Here we go again...

  I've been missing for a bit - yeah, I know Ditch! There have been reasons though. Selling our last place (got too big for two of us & a dog to rattle around in), moving house (down-scaling big time!) & trying to find space for the stuff we couldn't bring ourselves to part with! Getting used to knowing where the other person is 24/7 'cos this place is REALLY small & getting used to hearing the neighbours on either side. Big changes & then came my big one!
  Walking off to gym one morning I suddenly couldn't make a slight rise in the road! Damn! I thought, must have been those fags I had after too many beers - it will pass, be better tomorrow.
Never happened, tomorrow came & the shortness of breath, chest pains & an unbelievable urge to sit on the side of the road & rest were my new companions! Who would have thought that after a lifetime of pretty high activity - squash, tennis, rugby, hiking, diving, horse riding including Polo-Crosse that I would be downgraded to this! It took about three weeks of bitching from my wife before I arranged a trip to the quack - just for a quick check up, y'know? Anyway, sitting there chatting about this & that I mention about the shortness of breath thing & chest pains & he goes a tad silly. From there on out it was many, many ECG's, blood tests, another doc looking at my ECG (latest scan) & saying " Yeah, well it looks ok on the surface but there is the heart attack that we all know about" (that floored me - heart attack? What heart attack?) before I was sent to Cape Town for a MIBI. Then after all the bone shakers get together & have a cuppa I am sent down to the Mother City again only this time for an Angiogram & stent procedure, Of course, by this time I am rattling when I walk from all the various pills they chuck down ones throat!
  To cut a longish story short, they stick this thing up my arm from my wrist & you can watch it all on TV monitors around you, & naf around for about an hour or so & then tell me that the one doing it does not feel confidant enough to complete the procedure & I have a choice of two 1) Another attempt by THE main dog where he will come in through the groin  😱 on both sides & sort it or 2) I can go for a bypass. Well, not being too keen to have them slice me open & tromp around inside my chest with their wellies and all I opted for the first.
  Soooo off to Cape Town again and the man goes for it for about 2 hours. Oh, I forget, do any of you know that you can lie flat on your back & have your bits & pieces placed on the table next to you? The nurse who shaved me managed that! So the guy starts his thing & with the result that, at the end of it, he tells me that it was no go. Couldn't get the stent in. And as far as the bypass goes "No bypass". Just as well, then, that I never went for that option with their multiple choice offer, isn't it? Otherwise I would now have a zip down my chest & more that likely some old rubber gloves floating around inside me that someone had left behind when they sewed me up!
  I must admit to feeling a tad pissed off at this stage! All my life my BP has been a fairly constant 120/80 - even when I was having those chest pains/breathing difficulties! Active most of my life & hardly ever badly over weight and you still get wacked with this dung heap!
  Ah well, I guess there's always some poor sod who is worse off than you!
Keep the shiny side up peeps! I hope to hear from you again Ditch! Looked for you a few times on Jim's but no luck!

Survivor - African style

And the last two men standing are.... Jacob & Bob! Who will be the winner although Bob now has come out & said that he is willing to retire "gracefully" at the time of his own choosing. Who knows really when that will be? Jacob, on the other hand, has made no such utterances! His alliances made during the game, by ensuring allies got a fair share of whatever was available, have steadfastly supported him & will go to any lengths to ensure that he is the winner! After all, if he falls so do they & will they survive with a new kid on the block? Will they still get the handouts for their own survival from the new 'Boss'?

It is absolutely amazing how a nation that has the concept of 'Ubuntu' firmly entrenched in their collective psyche can still support the rulers who have systematically raped their countries to the point of almost total collapse for the benefit of the few. Who disregard the needs of the many for the enrichment of the toadies. Whose over-inflated egos demand that they have bigger & better lifestyles than the people who put them in power. Body guards, imported limousines, private presidential aircraft, massive dwellings while the majority might, one day, own a 2nd or 3rd hand motor vehicle of some description but will, most probably, not be able to afford the upkeep or the fuel. Who might, one day, have a proper house with running water, an inside toilet & more than one room to facilitate the feeling of privacy.

