Man I have been having some major car trouble lately. Just before my dad passed away, my clutch gave out on my Peugeot 307 suddenly and had to send it in to a dealership in Fourways. They charged me R9000 to replace my clutch and flywheel, but when they gave my car back it was leaking oil and making a funny noise they said was a worn gearbox. When I complained about the noise and oil leak not being there, I got a very cold “you can’t prove that” from the service manager. I just sent it to a gearbox repair specialist who told me that the gearbox was seriously damaged and it would cost me R20000 to fix. This included a new clutch and flywheel since the ones put in 2 months ago were saturated with oil from the oil leak. Anyway I am waiting for the Motor industry ombudsman to tell me what the way forward is for my complaint against the Peugeot dealership in Fourways.
I had been contemplating the Peugeot 308 because it really looks like a nice car, but the service I am getting from them so far has totally put me off Peugeot. I started thinking that with the current petrol price I need to look at a more economical car anyway and have started looking at the Toyota Prius. It looks like a cool car and with my possible move to within 10kms from work and about 900mtrs from Church, I should save a bundle on petrol, however I started looking at it purely from a cost point of view. After seeing a video of a little girl speaking at a UN conference for energy I am thinking it might be more beneficial from a green point of view.
The Prius runs between 4.5 and 5.5 litres per 100 kms which means it can run probably about 800-900 kms on a single tank of fuel from what I have been reading. A large part of the Prius’ fuel efficiency comes from driving the car in mostly city environments. Long road driving at 120kms per hour will give you an average efficiency similar to most other cars on the road, but shorter distances with frequent stops will use the battery more and cause the fuel efficiency to be much better. I will let you know if I decide to buy it or what I decide to buy if anything, but for now, check out this video…
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
Wow has it been a long time since I have been working on my blog!
My life has really been spinning for the past two months, filled with tons of work, travel to foreign contries and the biggest and most hard hitting event, the passing of my Father. I might write a little bit about that event when I feel a bit more up to it but at the moment I want to talk about something which is closer to everyone and that is finances, credit cards to be exact. I was looking at a website which consolidates credit card deals from a myriad of credit card providers. It seems that in America there are a number of different types of offers which credit card providers can offer to their potential customers, I thought was quite interesting. If anyone knows how the banking system works in South Africa, you know how we are ripped off, especially when it comes to credit cards and petrol cards. As an example, if you take a look at the gasoline credit card offers section on the website you will notice that there are some cards with rebates and other types of offers when you use the card to purchase fuel, well in South Africa, it is illegal to offer any sort of reward or discount on petrol, the price of which is strictly controlled by the government. Our government figures that if we get a rebate on petrol then that is almost like getting the tax back that we paid on the fuel, and that is a no-no.
When it comes to credit cards, they are not my most favourite thing in the world. Don’t get me wrong, they have their place, but too many people have adopted bad habits when it comes to credit cards. A common problem with credit cards is a practice known as revolving credit or rolling credit. This involves having multiple credit cards and paying them off using each other. In theory this results getting a certain amount of money which you never have to pay back. In reality though it involves the banks making huge sums of money from you while making you think like you are getting free money.
The place for credit cards in our lives is not to be over looked though. Using credit wisely can allow you to juggle your positive bank balance around for a few days until you have to pay off the credit card balance. Obviously this will only work if you get some interest free credit from your credit or you will end up paying for the privilege of borrowing a small sum for a few days.
Credit cards are also useful in emergencies, such as for example an urgent car repair or helping you with payments on an unexpected medical expense.
Needless to say, although I mentioned not being a big fan of credit cards, I feel that every one should have at least one card which, managed correctly will help rather than hinder your financial situation.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
I have been getting very depressed at the number of friends who are initiating the emigration process, some to the UK but most to Australia or New Zealand.
My mood today though has been one of “God is good, all the time…”. Not only was the sermon today excellent, and beautifully applicable to thoughts of emigration but I was just blown away at how God can use a message from Habakkuk to such a modern predicament.
I have always heard how relevant the Word of God is to us today as it was to those who read it for the first time since it was written.
“Behold, is it not from the LORD of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing? ” (Hab. 2:13 ESV)
I would recommend taking a trip down to http://www.midrandchapel.za.org and downloading the sermon for a listen.
