Happy 20th Anniversary, Honey

WoW, I can hardly believe it’s been 20 years since I married my sweetheart & best friend. If I had a choice, I would do it all over again. This year we decided to celebrate with a 10 day holiday away… On Monday we hit the road down to the Dolphin coast. For the next few days we’ll be chillaxing and enjoying our break away with family fun and field trips.

Love is the MASTER KEY which OPENS the GATES of HAPPINESS

Thank you for 20 wonderful years Schatzi.

To my darling Husband.

Today we celebrate your most difficult accomplishment, staying married to me all these years.

Before I met you, I was incomplete. You gave a new meaning to my life. You are my partner, my sweetheart, my confidante, my advisor, my comforter and friend - You are my quiet place away from the rest of the world.

We’ve had many mountains on our way and truly, there have been some painful hours, but we’re still standing, stronger than before. I don’t think there’s a love stronger than ours.

I never thought I would meet a man who had everything I was looking for: intelligence, a sense of humour, a loving heart, and a faithful soul; someone who could be both my lover and my friend. I never thought I would meet the man of my dreams... until I met you. I will always love you.

Wishing you all the good things in life. May the love we share grow deeper with each passing year.

Just for fun… DO WE REMEMBER?

A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband was not in their bed.

She puts on her dressing gown and goes downstairs to look for him.

She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee in front of him. He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall.

She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his coffee.

“What's the matter, dear?” she whispers as she steps into the room, 'Why are you down here at this time of night?'

The husband looks up from his coffee, “I am just remembering when we first met 20 years ago and started dating. You were only 16. Do you remember back then?” he says solemnly.

The wife is touched to tears thinking that her husband is so caring, so sensitive.

“Yes, I  do” she replies.

The husband pauses. The words were not coming easily.

“Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car?' “'Yes, I remember!” said the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.

The husband continues. “Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, 'Either you marry my daughter, or I will send you to jail for 20 years?”

“I remember that too” she replies softly.

He wipes another tear from his cheek and says...

“I would have been released today.”

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacy. The order varies every given year.

Amazing Paths

002

003

004

005

006

007

008

009

010

011

012

013

014

015

016

017

May the path your life takes in the next year lead you to fun and adventure, love and peace.

WOW!!!

I'm part of the 49Million initiative.

An unusual tale of VICTORY!

Tell me this one doesn't put life in perspective. 

In Phoenix , Arizona , a 26-year-old mother stared own at her 6 year old son, who was Dying of terminal leukaemia.


Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a Strong feeling of determination.

Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up and fulfil all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible.


The leukaemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dream to come true.


She took her son's hand and asked, 'Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up ?

Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life ?'


Mommy, 'I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.'


Mom smiled back and said, 'Let's see if we can make your wish come true.'


Later that day she went to her local fire Department in Phoenix , Arizona,where she met  Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix .


She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her 6 year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.


Fireman Bob said, 'Look, we can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary Fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards !


And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat - not a toy one with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots.'

'They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix , so we can get them fast.'

Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck.


Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven.


There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls.


He rode in the different fire engines, the Paramedic's' van and even the fire chief's car. He was
also videotaped for the local news program.


Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy, that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.


One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed

in the hospice concept - that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital.


Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a Fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and

asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition..


The chief replied, 'We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favour ?


When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire? 'It's the department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?


About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window --------


6 fire-fighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room!


With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they LOVED him.

With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, 'Chief, am I really a fireman now?'

'Billy, you are, and The Head Chief, God, is holding your hand,' the chief said.

With those words, Billy smiled and said, 'I know, He's been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been singing.'


He closed his eyes one last time.

I wanted God to bless you.

Please pass this along to people you want to be touched & blessed.

This story is powerful and there is nothing attached.

Uplifting stories are one of
the best gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards, so let's continue to uplift one another~

True Story

The World Is Mine

Today, upon a bus, I saw a very beautiful woman And wished I were as beautiful.
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and wore a crutch. But as she passed, she passed a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have two legs; the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm.
I talked with him, he seemed so glad. If I were late, it'd do no harm.
And as I left, he said to me, "I thank you,
you've been so kind. It's nice to talk with folks like you.
You see," he said, "I'm blind." Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have two eyes; the world is mine.

Later while walking down the street,
I saw a child I knew.
He stood and watched the others play, but he did not know what to do.
I stopped a moment and then I said, "Why don't you join them dear?"
He looked ahead without a word. I forgot, he couldn't hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have two ears; the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I'd go.
With eyes to see the sunset's glow.
With ears to hear what I'd know.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I've been blessed indeed, the world is mine.

