Day: 15 November 2017

If a job is worth doing…

Yoh! I got into trouble the other day. It was my turn to wash dishes and I did a rather sloppy job because I wasn’t in the mood for dishwashing. I don’t see why we can’t have a dishwasher like some of my friends have, but mum says we don’t need one and there is no space in the kitchen anyway.

Mum unpacked the washing up rack the next morning and had to rewash most of the dishes. Luckily I was at school and she had calmed down by the time I got home. She was also annoyed with me for piling stuff on the rack higgledy piggledy – so it nearly all came crashing down when she removed one dish.

The first thing she said when I got home was… “Sibo. If a job is worth doing – it is worth doing properly!”

I gave her a hug and said sorry – I’d been trying to save water. She wagged her finger at me and said it was a lame excuse – we did not live in Cape Town and there was enough water in Gauteng to wash dishes properly. As punishment she was making me wash dishes three nights in a row and was going to be doing an inspection every morning. If she found one bit of dirt – she’d dock my pocket money.

Eish – it’s nearly holiday season. I need every bit of pocket money.

According to Google there are rules about washing dishes.

The first thing is to scrape all the left over bits into the bin.  If a pot or dish is really dirty, you may need to soak it first.

The water needs to be nice and hot with dishwashing soap in it. (Duh!)

This is where it gets sticky. Some people say you should wash the flatware (knives and forks etc) first because you put those in your mouth. Others say you should wash the cleanest things first, like glasses – because they don’t muck up the water too much. Then you wash plates and dishes and lastly pots.

Cutlery gets stashed with the handle facing down.

You are also supposed to rinse the soapy water off in clean hot water.  Apparently if your water is the right temperature, the dishes almost dry themselves.

I guess mum was right. If you’re going to do something, you might as well do a good job of it!

Sibo

Use time wisely

You often hear people saying that they wish they had more time to do something – be it homework, making dinner or spending time with friends doing something fun.

It is the one thing that we cannot change. Those minutes tick by relentlessly, never stopping for a moment.

Seems like when you are a kid the time takes forever to pass, but somehow when you get a bit older it feels as though the time whooshes by. One minute it’s the beginning of the year and suddenly the year is finished and it’s time to look forward to the holiday season again.

I guess we should all think about using our time more wisely.

Sometimes that sounds easier said than done. Exams are looming and studying for them is not really a very attractive prospect. Often you tell yourself you’ll just “do this quickly” and study later. Then suddenly the time has disappeared and you are unprepared.

That old saying – procrastination is the thief of time – might be tired – but it certainly is true.

I’ve decided to try and plan my life a bit better. I’m making lists of the stuff I need to do. I’m putting the important stuff on the list along with some smaller tasks – which are easy to get done. Then I feel great when I see things crossed off and it galvanises me to do more of the things on the list. I reward myself with some play time every so often for being so productive.

I’m really hoping it works because I’m rather good at dawdling!

Talking about time and how valuable it is – it’s really rude to keep somebody waiting.

Often we agree to be somewhere at a certain time and then get there several minutes late. In South Africa it is jokingly referred to as “African Time” but it does not make it right.

It sends the signal that the other person’s time is not important – to you anyway, and it shows a complete lack of respect. Being on time requires proper planning – like being aware and factoring in anything that might crop up causing delays and making one late.

It’s sometimes hard to predict traffic and often one gets to a place way too early and then you have to wait around but it is better than being late. Take a book or something.

Plan carefully people!

Sibo