My Girls

It was Heather Locklear who said, “having a baby is like taking out your heart and giving it a head, arms and legs.”

Now that I am a father of two gorgeous little girls, I know exactly what she meant. It is impossible to describe, but let me try. I got to work on a Monday after spending every waking moment with them, then I miss them like crazy. I think of my 3yr old’s attempt to ballet, my cute little 1 yr old trying to express herself. My wife and I love coming home to them. It does not matter what kind of day you had at the office, they are always excited to see you! They scream like teenage girls at a rock concert, instead of running towards you, they run in circles shouting, Mamma, Dadda!!! Weird, I know, but we love them.  

The ultimate for me is watching them sleep. So peaceful and so innocent. Wow, it simply takes my breath away…

 

VALUES

I remember my mother teaching us as children to always respect your elders. “Remember to say, please and thank you”, is what she use to say. When we were riding on the bus and there were no more seats available, we as kids usually had to give up our seats for an aunty or an uncle.

The one thing I could not understand was when uncle and aunties came to visit, you were expected to greet and then leave the room. Don’t you dare sit in the company and listen to the conversation. Your mother will soon ask you, in a tone you do not want to hear,” hoeveel tande het ek, hah?” Why couldn’t we listen to the family gossip?  It was my family too, you know? But looking back, I really appreciate everything my dear mother taught us. It has given me a good platform in life.  In today’s fast moving, technological world, the old fashioned values may seem archaic.

But I believe that it we need to pass it on to the next generation, and the next, and the next…..

MINIBUS TAXIS

Driving on any main road in Cape Town could either bring you to tears or cause you to have a heart attack.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about those white minibus taxis driving on the edge of the road, overtaking without signaling, pulling over and stopping in a no stopping zone and driving with the car guard hanging out of the window shouting, “Mowbray, Cape Town mummy girl, nou ry, gou ry!” What is it about these taxis that make you cringe and at the same time is so inherently Cape Town?

As a fellow road user, these taxis can cause you to lose your temper at least once a day. And that very well might me early in the morning, on your way to work. And yet, it is only someone who has actually taken a taxi who would understand, that the general public cannot do without them.

Besides the fact that the majority of people do not have their own transport, you get to listen to music you haven’t heard in ages, like Judy Boucher. You get to hear what happened in someone else’s neighbourhood the previous night. And if you’re lucky, you would have heard a discussion of the front page story on Die Son!

FOUR MORE YEARS- PART 2

Barack Obama is STILL the President of the United States. The question I posed the last time was what did Mitt Romney do wrong that cost him the election? Mr Romney is a conservative Republican, who endeared himself to the likes of Donald Trump, but alienated some of the female voters by condemning abortion.  He also has some extreme views on immigration, which in turn did not sit well with the minority groups such as the Hispanics and Indian communities.

With all that said, Barack Obama and his marketing team won this election, as they did the last, with eloquent speeches, passionate pleas and clever modern-day politics. No one can deny that Barack Obama is an impressive public speaker. I have never seen the man use a piece of paper, laptop or any electronic device to recall his speech! He also has the ability to address minority issues, like no other president before him.  Obama brought America health reform, although be it controversial in some areas.  The American nation is looking for a leader who will take this economic momentum further, to make America the powerhouse it once was.  A person who will continue the fight against terrorism and keep their children safe.  A man who will care about the man and woman in the street, who will keep America, the land of the free.  The nation has spoken, Barack Obama is that man.

FOUR MORE YEARS- PART 1

This past week the American public went to the voting stations to decide whether they would vote for a new president in the oval office or stick to the status quo. Well, as we all know it was not such a close race as some predicted. President Barack Obama was elected for four more years. His campaign slogan was “FORWARD”, following on the slogan used four years ago, “YES, WE CAN”.

It was thought that the Republican , Mitt Romney, would win over the voters with his track record as a business savvy , experienced politician in the wake of the economic crisis experienced by this once economically sound nation. His passionate speeches regarding family values, economic reform and conservative defense policies won over some, but in the end it was said that Mr Romney alienated several of the voting public.

So what went wrong for the Republican candidate, and more so, what did Barack Obama do right to get four more years as the Commander in Chief of the United States?

 

Would you break the law to save a loved one?

