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Another issue of Poignant Pearls & Potbellied Pigs Please use the Back button to return to the current issue |
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öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo : öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo your privacy. All SUBSCRIBE and UNSUBSCRIBE information can be found at the end of this issue. öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo - Hello there . . . - Inside Story - More To Life Than a Monkey... - A Day in the Life of an Internet Addict - Tip For The Day - Freedom of Speech Takes a Beating - Living on What's Left öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo …you with the stars in your eyes, a grasshopper brain and thoughts without boundaries… This month the emphasis seems to be on Life and Living - just take a look at the contents list. In More to Life Than A Monkey, I continue with the saga of Pookie, a vervet monkey, while Pam Allen's article, A Day in the Life of An Internet Addict, should ring quite a few bells with most of you. Then we come to Terry Rigg's, Living on What's Left - a somewhat unusual view on managing one's finances - and as we all know finances are, unfortunately, a very real fact of life. And there I go again. I should not have written 'unfortunately' -consider that unread while I try again. 'Fortunately, finances are an integral part of one's life'! (Which proves I'm taking notice of the motivating articles I usually include in each issue.) Freedom of speech taking a beating is Melvin Durai's theme this time and although 'Life' doesn't feature in that title , believe me being able to speak out, fearlessly, is one of the things that make life worth living. Sadly this is no longer the case in Zimbabwe. Repressive laws passed in recent months, primarily aimed at strangling the independent Press in that country, have also outlawed any form of criticism of its 'President' by individuals. As this charming man has no hesitation in enforcing his draconian decrees, one can safely assume that his starving 'subjects' have become remarkably silent also. As yet I have been unable to enforce similar restrictions in this establishment so Griselda is able to continue with Inside Story. However, judging by her grumblings, she is struggling to come up with anything at all, so I may have got lucky this month... We'll see... öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo NEWBIES, NERDS & NITWITS öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo a reporter - Ed) HAVE I got news for you! Next month I will be bringing you the real inside story - written by an independent person who doesn't have to worry where her next salary cheque is coming from - and I can't wait. Unfortunately - due to time differences between Amanzimtoti and Oklahoma I can't get my hands on this epistle today - but it's all arranged and I promise this will be worth waiting for! And I'll make every effort to ensure that the July issue of 'Pearls & Pigs' comes out mid-month (as it's supposed to) so - hold your breath. Of course that doesn't solve my immediate problem but, in view of the treat I have in store for you, I'm sure you'll put up with being bored - just for once. The trouble is Sheldene has been behaving like a recluse - as far as I'm concened anyway. If I stayed around all night I would see a lot more of my boss - but do I really want to? No way. From time to time she goes into this nocturnal mode - rising at 2am - so by the time I get here she's cross-eyed and past talking. Sometimes she doesn't get to bed at all and the following day she's stumbling around like a zombie before collapsing in a heap around 3 pm. Don't ask me what she's doing - or should I say trying to do - but even the dogs are exhausted. So it's all rather tedious and life just goes on. The weather is awful, providing more reason for our recluse to be even more reclusive. As any long time subscriber knows, Sheldene hibernates in winter and when the wind off the Drakensberg blows the only piece of skin she exposes to the elements is her nose. In KwaZulu Natal we have been experiencing the Sardine Run and the Comrades Marathon (but I'm not allowed to write about that because 'Dont repeat yourself - you covered that last year albeit very badly', SHE said.) So that's it, I'm afraid, but I'll make up for it next month - Griselda. öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo CONFUSED BY EMAIL?Are You Totally Confused by the complexities of Email? Don't know about email accounts, clients, web based, headers, virus killers, subject lines, Pop 3's, aliases and all the other Gobbledygook? The picture-driven 'Email for Newbies' from the Newbie Club, will solve your frustrations immediately. Why not go there NOW? öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo More about Pookie PUTTING it on paper usually refreshes memories - but it can also reveal the extent of what one has forgotten. Or, horrible thought, did one fail to explore all the possibilities in the first place? Of course I remember Pookie, our vervet monkey. Saying the name is enough to remind me of plotting/pleading eyes, tiny,grasping hands and extremely sharp teeth. But I am also aware that much of the detail now escapes me and I wish I had observed him more closely and even tried a bit harder. There was always a lot