Morning Mirror Edition 223 - 21/1/2007




In this edition

Smalls



MY HORSE HAIR SHIRT


I have been wearing my horsehair shirt for five days now. It must be penance for all the bad things I have done in my life.

I suppose if could be worse, I cannot for the life of me think just how much worse, but after all, I did have over 4000 addresses in my address book before it crashed !!

At first I did not panic as HeeHoo usually successfully sorts out my peripheral problems, but he was sadly absent from my life and cyberspace waits for no man.

Being a totally spoilt Apple Mac User, it was difficult to function with an absolutely empty address book, kind of like losing a limb !! And so I limited my modem moments to corresponding with close friends and family whose addresses I was able to remember.

Two days later HeeHoo was still unable to offer his expertise and so I Skyped my Mac Expert Davey who lives in the First World.

His day is my night and so I conversed with him rather erratically as he was trying to deep fry his extra Thanksgiving Turkey and possibly treating himself to a couple of Keystone Lights !!

He kept me on my toes by using such jargon as "sync" and "back up" and "Restore " and became quite sexist (in the nicest possible way bless his heart) about my ability or rather lack of ability on my narcoleptic keyboard....

But he did, from thousands of miles away, help me to retrieve 589 of my precious missing e mail addresses !!

The frustrating thing was that I could see them all sitting jeering at me from the dotmac web-site !! All 4089 of them, cruelly, heartlessly, callously telling me that the only way I could reach them was to do it manually. Yes, you know, the dumb blond way, the female way, one by one by one by one.

I can do it in my sleep now, cut, paste, copy, open new, paste save.... ad nauseam, ad infinitum, one by one by one by one zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

My horse hair shirt is itchy and scratchy, my fingers are in fragments, I have a monstrous case of RSI, my neck is crook, my back is crick and I need a tranquilliser desperately.

Right now, at this moment in time, I am up to 1691 sitting snugly in my cheshire cat grinning evil address book. I am but half way eeeeek.

However, as much as it has been an exercise in patience and perseverance, it also made me do a lot of digital housekeeping.

OUT - anyone whose name I do not recall. Out - went quite a few duplications, into "pending" went people to whom I owed correspondence, into the trash went those folk who have not bothered to pay for their adverts.....

In fact I tried to persuade myself that this sort of mindless, awful flogging was in a way perhaps cathartic ?

I fondly remembered all those who had left the country, looking at all the addresses that had changed from dot co dot zw to dot za, dot nz and dot com.

I sympathised empathised, suffered and snivelled with all those who have to spend all day on a keyboard, and I promised, pledged, and pleaded with myself that I would back up everything, always irrevocably, every single solitary day......for ever and ever amen.......


CONGRATULATIONS



BIRTHS
Congratulations to Elisha and Doug Gilbert and welcome to little Savanna, who arrived on January 5th. Thank you for our first grandchild and niece.
Love Graham, Doris, Justin and Andrew.

Congratulations to Tanya and Rob McGuire and welcome to Brendan, who delighted all but mum by arriving on Christmas morning. Congratulations to Carrie and Gary with the birth of your first grandchild.
Love Graham, Doris, Justin and Andrew.


CONDOLENCES

With Deepest Sympathy to the families of the following




SYMPATHY MESSAGES


Rosemary Bowes (Ashburner)
I would like to convey my deep felt sympathy to Rosie's girls and her family on her departure to a far better world and free from pain. Do feel assured that Rosie will always be remembered as a wonderful, caring, loving and beautiful lady. My love to you all
Liz lizzien5@hotmail.co.uk

CONDOLENCES
JAMES CHATHAM PASSED AWAY ON THE 10TH JANUARY 2007 IN BULAWAYO. UNCLE JIM TO THE WORLD YOU WERE OUR UNCLE TO US YOU WERE THE WORLD. FLY HIGH OVER LUGO WHERE YOU BELONG. WILL BE SO MISSED BY US ALL. THANKYOU FOR YOUR UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND WISDOM YOU GAVE US THROUGH THE YEARS.
RON SUE , DOUG LYN, CLIFF LINDA, KEN GAYE AND ALL THE SMITH FAMILIES.

Condolences: Lorraine Kelly (12 January 2007)
To Lorna, Sean, Kim, Jimmy, Dawn and Graham and children on the loss of their mother and granny. My deepest sympathy to you all. Lorraine will be sorely missed for her friendship, loyalty, wisdom and generosity. May God be with you through this difficult time to comfort you all.
Much love Karen Baker (Everett)

'It was with great sadness to hear about the passing away of a school friend, Doug James, on 1 January 2007 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa after a long illness. Doug went to Hamilton High School, joining around 1979 and left around 1982/83. He was a prefect and a very good water polo player. He leaves behind his wife and two boys.'

