Today is the first day of ‘Operation Stop Smoking’. It is long over due but I have finally decided that I am sick of letting my money burn away while it destroys my health.

So I decided that blogging about it, might help with the frustrations, as well as, help out with retaining the will power I desperately need.

Will power is a funny thing. You start off with so much of it that it seems to ooze out of you, but within 2 hours your brain (the desperately addicted part, anyway) starts trying to coerce the rational part of your brain into believing that the entire thing is unnecessary.

Desperately Addicted Part of Brain: Why are you putting yourself through this?

Rational Part of Brain: Because I WANT to stop smoking.

DAPB: But why? You like smoking?

RPB: No… you like smoking! I like being able to smell, and being healthy, and not having to sit in yucky smoking sections, and not being dependent on something as ridiculous as a cigarette!!

DAPB: But maybe you should try to quit another way… like cutting down first. This Nicorette Patch thing is really difficult and if you fail, then you won’t try again.

RPB: No, the Patch is cheaper and I am sick of burning/ smoking my money away!

DAPB: You’re just going to end up spending the money on things like food and other distractions anyway – and then you’ll get fat!

RPB: Crap. I remember that from the last time I tried to quit. Dammit I’m already thinking about food! Maybe you have a point!

DAPB: *Happy Dance*

RPB: No, it doesn’t have to be like that! I will not give in DAPB! BACK OFF!!

So for now I am winning and I will kep on winning, until the DAPB is gone for good!!!

Yes… that is what I shall continue to chant to myself… over and over… until it is, in fact, the truth

So Yesterday was interesting. I foolishly thought that it was going to be a fantastic day as the sun was finally rearing its head from behind the murky and very unwelcome, clouds. I drove to work merrily – all 50km’s without a single complaint – and when I finally arrived at work I was feeling ready to face the week ahead.

The day went on and I was feeling productive and content, well, that is until approximately 11h00 when the clouds over powered the sun and once again won the battle that has been going on since early January.

The rain came down in buckets… seriously, it was like a flash flood. I decided not to let it bug me that just as it was getting time for me to go home, it started raining, so I just ignored it cheerily.

At 12h00 (home time), the rain had slowed to a spit and I made my way out of the basement parking. I drove the few 100m’s to the dreaded William Nicol- Montecasino Boulevard intersection and turning left ,I was accosted by a rather deep and unpleasant puddle. I didn’t think much of it, other than the fact that it was an awful reminder of the Sun’s losing battle, until I reached the robot before the N1 highway on-ramp.

I turned into the newly opened construction lane and slowed down to stop (the robot was red, of course) only to have my car stall. Ignoring the sudden rush of blood to my face, I tried to start my car again, and you guessed it, it was dead. There wasn’t even a hint of the usual grinding-key turning sound.

Now, I don’t know if anyone has ever been stuck on William Nicol, but if you have, I am sure you will agree – It is rather scary! I am not the extremely paranoid type but I also don’t really like it when my car becomes the leaning/resting post for the hoards of men selling stuff at the robot. Especially when only the day before I saw those same men getting chased by the cops!

Anyway…  I ended up waiting just over an hour for my designated tow truck to arrive (Thank God for Roadside Assist), only to get home (after a long, awkward, drive) to find that my car is in fact, fine. It was just behaving like a cat and died of fright when it was dragged through the puddle!

I didn’t go to work today, for fear of my car dying again, but I am going to have to face it tomorrow! So let’s hold thumbs that tomorrow the Sun wins!

Does anyone have any idea why it is, that as soon as it rains people forget how to drive?

I can’t understand it. I mean, you expect to get to work later than usual because you have to drive slower, but to get to work 40 minutes later is just ridiculous.

Once again, the people at the Montecasino Boulevard – William Nicol Drive Intersection decided against following the rules so there was no way to turn into Montecasino Boulevard (unless you were driving a bulldozer or a monster truck – which I am seriously considering as my next choice of vehicle!).

I instead decided to take Witkoppen and go around the other way, only to find that traffic on Witkoppen was hardly moving! Although it was better because at least the people weren’t being retarded.

Well anyway, seeing as 2010 is supposed to be a positive year (I decided this on New Years Eve), I had better stop moaning, you know, with the law of attraction and all!

Hmmm… ok I found a positive – at least I had Gareth Cliff and the Team to keep me smiling!

