Not usually being one to complain about the police, I hope you realize just how shocking, disturbing and sobering this experience must have been for me to be writing this letter.
On Wednesday morning, on my way to work, a JMPD vehicle almost rear ended me because the JMPD officer behind the wheel was on his cellphone and therefor not paying attention to what was going around him. Correct me if I'm wrong, but talking on your cellphone while driving is illegal in this country, isn't it?
Anyway, this wasn't nearly as disturbing as what happened next. Please note that the vehicle did not have it's sirens or flashing lights on, and was obviously not on it's way to some kind of an emergency. The vehicle proceeded to push me of the road, causing me to nearly roll my car, and then drove past throwing me a zap sign.....what the hell????? I was unable to take the vehicle's registration number as I was trying my best not to write off my own precious little car in the process.
Needless to say I was disturbed, upset and just a tad hysterical. I ended up crying all the way to work, ruining my make-up and developing an absolutely awful headache. After getting some tea from my precious Hilda(tea lady), to calm the nerves, I tried phoning the police department to lodge a complaint....no joy!
First of all I was informed that this was impossible, no police officer would push another car off the road and proceed to be rude about it. But when they finally agreed to take the complaint, I was informed that without a registration number I can't even lodge a complaint, or at least not one that would be taken seriously at all. I'm sorry, I couldn't take down the registration number because I was trying NOT TO GET KILLED!!!!!!
This is the second time in as many months that I've had a major problem with JMPD. One evening last month, a DRUNK police officer, actually tried to pull me over, after I instinctively hooted at him when he cut me off. He was swerving across the highway, drunk as a skunk, causing more than one person to have to veer off the highway in an attempt not to be hit.
Due to this I've lost all respect for our so-called law enforcers. I've always tried to remain positive and supportive wherever I can...but this is absolutely ridiculous.
I have so many emotions and thoughts running around in my head that I have no idea how to put them down on paper, much less blurt them out in a conversation.I realise that I’m famous for my extreme and incurable case of Foot in Mouth disease, but there are times when even I struggle to grasp words, any words to express what’s going on in my little world.
We’ve been friends for a very long time the two of us.I was there when your whole world collapsed, I was there during the period that you rebuilt it...doing more than my fair share to help.I saw you meet the love of your life, and I made an effort to get to know her and to be her friend, initially for your sake, but later, for hers.She’s an amazing lady....full of love and charm and although she is in many ways the exact opposite of me, we get along like a house on fire.The only thing to ever mar our friendship was.....well...you.Even though she knows she has nothing to fear, she can’t help but feel insecure about our friendship.So we decided to bridge the gap for her.....we stopped sharing long standing private jokes, we ensured that we never spent time alone, always including her in everything...and it worked.Until now.
The other night you phoned me at about 9.Please could you come for coffee.I was under the impression that she would be joining us, and being the little night owl that I am, I didn’t mind.Great was my surprise when you showed up on your own.I was really glad to see you, but the first thing that jumped out of my mouth the second you got out of the car was:”Where is she??” You became slightly evasive and told me that she went on holiday with her folks.....leaving you behind for a week.I’ve never been good at keeping my mouth shut, so I just jumped right in and wanted to know why on earth she would go on holiday without you, considering that it would have been completely possible for you to join her....You didn’t have an answer.
It’s no secret between us that there was a stage, a couple of months before you got engaged, that you were in love with me...and passionately so.I didn’t feel the same, and after long talks you accepted it, you even managed to talk to you wife to be about it, telling her about your silliness and the realisation that it wasn’t real.I was relieved and happy that it was all out in the open, crisis averted.
I’ll be honest....I’m worried, really worried.The fact that you came to see me alone, hardly answered any of my questions about the two of you, and then proceeded to tell me that you didn’ttell her that you were coming to see me and would appreciate it if I didn’t tell her either......I’m actually feeling kind of sick with worry.You never seem to smile any more, yet when the two of you are together you act as if everything is just peachy, and maybe it is, I’m just not convinced.
I’ve given you an ultimatum.Tell her you came to visit me while she was away or I will.Maybe i’m making a mountain from a molehill.But considering the current situation, and the history, I don’t want anybody pointing fingers at me saying that I was the cause of a failed marriage.I didn’t do anything wrong, I know that much....but I need you to tell her that you were at my house...even if it’s only for the sake of my sanity.
You’re like my brother, and I would do almost anything to see you happy and excited about life.But I refuse to be part of something that makes me feel dirty, even though i didn’t do anything wrong.Am I just being paranoid?Do I have reason to be worried?Why does everything always have to be so complicated...*sigh*
Ok, so as you've probably noticed, today's post aint a letter:) There is a reason for this, I swear and if you'll give me just a second of your time I'll get to it.
Today is my 100th post.....YAY ME!!!!! Despite numerous issues with Internet, periods of neurotic behaviour, cruises, 2 month breaks and scary stalker I finally made it! whoooop!
