John Ritter - RIP 1948 - 11 Sept 2003.

Something strange has happened to me. I've become a fan of someone 10 years after he passed away. I'm a stargazer. I love my celebrities. But this one's different. In the past I've always become a fan of a person in their lifetime.

I'm talking about JOHN RITTER.

I always LIKED John Ritter. But to be honest, I didn't know that much about him, I'd seen him in Problem Child and I remembered that he'd been in Three's Company. And I was sad when I heard he died, specially since we were just beginning to get into 8 Simple Rules. But while I was old enough to remember Three's Company being shown on TV, I wasn't old enough to have got any of the jokes.

Fast forward to last month when I began watching episodes of it and I instantly irrevocably became a fan of both the show and of John. I think the reason I went looking for stuff to laugh at was that I'd forgotten to laugh, forgotten to live with a bit of humour - financial constraints, health issues, living in a stressful city... it all added up to a not very fun-filled me. I needed something to giggle at, and I found it. I've watched episodes of Three's Company every night since, and I've had a belly laugh in EVERY single episode. (I hope the neighbours have ear muffs :-) )

Marketing a Business in the DRC

I received this query today and I thought I'd share my reply here with you.

I'm humbled to have met you online trough our FB friend xxxx 
I've just moved to DRC and I'm trying to bring a wealth fashion concept to a marketing illiterate nation
I will be importing some fashion clothing and jewellery from Dubai and/or China to sale up here in Eastern DRC.
I have a lot of friends from this region and myself grew in South Africa. What I need to know from you is, how can I get all my facebook friends living there and abroad to talks about my business?
How can I turn to facebook to ignite a sleeping marketing to my advantage?
Or, should I say I can I best advertise my business online?

Transcription Service Providers

 There are some things to consider when you as a client or business owner are looking for a transcription service provider. This article assumes that you know the basics when it comes to getting something transcribed - have recorded a good, clear quality recording and are able to get it to your service provider.

1. Content.
What type of transcript is it that you need done? Is the content medical, legal or general by nature? If it's medical, ensure that your transcriptionist actually does have some medical transcription background.  Legal and general transcripts also require technical and linguistic know how. Check how the transcriptionists responds to emails, writes, and generally interacts with you. After all since typing and language interpretation are a great part of what the service requires, you can assess these skills in the general interaction.

Interview with Jassy McKenzie and Jo-Anne Richards at Skoobs!

My friend Lornette Joseph and I were fortunate to attend a Bloggers get together held at Skoobs in Monte Casino recently.  We are bloggers (Check out Lornette's fantastic Madiba related post Forever A Man of the Times here) and as if the thrill of attending such an event in such an eclectic venue wasn’t enough, we were fortunate in that I was selected as one of the winners to interview authors Jassy McKenzie and Jo- Anne Richards!

Jassy Mackenzie is from a family where books weren’t just more important than television; they were so important that television was banned from the house.

Today, Jassy is the editor of HJ, a hair and beauty trade magazine. She has had numerous non-fiction articles on a wide variety of subjects published locally and internationally over the past 11 years.

Jo-Anne Richards is a South African novelist and journalist, whose work has been published internationally. She teaches creative writing through Allaboutwriting  and lectures at Wits University in Johannesburg.

The Doctor.

Going to the doctor's when you are really feeling ill is the worst thing ever. First of all, the receptionist at our doctor is not friendly. Scares the shit out of me. So I quash all thoughts of sickness, nausea, it's all overcome by the thought of phoning her. I bite the bullet and phone. (this could also have something to do with my social anxiety. I hate the phone, in general) Get an appt. Think "fuck how far it is to the doctor's". Get in the car, think "fuck how far it is up those stairs". Get into the doctor, see him, convince him I'm freaking dying here dude..! It doesn't even bug me that the doctor mistook me for my hubby. Get a script. Fuck it's a long way back down those stairs. Get back down to the worst parking lot that ever existed and navigate my 10 year old, lack of power steering, vehicle out of it, without bumping ANYTHING. Not even a bin. :-) Think "fuck how far it is to the chemist". Park, stagger into the chemist. On this day of all days, could someone hurry the hell up and serve me, I need to get home to die in peac...e, on my bed..... no.. of course not. 3 of the pharmacists seem to be needed to sort out a query on the phone. The fourth can't seem to help the customer in front of me. I sit on a chair to die there. Eventually, pharmacist calls me. Takes two hours to figure out my medical aid plan has changed (yes, I could have told them, but it's as much as I can do to utter 'hello'). Finally get my meds. Stagger into grocery store to buy some Energade, dry biscuits and pasta. By this time, nothing matters.. if I die here, I might as well die here as anywhere. Again - if you could just HURRY, just today, not any other day, just today. As it's kinder to my family if I die on my bed. No... one person in front of me in the queue, but the teller seems to be trying to set a new record for going slow. Eventually get home. Swallow what seems like masses of tablets. Nibble on a ginger biscuit. Sit down and realise two things. The medical profession stopped being about the person and started being about money when doctors stopped making house calls. The second thing was gonna be 'now I feel well enough to write all this," but in the mean time I've started feeling crap again. Happy Monday folks!