Morning Mirror Edition 249 - 25/7/2007




In this edition

Smalls



Gadgets and Gizmos


GADGETS AND GIZMOS !

Its rather like sleeping in the cockpit of a Boeing 747 !!

There are so many flashing lights it makes one quite dizzy. If the Price Police came to take me away, all they would need to do is to put me in a cell with continuous bright flashing lights and I would crack after just two days without any other pressure at all....

Yes, I invite you to try out my bedroom just for one night !! Heehoo must have cast iron eyelids, but mine must be made of a a rather more delicate fibre .... and so after nearly thirty years of wedded bliss we must at last agree to disagree.

It has not always been like this.... when we were first married we did not have such a plethora of gadgets decorating our marital boudoir !! In those days of yore there were no lap top computers to flash constantly, painfully, excruciatingly all through the night like a great all seeing menacing eyes that glow hypnotically, nay cybernetically, all night long...

No less than three cell phones festoon his bedside table, not just one, not two, but three that flash in mesmerising hallucinating harmony all night long. (In Zimbabwe one must possess at least one line from all three mobile servers in the vain hope that at least one might work at least once during the average day ....)

Apart from the phones and computers there are other gadgets and gizmos with which one must contend.... palm pilots, alarms, rechargeable torches, inverters, converters, televisions, decoders videos, etc etc etc. all featuring one if not two bright coloured lights either flashing or monolithically, but all cyclopean and never dormant.

And so going to bed takes rather longer than it used to in those glorious days when we were young and carefree.... not only do we have to take our various tablets carefully, make sure the fence alarm is working, the garden beams are working, the electric gate is locked, the generator is switched off, all the candles are doused, the fire is carefully low and guarded and all the non functioning taps are turned off JUST IN CASE SOME WATER MAKES ITS WAY THROUGH TO US DURING THE NIGHT !!

But now Heehoo has been instructed to make sure there is not a single nook, a tiny cranny, a minute crevice of light, shining from any of his electronic gadgets that might interfere with the sleep of SheHoo during those few precious night hours that most geriatrics are treated to in their latter years !!

Woe betide the gadget that dares to beam once it has been put to its furry bed under a handy towel, sock or magazine.... there is no telling what awful fate might befall the Poor Man if he nods off before the Gadgets and Gizmos have been tenderly put to beddy- byes !!

There is nothing I can do about all those radio waves, gamma waves, electromagnetic waves that are rushing frantically around the room destroying what few brain cells we both have left, but at least I can cover up those hundreds of all seeing electronic eyes and sleep peacefully once again.... and with these new extended power cuts....I must be the only person in Zimbabwe who loves ZESA !!!


SYMPATHY MESSAGES


We wish to announce the very sad passing of Molly Lawrie (nee Low) 03.02.1916 - 08.06.2007. We will miss her very much. - May you rest in peace.
Love Joe, Maria, John and Stephen.



CONDOLENCE

Patrick James MELLIN, formerly of Bulawayo (NRZ and ZESA), passed away suddenly but peacefully at home in Durban, South Africa, on Thursday 5th July, 2007, two weeks before his 79th birthday. Beloved father of Amanda, Sybil, Patrick and Mark; father-in-law of Andy and Julie; Oupa of Tracey & Tristan Rudman; Robyn Wilder (nee Rudman), Quintin & Simone McCutcheon, Chevonne & Patrick Mellin and Lianne & Adam Mellin. Deeply missed by the whole family. Now reunited with Cecilia his wife of 50 years who passed away on 5th June, 2005.

Patrick James MELLIN, formerly of Bulawayo (NRZ and ZESA), passed away suddenly but peacefully at home in Durban, South Africa, on Thursday 5th July, 2007, two weeks before his 79th birthday. Beloved father of Amanda, Sybil, Patrick and Mark; father-in-law of Andy and Julie; Oupa of Tracey & Tristan Rudman; Robyn Wilder (nee Rudman), Quintin & Simone McCutcheon, Chevonne & Patrick Mellin and Lianne & Adam Mellin. Deeply missed by the whole family. Now reunited with Cecilia his wife of 50 years who passed away on 5th June, 2005.

DES LECLUSE
Passed away on 18/07/07. Loving Husband of Del,Father of Clint,Annette and Paul,Father- in-law of Debbie and Lauren, Grandfather of Kerry,Nicky, David,Gareth, Jordan and Josh. He will be sorely missed.

Mr Bertram Rutherford Cooper
Formerly of Nkayi. Passed away peacefully in Esigodini on Friday 13th July 2007. Beloved husband of Patricia, and father of Ralph, Nan, Janice, Frances, Patricia, Cheryl.

FUNERAL NOTICE

THE FUNERAL SERVICE FOR THE LATE HENRY AND JILL CRAVEN WILL TAKE PLACE AT CHRIST THE KING CATHOLIC CHURCH, HILLSIDE, BULAWAYO ON WEDNESDAY 25TH JULY 2007 AT 11.00 AM. ALL FRIENDS AND RELATIVES INVITED FOR TEA AFTERWARDS IN THE HALL.

CONDOLENCES
Mike George: I would like to pass my condolences to Liz George on the passing of an Old Scouter, Mike. I first knew him in the early 50's when he was a Gordon Park Ranger. He was also a familiar figure around the Matopos riding his beloved, trusty BSA.
- Peter Botwright

Mike George:

We remember Mike especially from our days in the Matopos (1975): a wonderful caring co- worker (Workmen's Compensation Rehabilitation) , and a true friend. Our most sincere condolences to Liz, Megan and Gwynneth, families and grandchildren.
Wim and Inger Slooten, Napier, New Zealand

Willem (Willie) de Beer
Emptiness, who will fill this void? Dear friend and colleagues of many years, Wille is gone. It is with a great deal of sadness I write this note - Willem de Beer, Alpha Dagaboys - friend and colleague in our beloved Department of National Parks passed away in the early hours of Monday the 16th. A gentle giant, a man of immense courage and heart, decorated for gallantry trying to save a colleague from a lion. Humble, yet one who naturally commanded respect; who can forget the times we had tea and listened to Willie reminisce - so much experience, a perfectionist and able teacher. We, with the Mana "eles" - the young and old amongst whom you walked, salute you. As an added tribute I am compelled to add afew words from Col.Charlie Aust - Who writes "You will not know me , an old Rhodesian ,ex Army and farmer , who lost his farm and now lives with much unhappiness in England .I wish to pass to you my deepest condolences and sadness plus my great respect on the passing on of Dad . I first knew him as a National Serviceman aged 17 . I looked up to him all my life . He was a wonderful man who `s character embodied the toughness of an African bushman with the manners and gentleness of a proper gentleman .I admired him and always will . He was a man of men and I will never forget him .God Bless you . Will be thinking of you . Charlie Aust". Deepest sympathy to Carol - in our thoughts and prayers we reach out to you.
Mike Bromwich
On behalf of all National Parks Dagaboys.


TIDBITS


When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.
--Georgia O'Keefe


"I have learnt my lesson, I asked God to make me a millionaire, but I forgot to state the currency!!!! "
By- anonymous Zimbabwean citizen


The Word of the Day for July 23 is:

extirpate \EK-ster-payt\ verb

1 *a : to destroy completely : wipe out b : to pull up by the root
2 : to cut out by surgery

Example sentence:
By insisting that he has a plan to extirpate crime and corruption in our cities, the governor might have bitten off more than he can chew.

do you think this word "Extirpate" applies to ZIMBABWE ????

WE HAVE BEEN EXTIRPATED VERY NICELY THANK YOU ....




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