FINALLY...A glimse of a Rainbow....?

I have to say I feel a little lighter on the feet since Kgalema Motlanthe was ‘shoved in’ as president. Having heard him speak before his presidency he makes a lot of sense and more importantly he does not seem to be trying to cut a CD with his one hit wonder ‘umshini wami’.

Sure there may be a few leeeettle grey areas, like socialism and communism in his past BUT he seems to bring a much needed calming influence to the ranks of the ANC, which as we know is needed nowadays. It has sadly become a party of self serving twits that are more worried about its ‘leader’s’ trial than leading a country of people in a democratic way.

So a little ray of sunshine appears in what was seeming [to me] to be an endless grey sky… BUT time will tell. A few good moves have been made so far, namely the Minister of Health is now Barbara Hogan and helmet head-Manto has been moved to the presidential office..[think she needs close watching]. Pity she was not fired BUT she aint gonna be a problem in Health anymore. Then someone finally made a decision to fire Robert McBride after 6 months of haggling about his drunk driving charge [costing the tax payers money].. etc etc. It will be interesting to see what happens to Selebi and what will be done about crime…I wait with anticipation!

It will also be interesting to see if our dome headed ‘rock star’ [Zuma that is] does ascend to the highest position in the country in a few months time….Good Lord I hope not, lets have the trial first shall we… Kgalema might start enjoying his new found fame anyway.

So SA politics has suddenly become more interesting and I am 100% sure will hot up as the months roll into election time. For the ANC a new era has arrived..I cant help but wonder if a split in the party is imminent…it would make sense but predictions are not cool nowadays..

Quickly moving to US politics… I think they could have a bigger problem if the Republicans win the election over there. A president that is about to kick the bucket and could end up leaving the rains to his deputy…. Palin. Why is that such a problem you ask…? WELL for one…she has NEVER traveled outside her country! And they worry about Obama’s lack of experience! Palin only got her passport now…in her 40’s! HAVE YOU EVER! How much can she really know about how America fits into the world, what a bad choice! [For her it’s probably more about how the world fits into America..aren't we the world?!....I can hear her asking!] Backwards and Scary. VIVA OBAMA...at least he actually knows where Africa is!

The Country Life - Week 1

So we have moved and are attempting to settle into the country-side life. Moving from a big city, housing millions of people to a village with a few thousand is a real mind shift. I have to say though we are loving it!

We had snow on the mountains this weekend and it was beautiful, there is just something you cant beat about snow caped mountains, a great [real] fire and a bottle of good red being surrounded by vines. So this is life for me now…I feel privileged.
I think I could even [at a stretch] handle the small town gossip- by ignoring it..[not my best I must say]…I may have to give people something to talk about!

So a quick overview of my first few days:

•The view…unbelievable, from every angle…snow capped mountains with clear crisp air…
•Sleepy countryside speckled with the odd farm house, cow or sheep [complete with smokey chimney – just love that]
•Getting caught behind a tractor on the way to school…
•School here starts later, feels weird only getting up at 7 to get to take my daughter to school by 8. School is very farmy…very different but she settled on the first day.
•Spend my mornings sipping coffee in the sun on the tiny main road through the village. [where I am currently typing this!]
•No Woolies [Woolworths] to be found… [still deciding if that is a good or bad thing]
•Hey! I could wear one of my hats that I have been collecting for the last few years… very cool! Gum boots and hats are the norm here!
•Going to a champagne farm this weekend for a launch and lunch… and last weekend spent time at the wine farms next to fires sipping red…
•Everyone knows each other here and people go out of their way to say hi and have a 15 min conversation…trying to get used to that…. [and the Afrikaans…I nearly failed that at school!]

So far not missing JHB at all. Not even a little…I may at some stage I am sure…this is all still new for me and I love the energy that JHB has. There is petty crime here but NOTHING like the violence of Jozi…I can cope with that. I cannot begin to explain how much this place feels like I live in another country but has a familiarity about it that is SA. It is really weird.

