Down with the Sickness

I love oxtail. And before I continue expanding on this, let me just enlighten those who don't know what oxtail is. It is a rich stew made with veggies, gravy and the meat of an ox tail, hence the name. I'm not sure if this is purely a South African dish, but hey, it tastes good. I have just one problem; every time I eat it, no matter who makes it, I get sick. I have tried family recipes, internet recipes and various restaurant versions. No matter where I eat it, I end up like this...

Shortly after eating it I experience crippling stomach cramps, and then a OVERWHELMING desire to run to the bathroom, shut the door and make a variety of interesting and amusing noises.

Then I have friend who loves chocolate. If that is the only foodstuff that was left on earth, she'd be happy. She even has a full desk drawer filled to the brim with various chocolate bars. Other people have underwear/sock drawers, she has a chocolate drawer. There is only one problem; she is allergic to chocolate. More specifically, the cocoa in chocolate. Shortly after indulging in a chocolate bar (or five), she winds up like this...

A splitting, hangover-like headache, without the fun of having consumed any alcohol beforehand. For days on end.

My lovely companion suffers from a similar affliction, caused by any form of white bread or starch containing flour. But she enjoys pizza and pasta, and hence winds up holding her head, groaning softly and glaring at everyone after indulging.

This got me wondering, why do we do these things to ourselves? Why do we eat or drink things that we know will make us feel like we got hit over the head with a Klingon pain stick? The answer is simple, in my opinion; we enjoy the taste. We enjoy food. There is no point in eating if all you are going to eat is some nutritional slush that looks like week old porridge. We enjoy aromas, sights and tastes. Is it a good idea to continue eating the things that make us feel that way? Probably not. Are we going to keep doing it? You bet we will!

Tale as Old as Time

This time of the year always makes me panic slightly. Not because seasons are changing, or the leaves are starting to turn brown or anything so mundane and ordinary. No, it's because for some weird reason all my family members are celebrating a birthday. You have my mom and step-dad on the 1st of March, my father-in-law on the 22 of March, my dad on the 29th of March, my mother-in-law on the 2nd of April, my grandmother on the 3rd of April, my grandfather on the 5th of April and various friends throughout the rest of April.

So March/April is usually filled with cakes, presents and lots of spending. While I do enjoy a good measure of merriment, it got me wondering. Why do we celebrate birthdays? Is it a way to say "Congrats, you've made it through another year! Well done!". It wasn't that difficult really, I just did what I did every year so far, which is breathe, eat and sleep. Occasionally there is work and exercise somewhere in between. So I didn't do much.

Then I know some friends and family members who dread an approaching birthday, because you get older! Oh no! But then, aren't we getting older every day? Why must just this one day be such a big deal?

You know what, I'm not going to worry too much about it. It's a celebration of life. I will enjoy having some cake, having fun at the party and celebrating another year done and dusted. And seeing as my birthday also happens to fall in April, I will keep calm and party on!

Sleepless in South Africa

I have a rather fixed routine before I turn off the light and go to sleep. I usually indulge in a good book in order to clear my head and immerse myself in a realm of fantasy. Let's face it, everyone loves a good story! The fact that I know a few people who never read anything except food labels and the occasional Facebook post sort of horrifies me! But I digress. After reading a few chapters (and if it's a really good book, quite a few chapters, after which I am angry with myself) I usually turn the light off and think about what I've read. But there are times when the following is true....

It's like my brain has decided to go into overdrive and play back the day's events, or think about upcoming events, or tries to solve world hunger, or contemplates why Justin Bieber is so popular, or relives an awesome birthday cake I had when I was 4. It really was an awesome cake, by the way! But the point is that my body is begging me to go to sleep, but my brain is defiant. That got me wondering (with the lights out, while trying to fall asleep) why this is. Why, when we are exhausted and need our 8 hours of beauty sleep (or in my case, just sleep), do our brains decide that, "No, there are more important things to do right now. Sleep is very low on the priority list!" I have a friend who suffers from chronic insomnia for this very reason. His brain is way too active! So I decided to look into techniques to make you fall asleep. Counting sheep is out. My brain is like "1-2-3-4....hang on, what kind of sheep are they supposed to be? How high can a sheep jump? Am I making the fence too high? And what kind of fence is it supposed to be? If it's a picket fence, will they impale themselves? And when do sheep jump over fences? In winter, or summer? Should it be day or night?" And so on. Oddly enough, reading has been put forth as a way to gear your brain down and prepare for sleep. So I am on the right track. A glass of warm milk before bedtime has also been suggested, but if you're lactose intolerant, then you are screwed. All I know is that reading works for me, every time. So if you are suffering from overactive brain, curl up with a good read....

To the Polls Once More!

My lovely companion recently decided to enter our little angel in a baby competition. All of our friends and family have made comments along the lines of "You should lock yourselves in a room and just make babies, because you make beautiful babies!" Well, I can see their point:

So once again I humbly ask that you would vote for my cause. It is quite simple, painless, won't subscribe you to a monthly, weekly or daily thing where you get cute pictures or pithy sayings and won't use your vote to spam you with baby products. Please click on the link below and cast your vote. And as always, I will be ridiculously grateful!

Vote for our little angel here!

