Under-Age Beggers at Robots and Drunk Car Guards

This past weekend we were East London visiting family and I was shocked at the amount of  "KIDS" begging at robots and 4-way stops.

We didn't drive much but in a total of approximately 10 robots we had seen at least 6 of the robots occupied by under age beggars.  I always feel bad for them but never give them anything as usually there is someone older / bigger waiting close by to beat them up the minute someone gives them money.

Now my husband and I were parked at McDonald's in Vincent, Deveraux Avenue and had about 4 or 5 youngsters coming to the car asking for money and whilst sitting there we started observing a drunk car guard at Crazy J's in Vincent harassing the customers and passers by. 

This guy was falling over his feet and when directing cars into the bays he would walk into the cars while they pull into the parking.  To the staff at Crazy J's this was a joke from the looks of it as they were looking from the door and laughing. Especially when the guy decided to just punch another guy (also very drunk from the looks of it) and the 2 of them started hitting each other - both too intoxicated to actually get a punch in and falling around more than anything.  This too was amusing to the staff and at one stage a man (i assume a manager of the store) came out carrying a pool cue acting as if he was going to hit the car guard and from what I assume, tried to chase him away (while laughing all the time) and in turn clearly no message received by the car guard who insisted on staying where he was.

For about 15-20 minutes that we were watching this spectacle I saw 2 cars turn back and leave without even getting out to complete their purchase. They saw what was happening and clearly turned back to go shop elsewhere.

In my honest opinion - phone cops or get alarm company to remove the person if he is a threat to your business and clients.  Luckily for me I am not a customer of Crazy J's but if I was then I would most definitely never set foot in that store or even the parking lot as a matter of fact since the staff make the drunk car guard their amusement for the day and inconsiderate of the damage being done to their company name (which they do not care for since they are only there for the salary at month end regardless of the turnover for the month) and as long as they can have a good laugh it is clearly all fine that this man harass their customers and damage the cars by walking into them all the time.

As for the Kids begging in the streets I was furious that our government does not have something solid in place to support these kids and get them off the streets ... and again this is only assumptions but in my opinion these kids have no future whilst they do not get help other to become our next generation criminals if no one helps them make a future for themselves. 

The government officials' wives drive fancy cars of which tax payers money has to supply the fuel and financing ... while there are so many homeless people that could be provided for with the amount it costs to keep these wives happy.

Law should give social workers and police in hand the right to remove such children from the street and keep them safe. There should be facilities in each and every town to accommodate these children and enforce an education upon them - give them meals - and keep them warm at night!!!

Yes, I know they cant all be saved and many doesn't want to, but as a country that keeps having a growing crime rate, there should be enforcers in place for those that keeps wanting to run away. Until such a time that they are of legal age they should be kept safe regardless of it being willingly or by force.
So Yes again, I'm saying lock up those who want to keep running away to the streets if it must, and hope for a few years down the line where they are grateful for the strong measures that was taken but then at least they have some sort of future with possibilities of making something of themselves.

All of us hated discipline growing up and those who got disciplined will all vouch how much it has helped them form themselves into the respectful and right minded people they are today.

We need a sort of safe-house for these kids and as a community need to stop feeding their habit of supplying cash on street corners - which in turn would make them realize that the only way they get provided for is by being in a safe place.  Surely these kids can't all want to live like that and if some of them have a chance to a better life then should it not be up to the government to try establish such an environment for them in which to be safe?

How innocent do you think these 2 were ??? 

In my opinion "how drunk must everyone be not to know who you go to bed with"

I think they just got "Busted" and had to make the best out of the situation to try make it look "less bad" 

Copied directly from News24 To go to the original article - Follow THIS LINK

Son-in-law 'knew it was mom and not wife in bed'

2016-08-24 14:04

Bloemfontein – It seems no one will ever know the exact details of what happened in the early hours of the morning when a man was caught with his pants down in bed with his mother-in-law.

They were both so inebriated that neither can remember how they ended up in bed together, Netwerk24 reported.

The son-in-law was charged with sexual assault after the incident, but the charges were withdrawn in the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Monday after they reached a settlement.

Earlier, he said he thought he was in bed with his wife, 22.