And then we come to the august house of parliament! What a joke! Highly paid MP's, dressed to the nines, sleeping during session. Only if they actually arrive, that is. Benches are more empty that full, unless of course, the safety of their tenure at the trough is threatened by an opposition vote of no confidence. That normally brings them out of the woodwork.

The promise of 5 million jobs - well now, no one mentioned what sector that would be in! Have a look at the amazing amount of money South African legals are making out of answering lawsuits for politicians, police, the National Prosecuting Authority to name but a few. The prez himself must be a favorite of some of the more affluent legal firms in the country. So, yeah, jobs are being created but paid for at the expense of the countries coffers.

And so we are heading for the final of Survivor - Southern African Politics! Who will win? My money is on JZ! He has more lives than a cat, is more impossible to catch & hold than a bar of soap in the shower & has a laugh for everything! Heh heh heh heh....

New pup - now closing on 2....

I've just been woken up by Ditch! Sorry mate, been off this for a tad! So I'll do a quick catch up.....

Firstly - the 'Pup'!He is  pushing 40Kg out the window now but can still run like the wind -especially when we take him on his walks in the bush (every morning starting 'bout 06:30!) He is spoilt  - he 'owns' 2 couches in the house & from about 05:00 he also takes over our bed.

Comatose!

This is his normal position in the pub - well, the others are much more 'porn' than this so I left them off in case sensitive viewers get upset! ;)
He was a bit of a worry when we first got him re the PICA thing but seems to have got over that now. Energy levels are still over the top & he is very insistent about things when he wants to play. He has a 'toy' box - an old cardboard box that we keep his bits & bobs in (try to anyway) which consist of tennis balls, rope, toilet roll cardboard inners, rags, old socks & sticks. When he figures it's play time he hurtles off, opens the box with his snout & picks whatever he wants & then bugs the hell out of you until you take notice & take up the challenge. His idea of playing with the ball is you have to stick your hand halfway down his throat (ending up with much dog-snot on your hand - he does lick his backside!) & after fetching 2 or 3 times you throw again & you get this lokk "you threw it - you fetch it!" Bloody Ridgebacks! :)
His morning walks are taken out into bush area where there is a fair amount of game - both large & small. We have found Brown Hyena scats in a few places but the norm is Cape Hares, Klipspringers, Duiker & Steenbokkies. Chases like blazes, ends up running 5 kliks or so & then comes back with the tongue dragging on the ground.

Watching a Kudu bull this morning

The only real taker for the French stuff - only the dregs mind!

Rhino's & such

The Rhino saga really seems to have caught on - thank God! I was really amazed to see the support we got from around the world - USA, UK, Europe but I never noticed anything from the far East? Virtually every province in the country had good turnouts & awareness seems to be climbing but on the legal & justice side we seem to be lagging behind a tad. 8 Years for poaching? Most probably be out in 5 or less! That really pisses me off!
The police (Hawks I think it was) have managed to collar some suspects higher up the food chain than most of  the arrests to date - I just hope that all the investigative ducks are in a very neat row so that we will see some sort of justice being done!
The unfortunate part is that the big boys will obviously have plenty of money to call on - more than likely from the sale of Rhino horn or Elephant ivory! Amazing how money will always help the evil bastards out of the brown stuff no matter where or how they earned it. I'm still not convinced that we have got to the top of the pile yet as far as nailing the "Big Boys" & I still feel that there is collusion either at Government level or SAN Parks or maybe even Customs & Excise. Certainly there seems to be a lack of urgency in the Far East governmental agencies to try &  assit us in tackling the problem.

What makes living here worthwhile.....

Early morning sunrise at the southern most tip - Cape Aghullas

Slightly more north but still Cape Aghullas

A Rock Kestrel on an early morning hunt

On the road to Fraserburg to fetch our new pup.

The Teekloof pass on the R353 to Fraserburg.

Just to give some idea of the diversity & beauty to be found in this troubled land. For most people, once you have lived in Africa for any period of time, it will always call you back!

