NicP

The operator pushes the lever forward and the bulldozer presses against the wall of the dilapidated building. As the force increases, the walls start crumbling. By nightfall only a bare piece of land is left, devoid of vegetation.

When the contractors arrive after the weekend to start on the hotel that is to be erected on [...]

When you get laid off, there are a number of things that jump out and demand to be given attention and to be managed. Things that usually may not even demand attention but get dealt with in the normal flow of things.
Although they are all reality, some are more concrete than others. Facts need to [...]

One thing that I prepared myself for when I lost my job, was the loss of friends I made during my stint at the newspaper.
As a newspaper editor, one is quite aware of the fact that people “like” you or want to be “friends” with you or tolerate you because of the perceived power you [...]

I develop a wry smile every time I am confronted by a serious-looking security guard with a broken pen and a worthless form on a dirty clipboard.
I walk into the office of the unemployment department and who stop me at the door? THREE security people. One sits, one stands and one indicates grumpily that I [...]

I received this nice keyring for my second donation of a unit of blood. It reflects my blood type and is intended to assist emergency workers should I be unable to give my blood type after an accident.
Really appreciated the gesture. It went right where it belongs - attached to my car keys. It was [...]

I received this contribution from a friend who is a teacher at a local school and mother of three and reprint it here with her permission. (For international readers: “forty days” is forty days before the final school exams start)
Bowled clean.
Debbie Kampherbeek
Yesterday the matrics had their ‘forty days’.
Forty days to what, I don’t know. [...]

The girl who cuts my hair every 3 months, or sometimes 6 weeks, is on 4 months maternity leave.
Before she left I was concerned about cutting my hair and where I would have it done. She told me she would come in any Monday to do the necessary. All I had to do was call [...]

Had a great breakfast with two friends from the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) to discuss ways in which they can use social media to promote their activities.
What came out of the discussion is the way in which many organisations shoot themselves in the foot by denying their employees access to Facebook and other [...]

“The day got hot, and we took off our shirts. One sweating soldier said: ‘Five years ago you couldn‘t a got me to dig a ditch for five dollars an hour. Now look at me. You can’t stop me digging ditches. I don’t even want pay for it; I just dig for love.’”
- Digging and [...]

In the next month I will become a grandfather for the first time, and this morning I realised I have no idea how to be one.
What are you supposed to say when you meet the little bundle? What are you supposed to DO? What are you supposed NOT to do? What are you supposed NOT [...]

In South Africa you are not allowed to get paid for donating blood.
That puts a lot of pressure on the blood service as they must convince people to donate for no other reason than helping others.
I donated blood about two weeks ago and my encounter with them went like this:
1. while donating blood I got [...]

There is a saying that goes something like this: “When a child is 12 years old, he cannot believe how little his parents know. When he is 18, he can’t believe how much they learned in 6 years”.
I am amazed at what I have learned in the past 3 months - all things that I [...]

When man talks about “clean”, he actually has in his mind “sterile”. You cannot do that with nature.
In nature, if something is sterile, it is dead. If man cleans nature, he terminates life.
We should stop cleaning and start enjoying, stop abusing and start using, stop existing and start living.
May you have a week filled with [...]

If you wake up at the same time every morning, follow the same routine through the day until you get into bed at night and haven’t changed that in years, you need to eat your apple differently today.
Why? Well, no other reason than to get a new view on your life.
Why is it that we [...]