FRIENDS

"

DEDICATED TO ALL MY FRIENDS ...

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."- Anais Nin

"My friends are my estate."- Emily Dickinson

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

"A friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else." - Len Wein

"Every person is a new door to a different world."- from movie "Six Degrees of Seperation"

"It takes a long time to grow an old friend." - by John Leonard

"Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you." - Elbert Hubard

"I get by with a little help from my friends." - John Lennon

"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships." - Abraham Lincoln

"To be depressed is to be lonely; to have a friend is to be happy..." - Guido

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him, his own." -Benjamin Disraeli

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being." -Goethe

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."

"It's the friends you can call up at 4am that matter." - Marlene Dietrick

"A friend is a gift you give yourself." - Robert Louis Stevenson

"Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success." - Oscar Wilde

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." - Mother Teresa

"I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody." - Benjamin Franklin

"Misfortune shows those who are not really friends." - Aristotle

"Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with." - Mark Twain

"The friendship that can cease has never been real." - Saint Jerome

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. They are but trifles, to be sure but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."

"The best way to keep your friends is not to give them away." - Wilson Mizner

"I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe I deserved my friends." - Walt Whitman

"The making of friends, who are real friends, is the best token we have of a man's success in life." - Edward Everett Hale

"Friendship without self interest is one of the rare and beautiful things in life." - James Francis Byrnes

"Do not save your loving speechesFor your friends till they are dead;Do not write them on their tombstones,Speak them rather now instead.- Anna Cummins

"Best friends are like diamonds, precious and rareFalse friends are like leaves, found everywhere."- Anonymous

"If all my friends were to jump off a bridge, I wouldn't jump with them, I'd be at the bottom to catch them"

"A good friend is hard to find, hard to lose, and impossible to forget..."

"Friendship is a special kind of love."
"The secret to friendship is being a good listener."
"A true friend is someone you can trust with all your secrets."
"Gems may be presious, but friends are priceless."

"They say 'you only regret the things you never do.' Then why do I regret every bad thing I did to you?"

Quote of the day ...

He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, and he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere...

Happy Birthday Gwen!

E-Bottle from Facebook ...

I changed my language on facebook from English (UK) to English (Pirates) and it is so funny. This is how I get my mail form facebook now:

From: "Ye olde Facebook"
Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2009 6:06 PM
To: "Rose"
Subject: Lisa scrawled on a yarn on ye olde Facebook...

Lisa shouted an ahoy back. arrRE: English Pirate "this is really cool, just tried it.......... : )"
T' send a bottle back, stab the link below: http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1048673865769&mid=7a4153G252ebbb5G1b38e13G0

T'is scrawl be intended fer rose. If ye want to sanction which e-bottles ye get from ye olde Facebook, stab:> http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?notifications&md=bXNnO2Zyb209MTA2Nzc4MDg0Mjt0PTEwNDg2NzM4NjU3Njk7dG89NjIzODE5NzAx&mid=7a4153G252ebbb5G1b38e13G0> Ye olde Facebook's caverns are t' be discovered at 156 University Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301.

Vis-'a-vis a visa and the Green Mamba

The nightmare on Visa's continues ... When we decided to do our RTW trip in the summer of 2009, we were under the impression that by then we would have the same passport as Emily and it would be a breeze to travel. Well as it turns out, we are 6 weeks away from our trip and still aliens, and have to travel on a "green" passport, I have been told by my friend Mars that it is also called the "Green Mamba" it always comes up and bites you.

So chatting to the travel agent last week, she said to me to email our passports through and she will organise our Aussie Visas for us, but then came back to me the next day to say because we had a Green Mamba she couldn't do it and we had to go direct to the Aussie Embassy. However, it turns out that the Aussie Embassy in Oireland don't deal with Visa's and we have to go to London (well not physically thank the Lord, because we we need another visa to do that).

To try and phone a REAL LIVE person is an absolute NO NO when it comes to dealing with the Australian Embassy, unless of course you are prepared to pay 1 Pound a minute (from a BT Telephone line) so who knows what that equates to from an Eircom line. So we send them an email, and I must say that they were rather efficient in getting back to me the next day. Now Em is on an EU passport but even so because she is under age we need to apply for her Visa the same way as we apply for ours.

