Strike Out!

It's great to have our collegues from the Metalworkers' Union back at work!

Disruptive though it may seem, I'm fully behind them in their quest for a living wage. While Business loves to talk percentages, the talkers amongst the business hierarchies are not the ones who stand in the lines at supermarkets wondering what 7% or 8% difference is going to make to the contents of their trolleys. Top management who get 7% or 8% on their salaries see significant thousands added to their paychecks, but at the average wage-earner's level....well Eskom has eaten up that little bit of cash in their latest abominable electricity increase, without it ever getting to any supermarket trolly.

What bites my rear-end even more is that, while wage-earners hope for a bonus at year-end or holiday time, the fat-cats at the top of the food chain reap all sorts of other bonuses as well. They are well rewarded in an extensive array of opportunities over and above pay increases.

In my opinion, the discrepancy in earnings between workers and upper management is downright immoral. The problem in our economy is not that the workers want too much, it's that top management earn obscene amounts of money by comparison and they would rather destroy people, families and the economy than earn a little less so that others can also live. In many cases, those top earners are not even competant at what they do.

Percentage increases should be higher at the lower income levels and decrease further up the ladder. Top management have more than enough perks, bonuses and expense accounts to ensure that their comfort zones are never short of luxurious. The lifestyles of the upper, the trendy, the wealthy in our society is actually quite obscene in the face of the suffering of most of our people.

Mandela had a vision. The people who could live that vision echo the words, but are blinded by greed. They should be ashamed to even live in his shadow, not pay lip service to his vision and steal his light as if they actually deserve to be a part of it.

Happy Mandela Day!

Whatever Nelson Mandela's birthday may mean to Nelson Mandela, his birthday is a very happy day for this nation and everyone who has had the priviledge of meeting, or inter-acting with, this wonderful man!

The way this country has progressed or degenerated in terms of governance only serves to highlight the quality of Mandela himself. Clearly no-one else matches him or could take his place, as is evident from the disarray in government, not to mention social misbehaviour. The Land does not match the Man, but what a blessing he is, and how happy we all are to celebrate this great man's birth.

Happy Birthday, Sir, we salute you - every single one of us!

Hey, That's Private!

This morning a young colleague of mine updated me regarding currently acceptable behaviour:

"These days," he said sagely, "you can touch people's private parts, but you can't touch their cell phones - because THAT'S PRIVATE!"

That's a rather disturbing reality, but I guess it's true - I've never seen a rapper clutching his cell phone on stage!

Jobs Indeed!

Another great job site that is not restricted to a particular agency is www.indeed.co.za The online search covers numerous jobs in your area, spanning numerous agencies and ads.

There is a link under "JOBS" on this site - or just click here and check it out.

Good luck with your job hunting!

Sunday Afternoon Reflections

Sunday afternoon in 'sunny' South Africa. The consistant patter of raindrops reassures us that the floodwaters are still being abundantly fed. It's a season for ducks and tow-truck drivers.

In our complex, "quiet time" on a Sunday is between 2pm and 4pm. I know that it's soon after 2pm, because my daughter has just turned up the volume of the DVD that she and her boyfriend are watching, in a subconscious teenage effort to combat the curse of adult tranquillity. (In the spirit of fairness, she has just gladdened an old man's heart by complying cheerfully to my request to turn it down!)

25 weeks and counting in the miraculous formation of her little boy. The pregnancy is both exciting and daunting. If I thought that the mood swings of the monthly curse were excruciating, I had some surprises in store! I feel for her ...the sensitivities of pregnancy just have no chance against the harshness of life's daily realities. Despite her increased needs for attention and sensitivity, life around us insists on continuing in its perilous path of demands and inevitable consequences where demands are not met. "Utopia' is more a case of "You Cope Here".

Medical Aid in this country is, I've discovered, no Utopia either. Despite it being the biggest single monthly wage-eater after accommodation, the specialists still insist on a sizable "levy" for each visit, which is not generally recoverable from Medical Aid - it seems to be their way of overcoming the restrictions of charging medical aid rates.

(I've added a listing on this site under "Health and Wellness", in case anyone would like to check the major Medical Aid schemes. However, if any visitors to this site have recommendations in this respect, we'd be delighted to hear them.)

Being neither a duck nor a tow-truck driver, I think a short snooze would be the order of the day. Perhaps I'll dream of the perfect medical aid scheme in a world where tumble-dryers don't pack up when the rainy season starts.

Matric Results

The great day has arrived! The matric results have been published for the 2010 students. If you missed a newspaper, here's a site where you can check the results online:

http://matric.mg.co.za/ieb-exam-results/

Good luck to all our 2010 matriculants!