Author Unknown

If this poem makes you feel thankful, just forward it to your friends. After all, it's just a simple reminder that we have so much to be thankful for! Give the gift of love. It never comes back empty!

(Please share, we are all truly blessed )

Warning: Prepaid Electricity Users

This explains why we’re suddenly spending so much more money for the same amount of prepaid electricity  units we’re using. First City Power forces their prepaid meter on us & now they’re ripping us off too. To top that all they’ve been charging us interim electricity since they’ve installed the prepaid meter too... what’s next???

---

Residents charged up over prepaid killer watts

August 22 2012 at 09:08am
By ANNA COX

Comment on this story

---

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

The cold weather has pushed up electricity usage, Eskom warned. Photo: Dumisani Sibeko

Johannesburg - Joburg prepaid electricity consumers are warned to carefully watch their consumption as they could end up being charged an additional R844.25 if they exceed their limit by just one kilowatt.

About 40 000 customers have been converted by the council to prepaid, but customers have described City Power’s inclining block system for prepaid tariffs as confusing and misleading.

City Power did not inform customers that their consumption is reviewed every six months.

The result has been that customers, unaware that they have been moved onto a higher price scale, are complaining bitterly of suddenly getting fewer units for their money since the beginning of last month.

City Power admitted the failure, saying customers were started on the lowest rate of consumption, but every July and December they were rerated according to how much they use and were escalated into a higher category if they exceeded a certain amount.

However, the way the system works is that there is not only an escalating block, but escalating steps within the blocks.

The result is that if a customer exceeds the limit by just one kilowatt in the last of the six-month period, they will be pushed into a higher block and charged that rate for the entire six-month period.

Ron Carlin, a prepaid customer, has worked out the following: if a consumer uses 500kwh a month from July this year to December, they will pay R2 475 at a rate of 82.5c per kilowatt over the six months. But if they used just one extra kilowatt, the payment jumps to R3 214.50.

This, he said, was because the extra kilowatt placed the customer on the next block tariff and meant they would move from paying 82.5c per kilowatt to 107.15c per kilowatt.

This is R739.50 more, plus the R1.07 for the original extra kwh in December, and plus VAT of 14 percent, giving a whopping R844.25 for 1kwh.

“I know this is a marginal costing exercise, but it often takes an extreme example like this to highlight the absurdity of allocating somebody to a different starting block of the sliding scale based on a six-month consumption pattern.

“City Power should simply use the sliding scale on a monthly basis; there is already enough disincentive built in to discourage high kwh usage,” Carlin said.

Abdul Mia asked where and when the council was going to advise him that this was the way the tariff works.

“How many other customers are out there not knowing how this works?

“Are they not supposed to communicate this well in advance to all customers? More importantly, a customer must be notified of this when they move from conventional billing to prepaid.”

Mia said he was advised that if his usage moved back below 500kwh for a period of three months, he should contact the city and it would revise his tariff structure.

“Why is it that when they need to increase, it’s automatic, and when there is need to decrease, I need to contact City Power to make the change?” he

asked.

“I classify myself as an average, middle-class South African household,” he said.

“Why is it then that these middle-class households are the ones paying the highest for their electricity because, clearly, from the City Power table, one can see the increase from 500kWh to the band over 3 000kWh is a mere 7c compared to the exorbitant increases from 0kWh to 500kWh?

“Is this sliding scale a way to tax the middle class the most?”

Charles Hlebela, communications head for the National Electricity Regulator of SA, said:

“While municipalities are expected/ encouraged to implement inclining block rate tariffs in line with our approved design structure, it remains a guideline that cannot be imposed on municipalities as long it is in line with our intent.

“While the City Power-designed inclining tariffs are different from our guidelines, they are still in compliance with the broader principle of subsidisation at low consumption level, while gradually reducing cross-subsidisation as the consumption level increases.”

City power did not respond to a request for comment. it was a costly toasted cheese

The cost works out to six months X 500 units X 82.5c (exclusive of VAT) - R2 475. Then, from January next year to June, the cost remains R2 475, assuming the same consumption pattern.

If, however, just one extra kilowatt had been consumed, for example, in December this year, then from January next year to June, the consumer would pay six months X 500 units X 107.15c, equal to R3 214.50.

This is because the extra 1kWh has put the consumer into a higher consumption block of the sliding scale for the six months from January to June.

This is R739.50 more, plus the R1.07 for the original extra kWh in December, and plus VAT of 14 percent, giving a whopping R844.25 for 1kWh. - The Star

anna.cox@inl.co.za