If I was a boss
I'd be like my ex Greek boss, get to work at 09:30(no traffic in Bloem) and be the last to leave the office. He really knew how to make being a boss look so cool like a Rockstar. Drive into the driveway with his Aston Martin wearing dark sunglasses, can I get a grrrrrr....
George is his name, married a strong woman her name is Bronwyn, I believe she is his secret weapon, and am pretty sure he knows it too. I am no feminist, nor do I think women run the world, but that man is lucky. She has 4 children, a body of a 22 year old, and works from 8 till 4*coughs*, and runs the business like a well oiled machine from Monday to Friday. We always admire famous people, but I always look around me 1st before I idolise people I have never shared a hallo with.
Bron was born in a farm in KwaZulu Natal. On the short conversations we had together, she was the Boss afterall so it had to be short, I had passed a comment on how I admired the way she could have kids, a career and be married. She then laughed and said, 'Zan I have alot of strong women that help me' and started to count her domestic workers, and people who help her to babysit and raise her kids. Right there I thought, she acknowledges the people around her, another person would have taken the shine and ran with it. Her husband travels alot, half of the time 3 times a week, but wherever he is, he knows his business is in good hands. She is not autocratic, but is always objective which must be hard when one is a woman and "catching feelings" will always be our weakness. Everyone was scared of her but not out of fear, but because you genuinely respected her. If one of her employees had family problems, she always came up with a reasonable solution that worked for the person first then the company. In the property business she deals with mainly men, but I have never seen her 'trying' to be a man, she had no point to prove, because she is comfortable with who she is. She works hard, and it brushes off on you, she is goal oriented and pushes the people to deliver. How can I forget, at work we were served lunch every single day, and every last Friday the bar would be open:). Sometimes she would come out of her office running, to go watch her kids play sport or simply because she forgot she had to go pick them up. She had bad hair days, stains on her top she is a mother afterall, gets agitated no human being is perfect and wore the most gorgeous shoes, because at the end of the day, she is just another woman.
Don't get me wrong, George is not a man who just cruises in his car, looking ohhh so cool. He is a hard worker, funny man, kind, and very busy and misses so much time to spend with his family because he has to maintain the beautiful life they have built together with Bron and the kids. I just admire how he was able to choose such a strong woman to be his partner. That makes him a good boss, because he knows how to choose the people that will make him realise his dreams.
Thursday 23 February 2012
I am that girl...
Walking around town with that stupid grin on her face like how random is this place, am I really in CAPE TOWN? I still cannot believe how clean this place is...I am still looking for that TYPICAL downtown that every city has, the dirty one, the one you have to push way your through the crowd, hold on tight to your bag, and make sure your cellphone is tucked safely in your boobs kind of downtown? Very annoying when you have A cup boobs by the way, and you keep reading articles about cancer one can get from cellphones. The one that's full of Mamas braaing and cooking very unhealthy food and the smell of the cooking oil clings on your clothers? You still don't know it? The one that's full of school kids even though its during school hours? School girls with weaves and so much lipgloss you can see your face on her lips? That downtown that is full of taxis, buses and cars that should NOT be on the road? So bad before you cross the street, you shut your eyes really tight and say a very quick prayer, because the robots giving you the right of way mean jack. The downtown thats full of Nijas, and every single day you pass them, no matter how hard you give them the 'your infamous evil look' they still say BABE*Nigerian accent*. The downtown, that has a woman carrying an infant on her back and you can just see she is lost by the huge bag she is carrying? The downtown full of people selling things you never knew existed? Until you move into a flat with cockroaches. The downtown, where you find people just randomly sitting infront of the same building*Post Office* and everytime you pass, its the same faces? The downtown, with falling apart flats and dirty running water? The downtown where seeing a police van, is so rare its like spotting a guy wearing pink socks, which is NOT rare AT all in this city. A culture shock of note I tell you.
Whenever I take out my cellphone, I have to remind myself, its safe, RELAX.
Then I remember aaaaah Xanzibar, you are in HELEN's downtown.
