CLUBS - Year end functions

Julie and I attended lunches at Hermanus, Bloemfontein, George and Milnerton. Unfortunately we could not accept Pinelands' and Belville's invitations due to prior commitments.

On the round trip to Bloemfontein and George we encountered about eleven "Stop/Goes". It is heartening to see that not only are our main routes being maintained they are undergoing major upgrades.

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RETIREMENT ACCOMMODATION - Countrywide

SAARP had about 1,500 various retirement facilities in an Excel file. We entered into an arrangement with Senior Service who merged our data bases and they now display all this information on their website:

www.seniorservice.co.za

The website allows you to search per area and per type of accommodation.

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LETTER OF APPRECIATION - From a member

Dear Anne, I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for your kindness, sympathy and your efficiency with handling the issues relating to the passing of my mother. In this day and age it is difficult to find the type of service that you have provided. You have sorted out all the issues which came up, you returned phone calls, and you followed up to insure that things had happened. You are a credit to your organisation. Thank you once again.

Kind Regards Ian Holmquist

Dear Ian, May I quote your e-mail in my next e-Newsletter to our members? Regards, Ray

Hi Ray, Please do, Anne has certainly made my life a whole lot easier by attending to a lot of the issues that I thought I would have to handle myself. And she is always so polite and caring.
Kind Regards, Ian

SMILE

A man who was the defendant in a lawsuit involving large sums of money said to his lawyer: "If I lose this case, I'll be ruined."
"It's in the judge's hands now," said the lawyer.
"Would it help if I sent the judge a box of cigars?" asked the man.
"Oh no! This judge is a stickler for ethical behaviour. A stunt like that would prejudice him against you. He might even hold you in contempt of court. In fact, you shouldn't even smile at the judge," the lawyer warned.
During the course of time, the judge decided in favour of the defendant. As the defendant left the courthouse, he said to his lawyer: "Thanks for the tip about the cigars. It worked."
"I'm sure we would have lost the case if you'd sent them," said the lawyer.
"But I did send them," the man said.
"What? You did?" asked the lawyer, incredulously.
"Yes. That's how we won the case," the man said.
"I don't understand," said the lawyer.
"It's easy. I sent the cigars to the judge, but enclosed the plaintiff's business card."

THOUGHT for 2012

"We should have a great many fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas, and not for things themselves."

John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704)

QUOTE for 2012

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

King James Bible, Matthew 25 v40

FORWARD THIS TO A FRIEND

Do you know someone who may be interested in this e-mail? Why not forward it to them? Forward to a friend

adding life to your years

CHANGING YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS - How to do this

If you wish to change your e-mail address with SAARP you must do TWO things:

1. Advise SAARP quoting your ID number and your old and new e-mail addresses
2. Separately change the e-mail address at which you receive the e-newsletter by using the "CHANGE PROFILE" link at the bottom of the e-newsletter.

This is also where you UNSUBSCRIBE to the e-newsletter. i.e.

The reasons are:

Each month I send a new download of names and e-mail addresses to our Webmaster who adds new ones to the existing database for those addresses that:

1. are not currently in the e-newsletter database;
2. have not been removed by bounce-backs or invalid address;
3. have not previously unsubscribed.

The system cannot change an existing e-mail address to a new one unless the Webmaster manually changes it and for this she requires both the old one and the new one. We also cannot delete the entire database each time and load a new one, as we would then be reloading people who have chosen to unsubscribe (which is both irritating for recipients and against the new Consumer Protection Act). We would also lose all those who have subscribed via the website (and may not be SAARP members), and we may be replacing correct e-mail addresses with incorrect ones if people have correctly used the link at the bottom of the e-newsletter to change their profile.

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CLUB REGIONAL MEETINGS - Corrected and updated dates for 2012

Western Cape: 01 February, 02 May, 01 August,
07 November

Southern Cape: 21 February, 19 September

KwaZulu-Natal: 03 April, 02 October

Eastern Cape: 12, 13, 14, 15 March

SAARP WEBSITE - www.saarp.co.za

Our website has three interesting articles of interest to you and your children:

• The Neglect and Exploitation of Older Persons
• Planning for the Inevitable
• The Gift of Grandparenting

On the website click on "Articles of Interest" and then click on each title to open or close the article.

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ROAD USAGE - Over the festive season

Many of you will be travelling over this period. Here are some things to bear in mind.

Tips and facts from the AA

• Cars or motorcycles registered after 1 July 2006 are required to carry an emergency warning sign. This must be placed not less than 45 meters from the vehicle, "along the roadway or public road concerned in the direction from which the traffic will approach . . . . as far from the edge of the roadway as the transverse centre [the middle of the vehicle] of the motor vehicle is from the edge of the roadway."
• If you have a rear-mounted bicycle carrier you may hang a third number plate on the rearmost bicycle.
• There may be no writing within 150mm of your number plate. This includes any branding or message on the holder. The single exception if the official ZA country sticker on the back of the car which you must have if you cross our borders. It is illegal to carry a different country's sticker on a South African registered vehicle.
• By law your headlights must be on between dusk and dawn. You may leave them on during the day but on low beam at all times.
• Parking lights are only used for parking. If you are parked on an unlit roadway [which is defined as being more than 12 meters from a street light] you switch them on and leave them on. If your vehicle is off the roadway or in a demarcated parking area, there is no need to leave the park lights on.