more to life than the monkey. Our four children more or less looked after themselves, but still had to be fed, clothed after a fashion, and ferried to and from school. Keith was managing a large, thoroughbred stud, so foals were born, owners visited their horses, and farm life in Africa always encompasses every sort of drama. To pass the time (and earn some money), I was reporting from parliament, thereby gaining firsthand experience of Ian Smithand his post-UDI government, as well as an insight into the daily difficulties of a country being hammered out of existence by economic sanctions, plus the relentless exigencies of a guerilla war. I know we had black Labradors, a deranged Yorkshire terrie rand loads of cats - but I honestly can't recall how they interacted with Pookie. Perhaps it was a case of mutual avoidance but this seems unlikely. Pookie could never resist resist provoking or teasing anyone or anything - and the dogs were traditional enemies. Freitwell, Bubu and Anatoria would also have tales to tell. Freitwell, our former tractor driver but now turned cook, frequently shook his head in disgust. He can't really be blamed for disapproving of the advent of a monkey when there was a large house and garden to care for, as well as four disobedient children. And although I don't recall all the traumas, I know both Anatoria and Bubu would also have chosen to do without our latest acquisition. As Pookie spent every moment he could with Adrian, this monkey was a real part of the family. But what happened when I was at work and the children at school? Did he trot about disconsolately because nobody else liked him - or perhaps he simply fell asleep or sat in a tree until one of us came home. In any event, soon after Pookie was installed a pattern emerged .If any of us, barring Adrian, put a foot wrong we were bitten. However you can get used to almost anything although Pookie's incisors seemed more menacing every day. During the thoroughbred breeding season there was often a 'vet' about the place, offering unwanted and unnecessary advice.'You will never, ever, be able to tame that monkey', and 'the only thing to do is remove his fangs', they said. Pookie soon had tormenting me down to a fine art and did so constantly - because all he had to do was leap from pelmet to pelmet, with one of my most precious possessions under his arm. He would let me plead for a while, before hurling the prized object to the floor. Needless to say we went through heaps of mirrors, ornaments and crockery in this way. He watched us all closely in order to carry out his faultlessly executed campaigns. Adrian could do no wrong, Keith was best left alone, and the rest of us were fair game. Llewelyn actually loathed Pookie, but was too polite to say so.However one night his father went to check on the child and pull up his blankets, and was appalled when Llewelyn sprang wildly out of bed, screaming, 'The monkey's got me'. Slowly we began to realise the situation might have a detrimental, long-term effect on our then youngest son. For various reasons plenty of people come calling at stud farms, and overseas visitors found us particularly appealing.(Better than going to a game park, I suppose.) An elderly English couple, well-known in racing circles, came every year.. We enjoyed entertaining them - and usually we were only too pleased to grant their modest requests. This time, however, I ignored her wistful comments about how much she wanted to see the children. Just a glimpse - and she promised not to wake them. But after a couple of hours, with glasses of wine to match, I foolishly gave in. Marching towards the boys' room I flung the door open, allowing her to gaze within. Gasping, our visitor recoiled and hurried back to her husband. Never, she said, quietly but tremulously, had she ever seen anything like it in her life. And I believe that. Fed up with trying to keep the dirt off white walls I had recently painted the bedroom walls dark brown. The sheets on the bunk bed were navy -and it looked like a scene from hell. The largest demon sat on the top bunk, stroking his pet monkey while they both looked askance at the intruders. And we must not forget the ugly, white rat sniffing around the demon's feet. Beneath this tableau the small demon slept alongside a rabbit or two - and I have never felt so embarrassed. Our guest had to be revived with brandy and, being a naturally charming person, she kept insisting 'it was so sweet' - but very faintly. Sadly, we never saw or heard from this couple again. Perhaps, after that, they decided to strike Rhodesia off their yearly itinerary. It was around this time that I began to think I might eventually go off Pookie - and Adrian, my eldest son. Copyright 2000 Sheldene Chant *The previous two articles about Pookie can be found in the April and May öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo
When forwarding this ezine please ask your öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo is on a milk carton. Sound familiar? 7:30 am- Stumble out of bed and verify that daughter is awake and getting ready for school. Point her towards the bus stop and head back to bed. 11:00 am- Hop out of bed, rested and refreshed and ready to conquer anything. Get dressed, brush teeth, apply cosmetic enhancements and go downstairs. 11:30 am- Step outside to check mailbox and current weather conditions. Junk mail and catalogs, weather is warm and sunny. noon- Wander into kitchen to get caffeine fix and snack. Notice that kitchen could really use a good cleaning. Kitchen chores delayed by need to ·check in· online. 12:30- Check email and verify current weather conditions. Junkmail and E-catalogs. Weather is cold and snowy. Realize that weather conditions in Toronto are irrelevant; enter information for correct zip code. Still warm and sunny. Notice that inbox has 300 messages. Decide to organize mail into additional folders and subfolders. 3:00 pm- Inbox is empty; mail is organized according to category, sender, date, and relevancy. Now have new folder called ·misc·that contains 240 former inbox messages that defy standard categorization. Visit online forum I frequent. New member today! Boyfriend cheats on her, uses more drugs thanthe average hospital, and hits her ·occasionally·. What should she do? Cannot formulate helpful response that doesn·t contain the word moron·, so I leave plea for assistance unanswered. 4:00 pm- Daughter is home from school and hungry. Prepare nutritious after school snack of Twinkies and hot chocolate,again noticing that kitchen is in serious need of attention. 4:30 pm- Check status of interesting auctions on Ebay. Compare prices for coveted item at 35 online sources. Seems to average $150.00. Enter bid of $9.99 on Ebay. Read help forums on Ebay.Resolve to drive to Montana to pick up my $10.00 item in person because all sellers will take my money and run. 5:00 pm- Hunt for bookmark to interesting site I discovered last week. Notice that bookmarks are in serious need of reorganizing. 7:00 pm- Bookmarks organized into 136 topic-specific folders and subfolders. ·Shopping/Stores· folder takes up 1 gigabyte of hard drive space. 7:15 pm- Prepare nourishing meal for family (phone for pizza). 7:30 pm- Spend quality time with adoring family. 8:00 pm- Check status of Ebay auction and read email. 8:15 pm- Help daughter with homework (..your dad's the math whiz. He'd be better than I am). 8:30 pm- Husband is sighing loudly. Wants to talk before he goes to bed. Offer to send him a mushy email. Sensing growing hostility, I turn off the computer and talk to husband while I clean the kitchen. 10:00 pm- Everyone is in bed. Finally! Uninterrupted time to myself. Meet best friend at game site and play gin rummy and scrabble. 2:00 am- Write brief humorous article for website. Write helpful article for second website. Write movie review for local newspaper. 3:00 am- Play two games of solitaire. Decide to check on my Sims. Joan is unhappy. Take Joan to Sim Mall to buy clothes and flowers. Joan's energy level at 0, put Joan in bed. 4:00 am-My energy level at 0. Put self to bed. *sigh* Bemoan busy life, wish for time to relax. Copyright 2001 Pam Allen öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo PLEASE RATE THIS EZINE Please rate this Ezine at the Cumuli Ezine Finder öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo by Jan Tincher KNOW your outcome. If you have a goal, you must be precise! Your mind doesn't relate to vague ideas. Your images of achievement must be specific and precise. If you talk about goals in generalities, you will very rarely succeed, but when you talk about your goals in the specific, you will very rarely fail. Check your images of achievement. Are they specific enough? Can you time them, check them, or measure your performance in some way? If your goals aren't specific, your brain dismisses them as irrelevant. Get specific. Know what you are going to do BEFORE you do it. Good luck! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo FREE TUTORIALS BY AUTORESPONDER öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööOoo by Terry Rigg ARE you one of those people that pay your bills no matter what?That is an admirable trait to have when managing your money.You made the bill and you feel you are responsible for paying it.Good for you. Now let's talk about how much money you have to cover yourhousehold expenses after you pay all of those bills. Yourhousehold expenses would include your groceries, car gas,school lunches, and all of the other stuff that it takes to run ahousehold. Do you have enough to pay this bill? All to often, people tend to pay their bills and try to live on what'sleft. This never works unless you have enough money left tocover these at home expenses. The grocery bill will always runabout the same, you will always need about the same money forgas, etc. In other words, you need enough to live on. I have seen this time and time again. Another bill is made andthe money comes out of the household budget because there isno money available in any other category. Then what happens? Many people resort to using their credit cards to cover the irregular expenses. Since there is no other money available to pay their increased credit card payments, that also has to comeout of their household expenses. This is how many people find themselves in over their heads. There is only one way to change this cycle. You have to allow enough money in your budget to cover the things you need. You must do this even at the expense of your other bills. That could put you in a position that you can't make some of your payments,but at least you won't be increasing your debt, except for possibly late fees. If this is your situation you need to seek help to reduce the payments on your other bills. Naturally, there are many ways to cut your household expenses that will allow you to pay more toward your other bills. You can save a lot of money on groceries by using coupons, buying generic, not using processed foods, etc. The internet is full of ideas and tips to help you save. I would start by visiting The Frugal Shopper at http://www.thefrugalshopper.com. When you develop or revise your budget, always put the emphasis on your