The character is emerging (with the teeth!) :)

The food is disappearing & the weight & size are climbing rapidly but best of all is the character finally comming to the fore!

 Sleeping seems to have a priority - if there is no food in the offing!

 The frown wrinkles are so typical Ridgeback. Strange little bugger tho' - he sits flat on his backside & not on his haunches.

Just checking out HIS kingdom! He is now over 4Kg so that all seems well. More deworming at the end of the month & booster shots - vets really know how to charge! ;) Bought some leather work gloves today to try & reduce the loss of my blood from his teeth!

Sleep is out the window.....

Well, we been & done & got 'im! Shinga has arrived - 980Km round trip to the Northern Cape (first time I've been there * hopefully the last?). Only 6 weeks old when we picked him up & 1,7Kg's of razor sharp teeth & a 4 hour "sleep" clock!

He started out with us as "Tippex" 'cos there were 9 of them in the litter & we needed to remember which one we chose so the breeder stuck a dab of tippex type corrector on his head! He has now been renamed to Shinga - an Ovambo name for a Cheetah - more in hope than anticipation as he does sleep a lot! But, bloody hell, when he wakes up & feels it's playtime (normally about 2 in the morning!) he tends to rip into the nearest member to his mouth. From this you can deduct that he is sleeping in "our" bed! It was either that or no sleep at all as his lungs are well developed & he is obviously missing his old pack.
 Ah well, sleep - who needs it? I weighed him again in 3 days after we arrived back & his weight is up to 3,05 Kg so growing he definitely is!

He has found a home in a carboard box - ONLY during the day! Producing it at bedtime creates a major panic so we don't even try anymore.

Someone once said "Happiness is a warm puppy"! Very true even when you have to get up at some ungodly hour, freezing cold & maybe rain to make sure he pees & poops outside. It seems that the colder it is, the more misrable the longer it takes for them to find that "perfect spot"! :)

Once I get the little bugger to stand still (without falling asleep) I will post some better pics. For now, note the size of his forelegs! Gonna be a strong boy - I hope!

You were right Ditch, hard to do but now it's done I'm glad! ;)

To get another one or not........

I have been struggling over this for some time now, do I take the plunge & get another Ridgeback or not? I must admit I'm very tempted - but the old thing comes back - do I really want to chance going through that again? Split in two minds, some pups have come up for sale (albeit 300 odd Km's away) & the urge is strong. Then you think back to 'The Boy' & is there a place for something new? I dunno! I do have another week or so to decide. Most probably end up with a headache! ;)

The force that was....

There was a time were I defended the move toward a "free & just society" & our so called "democracy" that opened the doors for all South Africans to work at whatever job they desired or go wherever they pleased without fear of harassment. That was then when Madiba was still a force to be reckoned with within the ANC. That was when the idea of Tutu's "rainbow nation" was still a possibility. From the time of his (Mandelas') departure until now it has been a steady (at times) downward slide from Mbeki to Zuma. We have had top government officials linked to fraud, corruption, theft, rape, murder - you name it. We have had Police Commissioners facing the same charges, some walking away with a slap on the wrist or not really spending any time doing their "time" whilst police units & policemen that have tried to do their duty & uphold the law have been ostracised, arrested on trumped up charges or suspended. ( https://www.facebook.com/notes/durban-organised-crime-unit-kzn/captain-neville-eva/168286143295529 )


And now this!

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Soldiers-kept-under-lock-and-key-20121130

or

http://www.fin24.com/Economy/SA-armed-forces-in-dire-straits-20121129

Take time to read these two articles & reflect back on what we had. The South African Defence Force was rated one of the most efficient in the world, perhaps just a hair behind the Israeli's. Yes, it was the "Apartheid" force & yes it was involved with some questionable actions within the townships but most of all the entire force Army, Navy & Air force had pride! Some of the regiments hold battle honours going way back - Natal Mounted Rifles, Durban Light Infantry, Transvaal Scottish, Natal Carbineers etc. etc. The list is fairly long. Proud tradition, all of them. Then one reads about a newly appointed OC of one of those being involved in the theft of medals from the units museum & then found wearing them at a parade! My heart goes out to the ex members of those units who now have to read about this! Disgust is not a strong enough word to describe this!