So the question begs, Why do I remain in South Africa? What is it about this country which makes me overlook all the negatives, the negatives which the entire world is putting in their newspapers? Well I am not too sure, after today’s sermon I can safely say that every decision that I have made so far in my life has been without real worry. I have always had the notion that things will always sort themselves out. Over the last couple of months I have been through some very interesting times and learned allot, but one of the major realisations that I have come to over this time is that God is totally sovereign, and as long as I have faith in His sovereignty, the Will of God will play out in the end. No matter what mistakes I make in any decisions that I may take. So no, things will not work themselves out, but God will work them out in my life.
So that is pretty much what keeps me here, I know God is working in my life and at the moment I am just on a roller coaster ride. At times I do feel that I am not in control and it does stress me out in times of weakness. I guess the past few days has been a time of weakness but from this morning I have been tempted to quote Philippians 4:13, however I would be using it very charismatically and totally out of context. The truth is though that I do feel strengthened by the power of God and even though verse 13 is Paul talking about his own weaknesses and how God strengthened him, I feel that if God could strengthen Paul in his time of need, then God is more than capable to strengthen me as well.
This post is turning into quite a large one so I think I should start to conclude it now. But I will say this one final thing, if you have found this post and are thinking of emigrating from South Africa, I don’t have a definitive answer for you whether you should leave the country or not. There are many people who would offer their advice and tell you how bad this country is. They site things like Power cuts (Germany is saying that power cuts are coming for Germany soon because of the lack of generating capacity), Zuma (God places all leaders into power and we are to submit to their authority), or crime (my sister has been robbed more times in 4 years in the UK than our family has been robbed in 28 years), but I don’t have any advice, the reason being that I do not make decisions for you, you need to make them yourself. Your situation is unique to you and your family and no one can make any decisions on your behalf. Whether you emigrate or not is something between you and God, so take the decision to God and let him deal with it, and stop worrying about it. If you continue to worry yourself sick about it then you need to hand over everything to God so that He can deal with it in His way and in His timing.
Well that’s me, I am out
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
With more people setting up their own home based, online business every day, the amount of vulnerable web sites is increasing at an alarming pace. And the blame for this lies mostly within the Internet Marketing community itself. Why? Using the powerful techniques of persuasion at their disposal, many so-called Internet Marketing Gurus lure people into setting up their own online business by providing them with ready-made, plug and play web sites that contain basic security flaws. Do not forget that most of these sites are made by marketers, not programmers! And the consequences for you can be disastrous…
One of the most common vulnerabilities - and paradoxically the most easily cured - is to ensure that each directory on your site contains an index file. By default, web browsers, when directed to a directory look first of all for a file named index. This could be followed by a variety of extensions such as .html, .htm, .shtml or .php to name the most common ones.
If the browser does not encounter the index file, it will display the entire directory in the form of a clickable navigation list, disclosing all its contents for the world to see, thus leaving your precious and often restricted content wide open to any type of malicious action.
To prevent this from happening you should make sure that you have at least one or a combination of these following basic security measures in place:
:- Ensure that each directory contains an index file by renaming the default page you want to be shown to index. Then make sure that all the internal links to that page are updated as well!
:- Create an empty index file. When arriving at the directory, a blank page will be shown, but you will no longer be displaying a directory listing. You could also provide a message and a clickable link on that page to take your visitors to the correct page.
:- Create an index file that contains a redirection to the page you want to be shown. There are many free and easily implemented code snippets available that will allow you to do so and your visitors will not even notice that they are being redirected.
:- If you have downloadable content that people have to pay for, do not keep it it the same directory as the sales page, but keep it in a separate, secure directory and set up your payment processor to that directory. This way you ensure that only people who have paid for the content have access to it.
When selling products online as an Internet Marketer or otherwise, you are more prone to people trying to get to your restricted content so as to avoid having to pay for it. These basic security measures should help you drastically reduce the risk of unlawful access to your site and save you from a lot of headaches and worries.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
Wow what a sermon this morning. I really recommend taking a trip to http://www.midrandchapel.za.org and downloading the message.