AA Traveller, Summer 2010/2011

Those yellow lines - perennial questions

The National Road Traffic Act 93 / 1996 Regulation 330 (6) permits the driver to flash his headlights to warn the driver ahead of his intention to overtake. The driver in front (being overtaken) must move to the left... Note: seems silly when the rule is keep left...

Regulation 298A makes provision for the driving on the hard shoulder / within the yellow line under certain conditions. These are:

• During daylight hours
• And where forward visibility extends beyond 150 metres...
• ONLY on a single carriageway where moving to the left would aid traffic flow...

That's it in a nutshell.

Gary Ronald

AA of SA

Sobering statistics

For those who wonder why our roads are becoming parking lots:

Cape Town's road system, for example, was in place by 1967. Since then there has been a more than six fold increase in the number of vehicles.

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LEGAL LOOKING SIGNS - Do they make a difference?

There are signs all over the place saying that particular organisations take no responsibility for things, or that people enter a place at their own risk. These signs do not necessarily make any difference.

There is some question about the value of such warnings because, "You don't automatically absolve yourself of liability," says Des Collins.

"You have a duty for public safety and the reasonableness of the sign will have to be assessed by the courts."

So if, for example, you entered a building and were electrocuted using the doorknob, it would not make any difference at all whether there was a sign saying you entered at your own risk.

Indeed, a sign outside a building simply saying that you enter at your own risk is of almost no value, according to Mr Collins.

"The wider the warnings are, the more they satisfy the person who put them in place and the less they satisfy the requirements of the law," he says.

Another sign you will often see in cloakrooms is one saying that the management takes no responsibility for items left there.

If somebody walked in off the street and stole your coat, the owners of the building could indeed probably avoid taking responsibility.

But if, for example, your coat was stolen by a cloakroom attendant who had previous convictions for theft, the owners would be liable, and the sign would be of no value.

So however legalistic and official a notice may look, there are all sorts of circumstances in which it will make no difference at all whether it is there or not.

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BEWARE - Computer scam

I received the following from a member:

Someone with a foreign accent phoned me the other day 'on behalf of Microsoft' to check my computer's Windows software ["we are doing the Western Cape today"] and to "test that my computer was functioning properly", because something needed 'updating'. The man started with a clever gambit by telling me that according to their records I was using Windows Software as the operating programme on my machine and that I was the license holder [true]. I kept telling him, however, that my machine was working perfectly and didn't need updating, to his obvious annoyance, and he eventually gave up.

I've since heard that it's a scam that's been around for a few months and that there has been some information in the press about it as well. The object is to get one to download and activate a small MS program that gives the other person control over your computer and they then hack into your bank account and other stuff from there.

The best way to get rid of them is to ask them to name the operating programme one is using and to read its license number - they hang up immediately!

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IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck

(Written after she found out she was dying from cancer)

• I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
• I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
• I would have talked less and listened more.
• I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
• I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace. I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth. I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband. I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
• I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.
• I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
• Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
• When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.' There would have been more 'I love you's', more 'I'm sorry's.'
• But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute, look at it and really see it ... live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!! Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what. Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

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HEALTH - The Secrets of Resilient People

"Resilient people are like trees bending in the wind. They bounce back."

• They stay connected. They rely on others to help them survive tough times.
• They are optimistic.
• They are spiritual.
• They are playful. They enjoy themselves like children do.
• They give back. The benefit that you derive for yourself from giving is as great as that you give to others.
• They pick their battles. They focus on things they can control.
• They stay healthy. A good diet and regular physical activity.
• They find the silver lining. They see negative events as an opportunity to better themselves or become better people.

AARP The Magazine November/December 2009-11-20

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HEALTH - HIV rate rises among over-50s

There has been a big increase in the number of people aged 50 and over contracting HIV, latest figures show.

The over-50s infection rate in England, Wales and Northern Ireland more than doubled in under a decade. Experts say the figures are a stark reminder of the importance of practising safe sex, whatever your age.

Other sexually transmitted infections have shown a similar doubling in under a decade among the same age group, and have been rising at a faster rate than in the young.

Ruth Smith, who led the HPA research, said, "We must continually reinforce the safe sex message - using a condom with all new or casual partners is the surest way to ensure people do not become infected with a serious sexually transmitted infection such as HIV."

Lisa Power, of the HIV charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, said their own research had found the over-50s were now the fastest growing group of people with HIV in the UK.

She said there was a long way to go regarding support for this age group. "Older people with HIV are living with high levels of uncertainty about their future health and social care and need substantially more support than their peers."

These findings were presented at the AIDS 2010 conference in Vienna.