In order to apply for an Australian holiday Visa for the 15 days we will be in Australia, we need to send copies of:

• Bank Account Statements for the last 3 months
• Travel Insurance
• Copies of Hotel Bookings
• Copy of Air Tickets
• A letter of invitation from an Australian Resident
• A copy of our marriage certificate
• Copies of Payslips for the last 3 months
• A letter from the company you are employed with to say you are taking leave
• Complete and sign an 8 page document, giving your life history
• 100 Dollars per Visa
• A self addressed envelope so they can return the passports.
• A passport photograph

I can't even remember what else there was. So duly done, signed, sealed and sent registered mail on Friday, we can only hope that it gets back in time to apply for the other visa's. As soon as they come back we then have to go down to the French Embassy and apply for a French Polynesian Visa and take with us the following information:

• 2 passport photographs
• Only a 2 page document to be completed and signed
• Bank Accounts statements for the Last 3 months
• Credit Card statement
• Travel Insurance
• Fully paid for Travel Tickets
• Fully paid for Hotel Bookings
• Means of transportation while abroad i.e. copies of bookings of rental car
• Copies of payslips for previous 3 months
• A letter from your employer to state you are taking leave
• 60 Euro each per visa
• You have to appear in Person

The French Embassy are only open on Mon - Thurs from 2:00 pm till 4:00 pm to apply for Visas and on Friday between 2 and 3. To collect your passport with Visa they are open in the morning between 10 and 12.

THEN I find out ...

That as from the 1st of March if we travel to the UK on a Green Mamba we need a visa as well, and not only to visit but even if you are in transit. So in order to get to wherever we are going via London we need a British Visa, and the story starts again ... there is a 10 page document that needs to be completed, photographs, more money, more bank account statements, more more more ... after this little episode we will be broke!

Murphy's law as soon as we have a passport that we CAN travel on without having to get Visa's we probably won't go anywhere!

ONE GREEN MAMBA FOR SALE ... ACTUALLY YOU CAN TAKE IT FOR FREE!!!!

Fingers crossed that we get everything in time, else we ain't going no where!

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Cartoon of the day

Spanish Train

Studying and the week-end

What is it about studying, unfortunately I am not a very good studier, as soon as I sit down my mind runs away with me and unless I am actually under pressure to cram, things tend to just go in and out and don't stick.

Hence this past bank holiday week-end as soon as I sat down to do some studying I thought of something else that needed to be done. On Saturday and Sunday the weather was just too nice to do too much studying and luckily we had a wonderful lunch invitation on Sunday to deviate me from the books.

After lunch, we picked up Lisa and went off to the fun fair in Leopardstown, I must say it was loads of fun, although I chose not to get wet, I did go on the Ferris wheel and boy what a beautiful view from up there.

Lisa was quite horrified that Em decided to go on a bus instead of taking the racing car!

Knock Knock

Knock, Knock I knocked at heaven's door this morning.

God asked me...'My child, what can I do for you?'

And I said, 'Father, please protect and bless the person reading this message.

' God smiled and answered...'Request granted'.

'Be kinder than necessary,

for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'

I guess sometimes I forget ...

California Dreaming

On Saturday night we had friends over that we are meeting up with in California, Teresa brought me a map of California that I have been studying to see where we will go. Unfortunately we will only be spending 6 days there, so we have to make the most of it, but so far the plan is Disneyland, Water world in San Diego and maybe the zoo, Pasadena and hopefully a bit of Hollywood Boulevard.

I'm looking forward to have the sun on my face and swimming!

The wise old owl ...

A wise old owl sat in an oak,

The more he heard,

the less he spoke;

The less he spoke,

the more he heard;

Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

Alien update ...

I am only human after all, or am I alien ... I don't quite know anymore! The thing is I tend to panic at the slightest thing going wrong, and I have tried to come to some kind of conclusion on why I do this and discovered it is trauma of being brought up in the apartheid era in South Africa in the 70's and 80's. Everyone was petrified of anyone who was an official of the law or government department, they did not treat the ordinary citizen very well. Stories of kids at school being taken down to the police station and given cuts until they bled, put the fear of God in us.

If ever an official looking envelope came you would get worried, and the last thing you wanted was any kind of interaction with the apartheid government. You were even deemed a terrorist if you did not stand to attention and sing the National anthem every time it was played. So I guess that still remains somewhere at the back of my memory banks. (So that is my excuse and I am sticking to it).

So we are in a strange country and I do everything by the book, because the last thing you want is to get up some government officials nose and he deports you. But all the gory details are in my previous post.

As to the update, I must say a lot of my friends are very level headed, Kelly emailed me with details of a friend of hers who are also in the process of getting their citizenship, her friend also knows the In's and outs of the justice system. I have not contacted her yet but I am going to, anyway according to Kelly's friend you can apply for Long Term Residency and then you a treated pretty much like an Irish person, which means you don't have to apply for permission to the Justice department to be self employed.

However, I go onto the website and it says that you can apply for long term residency after you have completed 5 years stay in the country, processing time for long term residency is approximately 18 month, which does not really help, but Kelly says to speak to her anyway because she knows all the In's and outs. Before I do phone however, I have written a letter to the INIS to see what the hold up is with our naturalisation and citizenship. I am still legal till September so there is no rush, and a light at the end of the tunnel in that the software company I have been dealing with have said if I am looking for a job in September to give them a call.

So I guess for now it is a waiting game, see what the INIS have to say if nothing concrete comes of that I will phone Marlene and take it one step at a time. I am not going to panic anymore and give myself a heart attack, I believe my fate is all written out and no matter how I try and change it's course, what will be Will be and what will happen will happen!

I will update you when I have an answer from the INIS.

There's a hole in my ceiling dear Liza, dear Liza ...

Saturday just before D is about to leave for his AC/DC concert we notice water dripping in the dining room. The whole ceiling board has buckled and it looks like it is going to come down any minute, so D makes a tiny hole to release the water, I think we emptied about 2 bucket of water.

We can't really be sure where the water is coming from, so D goes off to his concert, Em has a bath, and as soon as she pulls out the plug and comes down stairs, the water is coming out of every concievable hole in the ceiling, at least now we know it is the bath.

So Sunday he is up there and takes the whole ceiling board down, the water has obviously been getting in for a while, because the ceiling board is like mush and mouldy as well. I call the plumber who promises to come the next day.
(Instead of ceiling up the ceiling, we could maybe hang ornaments from the beams!)

True to his word our plumber who now knows exactly where we live, this is his 3rd visit in about 2 months arrives on time. He tries to solve the leak but has to go further, he tells me what he is going to do and the next thing I just hear banging and clattering and electric saws. Well probably a good thing I did not go up while he was busy, because I probably would have freaked.
Anyway it turns out that the overflow pipe was never sealed properly, the people who sold us the house did a quick renovation job, new bathroom but never got it done properly. So he tells me it is now sealed properly but to leave it for a few days just to be sure to be sure!

We are thinking of adding a door here, maybe we could store our toilet paper under the bath or better still a house for the mouse!

Thanks for the offer of help Lisa & Len, you never know we may just take you up on it! The next project will be to seal all the holes in our house ... oh why oh why did we buy?

The Alien strikes again ...

So everyone has been asking for an update on my "Alien" status, and as soon as I have a moment to write I will update you here, I promise!!!

Susan Boyle ... the voice of an Angel

I first saw this on Thursday morning when I was surfing the BBC new channel, I watched it without sound (because I was at work) and then came home and watched it again, well it brought me to tears. I have read a number of articles after seeing it, and it sums up what everyone feels, Susan came onto Britain has talent and all the judges, judged her appearance and looks before even hearing her sing. By the rolling eyes and the skew faces, not only the judges but the audience as well, they had already decided that she was going to be a waste of time.

Well how wrong they were, this middle aged over weight unkempt looking lady who wanted to be like Elaine Paige or someone like that, wowed the judges and the audience with her stunning voice. I don't know why I cry every time I watch it, but I think it is probably the fact that she showed those pretentious judges who are always looking for the next star to be more beautiful, more sexy and more talented than the one before, that someone without all of the outside characteristics can be even more talented.

It's the fact that an ordinary person from a small village can rise up and be a star! Well done Susan for showing everyone that Beauty is only skin deep, you are beautiful, you are talented and you are everything that a lot of people would love to be!

I showed this to D an hour ago and could not talk to him for 5 minutes afterwards, I was crying so much.

If you haven't watched it already, here is the link to the Youtube recording : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY so far it has been watched by almost 30 Million times, incredible.

Dedicated to the one I love ...

D went to see ACDC last night and I received this picture in an email which I thought was too good not to put on the Blog, maybe you can even see a resemblance? (Only kidding honey) - Lisa you may have to tell him to have a look at the blog sometime.

