St Francis

This is a looooong overdue blog entry. Entirely my fault… I’ve been a fat lazy asshole last couple of days. All I do in the evenings is eating and watching idiot box. You cannot begin to imagine the state of my apartment at the moment. I just hope the cleaner comes on the weekend otherwise I am royally fucked!

Margaret can down for her bi-annual mercy visit to Africa (…and yes we spent shit loads of money and took good care of her…) end of last month. Melanie and I dragged both Eagle and Margaret kicking and screaming to St. Francis Care Centre for their annual done-my-CSR-bit-now-give-me-a-fuck-load-of-bonus HIV/Aids visit.

Below is an extract from my politically correct submission for the monthly Community Roundup. Hopefully it should earn Eagle some clout with all the big boys and girls in group and me some brownie points which may be converted into future into increments/promotions; unlike those I get very so often from Casa:

“….centre was founded in 1992 by Father Stan Brennan OFM, a Franciscan priest, after he was deeply affected by the neglect and ostracisation of people affected or infected with HIV/AIDS. St Francis Care Centre has been supported by staff of RABA Bank since 2005. It provides a sanctuary for the terminally ill where they will be nursed in a professional and comfortable environment whilst their physical, spiritual, emotional and social needs are catered for with care and dedication.

The team went on to The Rainbow Cottage and Nursery where they distributed gift bags containing stationary, activity books & candy to over 30 abandoned or orphaned HIV infected children from birth to 7 years of age. The Rainbow Cottage was founded in 1996 and is run by a professional team of medical staff, teachers and a social worker who take care of the children to ensure their well being and the development of their full potential.

The hospice can accommodate 48 terminally ill HIV/AIDS adult patients. These patients are cared for by professional medical staff and also have the benefit of a comprehensive counseling service for themselves and their relatives. The team met a terminally ill HIV/AIDS infected person who had less than twenty-four hours to live….”

Yes, it does go on and on and on about how we were all touch by the experiance, what we contributed…. blah, blah, blah…. To be fair, Eagle did make an attempt to interact with patients/children and Margaret committed to donating some money on a regular basis to the centre.

NOT Again

The last week has been a very hectic week in a long time. All I want to do this weekend is sleep, eat, watch TV, jerk off, go back to sleep and repeat the same all over again on Sunday. We all know that ain’t gonna to happen!

Anyway, exactly twelve months ago, I changed job roles within the same function and got a promotion and increment to go with it. Yesterday, at a team meeting, Eagle told me that my job role was going to change yet again! I like it… More ‘sales’ responsibility, more power to abuse; although I will continue doing all the stuff I was doing before plus more. Eagle called me into his office this morning and told me I needed to be more opinionated and less cynical in the new role. Ummmm....

Well the downside is that I most likely will end up with an end of year performance rating of 3B again for a third year in a row. Not sure if he will promote me to a 6 though… Hope not! It will just make the decision to move on that much more difficult. Now I’ve got to write up a new job description and objectives and think up a fancy kick-ass title for myself.

Post-holiday blues

Buzz is having post-holiday blues… and is missing his mummy! The house is quiet and depressing, works a bitch and the rest of my dinners for the week are in the freezer :-( Why didn’t I extend my trip and stay on for another couple of days? Why did I leave London three years ago?

Anyway… Twf called. He is coming over on holiday! Me being me, invited him and a friend to stay over while in Jozi. Why do I do such things? Oh bugger.

They say the best way to get over post-holiday blues is to start planning the next one…. That’s just what I am going to do!

Royal China

Met the Weston Crew for dinner last night which was great! Apart from Doc everyone who matters turned up including some partners/fiancés. Masai even brought along her not so good looking random cousin. Gr8 food, even better company and lots of green tea! What more can one ask for?

Met Oga and Shampoo for the first time last night. They both are stand-up guys although I reckon Masai and Soap can do much better for themselves. Oga interacted comfortably with all and also seemed to fit in well… His Indian accent was a bit irritating at times but bearable. I kept mentioning to Apple how weird it was to see Masai with Oga since I had never actually seen her with any other guy apart from her not-so-smart ex.

Shampoo on the other hand didn’t seem that comfortable and was probably a wee bit overwhelmed with meeting all Soap’s crazy friends who were ripping the piss at every given opportunity. Guess he'll have to get used to it!

Apart from the waitress being a total bitch and a whore who probably hadn’t been fucked in over decade and the fact that the ‘hot and sour’ soup was neither hot nor sour, it was a good night!