Walking around town with that stupid grin on her face like how random is this place, am I really in CAPE TOWN? I still cannot believe how clean this place is...I am still looking for that TYPICAL downtown that every city has, the dirty one, the one you have to push way your through the crowd, hold on tight to your bag, and make sure your cellphone is tucked safely in your boobs kind of downtown? Very annoying when you have A cup boobs by the way, and you keep reading articles about cancer one can get from cellphones. The one that's full of Mamas braaing and cooking very unhealthy food and the smell of the cooking oil clings on your clothers? You still don't know it? The one that's full of school kids even though its during school hours? School girls with weaves and so much lipgloss you can see your face on her lips? That downtown that is full of taxis, buses and cars that should NOT be on the road? So bad before you cross the street, you shut your eyes really tight and say a very quick prayer, because the robots giving you the right of way mean jack. The downtown thats full of Nijas, and every single day you pass them, no matter how hard you give them the 'your infamous evil look' they still say BABE*Nigerian accent*. The downtown, that has a woman carrying an infant on her back and you can just see she is lost by the huge bag she is carrying? The downtown full of people selling things you never knew existed? Until you move into a flat with cockroaches. The downtown, where you find people just randomly sitting infront of the same building*Post Office* and everytime you pass, its the same faces? The downtown, with falling apart flats and dirty running water? The downtown where seeing a police van, is so rare its like spotting a guy wearing pink socks, which is NOT rare AT all in this city. A culture shock of note I tell you.
Whenever I take out my cellphone, I have to remind myself, its safe, RELAX.
Then I remember aaaaah Xanzibar, you are in HELEN's downtown.
Friday 17 February 2012
Two strangers walked out of a building into a story...
How I wish I could make my characters find a bag full of cash, and it would be drug money. So they would not feel bad about taking it & not hand it over to the police. Then they would be able to solve all their problems, since the building they walked out of is a bank...if they knew each other, they would know they were both there to borrow money.
So as they walked out, they were both hit by the harsh sun in their eyes, back to terrible reality and into a life they don't have control over. No more waiting in the air conditioned corridor, anxiously biting their nails, and the slight possibility/hope that the bank would approve their loan.
Well, if they had spoken to each other what difference would it have made? They still did not get the money they came to borrow. Yes, but sometimes just hearing someone else's problems makes you count your own blessings, makes you realize your situation can be fixed with the right attitude. In a stranger one finds solace, and a space to tell your story and not be judged and if the person does judge you, you simply walk out of their lives and never see them again. That is the beauty of meeting a stranger.
Next time you bump into a stranger, do smile because we all going through something...
How I wish I could make my characters find a bag full of cash, and it would be drug money. So they would not feel bad about taking it & not hand it over to the police. Then they would be able to solve all their problems, since the building they walked out of is a bank...if they knew each other, they would know they were both there to borrow money.
So as they walked out, they were both hit by the harsh sun in their eyes, back to terrible reality and into a life they don't have control over. No more waiting in the air conditioned corridor, anxiously biting their nails, and the slight possibility/hope that the bank would approve their loan.
Well, if they had spoken to each other what difference would it have made? They still did not get the money they came to borrow. Yes, but sometimes just hearing someone else's problems makes you count your own blessings, makes you realize your situation can be fixed with the right attitude. In a stranger one finds solace, and a space to tell your story and not be judged and if the person does judge you, you simply walk out of their lives and never see them again. That is the beauty of meeting a stranger.
Next time you bump into a stranger, do smile because we all going through something...
Monday 13 February 2012
Distance is a female dog...
Technology has been kind to us, not only can you instant message(in the world of BBM, Whatsapp, Twitter and Facebook) with anybody, anywhere but you can even see them(Skype). To be lonely in this time and age is really rare.
Darn lucky we are I say...
Yet we are all lonely, silently, because at some point you do need a real hug, a brush on the hand to say, you will be okay kid. So we settle for BBM and Whatsapp emotion cartoons(kisses and hugs) through the screen.
A friend truly needed me today, but all I could do was send an email, a BBM hug and silently hope that will be enough, to make them hold on till tomorrow. Why do I blame this on distance, I have no cooking clue, because I needed to move to Cape Town in order to grow, as I keep saying. Does growing mean you have to give up the life you knew but not necessarily loved? Yes, because most of the time sacrifices must be made.
So today, yes I realize distance is a female dog, but I am thankful that I have BBM, Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, Skype and all the other things that make having a real conversation with the people in the same room impossible...but make me still be able to keep to in touch with my old life.
Quote:
I want a hug.
