Yearly Archives: 2012

“All I need to know about life I learned from my dog” – Loren

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I work with a girl named Loren. I’ve known for some time now that she does some sort of therapy work with dogs. That’s pretty much all I knew until I was asked to ‘interview’ her for an internal newsletter. What I learnt about her filled me with incredible admiration. Here’s why…

Loren has always had a love for dogs. As she told me, “Dogs have been sent to us for a purpose.”

She belongs to a non-profit organisation called “Paws for People®”.

Together with her Shiloh Shepherd, Willow, they provide animal assisted activity/therapy for motivational, educational, recreational and/or therapeutic benefits to enhance the quality of life for people. Their time is spent in old age homes and hospital visits, specializing in Oncology and Pediatrics. They are also involved in the Pet Education programs at schools to teach children how to interact with dogs. Loren has also just started training on the R.A.D.I.C.A.L. program for children with reading disabilities.

Not only does the therapy work strengthen the bond between Willow and herself, but as Loren explained, she’s also able to share Willow with others. Willow brings so much joy and Loren loves seeing the smile on patients’ faces as Willow gives them the opportunity to forget their pain and suffering at that moment.

Loren says, “I am merely a facilitator and Willow does all the work, whether it be lying on the bed with a patient, taking a patient’s socks off, walking down the passage with the patient or just sitting quietly. What’s important to me is that I have made someone’s day and that I have made their stay in hospital etc… a more pleasant one. I can have the worst day ever, but after the therapy visit I have forgotten all about it. Visiting these patients makes me realize that there are people with bigger problems out there and I have every reason to feel grateful.”

There aren’t a lot of people in this world that have the heart and dedication to do what Loren and Willow do. I think both Loren and Willow are pretty amazing…

Running through my week…

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1. View from the office 2. Sitting in traffic along Corlett Drive 3. Weekly Thai massage 4. A trip to Sci-Bono 5. A gift scarf from a friend 6. Being hit with a cold 7. Father’s Day visit to Pa 8. Croissants to welcome a new colleague 9. Annie

Goodbye Blackberry. Hello Life.

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I’ve always been a Blackberry fan. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you how irritating it was to be around me because whenever you saw me, I would have my phone glued to my hand.

My Blackberry was my life. I was addicted to it and how it opened up a whole new world for me.

But after 2 years of total dedication to my BB, I’ve switched over to iPhone.

Funny enough, the decision was an easy one to make. It wasn’t the blackout of 2011 that made me change my mind, nor was it the constant bad press that RIM has been receiving about its financials. BB has just started to let me down, in a big way, especially with regards to social media.

I found most evenings, my Twitter time line was not refreshing. Posting a tweet would take me up to 2 minutes. Worst of all is that I struggled to connect to the Internet all the time! And when I wasn’t charging my battery, I was doing a battery pull. In addition to that, I had started to use KK’s phone for taking photos for my blog and had seen some of the cool photo apps available via the iStore.

It’s been a month now since I made the switch and I must admit that I’ll never go back to Blackberry. iPhone is simply in a different league all together!

But with the switch, I’ve noticed something else too… I have my life back. (don’t laugh)

I know this is going to sound weird, but my BB seemed to “own” me. Being a typical A-type personality person, I was not able to ignore that little red flashing light. Yes, I’d try waiting a few minutes before I’d look, but it would kill me not to do so immediately. I was completely controlled by that red flashing light! It was like a spell! I would answer to emails at 23:00 at night and read work emails on the beach, even sneak quick peaks at my phone whilst driving. I could not put my BB down. Ironically, with the iPhone I can. I’ve taken back the control.

I find I am tweeting less but cheating on Twitter by playing around with other sexy apps such as Instagram. I also love all the other camera apps!

Am I still in that honeymoon phase of iPhone? Most probably…

Confession: If you look in my bag, I still carry the old Blackberry around with me. Maybe it’s my comfort blanket? I don’t know. As much as it’s let me down, I still feel I need to have it close by. I’m not ready to pack it away just yet. Maybe it’s because I still can’t believe the iPhone can be that great. But it is…

* Photo of me taken at #TBDza courtesy of @HayleyM_

Surviving my first bike ride

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Nervous did not begin to describe how I felt when we woke up on Sunday morning. This was the day that we decided to go for a “gentle” ride on our bikes. Kitted out in helmets, padded cycling shorts and warm clothes, off we went.

The plan was to cycle from Douglasdale, collect our besties on the way in Bryanston, head through Randburg into Delta Park, shoot through to Parkhurst for a quick breakfast and head back home. I secretly wondered if that wasn’t too enthusiastic, especially since I had not ridden my bike for 10 years after I threw it on the pavement and walked home.

Cycling is different to running. Running is harder. Running relies solely on the fitness of your legs to get you both up those hills and down. Whereas in cycling, even though you have to peddle like mad to push up those nasty hills, you do get to free-wheel on the down hills and relax a bit while the bike does most of the work.

Some observations from my ride:

1. Delta Park is absolutely beautiful! Wow Jozi! The dry winter grass; the sound of the flowing water; the people walking their dogs; runners, cyclists and even horses! What a gem.

2. 36kms sounds far, but I survived. I did have to stop once or twice to catch my breath, but I did not at any stage get off my bike and walk. I call this progress.

3. Cyclists are unfriendly. Compared to runners who always greet one another, cyclists hardly acknowledge one another. Odd. I know my butt was getting sore so I just wonder if this is perhaps the reason they are all so moody?

There is one (hard) lesson I’m learning about myself. I allow my nerves to ruin the joy of the ride. I kept worrying that I would be too slow and hold everyone up. Or that my bike would break. Or that I would be too unfit to get home. Or worst of all, a puncture!

But as I was riding, I remember KK’s words to me when I started running: “There is no way you can ever come last, so just enjoy the run”. It’s the same with cycling, I guess. Stop stressing and just enjoy the ride Bron! I need to work on that…

I am seriously looking forward to the next outing. But for now, I need to rest my butt!