My Viewpoint on Alcohol

I have issues with alcohol. Not that I am a drunkard, I dont touch the stuff generally. If I do, its the occasional Irish Coffee, or Cape Velvet Liqueur. In my opinion, in most cases alcoholic beverages just plain well taste gross. I've tasted beer, and wine, and even whiskey, but every time I do I want to spit it out! I prefer the taste on alcohol free champagne to the regular stuff, I've compared them and didn't like the "real thing".

But the biggest thing that turns me off of alcohol is what it does to people. It makes people blubbering idiots or plain well nasty and cruel. I have seen people drunk and passed out on the side of the road. I have seen drunken men beating their wives and children. I have seen alcohol make people drive like idiots (but then again cell phone drivers are sometimes worse than drunk drivers....), drunk people do stupid things and take stupid risks. I can never condone that. And the worst is that people who get drunk always, without fail, believe that the alcohol does nothing bad to them and that they are unaffected by it.

The biggest and most disgusting memory I have of drunk people however is from when I was about 11 years old. No 11 year old should see their own grandparents (or parents for that matter, but I am lucky as my parents share my disgust of drunkardness) get so inebriated that they do such stupid things and certainly it is a hugely reprehensible thing for any grandparent or parent to require their own little ones to constantly be refilling their glasses!

It was a December, I remember it clear as yesterday. We were living in a house with my dad's parents, and my mom's parents were visiting for a couple of weeks.

From before supper was made, the 4 grandparents were sitting in the lounge having glasses of wine, constantly calling me to refill their glasses from the cheap box wine. My dad was working, mom making supper, so I was the inevitable choice as the grandparents were too busy chatting to fill up their own glasses. They were emptying those glasses fast and furious.

We had supper, the one grandmother was particularly fond of olives so there was a jar of olives on the table. I think the supper was pork fillet. By the time supper was finished and we were dishing up ice cream for desert, they were already half way through the second box of wine. And that was when the downright stupidity came in.

There had already been some rather crude jokes flying around the table. But then when it was desert time, and the table was mostly cleared of supper (except a few condiments) and the ice cream brought out. The grandparents all being hopelessly tipsy, dished up ice cream and then decided to top it with olives. As revolting as that was, the biggest shocker to my young mind was that not one of the grandparents remembered it the next day, and to this day they deny it ever happened.

I have seen many inebriated people, never has it looked enticing or sophisticated to be drunk. It is horrific, and yet the person who is drunk is not even aware of how stupid they are.

So personally, I choose not to drink, other than the once every five years or so small glass of liqueur. I also choose not to associate with people who are drinking and if a bottle of wine or a keg of beer comes out, more often than not I will excuse myself from the company. Not because I think I'm better than you but rather because I dont like you when you are under the influence..

If you are reading this, I hope to high heavens and back again that you never allow yourself to either become dependent on alcohol (being dependent does not always mean you are drunk, but if you cannot live without it that is when you should go without it), become drunk, or even associate with drunkards.


P.S. Due to "just feeling like it" I'm going to be adding a blog in tomorrow, because I can. Enjoy the bonus.

Geocaching

If you follow me on any social media, you will have seen that at some time or another I have spoken about Geocaching.
You may already know what it is, or perhaps you have never heard of it before.

What Is It?

It has been called a subculture by some, an insider game by others.

But what is it really?

In short, geocaching is an international GPS treasure hunt! The 21st century version of Treasure Island, using the whole earth (and sometimes outer space) as your "island of treasures".

You're already hooked, right? I was, still am.

How Did It Start?

It all started in 2000 when GPS used to be reserved for only governments and the armies. But then on 2nd May 2000 they released the technology for use by the general public. Within 1 week (well actually by 03 May 2000) geocaching began, with a container left in the woods, a logsheet and  a few things (S.W.A.G - Stuff We All Get) inside with the simple rule "take some stuff, leave some stuff". Only after a few weeks did it get the name Geocaching and the rest, as they say, is history.

Are There Rules?

All geocaches have a few things in common, (1) you can find the information about them on www.geocaching.com, (2) They all have a logbook or sheet that you must fill in to prove you were there, (3) there is never anything of monetary or food value in the cache, (4) they are fun (ok, most micros and all postbox ones are boring).

You can view all the rules and how to sign up on www.geocaching.com

How do you start?

Pretty much you get onto the geocaching website and get the GPS coordinates of a local treasure (known as a cache), you type those coordinates into your gps and go hunting for it. Along the way you often see beautiful sights in your very own city that you never knew, you also often meet new people. But, you try to avoid looking suspicious because "Muggles" (aka anyone who does not know about geocaching) may very well imagine you are hiding gold, drugs, bombs, etc. In the process you learn the art of stealth, and end up looking ten times more suspicious.

Its great fun.