But not just a normal hug. No. I want one of those pick-me-up-off-squeeze-me-tight-spin-me-around-hurts-my-tummy-but-still-makes-me-smile-leaves-me-breathless-gives-me-buttefrlies-makes-giggle-stupidly kind of hug.
makemestfu.com
Technology has been kind to us, not only can you instant message(in the world of BBM, Whatsapp, Twitter and Facebook) with anybody, anywhere but you can even see them(Skype). To be lonely in this time and age is really rare.
Darn lucky we are I say...
Yet we are all lonely, silently, because at some point you do need a real hug, a brush on the hand to say, you will be okay kid. So we settle for BBM and Whatsapp emotion cartoons(kisses and hugs) through the screen.
A friend truly needed me today, but all I could do was send an email, a BBM hug and silently hope that will be enough, to make them hold on till tomorrow. Why do I blame this on distance, I have no cooking clue, because I needed to move to Cape Town in order to grow, as I keep saying. Does growing mean you have to give up the life you knew but not necessarily loved? Yes, because most of the time sacrifices must be made.
So today, yes I realize distance is a female dog, but I am thankful that I have BBM, Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, Skype and all the other things that make having a real conversation with the people in the same room impossible...but make me still be able to keep to in touch with my old life.
Quote:
I want a hug.
But not just a normal hug. No. I want one of those pick-me-up-off-squeeze-me-tight-spin-me-around-hurts-my-tummy-but-still-makes-me-smile-leaves-me-breathless-gives-me-buttefrlies-makes-giggle-stupidly kind of hug.
makemestfu.com
Sunday 12 February 2012
Jumping into the deep end...
Jumping into the the deep end...
Some people might find this 'exciting' don't know how, partly because half of them cant swim, but they rely on 'hope' that someone might rescue them or they go ''for the adventure'. Mind you I can swim, yes, am one of those black people who can swim*blank stare*. I on the other hand I must calculate every single move I make or take. This makes me the 'wet blanket' or rather the 'dry blanket' in this case...What is she babbling about you might ask yourself, well my move to the Mother City silly.
Let me take you to a couple of months back, am sitting in the office, bored, the phone is not ringing(I was a receptionist in my previous life, tl tl tl, I have always wanted to say that), then it suddenly hits me, THERE HAS GOT TO BE MORE TO LIFE!!! Am 26, comfortable and working for an amazing Greek family but am bored out of my skull its time to move. So like anything else, I planned my move but I forgot the emotional toll relocating can have on a person. Leaving a comfortable job, good friends that took time to find, knowimg my way around in the City of Roses(a place that had become a second home), a flat with the view of Naval Hill, giving up morning runs with an amazing Mate, being able to walk anywhere, lovely supper dates with my Gay bunch. Mind you the furthest I have been from my Mother and family is 3 hours away, and that was not so bad, because we spent every other weekend together, it felt like I had never really moved away from home. Cape Town is another country on its own...
So I move to the Kaap, Mum tagging along for moral support.
My week was beyond crazy, my Res is full of rowdy students*normal in any Institution* but horrid if you have been staying alone for the past 2 years. Then lectures started, and all of sudden I could not understand a word of English, yes its possible. I have not been studying for the past 6 years. My laptop would not work, given piles of assignments to be handed in a weeks time. I am fumbling around, homesick, and thinking you are too DAMN old for all of this, you should have just stayed at home.
Whilst wallowing in my pity, I forgot that I had asked God if I could move to Cape Town, in all my diaries dating from 2003, I forgot that I knew that here I could grow as a person pursuing a degree in Public Relations. He kept his end of the bargain...and for that am grateful.
Then a friend sent me this: IF IT DOES NOT SCARE YOU, IT IS NOT FROM GOD...
The relief of knowing, am not being a big baby, but change does come with fear.
Alas it was not all gloom and doom, I did make friends before the end of the day...
"Lady in Blue (she hates this pic by the way*evil laugh*) is Olwethu, born and raised in Cape Town.
"see my Tonsils" is Zaan also from Cape Town, craziest person i have met in awhile....
They have made this week bearable, tears they wiped from my face.
So Cape Town be kind to me, I gave up a lot to be here, if you treat me right, i promise to overstay*wink*.
