The tragic tale of Roy and the Pavement

So, I promised a long time ago in this post that I would tell you about poor ickle car Roy, the pavement, and Auto and General (a South African insurance giant).

Last year, I was driving somewhere near the Johannesburg CBD. I was a bit flustered from having to search around for the theatre we were headed to, and street lighting in the city centre is a distant dream. Long story short, taking a right turn at an intersection, I didn't see the small piece of pavement between the two directions of traffic in the street I was turning into, cut the corner and mounted it split seconds after Steve's shout of "Look out!".

Have you stopped laughing yet?

How about now?


Then I'll continue. Luckily we're members of the AA (on the off chance that any 'mericans ever read this, that's the Automobile Association; not Alcoholics Anonymous). We got towed home and ended the evening on a rather flat note. The next morning I used the web based system to put the claim on the Auto & General website and got a message promising to phone me back within four hours.

I did not get called back until the next day (Saturday). I was not able to actually speak to someone until the Monday. The car did not get towed to a panel beater's until late Tuesday afternoon. And that's sort of the highlights of my interactions with A&G. I had to constantly call them to try and get an update; my calls were almost never returned; I got conflicting information on the damage and ETA from the A&G agents, their assessor and the panel beaters. I had to pay for my own rental car for almost three weeks - A&G claim I declined the option to have a hire car, which I contest, but I've asked five times for the recording of the sales call to be pulled and transcribed to settle the matter but to no avail.

After two weeks I went to pick up the car. I didn't even make it home before every warning light and alarm started freaking out; I pulled into the nearest petrol station. When the guys there who were helping me pulled out the oil dipstick, the oil was smoking it was so hot. They poured a bunch of coolant into the radiator, only to have it streaming out underneath. NO-ONE THOUGHT TO CHECK UNDERNEATH A CAR THAT LANDED WITH ITS UNDERCARRIAGE ON TOP OF A PAVEMENT. They fixed the frigging wheel alignment and no-one noticed the entire radiator system was totally buggered!!!!

At least (after a very, very large piece of my mind in no uncertain terms to the complaints department) A&G paid for my hire car this time. Another two weeks later Steve and I went to pick up the car again, and it started flashing lights and beeping again! At least the radiator was fixed, but no-one bothered to put any water in it (or oil, it seemed).

I'm still trying to get A&G to take my complaint seriously. Their approach seems to be to give you the run around in the hope that you'll eventually give up or die. Luckily for me they've published a service charter that promises a R250 penalty any time they don't live up to it; I ought to be able to make most of my excess payment back by now.

Happy New Year! (and awesome FA reposts)

Hello, and may 2011 bring you everything you hope and pray for, and stuff you haven't even imagined to hope for yet!

In a bid to just post something, ANYTHING, and since I've been catching up some of the awesome blogs I haven't read in ages (yay finally setting up my Google Reader), here's something from one of my favourite blogs.

“Fat people are often supported in hating their bodies, in starving themselves, in engaging in unsafe exercise and in seeking out weight loss by any means necessary. A thin person who does these things is considered mentally ill. A fat person who does these things is redeemed by them. This is why our culture has no concept of a fat person who also has an eating disorder. If you’re fat, it’s not an ED — it’s a lifestyle change.”

By Lesley Kinzel, via We Are All From Earth.

The big 3 0

Birthday party!

It was wonderful, although perhaps more expensive than can be justified.

I returned from the UK a week before the party with an upper respiratory tract infection and a vicious fever so I spent my birthday in bed, and was only just feeling human again in time for the party! But, thanks to a lot of Mybulin and some antibiotics I was fine by Saturday. Thank you, Western medicine!

The restaurant, Carmine's in Fourways, has a mafia theme so I incorporated that; although guests were expected only to wear red and black.

I have wanted a live band at this party since I started thinking about throwing it, and my wonderful husband let me indulge this ridiculous notion. We had seen the Red Hand blues band a few times live around Johannesburg and between their enigmatic presence, lively sound and slightly gangsta look I just had to have them. And what a decision, they were great. And they couldn't be nicer! They did it for a lot less than their usual asking price, they gave up doing a (much more lucrative) wedding, they paid for their own drinks after I offered to, and they played for ages longer than my money covered! Very, very pleased I got in touch with them.

I was going to get a cake made, and then I spent the days available to get this sorted in bed, so I decided to bake something myself. I refuse to bake something that isn't cupcakes myself as it's far too much pressure to decorate etc. Sticking to the red and black theme, I made red velvet cupcakes in black cases with a cream cheese icing, decorated with strawberries enrobed in chocolate. They were lovely!!! I have always loved buttercream icing and proclaimed it to be my favourite, but I don't know now; cream cheese icing is giving it a good run for its money.

It is now two days later and there are still five cupcakes left, but fear not; I am valiantly making my way through every last one of them! The strawberries have past their best and been picked off, leaving behind an oddly shaped chocolate shell like the abandoned cocoon of an emerged, escaped moth. But the icing is only getting better. We've already managed to polish off the two pizzas that were left over from the catering. Om nom nom.

Thank you so very much to all my friends that attended, and particularly for the loot ;-) ! And a special thanks to Laura, for the beautiful flowers.

Photos are here.