THANKS 5FM

Have a Happy Wednesday everybody!!!

Has everyone noticed the influx of learner drivers – well cars with red L’s on the back – on the roads recently?

Well I now know why! Apparently in South Africa, if you stick the red L on your back window you are allowed to drive! Now, don’t get me wrong, this is illegal, but for some reason a great deal of our population are convinced that this is how it works, and to be hones I don’t even think half of them no that they are doing something wrong.

You know which cars I am talking about… it’s usually an old UNO or a Tazz… even a Mazda 323, with dark tinted windows and a big red L. They are usually driving in the middle or fast lane of the highway, going about 80km/h (100km/h if you are lucky) and they are holding on to their steering wheels for dear life!

Now my question is, How does this happen? How is it that there are people that think that this is how it works? Where are the traffic cops when it comes to them? All the Metro seem to do nowadays is hide in the bushes, waiting for speeding cars, or setting up roadblocks at inappropriate times, causing unnecessary traffic!

Ok, I know I am moaning again… what can I say? The holidays are past now and it’s back to the 100km stretch a day…. you can’t blame me for thinking about cars and traffic, can you?? LOL

Happy Tuesday Peeps!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This was too funny not to share!

Click here to see the lyrics and the original post.

What did you think?

*Before I get to my actual post, I just want to apologize for the lack of posting. I blame this entirely on both work and QWP (quiluetewolfpack.com). The first, because work has suddenly come alive and there is just too much to do and the latter, because Twilight RPG is an addiction I have no intention of stopping Ok, now that that’s out of the way, on to my post…

I got to thinking the other day, “What is it about this Twilight world that gets all of us going?” and I came up with a theory that men may be able to learn from. (Yes, guys, if you stop hating on our sparkling vamps and shirtless wolves, you may actually be able to learn from them!)

We all know that, even though the entire fantasy world created by Stephenie Meyer is so fantastic, the Twilight Series is essentially a love story – a classic love triangle where a choice has to be made. A choice between what’s natural and right and what’s magical and passionate. Now, no matter what team you’re on I am sure you can agree that, for most of us, there are both irresistible and frustrating qualities on either side. I am here to point those out. So let’s start with the irresistible qualities of Edward Cullen.

1)      Confidence, Confidence, Confidence. Edward exudes mystery. He is the bad boy, the one that no girl can crack – He is unattainable. It’s human nature, once something is unattainable, to automatically regard it highly… he becomes god- like the minute Jessica tells Bella that she shouldn’t bother. (Yes, I know, he is HOT, but there are plenty of hot men out there and you can’t tell me that they measure up, now can you?)

2)      Curiosity. Mysteries create fascination. Every single one of us (even the Team Jacob’s) were intrigued by him in the first book (that’s why we read the second one, right?). He was different. He was confusing. It stems back to the age old advise of playing hard to get. Obviously doing this can also back fire but when it is not intentional it tends to have the desired effect. When you have to work for something, it makes it even better.

3)      Overprotective, throw-myself-in-front-of-a-bullet-for-you love. No matter what we say, women like to feel protected. Yes, it is rather old fashioned… but what can I say- old habits die hard.

4)      “You are my world, Bella.” Need I say more? Nothing is more swoon worthy than a man who proclaims his love in an irrational “you-are-my-everything” kind of way. We like to feel as though the one-of-a-kind magical love is out there, and that we have found it. (This stems from fairytales… we do understand this – but it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks!)

5)      He may be a vampire, but he is a gentleman. He opens your car door, gets his point across without using a single profanity and he will give you his jacket when it’s cold. He is that guy, the one who was hard to get, but is now devoted… to you and only you. (Yes, this does sound crazy… but once again, I blame the fairytales!) It’s all about respect.

Now before the guys start planning to become Edward Cullen replicas, let me tell you some of the things that will not work in reality….

1)      Stalkerish Behaviour. Creeping into our windows at night and watching us sleep, even out of love, is not okay in the real world. This is considered stalking. So is following us around, and watching us, constantly, from a distance.

2)      Lying is never okay – even if you think it is for protective purposes. No matter what, don’t tell us you don’t love us, when you do, and leave the country to protect us, or because you think it’s the right thing to do. I can promise you that, in the real world, there will be no one waiting for you when you get back… especially if there is a shirtless Jacob making us forget about you.