Sunlight

The other day I had a thought (something that happens to me when I least expect it). Everyone is on the global warming bandwagon. We are supposed to plant more trees and eat grass. Cows have become public enemy number one. In a recent study it was determined that the most greenhouse gases come from the rear end of cows. Yes, farting cows are destroying the planet!

In my opinion, that's just one more reason to eat meat! Save the planet! Have a steak! There has also been talk that pollution is contributing to global warming, and while I can understand the reasoning, I think all the scientists out there are missing one simple fact....the reason that the planet is gradually getting warmer, the reason that the polar ice caps are melting (time to stock up on inflatable pool chairs) is simply this, the sun is expanding.

Not as dramatic as most people would like, I know. But think about it. Our sun is classified as a yellow dwarf star. But that's not how it's going to stay. Because of many complicated (and highly nuclear) things that are happening inside the sun, it is slowly but surely evolving into a red giant star. Now before you run screaming to the supermarket for 1000 SPF sunscreen, I have been assured that this change actually takes a while. 5.4 billion years, to be exact. So you definitely have time to finish reading this post!

While I agree that humans aren't exactly the best at nurturing the planet, I do believe that thinking about this simple fact will put a few minds at ease. So for now, enjoy a beautiful sunrise, or marvel at a breathtaking sunset. Enjoy the sunlight on your face and the wind in your hair. The sun isn't going to kill us all just yet.....

I Didn't Quite Catch That......

I have discovered something slightly odd....when one develops a cold, people can't understand you, even though you are speaking english. It's like your congested nasal passages translates everything that comes out of your mouth into Russian. Or Ukrainian. Even though you are speaking a language that is spoken worldwide, and one that you speak every day, suddenly no-one can understand a word you are saying!

A good example would be a phone call that I had to make recently. I had to contact a call centre for product support. Unfortunately this call centre was in India, and the call centre agent's first language was not english, so I was in trouble from the opening line:

Call Centre Agent: Welcome to ***** Product Support, how may I help you?

Me: Hi, this is Adrian. I'm having issues with my ***** product. (That is what I said, but he heard "askd, haskrhahf, aioeurhasijijpanufea.)

CCA: I'm sorry Sir, please be repeating that?

Me: I said by dame ish Adrian. I'b having problems with by ***** product.

CCA: Okay Sir, what problems are you experiencing?

Me: I can't ushe the **** function. It keepsh (sniff) crashing. And when I (sniff, cough, snort) click on the (chesty cough) troubleshooting option, it (launches into coughing fit).....

CCA: I'm sorry Sir, I am not understanding the problem.

Me: I said I askrjh hfaioejnfaso fpadjkfsnajhod ap[osjkdfias!

CCA: I'm going to be putting you through to my manager Sir, please be holding....

Call cuts out

So, I got nowhere for two reasons, first I was coughing, sniffing, dying in his ear, so he was probably distracted. Second, I was doing my best to speak english but ended up just speaking snot. So his comment about putting me through to his manager was probably his excuse for dropping the call and then phoning the Centre for Disease control to report a case of Ebola.

Hopefully the cold meds will restore some semblance of spoken language to me, so that people don't look at me like I'm brain damaged when I talk. Either that or it will knock me out, leaving me drooling on my desk and thus unable to confuse people further. Seems that I just can't win!

A Day in the Life of a Baby

I woke up around 05:30 this morning and realised that I peed myself again. My lack of bladder control frustrates me, but I will master it! Decided to let Mom know I'm awake. I sent out a few verbal queues, but they went unheard, so I started kicking the crib. That achieved the desired effect. She changed my diaper and put me back in my crib with my bottle while she goes to the bathroom to stand under a mysterious stream of water that shoots from the wall. This will not do. I find that I cannot escape the crib, no matter how hard I try. After she has dressed, she puts me in my feeding chair for breakfast. I am still not sure what she's feeding me, but it's not too bad so I tolerate it. She is drinking something black that smells interesting, but refuses to share it with me. Not to worry, I'll sneak in a sip when she is not looking. I've already learned to snatch things from her plate when her attention is elsewhere, so sampling this interesting beverage is only a matter of time!

After breakfast, I am put in front of a PC with a DVD playing while Mom works. The DVD is interesting, so I don't mind too much. At some point I get bored though, and I have to let Mom know that I require alternate entertainment. She will place me in my baby gym, and I will be entertained for a short time. But I feel this is not enough. I can tolerate this on most days, but on other days I need to sit on her lap and have her undivided attention. This work thing can wait. I am quite sure that I am more important. After her work ends, we have lunch, and then it is time for my beauty sleep, or a nap, as Mom calls it. After my nap, Daddy usually comes home from work (yes, he does it too) and I bring him up to speed on the day's events.

I find it quite frustrating that my verbal communication is so ineffective. I spell things out quite clearly, but they seem not to understand a word I am saying. I've also had to modify my crying a few times in order to get their attention. I suspect I will have to stoop to their level and use the language that they use in order to communicate effectively.

I find crawling quite a challenge. It would appear that my arms and legs are determined to disobey me. I try to move forward, but almost always end up flat on my face, much to the amusement of my parents. Well, I will prove to them that I can rise to this challenge! I will be the one laughing one of these days!

Eventually, at the end of the day, after a bath and dinner, it is time to go to sleep. As I lay here in my crib, thinking through the events of today, I feel that progress is being made. And even though they frustrate me, and fail to understand a single thing I say, I find I still love both my Mommy and my Daddy......