Thanks very much
Gill Pattison

Could you please advise the Bulawayo public in general and the swimming fraternity in particular that we have just been notified of the passing of Douglas James in Port Elizabeth on the 1st January after a painful illness age 41.

Doug and Cheryl (his sister) will be remembered for their contribution to swimming for many years in Bulawayo at Provincial and National Level. Douglas leaves a wife and two children.

Please add to this our heartfelt sympathy for Maureen and Ken, Karen and family (in America) and Cheryl and family in Johannesburg. We will always remember the good times we shared.

From Peggy Tony and Richard Morgan And Kim, Simon, Tyler and Toni Bloomhill from Cape Town

Condolence:-
Our sincere thoughts to Rozz Smith, Francis will be greatly missed. Our deepest sympathy Elaine, Michelle and Rowland.



To Lorna, Sean, Kim, Jimmy, Dawn and Graham and children on the loss of their mother and granny. My deepest sympathy to you all. Lorraine will be sorely missed for her friendship, loyalty, wisdom and generosity. May God be with you through this difficult time to comfort you all.
Much love Karen Baker (Everett)


TIDBITS


Don't be afraid of opposition. Remember a kite rises against, not with, the wind.
- Hamilton Mabie


SRULES FOR A PERFECT DAY by Tom Hopkins

Just for today...

I will try to live and delight in the reality of being alive. My past is forever gone, my future an uncertainty, so I will be happy and thankful for each moment.

I will not allow negative input into my mind...happiness is a choice and I choose to be happy.

I will be thankful to God for my health, my loved ones, my business, and my country. I will also be thankful for any pain in crisis that helps me grow because God has said, be thankful in all things.

I will take care of my body, realising the importance of the words moderation and balance, knowing that as I bring my flesh under control, how much easier it will be to control my will and my actions.

I will treat everyone I meet today the way I would like to be treated. I will strive to have them like themselves better when they're with me.

I will avoid gossip, jealousy, and negative thinking. Most people don't think about what they think about. Today, I will make a conscious effort to hold loving and beautiful thoughts in my mind. I will write down my priorities; thinking of my loved ones and my responsibilities. I may not get everything done, but I will do the most productive thing possible at every given moment.

I will strive to humble myself before others, controlling my ego and making other people feel important.

I will spend time in study, learning how to better serve my fellowman. I know my growth in all areas is in direct proportion to the service I give to others.

I will not take rejection personally. I am first and foremost in the people business and, thus, realise they can only reject my proposal and not me. I will keep on keepin' on.

I will spend time in prayer, asking God to let others see the light of His shining love through me.


Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
--Martin Luther King Jr.


The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a Methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question. "Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?" I replied, I had a drug problem when I was young:

I was drug to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.
I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me. I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity.
I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of dad's fields. I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbours to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.
Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behaviour in everything I do, say, or think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and, if today's children had this kind of drug problem, The World would be a better place

God bless the parents who drugged us.


When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall, always.
- Mahatma Gandhi -


Extracts from 'Jambanja'.

Then it was Churchill school's turn.

On the stage, a net-ball game was in progress between the Churchill 1st XV rugby team matched up against a so-called Roosevelt Girls school team, made up of local thugs who were dressed up in girly kits. The boys were not doing too well, in fact they were being beaten by their sister-school girls, dressed in their maroon skirts.

In the second match against Queen Elizabeth school this time, they got thumped, again . by an even bigger score.

Forlornly with tears running down their cheeks, the demoralised Ist XV made their way to the front of the stage towards the skittle band, made up with a bunch of hobo's. Then as they stood there crying their eyes out at their latest defeats at the hands of the girls teams, they sang these words:

We tried our best at net-ball and lost to Roosevelt, Our hearts were bust and broken, so went back to the veldt. Our next attempt at girlie's games was hard for us to take, We played and lost composure losing to QE But when it comes to playing rugby, it's very plain to see Never mind the girlie's games - WE CAN ALWAYS BEAT PE!!!!!

The hangar exploded as if a bomb had gone off, the crowd went absolutely wild and anyone who was not a Churchill boy became one that night as they realised the significance of it all. Only a few weeks previously at the Salisbury Glamis Stadium, the 1956 Churchill first XV had just beaten Prince Edward, the top school team in the country for the first time ever in their history ....

Read more in Eric Harrison's compelling novel 'Jambanja'. BY ERIC HARRISON

For orders phone 335499 or e-mail erharrison@zol.co.zw




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