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SAARP'S SERVICES - for your benefit

• SAARP SHORT TERM INSURANCE POLICIES. Members have saved up to R10,000 per annum on their SAARP policies. Contact Renske or Beverly at SAARP 021 592 1279 renske@saarp.co.za
  beverley@saarp.co.za
• GUARANTEED DISCOUNTS. Get a 5% annual bonus on all your purchases with SAARP's new b-SMART Card. The bonus is payable in November in time for your Christmas purchases. Contact us at SAARP
  021 592 1279 info@saarp.co.za or Gert du Plessis at: 021 409 7600 or 083 284 8671 Gert.duPlessis@capeconsumers.co.za
• SAARP HOLIDAY CLUB. Get discounts off peak holidays at amazing prices. Contact Renske at SAARP 021 592 1279 renske@saarp.co.za
• SAARP FAMILY PROTECTION PLAN. Funeral insurance at reduced rates. Contact us at SAARP
  021 592 1279 info@saarp.co.za
• CAR HIRE. AVIS offers SAARP special rates. Book at any AVIS office but quote the SAARP Discount number J871801 to qualify for the lower rates.
• FREE WILL SERVICE through Warwick Private Wealth. Contact: Adrian Van Zyl General Manager, Warwick Trust & Administrative Services (PTY) Ltd
  Tel: 0860 109 147
  Fax: +27 21 794 0849
  Cell: +27 083 307 0395
  adi@teamwarwick.com
  adi@warwicktrust.com
• SAARP MEMBERSHIP CARD. This is used all over South Africa, and the world, to obtain age related discounts. It also offers you a variety of discounts through Mahalas. Ask us for details or go to the Mahalas website www.mahalas.co.za and follow the instructions.
• SAARP SOCIAL CLUBS. Thousands of our members enjoy the camaraderie and outings offered by these clubs. Contact us for details or go to our website www.saarp.co.za to find a club in your area.
• BI-ANNUAL BULLETIN. This is published in April and September. To secure your copy please donate R30 to SAARP to cover postage costs.
• FREE MONTHLY e-NEWSLETTER. If we have your e-mail address we will send you a free monthly e-newsletter.
• OTHER MEMBERS' BENEFITS. SAARP offers members a host of other benefits. Contact us at SAARP 021 592 1279 info@saarp.co.za for details.
• When contacting service providers directly be sure to tell them that you are a SAARP member, in order to qualify for the benefits.

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THE YEAR THAT WAS - A unique lady

Barbara Harmer earned her place in the record books on March 25 1993 when she flew as the first officer on a British Airways Concorde from London's Heathrow to New York's JFK airport. For 10 years, until Concorde was withdrawn from service, she remained Concorde's only woman pilot.

Barbara, aged 57, had been suffering from cancer and died on February 20.

• There are more astronauts than there are Concorde pilots
• Putting a man on the moon was easy compared to getting Concorde to work. NASA Scientist

HISTORY - Is there anything new?

In Maidstone on 28 March 1668 a Justice made a decision to allow the sale of ale to spectators. Sport and alcohol were about to start a long term relationship. So too were sport and gambling. In July 1697 "a great match of cricket was played in Sussex; there were eleven a side. And they played for fifty guineas apiece". In the seventeenth century that was a large sum of money - but it would soon be dwarfed. Rich and powerful patrons were arranging games as vehicles for gambling, bringing a source of income to ground landlords, brewers, caterers and cricketers alike.

More Than a Game: The Story of cricket's early years by John Major

LANGUAGE - Our metaphorical language

The following report is jam-packed with metaphors - marked in red:

"At the cabinet meeting, ground-breaking plans were put forward by the minister for tough new legislation to curb the power of the unions. It was clear that the unions would never go along with these suggestions, and the conflict erupted as soon as the news of the plan was leaked to the press. At the trade-union conference, the minister encountered a frosty reception. He tried to get across the idea that the excessive power of the unions was holding back economic growth. He said that while productivity had sunk in recent years, salaries were rising. But his comments were drowned by angry heckling. Any semblance of politeness collapsed when the General Secretary confronted the minister head on, saying that he was not on top of the facts, and that his figures were riddled with inaccuracies. The unions were not asking for any rise in salaries, he argued; they only wanted to avoid further cuts in real terms, by ensuring that salaries remain in line with inflation."

Literally, 'ground-breaking' is something you do with a shovel, not with a plan. And 'tough' is an attribute of materials like fabrics, metals or meat. A steak, for instance, can be tough when it is not easily chewed but by no stretch of the imagination was the legislation really meant to be masticated. 'Tough' here has been transported out of its original environment in the physical world of materials, and carried across to the abstract domain of ideas.

So also:

Volcanoes erupt - not conflicts.

Water leaks - not information.

Trees grow - not the economy.

Ships sink - not productivity.

People drown - not comments.

Buildings collapse - not semblances of politeness.

Note that all the metaphors here flow in one direction, from the concrete to the abstract.

Source: The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher. William Heinemann: London. 2005

A Challenge for you: Can you remove all the metaphors from this passage and retain its information and sense? (Without replacing them with other metaphors - of course.)

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FROM ALL OF US HERE AT SAARP

We wish you and yours a really merry Christmas and a healthy, rewarding and fulfilling 2012

DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE - THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN

You could take all the joy out of life by always wanting something to be better

Ray Hattingh