Have a few consulting appointments set up…doesn’t feel like work though…every day here feels like the weekend!

Opting for a Simpler Life...

It was apt that the last line of my previous post was 'I am speechless', because I have been for a month now...Just had lots going on in my life and needed to take a step away from the technology noose to have a bit of a breather…

So… whilst I've been on my techno-free sabbatical lots has happened. Namely, next month my family [almost in its entirety], are moving to a small farming village outside Cape Town. Can you image that…..? From the hustle and bustle of JHB to a village in the Cape. We decided to ‘check out’ of the rat race to live a simpler, safer, healthier [etc, etc] life.

We are doing it mainly for our kids and in the end, although some think we are mad, we believe it’s the correct thing to do for us. This got me wondering why we all work in the first place….? I’ve asked myself that question over and over recently, only to realize that my main reason [not the only one] is to improve our family standard of living. This move will do that in one swoop but the trade off is having limited, to no access to a higher city income and the 'things' that come with that. I think many of us at some stage make the mistake of thinking that ‘things’ bring us happiness or that we HAVE to work here, or do this, or that to 'pay the bills'. Age brings clarity, and I am grateful that I am still young enough to have realised, that is not necessarily the case. I am simply happiest when I am with my family and when I am mentally simulated. I can do that having the basics, in a smaller house, with a smaller car [or maybe a bicycle] and I really don’t need to fall into the ‘must have things trap’. I can also develop my business differently [technology makes us global..yippee] and look for different avenues that may not be as lucrative but just as satisfying.

This kind of decision is a massive one to make, especially as my husband and I come from many years in the rat race corporate mentality. However, in saying that, once we had made the decision it was easy to do the rest. I am nervous of the small village [its not even a town size] mentality as I am a city gal at heart but I will survive I am sure!!

It may be the right time to also ask yourselves the question, why do you really work... to feed your kids and put a roof over their heads?....Can you not do that on less? Do you really need all the 'things'...why do we all wait till we are nearly dead to try a simpler life!?

If Mugabe was a white man...tra..laa...laa

Two quick thoughts for today:

Mr Mbeki has a short memory. He seems to have forgotten how it feels to be oppressed. For him, it seems keeping in favour with 'The Mug' is more important than millions of starving Zimbos. I am actually in total shock by his 'quiet diplomacy' approach. Africa and the rest of the world were very outspoken about the previous oppression under the apartheid government in SA. That pressure eventually aided the internal change. What has Mugabe got on Mbeki, why is he really supporting a dictor? He is laughable really.

I wonder if Mugabe was white, would his actions to date still be acceptable? Would the AU have been quiet as lenient? During the Xenophobic violence, I heard many comments about how bad 'black on black' violence was, and it needed to be stopped at all costs. Clearly we are not really serious about that, as a country or a continent as The Mug continues to starve and 'rape' his country and its people. All this whilst our government and Africa looks on in quiet diplomacy like a bunch of 'bloody idiots'.

I am speechless really I am...

Rewarding INCOMPETENCE - SA POST OFFICE BUSINESS OF 2008!!

We seem to be rewarding incompetence everywhere at the moment..A brilliant point in case is the recent Post Office saga. Firstly let me note that there is no-one I know that has had a pleasent experience at any of our Post Offices. Please let me know if I am wrong here. The staff are rude and never smile [they seem to get trained on how to operate at snail pace]. They are a typical government department as far as I am concerned. We also all know [through experience] that theft is rife...SOOOO when
Amazon issued a statement to say that they would no longer deal with the the SA POST OFFICE [making our country the only African country to have this ban], because of theft noone was really surprised. Embarrased maybe but not surprised!

This week the Post Office was voted Business of the Year 2008. Surprise!! No joke either apparently...the judges must have been stuck on a deserted island for the last few years...or was this a 'political decision' and someone is being paid/bribed. I simply do not understand, when the customer base has the worst view of a business how they can be voted Business of the Year?? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??!!!

Does this mean that in one week the Post Office has managed to clean up its thieving, bad service act to win an award....COME ON...