Eid Mubarak

I love the weekend before Eid. The excitement in the air is contagious. Okay, i admit, traffic is horrendous (especially in fordsburg/lenasia/or any other indian suburb) but everyone is so happy, and smiling, and kids are running around, looking fortward to wearing their new clothes, and getting "eidie' and little girls are applying mendhi on their hands and ladies are all shopping up a storm, getting all thier groceries, and fruits and veggies and stuuf for desserts (yummy) ... its just awesome.. and then you get one irritated old man who cannot wait any longer for his wife to do her shopping, and he starts hooting at the car in front of him (who isn't really in his way)... whether you love the whole vibe, or you don't, you soon get swept into the whole scene and when you look at the person standing next to you in the queue, wherever you are, you smile, and share a silent message "EID Mubarak.."

Wishing everyone an Eid Mubarak to you and your family and all your loved ones...
Remember those less fortunate than us, and Muslims around the world in your duas on this wonderful day...

Doctors!!!

Approx reading time: 3 minutes 29 seconds

I am convinced that doctors are the dumbest people on earth.. or maybe its just South African doctors that all strive to be as big an idiot as or Health Minister... (i apologise if you, if a member of your family, your wife, girlfriend, friend, soul-mate or neighbour is a really good doctor,) but i am generalizing okay!!!

My mum's brother has been really sick for the last few months. He has been to 2 doctors in the small farm town where they live, and they both diagnosed his ailment as bronchitis and were treating him with that.. (now, his family is also at fault, since they didnt take him to a specialist but that is besides the point..) so, after being sick for the last couple of months, he get really ill a month ago... so he went to another local Gp, that used a few more of his brain cells and decided to take some tests.. The tests came back, and showed that he had Lung cancer, so, he was sent to have some scans done.. and the scans showed that the cancer was spread from the Brain all thw ay to the lungs.... through the eye etc... he is too weak to even do chemo or radium or any treatment, so they packed him up into his car, and sent himn home telling the family that it is just a matter of time...

on the other side of my family, my dad's sister's husband has also been really sick. Now, he lives in JHb, his family has taken him to the doctors and also to the hospital, and the doctor's said, its becuase he is daibetic , that he is not feeling too well.. blah blah... until he got ill on wednesday.. so they rushed him to Garden City Clinic, and whta do you know.. Test results showed taht he has kidney stones "the size of a golf/tennis ball" and his one kidney was close to collapsing, so they did an operation that lasted for 5 hours on Friday, he has been in the High Care unit since then, and is going under another operation later this morning...

So, i ask again? what is wrong with the doctors of SA??? are they just too lazy to treat a patient properly? They just assume the ordinary when diagnosing, Site "stress " at the best of times, and do nothing.. until its too late.. Maybe its all part of a conspiracy to lessen the population in S.A....

Maybe Manto should stop the research on the African Potato cure and send the doctors for better training ....

Keeping with the Trend

Approx reading time: 3 minutes

I decided to also post a forwarded email today, So that i don't feel left out ...

Energizer Bunny arrested; charged with battery.


A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.


A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.


My wife really likes to make pottery, but to me it's just kiln time.


Dijon vu: the same mustard as before.


Practice safe eating: always use condiments.


I fired my masseuse today. She just rubbed me the wrong way.


A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.


Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.


I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded.


I used to be a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the ax.


If electricity comes from electrons, does that mean that morality comes from morons?


A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.


Marriage is the mourning after the knot before.


A hangover is the wrath of grapes.


Corduroy pillows are making headlines.


Is a book on voyeurism a peeping tome.


Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.


Banning the bra was a big flop.


Sea captains don't like crew cuts.


Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?


A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter.


Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.


A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.


Without geometry, life is pointless.


When you dream in color, it's a pigment of your imagination.


Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.


Reading whilst sunbathing makes you well-red.


When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.

History Matters

Approx reading time: 3 minutes 40 seconds

"A chance 4 all u bloggers 2 make history. On the 17th October 2006, The National Trust is asking all bloggers to take part in the biggest blog in history, by recording a blog 'diary' of that particular day. Then all the blog records of that day will be stored by the British Library as a permenant historical record of our national life. It will be a one off, one day diary done on a mass scale - it will aim to be a historical record for future generations, on how life was like "In our day"."
taken from cellardoor-cellardoor.blogspot.com

when I read this, thousand thoughts on what I would blog about went through my mind, however, as i sat down and began to write, i suffered from writer's block...
and if this is any indication as to how my Thesis writing up is going to move along, Im going to have to add an extension to my extension...

Anyway, last week ( either wednesday or thursday morning) i was watching morning live on SABC 2 (breakfast programme) and Vuyo the presenter had a special guest in the studio...

The lady's name was Zuki Matamo,

Evelina Tshabalala, Zukiswa Matamo and Nomawethu Nika from Mandela Park informal settlement in Hout Bay, Cape Town are used to making their way through hardship.

That's why they're not daunted by their latest project: to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents and, in the process, become the first black women to conquer Everest.

Matamo and Nika summited Russia's Mount Elbrus together on 9 September. Tshabalala summited Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro on 8 July, followed by Matamo on Women's Day, 9 August.