In the settlement agreement the son-in-law, 31, states: "I am sorry. We were all under the influence of alcohol. I cannot remember what happened, but I am regretful and sorry. I beg my mother-in-law's forgiveness."

The mother-in-law, 50, states: "I can't remember what happened. We are family and I am willing to forgive him. I don't want him to be prosecuted. I just want him to be reprimanded."

The agreement includes a warning to the man that he will be prosecuted if he ever commits a similar offence.

'I don't know what he did'

Netwerk24 spoke to the mother-in-law on Tuesday.

"I can't be angry with him because I don't know what he did," she said.

These things happen, but she has cut down on drinking anyway, she said.

She still has a "Savannatjie" or a small glass of wine now and then, "but I don't drink myself senseless anymore".

She said she has asked God to open up her memory of the night of February 5, but it hasn't happened yet. 

She told Netwerk24 that on the night of the incident the family had a pleasant evening around the fire at her home in Uitsig.

Later, she went to bed in the spare room as her daughter and granddaughter were sleeping in her bedroom.

She says her son-in-law knew it was her in that bed and not her daughter when he got in.

Just before daybreak his wife found him on his knees in bed with the sleeping mother-in-law and asked him what he was doing.

"I thought it was you!" he allegedly said and jumped out of bed.

The couple is now divorced.

Is it normal to be so happy??

My husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary last month; yet we have been living together and raising our kids together as a family for a bit over 7 years now.
I look at other people around us, people that has only 1 or 2 kids and some without any kids and they seem so unhappy but they blame their issues and problems on the kids.

When we met I had 5 and he had 1 - the older 3 were living with their dad as to accommodate me working shifts and them being in school in a different town. So for most of the time we had 2 girls and 1 boy ranging between 6 months and just under 2 years old,  that was 3 kids on bottles and nappies at the same time, me working shifts and him working every weekday and still we managed.

Maybe we can blame the kids for sticking it through as they kept us way to busy to try find the time to find fault with each other. They never woke up at the same times and they all were clingy and jealous of the attention the others got which made them a full time job.  It was actually a blessing sometimes to go to work to just get a break from kids.

I'm not saying we never disagreed - we had plenty of those days but we grew to respect each other and realised that neither of us could pull it off without the help the other puts in. Maybe it was because neither of us ever said "Oh but I work all day so I cant help with kids" or "I work harder than you so you have to sort out kids" ...

We never made turns either - we did it all together.  Apart from when the other was working.  And even then, neither bolted when they saw the other and decided they now deserve a time off.

Now those 3 little rugrats are growing into quite responsible humans ... at 7, 8 and 9yrs old we can see that we did quite an "okay" job with raising them so far. They are responsible, respectful and well mannered and finally we get to start seeing how much the input is paying off.

Then we had our first child together - a little boy who is the spitting image of his daddy - in January this year and our little girl on the way.  The older 3 are such a huge help with our son, they feed, change nappies, make bottles and even help with bathtime to give mommy and daddy a break.

But before I start treading away from my topic again ... my point is "happiness" ... We are happy !!!

We both work full time jobs and still we both wake up night times for bottles and nappy changes, and not once have I been told "its a womans job to change nappies and raise babies" ... and the same goes for house work (although he definitely does way more housework than I do) ... When the washing machine plays its tune he is there already and hanging up washing.  While I cook he takes everything Im done using and washes it.  By the time we sit down to eat - there is not a dirty spoon or pot in the basin apart from the plates we are eating out of and the cutlery we use at table.

I am one helluva lucky girl !!

But all in all, that's not what happiness is about.  In our household it plays a big part since the kids are alot of work.  Its not easy helping 3 kids in Gr1 and Gr2 with homework and keeping a baby busy and entertained at the same time whilst also trying to make supper.  So teamwork is a definite plus.

Happiness has more to do with making time for each other despite how tiresome it is to raise a family.
Respecting the input that the other one has into the household, whether it be chores, financial input or just advice.
Listening !! this plays a huge part.  Even if there is no response - just the knowing that someone is listening is already very helpful.
No blaming ... luckily for us, we make decisions together and if both don't agree then we decide on an alternative that suits both equally - therefore it eliminates the blame game since both are to blame if it was a wrong decision.
Trust - Realising how much you can rely on someone to have your back at all times is what drives me.
Love - never being scared of reminding him/her how much they are loved and how much they mean to you.
Teamwork ... everything is teamwork ... if there's only one doing everything then there will always be one constantly unhappy - if you cant be a team player then I doubt there will be happiness. 

