c'est la vie

So along came Mel. And told us to "Let Them". Yes, I like millions of others, have the book. After all, let's not forget that it shot up the bestseller list and by making us believe that her rules of life are the only ones to be followed, she banked several more millions of dollars.  I believe a lot of Let Them things however I (like many, many other reviews, including some serious writers), believe that the term became a bit much - I listened to the audiobook and her Let Them phrase every sixth word became almost as annoying as the wanna be Duchess of Sussex and her tendency to now use the word "yet" at the end of every sentence. What Mel seems to miss is the fact that her theory is not one that no-one has ever thought of, practiced, heard a life coach or psychologist or someone tell them. Eight years ago my psychologist (yes I had one, today it's like having a hairdresser or nail tech), told me that you cannot wear all the problems of those around you, lik...

Simple post - what is and isn’t a miserable life? Miserable life Struggling to find work unless you married to a millionaire Having no fuel Finding out at 10pm the filter coffee for espresso machine is finished A broken vacuum cleaner Someone throwing a rock at your car Losing your parents Losing your parents while your life is falling apart Losing my beautiful pet, Pepper Spending 673 days packing up a house Being left an expensive house that needs some repairs that could have been done if all things were equal Knocking coffee onto a library book Friends who tell you that you have to drink decaf  Not a miserable life Knowing that you were unemployed because someone else was a * Speaking the truth - not accepting blame for someone else’s inappropriate comment  Not always having a ton of money Being unemployed - challenging but not miserable Living 400m from the beach Inheriting a house  365 days a year view of ocean from our deck Lots of board games Being unemployed Incre...

How many mother-in-law, or mother jokes do you know. Or tell yourself? Or laugh at from others? There are articles, podcasts and memes about the horror of all horrors, "the mother-in-law". Very often portrayed as the dragon incarnate, overprotecting (usually her son) her children, interfering and giving unwanted advice.  Then there are those that laud their mother-in-laws, love them for the relationship they share, find themselves gaining a 2nd mom and happily spending time with them. Where do you find yourself sitting in your relationship with your son and daughter-in-laws? The reverse of course is that the MIL (work it out)can have the same dilemma. Are you loving and warm and helpful but have the son and/or daughter in-law from hell who only sees you as unable to snip the apron string, or do you have that warm and fuzzy person you longed to have? MIL discussions and opinions are as old as the hills and they will always be a topic of conversation.  I got lucky with my futur...

  Letters. Photos. Postcards.  Private mementos. Personal moments. Special memories.  In my dad's drawers - in his office, in the drawers in the spare room, in his large filing cabinet, there are hundreds upon hundreds.  And now, what to do? There are letters in their dozens that my grandmother wrote to my dad when he was in High School here in Pretoria, having moved with her from Germany when he started Gr 8 at Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool. Yes, a boy who spoke German and some English. Till today I do not understand the choice. However he stayed in Res, matriculated from there and remained a member of the Alumni forever.  When my grandmother went back to Germany, she wrote hundreds of letters to him at school, and when he went to University to study to be a CA.  Now we have boxes and boxes and boxes of airmail envelopes and telegrams from her to him. We even found a Telegram she sent him when he passed Matric.  Now I do not have the head space to read the...

So here I am, like a stealth book character, being a mystery shopper in a branch of a well known SA coffee shop (or full restaurant in some areas).  The brief is extensive and the questions on the app aplenty as you go through the process of cleanliness, ambiance, staff attention, uniforms, products available and in stock, your welcome, getting coffee like you ordered it (extra hot), how your food was and your sweet item (you have to have both, so devastated). In addition how loyalty app was handled, was it offered and on and on. With photos of everything they ask. Luckily today people take photos of food when they go out, so I did not look out of place.   For this I claim and get my bill refunded to me and in addition a crisp R100 for my trouble. I can do a free meal and R100 thank you very much. Buys me 3 coffees at my favourite hangout in Gordons Bay. They have a lesser price for refills which is unheard of anywhere else that I go. Plus the two owners are really lekker...

There is surely a time in everyone's lives when some things just push all their buttons. Or as my dear dad would say "gives one the shits". I don't know if it gets worse as you get older, but some of these having been giving me the ....... for at least 30 years.  Now the last decades have brought us the mobile phone, which in time brought us irritation number one. People who sit in coffee shops (or restaurants) and take video calls or make business calls with their earphones in and laptops open. There is no reason, not one, unless your speaker is broken, not our problem, for having a conversation on speaker in a place where other people are working, relaxing or just not wanting to hear you and Tant Sannie chat on speaker or video or listen to Estate Agent, or a guy who is obviously just the man, speaking loudly whilst on earphones making sure everyone can hear just how successful he is. I asked a lady to tone it down recently after one hour. She shrugged me off. Those...