Next stop for the trio: Aconcagua in Argentina in December and January. Tshabalala will catch up on Elbrus, and Nika on Kilimanjaro, either before or after the South America trip.

They've called their project "Isicongo", after the isiZulu word for the top of a mountain.

Beating the odds
Tshabalala, 41, is a single mother, the sole bread-winner in her family, and lives in a one-bedroom shack next to a rubbish dump. She's survived a car accident, the death of her second son - and the news that she's HIV-positive.

She's also an accomplished marathon runner: in 1994 she realised her life-long dream of taking part in the London Marathon, where she placed 25th.

It was running that first brought Tshabalala and Matamo, a domestic worker and mother of three, together in 2003.

Matamo had spent the previous two years struggling to lose the weight she had put on after the birth of her third child. Tshabalala's solution began with a 20-kilometre run.

"After that run I decided I never wanted to see Evelina again," says Matamo. "I kept looking at her and thinking, I'm never running with you again."

Eighteen months later, the two were running marathons together, Matamo had shed 42 kilograms, and the friendship was unbreakable. They remember each others' times for every race they have run together. And Matamo doesn't mind finishing behind Tshabalalo - because she always runs back to keep her company until the finish line.

Then there were three
In 2005, Tshabalala and Matamo climbed Table Mountain, and were hooked at once on this lofty new expression of their sporting abilities.

In the same year, Matamo met Nika, also a mother and domestic worker, who had also starting running in order to lose weight.

Matamo encouraged Nika to start running competitively, and within the space of a few months Nika had completed the Winelands Marathon, Two Oceans Half Marathon and Knysna Marathon.

Achieving their new goal will require intense physical and psychological effort - and a fair dose of good luck, especially when it comes to the highest of them all: Mount Everest.

The last expeidtion is planned for 2008, and that will be Everest.

I think what she and her fellow team members ahve achieved in the short space of a year, is absolutely amazing, and hopefully they can be a source of inspiration to many young women in SA.

Before you judge what a good baker i am, please bear in mind that I am a scientist, and making kids novelty birthday cakes is not a part of my job description...
And, i made it at 6am on a sunday morning, so, i gave myself A+ for dedication to my nephew... Im sure im the best aunt a kid could ask for... (and the best daughter a mother could ask for as well) because after the cake was done, I baked a whole lot os different biscuits etc. for eid, so that my mum doesnt have to do it during the week... so, i spent my entire day in the kitchen yesterday, and by 7:30pm, i was ready to drop dead...
Anywayz, this is the cake: Yusuf was really impressed...


He couldnt wait to eat it, so he cut a piece with a butter knife, before we even sang for him...



He turned four, but he insisted that he only wanted 2 candles on the cake... dont know why...

Random Thoughts

Approx. Reading time : 5 minutes

Unlike Fatima, dreams about Zee, chasing her around trees and singing songs from bollywood movies to her, professing his undying love, surrendering his prize possession (his blog) to her... (LOL)( okay, I promise, thats the last time I will mention it)!!! Try as I like,I cannot go back to sleep after sehri.
Random thoughts keep floating through my head, things that I need to once my day finally starts, people that I need to suck up to, bribe, murder, and help before I can once again, get into my cozy bed at night...

And if IM not thinking of the day ahead, I somehow end up reviewing days gone by, things that have impacted my life, my thinking, things that I should have done at a specific time, and the worst of all... Things that I wanted to say to someone, but, didn't... Things that you would say,but, having said them, the consequences of what you've said can be detrimental to the situation/relationship/cocoon of comfort... I guess its a case of stirring up trouble unnecessarily, but certain things are bugging me right now, and I am Dying to ask, and clarify all the jumble of emotions that this situation is causing, but bringing it up may have dire consequences, that I don't think IM willing to, or have the energy and time, to deal with right now...
I may not be making much sense, I know, but, these are, the random thoughts in my head, at 5 am in the morning...

so, I will end this convoluted thought process, on a happy note..
Its my nephew's Birthday today.. He is now a whole Four years old, and I am going to bake him a "train" cake, complete with four/five carriages and the works.. So, I guess I better get started, if I want to surprise him with it when he gets up... And IM sure his mum wont be impressed, since he will probably end up having a Very healthy chunk of sugar for breakfast....

Romantic lines

Approx reading time: 2 minutes

Im a hopeless romantic... So, after watching really soppy movies that have me in tears, I always try to write down or just remember THE MOST romantic line that i've ever heard...

But, with old age, comes memory loss, and for the last week, its been bugging the life out of me, trying to figure out which movie i've heard this line from.. so, this is an appeal to any fellow hopeless romantics out there, to please help me, and try and figure out where this line is from.. I can't even remember who the main actor/actress was, the plot ... NOTHING !!!

The line: You are everything i never knew I always wanted"
Ring any bells, anyone???

Update!!!

Approx reading time: 3 minutes

Last week can be put down, as one of the worst weeks that i have had, thus far, this year... Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong, all at the same time.