If I won the Lotto

The next Lotto Jackpot is estimated at R 2-million and the PowerBall estimated at R7.8-million...

I know each and every one of you have at some point in you life said : "If only I could win the Lotto Jackpot..."

What would you do with your winnings? Would you invest? Would you splurge? Would you take a long holiday on a foreign island? 

I have been thinking long and hard about what I would do if I could win the Lotto Jackpot. Say for example R5 million:

Before I do anything - half of the money will go into a fixed deposit for at least a year or 2 to ensure I don't go crazy, although I have always been sparing with cash no matter how easy or hard it is to come by. I have never been a spender as such. But money changes people and the wise choice would be to keep it out of sight - out of mind.

I won't buy a huge mansion - I'd buy something small but spacious - with 4 bedrooms obviously (to have enough space for all the kids) and definitely 2 bathrooms to avoid the daily fights every morning over who takes too long in the bathroom and the ques waiting to get in there.  This has to have a big plot though as to build perhaps 3 little flatlets to rent out until such a time the kids are big enough to move into their own space but still need to be close to home.

I would not buy a fancy car - cheap and practical as we have now is perfect to continue with. But will definitely give it a nice proper service and get some maintenance done on it.

I will not go on holiday as such - maybe take the family out for a week to Wilderness or somewhere cozy and quiet. No use spending thousands on a week holiday and then have nothing to show for it when you can do it cheap and have a nice family week to spend quality time together.  There's so many little self catering places that accommodate big families.

I would not have told a soul that I won - you will be surprised how many friends you have when you strike it lucky and the family you didn't know existed that comes crawling out. 

After time has matured for the fixed deposit to become available I should have a business plan in place to invest in my kids future. 

What would you do with so much money??
Please share with the rest of us in the comments section.


  

POST COPIED DIRECTLY FROM Dispatchlive.co.za

http://www.dispatchlive.co.za/taps-in-butterworth-run-dry/

Taps in Butterworth run dry

By Asanda Nini 

Taps in Butterworth and surrounding villages in Mnquma municipality have run dry due to the water shortage crisis which has gripped the district for months.

As a result of the crisis, Amathole District Municipality (ADM) has imposed restrictions, saying it fears a complete dry-up in the next 50 days if consumers fail to use water sparingly.

Dry as bone: A view of Butterworth from Msobomvu, epicentre of Mnquma municipality’s water supply emergency Picture: Mark Andrews

ADM spokesman Siyabulela Makunga said yesterday the water crisis was the result of drought in the area and that the recent heavy rains were not enough to prevent the situation.

Makunga said the situation was so bad that ADM had decided to “heighten water rationing” in the area.

He said the district, which serves as a water service authority for local municipalities under their jurisdiction, had also opted to reduce water supply from approximately 14 megalitres (ML) a day to eight. He said the district had toyed with the idea of turning water off at certain times of the day to prolong the lifespan of dwindling reserves.

Mnquma is among three municipalities in the province which were declared drought disaster areas last December.

Subsequently, a provincial drought disaster was declared by premier Phumulo Masualle and gazetted on April 22.

“While rainfall in March and again in July did bring welcome relief to some areas, the Xilinxa Dam supplying Butterworth, Kotana, Ehlobo as well as many other rural villages between Butterworth and Centane, received very little inflow and the level has continued to drop to alarming levels,” Makunga said.

He added that the Xilinxa Dam was at 13%, which included “dead storage”, water below the outlet level which can only be used by installing pumps into the dam.

He said their investigation had showed that only an estimated 50 days of water supply was left in Xilinxa Dam.

He said alternative short and long term intervention measures were being explored, including investigating ground water potential in the area, “However, it is highly unlikely that sufficient ground water yields will be found to make a significant difference,” he said.

According to Makunga, the district’s call for consumers to reduce consumption had yielded no results and now their only option was to reduce water supply.

Owing to the large network and layout of the infrastructure, some areas were able to get water all the time, while other areas have no water.

Makunga said a professional service provider had been contracted and he was on site investigating alternative possibilities for managing water rationing.

