Happy V's Day!

Just look at the date..... need I say more?

Valentine's Day has never loomed large on my horizon, mainly because in my life I have received precisely two cards.... one from my best friend... and one that I sent myself!! To myself!

I love the cherub's face!

To me, it's just another day with the same challenges that we faced yesterday (load shedding) and that we shall face today (load shedding) and tomorrow (guess what??)

And as I write this I am keeping one eye on the clock as we are in Stage 3 of Stage 4, and that means more off than on!!

Let me explain the stages:

Stage 1. Eskom (affectionately known as Eishkom) has to shed 1000 megawatts, so they 'share' the power that they have, and that means 1 load shed of 2 hours daily.

Stage 2. Upping the shedding, they have to shed 2000 megawatts... so 2  'outages' of 2 hours daily.

Stage 3. Yes, that means 3 x 2 hours 'outages' daily!!

Stage 4. You guessed it, 4 'shares' of 2 hours daily.

Stage 5. Now, this is the fun part.... Eishkom come to your house and blow out your candles!!!!

This is much funnier to read than to think about!!

We are teetering on the brink of a complete shutdown..... great fun. Eskom is bankrupt!  And basically it all comes down to complete incompetence and lack of skilled people at the top... they are all in Australia, Canada and wherever!! And of course the fact that millions of people do not pay , so every month the losses add up. Throw in corruption and it doesn't take a genius to see that this situation has one ending.....

We are lucky here, we can easily cope with the 'rolling blackouts' as our traffic is light, we only have 3 traffic lights in our nearest town and people here are very patient and well-behaved. Our main shopping centres have generator power. But the bigger cities are a nightmare with traffic snarls and taxis pushing and shoving and small business' struggling to keep going.

Anyway. To all of you who are celebrating Valentine's Day, I do hope that you have your special scented candles at the ready.

Not to make the meal romantic... simply so you can actually see what you are eating!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Week!

No, I really did mean Valentine Week!

I happened to Google ‘Valentine’s Day’ and came up with a complete week of celebration! When on earth did that happen?
Have a look below:

Rose Day  (Valentine Week – Day 1 | Celebrated on 7 February) This is obviously the day that a fortune is spent on a bunch of long-stemmed roses! Red of course. If the red are sold out or you need to take out a mortgage to pay for them, then pink will do!

Propose Day  (Valentine Week – Day 2 | Celebrated on 8 February) If she/he likes the roses, then it appears that a proposal follows today! On one knee of course! If the answer is ‘no’, then skip to 15th February!

Chocolate Day  (Valentine Week – Day 3 | Celebrated on 9 February) Here you can hide the ring in a box of chocolates and hope that she/he doesn’t: a) swallow it because a teeny diamond is all that is affordable these days or b) hate chocolates and gives the box to a friend!

Teddy Bear Day  (Valentine Week – Day 4 | Celebrated on 10 February) If b) (see above) happened, then you will need to buy a teddy bear and attach another ring, or in the case of a) attach a promissory note to re-do the ring thing once she/he has re-cycled it!

Promise Day  (Valentine Week – Day 5 | Celebrated on 11 February) See above, or promise never to buy chocolates again.

Kiss Day  (Valentine Week – Day 6 | Celebrated on 12 February) This is a freebie day as it costs you nothing…………………in theory! But is it only one kiss, or is it a day of kissing? Could be tiring with all that puckering going on!

Hug Day  (Valentine Week – Day 7 | Celebrated on 13 February) See Day 6 above! Without the puckering!

Valentine’s Day  (Celebrated on 14 February) What is left? Just hand over a card! And of course a dinner with all the trimmings!

No-one is really sure of the origin of Valentine’s Day, but it was celebrated as far back as the 1600’s in the UK. From 1750 the tradition of sending notes and cards and chocolates and flowers started, but that was celebrated on one day only and that’s how I have always thought of it.

It just shows you how out of date I really am!

Happy Valentine’s Day!