I've been over thinking this whole 100th post thing for waay too long...trying to figure out a way to make it interesting and memorable, and to my absolute horror I came up with.....well, nothing. Amid the tax deadline, which is today by the way, creativity seems to be lacking. Sorry:(
I thought about doing a post about interesting facts about me that you guys don't already know, but then decided to keep that in case somebody tags me for a meme....you never know with these bloggers. After much deliberation and weighing the pros and cons I finally decided to face one of my fears head on. I decided to post a couple of pictures me, Ruby, in real life. Now granted, I have posted pics with me in them in the last couple of weeks, but never have i specified that it's me and never of well....just me. The reason I have been so incredibly paranoid about this is because I've had my fair share of stalkers. The last one in fact turned out to be plain scary and perverted. All the readers out there who knew about this and how incredibly scary the last couple of months have been will be glad to know that I managed to get rid of him....and no, I'm not planning on divulging those details on my blog.
Please note that these pictures will only be on the blog for about 24hours, if you miss the window of opportunity to find out what I look like.....well....sorry for you! This is like our "for giggles" signature pose or something......
At Hershey's chocolate world in Hershey, Pennsylvania......best hot choc ever!!!!!
In Mosselbay....Santos beach to be exact.
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Cocktail bar fun..whooop!
At AK's wedding actually
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OK, so I realise the post isn't exactly WOW material or anything, but this is me in all my glory.....well, almost anyway. And it took a lot of guts, being the paranoid person I am, so say nice things OK!
Now i realise that i told you guys that I wouldn't be doing one of these for some time to come. But I've had the most awesome news....so I have to share it. And since I'm super excited I'm having trouble being all creative and stuff.......so here goes......Little miss Ruby received her acceptance letter today:)
I'm doing my Masters in Forensic auditing y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my word.......where does one begin??? I have no words to explain this amazing experience. Sun, sea, zodiac rides, sexy Italian sailors, food, food, food, cocktails, beaches, 5 star treatment, gorgeous sunsets, even more amazing sunrises, dancing until the sun comes up and great company......what more could a girl possibly ask for?? Not much really:)
I'm not going to go into the details of the trip...there is just too much and too little blog space. So, I've decided to tell the story with the help of a couple of pictures. We hardly slept at all the entire time we were on the boat. Opting rather to dance either under the stars or in the club. Luckily, none of our little group of friends suffered from motion sickness.......this obviously enhanced the experience:)
The food was superb! And I swear it felt as if we were eating the whole time. The day started with breakfast buffet, then a "Late risers" buffet, then teatime, then a lunch buffet, then "High tea" and then a 7 course dinner.....which was quite a fancy affair.
Everybody came back weighing ever so slightly more than when we actually went on board......I suppose it could be blamed on the combination of food and cocktails. But that's what new year exercising regimes are for right?
The sailors were mostly Italian and definitely lived up to their reputation....*wink wink*. My "Stolen Kiss" happened to be the "Pilot" of the ship, and was brave enough to smuggle me onto the captain's bridge on the last morning to watch the sunrise from there...it was absolutely amazing!!! And believe it or not, I still chat to him on a regular basis...or whenever he has access to the Internet.
We came back with heavy hearts, tanned bodies and a million pictures and memories. Here are a couple of pictures to wet your appetite:)
And we're off!!!!
Smart Casual Dinner the first evening
On the Portuguese Islands.....gorgeous!
Still on the island...just check how far the cruise ship is....about a 10min zodiac ride
Beautiful sunset after an awesome day on the Island
The girlies on our second night....dinner is a fancy affair y'all!
Deck party!!!!!!!
Still having fun at the deck party:)
We ensured there were enough life boats for everyone
A stolen kiss...........
Sunrise from the Captain's bridge on the morning of our arrival back in Durban
Thank you so much for inviting us into your humble surroundings. Those brief days stolen on Mozambican beaches and philandering around on quads will forever be one of the most memorable trips of my life.
We left Pretoria at about half past 11 Friday night. All 4 of us were super excited. We were traveling to Moz with a double cab bakkie towing a 6m trailer containing two rather large quad bikes and a smaller trailer containing a jetski. Miss Gym Bunny finally fell asleep at about 2 in the morning, but being the little insomniac I am, I stayed awake throughout, keeping the guys awake with animated stories and listening wide eyed to their stories of Moz and the time both of them spent in the police force.
By 6 o'clock Saturday morning we had reached Pongola, and here we stopped for a well deserved Wimpy breakfast..yumm! We then set off for the last part of our journey to Cosi bay, where we were to cross the border. Once the border post was in sight, the guys drove the whole rig off the road and started undoing all the ropes and unloading our bags from the bakkie. Miss Gym Bunny(MGB) and I were quite confused about this, and after much banter we discovered that we were leaving the bakkie and the big trailer behind...we will be entering into Moz with only the 2 quadbikes, the larger one of the two will be towing the small trailer with the jetski and our bags strapped to it. Whooooop! Super exciting stuff.