Some people might find this 'exciting' don't know how, partly because half of them cant swim, but they rely on 'hope' that someone might rescue them or they go ''for the adventure'. Mind you I can swim, yes, am one of those black people who can swim*blank stare*. I on the other hand I must calculate every single move I make or take. This makes me the 'wet blanket' or rather the 'dry blanket' in this case...What is she babbling about you might ask yourself, well my move to the Mother City silly.
Let me take you to a couple of months back, am sitting in the office, bored, the phone is not ringing(I was a receptionist in my previous life, tl tl tl, I have always wanted to say that), then it suddenly hits me, THERE HAS GOT TO BE MORE TO LIFE!!! Am 26, comfortable and working for an amazing Greek family but am bored out of my skull its time to move. So like anything else, I planned my move but I forgot the emotional toll relocating can have on a person. Leaving a comfortable job, good friends that took time to find, knowimg my way around in the City of Roses(a place that had become a second home), a flat with the view of Naval Hill, giving up morning runs with an amazing Mate, being able to walk anywhere, lovely supper dates with my Gay bunch. Mind you the furthest I have been from my Mother and family is 3 hours away, and that was not so bad, because we spent every other weekend together, it felt like I had never really moved away from home. Cape Town is another country on its own...
So I move to the Kaap, Mum tagging along for moral support.
My week was beyond crazy, my Res is full of rowdy students*normal in any Institution* but horrid if you have been staying alone for the past 2 years. Then lectures started, and all of sudden I could not understand a word of English, yes its possible. I have not been studying for the past 6 years. My laptop would not work, given piles of assignments to be handed in a weeks time. I am fumbling around, homesick, and thinking you are too DAMN old for all of this, you should have just stayed at home.
Whilst wallowing in my pity, I forgot that I had asked God if I could move to Cape Town, in all my diaries dating from 2003, I forgot that I knew that here I could grow as a person pursuing a degree in Public Relations. He kept his end of the bargain...and for that am grateful.
Then a friend sent me this: IF IT DOES NOT SCARE YOU, IT IS NOT FROM GOD...
The relief of knowing, am not being a big baby, but change does come with fear.
Alas it was not all gloom and doom, I did make friends before the end of the day...
"Lady in Blue (she hates this pic by the way*evil laugh*) is Olwethu, born and raised in Cape Town.
"see my Tonsils" is Zaan also from Cape Town, craziest person i have met in awhile....
They have made this week bearable, tears they wiped from my face.
So Cape Town be kind to me, I gave up a lot to be here, if you treat me right, i promise to overstay*wink*.
How hard is it to follow instructions?
Well I should think one would have to specify what kind of instructions we are talking about...
One, the first instructions I find hard to follow that comes into mind are for my TV. Sometimes it likes acting up, then I have to whip out the darn manual. Even though the guide is there, it always seems to me the remote has also different instructions to it, that do not correspond with the manual. The manual and the remote want some form of patience, which one does not have when you missing your favorite program. Then there are those insulting pictures they draw and you must follow, but are never useful...or am I the only who has this problem*looking around*???
Besides the above mentioned example, I pretty much do follow instructions. For instance when my Mother instructs me to do something in the house, it is usually not up for debate but more like an order, then I am not entirely show if we can still call it an instruction.
I must say though, I don't think I have a problem or find it hard to follow instructions, because when they are comprehensive they tend to be to your advantage. Let us take your K53(Learners Book) for instance, it has all the instructions, but a lifetime of knowledge for you to always be safe on the road.
Well I should think one would have to specify what kind of instructions we are talking about...
One, the first instructions I find hard to follow that comes into mind are for my TV. Sometimes it likes acting up, then I have to whip out the darn manual. Even though the guide is there, it always seems to me the remote has also different instructions to it, that do not correspond with the manual. The manual and the remote want some form of patience, which one does not have when you missing your favorite program. Then there are those insulting pictures they draw and you must follow, but are never useful...or am I the only who has this problem*looking around*???
Besides the above mentioned example, I pretty much do follow instructions. For instance when my Mother instructs me to do something in the house, it is usually not up for debate but more like an order, then I am not entirely show if we can still call it an instruction.
I must say though, I don't think I have a problem or find it hard to follow instructions, because when they are comprehensive they tend to be to your advantage. Let us take your K53(Learners Book) for instance, it has all the instructions, but a lifetime of knowledge for you to always be safe on the road.
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