Let's take another area - freedom of movement & something that is apparently written into the Freedom Charter - South Africa belongs to ALL it's people, regardless of race, colour or creed. A case in point - Helen Zille & members of the Democratic Alliance wish to visit nKhandle, the home of Jacob Zuma, as accusations of inappropriate spending of state (public) funds have arrisen. The ANC block the visit by busing in people from wherever & threatening violence, forcing the police (who do NOTHING against the ANC) to stop the DA's visit. Not a word from the ANC or the presidency but an artist paints a satirical picture of Zuma with his bits & pieces exposed (most probably due to his promiscuous behaviour) & immediately the sky falls on everyone's head! Court cases abound & marches organised with printed placards in short order! Zille is then threatened with prosecution  for trespass 'cos she never approached the local chief for permission to enter 'Tribal Lands'!
Democracy? Constitution? Freedom Charter? National Pride? Justice? Bollocks!!! I'm afraid that Cry the beloved country has turned into a raucous wail of despair!

Some good news...

Abigail 2y 4mnths

Paige 1y 4mnths

We just got back from Johannesburg. Not my favourite city but then I don't really have one! Gimme the bush or small places anytime! However the visit was to attend my son's wedding & to see both of my grand-daughters & all my kids at the same time!

A great time spent, too much food eaten & beer drunk, but what the hell! I met my in-laws for the first time & I think we hit it off quite well!

I also got to get close up & personal with a fully grown Cheetah, my favourite animal, & stood as Best Man for my son - possibly my greatest highlight yet! I can say that even though he subjected me to, what I can only call, a beauty session - hair cut, face massage, shave & something called 'threading' which entailed having my eyebrows (of which I am justly proud & quite attached to) - plucked out using a piece of fine string wielded by a grinning demon going by the name of Ahmed or some such!

The Wedding took place at Game rehabilitation farm called the Farm Inn - great setting with some truly stunning animals! As much as I dislike seeing any animal in a cage or behind wire, I was assured that all these animals were either being rehabilitated for eventual release back into the wild or for sustainable breeding programs - NOT for canned hunting safaris!

Meercats

Oldish Lion Male

   

Spending time with my kids & grand kids was great, seeing as we are separated by an average of 1000Km & contact is normally by Skype or cel phone! I also had time to contemplate my accomplishments - not much beyond three really great people that have shown me courage in the face of adversity, the ability to hold truth & honour above all else & true compassion. In a word, I am extremely proud of my three 'kids'! Unfortunately, kids no more but still held in my heart as my kids.
Next was a trip to a game farm that my son had previously held shares in (see, the genes kick in with the love of the bush! ;) ) where we stayed for a week with a friend of his from the UK. First time visit fro his wife & little girl (Millie or Amelia) who I hope enjoyed it as much as we did!

From L To R Claire,Martin, Millie, Russel, Paige & Jenni

Jan(et), Llew, Russel, Jenni & Paige - doing 'Village People'

'Kay, that's all for now, getting writers cramp in my one finger! Mebbe some more later!

'Cause it's another day for you and me in paradise

http://m.iol.co.za/article/view/s/11/a/304960

Durban - Two policemen were shot dead in Durban over a weekend in which ordinary citizens came under fire in a shopping centre, on the streets and in a takeaway restaurant.
On Sunday, an off-duty policeman was killed in KwaMashu, close to the area where a councillor was abducted and murdered on Friday.
News of his killing came as people from Pinetown and New Germany gathered outside a New Germany Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet to lay flowers and bid farewell to Detective Constable Ajith Krishinlall, who died after being hit several times in a shoot-out with robbers on Friday night.
His colleague, Detective Constable Jerome Ngoma was critically injured in the same robbery.
At 7am on Sunday, customers and staff in the Sunningdale Centre Spar in the northern suburbs escaped with their lives when 15 men stormed the shop with pistols and AK47s. They emptied the tills and robbed people of their wallets and cellphones. A shoot-out ensued and, it is understood that a Blue Security guard was injured, although this could not be officially confirmed.

