserved promotion and supported their advancement.

Perhaps the strongest advice is honesty. Rather than developing a tension headache and plotting to burn your colleague’s car because he punctuates his day with bursts of, “Oh chuck-a-chunk, break-it-down…” maybe it’s time for a one-on-one chat about honing his talents as a rapper at the office. (William Smook)

Timewasters Anonymous

It's annoying when you are "lenient" with someone, empathetic towards their situation, and they take advantage of that.

Every week the receptionist sits during lunch for one of us, in rotation. Today, the receptionist was to do lunch-duty in my place. She asked me if I would sit for her for 5mins just for her to get “a bite to eat”. I agreed, but at 13:00, hbbm asked me to do some emails. That took about 5minutes, and I came back and the receptionist hadn’t even stopped working ready to go out. I asked her whether she’d gone out yet and she said she hadn’t, so I said I was ready to listen. That was at 13:10. She only LEFT at about 13:15, and came back not 5mins later, 15 minutes later. G had been waiting outside for 15mins already when I got out at 13:30.

She is really one for taking advantage. She came late yesterday. She didn’t phone anybody. First I hear of it was when the door buzzer went and I thought to myself ‘that’s strange someone buzzing the door before 8:30’. I looked at my watch – “SHIT it was 8:35! Where is this lady??!!” So I opened the switchboard, and phoned the typist to hear if she’d been notified by the receptionist that she was late. She said that the boss hadn’t mentioned anything, and that she’d spoken to her about it already. As I finished speaking to the typist, the switchboard rang, and it was this lady. She was stuck in traffic it town and would be late. She only phoned at 8:40. She phoned the SWITCHBOARD. I asked her if I could put her through to one of the bosses cos she’s supposed to inform one of them, but she hung up on me.

I was very annoyed at that stage. When she got in, I was busy typing emails for hbbm, and only afterwards was I able to have a word with her about LETTING A BOSS & 1 OTHER STAND-IN PERSON KNOW that she is late. Even if she is only POSSIBLY going to be late. As long as someone knows that, they can open the switchboard in time. She argued about that saying she couldn’t phone before 8:30 cos the switchboard was closed, so I “reminded” her that the message on the voicemail says ‘welcome, our office hours are... if you know the extension dial it now or leave a message...’ so she “could have spoken to anyone in the whole company”. “oh”. Hopefully THIS TIME it will have sunk in!!

Anyway, where was I... yes, lunch time today. G was patiently waiting outside for me and we took a stroll down to a coffee shop nearby. Sat down and someone from another table passed us menus ‘else you’ll wait ages’. After a while, a waitress came to take our order: 1 cappuccino, 1 hot chocolate. She disappeared somewhere. Another waitress came past and asked what we wanted. Repeated our order. After a while the first waitress came back and said “erm, you wanted a cappuccino and a....?”

After about 20minutes, we got our cappuccino and hot chocolate. Slurped it down in about 5 minutes (because I only had 15mins left once we’d got the drinks). Sat waiting for 5mins, then a waiter took away our cups. Waited another 2minutes before we saw “our” waitress again. She served someone, joked with him, and went back into the coffee shop, all the time with her back to us. We waited another 3 minutes until she came back to serve the same person, and once again she kept her back towards us. She was about to disappear back indoors when G proclaimed “scuse me... SCUSEME!!” and the other customer called her too. G gave her the money and we left. We weren’t going to wait for her to prepare a bill for us.

The coffee shop in question:

NEARLY done with Part I

Warpony - the first half, the right half, the face half is NEARLY done!

I'm a bit too tired now to carry on and finish it. It's just past 1am. G's up late, working on something for tomorrow. I was stitching while he worked but I'm sleepy now hehe.

Just a few last confetti-stitches left, as you can see in the pic.

Project: cross stitch - chart kitting [Status - awaiting quote]

I've emailed 123Stitch! asking about charts I'm interested in and whether they have a kitting service. A lady from the company replied to my email and is currently compiling a quote for the charts I want kitted.

These are the ones I'm going to do:


Heremia - Character Creations


Motion - Arabian and Swallow - Character Creations


Golden Ice - Kustom Krafts


Gentle Strength - Dimensions

I've chosen different fabrics for Heremia and Motion, which the lady is incorporating into the quote.

