Do anyone remember the sirens that went off every day to remind you of the time?

[Robert Bruce]

Good  comment , it has been echoed so many  times on this forum ...

Too true but it is echoed by people who in the final analysis had a choice and opted to allow DB to continue to rule their lives. Nobody had to remain. Everyone was free to leave when their contracts expired.

We all wanted to hold onto the lifestyle. Like it or not that is probably the real and only reason for staying. We cannot blame De Beers for sucking us dry and ruling our lives especially if by making the decision to work and live in OM you consented to let them do so.

De Beers are not to blame. We are.

[SandyB]

Yes our life in OM  from end of std 5 taught us  sad goodbyes and  happy reunions ,,  we grew up  fast  .. gave us an edge on many others .. army was a cinch for most of us who had been to Boarding school ..  we if we were wise learnt how to use the "system'  no matter how  rebellious we were ..   and Carl yes  any  young male got the papers  delivered to school when we turned 16 .. that awful defining moment .. I ended up in the army at the tender age of  17  .. had my  18th in August in katima mulilo  almost 3/4 way through my then compulsory 1 year .. then had many camps .. one months and 3 months camps ..   by working the system but yet remaining intact to who i was i got to sergeant .. .The Osana base .. awful place .. we  kicked their workshop into  shape in one month  and sent a damming  report to HQ .. the   camp itelf was a nightmare with this  screaming mad RSM ( obviously with hangovers from hell and piles eating at his ass cos he was one mean F.......   as a CF  member of the camp if i heard him ranting and raving in the morning , I would just roll off my bed into the  furthest corner of the tent and carry on my own hungover sleep  .. do your  damndest  if you care  I am here to do a job , and thats to correct the  stuffups of the permanent force ..  I remember my one defining moment with this ass .. h  ....   I was in charge of the guard at HQ ... the pub had closed  and here in the early morning this unimog arrives and out climbs the barman from the HQ bar ..  says he wants to be let in .   I ask him the nature of his business ... well he wants  to get booze from the bar .. I tell him its not official business  so he better get moving ..  suddenly the other door of the unimog opens  and the RSM tries to  exit gracefully  instead  he lands up in a heap in the dust .. picks himself up  puts his beret on lekker skew and storms towards the gate .. I will put it all in english .. " Do you know who I am ?/ '   ...   " Yes  I  do  recognise  you as the RSM of this base " ....  " Well let  me  in " ...  ever so calmly i ask the nature of their business .. he has no  real answer .. so  he demands to be let in ..  I refuse .. in fact I put  it  into perspective for him   " Sir i believe you  and the barman want to take liquor from the bar and i cannot  allow  you to do so  .. its  after  regulation hours and now not official business  this  HQ is  locked down and under guard and i am the guard commander  and i cannot allow  you  in  " ... well  the ranting and raving .. his  response  "Sersant  I am going to put you on report in the morning "..  I responded .. " Do whatever you feel is right at the moment but remember when you wake up in the morning  that at this  moment sir you are out of order , in fact at the moment you are a disgrace to your uniform and rank  and if you so wish i will the moment this incident is over  draft my own report  with full witness of the entire guard that I am in charge of ..  you have choices  move now .. or I  submit my own report .. Oh and by the way is a unimog not a restricted vehicle  only for ops use and not for after hours pleasure  drives ??  "  I think the barman  realised I meant business  and dragged the RSM away to curse ringing in the air of " f... ing engelsman " incident over

The next morning there was he unhappy  hungover  in all probability a still officially drunk  soul screaming  on the parade ground .. I again could tuck in as I had just finished guard duty ..  the other thing i remember was the OC his daughter was a little " Paris Hilton '  if she fancied a guy and he was not intersted she would fabricate lies and get them into trouble ...  that was in the late 70"s  but yes the camp seems to have had a bad  aroma about it  for many years to come .. on the  other side was Katima .. also with its problems but far more an understanding and  human value based  place to be .. Paul Lisser  spent some time at our base as a  signaller  .. he ran a sort of unofficial radio station ... He would play the radio   and send music to all the guard posts  all over the place  .. bless you Paul you helped make life easier ..

and  yes   as you can read i made the "system"  work for me ..  in  my latter years of camps  I was always offered a PF job  after finishing up , cos i was instrumental in getting the lifeblood of the army  ie; stores  , workshop  and transport moving again .. all it  was  was just  doing a job and doing it as well as you can .. whats  so  hard  about that ?? .. nothing rocket scientist ?? Huh

[Robert Bruce]

Lesson: Never ever mess with a Buchanan who is guarding a pub.......!!