Now granted, your little town of Ponta do Ouro isn't all that far from the border, only about 15km, but it might as well have been in a totally different world. Great was my surprise when I discovered that the road actually disappeared the moment we went through the border post. Suddenly it was grass, trees and a couple of sandy tracks leading well....all over the place. When I asked A how on earth he knew where we were going he responded by pointing in a general north eastern direction and said that we were heading in that direction, and will be following whichever track seemed least likely to get us stuck in the sand.
Upon reaching your town, bout 10 in the morning, we were hot and dirty and sat down for a well deserved R&R at Fernando's. R&R being the local drink of choice, mozambican rum and rasberry. We then offloaded the jetski and the bags and I had my first proper quad biking lessons....super exciting:)
We explored large parts of the surrounding areas that day, had a quick swim in the ocean and attempted to do the jetski thing, but the sea was slightly rough, so we ended up going on a long quading adventure instead. We came back super dirty, tired, sunburnt and ravenous! Yummy yummy mozambican prawns!!!!!!
Sunday morning we woke up quite early...probably had something to do with all the fresh air. Drove down to the beach bar for breakfast, took the jetski out for a spin...scary and fun, hung around in an ocean so super still that we hardly moved and then we started on our Elephant park adventure. Normally tourists aren't allowed to enter the official Elephant park on quad bikes. But as A has special concession from the Mozambican government because he regularly brings tours there, we were able to experience the vastness of Africa with nothing more than a silly little quad bike to remind us of the civilised world. The experience was totally unreal, and there is no way that I'll be able to put it into words. It's scary and thrilling and exciting all at the same time. We saw tons of wildlife, and even came across a crocodile, a good 500m from the closest water. We actually mistook it for a log and only discovered it was a crocodile when we were a mere 5m away....scary stuff I tell you!
We travelled a total fo 90km through the park that day. So by the time we were heading back we were once again tired and extremely dirty. About 15km away from your little piece of civilisation some form of poisonous insect flew into me. Now you have to understand, we were travelling at about 60km/h. I felt the impact and as i tried to brush it off my shirt it stung me both in my side and on my hand. My hand was swollen to twice its size within seconds and the red line of poison traveling up my arm and my side was clearly visible. The pain was almost unbearable and despite myself I was crying and just a tad hysterical. We were 15km away from civilisation, if Ponta, no offence intended, could really be labelled civilisation, we were traveling on quad bikes and we had absolutley nothing with us with which to treat the poisoning. We raced back to Ponta at record breaking speed, despite the fact that I only had one hand to hold on with and managed to obtain a strong anti-histamine as well as some sort of balm to put on the actual stings. I still have the marks, 2 months later, and I suffered for a couple of days, but I survived.......even though I scared the crap out of A, C and MGB.
It was with a touch of sadness that we packed up on Monday morning. Restrapping all the bags to the small trailer along with the jetski, saying goodbye to the ocean, waving at the locals and looking back once more at the rural little town that stole our hearts. The 15km trip back to the border was over in no time, and as soon as we crossed the border we were reunited with our double cab and trailer. The trip home felt a lot longer, mostly because we were tired, sunburnt and sad at the prospect of having to come back to the big city.
Thank you people of Ponta, for one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Thank you A and C for sponsoring the whole trip. I came back with the exact amount of money I left with. I didn't have to pay for one single meal, drink or drop of fuel. And thank you my dear dear MGB for inviting me along on this adventure.........our already growing friendship has now firmly been cemented.
The rig we drove to Cosi bay - double cab, 6m trailer with 2 quads & small trailer with jet ski
This is how we went over the border and into Moz!
R&R's and Fernando's bar
Fernando of Fernando's bar standing proudly in his little establishment
This is pretty much Ponta - Fernando's bar is on the right hand side
Erm...this is the highway....I swear!
Quad biking......whoooop!
The croc - we were a whole 5m away!!! scary stuff....plus the thing was gigantic
Posing in Fishmonger to the entertainment of the locals....
Due to reasons completely out of my control I've been unable to access my blogger account since I came back from Moz. Since then it's been one mad rush after another......finishing deadlines at work, getting ready for my cruise, actually going on the cruise, going to the Eastern Cape and finally, coming back to work.
The thing is, my sweet little USB modem decided to tell me to go screw myself, and I haven't had a chance to get it fixed...until now. Vodacom was nice enough to just exchange it for a new one, since it was still under warranty. So here I am in all my glory, and I promise that this will be the last letter addressed to "dear readers" for quite a while.
Hope you're all ready to be flooded with tons and tons of letters. Happy 2009!!!!
Sometimes you just have things that you would love say to the people you know, the people you don't know, the people in traffic, God, pretty much everyone you see.............this is me writing letter to the people who touch my heart, my soul, my very being
