GrumpyOldGuy

True that. This morning I took myself off to Meerendal farm for their 5k Park Run, standing at the start they asked everyone to sort of funnel, (ie) sub 20 minutes in the front, sub 25 minute runners next and so on, my time is usually a pedestrian 26/27 minutes so I funneled in the under the 30 minute group, next to me was a gent roughly my age (I thought) and we got to chatting, next thing we were off and this guy was tearing up the path ahead of me, I had to red zone just to get in behind him he was on such a pace. Anyway, we ran together for the 5 ks and he told me he was 68 years old............ still running 26 / 27 minute 5 k runs.......pretty darn good in my book. Then just a point, the Meerendal Park Run is a hoot, so well presented, so well marshaled, so well organised and so very very well supported, I guess there was around 1000 runners this morning, everyone gets a time (if you are registered - unfortunately I am not) and scanned in, its darn good, really, its something to be seen, and its done every Saturday I believe. There are of course the fast guys up front, but its for everybody, there were young kids, Moms with strollers, Dads running with kids, old ballies like me, everybody, I had an absolute ball, what a social event, if I could I would do it every weekend, if you haven't tried it,.....go, its the absolute best fun on a short run you can get. Afterwards a sterling coffee on the beautiful lawns......some folk dont know how good a run can be.!!

I can iron, I went to the army.! I recon everyone who went to the army irons well, you had to, unless you liked running to the tree to catch a butterfly. I still iron today, I dont like my clothes all creased, makes me feel untidy. Forget the Plank (ironing board) you dont need it, no one in the army had an ironing board and I still dont use one. You need a nice steam iron though, relatively cheap, go get one, then cut off that dumb 2 prong plug, you dont need that either, put on a good three prong plug. Now clear all the beer bottles from your kitchen table, wipe it down well and lay a big beach towel or an old blanket over it, this is what you iron on. Pour yourself a drink, any one which takes your fancy, doesn't matter, I like a whiskey... heat up the iron and lay your T Shirt out on the towel like you would wear it, start ironing,...this method worked for millions of us old troops, it will work for you- some things dont need to be improved on

Its hot out, grab your shades a cold one and head to the beach, put this on yer headphones.............**Deep sigh**....Everything is going to be all right...!

I am glad you sought solace Landy, even if it was just a from an informal chat with someone who understands. Remember "God always provides the ingredients for our daily bread, but he leaves us to do the baking." I wish you well.

Yah, Hillbrow had great food joints, when I was an appy you had to do 3 months a year at the jhb technicon as part of your apprenticeship, it was great because it was normal college hours and we were gone at 3pm daily,..... usually to some pub just down the road in Hillbrow! There was also that coffee shop on the first floor opposite the old indoor pool in Hillbrow, it was super, thick heavy arm chairs and the best coffee and cake for next to nothing. People say there all day reading the newspaper and just enjoying the atmosphere, it really started the coffee shop craze in JHB I think. Cant remember its name now. .....and the Hillbrow indoor pool....epic, it was underground and cost R2.00 to get in, it was heated by coal furnaces so the water was always 28 degrees or warmer, winter or summer, it was olympic size and many swim galas were held there, I went there regularly, we didn't have a pool back then, but my memory is of walking down the steps to the pool and getting that strong smell of Jeyes fluid which they used copiously for cleaning in the change rooms and around the pool. Strange how we remember these odd things.

I remember the President, but they dont ring a bell, its possible I guess, just forgot. Most of the time I went to "The Chelsea" in Hillbrow, excellent Club/ Pub even saw David Kramer there a few times, he cut his teeth there. Then of course the Bella Napoli, ..........!!! Afterwards to Mi-Vami, it was packed 24 hours a day, its where Alan Pick now of the "Butcher Shop and Grill" in Sandton and Cape Town started his restaurant career, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they pumped out great music and the best Sharwamas in the country, all from a little shop no bigger than the average home dining room, people stood in lines 20 deep all night to get in. .....and of course Fontana's grilled chicken, I would drive for miles to get one, also a 24 hour a day 7 day a week operation..........I struggled to find a restaurant with an open kitchen after 10 pm last night.