“But the reality is that some people will continue to experience more prolonged outages than others.

“In order to provide some relief, ADM will increase the flow every few days.

“Water tankers have also been deployed to cart water to the most severely affected areas.”

He urged consumers to use water sparingly, “as the situation is getting worse by the hour”.

Mnquma municipality spokesman Loyiso Mpalantshane yesterday declined to comment on the water shortage and referred queries to ADM as it is the water services authority for local municipalities under their jurisdiction.   — asandan@dispatch.co.za

Kids and Money making ideas

The kids have started bugging us for a while now about ideas on how they can make extra money as they are all working on a long term savings plan.

C (8yrs) wants an x-box and I refuse to buy non-educational items although if they want to buy it themselves I won't stop them. 
So he did his math and realised he would need to save up quite a lumpsum since he would then need to also purchase a TV as well as the individual games to play on x-box.

D (9yrs) never wants to get a husband to provide for her - she just wants to be rich. She sometimes sees clothing also that she wants which is way over the budget I give them to choose for the month, so she uses her savings to buy her clothing since she wants to keep up with what other kids wear and I buy what is practical and within my budget. Yet again, if she wants it she can buy it if she pays with her money.

A (7yrs) doesn't have much in the line of goals and future planning - she just spends her money on sweets and toys at this stage, but I trust she will eventually decide to start saving for something. 

Now they have been given an "option" for extra money - a local store manager had mentioned to them that if they plant veggies he will buy it from them when it is fully grown. He gave them a list of specifics which he considers is the more expensive items to gain them the most profit. (Green Peppers, Tomatoes and Broccoli/Cauliflower).

So out came the books again and they sat and calculated how much they had to spend on seedlings and what they were going to buy. They each bought their own seedlings and started their own gardens. Obviously dad did all the work in mixing their potting soil, organic fertilisers and sand together and did all the digging and planting work. But in all fairness they have been running outside to water their gardens everyday after school. 

With the 6 days of no water we had the past week it was a bit tougher on them as they had to now work very sparingly with the water that is in the bottles as backup. 

Then they heard about "Flea Markets" and decided they want to sell stuff at flea markets but they don't know what to sell. 
There was quite a few useful ideas (apart from the one to sell stuff out my grocery cupboard :-)) and I told them to make their lists of what they want to make and do then we can start working on it this weekend up till month end when the next flea market will be held.

They asked about me selling Avon and I explained that I sell from a catalogue as well as on social media. It has now sparked an interest in them to also sell online and I promised them that while they do their part in saving I will assist as much as I can in helping them take pictures of completed items and listing them online for sale.

So in the very near future I will be posting a few items that would be available for purchase to help their cause.

In the meantime I ask that if anyone has any ideas I can push over to their side of items they can make and sell (it has to be things they can do themselves as it would motivate them more knowing it is their own work) then please feel free to give some ideas in the comments or alternatively email me on purps2005@gmail.com

Water Crisis in Eastern Cape

We are now going for day 6 without water - people walk around carrying buckets on their heads to just try get water home to their families.  We do have a 2000 L water tank connected however we did not anticipate the water shortage and was not made aware of it by any institution that their was a chance of not having water for so long (which they knew but just decided not to worry about sending out notices to residents) so with result is - we did not prepare ... 

At the time the water cut off our tank was under 1/4 full ... Now that gives an approximation of 500L (sounds like alot hey).

Still unaware that the water will not be coming back on; I did 2 loads of washing (and how I regret that now - I should have just did the smell test and what looks and smells clean must stay unwashed) but since nobody can really predict the future I did not know and just happily carried on with getting all my washing up to date while I had an off day to catch up with what needs doing around the house.

A family of 2 adults 1 baby and 3 kids who has a clean set of uniform each day makes a helluva lot of washing for a week.
And then there is bath time too ... 

Now this is the part where "drilling" your kids to learn to do things comes back to bite you on the @$$ ....  
Every time since they been very small when they leave the toilet you as a parent remind them "I didn't hear the toilet flush" or "are you sure you flushed properly" ... 
Every time they want juice you tell them - "rince out the cup you used earlier when you finished using it then you wont need a clean one from the cupboard when you want juice again"

The past few days that all has changed to :
"Noooooooo!!!! don't flush the toilet unless you made a poo" and they look at you like you been kidnapped and replaced by an alien ... 

