It’s been one of those weeks where there is just not enough hours in the week.  Always something happening and a desk piled full of paperwork.

Dance class was really exciting yesterday – we got to play with flutter fans.  It was such fun but I have really sore palms and thumbs today from holding them.  I am actually getting into this whole belly dancing thing.  I am feeling great and my upper body strength is improving a lot.  Who knew!

Going to the UK High Commission tomorrow to get my visa for a UK trip I am planning – really excited about going as I have not been to the UK for quite a few years now.  And also going to Dubai next month.  So March is looking very busy.

Hope you are all having an awesome week and looking forward to the weekend as much as I am!

Valentines Day makes people do strange things.  I read an article in our Sunday Times newspaper yesterday and was intrigued by it.  Firstly it had me in a fit of laughter and it then got me thinking about why would a Mayor do something like this.  I made a copy of the first paragraph of the article and thought I would share:

You can understand a teenager taking pictures of their private parts and sharing – they are young and inexperienced, but as a mayor you surely know that you may end up in the media in an article just like this.

I didn’t bother scanning the rest of the article – this says it all!

I live in sunny South Africa in a city called Johannesburg. Johannesburg is well known for a number of things, including some amazing thunderstorms.

When we first moved into our house about 17 years ago, we got hit by lightning and it took out every electrical appliance in the house. We brought in an expert at that point who installed lightning arrestors into our DB board and also put in a new earth spike closer to the house.

We had a few minor hits after that but nothing serious.

Pics found at http://ulaysha.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-joburg-man-south-africa/

A few years later we had an incident again which involved some bunk beds in our kids room. We used to have a metal bunk bed for Son no 1 and 2 who used to share a room back then. They also had a desk with a PC and 2 naff little speakers plugged into the PC. Anyway – lightning always looks for the weakest point and of course the speakers were it. The speakers exploded.  Chunks flew all over the room. The electrical spike went from the speakers, to the PC, jumped to the metal bunk beds and then finally ground itself through the floor – taking a huge piece of concrete with it. Scary stuff – and I thank the Powers that be daily that my kids were not in the room at the time!

Needless to say – the metal bunk beds were disposed of immediately and we started using UPS’s on all PC’s and surge protector plug strips on anything and everything.

The only problem with all this is that every time it rains, our power trips. This is really irritating as it usually takes something out with it.

So we called in the experts again. The electrician we brought in had issues with all the surge protectors and UPS’s we were using. Apparently they all add resistance to the line, thus causing the power to trip as well. He recommended we remove most of them. Called in a lightning consultant again and new lightning arrestors were installed. Our DB board was also rewired, balanced etc etc. I am no expert when it comes to electricity or lightning arrestors so all I can do is implement what they advise.

Anyway – our power still trips every time we have a storm. We have just become accustomed to it and have accepted it. We have spent a fortune on lightning and surge protection and have now given up on calling more experts in.

We had another major thunderstorm on Friday evening. Power kept tripping every time there was a roar of thunder. We eventually just left the power off for about 3 hours until the storm had passed.

Woke up Saturday morning to a non functional house. When I say non functional, you have to understand that I live in a house full of boys and they are all IT geeks. So we have a home automation system which controls lights and integrates with our TV and media system. We have NAS drives holding our media, a full on CCTV system, 2 x 24 port switches. An automated driveway gate with an intercom system and stricter lock on our front door. We each have a PC and a laptop and any other gadget you can think of.

So of course on Saturday morning we can’t switch on any lights. I go into the hub room and of course the 2 switches have no lights. I do some basic unplugging and testing and declare them dead. This means our home automation system does not work. This means we can’t access our media. This means that we have no connectivity to the router which means that my home/office is non functional. We can’t even watch TV as it is all interconnected.

It then gets worse – we can’t get out our front door as the storm has taken out our stricter lock. The main gate is also non operational so we had to get an over-ride key and manually open / close the gate. And the intercom system is also non functional.

Before I can check any of the items actually plugged into my network – I need to get my network up and running. So I call son no 1 (who is a real IT geek and is the IT manager at the largest private broadcast studio in South Africa). He brings his spare switch over and we get a hack version of my network up and running. We then start testing and switching all electronic items back on.

My PC has no network connectivity. Hubby’s PC is the same. This means both motherboards have been compromised. So I pile them both into my car and head off to my favorite IT repair company for them the test. They agree that motherboards have been compromised. They are old and of course that means that they will require new motherboards, new power supplies and of course the RAM modules are not compatible etc etc.

To top it all up – Hubby’s laptop was stolen on Friday afternoon at the FNB stadium. Hubby is a consultant to the stadium and has a permanent office there. Someone stole his laptop from his locked office during the course of the day.

This now means that hubby is without a PC and a laptop.

So I spent Saturday afternoon shopping for a new laptop for him so at least he was able to work. It has taken me most of the week to reconfigure his laptop and download all new software – Office365 etc etc.

Finally collected his new PC today – all new insides so I can start setting that up again. They will now start working on my PC so it is a least a week before I am fully operational again.

Life used to be so easy!

In the spirit of getting to know each other, I’ve been tagged by Marcia over at Menopausal Mother (who was tagged by Karen over at www.BakingInATornado.com) to answer a list of questions from a game that originally surfaced on Facebook many years ago. There are 25 questions about oneself that need to be answered.  So for those of you who want to get to know me better, read on.

