A moment of weakness

I really need to take some photos instead of using random bits from the web.

I’m tired. Truly tired. I’ve just realised why I love working so much. It takes me out of myself and gives me a break from the incessant thoughts that are running havoc through my mind. I’m so tired of looking at it and trying to decide if it looks better or worse than yesterday. I’m tired of the constant research, looking for the next ‘magic pill’ or having to decide whether x is good for me or bad for me or only good under certain circumstances or measured quantities.

Heading to the kitchen for another lunch of sweet potato and broccoli - thank goodness I love eating those - I broke down. It’s moments like these when I almost want to go to the doctors and just let them do their thing. At least all the decision-making and responsibility will be taken out of my hands. I know that is why people do it. It’s just so much easier to let someone take over. Oh to have someone who can do that… a bit like the motherly neighbour who bustles in with a “Never mind love, let me do it.”  The trouble with that is that I’d then feel guilty and, you know, guilt is another sick-creator. Positive is healing. Negative is a downward spiral that ends in hospital wards.

Not to worry. I’ll be over this soon, the mood, that is. The rest? I don’t know.

“The more you ask how far you have to go, the longer your journey seems”

… which reminds me of a blog I wrote a time ago and a lesson learnt on a hot walk in Mossel Bay. I can’t find the blog now and more’s the pity. I could do with that lesson. In a nutshell, I was carrying a number of bags on a long walk and the woman with me (who was carrying far more) said that the faster we walk, the quicker we’d get there and be able to rest. It was far more profound and memorable than the way I’ve managed to put it here, but you get the idea.

I did, however, while hunting for the blog I was after, find this…

"We're a quarter of the way through the year. I'm pretty much half-way through my life. In terms of my dreams and goals, the clock is ticking - very loudly. My life so far has been one of revving engines, tyres spinning in mud, occasionally moving a few inches ahead, even more occasionally moving ahead by a couple of feet - very often just sinking further into the mire.

My tendency to find humour in life has been a survival tactic. If I don't, the misery and, yes, bitterness may just swallow me up. Like many take a pill against what ails them, I take smiles, laughter and positive snippets daily, sometimes hourly. It's my 'silver bullet' against melancholy."

It seems, though my life has changed beyond recognition… there are some things that never change :)

Technorati Tags: cancer,weakness,rant,positive,negative,tired

Daylight savings time saves what exactly?

Not my photo

Clicking on a link where I found a link to another link and so it goes...

Those who know me well know I have huge issues with daylight saving time. Yes, it is nice to have longer evenings, but it's so unnatural! My personal gripe stems from not having the sun where I expect it to be at noon. It takes me ages to adjust.

Why did it then come as such a surprise when I found an article on wildlife deaths due to daylight savings time?

http://goo.gl/PExcu - This link goes to the translated version of a Danish site

In short, animals that usually use the quieter hours of the morning to cross busy roads suddenly find themselves in peak traffic. As a result, many are killed, at least, until they, like me, finally adjust their own 'clocks' to our manipulation.

Can someone tell me why we really Need DST??

 

Technorati Tags: dst,daylight savings time,deer,driving,traffic

Positive : Negative

Should I be grateful that I have a challenging job with endless variety or can I complain that I never know what my students want?

Should I be grateful that Brazilians are polite to a fault or can I complain that they're incapable of saying "No" and would rather let you down or leave you hanging?

Should I be grateful that I have a job that allows me plenty of free time and flexibility or can I complain that I never know, from one day to the next, what I'll be earning or if I'll be able to pay my dues?

Actually, this blog started out as a major rant... a really big rant... an enormous rant... but I ran out of steam. I'm still angry and feeling let down. Selfishness is something that really irks me in a big way. When you blithely go through life never thinking of the next person or how your actions affect others, that bugs me.... big! Second on my list of rants for the day is incompetence.

Anyone else got a rant to add. You can safely do it here where no one will accuse you, however temporarily, of being negative ; ) In fact, I may just add more as I think of it.

Howl-yelp

Here I was, merrily composing my phenomenal (yeah right) year end/year start blog when Tat let me know there was someone at the gate. It was the girl from across the road. She's a sweet girl.


A quick snap of Tchuca. Odd photo, I know, but she was yawning here. I had to take it in the dark. She had woken up and started yelping again *sigh* Did I mention that she's extremely hyper? In 6 photos, this is the only clear one of her face.

We've all been very worried about a dog across the road. This dog howl-yelps constantly. It was chained to the front door knob. It had access to a tiny porch - 2m x .5m (6ft x 3ft). The dog would periodically jump over the porch wall and the chain would get stuck, preventing all movement. We spoke to the woman living there. Apparently she was 'looking after the dog for a neighbour' and tied the dog up because the dog would otherwise escape through the bars on the road wall.

Our mild irritation at the noise turned to curiosity, and later alarm, when a huge truck loaded up the contents of the house yesterday. We said nothing and just watched to see what would happen. The dog was still there today with no sign of the people. The girl, their neighbour, came to tell us that apparently the guy had left or was travelling (I'm not sure of the story) and the woman had gone to stay with her mother. The inconsistencies don't stop there either. Apparently she told her other neighbours that someone was looking for a home for the dog and they adopted it.

In the meantime, the dog was still howl-yelping... it's a small dog and the sound is high pitched and enough to drive you insane.... aside from our concern for the welfare of the dog. The problem here is that I have two big dogs, one of whom isn't very friendly to little dogs. We can't keep this dog. Our dogs are now shut in the back. Dingo won't leave Romany and Romany can't be with the little dog. I don't think he'll hurt the little thing, but I can't take the chance. The little dog is in the front. We had to tie her to a post, as our bars are too wide to keep her in, but at least she can run. She's tied in a way that prevents her wrapping the chain around the post. She has loads of shelter, a cushion to sleep on, and has had treats. She has worms too. Fortunately, we had some worm tablets on hand.

What kind of people would take on someone else's dog then move off? They obviously had no time for the dog when the were around, then they just upped and offed. Brazil has little or no 'help' for cases like this. No RSPCA or any such organisation. We did find an organisation and reported the situation by email (they have no phone number to contact). We'll see what happens. At least the dog's incessant howl-yelping has stopped for now. Perhaps I'll even get to sleep tonight.

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On the subject of dogs. We were at the pet shop the other day. We saw Kong dog toys and I remember them being mentioned around here, so I went to take a look. This same toy:
http://www.lnt.com/product/plush-toys/168827/medium.html


... only it was a zebra, was over R$70!! That translates to around US$40. I see it is being sold in the US for between US$5 and $11. What the heck?!

 

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