Eventually you find the cache, it may be a film canister with a magnet and attached to the back of a sign post, or it may be an Ice Cream container hidden in the bush, or (in rare cases) a large container (think 44 gallon drum size).

Geocaching can be done solo, however it is much more fun to do it as a group of friends or family. It can be frustrating, but it is also rewarding.

Its good to get the whole family (even those addicted to their phones and other gadgets) out of the house and into the open, with fresh air and excersize.

It is free to sign up, and you likely already have a gps to use (most smartphones are gps enabled), so doing geocaching is not expensive.

I hope you head out to have fun geocaching sometime soon, and don't forget, its just a game. Although it is severely addictive.

If you are in my area, look up some of my caches.

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5F60C_i-c-the-c?guid=9bb60787-846c-4975-bf6b-e08ae82d1427

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4Y9A5_tramping-through-fern-gully?guid=52db7937-13e5-4875-83c3-3d1c8a684c2a

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC3EDF1_rapunzels-guard-the-orange-ogre?guid=9edc9de3-6c70-493e-92a5-240989fbffdf

 

Selfies

I recently attended a discourse, where the speaker alluded to selfies, his distaste and his lack of knowledge about them coming across when he stated rather matter-of-factly that "selfies are nude pictures that you take of yourself and send to others, and do you know what that disgusting practice is called?" he asked the audience, "It is called sexting!"

Ok so even as much as I dislike selfies, I had to laugh, because that is very far from true. Yes, you do get selfies that are sexting selfies, and those I do not condone nor associate with! But by and large, that is not the normal person's definition of a selfie, and that is not what the majority of selifes are.

However what is the definition of a "Selfie"? Why do so many people dislike them? And why do so many people take them?

Definition

As borrowed from wikipedia: "A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Facebook,Google+, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr and Twitter. They are usually flattering and made to appear casual. Most selfies are taken with a camera held at arm's length or pointed at a mirror, rather than by using a self-timer." So pretty much all those photos of girls in bathrooms with an open toilet behind them, but makeup, a duck face and fancy clothes, those are selfies. Selfies can be ok also, many people as a family will huddle close together and take a selfie. And although these have not really been defined as selfies in times past, we could say that even Van Gough took selfies.

Why Popular?

Well, people nowadays do not have much time physically spent with others. Socializing is nowadays done almost exclusively over the internet. Often people associate and socialize with others that they have never met, or with family and friends in distant lands that they have not seen for months or even years. In order to become more real, and to show any looks that have changed, many people resort to taking a selfie. Others do it out of pure vanity - refer Duck faced Selfies in the Bathroom, also annoying "peace sign".....

Why disliked by so many?

Even I take a selfie once in a while

Well, refer to the "Duck faced bathroom selfie". Yup, there becomes a time when we've all had about enough of selfies. Especially when we are on social networks (facebook, instagram, twitter, etc) and get a timeline full of selfies spamming our screen.  The truth is that most of us are guilty of the occasional selfie. But selfies are synonyms of teenage girls doing wierd poses in bathrooms. These can be pretty annoying.

All said and done, the truth is that there really is nothing wrong with the standard selfie. Just dont overuse it, be creative, and you are good to go.

 

My Dear Grandmother

In a few days time it is the anniversary of my grandmother's death. She died on 15 October 2011 of a Pancreatic Cancer. Cancer is not an easy death, ok well no death is easy because death is not natural. But some ways to die are quick, and semi-painless, like a plane crash or murder. But cancer makes its victim suffer for months or even years in agony and pain, slowly deteriorating.

I wont focus on that part of my gran's life though, it was undignified and a cruel way to die.

What I want to share here and think about as it approaches the anniversary of her death is her beautiful attitude and character.

When she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer we were all told that without fail this is a quick and terminal cancer. There was absolutely no chance of survival. However, instead of becoming bitter, miserable or sad because of her death sentence, my amazing grandmother said that she wanted to be remembered as a happy person. Thus she smiled and stayed happy and positive to the day she died. I dont want to ever die (obviously), but if I get old or terminally ill, I want to be like that.

Really her whole life Elizabeth Byrne was known as kind and gentle soul. Many people I speak to that knew her remember her with great fondness. She always had an open house, with space always for an extra person for dinner or for a lift. She is the person who was willing to give up her very own double bed and sleep on the floor when she had only been  married a few months so that another newly wed couple could have a bed.

She would always be willing to listen and to give a gentle hug.

My fondest memory of her though will always remain the time when I was about 3 years old, she loved shopping, and would take me with her shopping and then when returning home, we would stand in the kitchen and unpack the shopping. And she would bring out a cucumber and we would stand there slicing and munching cucumber. Quite possibly this is why I am so fond of cucumber today.