I wont be offended if you don’t read it and just want to skip to the end and leave a comment.  But you may miss some interesting facts about me if you do this.  Questions as follows:

1. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

I was born in the Primrose Hospital in a town called Germiston in the Gauteng Province of South Africa (Boring I know).  I now live in Johannesburg and Germiston is probably about 60km away from where I live.

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER SOMEONE?

I have a rather unusual name and was named after an operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan

3. IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, HOW MANY DO YOU HAVE?

I have 4 boys – aged 24, 21, 15 and 12.  All gorgeous young gentlemen!

4. HOW MANY PETS DO YOU HAVE?

I currently have a cocker spaniel named Buddy and 2 cats named Slush and Ripley.  Buddy and Slush are quite old at around 12 years each.  Ripley was a stray who moved in about a year ago and hasn’t left.  She is about 3 I think.

5. YOUR WORST INJURY?

Hmmmm – Not really an injury but more of an ailment – this has to be Rheumatoid Arthritis in my hips (OMG that makes me sound old).  I take a pill 3 times a week and am good to go – so I cant really complain.

6. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

Oh yes!  Not sure if I want to spill the beans yet on this one.  You will have to keep reading more about me in future blogs!

7. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO BAKE?

My kids tell me that I make awesome banana bread and I love making anything they like.  Lately I love making cheese cake out of condensed milk and creamed cheese – not sure you could call that baking but it tastes just awesome.  (The cheese cake is more for me though and I can generally go through this alone in 2 or 3 days)

8. FAVORITE FAST FOOD

This changes regularly – at the moment it is sushi.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

10. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Not sure – I think I notice different things about different people – sometimes I may notice the size of a woman’s boobs first for instance (I’m not perving I promise – just comparing!).   I may notice how good looking they are or how confident they look.

My one son couldn’t stop laughing the other day when I noticed a school girl walking down the road.  She was a little on the heavy side and wore a very short school uniform skirt.  She had long school socks on which generally come up to just below the knee.  Anyway, she had them pulled all the way up to just above her knees and I made the following comment “because she’s not allowed to wear her hooker boots to school”.  It had my son in absolute stitches – not to mention that his face turned a darker shade of red.

I generally don’t look at things like shoes or clothing or accessories unless they really stand out.

11. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

On Monday whilst sitting in the school hall during the weekly school assembly to which I was invited.  My 4th son was elected school prefect.  I felt very proud and next thing I know I am sobbing my heart out – thinking that my little baby is growing up.

12. ANY CURRENT WORRIES?

Money, money and money.  It is tough having your own business as you don’t have the safety of knowing you are getting a pay check at the end of the month (generally speaking – I know this isn’t quite true with so many retrenchments happening all over the world at the moment)

13. NAME 3 DRINKS THAT YOU DRINK REGULARLY:

Tea, ginger beer and grapetiser.  I’m not big on booze but I do love a few Archers now and then.

14. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?

Has to be Ken Follets Pillars of the Earth and World without End

15. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A PIRATE?

I’m afraid I have to agree with Marcia’s reply here – even if I had to agree to a threesome!

Her reply was  “Only if I could raid ships with Johnny Depp and get stranded with him on a deserted island. I’ll even bring the rum.”

16. FAVORITE SMELLS? 

I love the smell of vanilla and sometimes the smell of fresh oranges.  (And new born babies)

17. WHY DO YOU BLOG? 

Because it’s cheaper than seeing a shrink!  On a more serious note – because you have all made it a wonderful, unforgettable experience and I have made more friends in the last 18 months of blogging than I have made in my life.

18. WHAT SONG DO YOU WANT PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL?

None – I hate funerals and don’t want anyone attending mine.  I would rather be remembered for who I was and really don’t want people slobbering at my funeral.

19. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?

My ankles – not going to expand here.

20. FAVORITE HOBBY?

Blogging – no question about it.

21. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A FRIEND

Somebody who I feel isn’t judging me.

22. NAME SOMETHING YOU’VE DONE THAT YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU’D DO?

Go for dancing lessons.  Just started belly dancing classes and loving it.

23. FAVORITE FUN THINGS TO DO?

Reading
Watching TV
Laying at the pool

24. ANY PET PEEVES?

This could turn out to be a very long list so I wont expand too much.  Recent things that seriously piss me off are:

• Salesmen cold calling me – don’t bother calling me on my mobile and trying to sell me something – I am just going to be really rude to you
• People trying to sell me something on the sidewalk of the shopping centre – I’m not blind and I can see you – If I want to smell the revolting perfume you are spraying all over the place, I will  approach you.  I just want to be left alone to shop in peace.
• People who cant park in a parking bay properly – irritates me every morning when I can’t get parking at the school because inconsiderate people have parked over 2 bays

25. WHAT’S THE LAST THING THAT MADE YOU LAUGH

A post I read earlier today by Carol Wyer.  Facing 50 with humor – read her post here.  I found myself doing everything it said and then having a real good laugh at myself.

Well that’s it – it wasn’t so bad was it.

Now I believe I have to tag a few other bloggers for this challenge. I read every one of their posts and hope you will pop over and have a read of their blogs as well.  Hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know me better.

http://hollishootsandhollers.blogspot.com/
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/
http://blog.theregularguynyc.com/
http://ladyornot.com/
http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/
http://delightfullyludicrous.blogspot.com/

PS – Pop over to http://www.circleofmoms.com/top25/Top-25-Funny-Moms-2013 and vote for Menopausal Mother at http://menopausalmother.blogspot.com/