“I ain't got no money, I ain't got no car to take you on a date, I can't even buy you flowers, But together we could be the perfect soulmates, Talk to me girl” – Timberland (the way I are)

Absolutely no relevance to this weeks email, I guess its just my new song, I’m humming along to. Trust all is well with you all.

iYo, I nearly died…talk about a maaajor exaggeration! But it must have been a scary situation for my mate and our other mate’s bro. So on Friday a friend of mine invites me to tag along to the screening of this new Thabo Mbeki documentary that’s causing a bit of a stir. I duly accept the invitation. The screening was only to start at 8 in Newtown, so we decided to hook up for a drink in Sandton. It was time to leave and my mate tells me we have to go and pick up another mate before we go. I was having a ripper time, nothing exciting, just bouncing all over the place speaking a truck load of shaite to some mates here and there. So I decided to opt out of the screening and wait for it on SABC.

On Saturday I see a missed call from him so I call him back and he tells me, bra, let me tell you about my Friday evening. So I am all excited thinking go on…, so he tells me his story. After I left you, I went to pick up our other mate, I pressed the door bell. Whilst waiting in the driveway I saw her brothers VR6 in the driveway, but shoo something just don’t seem right here. I saw a couple of guys around him and thought something is definitely not right here, so I decided to reverse, next thing I see a guy running towards me, he jumps onto the wall and asks me to stop the car and take out the keys. Ordinarily I wouldn’t, but having a big gun waved in your face changes things a little bit. Fortunately these guys were pretty professional and they went about their way took my mate’s brother’s car and sped off. Fortunately the car was recovered abandoned in 20 min. It could all have gone pear shaped... but fortunately it didn’t.

Then yesterday, I hear a friend of mine’s elderly dad got hijacked yesterday and he was unfortunately roughed up a little bit. Fortunately he is alright, in a bit of shock but alright. This shaite is getting closer hey. Anyway a few years ago I was fortunate enough to attend and advanced driving course as well as an anti hijack course and just thought I should share some of the things that we were taught there…that I can recall.

1) Prevention is definitely the best cure, always be aware when you drive into your driveway, don’t go into the driveway and press the remote, because you can easily be blocked off (car behind you, gate infront of you). Instead stay on the road press the remote button, always looking around you once the gate is opened and you feel safe do you proceed
2) Try and take different routes home
3) DON’T TRY AND BE A HERO, more often than not these hijackers are just as nervous as you are
4) If you are ever in the unfortunate situation of being in a hijacking, co-operate.
5) Don’t look the hijacker in the eye, because they will firstly feel that u r threatening and secondly they will think that you want to identify them
6) Try as best as you can to remain calm
7) DON’T MOVE SUDDENLY…EVER
8) Always show your hands in front of you
9) Ask before you remove your seatbelt and do it slowly. I think they said you should use your right hand to slowly reach over to unclip your seatbelt always staying calm and looking infront of you
10)Hands always in front of you
11)Always ask before you move
12)Should it happen that you have a child with you in the car, demand in a non threatening way that you want to take your child, more often than not they will let you take him/her, because apparently cases involving children receive higher priority.
13)If you have a gun in close proximity, forget about it, its so much quicker to pull a trigger than to reach over pull it out, take off the safety, get it loaded and then shoot…forget about it!
14)At the end of the day it’s only a car, its not worth your life!

I hope I managed to capture most of the important points. It’s so sad where we’ve come to but I guess call me an eternal optimist…we shall overcome! If any of you have been to a similar course and have anything to add or have noticed that some of my points may be incorrect, please drop me a line

In the meantime, just be aware!

Birthdays
22nd Michelle
24th Vusi, Francis
26th Gina, Karabo T
27th Mike R, Courtney, Sayeda
28th Tshepo, Tanya Annor

“The power you need exists in the noble blood in your veins”

Maximum respect and be safe

Y

“que sera sera”

The week started off pretty well, previous week in Cape Town with the Cape Town office peeps (its nice having a full office), such a chilled weekend in Knysna, beautiful place that, hanging with the bro, the boys, Kirsten and co. Had some pretty ripper meetings this week, the Cape Town operation signed some pretty massive deals (nice work Deeno and Adi), I signed some pretty arb ones (hey but I complain not, I take any and everything I can get), started gym again properly, so all in all one of my more productive weeks in such a long time and to top it all off a bra is still having fun…even though I have lost my game! It’s a sad thing when you lose your game ( I can hear Eve saying, Yaw you have to have game first before u can lose it) and to her I say whateverrrrrrr, but its all a challenge, and all I say ‘cracking my neck from side to side’, and licking my lips is “bring it!” And Dakes (aka ‘Sabotager’) thanks for pointing it out repeatedly over the weekend, Enough of that boys talk! I can’t actually tell u how forward I am looking to 8.30 tomorrow morning and those that really know me will know why. It’s a sad existence when that’s the only thing concrete planned for my weekend, but fork it excites me!

Enough rambling, new additions to the list 3 very lovely young ladies…Thandi, Carlin and Nats, welcome to you 2 hope you enjoy your stay with us. If you want to read any of the older blogs or want to leave a comment go to www.mondaymail.blogspot.com or drop me an email with ur comments or if you have any suggestions.