A frustrated senior policeman, formerly of the Pinetown area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said “our hands are being tied behind our backs”.
“On the one hand, the public says we’re not providing a service. On the other, we’re accused of brutality,” he said.
What has incensed the Pinetown and New Germany communities is that a third policeman, who also responded to the KFC robbery and who shot dead a robber, was subsequently charged with murder by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.
The directorate were also accused of hijacking the crime scene and contaminating evidence, allegations which spokesman Moses Dlamini categorically rejected.
“It is a known fact that the directorate has upset a lot of policemen by arresting members of the infamous Cato Manor unit and that some of their friends and supporters will go out of their way to tarnish the name of the Ipid and its investigators,” Dlamini said.
He said the officer had not been arrested and was not to appear in court, but that the directorate had registered a murder docket, as was routine, when a person died as a result of police action.
But Jacques Stephen, a reservist who addressed the emotionally charged KFC gathering, said: “The SAPS are expected to love and hug because they’ve got rights… there are members who have lost the fight, who get charged and prosecuted. The police are taken off the streets for doing their jobs.”
Kohler Barnard, whose son Peter, 24, was hijacked outside their home a week ago, said: “If you hold a gun to someone’s head, any cop… has the right to take you out.”
Krishinlall’s family was suffering the same devastation as “many other families, whose relatives had died in the line of duty. “These are the people who put themselves between you and a bullet,” she said.
“If I find that destroyed forensic evidence, I will not let this matter drop, I assure you.”
The crowd released white balloons into the afternoon sky for the dead policeman.

The daughter of a policeman clutched a placard which read: “Is our dad next?”

No arrests have been made for the KFC killing, but a case of business robbery, murder and attempted murder is being pursued, SAPS spokesman Thulani Zwane said.
Another SAPS spokesman Jay Naicker, said the fatal shooting of the off-duty officer outside KwaMashu Hostel couldn’t be linked to tensions between members of the IFP and NFP.
The policeman, who was in civilian clothes, was on his way to a friend when he was shot repeatedly at 3pm.
No arrests had yet been made in that murder either.

In the Spar hold-up, witnesses said the robbers had herded them into the receiving bay when Blue Security arrived. The robbers then fired shots through the store’s windows at the guard.
Spar owner Garth Slater, said one customer was hit on the head and was taken to hospital, but was treated and released.
He said support from the Sunningdale community had been “amazing”. Twenty minutes after the incident police reservists, volunteers and a crisis team arrived to assist staff.

The Mercury, with additional reporting by Bongani Hans, Wendy Jasson da Costa and Andile Dube.

 

Apologies To Phil Collins

She calls out to the man on the street
"Sir, can you help me?
It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?"

He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there

Oh
Think twice
'Cause it's another day for you and me in paradise
Oh
Think twice
'Cause it's another day for you
You and me in paradise

(Think about it)

That is how we are being treated by "our" government!
Our Politicians usually only show their faces when there is political mileage to be made out of someone else' loss or heartbreak. This, I feel is true of ALL our politicians! Hey, if you can count dancing, singing, driving behind racing blue light vehicles, graft, corruption etc, etc as being the job of a politician then we are really in excellent hands.
Never mind cry, the beloved country - we would be better off howling & screaming!
This not a good time to be writing - I am REALLY pissed off!

Just over a year ago.......

Just over a year ago but still seems like yesterday! :( 

WTF? SNOW? In the Little Karoo?

Yeah, well, it finally happened! Bloody snow in the Little Karoo - saw it in my own garden! This is quite normal for you lot that stay a hop & a skip from one of the poles but here! Not on your Nellie! & the rain - been going on for the last four or five days now! My newly planted onion patch looks like a fairly well established rice paddy! Do'nt like it! Not at all! And the we had damn wind storms as well - leaks all over the place & the river is rising rapidly. Some guy's have measured up to 120mm over the l;ast 2 days. Enough allready. I saw the sun for 5 minutes today & got all bleary-eyed. Miss the heat & the sun & wondering when we gonna get rain again!
 I must admit that anything below 22'C is classed as cold by me & anything less is damn freezing. Anyway, here are some pics of something (according to the aged ones here) that has NEVER happened before!

