TWO HOURS LONG and FIFTY SIX LAPS.....          - 21/11/2012      <--Prev : Next-->


Jozie Editorial

I've just read your article about your trip to Joburg and the wonderful places you experienced and just wanted to add my two cents - I walk through Joburg CBD twice daily to get to work and honestly speaking, I have never once felt insecure or afraid! You are right in that it is one of the safest places in Jozi and let me tell you, the people on the streets are amongst the most helpful I have ever met!! They're ever-willing to give you directions and advice etc. and once some of them get used to seeing you every day or know your route and time, they greet you and if you are unusually 'attacked or accosted', they will jump right in to assist!!!

As a matter of interest, if any of your readers happens to be in Joburg and is need of a taxi - the taxi drivers, despite their questionable road etiquette, are the most helpful people you will ever meet here! Oh and incidentally, my route into CBD takes me past the Wits Art Museum every morning!

Raquel Esof

1) EDITORIAL

TWO HOURS LONG and FIFTY SIX LAPS.....

AUSTIN, Texas - It was a weekend full of happy surprises as the U.S. Grand Prix at Austin went far beyond expectations in just about every area - but, especially, in the racing.
How many times are Formula One Grand Prix races won by a driver who overtakes the leader on the track the way Lewis Hamilton overtook Sebastian Vettel with just 14 laps left in the race?
And that was only one of a 56-lap festival of overtaking up and down the pack, the most important one being by Fernando Alonso at the start of the race, when he moved from seventh on the grid to fourth immediately.

It sounds glamorous doesn't it?
Champagne, beautiful women, gorgeous men, glorious cars, But......... NOT quite as glamorous as one sees on the telly !!
As much as it was fun it was more like a necessary combination of earplugs, dust, heat, blinding sun, lukewarm margaritas, fun rides in school buses, two hour queues and ...................... PORTA-POTTYS !!

Yes that necessary evil at all functions - the dreaded PORTA-POTTY !! HeeHoo and I are porta-potty experts now... we have experienced them in all forms - Zimbos have become accustomed to squatting on the side of the road due to the fact that there are no porta-pottys available anywhere, but thats just not "cool" in the third world !

We have been privy to porta-pottys at Comrades and Two Oceans, we have done ports-potties at stadia all over the world and at the Austin Grand Prix there was certainly no shortage of porta-pottys, there were in fact thousands of them of all shapes and sizes and thankfully nary a queue at all. But.........

they are still scary little Picaninny Kias !!

The worst thing is there is no room for one's paraphernalia, certainly no place to hang or put one's handbag, the floor is awash so one has to hitch one's britches up under one's armpits, and there is no basin. To overcome the latter Texan ports-pottys thankfully have hand sanitizer machines outside at all strategic points, but they ran dry quite as quickly as the supplies of Coors Light and Bud Light increased exponentially.

A girl without strong leg muscles must suffer seriously though as it is essential that no parts of one's body touch anything at all inside those little comfort stations. And what is worse, there is no flushing facility!!! Its like a Zimbo long drop except its not as discrete!!

Yes latrines are latrines and they had some really ritzy porta-pottys near the stands where the rich and famous were ensconced that were marvelous .... air conditioned, wash basins, sanitizer the whole nine yards nearly like the powder room at the Bulawayo Club!!

But they were few and far between.
The Can, the Convenience, the John, the Lav, the Bog, the Thunderbox ..... call them what you will they are nasty little places and one would rather do without them if humanly possibly.
One can spend the whole day refusing all sorts of enticing beverages but the alternative is not even worth contemplating.
It was however a most joyful day and those them thar Texas sure have created a darn good "Thang" !!

+++++

So persistent
So consistent
So resilient
So determined
In its quest to draw blood
To fill its tiny empty belly
Continuing to circle and anticipate
Landing
On an unsuspecting host
Begins to drill
Drawing bright red blood
No matter how small a drop
No matter how large a drop
Not moving until it has quenched its thirst
What an annoying little insect

So painful is its piercing
So painful is its sting
So painful is the itch
Only felt long after it has departed
What an annoying little insect

On a sweltering summer night
Lying awake
Unable to sleep
So irritating is its piercing persistent buzz and singsong
In anticipation of a sharp sting
Followed by the deep itch
The swelling skin
The uninvited invasion on your body
The painful attack on your skin
What an annoying little insect

A carrier of a deadly disease
Robbing many of their loved ones
Leaving many with a lifetime affliction
No one knows for what purpose it was created
It is not eco friendly
It is not useful in any way
Only a destructive and an annoying little insect

THE MOSSY
GRACE

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