BIRTHDAY!!
I’m super old now, but somehow I’m not really feeling any different. The only strange thing this year is that I’m very relaxed over my birthday – I just want happiness and peace and not a lot of fuss. We went to the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens on Sunday and it was very lovely. The weather agreed and it was all sunny and pretty and green. I consider those Gardens as my second favorite place to go to in Johannesburg and it was so nice to visit there again.
House Break in and other criminal activities
I don’t think any particular law abiding South-African will take offence when I say that we have a huge problem with crime in our country. We have so much amazing things in our country to be proud of, yet we are still faced with senseless crimes that mostly gets justified or ignored by our ruling party. My big issue with the world, but South-Africa in particular, is how easy we can ignore or forget crimes we’ve heard of. Look, if you live in my country you do need to somehow block out all the negativity you hear or you will constantly live in fear, but it is too easy to forget horrific events. What I’m basically trying to say that you feel removed from violence and crime when you are not physically involved.
Earlier this week we heard that one of the ladies at work had been held hostage and that her car had been highjacked when she was sitting with her boyfriend as he was stocktaking at work. I was so furious on her behalf – her car had been her pride and joy and she had only had it and her license for about three months before this happened. I am so relieved that she and her boyfriend made it out unharmed – shaken, sure, but not raped or killed, which is very rare nowadays.
Just as I was getting over my anger for that incident, we received a phone call from my brother in law. He had just gotten home and the second he walked in he noticed that their television was missing. Further investigation showed that the house had been ransacked and numerous precious items were taken – the TV, his computer screen, his brother’s home and work laptop and a large amount inherited jewelry that had been in the family for decades. There are miracles in this horrible tale: miraculously the cats and dog are fine, they weren’t hurt, the thieves couldn’t access the safe that holds the family guns and cameras, the thieves didn’t find the (a spectacularly large and irresponsible amount of) cash. My sister’s brother in law’s girlfriend usually stays there in the week and works from there but she was home with her parents – another miracle that can’t be ignored.
So I am relieved but I am furious. My friends and family work hard for what they have and take pride in what they’ve accomplished for themselves and then some entitled idiot walks in and takes everything just like that (The security footage showed this went down in all of ten minutes)
Another disgraceful talking point is our Police Service. There is a station less than fifteen minutes where my sister lives and the police took AN HOUR to get there, because they “couldn’t find the place then turned back” Yep, those were actual words. They’ve obviously never heard of these miraculous inventions called cell phones or GPS because who could have possibly used those to quickly get the directions again that had already been given?
After this I heard that a girl I’ve known for years had been attacked while jogging close to my house. The area I’m living in is supposed to be extremely safe, so I went through such a crisis after this attack.
Oh, a note to everyone out there: Don’t ever tell a person that they need to be thankful in such situations. Yes, these were all miracles, but I personally feel that the notion that we have to be thankful that our houses were only partially ransacked is mad.
Some questions asked by the police:
“Did you give anyone permission to break into your home?”
“Did you see any fingerprints?”
That is not to mention that the one officer sat texting for ten minutes before she even got out of the police vehicle.
So yeah, I’m pissy about this. We live in a country that tells you when you get robbed that it happens to everyone, be glad you’re alive. OR: you should protect your house enough that no one can break in. This sounds exactly like the type of culture that teaches women to not get raped instead of teaching men not to rape (that is another mindset you get in this country)
So here’s a notion:
What about we get a police chief with actual credentials instead of a membership with the ruling party?
What if we train police officers properly, teach them how to appropriately react in crisis situations?
Actually work on stopping crime instead of sympathizing with perpetrators?
Okay, now that that is off my chest, I will stop moaning and somehow remember how miraculous my country really is.
Housesitting and Kitler the Cat
I am currently housesitting for a friend and having loads of fun. It is quite lovely to be on my own and do whatever I want. I have to admit that it’s a huge adjustment to be solely responsible for feeding myself! I’m getting better at it but I can see when I have my own place there won’t be a lot of cooking going on. Also, washing clothes is such a schlep.I am also the current feeder of Kitler, my friend’s kitten. We have a very abusive relationship. I am scratched all over and regularly get jumped against.
True Blood Season Five:
People really weren’t exaggerating when they said this is the worst season of the lot. It is SO bad. Every character is up to his own business, the plot does not thicken it just becomes painful and unbearable; the acting becomes worse and suddenly the vampires’ eyes bulge when they get killed. I finished it by watching it and alternating with other stuff just to give my brain a rest from all the “What the fucks” that were running around. I’ve started Season six now which is miraculously better than season five.
Reading:
I’m still reading Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead. It’s not bad, I’m just not really focused on reading right now while I have so much going on at the moment. I’m probably going to try and read the Night’s Circus first to understand what Zoë is trying to express about it 😀
Watching:
Series wise I’m going to trick myself into watching True Blood Season 6. I have a yen to watch Game of Thrones again before the new season airs and the same goes for Sherlock (although there is still way too much time left before the new season starts). Someone let it slip to my sister that Rob Stark dies and now she’s refusing to continue with it. I don’t even blame her, though. #FuckFiltch
As for movies I’m steering clear of the cinema until the Jan/Feb slump is over. I have a few films of 2014 I still want to watch and am nearly finished with the Theory of Everything (Sob, it’s fucking glorious).
Unisa
I’m hopeful that this is my second last year with Unisa. I have two practicals this year and it is quite debatable how I will get everything done, but hopefully with some super hard work and excellent planning I can master it all!
And some True Blood Memes, because it’s weekend
(You’d think for such a ridiculous show there’d be more memes around)
What’s up in your life?
Have a great weekend!
Life of this city girl 