Bloody Racist Lightning!

Just when you think you've heard it all, along comes another one to leave you utterly gob-smacked! Never mind the HIV/AIDS cures from our late Minister of Health, that pales into insignificance when faced with the intellect behind these statements! NOMSA FOR PRES!

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for co-operative governance and traditional affairs, Nomsa Dube, called on the national department of science and technology to investigate the causes of lightning after seven people died in lightning strikes.


"We will do an investigation and talk to the department of science and technology on what is the cause of the lightning, and if it only happened to the previously disadvantaged as I have never seen any white people being struck by lightning" said Dube. She was visiting Mpumazi in Eshowe where seven people from two families died after being struck by lightning on Sunday. "Scientists from the department could perhaps help us and come up with instruments that could help community members protect themselves against lightning. The department has dealt with floods and fires, but lightning is new to us," said Dube.

Our country is clearly in excellent hands! What else can one say when faced with this?

Winter is here (almost)

Just went for my last early morning walk with shorts on! Ended up with "kneasels" big time! However, it was after a rather nice rain we had last night &, with the ground nice & damp, plenty of place for spoor. At a drift bridge near the centre of town, Duiker, Yellow Mongoose & Cape Clawless Otter mixed in with Guinea Fowl & Francolin tracks. It's one of the really nice things about this country, being so close to nature & our wildlife. Within 15Kms of where we live, some of the Big Five are around - not in cages or pens - but walking virtually free. The birds in the garden are still lively quite early in the mornings with the Cape Robin being the first up, although the Ibis start telling jokes & cracking up at about 3 am!
And then you look into the river itself - Polystyrene quick food containers, plastic packets that you have to pay for, cold drink cans etc etc. Even, at times, discarded rubbish bags although we have a fairly efficient refuse removal system. The biggest shock are the packets. Introduced some years back to stop the littering that took place with the old (tear quite easily) packets, these are now robust 'will not degenerate in your lifetime' jobs! And you have to pay for them! When will they ever learn?
Time to stop - I feel a song coming on! :)

Another day in Paradise....

Well, hell! It's such a beautiful country, the weather is great, the views are stunning - so what can we do to stuff it up completely? Apart from trying to ensure the extinction of our wildlife heritage, I mean? We're doing quite well at sport (in some areas), the economy could be worse (disregard the major amount of skimming that takes place - especially in the Government), so what else? How about crime stats? Well, THEY are or were coming down in most areas, so we might end up as not being at the head of the table when the new worldwide stats are released & we do like being first!

 Soooo, firstly (some time back) we got rid of the Scorpions - their arrest rate & conviction % was rather high. Then we establish the Hawks. Oops! They seem to be a tad over-zealous in some provinces so let's carve them up a bit 'cos some of our best buddies are being targetted (can't have that 'cos they might start talking about the wrong things to the wrong people & then the brown stuff is gonna hit the fan). Oh yeah, what about the Durban Organised Crime Unit? Especially the Kwamashu Violent Crimes Unit, hmm? Now there's a place we can REALLY make a difference! Get rid of them both or at least cut them down to size & voila! Back to the top of the tree again as far as murders, rapes, child abuse, drug trafficking, cash-in-transit heists & just plain old robberies go. and please diregard the fact that the 'evidence' for this action is comming from people who were & are under investigation for criminal activities.

And now in another newspaper report, apparently quoting a senior police officer, it has apparently been noted that since the disbanding of the Kwamashu unit, there has been a notable increase in cash-in-transit & shop based robberies. Go figure, while the ANC spends another bucket of cash on their 100 year celebrations!

Management Lessons

 I found this on a website - Bloody true!

Lesson No.1

A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?"
The crow answered: " Sure, why not."
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson No.2

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree.
Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Lesson No.3

When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions." The feet said, " We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss.

Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.

& Another 2 bite the dust!

