Shocked! It finally happened. I've arrived at the next stage in my life: a cute Afrikaans UM student called me "Oom" this morning.

Key West Memorial Weekend Parade

Mother's Day Bliss

Sunset, Juno Beach, Stuart, Central Florida.

Desperate Fundraising Tactic?

I saw this sign outside of a church in our area. See the irony?

Helen Zille the New Western Cape Premier

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille was elected as the Western Cape premier on Wednesday. Her party beat the reigning national party, the ANC in last month's general election.

Zille, the former mayor of Cape Town, will lead a 22-member DA team in the 42-seat legislature. She and provincial leader Theuns Botha were sworn in in the Cape Town Chambers yesterday. Both leaders asked to take the religious oath, rather then a non-religious affirmation.

If the Western Cape were it's own country, I'd move back in a heartbeat. It is the province with the best economy, the best infrastructure, the least fraud by it's administrators, and offering the best quality of life. It is also the one province in South Africa that you can recommend to your foreign friends to visit with a clear conscience: both because it is safer then the rest of SA, and because it is a place of stunning natural beauty.

I'll wait and see before forming any worse impressions of Jacob Zuma, South Africa's new president. Maybe he rises from the African tribal culture, does not employ favoritism and nepotism, works to improve the lives of all South Africans, and not just to cement his own position as chief. Time will tell.

Swine Flu -When Pigs Will Fly

Swine flu: a real threat to the world population or blown out of proportion?

The current media hysteria with Swine Flu... oops, rather the H1N1 strain, reminds strongly of the experience we had living in S-E-Asia during the Bird Flu "epidemic".

I remember that the whole Taichung were wearing face masks. It was a funny time. The entrance to every building you entered were guarded by security guards with little electronic thermometers. Once we tried to enter a movie theatre and Sarah's temperature was measured at more than 120! Although the measuring instrument was obviously broken, we did not get to see the movie that night... Not a single person in Taichung ever contracted the disease.

Health officials taking stock of the epidemic in the aftermath found that 12 people died as a result of the virus, throughout the whole Asia (MSNBC). And the deaths occurred in rural areas where doctors and medical attention were not readily available.

An epidemic is when thousands are already infected and affected. The media is talking about an epidemic!? People are gullible - moeee!, I lost my herd, which direction are they running in now.

Pic: We all know who Kermit got the flu from!

I've been fighting the monster South-Florida sabel tooth flu virus for the last 6 days. Luckily, it is subsiding and we'll hopefully be able to enjoy the upcoming weekend in some good health.