It really is so expensive to kit charts here, what with 8m of a single colour skein of thread costing R6 (that's US$0.78 - non-sale price of thread is apparently $0.30 each), bearing in mind that each chart uses anything from 30 colours to 89. Then you have to source fabric, which I would imagine is no easy task if you want a different colour/type fabric than the standard plain aida. The price of the thread alone is more than the price of the whole kit from overseas.

Saw in a crafts shop nearby a very crappy kit of (say for eg) a watering-can with flowers on a table. That was R700 (almost $100). It wasn't a BIG design either, not NEAR the standards of Warpony and the others I want to do. All 4 of the 'kits' I'm ordering shouldn't come to more than R1000, which works out to R250 each which *I*'d say is a FAR better deal than paying R700 for a kit I don't really like. A R250 kit here makes a tiny little design of about 15cm x 15cm.

I'm eagerly awaiting the quote on the cross-stitches!

I've also been working on Warpy, the right-hand half is SO nearly complete! Tonight G probably will have 'homework' to do (overtime) so I'll sit up late with him and STITCH!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAh I'm so impatient to go HOME!!

Tomorrow we're going to go see T, she's back in the land of R S of A (much to her depression and frustration!!).

Thursday is the carnival, so G and I, my sis and (her)G and M and J are going to go have FUN! Can't wait for that either!!

Then it's almost my birthday!

I have time!

Friday afternoon I phoned the (S)watch shop to find out about my watch that I'd sent away for them to check if they can fix it. They can't. Why? Because it's a 'sealed unit'. WTF? They offered me a 33.3% discount off any watch I buy from them up worth R799 (my watch's value). Like hell. I don't want to have ANOTHER dead watch 2 years later, thanks.

G and I went to the mall earlier, and after brunch we went straight to the (S)watch shop and I collected my watch. (Heard after we got home that it still TICKS fine, it just doesn't move. WTF?)

Went around looking in shop windows at watches. Checked out Fossil, and any other brands in jewellery shops. OMG they are SO EXPENSIVE! A Fossil watch is CHEAP compared to most of them in the jewellery shops! Then after "liking" a Fossil watch (more like the best of not a WONDERFUL selection), we went to a shop which sells a LOT of brands. It is exclusively a watch shop. Checked out their stuff... There was one that appealed to me. It wasn't as expensive as most of the other watches in the whole mall, but it was more than the Fossil. So we went back to the Fossil shop where I took another look at the watch, and then (with not a lot of ease) got one of the assistants to take the watch out for me to take a closer look. It was alright. Didn't blow me away. I had become more impressed with the *other* watch in the *other* shop before leaving that shop to come look at the Fossil, so we went back to the watch shop where I could take a longer look.

The assistant came to me and asked if I needed help (which was far better treatment than in the Fossil shop - although the ladies in the Fossil shop had offered us assistance at first, but they hadn't actually come around their counter to talk TO us, they just called out across the HUGE 5m shopfloor, this lady had). So I got to take a closer look at the nice watch in the nice shop with the nice shop assistants. I liked the nice watch. It became nicer and nicer as I handled it. It became more mine too. So I decided to keep it. No, I didn't steal it!

I'm now sitting at the pc with MY new LOVELY watch... it's pretty and matte and shiny in tiny bits and it's metal and it is blue and patterned in the face and it has glow in the dark bits but it has no gold-colour and it has no faux-bling diamante crap on it ANYwhere ;) (that was one of the turn-offs of the Fossil watch)

It's so cool!!

Oh, and apparently the ppl from (S)watch decided that it was more of a virtue for their watches to be innovatively waterproof than for them to be repairable, so although my watch is broken, it will never ever be damaged by water!

Damn it!

Damn everything!

Damn everything ever! Damn it!

I hate work. I started enjoying it but it turns out it's shit. Bloody personal shit, like calling medical aid and getting stuff pre-authorised or finding out why they don't pay for something they did before. What the fuck does wifeykins do at home all day that SHE can't phone?! *I* have to phone MY medical aid when *I* have a query! It's MY medical aid MY problem. Damn it! Bosses' wives BLEH! Bloody lazy asses! Personal shit! Bugger it all!

