The effects of Lockdown - 58 days and counting

HE WRITINGS OF JOHN BRANDOW

I don't think people ("Us") understand the whole (Covid-19 lockdown) situation. This (the lockdown) is hitting the masses much harder than it is hitting "us" (as white, middle-class people).

Let me enlighten you a bit. For one, we are able to receive online tuition for our children because we have electricity and the internet and, in most cases, computers which are still working 100%. We have much more support structures that can handle most of the hardships brought on by the situation — the virus — which caused the lockdown, which by the way is a worldwide phenomenon.

Most South Africans (the working class) have to travel mostly by public transport, which has for all practical reasons come to a standstill except for the private taxis who can now only handle half their capacity resulting in longer waiting periods for those who have to travel whilst most of "us" have either private cars or have people who can take "us" to where we need to go.

We can order whatever we need from P&Pay, Checkers, Spar, and get it delivered to our door. Apart from those of "us” that have lost our jobs the rest of "us" is still fine. Like my housekeeper told us the other day: “Ma’am, I am so tired of sleeping, I am so tired of doing nothing and have to live in this one bedroomed house". I think we as white middle class people need to wake up and smell the roses. We are not being punished by the government — the lockdown has hit the masses that much harder!

I am not knocking you, as fellow white people....but must understand that government would not implement a lockdown — which is not of our making (it is a worldwide phenomenon) — to let us experience what the masses experience every day when the lockdown is hitting them ten times more than it is hitting us.

And our virus figures are much better than the rest of the world. I do not condone the whole system, don't get me wrong. But the rantings that are going on against the government and the lockdown is doing us no favour. The Economic burnout is still coming and the whole lockdown and Covid-19 deaths can never be weighed up against the financial hardships that are going to follow. And it is going to hit the masses that much harder. I do not believe in the conspiracy theories flying around.

The reality is this: The Rich will survive, most of the poor are not going to. Unfortunately most of the Rich is part of "us".

Great wine and Retirement villages

I read an interesting slogan Yesterday. It said : You cannot make a great wine if you do not know what a great wine taste like.......Just think about that.  There is so much truth in this and this truth can be applied to a few other things.

I am now going to step on some serious toes....and for those of you who know me ...That is what I love to do.......

Take the senior property market for one......As you age beautifully as you planned you need advice on the three things that every single person on earth needs .  That is Food , health and Shelter.  I am not going to address the first two but let's look at the third one.

For those who can afford it as you grow older Retirement villages and Old age homes are options and without quoting statistics both are equally important.

Retirement units are available for potential occupants in 3 ways. Buying a  Property that you are going to be the owner of , Renting a property or Buying into a life rights development.

In most of these potential transactions there are ESTATE AGENTS involved.   And this is where my quote of the wine comes in.........

You cannot make a great wine if you do not know what a great wine tastes like.  You cannot sell a good retirement property if you do not know what a good retirement unit looks like.  And  only once you have attained the age to be able to live in such a Retirement village will you be able to properly understand the needs and wants of the elder people living there or wanting to live there.

I know what I am talking about. I have been living in one for the past 5 years and at the young age of 71 I am only now starting to understand exactly what this is all about.  I have done some serious research by asking the young agents to explain exactly what I am going to experience when I do buy or rent in such a Village.    And the answers are exactly what I expected . They have no cookin clue what it is all about.  They are selling brick and mortar and not the experience.  How can they make a good wine if they do not know what a good wine tastes like ?

I rest my case............

John Brandow is an Estate Agent SELLING AND RENTING units in the Featherbrooke Hills Retirement Village where he lives. Also new units available in new developments.  Enquiries via email to featherbrook@mweb.co.za  or call/whatsap  082 222 5002 

Who's controlling your life ?

Who controls your life?  This is not a religious or trick question .....I am just asking are you in control of your life?  Who makes your decisions for you?  Are some or most of your decisions influenced by other people or do you have the final say?

People grow up being controlled by other people.   In your youth, your parents had a lot of influence on what you think, what you did and how you respond to challenges in life.  As did your teachers in school.  The fact that they come from an earlier dimension with outdated viewpoints did not really make you think then,  did it?  Have you ever thought about some of those ideas since?

 As people grow older some tend to become more independent than others and some even start to think for themselves. They discover that thinking is actually not illegal.

Then there is my favorite word: Dogma.  Most people are influenced by Dogma and whether they are aware of this or not - it gives some security in that you can always find someone that will back up an idea. When in doubt - ask an expert?  Which expert?  If it was ok for your dad - it is ok for you.

Then there are the accepted ways of doing things - probably related to Dogma but not quite Dogma
You must obey all rules - if there is a rule someone made it with good intentions and I haven't got time to query the status quo - it has become a comfort zone.