I started ‘reading’ Rich Dad Poor Dad, yesterday very interesting book thus far and it makes soo much sense too, I say ‘reading’ because I got it on audio book from Tyrone…u know blacks and reading! No I’m not racist, some of my best friends are Black! But to try and break the stereotype, I am properly reading another book called “The way of the superior man” pretty darn good book, thanks Tumi, a lot of the content is definitely things I have heard before but its always good to hear them again. I strongly recommend them if you haven’t gotten to them yet. How freaky is this? A few weeks ago I mentioned the book the Secret in one of my emails, now I cant even drop a dart in peace without hearing about the Secret. Definitely next on the read list…oh wait its available on DVD…baby steps, but hey I am using all of my senses. Hearing, reading and now viewing…in the words of Isreal…Lekka man!

Ok guys I must come clean, I am such a fraud, I really am. For example a few months ago I said lets get some clothes together and give it to the needy. I received a few (emphasis on few) emails stating interest and so I asked them to drop of the clothes at my house cos poor little snow white cant carry much. Did I follow up…mmm niet! Its been bugging me for a while and I thought I’d come clean. Follow through, she’s a problem, it must have to do with my commitment issues, which I am working on…therapy is great, ok so i’m also a liar, I’m not really going to therapy.

Next thing on the agenda is something that has been cropping up a lot lately and that’s the fact that we are killing this world of ours. Some say that the scientist are trying to scare us blah blah. But we can all see that something she is not right! Droughts over most of the continent, so many natural disasters, melting ice caps, something is definitely amiss! I went to the live earth concert 2 weekends ago and the lady took my carbon footprint reading. Carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels; in the case of an individual or household, as part of their daily lives; or a product or commodity in reaching market for example the engine size of the car you drive, how far you drive, flights you take a year, what your electricity bill is etc. Mine was above average but not unmanageable. There were a few things that they said we should do to try and curb the rot and they are (courtesy of http://www.carbonfootprint.com/Minimise_cfp.html):

Here's a list of simple things you can do immediately, which will start to reduce your contribution to global warming. The items in this list will cost you no money at all and will in fact save you money.
Sign up to a green energy supplier, who will supply electricity from renewable sources (e.g. wind and hydroelectric power) - this will reduce your carbon footprint contribution from electricity to zero
Turn it off when not in use (lights, television, DVD player, Hi Fi, computer etc. etc. ...)
Turn down the central heating slightly (try just 1 to 2 degrees C)
Turn down the water heating setting (just 2 degrees will make a significant saving)
Check the central heating timer setting - remember there is no point heating the house after you have left for work
Fill your dish washer and washing machine with a full load - this will save you water, electricity, and washing powder
Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need
Unplug your mobile phone as soon as it has finished charging
Defrost your fridge/freezer regularly
Do your weekly shopping in a single trip
Hang out the washing to dry rather than tumble drying it
Go for a run rather than drive to the gym

The following is a list of items that may take an initial investment, but should pay for themselves over the course of 1-4 years through savings on your energy bills.
Fit energy saving light bulbs
Install thermostatic valves on your radiators
Insulate your hot water tank, your loft and your walls
35% of heat generated in the house is lost through the walls. Installing cavity wall installation to a medium size house could reduce your heating bills
By installing 180mm thick loft insulation you could stop about 25% of your heating escaping through the roof
Recycle your grey water
Replace your old fridge / freezer (if it is over 15 years old), with a new one with energy efficiency rating of "A"
Replace your old boiler with a new energy efficient condensing boiler
Travel less and travel more carbon footprint friendly.
Car share to work, or for the kids school run
Use the bus or a train rather than your car
Don't use domestic flights (e.g. from London to Edinburgh), use a train or a coach.
Take the ferry or channel tunnel instead of flying to France
See if your employer will allow you to work from home one day a week
Next time you replace your car - check out diesel engines. With one of these you can even make your own Biodiesel fuel. Find out more about Biodiesel.
When on holiday - hire a bicycle to explore locally rather than a car
When staying in a hotel turn the lights and air-conditioning off when you leave your hotel room
Ask for you room towels to be washed every other day, rather than every day

As well as your primary carbon footprint, there is also a secondary footprint that you cause through your buying habits. If you buy foods out of season at the super market, then these will have either been flown or shipped in from far away - all adding to your carbon footprint.
Reduce your consumption of meat
Don't buy bottled water if your tap water is safe to drink (especially if it has been shipped from far away)
Buy local fruit and vegetables, or even try growing your own
Don't buy fresh fruit and vegetables which are out of season, they may have been flown in
Try to buy products made closer to home (look out and avoid items that are made in the distant lands such as China and India)
Buy organic produce
Don't buy over packaged products
Recycle as much as possible

Think carefully about the type of activities you do in your spare time. Do any of these cause an increase in carbon emissions? e.g. Saunas, Health clubs, restaurants and pubs, go-karting etc. etc...

Some of these things are very hectic, it may mean not having much of a life, but there are a lot of these things that we all can do which is pretty easy, like switching off the damn lights when there is no one in the room!!

Birthdays
15th Garth and Naeem

For me this is another week that is about to end, I hope it was an inspiring and challenging week for you all. But before I sign off, something VERRRRY random, today’s date is 20072007

Maximum respect

Y
Que sera sera