[SandyB]

I seem to have no control over the lot in the free bar , then again me still off on sick .. so they must maar just destroy the place

Hey site slow again and smileys slowing it down ???  I'm waiting for Dianas bottle to come flying through the screen cos she seems to have the same problems  as me  ??

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

 

[Robert Bruce]

Hey site slow again and smileys slowing it down ???  I'm waiting for Dianas bottle to come flying through the screen cos she seems to have the same problems  as me  ??

And me of course who loves and adores smilies simply cannot abide the way they slow the download time to a crawl. And by which time I have forgotten half of what I wanted to type.......!!

[SandyB]

Too  true  too true .. on the days when   service providers  system up to speed   then  smileys are no  prob ..   there  seems to be a window when  theres a lot of activity ...  18:00 --  21:30  then speeds  up again ..  during  day  generally  no  prob ..

[georg ruf jr.]

Hey site slow again and smileys slowing it down ???  I'm waiting for Dianas bottle to come flying through the screen cos she seems to have the same problems  as me  ??

And me of course who loves and adores smilies simply cannot abide the way they slow the download time to a crawl. And by which time I have forgotten half of what I wanted to type.......!!

Do you use broadband Robert?

[Paula Gottsch (Willson)]

Hey site slow again and smileys slowing it down ???  I'm waiting for Dianas bottle to come flying through the screen cos she seems to have the same problems  as me  ??

And me of course who loves and adores smilies simply cannot abide the way they slow the download time to a crawl. And by which time I have forgotten half of what I wanted to type.......!!

Do you use broadband Robert?

I'd say he does, he looks pretty "Broad" to me!!

:emot19:

[georg ruf jr.]

Carefull Paula. There are 3 admins around.
This is not a crib topic.
:emot77:

[Paula Gottsch (Willson)]

 

[SandyB]

I see  the long  trip  to GB  has  not  yet  tamed our Paula !!    anyhow  good  to  see  you online again  .. hows  tricks ?? 
Back to the smileys  .. I'm damm sure they  are  encouraged by  the " service porviders " cos it dont matter  how  unless  you  on  24hr adsl ..  if  you   on  dial  up  it  takes  time  and you  are  charged  for  time .. if  you  on MB per  month  cap  then each time  I want  to  post  the  smileys  are  downloaded . and I pay for  what is  downloaded   and  if  I  was  frivolous  in  the  use  of  smileys   on  replies   its  also  more  Kb sent   ..  I   smell a  plot  here !! anyhow  yes the use of the odd  one  is  fun .. when one wants  to  express  oneself  differently  .. or  in  the  case  when  we sometimes   try to  reply to  our Paula .. we have no words . so  smileys  suffice ..

[georg ruf jr.]

That'sd a good one Sandy. Always seeing things positive...

[Paula Gottsch (Willson)]

I see  the long  trip  to GB  has  not  yet  tamed our Paula !!    anyhow  good  to  see  you online again  .. hows  tricks ?? 
Back to the smileys  .. I'm damm sure they  are  encouraged by  the " service porviders " cos it dont matter  how  unless  you  on  24hr adsl ..  if  you   on  dial  up  it  takes  time  and you  are  charged  for  time .. if  you  on MB per  month  cap  then each time  I want  to  post  the  smileys  are  downloaded . and I pay for  what is  downloaded   and  if  I  was  frivolous  in  the  use  of  smileys   on  replies   its  also  more  Kb sent   ..  I   smell a  plot  here !! anyhow  yes the use of the odd  one  is  fun .. when one wants  to  express  oneself  differently  .. or  in  the  case  when  we sometimes   try to  reply to  our Paula .. we have no words . so  smileys  suffice ..

Thanks SandyB, I'z still out here, but I want a smiley that show's his middle finger but they won't get one, son't know why!
::

[SandyB]

Nah !    they  got  to  keep  you  in  check .. my  suggestion  is  a  bit  of  slowdancing in the  bar  with  Georg Snr   to  set  a  mellow  tone .. then you  will not  need  the  middle  finger  one .. instead   a few  well  chosen words  would  do ..  like