A short interlude

Made you read it again and again and again...
And again

Honestly, I thought I would be blogging more during this Christmas/Birthday/Wedding season. Well... Here's my delayed notice that I will be was on Hiatus for a month or so. I know it would've been better if I told you sooner, but I honestly planned to keep writing while I holidayed. But I guess life took over... (yes, I just got distracted)

Boy, that was a good holiday! Here's a breakdown of what I did in that space of time:

• Lived through every day successfully,
• Didn't die once! Honest!
• Drove a lot in one day - leaving at 5am and arriving at 11:30pm (we had many breaks along the way to Wilderness),
• Ate food,
• Slept,
• Went to Christmas with my girlfriend's family,
• Attended the AWESOME wedding of my sister and Francois on the 8th of January,
• And started working once again.

I do wish it lasted at least a little longer, though I certainly enjoyed the time that I had with my family and experienced great amounts of joy. T'was the season to be jolly after all! - Tralalalala-lala-la-la

My sister is a married woman!

Breath-taking pictures were captured on the beach.
I'm so proud to be your brother, you look beautiful!
And so do you Caro!!!

I still struggle to understand this concept. She is married, I have a bro-in-law, my mother is now a mother-in-law and MY SISTER IS A MARRIED WOMAN! Oh, I said that twice :O Wow... It blows my mind... And it's really great! If only I could see them more often. I love you my sister :D

Okay! So with this post, I'm back for good. I'll write more regularly again (hopefully) and try not to disappoint my adoring fans (that would be you).

I'M BACK BABY!
OK bye now...

Yours in writing
Benjamin

3 is the magic number

I couldn't keep to a schedule to save my life. Perhaps if I got paid to only write new posts I could get that right, so for now you can just be happy that I'm posting more-or-less than 3 posts a week :P It is just so hard to stick to a deadline. So many school projects suffered thanks to that trait of mine... Actually, I probably had less than a 50% success rate in completing projects :( Well that's in the past. Besides - I didn't enjoy most of those subjects much anyway. The worst part was not being paid to do the things I don't like, since I started working it's a lot easier to write Emails and speak in front of strangers, I do it daily without issue. Well, without many issues...

So with Christmas right around the corner, I can't be the only one excited for my birthday, right? There'll be fireworks, cheering, birthday resolutions made for the new year... Yip, my birthday is an important day! Most people will be celebrating New Year's day, but not me! :P I'm curious as to hear what other people are excited for at the end of the old year and beginning of the new year...

Christmas COW!

I mostly look forward to seeing all my family and friends around the Christmas tree and enjoying the sights of Wilderness (where we all congregate for fun times), all the out-door activities we can do there, opening presents, and this year is especially special because of Caro's wedding :D I wonder what I'll wear? Jess already brought a stunning black dress, so whatever I choose won't compare. I guess I'll strut my T-shirt and shorts since there's no competition anyway :P

Don't worry, I'm just kidding! I'll prepare some kind of suit or something...

Lucky number 13

I see 13 as my lucky number, mostly just to spite everyone that gets superstitious easily. And besides, it has the number 3 in it! The magic number of posts per week, Magic 3. So mysterious... In fact, there are only 2 whole numbers in existence that don't have '3' in them! 1, and 2. every other number has 3. 4 = 3+1, BAM! Magic number 3. That same principal can be applied to any number above 3, just in case you were wondering.

So Happy Friday the 13th!

NOT a holiday for some reason...

Yours in writing
Benjamin

FEAR Can be over-come! But how?

So many people tell you that fear is simply an obstacle to be defeated - that you can show your fears who's boss! I don't know how. Scary things scare me! Not knowing what's happening frightens me most of the time. The idea that something could change my life, no matter how insignificant, is a scary one to have when I don't know how it'll happen. It's got an element of excitement too, but mostly that deep-dark-relentlessly-scary-&-intimidating fear!

I am unhappy with work. (anything I say from here-on-out is something you can not quote me on! Because that could get me into shit. Pretend I'm lying about the following things I say. As my reader, you know that I wouldn't lie to you, right? But for my sake let's pretend I am) I am currently - or not currently - being made to work every other Sunday. (Yes, they ask if I can work, but by saying "No" when no-one else is able to would pretty much be telling my boss-lady that I don't care about the business and I want to quit...). I miss my weekends, this is getting ridiculous! Speaking of fear, I'm afraid I'll leave here before I find another job, and have no income. Scary!!!