Ah, comfort zones  - Comfort zones are life-controlling mechanisms.  It is comfortable to do things the way everyone accepts it. But who makes the rules? Who created the zone is mostly immaterial - it is a comfort zone and "I like it and I am not getting out of it"

As you grow older new people start taking control of your life...........The sister in the Retirement Village.  The manager in the old age home.  Your children - because you are now getting old and not able to think for yourself ................Most of these are well-intended but some are downright interference in parent's life - I will post about this in a follow up on this blog. In the interest of the majority, certain rules are made in community housing developments for the good of the cause, but some are also downright interference in the lives of the people living there.  And you toe the line, you are just a number.........Even your grave has a number.


Who out there will say with me:  "I am in control of my life.  I will not accept Dogma in my life. I will query the status quo. I will not be a pushover. I have the knowledge and the right not to accept interference in my life if it does not suit me. I will go climb a mountain even if it kills me.  I will learn a new skill - I need to change my life to make it more acceptable and comfortable for ME. 

Whiteness and other myths

I read the South African Sunday Times for one reason and one reason only.  My neighbour drops it on my porch on a Monday morning once she is finished with it.  I normally do not pay for quasi-journalism.

On page 22 a lady by the name of Christi van der Westhuizen, whose resume says she is an associate professor at the University of Pretoria wrote an article about "New Afrikaners  & Inclusivity"

These types of articles are sometimes quite interesting in that you can read the prejudice basically throughout the article. You could see where she was going by just reading the first paragraph.  I am now going to do exactly what she did:  Categorise and typify.

Writers in this category claim to know their subjects by "the research I did" Classic Associate stuff

She typifies her victims by the use of all sorts of cliche words , Racial organisation, dominant Anglo whiteness, enclave, expansive and imaginative kind of identity et all.

Very evidently there was a purpose to this piece of junk prose. I could not find it.  Probably to tell the world that Whiteness - yes in the sense that there are white people, of which the writer apparently is one - and Blackness is not the same thing.  No Madame it is not and never will be.  Your assumptions and statements have been made by hundreds of writers before you and it will happen hundreds of times again and again.

What you have written does not encompass even one percent of what it means to be an Afrikaner or Afrikaans speaker and attempts at making it seem like a crime and have Afrikaans speakers come out in droves to repent is not going to happen.

I officially distance myself from such quasi-prose and read it with the contempt it deserves. 

Spiders, Snakes and Heights

Now what on earth am I on about?  What has spiders snakes and heights have in common?  These are the 3 top phobias in the world.  That is things that people are afraid of.  There are some lesser ones and the one that did not reach the top 100 is called Gerascophobia.
This is the fear of growing old and is the one no-one can escape if you do not die young.
I would like to redefine this phobia by calling it the fear of the knowledge that you cannot turn time around

Once you get to a certain age and you know you cannot turn time around the phobia seems to disappear.  I have not been able to define this certain age in any way.

This morning I interviewed a client who has lived alongside a large open space on a race course facing the course and loving the openness. The time is coming that they will have to move off this beautiful spot and buy something else - the property is not theirs
They have bought a unit in a retirement village and the husband at 65 is not ready to move there.
He might never be ready
Does he have Gerascophobia ?  Probably not - or maybe he does not realise it
Growing old (older) implies a lot of different things to different people.  This change is not an immediate thing - it creeps up on you and one day you are old. That is if you have not planned for the consequential changes this brings on

But the reason for this post is that when you do get old ( and if you are still alive you are on your way there or have reached that dreaded stage called ELDERLY!) the brothers and sisters of the Gerascophobia tend to come visit you and here is some of them that did make it to the top 100 list:

1. Claustrophobia – The fear of small spaces  If you are used to a massive house make friends with the smaller one in the retirement village .
2. Carcinophobia – The fear of cancer.  new diets seem to creep in 
3. Thanatophobia – The fear of death.  Those guys in the rugby club in the retirement village has a way of starting conversations about this bringing on panic attacks
4. Monophobia – The fear of being alone. This is a fact of life - one partner is due to die before the other.
5. Enochlophobia – The fear of crowds, which is closely related to Ochlophobia and Demophobia. The irony is that there are nearly 700 people living in our retirement village and their are NEVER crowds.  You make your own or join one - the choice is yours
6. Aphenphosmphobia – The fear of intimacy. Involves the fear of being touched and fear of love. Bound to happen with 700 people around you
7. Trypanophobia – The fear of needles. If this is a problem - don't grow old !
8. Anthropophobia – The fear of people. People tend to want to make friends with you in a retirement village - so it should not be a problem if you end up there ! 
9. Autophobia – The fear of abandonment. This phobia will also soon disappear in a community where everyone has made peace with growing older.  Just watch the 5 o'clock dog walking club......................

Fun on the farm-Busisa family adventure farm Apr 2015

Die plaashuis - 

Inni bos 

waar is my appel?