I miss her terribly, every day I think of her. Not the way some would imagine, in a frail body and about to die, I remember her as the incredible woman she was, I think of the photos of her younger days (way before I came on the scene) and how beautiful she truly was, inside and out. And without a doubt in my mind, I look forwards to the day that I can hug her again and welcome her back to life.

Durban Regional Convention

I sit here late on Wednesday evening writing while I hear the gentle sound of the happy frogs after all the rain we have had this week. Its so nice to finally have the rain here. The air is cooler and cleaner, the grass has turned green overnight. And for me personally, it is truly a Godsend because now our horses will have food, just time for this weekend. Everything is good.

This weekend?

Well, I can honestly say that my whole body hurts from head to toe tonight. My arms and legs are stiff as ever, and I am thoroughly exhausted. But happy and satisfied.

Why, you may ask, and what has that got to do with this weekend? And what is so special about this weekend?

This weekend is the Regional Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses in Durban at the majestic Moses Mabhida stadium. Because this is so special, I am publishing this blog post a day early.  We are expecting upwards of 20,000 delegates to attend, there will be talks, demonstrations, experiences and re-enactments given over a course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday in English, Zulu and South African Sign Language.

You have likely heard about this special event, for the last 3 weeks in most of the province of Kwazulu Natal invitations have been distributed, perhaps you got it delivered to your door, dropped in your post-box, perhaps a co-worker or schoolmate gave you one, maybe someone sent it to you electronically, or perhaps you got it on the street. This is so special as it is not a singular event, but something that has been happening for some months and will continue to happen for about another month in hundreds of cities around the world. If you are able to, please please do attend!

Why am I so sore and stiff? And so satisfied? 

Well for the last two days I have spent the entire day at the stadium as a volunteer. I have had the privilege of working in the sound department setting up the speakers and running wires and pretty much helping in the ginourmous job of turning a soccer stadium into an oversized Kingdom Hall. My job had included carrying many heavy items (speakers, brackets and poles, wires) to various places around the stadium, removing chairs in various spots and stalling speaker brackets, connecting wires for speakers and numerous other jobs. Its been a lot of physically hard work, and many kilometres of walking and climbing so many stairs. But above all, the last two days have been incredibly satisfying. I have been doing this in amongst (I would hazard a guess of about 400 people) my spiritual brothers and sisters. None of us are paid anything for this, we do it purely out of love for God, his great name and for our "neighbour" (ie. all other human beings). While a team of us have been working on sound system, there have been hundreds of other good spirited volunteers setting up stages, setting up big screens, sweeping isles and washing chairs, cleaning bathrooms and putting up baptism pools.

The Stadium

But there is one particular thing I really want to share with you about this convention and the beautiful venue that we have for the first time this year that proves that Jehovah God is really with us.

The convention committee (a group of responsible brothers who have the weighty task of making the convention happen, with God's help of course) has been trying for years to arrange a meeting with the stadium officials so that we can have our convention at this stadium, to no avail. Every time they tried to get a meeting, they were turned away. Eventually they managed to secure a meeting with the stadium officials. The meeting was held out in the stands, and the stadium officials were not seeming very keen on the whole aspect of having 20,000 plus Jehovah's Witnesses coming here. However the brothers had prayed about it, and stuck it out with the meeting, starting with showing the stadium management a short video on the Jehovah's Witness Conventions around the world. After watching the video, the stadium management were suddenly a lot more willing to discuss the possibility of having the convention there. The meeting ended with the stadium officials telling the convention committee that they will email them within the next few days.

After a few days they got an email saying that they could in fact use the stadium, however they would need to use the stadium's own contractors for cleaning and catering. The brothers decided to leave things a little before approaching that subject.

As Jehovah's Witnesses, we always have volunteers who come to clean the convention venue before we have our conventions, we each bring our own small packed lunches from home. However a couple of days later, without request, the stadium management emailed again, this time saying that they had contacted Kings Park Stadium (the one we always have had conventions at) and had confirmed what they had seen in the video, that JWs volunteer and clean the stadium before hand and that the other stadium said the JWs make it the cleanest it is ever every year. So, if we have the volunteers, we do not need to hire their cleaners.

Then a couple of days later, the stadium management again emailed, saying that they also noticed in the video that all the delegates brought their own lunches in little cooler bags, so as long as the convention does not hire outside caterers and everyone brings their own lunches, then the JWs will not be required to hire the stadium's caterers.

Oh, and while they are about it, they also said that they saw on the video that everyone has those lapel badges, so as long as delegates have the lapel badges as identification for the three days of the convention, the security will let them in. That particular point though has had many of us worried, because we have been inviting thousands of people to join us at the convention, however there will be hospitality kiosks outside all the entrances to the convention where visitors can check in and get a lapel badge.

Now if that doesn't show God's power and spirit in this convention, I dont know what does.

So I will again invite you, please attend at least one session of this very important event this weekend. And if you are, please drop me a line and I'll come find you and we can chat.