household needs. Once you have determined how much you need to get by,
then you can see what is left for other bills. Öö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo WHILE growing up in Zambia in the 1970s, I learned that it was generally safer to kick a lion in a game park than to criticize the president in public. Nothing but praise was heaped on then-President Kenneth Kaunda, a man of such integrity that he refused to be a dictator, insisting instead on regular elections in which he would run -- with amazing success -- against himself. The suspense on election night was incredible. Would Kaunda win again? Or would he lose to Kaunda? It was always too close to call. Despite the sham democracy, people were reluctant to complain. They didn't want their names transferred from the voters list to the missing persons list. The political climate has improved considerably in the Central African nation, but I'd be surprised if Zambians can speak their minds as freely as Americans. Few countries can match thefreedom of speech in America, where making fun of the president isn't just permitted, it's highly recommended. A virtual sport. If there's one thing Americans are always eager to share with each other, it's a Clinton or Bush joke. Even children have fun with presidential jokes: 'Why did President Bush panic when he spotted several ants walking across his desk? Because he had heard about the ant tracks scare.' As a writer and humorist, I cherish freedom of speech. It allows me to express my views freely without worrying that I might get in trouble with the government or, even worse, with my wife. Freedom of speech is one of America's greatest virtues, but it's not quite as unfettered as I once thought. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, at least a handful of Americans have been chastised for expressing dissenting views. If you can't bleed red, white and blue, they've been told, go bleed somewhere else. Seven television stations dropped the late night talk show'Politically Incorrect' after host Bill Maher decided to be a little too politically incorrect. The comedian called past U.S. missile attacks 'cowardly,' a comment that some viewers found politically insulting. Maher later apologized, but to regain those seven stations,he may have to change the name of his show to 'Politically Innocuous.' At least Maher kept his job. Columnists at two daily newspapers were fired for criticizing Bush's handling of the terrorist attacks.The publisher of one of the papers tried to appease readers by writing an opinion piece titled, 'Bush's leadership has been superb.' Ah, American journalism at its finest. On Sept. 10, Bush was fair game for ridicule; on Sept. 11,he was Saint George the exalted one. Ready to slay Osama the dragon. Even colleges, traditionally a wellspring of debate, have clamped down on errant voices. A library assistant at the University of California at Los Angeles earned a five-day suspension without pay for sending an email on a university computer criticizing America's support of Israel. He had apparently forgotten to read the rules, which clearly state that university computers are to be used for pro-Israel purposes only. A University of New Mexico professor received threats after saying, on Sept. 11, 'Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote.' He has since apologized for being a 'jerk', noting that the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of free speech protects his'right to be a jerk.' He didn't lose his job, probably because he's a tenured jerk. Of course, the First Amendment to the Constitution forbids only government interference in a person's right to free speech.Employers and others can apparently interfere all they want. (c) Copyright 2001 Melvin Durai. All Rights Reserved. Öö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo We are pleased to be members of the Ezine PublishersAssociation! Join at http://www.ezinepublisher.org/ öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo FREE EZINESFind hundreds of quality, FREE Ezines at the CumuliEzine Finder: http://www.cumuli.com/ezines/ öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖoo Copyright 2002 Poignant Pearls & Potbellied Pigs öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖöo LIST MECHANICS TO JOIN: Please send a BLANK email tomailto:pearlypigs-subscribe@topica.com TO DEPART: Simply send a BLANK email to:mailto:pearlypigs-unsubscribe@topica.com VIEW ALL PREVIOUS ISSUES AT -http://www.topica.com/lists/pearlypigs/read If you are a Topica Member organising the lists you subscribe to becomes less complicated.Visit http://www.topica.com/ to join. CONTACT INFO: Sheldene Chant (Publisher), 6 StrappLane, Amanzimtoti 4126, KwaZuluNatal, South Africa.Fax:27-31-9031635. email:morganne@icon.co.za .öÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖö°*º*°öÖööÖoo |
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