I hate things damn it! I'm so FED UP with shit always. It's quiet at home. Routine and stable, the moment you have any interactions with anyone or anything, it turns shit. I'm tired from work shit. I can't deal with stuff like that now. I can't solve it. Problems I CAN'T SOLVE! Damn it, I'm not qualified to sort that out! There's nothing I can do to FIX things. I want to fix things. I can't fix anything. I can't do anything. She argues and goes off about things, I can't argue with her. She has a reason. I can't stop her having a reason. I can't FIX what she's angry about. I can't fix it.

I can't just BE, with you. Can't just, have a cup of coffee with you. We can't hang out together. It's always the same. I can't explain why, because it ends up that we argue the same way she and you argue. I can't talk to you because we would argue. I don't want to. But I can't just *be* with you, it exhausts me and drains me out completely. I want to. It's so simple. But it's too complicated, everything's too complicated that's why you can't ever just BE. I can't fix that. I can't. I can't be your self-esteem, I can't fix you.

I can't.

I want you to be fine. I can't fix it.

The LITTLE DUDE!!!

He isn't afraid of the camera which is EXCELLENT, but he was a bit shell-shocked after the flash went off.. poor little chap.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate you, you inconsiderate fucks

Yes, you, you loud ASSHOLES. You who had the TV on so loud that I heard all the news headlines from YUGOSLAVIA! And then you watched a sitcom and laughed LOUDLY too. As if I wouldn't already know when the funny bits are, since I can hear the studio-audience's laughter loud enough for it to sound as if they're in our lounge. Then, obviously, your show ended at 23:30, because you became quiet.

May I now go sleep?

Fuck you.

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The Little Green Man

I read this blog post quite a while ago (around the time when we moved in together)and I still think it's very funny! Ok not so funny, but ... well... it struck a chord, cos we had to experience the same thing. Exactly the same thing. With G's flat, they wanted to redo the floors. They wanted to redo the bath. They wanted to do so many things but how on earth is a person supposed to just take time off work to go supervise? ANYway... nuff said.

Valentine's was a strange day. We were actually going to celebrate the 13 Feb rather, that being our 6 months anniversary, so we met up for lunch during the day, but in the evening we ended up doing laundry. Gave G goodies though.

For Valentine's, we didn't meet up for lunch or anything. I went out and got some extra goodies for G for the evening, some yummy chocolates for us to share. We didn't get much time to hang out after work, G had a short band practice to get to, so I caught a lift home with the intention to hang out with my mom and sis. But they were out *hmph!* hehe. So I went online and checked my mail and stuff.

G came and fetched me and we came home again, and we were so hungry that we scoffed some chips almost before putting his band stuff down! Then I went into the bedroom to put something down, and on the bed was a cute little green budgie in a little blue cage! A sleepy little chap, all fluffed up and ready for bed! It was the cutest thing!!! There was a ribbon on the cage and a lovely card G'd made. It was so ... AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The little green man doesn't have a name yet, I have a feeling that "chappie" is going to turn into "Chappie" and become his name though! He's got a good place on my shelf in the lounge so he's able to watch TV with us and enjoy music and even watch the fishtank. He's too cute!

And the long story behind the surprise! Wow! So crafty!!!!!!!! When we went to G's parents' place to do laundry, he was apparently upstairs! Both times! And there was no short band practice, and G's parents weren't out (we were going to go fetch laundry that evening but couldn't because they 'were out'). Nor was S (W's S - all these initials are getting confusing HAHA) which was why I wouldn't have had fun at band. W played along with G's story of there being a short band practice that evening! G rushed around "during band" fetching the little chappie from his parents' place and taking him to our place and setting everything up and then rushing back to fetch me and driving back! HEEEHEHEHEHEHEH :D awww it's so wow!!!! :D Phew! Ingewikkelde tale!

This evening G and I are going toy-shopping! The little dude's cage is rather bare, so we're gonna see what all toys there are, and pick up a seed-bell and a cuttlefishbone or so. HE'S SO CUTE! He chirped this morning, as we were going out the door :D Awwww!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll take a pic later and post it asap.

A LITTLE GREEN MAN :D

The day Google became Googe

Pulled Google up this morning and it being Valentine's day, they have prettied up their logo. Except it seems they made a spelling mistake: