Diary continued

Diary continued … (by popular request)

I have acquired a maid. Agnes. She comes for a Saturday morning twice a month. Mainly to do ironing. (I do the washing). She cleans the flat in the time remaining. Marvellous!!

February was fairly quiet. Mass on Sundays & Wednesdays; bible study on Wednesdays. Ongoing fights with Standard Bank: they’ve stolen R7-29 from my account and some woman on the phone said that “terms & conditions” allow them to do this. Notwithstanding all the times & hours I’ve spent in Preller Square branch, I’m still not FICA compliant. Going there again tomorrow – eventually they’ll learn.

Similar fight with Spar. I bought a coffee filter machine in Harrismith which died just before the guarantee expired – bad planning on their part. Local Spars (lots of them in Bloem) are not interested. For last 3 weeks have been in contact with Spar’s Customer Service in Durban. They express interest but have not achieved anything (yet). Spoke to them again today. By the time I’ve won (and I will) I’ll have spent more on phone calls than the thing is worth. Meantime, an antique filter I bought at Cash Crusaders about 10 years ago is working perfectly – which is just as well – can’t do without decent coffee.

From 20th Feb I spent a week at Masite in Lesotho with the holy sisters. I did their accounts for 2010 and nearly balanced them. Said Mass & preached every day. Spent a good deal of time on their stoep watching the mountains, reading catholic magazines and being bitten by mosquitoes. Must do it again sooner rather than later. They’re very much easier to reach from Bloem than from Harrismith.

March started well: a friend from Vrede (Titose) pitched last Friday. Will assist at St Margaret’s on Ash Wednesday. Had a “haircut” at Maison Costa: shampoo, conditioning, scalp massage, cut & dry, another rinse to get rid of loose hairs. The massage was a delight & took about 15 minutes. And all for R85 – well worth it!!

I won the English football pools: a whole 3 pounds 40 pence!! Don’t know what to do with the cheque. Standard Bank would charge much more than it’s worth. Also won the SA Lotto: about R30. Might buy a packet of fags.