That brings me to our second hero – Jacob Black. Let’s start with what we love about him.

1)      A little bit of boy in a man, is a good thing. Jacob is fun and playful. He knows how to have a good time and is not always serious. (Yes, we do actually like to wrestle and joke around – it’s not always about life or death, and ‘how much do you love me?’)

2)      Vulnerability. Jacob shows his soft side a lot more often than his competitor. He is human with feelings and he is not afraid to show them. (But before you start shedding tears when your girlfriend’s puppy dies, he is not too soft. He has the manly thing down enough to be the one holding you while you cry, dead puppy or bad day at work, it doesn’t matter – Jacob will be there.)

3)      Protector. Once again. We like to feel safe. (Take note – repeating concepts usually denotes importance).

4)      Honesty. Jacob is like an open book. If you ask him, “Does my butt look big in this?” His reply would be simple, “You know there is no right answer to that question, right?” with a big grin and a chuckle. (Once again, playful is good.)

5)      Willing to fight. There is something incredibly sexy about determination. Jacob is willing to fight for her, no matter what. He never gives up, even when it hurts. (Devotion…. anyone heard that before?)

Now, to be fair (because after all, I am Team Jacob) there are some bad things about him too.

1)      Forcing the issue. For the love of god – Please don’t kiss us unless you are sure we want you too. Once again, in reality, this will only earn you a slap across the face (which will actually hurt!). Use your judgment, asking is better, but it’s not great either. Oh, and using manipulation as a fighting tactic – also not the best of ideas in reality.

2)      Persistence. This is a tough one, it has a good and a bad side. As has been said, determination is sexy, but I want to just mention that, in a world where it’s not about life and death, if we make a choice – respect it and leave it at that.

So you see guys were not all that complicated

*Note: I just want to take this opportunity to say that this is not about the book or the teams. As much as I love a good debate, this is an adaptation to real life. I do know that Edward is not a stalker and that Bella breaking her hand on Jake’s face was actually pretty funny

This weekend was a whirlwind of reminiscing and absolute craziness!

So I’ve told you about Bix, right? Well she has bumped up her flight and is now leaving for London TODAY! She told us this on Thursday, so, as you can imagine, this weekend became “The-Best-of-the-Three-Musketeers-Back-Together-One-Last-Time.”

On Friday we went to Doors and rocked our socks off! I am not even kidding! I haven’t danced like that since… actually ‘m not even sure I have danced like that. We were on the floor the WHOLE time. Every time my body would say, “Ok, it’s time for a rest!” a really, really good song would come on and I would just ignore it! It was so AWESOME. I’m sure The Killers would agree. They were coming there for the concert after party, although I gave in to my body before they arrived , so there is no proof in the form of a photo (although apparently there are no camera’s allowed in Doors, at all, ever! So that wouldn’t have happened anyway!).

So after the “Awesomest-Night-of-Dancing-Ever” I woke up and I promise you, I couldn’t move me neck. I just laid there trying to figure out how I was going to get up. Did you know that you use your neck muscles for almost every movement you make? It gives you momentum to move forward or get up. Yes, I know, it was news to me too.

So Saturday was interesting, to say the least. I did still manage so go out with Mr Perfect and get DVD’s but that was about it. We watched “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” (I had forgotten what it was like in cinema… Twilight has that effect), “The Hangover” (which was hilarious… did I mention earlier that you use your neck to laugh too?) and “Ice Age 3″ (which was pretty good too. Who doesn’t love cute baby dinosaurs and Mammoths?).

Yesterday I woke up with a very, very slightly better neck and off we went to The Glen, before going back to Bix’s to have a farewell braai. Shopping was horrific… busy shopping centre’s should not be inhabited by crazy girls who have a sore neck and can therefore not work properly. Needless to say, I was not in the best of moods!

The braai was awesome, as well. Reminiscing about ‘The Good Ol’ Days” can never be bad Except when people keep pouring shooters, on a Sunday, and you have to then be reminded that you are now older and have to actually go to work on a Monday – that sucks! I did leave there with a special something though – “The Holy Grail of the Three Musketeers.” Yes, it sounds ridiculous, but it is our book. It holds the ultimate form of reminiscing and I may even post some of the best ones here You never know.