Durban had some great Pubs, I fondly remember spending many a nigh drinking kegs of beer at "Fathers Moustache" well known for getting "The blarney brothers" on the map, but my favourite band there was Glam......they were excellent, Joe Parker also played there quite a lot. .....and of course who could forget Smugglers Inn.......!! I spent many a Friday afternoon there, they still made the best steak in town at the time,...commonly known as "Steak Egg and Strips"

Yah, me too, I use my evil eyes for running, cycling, driving, walking and even ski-ing, I think I am on my third pair of glasses and inserts now. I have had my last set of inserts ground as Bi-focals so I can comfortably see distance and close up. The best sunnies I have ever had.

Ha, ha,.......now you are just boasting...

Ha, Ha, ya'all spring-chickens, you need to start a 60's thread bonus. Or maybe it will be only me.? I have been active all my life, running, cycling, hiking, gym, diving, golfing (yes its an activity) and I have always enjoyed endurance sports, sure it takes a bit longer to recover after a long run, sure, if I fall off my bike I will likely break something, sure, I cant read my bike computer anymore so I took it off, sure, I am a lot more picky about the weather before I leave the house, but on the plus side, been active I have stayed fit and reasonably healthy, I have met many great folk on the road and golf course, friendships that have endured decades, but also just a smile of someone who greets you today,..... getting older I look for different things now and I dont sweat the small stuff anymore.

You are a good man Honk Donk, there is never a need to retaliate or seek vengeance, just let it be, hold your higher ground and dont seek to hurt back,... be like a sponge, just absorb it and let it go. I wish you well.

A little Chris Rea...."Road to Hell",..... matches my mood today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA1V7cI28hI

I would echo Myles comments Landy, you may be mentally strong but there's a lot to put to bed in your mind, and you can only deal with things once you have them ordered, then your mind can deal with it, lock it up, and put it away, if you dont do this your mind will come back again and again and rehash everything over and over until you settle it in your head, and that's just a road to torment and heartache. If you are concerned about costs then inquire at your medical aid, most will pay for some professional counselling, but if not, then inquire about a counselor at your parish church, almost all parishes will have someone, the pain and anguish of divorce, death, addictions are not new to them, its what they deal with in the community daily, and they WILL help you,... consider it at least. I still remember you in my prayers.

My little bit of positivity for the day, a remarkable human and a wonderful musician....... Fools do nothing when they think the can do little. Canadian musician and song writer, Sarah McLachlan may not have done much to ease the sufferings, injustices and hunger in this world, but she did something, she did what she can. A successful musician, she could have spent 150,000 USD to produce her music video, “World on fire” with all the glamor and glitz, but she decided to use her camera phone instead, and spent just 15 dollars and donated the rest to charity “World on Fire” music video opens with the singer sitting on a simple chair in a barren room on an otherwise empty set. A title card comes up: “What’s wrong with this video? Well, it cost only $15.” Then the song, featuring the lyrics “The more we take, the less we become / A fortune of one that means less for some,” lists where the rest of the typical $150,000 cost of the film would have been spent (“a producer would cost $7,500”). The twist is that McLachlan’s video dollars are used not on those typical production costs but to help poverty-stricken children and women in Cambodia, Niger, Bangladesh, India, and other struggling countries. (That would-be producer’s salary instead bought “6 months of medicine for 5,000 patients” in a Nairobi health clinic.) You can watch and listen to the video here.....

Its a difficult call really, I don't do all the Facebook and Twitter and stuff so I haven't read the arguments, but I think on a certain human level you cannot always argue something just on facts alone, you have to allow for natural human sentiment as well, its extremely important. As a case in point on another thread shows, that as a fact, the informal settlements only use a small amount of the daily water supplied, however it angers people on an emotional level to see hose pipes running in the street and they want it stopped, not because its going to realistically change the levels, but because on an emotional level it irks them and they feel angered. This is a perfectly understandable response by the way, average people aren't dealing only in facts, they are not in court, they are however very much dealing with their human emotions to a known issue, and sometimes like now, those emotions "should" in my opinion be given due credit as well. I am not in a position to say wither the event should go ahead or not, but even though the impact on the water use may be small, people, it appears, are seeing it as "unnecessary" and possibly even having a negative impact, and very often people will stand up and fight for their beliefs,.........which is something I imagine the organisers would be keen to avoid. If it goes ahead I think there will need to be a massive media transmission explaining the planning, however, this must take into account all the emotional concerns as well as the factual ones, people want to know they have been heard and their sentiments have been considered, if they concentrate too much on just the facts, you will leave a lot of people frustrated and behind the curve, and that could possibly spell disaster.