dial-up = no net

stupid backward-ass south african internet; dial-up's the same thing as NOTHING.

20.12

on my way out, i went to organize food for yogi. it took WAY longer than expected, and i almost forgot to raid his bike for my birthday present - a carton of smokes. i've received healthier gifts :P

cabbing home with stuttering stanley: t'was a tad creepy, at first. he didn't have a clue where to go, but then got angry with me for telling him "obvious" things. i don't like him.

the kid made supper, because he was too lazy to go out. it was quite pleasant, and i spent the rest of the night writing personal letters for my section.

writing personal letters is really difficult. they have to be personal, they have to say positive things, and for a few people i went through so many drafts because i kept writing totally inappropriate things. or simply weird things. i've never been cut out for that sort of thing.

21.12

thursday morning was the last time the kid and i will wake up at the same time to go to the same base. it was kinda sad. once there, i performed the final data transfer to him and piles, and then nystire rocked up and i used him as an excuse to go to the cafeteria to continue writing letters. that took about 3 - 4 hours :(

i packaged them all nicely with the keyrings i'd had made: the mongoose was all pissy that i hadn't made any for his section. huh! like they'd have done for mine?!

i bought chocolates! and marshmallows! and sorted out a large round of hot drinks for the section. that was nice, as usual. i then went off to find out something i need to know for next year. the section i went to is in our unit, but there's no brotherly love. they not only refused to help me, but i actually got shouted at! i was most offended, and actually embarrassed, and it's just a bunch of stupid kids and elderly civilians... i don't know what their bag is.

my TL and i had our "talk". it lasted about an hour. it was interesting, and a couple of things specifically came out of it:
1) my TL told me that i have to begin forcing people to acknowledge my rights
2) i managed to explain what specifically i appreciated about our SC's attitude: it's in direct accordance with my personal philosophy. aim high enough that if you get only a fraction of the way you're doing okay.

i did the final rounds on our base, saying goodbye to everyone, and then returned to my office one last time (as somebody who works there).

if a cluttered desk is a a sign of a cluttered mind...
at least mine's not quite empty - sunday is surprise day.
i left all the envelopes with letters and keyrings neatly stacked. each envelope has a tiny emblem on the corner, and i left a sheet explaining which emblem belongs to which person ;)

it keeps a theme that way - i've been using odd symbols when making coffee so as not to confuse the cups :P

we said our final goodbyes, took photos, and had a last smoke together outside. the cute girl who told me i should look at girls my own age? she gave me a huge hug and her number. hmmm :P

piles helped me carry my shit home. and we waited forever for the buses he was adamant are the "right" ones. after getting fed up waiting, we took the normal ones and got home fairly quickly.

i had coffee with the kid and piles. sunshine came out of the shop jumping up and down - more outwardly excited for me than myself - and we sat chatting for a while. as we all went separate ways, piles was telling me that i "have to" keep in touch. yeah, right! after all that shit? i told him not to worry - what i meant is that i'll be in touch with the section in general through the kid.

i had a shower and began packing, but soon it was getting towards 10pm, and the kid called to remind me to do something i needed help with (signing over power-of-attorney), spot called to say he was meeting me at cafeneto, sammy called to say the same, and i had to rush out with a pen, paper, and my packing not done.

after 6 years being friends with spot, i finally met spot's dad, as he joined us for about half an hour. then magist and a couple of his friends rocked up, sammy arrived, and sunshine came off her shift and sat with us as well.

- talks of astrology, evolution and alternative med: i gotta thank moonflake for keeping me in the know!
- i was completely exhausted and panicked about packing and ensuring everything would be okay

another waitress helped me write out the right-of-attorney thing, which i desperately hope is enough. sunshine wrote on my hand... too bad it was only her full name, and not her number... :P
although she did promise to make sure to be working the night i get back. should i hope?

packing went fairly smoothly, and i caught the tail end of robin williams live on broadway before sammy and i headed out to the airport.

everything airport is much quicker when you only carry hand-luggage.

i had a couple of hours before the flight to sit and mull over all the crazy shit that's been going on the past few months. and read a bit. i passed out for a short while, but i woke up to the sound of people sitting right next to me and it freaked me out enough to keep me going another while.

i sat down on the plane, and the woman who sat down after me introduced herself with a big smile and an expectant look on her face. i looked at her quizzically, said "hi." [full-stop emphasized], and promptly ignored her. so i had two seats to myself (just one short of peaceful slumber). i was wondering when i woke up at one point if she'd left because gas expands at higher altitudes.

read / slept / listened to music most of the flight. why must flight attendants assume that everyone is retarded? i went to the back to ask for something to drink, and while she was getting me something she kept repeating that i needed to get back to my seat and strap myself in. meanwhile, i'm standing still and she was wobbling about from the turbulence. and i'd already acknowledged her "warning". i hate that.

the transfer was super-fast without baggage, and the next flight went by in a daze.

my cousin and his girlfriend picked me up at the airport; it amazes me that my brain had mostly made the switch back to cape town and i actually knew what was going on. pity about the stress, for my first couple of days i couldn't finish a sentence or think about anything more than sleeping.

supper was a little crazy - quite a lot of people for the first few hours :P

i decided afterwards that going to sleep was in order.

23.12

my first morning, my mom took me for a wax (tattoo area and shoulders) and massage. the first thing that worried me about the massage was the shower in the corner. then the guy who walked in (couldn't it have been a pretty girl?) told me to leave all my things in the closet and wrap myself in a towel.

*ahem*

for a back, neck and shoulders massage? i was still standing there awkwardly when he returned, too uncomfortable to remove my pants - and thinking how bloody silly it would be to do so. he laughed, and let me keep them on :P

afterwards we went to visit my aunt and tgtbt on the mountain - absolutely stunning. i say it every time, but it is a mind-blowing view.

we went for a serious lunch afterwards with cousins from johannesburg, and on the way home i called SxS to find out when he was arriving. i called him as he was entering sea-point; that's pretty good timing.

we met up at my mom's new apartment for a quick inspection, and then went to canal walk (canalle walk? shukran :P) to shop at mr. price. we didn't do much more than that.

erte's the dump - we stopped there on the way home, and it really does get worse every year.

we chilled at home for a bit, and then went for a short walk on the promenade, dropping off a care-package for my nanny on the way. she's getting old, and she's not really taking care of herself properly :(

my sister paid us a visit, which gave me an opportunity to torture her a little (i didn't tell her i re-pierced my nipple :P). and then we were off to town.