Thought for the day
THE PROBLEM with focusing on reaching an outwardly discernible level of moral perfection based on our performance – either by deeds to be done or sins to be shunned – is that it takes our focus off serving others; look to help those who need it, for in that way your character will be developed. – Unknown
HAVE you noticed how trends change when it comes to vehicle colours? A few years ago I became the proud owner of a small Indian-built car and drove it up through the Karoo to show it off to my family.
When I arrived the reception I received was not what I had expected. “Oh no!” my sister-in-law said, “not yet another silver car in the family! Why does everybody buy silver cars?”
And indeed, when I looked at the cars of my friends and relations, almost all of them were painted in shades of silver or metallic grey.
My next vehicle was white and attracted the same comment: “Oh no, not another white car!” Actually, I bought a white bakkie because I would have had to pay more for any other colour.
In the world of bakkies white is the equivalent of Henry Ford’s black. The legendary story goes that you could buy a Model T in “any colour you liked, as long as it was black.”
This week I think I spotted the beginnings of a new trend in car colours. Driving from Rondebosch to Fish Hoek I saw no fewer than six yellow cars on the road. This is unusual indeed. Until this week I didn’t know a single person who drove a yellow car. It simply wasn’t a colour I associated with cars.
Yellow vehicles belonged to earth-moving companies or circuses. Now suddenly six passenger vehicles in one day.
I must admit it’s quite a cheerful colour for a car. Maybe South Africans feel the need for a touch of levity and brightness in their lives.
We’re not getting a lot of that in our financial or political lives, what with corrupt politicians, sad exchange rates and gloomy news headlines every day.
So I say, let’s go for it. Let’s see our roads filled with merry vehicles in yellow, pink and purple to counteract the dull grey of so many of our lives.
I wonder if I could find a polka-dotted Toyota. While we’re about it, how about investing in some cheerful clothes too.
When my pair of battered velskoens finally falls apart, I might switch to a pair of red ones. I don’t see why David Kramer should have a monopoly on red velskoens.
Or maybe I should be a trendsetter and buy a pair of yellow ones for a change. Sunshine yellow. Yes! Happy feet.
Last Laugh
A mean businessman used to pass a beggar woman on his way to work every morning. She sold grubby looking sandwiches from a push-cart and the man always gave her R5, but never took one of the sandwiches. It was his way of feeling virtuous at not too much cost.
One day she stopped him and said,”Mister, I want to say something to you.”
“I expect you want to ask me why I pay you R5 every day and never take a sandwich,” he said.
“Nah,” she said, “that’s your business. My business is to tell you the price of sandwiches has now gone up to R6.” MOBILE intensive care is now available to patients in the Northern Cape with latest addition to Emer-G-Med’s fleet of ambulances providing unprecedented care to the critically ill and injured.
With a price tag of nearly R2.5 million, the company’s fifth ambulance did not come cheap, but boasts facilities to treat patients in transit that were previously unheard of in the Province.
Yesterday, Emer-G-Med Kimberley’s operations manager, André Keyser, said that while the latest addition to their fleet had come at a premium and required a crew of two advanced life support (ALS) paramedics, it had already proven to be a valuable asset to the company as well as to more than a dozen Northern Cape patients who had already been transported from one hospital to another, since Monday.
“The cot alone costs around
R40 000,” Keyser said yesterday. “However, it’s of the highest quality and we are confident that it will be able to support the weight of almost any patient.
“This ambulance, essentially, has all the equipment you would expect to find in a hospital’s intensive care unit but makes it possible for patients to be transported from one facility to another.”
Among other features, this mobile ICU boasts a system that can provide oxygen for up to 20 hours, facilities for storing medication that is sensitive to both light and temperature, a vacuum mattress that moulds to the weight and shape of the patient, a ventilator and a state-of-the-art electrocardiogram (ECG).
“With all the extra equipment, this ambulance requires a substantial amount of electricity,” Keyser explained. “Therefore, we also have a 220v system with back-up batteries.
“Our new ambulance has only been in operation since Monday but has already transported a total of 17 patients over a distance of nearly 4 000km.
“Due to their condition, the patients themselves have not been in a position to give us feedback but their families have been very happy with this new service.”