Summer Nights

Last Monday, Emily and I watched the Movie Grease. Today was an awesome day weather wise and we were eating dinner and playing snap when Summer nights came onto the radio and Emily insisted we had to dance round the kitchen, it was fun. And it was awesome sitting outside in the blazing sun chatting to Lisa today!!! More Summer days and nights pleeze!

I'm an Alien ...

In fact I have never before felt more like an Alien than I do now.

I didn't want to blog about it, I really really didn't but I am just so angry and so sick to death of all the legal f*n s*&t that I need to vent my anger somewhere, and I am not going to vent it on Em or D so I guess I am just going to have to blog about it, thank goodness there are not too many people who read this blog !!!

So here goes! My whole life turned upside down last year, my new boss was in the process of getting rid of all the old staff, little did I know he had a list and unless you bowed down kissed his FAT ass and brown nosed him, your days were numbered. So lots of stress and victimisation I eventually left. However as most of you know if I was going to leave, we had to buy a house right then, who was to know the World was going to go into an Economic Meltdown and the housing market on this God forsaken Island was going to crash! But we were in it for the long term.

You see when Em started school decisions had to be made and one of those was "should we stay or should we go", our applications for citizenship had been sent into one of those government departments in July 2006, yes people 2006 almost 3 F*&ckn years ago!

Anyway we moved into our house, bought new furniture, unpacked all our boxes of stuff that we had shipped over in 2007. We took our annual summer vacation with D's parents and while I was away I was offered a job on condition I would be self employed. So I do all the legal stuff, open a company, apply for a VAT number, get myself and accountant, get all the right paper work out the way and start consulting. This is September 2008. My work visa is valid for another year and besides, when D goes to renew his I will go with him and sort out mine.

So April 2009 arrives and D had to go and renew his visa down at immigration, I go with and tell them my story, only to be told that I am NOT allowed to be self employed and have to seek permission from the minister of justice. Many tears and frustration later, a 3 page letter with every document I can find, get attached and I send it off to the Minister of Justice. The guy down at immigration told me that it would take a couple of months.

Today I arrive home and I am sitting down to check my mail, the doorbell rings and outside stands my lovely neighbor Colin with an official looking envelope that he had signed for. I thank him and wonder what it is, only to open and find a letter from the Justice department telling me that in order to be self employed I have to fill the following criteria:

• Before submitting an application form you should ensure that you can meet the following criteria;-


• the proposed business must result in the transfer to the State of capital in the minimum sum of €300,000;
  
• the proposed business must create employment for at least two EEA nationals for a new project or, at the very least, maintain employment in an existing business;
  
• the proposed business must add to the commercial activity and competitiveness of the State;
  
• the proposed business must be a viable trading concern and provide the applicant with sufficient income to maintain and accommodate themselves and any dependants without resorting to social assistance or paid employment for which a work permit would be required;
  
• The applicant must be in possession of a valid passport or national identity document and be of good character.

You must also submit –

• Your valid passport or national identity document;


• Your registration certificate if you are already residing in the State;
  
• A statement of character from the police authorities of each country in which you have resided for more than six months during the 10 year period prior to your making an application;
  
• Business plan which addresses points (1) to (5) above. This business plan must be endorsed by a firm of accountants or a financial institution involved in venture capital.
  You must provide detailed proof of your own skills levels to undertake such a business including, where applicable, academic qualifications in the particular field, details of apprenticeships, evidence of previous business experience, all qualifications relevant to the proposed business and general experience.
  
• References from former employers.
  
• Original documentations clearly showing the capital available for such a venture
  
• Details of where the business will operate from, including layout specification and lease/rental plans.

Failure to meet any of the points set out above will result in the application being refused.

Even if I want to be self employed I need to submit all of the above, not sure about the 300K, but who knows. And in any case if I had 300 Feking K, I would put it on our Mortgage and I would not have to work!!!

The nice man who wrote the letter from the Immigration department suggests I have my application for citizenship expedited or else find a job with an employer and get my visa renewed for another 2 years, that way I am less restricted as well, as if I am self employed I go from being a STAMP 4 to a STAMP 1, yes my fellow readers this is what my life has become ... A number on a file at the immigration department and a Stamp!!!

How come it only takes 5 years in the UK to become a Citizen and 3 years in Australia, we have been here for 8 F*&K*&g long years in this cr*p&y weather and nothing ..., we have paid our dues, our taxes been taxed to death and there is more to come and still nothing!!!

I have so much more to say, but for now I rest my case and pray that things will work out!