I've been reading up on the following website for labour laws. Click here: HERE! <--- Click on that! The one that says "here"! It explains (in layman's terms) the laws by which all businesses in S.A. should be governed. Informative! Haha, you can actually press on any 'here' that you want, I linked them all to the page! Here again, so go check it out there! (yes, I even stuck one into the word "there", since is says 't-here')

The logo of the Department of labour of S.A.
Obviously.

More on fear - and how to "Deal with it."

One or two basic tips on the matter that I may be so bold as to suggest:

• Remain calm, and think things through carefully. Assess the situation as best you can. Ask yourself: "Is this a rational fear?". If it's not, Deal with it. You don't think it's rational so what's there to be afraid of?
• If that fear is irrational and you find that you can not Deal with it, you may have a phobia. I can't help with that.
• And if that fear is crippling, then don't move! Oh wait... You should move! Try to change your angle, see it from a different point of view.
• Ask for advice from friends and family, they just might have some insight on the matter which can help to pull you through.

Well that's really all I've got, I suck at handling fear. I tense up and freak out, panic and sh*t myself. Not a good role model in this regard.

Although, having said that, here's what always helps me. Support!

My loving family being loving, my caring girlfriend being caring, my nosy friends being nosy! (And ultimately helping me) And really any support where I can find it. So support your family and friends, they need you more than you know.

So tiny and horrifyingly... Pudgy! NOOO!
Run away! Hurry! AAAH!

P.S. Sorry for the super late post, I wasn't in a good place for writing things the last few days.

Benjamin, signing- AAAH! SPIDER!!!

A cockroach burning!

Random, I know...

To give you an almost-accurate idea
as to how we spent our Saturday

On Saturday we burnt cockroaches. My colleague, one of the technicians where I work, found the root cause of a Lenovo Laptop's psychological issues - he/she/it was being walked all over by wretched roaches. They were burrowing through its brain, so to speak, wreaking havoc on the poor guys'/girls'/things' state of mind. So the motherboard was completely destroyed. In a desperate and slightly sadistic attempt to protect our workplace from an infestation, we put the critters on a metal plate and in a pool of alcohol. And lit those suckers up!

I just hope we got all of them...

On another note, that same colleague is now sick! On his second day off in a row (100% longer than I've ever seen him away from his desk) and by the sounds of it he's no closer to recovery. I'm wishing you the best Carlos, get well soon! The sooner the better, because I can't take a day off until you're fully healed ;)

Seriously though, please don't die!

ANOTHER!

...Note - Another note. I brought a new keyboard! Specifically for gaming! What the hell was I thinking!? I don't have time to game! Foolish dream world I got sucked into. It looks really nice though! The Armageddon AK-300, with dazzling yellow gaming keys. Then I saw them in red... Dammit! I want red! IT'S NOT FAIR! (throws toys out of cot)

This is not a picture of my exact keyboard, just a pic from the inter-webs.
I haven't photographed my keyboard and probably won't.

I'm just kidding, I don't have a cot. (throws toys off bed, feeling anger and loss upon realising that I have no cot)

Oh boy, I can't wait to play a game - any game - with my new keyboard! Although, rather frustratingly, I can't figure out how to detach the black keys so that I can fit my yellow keys into place. If all else fails and I accidentally smash it into 1000 tiny, broken and incinerated pieces in a fit of rage then I could always just replace it with the same model that has red keys :D

And then find out how to change them properly.

Seyonara foolish humans!

P.S. If you are not in fact foolish, please disregard my farewell and have a lovely day. You are a special being that is loved and your existence has great meaning in this world.

Farewell blessed beings!

A few days in the life...

For a good amount of time I wondered how I would start this next blog. There are many cliche openings to articles, stories, etc., of which I can remember none right now. You will get no examples from me! Besides, I might want to use them later! As you can see, for today's post I chose to open with "WORDS"! All sorts of them. How unique is that!? I bet I won't find one book starting with words. (insert confident gesture of cool confidence here). ...Dammit! The first one I checked had words. It's dumb luck I tell you!