All in all it was fantastic, but now I have to get to the airport and deal with the not so awesome part – saying goodbye!

I have been putting off reading the host because for some strange reason I felt as though I was betraying ‘Twilight’. I know it’s crazy but I wasn’t ready to leave the ‘Twilight’ fantasy world just yet.

Anyway, enough crazy talk. I started reading ‘The Host’ on Sunday afternoon and finished yesterday afternoon. Yes, it was THAT good! I couldn’t read fast enough. The story is entirely different to what I had expected.

The story is about an parasite-type alien race which take over Earth by using humans as hosts.  The few humans that are left are all on the run from the Seekers. Melanie Stryder is one of these humans, but she gets caught and Wanderer is inserted into her body. A strange thing happens though – Melanie does not disappear, instead Melanie and Wanderer are forced to share her body.

Melanie uses her human memories of the man she loves, Jared, to try to torture Wanderer and to keep her younger brother, Jamie, hidden from her. Wanderer begins to love Jared and Jamie and the journey to find them begins.

The story is full of wonderful surprises and some really interesting and extremely lovable characters. The aliens are completely different to any aliens you may have heard about and the book doesn’t have the sci-fi feal I thought it would, but rather it feels just as any other good fantasy book. The writing in this story is very different to that of ‘Twilight’ but you can still feel Stephenie in every inch of it. She is a genius.

I have fallen in love with these characters and I can only hope that Stephenie Meyer continues with the series, making it the 3 book series she envisioned.

Dear SANRAL

I understand that the project you have undertaken, to improve the roads that we rely on for almost everything, is indeed very complicated, but I want to let you in on something I have learned while driving through the maze you have created for us.

We, drivers, are like sheep. We all generally follow the route that the majority are following, but as with sheep you get the rebellious ones, the ones that just don’t follow the rest, the ones who try to get away, or get ahead. These ones need to be forced to follow. You see, they don’t have the same thinking capacity as the majority. They don’t have the logic to see that by following and listening to the rules you get where you want to go faster, without disturbing every one else. They aren’t considerate enough to understand this. They are the kind that just do as they please, without caring about consequences.

Now, sometimes, these rebellious ones, cause havoc and stir up the anger in the majority of us. This often causes a type of chase and sometimes a ramming incident will ensue. This endangers all of us followers, who are just trying to get from A to B alive , happy and within a specific time frame.

So what am I getting at, you ask? Well, I am asking that you please, please, please,  make sure to herd them properly, to please send this message to all the herdsman, to inform them that barriers need to be in place in order to prevent the rebellious ones from skipping the queue, through outside lanes, thereby reeking havoc.

Correct herding is imperative for the majority of our sanity’s! Please keep that in mind while you take away lanes and create traffic that wasn’t there previously. Help us appreciate these changes, help us accept the traffic, by not leaving openings for the rebellious, stupid ones to take advantage.

Thank you.

Warmest Regards,

Weeball

Not that I need to tell you but I have been a bit slack with my posts these last 2 weeks. I blame getting older *lol* No seriously, ever since my birthday I have just been a bit out of whack. So much stuff seems to be happening but I am hoping that things will begin to calm down again, with the holidays coming and all. I need some time to get into the spirit

Anyhoo… yesterday I went to watch New Moon again (like I said… fanatic) and I was shocked to see how the ads have become the same as TV ads. I know that it has been going on for a while, but they usually play longer versions and they are mainly the story-like ads, so I never really had much of  a problem, that is until yesterday.

We were sitting there all innocently, waiting patiently (well,  an attempt at patience) and the next minute a Kotex ad comes on. You know the one with the chick walking all over the show and this weird scrunching sound keeps following her, and then you discover that it is actually her pad making noises while she walks!

I was like “Seriously?”You are advertising pads, at the cinema.” Is it weird that that freaks me out? I was so uncomfortable. Imagine you bring your kids to watch a movie and the pad ad comes on and they ask loudly, “Mom, what’s that?”

I would die! I would literally be begging for a giant hole to appear and engulf me!

Maybe it’s just me, but still. I think I should write to them,

Dear Mrs/Mr Advertising Manager for Pad ads around the world,

Please, I beg you, could you stick to girly mags and day time television for any advertising of sanitary products. It would be much appreciated!

Warmest Regards,

Weeball