As Christians we tend to get complacent with our lives. We read our bibles, pray about our friend’s and our own problems and we live our lives happy in the knowledge that God sent His son to do all the hard work for us and all we have to do is accept it. Well there is a commission given to us by Jesus Himself. Check out Matthew 28:16-20 and get yourself a copy of the sermon.
Here is a pretty good video as well, from a movie called The Most, which translates to The Bridge.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
I went to see the Lion King at Teatro in Montecasino. Man is it awesome, I really enjoyed it. The music was awesome, although sometimes the words to the songs were a bit fuzzy and you couldn’t hear what they were singing. The costumes, wow the costumes were awesome. I was really amazed by the Mufasa and Scar costumes. The way the animal puppets are brought to life by the cast is really amazing, you can actually imagine them jumping through the grass.
The use of shadows was very well done, I was blown away by how the shadows built the story for us.
Well its pretty late so I am just gonna say :-
GO SEE IT!!
Here is the opening sequence of the concert for your enticement… Just brilliant… You gotta see it live.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
Well with the new year here some people may have made some resolutions that they should go to church more often. However it is not always easy to fit in at church, so the guys over at Bluefish TV have a handy instructional video to help everyone fit into any church. These tips are good, everyone should check over them even if you have been in church for a while.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
Well it is already 13 days into the new year and I am now only making the first post of 2008. I have been doing a lot of analysing and trying to determine the lesson that I should be learning through the situation I mentioned in previous posts. Let me just say that there is a bundle of lessons that I have learned. I am coming back on track with my recovering introvert status but I still have to work on some areas which are taking longer to sort out.
Anyway since this is the first post of the new year I would like to give you a few tips to handle your money bette. Everyone knows these three easy steps but very few people actually put them into action. With prices increasing all the time, saving money can be harder and harder to do.
1. BUDGET – Get one and stick with it! And set aside at least a small portion for savings while you’re at it; savings for your future, your retirement, your education, your vacation, whatever. Head to your local office supply store for planning workbooks or budget sheets to use. Or head to your favorite search engine and type in, “budget planning” for hundreds of sites with articles, free downloads, tips, ebooks and other resources to help with your budget setup and follow up.
2. PLAN AHEAD – Make sure to plan for emergencies and the unexpected, like an appliance break down or garage door malfunction. Even if you can only set aside $50 or so each monthly, place it in an account and earmark it for this “Miscellaneous” fund. Then when things go wrong, and they will – nothing’s perfect – you’ll be better prepared.
3. NON-MONTHLY ITEMS – Work out a monthly payment for items that you don’t pay monthly and set this up in your regular monthly budget. For example, for items like annual home owner or renter insurance, quarterly water bills and automobile insurance payments and annual trash bills, take the amounts and determine what they would be monthly. Then list the items on your budget log and pull these amounts aside, saving them in your account for those purposes. This way, when the bills hit, you won’t be caught off guard and have to scrounge for the payments.
What works well, instead of handling multiple savings accounts for each company owed, is to use index cards and one savings account. Create one index card for each bill. Then simply log the amount you’re setting aside on the card and deposit it into your savings account. Keep the index cards with your savings passbook to remind you what the balance covers. The total of all your index cards should equal the balance in your savings account. (Make sure to create an index card for your regular funds that you are saving each month in step one above and a card for your Miscellaneous fund in step two above).
So next time you get paid, take three giant steps forward. Grab your index cards, follow your budget and invest in yourself and your future. Get a grip on your money handling.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
I do believe my focus was a little off the true reason that we celebrate Christmas this year due to some other issues which were clouding my mind. I really found this video pretty convicting, so I wanted to post it here to show everyone how the world normally treats the reason for the season.
Since Christmas is over, I will wish my readers a Blessed new year.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
Wow what a Christmas to remember. I hope all my readers had a great one and a happy upcoming new year too.
My Christmas unfortunately is not one which I really care to remember but it will probably stay with me forever, I placed myself in a situation in which the end result bounced me back a few steps in my recovering introvert status. I think it zapped me back by about a year so there is a lot of ground to cover to try and catch up.
Anyway I think I need to keep this short as I do not feel comfortable really talking about the situation. I will say this though, anyone who thinks life is easy is going to come in for a landing soon and will realise that life doesn’t issue any landing gear so get ready for a real bumpy landing.
Loading ...
Stumble this BLOG