Worcester - Fairy Glen. 9 Year old bull & 6 year old pregnant cow - darted with morphine & then dehorned with a panga! Mebbe I'm sick but I don't see that the legal execution of a tik mule in China rates more headline space than this. 

We are heading for the extinction of a species on the basis that less than 0,001% of the body weight of the animal is harvested for dubious medicinal properties! Oh, & the cow will have to be aborted. WTF is the 'Government' doing about this? Basically SFA!

Have a look at the Cape Times front page of this morning (12th December 2011) for ome really lovely pics to help the breakfast go down! :o(

Shoot a poacher a day!

 I just watched a fairly long news item about rhino poaching - centring mainly around a particular black rhino called Phila. This poor thing was shot a number of times (more than likely with an AK, either 7,62 or 5,56) & went down. The poachers were scared off before they were able to cut off the horns & the rhino survived. It was taken to a 'secure' boma within a vet compound where it recovered under treatment. It was finally decided by the owner that, to try & preserve it's life, they would dehorn Phila. With only stubs of horns remaining it was thought that the animal was now fairly safe. The bastards broke into the boma area & shot the animal from the enclosure fence (I think another 6 or 8 times). Why? To take the stubs of what was left of the horns? Or maybe just to prove a point to the owner? She still did not die but was eventually transferred to the Johannesburg Zoo, maybe death would have been preferable?
 Are people so enamoured with money or the status that wealth can bring that they are prepared to annihilate a specie of animal - possibly a link with the dinosaurs - that they will go to these lengths? That they will not only kill a pregnant cow but also a calf with no more than a stub for a horn?
 Now, presume that the sale of both Elephant ivory & Rhino horn were made legal. The horn could be harvested by darting the animals & removing the horn under anaesthetic & then placed on the market. Horns & tusks removed from animals dead from natural causes could also be marketed. Many Parks Boards have been forced to destroy tons of horn & ivory by burning. CITES insistence. The monies accrued from the sale could have gone to furthering education & combating poaching. By 'flooding' the market, the price would have dropped considerably thereby reducing the expected income for the poachers & making it less attractive for them.
 Then you have the idea of adding a poison to the horn under pressure. Now you get the civil rights bung heads going that it would not be right to poison unsuspecting 'users' & maybe (hopefully) killing a few! Sod that! I reckon the last is a much better idea, at least the poor bloody rhino get to keep their horns! And make the poison terminal to 'humans'! Doesn't help the elephant much tho'......

...And at the End.

I guess it's time to close off now - I have to talk about something that I have been putting off, the reason for this blog & also the reason for why it hit me so hard. You see, I have this thing that although many people will only see a 'pet' or a 'dog' I have always been very close to my friends - not pets! The loyalty that is shown by these animals is just too great to be brushed off & requires a greater return from us. Well, that's the way I feel, anyway. Responsibilty to them & for them. So that is why, when the last deed has to be done for pity's sake, then I must be with them at the end.
So this is what happened that day, that Sunday. As I said, he was already pretty far gone & I thought that, after talking to the vet, it would have to happen that morning. I had to carry him to the car as he could'nt walk at that stage. Took him for a bit of a ride through the country for the last time & then on to the vets. Again, I had to carry him out to the table in the operating room. Thing is - the vet hit him with 30ml of the stuff....... and it didn't work! He actually pushed himself up, looked me straight in the eyes & gave a deep throated howl/groan that basically said to me "You Bastard!! I trusted you!". The vet had to hit him with another 10 or 15ml - I'm not sure how much any more 'cos that's when I cracked totally! He then subsided & threw up a load of grass green gunge - no idea where it came from 'cos he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for 3 days - & then it was over & so was I. I ran from that room saying, I don't know what to the vet over my shoulder & then drove home. He was taken to be buried in Cape Town 'cos we, apparently, are not allowed to bury dogs in our yards anymore. Load of bollocks if you ask me!
The reason for the stuff not working immediately was, according to a vet friend of mine, was that his kidneys were too far gone - still doesn't make me feel any better!
So that's it then, no more on this blog I don't think - no reason really.