Before the whinge, let me start by saying that if covid has taught me anything, it’s to live in the moment and be bloody grateful for what I have. Seeing the long queues of people outside our local church or in long, snaking lines at the Post Office waiting to get their R350 is a constant reminder of my privilege. I’ve learnt to try and tell people when I think they look great or they’ve done an amazing job or just to say “I love you,” or even “yes, you did piss me off, but I’m over it.” I’ve learnt not to assume that there will be a tomorrow because for those of us who’ve lost friends and family in this pandemic, we know that there might not be one.
So, in the spirit of gratitude, I want to give props to our local ward councillor, Bridget Steer @Blouix, who helped us out over the weekend when the husband opened our water and lights bill and it was an eye-watering 44 000 SA ronts (spoiler alert: we did not have 44 000 ronts to pay said bill.) The bill is usually a tenth of that, so the husband nearly had a mini nervous breakdown, but he sent a message to Bridget and she got back to him immediately (on a public holiday nogal) and told him exactly what to do.
The dodgy part of this is that the husband had a phone call from someone at the water and lights department earlier on in the week asking him if he was going to pay his bill which he found a bit odd as no one has ever phoned him about the bill before. This makes me wonder if there is someone in the department trying to extort money out of their customers. I know. Quelle surprise!
I’m in a slightly suspicious mood as earlier on this month a bank employee tried to steal 20 grand from my father-in-law’s account. Sadly, for them I was at school with the CEO, have a fantastic personal banker and the husband has several friends that are bigwigs at the bank, one of whom he then contacted. They both – the husband and kind bigwig whom shall remain nameless – said, ‘Not today Satan!’ and did not allow this piece of human excrement to steal from a 78 year old man. They should be bloody ashamed of themselves for even trying.
The husband also got scammed by a company pretending to sell printer cartridges a few weeks back. I’m including the name and details here so that you can also be warned and not fall prey to their nonsonso. We will be opening a case at the police station and I really, really hope they get caught. As a nation, we’ve got to start naming and shaming these thieves whenever we can. Because guess what? We might be lucky to have connections to help sort out these issues for us, or be able to afford losing a couple of grand but what happens to people who aren’t so fortunate?
Last whinge – my sister was having something delivered to our house from a certain courier company whose name I shan’t mention. We got three lots of conflicting information from them about what we would need to show them before they would hand over said package. Firstly, it was a copy of my ID, together with my brother-in-law’s ID and my proof of residence. Then it was a copy of my sister’s ID, a lock of her hair and her proof of residence together with my ID and some toenail clippings.
Finally, we had to provide them with certified copies of our entire family’s IDs, proof of residence of everyone we’re related to, three of my kids’ baby teeth, the blood of a virgin, the whiskers of a black cat and my sister’s left kidney and they STILL said no. Eventually, on their fourth attempt after several STERN emails and me channelling my mother and giving them the Evie Power death stare, they actually gave us the package. Unbelievably kak service all round, I hope we NEVER have to use their services again.
Book recommendations:
I’m still waxing lyrical about Qarnita Loxton’s Being Dianne. Read my interview with her to find out more about it. We had a launch for it earlier this week and as a surprise, I got the other members of the awesome foursome – authors Gail Schimmel and Amy Heydenrych to pop in and ask some questions. We also had a special guest appearance by Amy’s adorable son, Zach. I highly recommend this book and suggest you buy all four in the Being series.
I also read another fabulous quit lit book: Sunshine Warm Sober by Catherine Gray. I am now five months into my sober curious journey and these books help keep me on the straight and narrow (and sober). I lurrrrve Catherine’s writing, she’s so honest and funny and I highly recommend this one if you’re thinking about doing sober October or if you’re just a bit concerned with the amount of grog you’re putting away.
TV recommendations: on the theme of living in the moment, I watched the doccie about Michael Schumacher on Netflix. Life really can change in an instant. Bloody sad and didn’t give much info about how he is currently, but I guess that’s how the family wants it and I respect that. We also watched Love Type D over the weekend. A quirky and hilarious romcom that feels like it was made by a bunch of Aussies living in London who just decided to get together and make a movie. It’s about supposed medical research into a gene which predisposes one to be unlucky in life – and particularly in love, catch it on DSTV Box Office.
To end off this week, I want to thank everyone who has read and shared and commented on my blogposts, I am very grateful for the support. Working in tourism marketing has not been a bundle of laughs in this pandemic. Thankfully, it’s only a side hustle for me, but my heart goes out to everyone who is trying to get by on a fraction of their previous income or no income at all.
Looking forward to better days ahead and sending my love to you all. Happy reading! xxx