This woman goes in for a facelift and the doctor says: "We've got this new method: I put a knob in the back of your head, and every time you feel like you need a lift, just turn it."


She gets the knob implanted and is beautiful for five years.


But one day she notices a problem and returns to the doctor.


"I've got these huge bags under my eyes," she complains.


The surgeon replies: "Those aren't bags; those are your breasts."


"Ah," she sighs. "That explains the goatee."

And so.. I get back to the office yesterday and whilst walking through the outer office my secretary gives me a quizical look, a slight smile creasing the edges of her mouth.. clearly something is up.. after some confusing banter, i walk into my office, and standing on my desk pad is a vase, with a single red rose surrounded by chocolates.. a simple white card with my name and address, nothing more, attached to a single fern leaf completes the surprise.

Of course I think it is J who has sent it to me, so I phone to thank her, but curiously she knows nothing about it, asking "who would send red roses to a man?" Good question I thought. My secretary, was ruled out, and with no other clear suspects I am baffled! We, J and I, sat last night trying figure out who it could be... no luck.

Whoever it was, although I very much doubt it was anyone from NN, but thank you anyway.. was, ummmmm interesting!

It's a sad day for those of us on NN who are genuine. So many good people lost in such a short time.

Makes me sad... just saying.

And so it is raining... after years of waiting, three in fact, it is finally raining.

It started on Friday and hasn't stopped yet, although the weather forcast suggests sun tomorrow.

Hopefully the catchment areas have had as much and the dams begin to fill....

Happy dance!! It is raining!

And so I was watching a program on TV about a rural school in Uganda where the school was totally dependant on the payment of school fees to fund improvements and pay teachers. You see, in Uganda, primary education is free, funded by the state, but secondary education is not. It turns out that the monthly school fees were equal to two weeks wages of an average Ugandan, so as you can imagine default rates were very high. The headmistress decides to take action and locks the gates of the school to all except those up to date with their payments. To cut a long story short, one of the boys aged 13 was in arrears and it turns out that he was an aids orphan, and was the head of the household, caring for 4 younger siblings. After school he would work in his little business charging batteries for the villagers, and from this business he would clothe and feed himself and his siblings, and then with what was left, try and pay his school fees so that he could get an education and provide a better for his "family".

I then read an article about Wayne Rooney, and his ilk. For those of you who don't know who he is, he is an English footballer and currently plays for Manchester United, although reports suggest that he is looking for more money so is preparing to move to whoever will pay him more. Shit, he currently earns in the region of 200k sterling a week!!! How much more money does he need, and whats more, why the fuck does he feel he doesn't have to behave himself??

Is it just me, or are there others who think there is something serious wrong with the chasm between these two humans I have mentioned? My peers call me a communist, I don't think I am. I think I am more a humanist, and I just wonder when enough is enough?

Why is it that we go to our 25 year reunions and we meet Joe Blogs again after 25 years and he is a big business man, with a Rolls Royce parked outside, and the we meet Fred Smith, who after 25 years is a plumber working for the local council. We consider Joe to be hugely successful, and Fred to have under achieved, but in real life Joe, beats his wife, sexually abuses his daughter and Fred has a strong loving family unit. As a society we have come to measure a person's worth not by how they make fellow humans feel after an interaction, but by how many material possessions they own. Makes me sad..... Where has our humanity gone?

Ok... feeling a bit better now that I have that off my chest!

And so it is Monday 18th October 2010, and I hear many of you asking, "So what?"....

Well today I dropped my youngest at school for the start of her last week at high school. Her final day being Friday before she starts her study leave and writting her final high school exams.. From next year she will join her elder sister at University.

I have been fetching and carrying kids to and from school and school functions for over 16 years now, and it is just such a huge part of my life, and I have a huge sense of moving into a new phase of life.

J and I were chatting the otherday and wondering if we would suffer from "empty nest syndrome", we are of the opinion that we will not!

We have so little time to ourselves, our kids being very social, there are always people at our house. We enjoy very little time to play, take pics, which we love to do, and enjoy quiet time or even some "rough and tumble" anywhere in the house other than behind the closed door of our bedroom. lol

And so time moves on and our children are preparing to fly the coup, still tied to Dad's wallet unfortunately, but hopefull the education we have struggled to, and still struggle to, pay for will be a good investment in the future for them, and they will be able to afford to look after their parents in the style wich we would love to become accustomed when our goldern years arrive.

Otherwise all is well here on the southern tip of Africa. In our region we have not had anyrain to speak of for nearly 3 years now, and the water situation is dire, but last week we had a week of good rain, was so good to see puddles again, but we need so much more, but the boffins say that we can expect huge rains later this month, we will see, they have been wrong before!

Take care all, greetings from us to you...

J and D

Happy weekend from Africa.....

Ahhh... mid winter and for the last week or two the temp has been in the late 20's and early 30's... still no rain

Busy weekend, provincial playoffs this weekend, so playing all weekend, in this heat it sure builds up a thirst, so it is not all bad. By 3pm each day ice cold beers flash before my eyes, breaking my concentration. lol

So whatever you are doing, enjoy, be safe and dance like no one is watching.

Monday 8.16am... and I am back in the office with my mind elsewhere!

But with loads of new posts to see, I can only see my day getting better!

Two more sleeps, then it's 2 weeks hiding in the mountains!~

Doing the happy dance!~ )

I don't know what England are on about, it clearly wasn't a goal....