The outcome of the meeting with my supervisors is: I will not be able to complete my experiments and write up and then hand in my thesis by the end of november (yes, thats in six weeks time) without having a nervous breakdown, so, i am taking a six month extension on my MSc, meaning, i will register for the first six months of next year, and InshaAllah, that will be enough time, to get it all done, have to hand in my thesis by May, and will Hopefully graduate in september next year.

Now, when the two of them sat down and decided this, I was so fed-up and unamused by my dumb experiments not working, that i just nodded my head, and agreed, i am too tired to even try and finish it all in this year.I didnt know whether i should be happy, sad, glad, or mad... because right now all i want is to go for a holiday... and maybe with this new development, i can take a week or two leave.. yay!!!

Yay!!!

Im sure the owners of all the petrol stations had a really bad day of business yesterday!!! The public were, for a change, not filling up before midnight, but, were counting down the minutes to midnight , so that they could get the 50c off the petrol price when they visited to get their cars filled!!

Such a nice feeling hey?

I am so upset right now!!!

I am so so frustrated right now, i just need to vent ...

I came to campus at half past five this morning, and started my experiment. Now, i was running four experiments today, and the product of each one, is carried over into the next.. at nine I started the second experiment, i.e. isolating total RNA from the plants (RNA is the coding material for your proteins etc.) and this went well, got lots of RNA (120 ug) so i was YAY.. and carried on with the third exp. at about 11am... Which was to extract the mRNA from the total ... (mRNA is messenger RNA and these little pieces of crap, code for amino acids) and thats when it all went wrong... i did the entire experiment, and at the end, when i had to work out how much product i have, i get a negative value.. so, i re-read my samples, and then i get a minute amount.. I need between 0.5-2.5 ug .. I HAD 0.003 ug.. there is no way in hell that this will work for the next experiment...
so, the meaning of all this is that I AM SCREWED!!! I have no more plant material to start with, I only have reagents enough for one reaction in the experiment that follows after mrna isolation, and i have a meeting with my supervisor and co-supervisor on wednesday mornging to discussion who we should select as my external maker for my dissertation... Dissertation my foot!!! Im not going to finish on time, becuase, i dont even know where im going wrong... I have troubleshooted to hell and back, there is nothing that I am doing wrong (i am 120% sure of that) and the things are still not working!!! I am so upset, i cant even cry anymore, my tears are all on strike !!!!!!

I conceed, there is a thing called QLC !!!

Approx reading time: 6 minutes

Before i explain the title of my post, i think it is important for me to mention, that i have been at work, since 5:30 am this morning (and its Monday) THATS how stressed/crazy/dedicated i am ...

okay, before you start spinning cartwheels My confused friend read on... Quarter-life-crisis, does exist, as Zee has previously mentioned, BUT, recent events have lead me to the conclusion, that only men go through it, and us, lucky females that we are, are thankfully saved from this life-altering event.

This is the story that has convinced me of this theory;

My best Shakeera(who has mentioned in previous posts) was introduced to this guy a couple of months back.. things were going really well, they met up a few time, he use dto go and visit her at her business, blah blah, and there was even talk of marriage.. YIPPEEE. I was with her about two weeks ago, having lunch when he phoned, and spoke to her, told her he was gonna come and visit her that day or the next. That evening she calls me, and tells me the jerk, sent her a three-part sms, Saying how sorry he is, he doesnt think its going to work out, He makes Dua that she finds somebody who is worthy of her blah blah blah...

Firstly:
he sends her the message at 8pm, when he knows that she gives extra tution at this time, so she cannot reason straight away...
- The sms came through in stages, one every 5 minutes and took approx. 2 minutes to update each time (compliments to our very efficient service providers)
- Then, when she was done with her students, she called him, he didnt answer the call.. Called her back after half an hour... and rudely asked her what she wanted... to which she replied" an explanation for the sms that i received"
He got all angry on the phone, didnt discuss anything properly, started screaming loudly at her, and has the damn cheek to tell her, that he had to do it at that time, becuase he felt that she was "in love with him" so, she told him that she is NOT in love with, she liked him, yes, but, thats as far as it got...
she asked him for a reason, and he , dumb shit that he is.. couldnt give her a single reason !!! NOT ONE!!! ZILCH ... the only thing he said was " its not you , its me" They then said goodbye!!!

Then, the dude has the nerve to call her , after one week, at sehri time, for a doctor's number becuase his room-mate was ill.... bloody nerve!!! and two days after that, (on the fourth fast) he sends her an sms saying Ramadaan Mubarak !!!!
I was furious with this idiot, i think i was more upset than Shaks.. I mean, can you get any dumber, why must he waste her time, talk about marriage and how he is bringing his family to propsoe after Eid, then break-up via sms, and still have the freaking nerve to call for a doctor's number, oh yeah, he also told her, he would like to continue talking to her, and if she is still single after about a year, then, thay can get married... Like hell... Can men not understand, that when a relationship is ended, no communication is sought therafter, no "hello, how you doing every now and again.. Its nmeant to be a clean break... GOODBYE, GOOD RIDDANCE, GO TO HELL for all we care...

ANd dont call when you recover from your QLC.... IF you ever recover from it at all... !!!!!