No matter! So I am now working as a waiter in a lovely little restaurant called Picobella, right here in Melville. Lovely Italian food, I've yet to receive a complaint! And I'm already on day 2 after my week of training ;) Seriously though, everyone loves the food.

My single gripe with the management of the place is that we don't get payed an hourly rate or commission, we work for tips. It doesn't bother me untill someone asks me to do something over and above serving my paying customers, since it feels like they are only allowing me to earn money there using their facilities, products and services... Okay, but they don't directly put money in my pocket (I don't mean literally, that'd be a bit too intimate). Now I just feel awkward, what was my point? Anyway, I don't really know how I feel about my job there, but I enjoy it. Also, the people that work with me are usually very nice and thought-full. So I just feel I have a strange relationship with my bosses, more like I work 'with' them than 'for' them.

They have put me on a very strenuous number of shifts, with a total of - wait for it... TWENTY. FOUR. GRUELING. HOURS. PER. WEEK! Yeah... 3 day shifts, Monday through to Wednesday. It's gonna be tough.

So! More time for some of this (hobbies and studies), some of that (games and T.V. shows [all sorts of 'em]), and a little bit of those (moments to spend with my woman). If schedules permit, then I'll most likely change the order to: Lots of those, some of that, and a little bit of this! Woohoo!

Most of all I enjoy spending time with my girlfriend, doing very little or nothing at all. I am content to simply be in her company. Perhaps talking a bit, but she's the chatty one in the relationship. I will post a picture of her here, and perhaps one day, she will read this blog and become very embarrassed. *Insert innocent smiling face here*

Some background info on our relationship - we met and started dating 5 years ago in high school when she asked me out to go see a movie. We had our first kiss after 2 years (I know what you're gonna say. Perhaps we should have waited longer, it's not good to rush a relationship, but we were young and the romance took us in the moment). She has strawberry blonde hair, green and blue eyes, and a face with cheeks, ears, a mouth- such beautiful features.

That's all you need to know about my love life.

My woman, Priscilla, riding a swing at Gold Reef City

Oh! Yesterday I made improvised crumpets for myself and my banting family, using eggs and bananas! They were strangely shaped and some looked burnt but they tasted great. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients: 2 eggs, 1 banana, some butter.

Step 1: Mash your bananas up as finely as you can and mix well with the eggs.

Step 2: Fry 'em up in the butter.

Step 3: Eat.

Step 4: You know, the way you normally eat crumpets.

Step 5: I put on peanut butter and tomato sauce.

Step 6: No, not on the same crumpets!

Step 7: We didn't have any syrup, honey or stuff other than peanut butter and tomato sauce in the cupboards, so I used what was at hand.

Step 8: Say: "Yummy! Gotta thank Ben for this recipe!".

Step 9: Type up a comment under this post saying: "Yummy! Thanks for this recipe!".

Step 10: Press the 'Enter' key and whatever else you have to press to send the comment, whilst giving a g+1 so more people are blessed with this recipe.

Step 11: Continue with your life.

Step 12: Live long and prosper. Marry a beautiful woman/man, have a few kids named Thomas, Jeremiah, and Susan (I just like the name Susan, okay?), get a nice house on a hill and a Ferrari, and retire before the age of 45. (Ferrari is optional)

To shorten the recipe to only five or so minutes, ignore steps 3 through 12. I know it's a long recipe but it tastes really good. Trust me! And when you think: "Hey, this doesn't taste like crumpets! It tastes like banana! and the texture's all wrong!", just remember that half the ingredients are banana (unlike normal crumpets) and exactly all of the ingredients were not flour, so it won't have quite the same texture as you may expect. If it makes you feel better you can pick a flower from the garden, tear it up, and add it to your pre-cooked mixture to fuel your delusion of eating real crumpets. It won't help unless you truly believe! Just to be clear, I don't recommend using real flowers... They could be poisonous, have bugs in them, or just taste gross.

Our crumpets were so good, a Ninja snuck into the kitchen, reached on top of the counter and ate half of them while we were out. True story. We yelled at Ninja and put her outside. Ninja is the name of our dog:

Ninja trying desperately to tell the cat she loves her

That was a fun post! (Here's a little secret, even though I procrastinate, I enjoy typing. Tell no-one!!!)

THE END