...the journey continues

Had a holiday planned for this weekend. Was supposed to head down to Cape Town for the Franschoek Wine Festival but due to the shite weather they've been having, turned to the backup plan to go to Mozambique (which is a lot closer to JHB and warmer and out of the country) but that fell through as well.  Just not a good time to travel in the southern hemisphere. 

Took today off anyway just for a break.

Temp is about 1 degree tonight in Jozi.  Perfect night to go out....hehehe. 

The week started out crazy busy and stressful but by mid-week it just got real slow and quiet and crawling towards the weekend.  A few people at work and some friends are either in London this week or going to be in London soon, I've been watching the tennis and watching Secret Diary of a Call Girl (with it's fantastic London scene shots) have been making me pine more than ever since being back. I really enjoyed the London summers (short as they were), somehow the sun shining there is a lot more special than it shining here in SA.

I went to a hawan last night. This was due to my cousin Shavern moving into a new house with his fiance.  I had not been to one since my grandfather died some years ago.  Childhood memories of sunday temple, not knowing the words to the bhajans, just the tune and melody engraved in my brain, familiar smells, running away from hindi school in the afternoons.  Shavern cooked up a fantastic spread of vegetable and soya dishes (with butter ghee being the 'secret' ingredient), there was even roti and vermicelli for pudding. We were all impressed.

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Originally uploaded by Sheriss.

Headed out to Natal this weekend past to the central drakensberg to meet up with my family. This was the view from the cottage we were staying in at Champagne Lane. The weather was great on Saturday, sunny and cool, perfect weather for a hike. Unfortunately there were no trails around the property we were staying at due to developers buying and fencing off the land. So we drove to the national parks board about 8km away and set-off on what we had not anticipated to be a 12km hike. Took us about 3.5 hours round-trip with the destination being Nandi Falls, which was totally worth the effort!

Hey, its almost Friday. Woohoo! The week flew by. It has been a good one, spirits were up, I kept myself busy and to end it off I am going to the Drakensberg tomorrow for the weekend.  catching a ride with my sister and the nick.

I took the kitties for a very expensive vet visit. They received their last vaccinations for the year and they were weighed. Charlie came in at 3.1kg and Igby 2.7kg. They have grown a whole lot in a month and are almost adult size according to the vet.

Company is taking our team on a BMW defense driving course next week. Have no clue what it entails, but hopefully it will be fun.

I quit dessert last week Friday evening after having a delicious tart at the loft.  Its been almost a week and I am proud to say that I have not had any cake, tart, chocolate, biscuits, milkshakes, frulattos, pancakes, waffles, ice-cream, cream, pudding since then... hahaha. At first I think I was a bit grumpy, but my mood has definitely been better.

I hope it lasts.

I am not sure how much I agree with the results of this test but here they are anyway. 240 questions.

VIA Signature Strengths

Your Top Strength

Appreciation of beauty and excellence
You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.
Your Second Strength

Capacity to love and be loved
You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.
Your Third Strength

Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness
You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a "real" person.
Your Fourth Strength

Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness
Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.
Your Fifth Strength

Kindness and generosity
You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favor. You enjoy doing good deeds for others, even if you do not know them well.

You can take the test here

So after several months of being back in South Africa and adjusting to life without on-demand, unlimited downloads, 4MB ADSL broadband, I decided to just go-ahead and get telkom's 2GB, 384kbps, ridiculously priced ADSL (compared to the UK and the rest of the modern world). 

Telkom's telephone support service remains inconsistent, and depending on your luck, you can speak to a consultant almost immediately, or you can hold on the line for 30 minutes before you speak to a human being (no exaggeration).  I ordered the ADSL line last week Thursday and found the telephone service on that day to be excellent.  I was told that the ADSL takes 2 - 6 weeks to be activated and so on Monday morning I was surprised to receive a call letting me know that the ADSL line is activated.  Not having expected the line to be ready so soon, I had not decided on an ISP.  Later in the day I called up 2 different ISPs but was put on hold for way too long so I decided that I would select telkom as my internet provider.  It was getting clear that it was a bad day for telephone support. I was on hold for 25 minutes before I spoke to a consultant. Admittedly the consultant was very helpful and arranged for her colleague to call me back to give me my login details.  An hour later I received a call from a telkom consultant who gave me all the relevant details I needed to setup my adsl router. Later in the evening when I was home I tried to get the adsl working but was not coming right, so I call telkom's home dsl support line. I wait for another 20 minutes before I speak to a very helpful consultant but who did not manage to solve my problem.  Afterwards I figure out that I was missing the correct filter for the telephone (which was causing a lot of noise on the line).  Faizal helped me with the filter which got me connected! The line speed  last night was decent.

So overall I have been happy with telkom's service. The consultants have been helpful, activation was quick for both the adsl line and the ISP. Telkom just needs more people, so that the time holding on before speaking to a consultant is not more than 5 - 10 minutes.

It was a mixed weekend. Emotional highs and lows.  Started off well on Friday, dinner with Keshantha and Zoe and a bit of poker after.  The first half of Saturday was spent doing errands. Nani left on Saturday afternoon very suddenly after receiving news of further planned attacks in the nearby area. It made me sick in my stomach that she felt compelled to leave for her safety, for her survival.

I met up with Jow, Shameme and Ariel in the evening at Moyo for coffee, then ended up at Mama's in Greenside for drinks. It was cool catching up.

Sunday was just dreadful. At least it felt that way in my head. I spent some hours at Nice (which is always pleasant and a great place to chill out and read the paper and get some delicious food and take in some interesting characters).

Perhaps South African State President Thabo Mbeki needs to read his "I am an African" speech again which he delivered on 8th May 1996.

earlier this year i put an ad out for a housemate to share my flat with me.  i was not completely taken with the idea because i have had my fair share of difficult, crazy housemates.  i had the ad out for about a month and interviewed a handful of people. at some point i got a call enquiring about the flatshare and the voice was softspoken, sweet and had a foreign accent that i could not quite place. the voice belonged to Nani who has now been my housemate since March.

Nani is congolese, is french speaking, completely strange and wonderfully interesting.  she is also brilliant and entertaining and her laughter is infectious.  it took some time for Nani to open up and share a bit of her life and self and stories and insight and take on life in general.  i feel that we are friends and i am completely embarrassed and disgusted with my countrymen's behaviour towards african foreigners.

Nani, her family, friends and other foreigners in her situation are forced to be here in fear and for what when all they came to South Africa for is study and in some way create a better life for themselves which may not be possible in their own countries.  Now they are forced to flee this place that could be said to be the 'land of the free'? Africa's equivalent of the once upon a time USA. A country where you can have a better life.

where is the respect for life, for your fellow human beings, for people who are in no better situations than the next South African, who are also surviving, trying to make a living, working hard and taking care of their families.  where is the humanity. where is the love.

At least one week out of every month, i go temporarily insane, lose control of my emotions, lose my grip on the reality of my life, my ocd kicks in... and basically just lose all rationality.  during those episodes, i can see myself (like some out of body experience) and it is bloody scary.
i blame pms for this, for the imbalance of hormones in my body that contributes to this madness.