Opm pad huis toe - watter huis?

Hier is nie vis nie !

Waar is my appel ?

Jy moet vir my ook een gee

Nee loop nou - die appels is klaar !

Gedra jou nou !

Fun in the sun

More fun in the sun

Hamburger time !

Breakfast ( at last!)

Skool werk

Oor die rivier

Swing along

This is the life !

More fun and this is the life !

Hier gaan ons !

Pa-krag

Sussie-krag

Skaap oppas

Hier op die plaas wil ek bly!

Ma en seun

Life lessons : From Mediocrity to Greatness

I have been contemplating writing this article for a while and suddenly this morning I woke up and knew I had to write it today.

There are a few things separating these concepts:

•         Mediocre says   “Do it Someday” Greatness says “Just do it and do it Now”

•         Mediocre says  “There are Things to do and They must do it”   Greatness says:"This is what needs to be done and I will do it.  

•          Mediocre says “Wow, that guy is a massive success, I wonder how he does it?” Greatness says " Wow.That guys is a massive success. I am going to find out how he does it!"

Now, what can be done to move from Mediocre to Greatness?  

This is simple and it just might be the key to the next great thing in your life.  You can act on it.......or you don’t ...The choice is yours.

A practical guide to go from Mediocrity to Greatness. These are the top 9 things you must do NOW:

(I know a lot more can be said about this but bear with me - the rest will come later)

     

1.       Shift from uncertainty to total Certainty.

We all want something in life.  Most of the time we are not certain what this is.  That is called uncertainty.   To move to certainty requires you to do something. You have to sit and write down a few thoughts and the thing you need most is to focus. You first must know what it is that you are uncertain about. You cannot draft a road map if you do not know where you are going.

    

2.       Shift  from ‘Them’ to "Me."

You hear this often “Something must be done.”  “They must do something”   Back to point number one: Define “something” Define “What must be done” Define “what needs to be done”

Change “them” to me.  Do something about it – this implies that you ACTUALLY ACT ON IT

3.       Shift from some time to now

If you decide to do something about something you have to decide when you are going to do it

If is in the future it is most probably not going to be done. This is called procrastination. You have to do  “it” now

4.       Focus. And do not get sidetracked

I have two role models in my family.  They are both financially insanely successful. The one thing they do very well:  They focus. Just yesterday the one pitched at a meeting where serious – and I mean serious challenges had to be addressed.  He pitched without any notes, notepaper or pen.  Someone asked: “Where are your notes?”  His answer "I know what the problem is and I know the answer and it is not going to take long to sort this out."  Focused – Not going to get sidetracked.   Short and sweet – Done and over!

5.       Redefine your definition of “success”

You will not be reading this if you are already insanely successful.  Most motivational speakers have a few clichés they always use.  Their favourite is “ Defining success – it is not about money”  I am going to burst your bubble right here and now.  “It is all about money” If you do not believe me stop reading this and go somewhere else – It is not open for discussion.   Everything else you can define as “Success” flows from this.  Fundamentalists have this vague concept of success.  They will and cannot define it more definitely than what I am doing right now. Show me someone that is insanely successful and living in a shack and I will show you the exception that proves the rule.........................

6.       Simplify.

Again I will be using the two family members I quoted before:  They both have very simple systems:  The one run his insanely successful business from anywhere in the world on two i phones. No office, no personal assistants.  Hands on and know exactly what is going on in his business.  Having a simple daily feedback system and getting basically a few answers EVERY DAY; Here are just 2 of them  “What problems could not be solved without my intervention?”  “How much money did the business make yesterday?”  

7.       Do not be too impressed by the “best” – The “best” do not walk around telling you they are

“The best”.  Their lifestyle and simplicity tell you that.

I am ever so often invited to events where the ”best” is going to tell you how he did it.  The world’s  “best business coach”  The world’s “best Entrepreneur” “the secret to success”

If he is the best why is he wasting his time to tell you that?  If it is a secret......Why is he telling the world – Then it is no secret anymore and everyone will be successful!

8.       Find your Niche and find out what they want and how you are going to give them what they want.

Linking up on focus is this:  What are you good at? What are you BEST at?  What can you deliver to a Niche market that is totally different than what everyone else is doing?  What will you do that is “Great” and not mediocre?  And to whom are you going to do it ?

9.       Be the genuine article –

Most people can spot a fraud easily.   You have to be genuine in your service offering and here are just a few things you do to be just that:    Under promise and over deliver.  Never promise something you cannot do.  Always follow up and deliver on your promises.  Always call back. Always follow up.  Be the “go to guy”  Be the one everyone knows that you are the BEST in what you do.

If you apply one of the above you have moved a 100 kilometers from where you were.  If you apply at least 3 of these your head will be spinning because of the change that will be happening.   If you apply them all you will most probably be the next ‘BEST’ and insanely successful person you know.