You then taught them NEVER to leave the toilet without making sure it is all clear!! Now you tell them NOT to leave it clear... 

They stare at you with that "what the heck mom" or "make up your mind" look on their faces as if you are the nutty one.

And now you tell them ... just use your school juice bottle during the day for juices - don't use cups or glasses ... 
Then you get that crazy look again with "But you always say that our school juice bottles are for school - not for home use".

Only way to get water is to buy 5L bottles of still water from the shops at an average of R16.99 per 5 litre; we spent in excess of R300 getting some water supply for the house. 

Bath, toilet, baby needs water for his formula, dishes to be done, cooking, etc etc. You will be surprised how thirsty kids get when they know there is not much water. They all then want to drink water (which I am not complaining as it is the healthier option to grabbing juice to drink).

When checking the empty bottles collected in the passage this morning (as one gets used the empty gets moved to the passage to try find a means to get it filled during the day) there was 13 x 5L bottles standing empty.

Hard to believe that 65L are used so quickly while actually going very sparingly with it.

I don't care what anyone says but I feel that we as humans take water for granted wayyyyy too much ...
People always say it is a convenience to open a tap and have running water; yes that is but have you ever gone 6 days with no running tap and no flushing toilet? Especially with 3 kids who are still learning too that you do not need an entire roll of toilet paper per toilet sitting? 
It is chaos !!!
Rather let me go without electricity - but not water!!!

According to a lady from the department of water works - the dam is dried up and they do not know when there will be water again.

Now I have seen everything !! Woman tried to sell her child on Gumtree !!

Ok, so maybe this is very old news to some, but to me this is the first time I hear about this !

So many times I joke and tease with the kids saying "due to the rise in inflation I am going to have to sell one of you" and it always starts a laugh since they know I love them way over the moon and back and would never do such a thing to any of them.  

And when you actually think about it - how many of you at a till point tell your kids that "if the scanner can pick up a price for them, then you can sell them" ... 

And my ultimate favourite is saying "I'm going to stick a sign on the kid's chest saying - BUY ONE GET ONE FREE" ... 

But now what makes a person so sick minded that they actually attempt to sell their own blood child ???  ("apparently" my brother and I did try sell our little sister once - but in our defence we were very small and the packet of chips and juice we were offered in trade was very tempting as a swop)

So now yesterday I went onto my browser and instead of changing the text for google to gumtree I ended up "searching on google for gumtree" and one of the headlines caught my eye ... 

WOMAN TRIES SELL BABY ON GUMTREE !!!

At first I thought it must be someone being bored again and making up some story to send around on facebook but my "female inquisitive genes" got the better of me and I clicked in on it to have a look what it is all about (as if the headline didn't explain it in full already)

Link to the news article with news video report

I started reading and what a shock to find out her child value/worth to her is a measly R5000 !!!
How does one justify that?
How do you put a money value to your child?

No matter what happens with the economy - your child is your blood and no money or riches in the world could (or should) ever be enough for your flesh and blood.

How do you raise a child for 19 months and not get even more attached to him/her than you been during pregnancy and birth...?

I just don't get it !
It stirred me up properly and I just can not fathom how someone could sell their child and as the report said "had no remorse during the dealings or even after - except when she realised it was a sting operation and that she got busted" 

People like that should not have kids. Should not even be allowed close to a child in my opinion. 

Just venting to get it out of my system but would like to know what others think about this ... 

Educational Printables I found online

I came across a few sites offering some very nice educational printouts and I thought that some readers might be interested in printing a few to keep the little people busy indoors especially with the cold weather while we wait in desperation for summertime to give us a slight break when they get to drain their excess energy outdoors.

KIDS BOOK CLUB  You don't have to be a member or be registered to access these but I am subscribed to the mailing list and get notification when they post new activities.

ACTIVITY VILLAGE - This is a MASSIVE site with a near endless supply of printables

LUCY LEARNS   with quite a variety of colour in pages this site is ideal for the smaller kids

AZ COLORING alot of colour in pages here too

I will be adding a bit more later on during the weekend so stay posted for more educational pages coming soon

DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP TO JUSTPLAY (BANNER ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE) FOR FREE COMPETITIONS ...