My answer is, yes! I love my family dearly and if it means breaking a few rules to save their live, I would.

However, I guess we need to look at the context of various situations. Driving over a red light to get a neighbor or someone to the hospital in a life or death situation, my answer will be yes. Or will I steal for someone or lie for someone else in order to save their lives; I not so sure, but!

If ever I’m put in a situation or anything like that and it’s if not life threatening, I’ll be very hesitant. I believe in living an honest and truthful life and that carries more power than to do the opposite. The Bible says that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. In other words if you lie or do something contrary to the Word, you will have to carry the consequences.

So hopefully, I don’t ever have to be a situation like that…Please Lord?

Who do you love and what are you doing about it?

I think I’ve mention my wife a few times in some of the other blogs I’ve written, but allow me to answer the question.

The person that I love is Jolene Barends. This coming March it will be 5 years to the day that we got married. Prior to that day we’ve been courting for about 5/6 years and what a blessing everyday has been ever since we started our journey together. Prior to that, I remember the first day I had my eyes fixed on her, oh how beautiful! It felt like a movie, the whole world was going by and in our world everything stood still and it seemed like it was just the two of us in that room (restaurant). 

 Well, as they say the rest is history, but one thing’s for sure is that I love my gorgeous wife. She’s intelligent, independent, elegant, gracious, beautiful, lovely, caring and everything in between. Our wedding song says it best…Jolene “When God made you, He must have been thinking about me”.  

My Love

Stop calculating risk

I was once put into a situation like this, whereby acting on pure instinct saved someone’s life. Thinking back, one could argue that I was perhaps foolish, but I couldn’t turn by back or simply ignore someone who was calling out for help.

It was one of those midsummer days in Cape Town during the month of February. It was really a scorcher that day whereby the only relieve would be the beach. After knocking off from work and managing to call some dudes to tag along, it was just what we need at the end of long day.

On our arrival we noticed that the beach was quite full and the life guards on duty were busy doing their training routine.  While getting ready to go and experience pure joy, the afternoon almost turned into a nightmare. A lady, on a boogie board, who was clearly unable to swim, got herself into big trouble. A freakish wave smashed her off her board and a tide took her deeper and deeper.

I was the first to see her and the only one who could respond to her cry, but without thinking, I just went in after her. I eventually got to her, but I was extremely tired. The lady was so terrified and panicky, she started pulling me down with her and at that point we were both in serious trouble.

Like they say a true miracle took place that day and we both survived, but like I said the outcome could have been so much worse, because I failed to calculate the risk involved.      

Are you holding something that you need to let go?

I probably don’t need to, but I guess if I’m really honest with myself I do have something that I need to let go of.

That something ladies and gentlemen is my pair of old, new football boots. Confused are you? Well it’s old because I bought it about 4/5 years ago and it’s new because I only played in it about 4 to 5 times since I bought them.  The fact that I’m not getting any younger is also something I need to come to grips with.

I’m not sure what’s worse…The thought of hanging up my boots or the fact that I’ll never be playing football again, ever.  I must admit it is quite a scary one. I know you are probably thinking or asking yourself, how old is this dude?

Well let me tell you that I’m old enough to know that I’m not as fast and agile like I use to be… It’s a time where my mind is telling me, I still can, but body says, I cannot.

In a nut shell…I guess it’s time!

The last lecture.

Oh! How I’ve been looking forward to this day? I can’t believe that the day has really arrived. Because blogging is part of my media class, I think it’s just fitting to mention the exciting times/things I experienced in class throughout the last academic year.

I remember my first day of media class was quite interesting. We had to introduce ourselves to the entire class, but apart from the overwhelming feeling of being back in a class set-up after almost 15 years, I could hardly hear anything that my new class mates had to say, because prior to that day I had an ear operation.   

Our lecturer shared with us the do’s and the don’ts and being back in school after so many years I really appreciated her style and approach as to what was expected of us. There was no doubt the blog and twitter thing was all new to many of us and did I mention overwhelming.

I have to conclude this blog, because of requirements and all that, but let me end off by saying that I’ve really learned a lot. I really loved my lecturer’s take on all the topics that were discussed and If I should take away one thing from #smed12, is to have an open mind, right or wrong, but respecting somebody else’s opinion.

Thanks Marian

MP