Month: November 2005

Second chances?

~ marobbie ~ Leave a comment

So Husband has come and gone, and I have decided to give him a second chance.
He did surprise me with the way he changed his looks and his behaviour, yet the part of him that drove me away still lurks there under the surface. It came out once or twice.

Funny that my relationship with him seems to be always hanging on a thread. I always end up giving in at the very last moment. Sometimes I don’t think I love him enough.

This time we had fun together, the woman that he almost killed in me managed to resurface again and enjoyed herself. The child though didn’t, it will always remain hampered by age – his age.

Now that he managed to charm all my friends I find myself obliged to give him another try, for old time’s sake. Yet I am very conscious of the need to keep in control, to stay in the driver’s seat lest things go under again.

I wonder whether this is the correct premise to build a relationship on.
Have to wait and see.

Cape Town Season of Heartbreak

~ marobbie ~ Leave a comment

Tomorrow, I will meet Ron, my ex, for the first time in over two months. I still cannot imagine myself rebuilding a life with him, but he seems to be dedicated to the idea. I thought I might as well give him the benefit of the doubt. I am interested to find out what my reaction to him will be after all this time.I am not the only one who is suffering relationship trouble these days. Three of my friends are going through breakup at the moment. According to my best friend, Jackie, who should be an authority on the subject, it is a seasonal thing in Cape Town. October and November, are apparently the Capetonian seasons for broken hearts. Summer makes people yearn for change I suppose. It is also the time when all the rich young guys from Johannesburg drive down here in their Lamborghinis and Ferraris.

One of the three breakups brought an interesting aspect back into my life. Mr. Aquarius is single again. I almost feel guilty that the thought cheers me up, but I tell myself that, of course I am relieved for his sake. His was one of those yo-yo relationships where the up and down come at regular intervals, which is nerve wracking and emotionally draining. I should know because I have been there. But I am not telling the full story.
The real story is that, shortly after arriving here, I developed a crush on Aquarius. For whatever reason, he became the new flush in my cheeks, and the spring in my step. I enjoyed every moment of it – the childish blushes, falling totally silent or resorting to diarrhea talk, whenever he was around. I was so obviously infatuated, yet I did not mind. When my friends bickered me about him I just laughed; I knew enough to appreciate how special these fleeting feelings were. Things were put into perspective shortly thereafter. He was not interested, he had a girlfriend, and what the hell was I thinking anyway. I kept him in my mind, in one of those small back corners, reserved for my rare brushes with madness.

Jackie and I met him today for breakfast. Before the food order arrived, Jackie excused herself for a minute to buy some medication, and that is when he brought up the subject of his breakup with the girlfriend. I babbled like an idiot for a few minutes, as I usually do when I am left alone with him, and mercifully Jackie arrived before too long. He must know the strange bend in my mind. If it bothers him, he will find a simple way of avoiding me. Eventually, I will grow up and act my age – like I always do. I have always been cynical and pragmatic even in matters of love. My moments of madness were very few and far between. Yet I come from a culture which recognises about 50 different degrees of love, and sometimes I think that the love I read about in those classics does exist. And If it does it isn’t it a waste to settle for the mediocre ?

Aquarius might not be the real thing, but maybe I can relive those feelings again, one day, with another man ? I doubt that it will be possible for me to feel them for Ron. I should be working right now, but I find my mind always going back to Mr. Aquarius. He has resurfaced from the dark recessess of mind, demanding my full attention. The timing is strange. Why should it happen now, when Ron is trying to make his way back into my life ? Is Aquarius my defense mechanism against the past ? It remains to be seen.

November Is Here

~ marobbie ~ Leave a comment

A new months already, and I can’t believe that I have been in Cape Town already two months and a half. Time really flies.
Good news: I have got an ADSL line at my flat now; it seems that Telkom does get around to installing them after all. It took them long enough.

This morning started with me, on the payphone, holding for a long time for the ADSL helpline, mercifully on a Tollfree number. I registered a complaint and went through the motions, thinking of the exercise as another dead end. As it happened, I got a call in the afternoon. The technician said he will be there between four and five. At five two guys arrived, at five thirty it was all done!
I was impressed with the technicians but not that much with Telkom.
Another peg in MY grounds. All I need now is an ADSL modem, then I will be at large on the net.

The ex hasn’t emailed today. He is probably stuck up to his neck in trouble, with month end and all that. Petrol price is coming down this month as well, and this adds a little bit more spice to his pot.

I tried to get some errands done in Town today. It turned out that I need a roadworthy test for the car before it is registered in my name, and since my friend Derek is using the car from 7:30 until late at night, it will be difficult to arrange the roadworthy for this week.
Maybe next week, when Husband is here?

I walked from Town to the traffic department in Green Point. On the way I passed by a furniture shop and browsed for couches and other stuff. I need almost everything for my flat still. A guy at the reception came up to me and claimed that my face looks familiar, and didn’t I go to the Belville Branch. I said to him, no, I never went to Belville at all.
He insisted – of course it is the least imaginative pickup line in the world, but he killed it with trying. He wanted my cell phone number, but I asked for his (my famous counter-strategy ) – When I took my phone out to store his number, his brain-dead comment was: “oh, that’s like my mother’s phone” – great man, I already thought I was old enough to be your mom.
In any case, just in case a cape Town chick is reading this
His name is Wesley and his number is : 072 4625978. He lives in Belville. He is not bad looking but unfortunately I am looking for somebody a little older, who can make better use of his grey cells.

I spent the evening with Jackie and her cat. We watched reality TV, and gossiping during ad breaks. She cooked a lovely meal for us. Details in the food chart.

Food Chart:

Breakfast :
Nectarine, orange, Oaties and Milk, a toasted sandwich ( two pieces of whole-wheat bread, cheese, tomato and onion ) – Cup of coffee, which I did not finish because I was in a hurry to go out and complain about Telkom.

Lunch :
New York Deli day-old ( R 7.00 = 1 Eur ) : Bagel-Sandwich: Smoked salmon and cream cheese, with salad and pickles. Two glasses of sangria ( passion fruit ) .

Snacking :
Decaf coffee in a 500ml plunge, with two chococchino coconut biscuits, and three marshmallows. I also had an apple and a pear during the day.

Supper:
Which I enjoyed at my friend’s Jackie’s: Spaghetti Bolognaise (divine) followed by tea with milk and sugar.

Work Chart:
Received correspondence from Cape Town agency – they will only pay today.
Follow up on car registration – horribly overdue.

Play Chart:
Visiting Jackie and watching survivor Palau ? – Intriguing
A couple of games of Kaiodai.

Music feed:
Radio 2000
Song choice: Look Away – by Big Country ( A one hit wonder – you will not remember that unless you were a teenager in the eighties ) This is the second reference to my age in this blog oops.
Or: Two out of three aint bad by Meatloaf.

Useful item of the day:
An ADSL modem – because I don’t have one yet.
My flat comfortable shoes I bought years ago in Sharjah, because I walked a long way today, and did not pay in blisters.

Selected chores:
A load of bathtub washing, which is now waiting for a wink from Cape Town’s stingy sunshine. The wind will probably dry the washing first.

Useless information of the day:
In Cape Town you pay for your car registration more than double what you pay in other provinces. It cost here R 279.00 versus only R 129.00 in the Eastern Cape.