I am surprised I have not had a heart attack! Other alternative, get a quick SA do it your self divorce and marry and Irish citizen, hmmm don't want to do that so what next!

Ring, Ring, why don't you give me a call ...

Obama's Capetonian Image

Daffy Duck

Daffy duck on a dirty weekend calls reception and asks for a condom.
The reception says, shall I put them on your bill?

Daffy replies….. Don’t be thucking thtupid I’d thufficate

Life after the Whitehouse

Every now and then I get some really good emails, this was one of those!

Life After the Whitehouse!!!

Happy Easter 2009

For the past 7 years I don't think we have once been in Dublin for Easter, with it being a long week-end we always manage to get away somewhere nice, I know last year 2008 we were in Luton, London and it snowed, 2007 we were in South Africa, 2006 hmmm, the memory fades, 2005 we were in Barcelona, so this year is probably the first year we have spent it at home, in our own home here in Dublin.

With Em being at school she knew all about Easter and sat me down the other day and when I say sat me down, that is what she did. We have not taken Em to Sunday school, so what she learns she learns from school, they have assembly for half an hour each morning. So the conversation went something like, Mom come and sit down I want to tell you a story, and so I did, she then proceeded to tell me about Palm Sunday, the crucifixion and of course how Jesus rose from the dead. And then told me WHY we have Easter eggs and what the eggs represent, I was amazed and proud of her, for someone who is not yet 6, she is definitely a born leader and will go far in life. She speaks so well and clear (those speech & drama classes are paying off).

So getting back to Easter, we were all up early this morning, mainly because Emily woke up at 6 and came to show us what the Easter Bunny had brought her, I then got up at 7 and started preparation for our guests.

At about 11:30 D and I started to hide the Easter eggs in the garden, I felt a drop of rain and saw some clouds, but all to soon they had dissipated and the sun shone brightly. We had to wait for Luke and Aran to get here before the hunt started, I wanted them to paint eggs first but chocolate is more important.

The weather turned out to be absolutely stunning, we all sat outside in the garden till everyone had to leave which was after 6. The kids had fun, the adults had fun, the frozen Margaritas and the pancakes were a hit. Lots of food, friends and chat - what an awesome day!

The Number 1. Ladies Detective agency

My friend M told me about this program when I was going on about "Wild at heart", you see every now and again it's nice to go back to your roots and see some local talent. Well for the past 2 weeks Wild at heart has been MIA and so while I was surfing the channels I came across the program that Mars had told me about, so I thought I should watch it. Well I must say it was not half bad, not filmed in SA but in Botswana but the humour is very similar.

The next episode is on BBC1, on Sunday the 12th of April at 9:00 PM

Happy Birthday to Moi

Well my birthday came and went quite uneventful, I had my present the previous week when D and I went to see Tina Turner, so for my birthday I got a Tina Turner triple CD and a Bruce Springsteen DVD which I have yet to watch, and my birthday wish came true, the sun shone from the time we woke up at about 6:00 AM and did not go down till about 8:30 that evening, not a cloud in the sky and just pure Sunshine.

I picked Em up from Swimming (I think she told everyone in the school it was my birthday) and we drove to Sandymount strand and took a walk, the wind however was icy, so we did not spend too long on the beach and then drove home. I really had an awesome day, from the time I woke up, my mobile phone beeped non stop with message after message of birthday wishes, the phone at home kept ringing and my facebook was full of birthday wishes. Awesome! Thanks everyone for making my day so special.

My Wish come true ...

I can't believe March flashed past my eyes. It was a pretty eventful month, what with my dear friend Marsali coming over from London, St. Paddy's day braai, Emily and D both being sick and then all the birthdays. Oh yes and I became a great aunt again, my youngest niece had a baby boy on the 27th of March.

So my wish, well with the recession and buying a house, the pot of gold has dwindled so I told D not to buy me anything for my birthday this year, and if he did buy me presents to make them practical, so of course for Mothers day I got lots of vouchers from revive which I have decided to save and only go when I really have to, I am trying to hold out to as close as possible to the July holidays as we can, so we will see.

Anyway my wish for my birthday was Good weather and lots of sunshine and so far my birthday wishes are coming true. The weather this week has been absolutely fantabulous, and it is expected to last the rest of the week, with most of the sunshine tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. Friday I am finishing work at 11:30 as the school breaks up at 12:00 and Em and I are going to have a fun day together.