ANOTHER ONE ???

Those who have been following the past few months all know about my recent pregnancy and our beautiful baby boy that was born in January this year as addition to the Family / "clan" ...

Two days from now he will be 7 months old and becoming more and more precious by the day.  He has the most beautiful smile that makes his entire face light up and some very prominent features already surfacing.  He definitely has Daddy's good looks and he is nearly always laughing or smiling.

He is healthy and I am grateful for that every single moment of everyday and even more so when I see posts on Facebook about babies in ICU or with unexplained diseases/illness.

Now to get back onto bragging about my absolutely gorgeous little bundle of joy, we fell pregnant last year with our son and having a 7 year gap between him and the youngest - and 14 year gap between him and the oldest, we have had (and still have) concerns about the other kids "rejecting" him when he starts getting a bit too mobile to their liking and able to access their rooms and "their stuff" ...

So far, so good ... they love him to bits and they play with him all the time which helps me a lot more than they realise - and gives me some "Me Time".  They all want to feed him all the time, bath him, make bottles, put him to sleep .. BUT NO ONE WANTS THE POO NAPPIES !!! They dont mind changing the wet nappies though.

They have been nagging endlessly to have baby sleep by them and we decided one night to let them 'feel the pain' of interrupted sleep ... we agreed they make one bed for the lot of them in the room closest to baby - and had his formula and nappies etc all ready for them ... they had to get up everytime he cries and check nappies through the night.  Everytime baby cried I pretended to be sleeping dead and saw them scofling around for the powder, wet wipes and begging baby to "please sleep a little bit longer next time" and arguing over who woke up first when he cried.

They changed him, burped him and fed him and made sure he was covered all night through.
They really did an excellent job. But they NEVER DID IT AGAIN.
Now they want him to just fall asleep by them but I must move him to his cot when I go to bed.

So to get to the end of my post ... we had some extremely shocking news a few weeks back ... we are pregnant AGAIN !!!

Shocking not only because we already have a full house of kids but mainly because we took the necessary precautions not to fall pregnant again and somehow it seems it didnt work out as planned.
2 babies in one year is no laughing matter - one born 5 January and the other one due end November - we will have one just starting to walk and talk and then be going through the whole baby drill again.

Needless to say we have overcome the shock of the matter after about a week from finding out and had to attempt the rutt of stocking up baby items all over again since we got rid of all newborn items and clothing as well as everything baby outgrew (carry cot, positioner, rocker, breastpump, newborn teats and bottles, the packs of nappies that we overstocked on, etc etc) as well as maternity items.

Oh and how I kept saying when I gave it away "that I will never again have any use for them" ...  now I regret passing everything on so quickly.

The bonus of the matter is -  I passed through my entire first trimester without even knowing or suspecting I could be pregnant and baby will grow up with a friend closer to his own age.

We went for a scan soon after and according to the doctor we are expecting a girl this time round, and she is already measuring to 20 weeks.

Major disadvantage is that we have never had the need for a medical aid as our kids so very seldom get sick or needed to see a doctor, so after had done the math we decided medical would cost us way more in a month than what we spend in total in a year on the entire family's medical expenses ... now we need that medical aid as we had collected quotations for the birth (no option this time round other than C-section) as I will not be able to do a natural delivery again; and the conclusion is that we need to save up R48 000 by November in order to cover just the hospital fees and the doctors present for the delivery of our soon to be "little girl" ...

With the way the economy goes lately it is near impossible to try save R500 a month as it is when you have kids who always need new school items, clothing, and all sorts of extras.

So my attempt to a solution to this is to try sell off as much as possible of my Avon Stock as I can and to try post as much as possible in order to earn something off the adverts on my blog.

To view the stock I have available please visit MY AVON ALBUM ON FACEBOOK

This one pays me R7 every time someone registers on JustPlay from my link :

If you don't have a Justplay account yet - click on the picture and sign up for free - it costs you absolutely nothing and it is the biggest and best online competition site in South Africa.
There is huge prizes and every now and again there is a car or 2 up for grabs as well as TV's, Phones, and cold hard cash ...
Often you will also find competitions to win a weekend away at lovely island resorts etc.