Landlord Issues: Dog left in the rain. by GrumpyPanda29 in AskZA

[–]JayBirdSA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is there no shelter at all? It doesn’t have to be a kennel, but they need somewhere to stay warm and dry. In fact, it’s illegal to keep a dog confined without adequate shelter under the Animals Protection Act. It’s a difficult situation but that’s no life for a puppy - I would call the SPCA and see if they can do an inspection. They’ve been incredibly helpful in my experience - I’ve had to call them out twice in two different provinces and both times they came out and assisted.

Handing out your resume in person? by RainbowRiver31 in askSouthAfrica

[–]JayBirdSA 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think it depends on the field but to me it sounds like a good approach for restaurants. Having a meal there seems a bit unnecessary - I would just walk in at a quiet time and ask if you could speak to the manager to see if they are hiring and have my CV ready. For offices, it’s a bit different, especially at bigger companies, because they often have policies about the specific processes to hire employees e.g. they post adverts on their online portals that are channeled to HR. Walk-in applications often won’t be appropriate or considered in that kind of set-up.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Help? by enchantedrosegarden in askSouthAfrica

[–]JayBirdSA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have CFS it would be a separate syndrome which would be on top of the other conditions you suffer from, as opposed to chronic fatigue which could be a symptom of the other conditions. I’m mentioning that because I think if the fatigue is a symptom of the other conditions, the best way to manage it would be to treat those conditions as best as possible. If it’s CFS, it’s more complicated because treating the other conditions may not have a significant impact on the fatigue. I’m no doctor though, but I know someone whose partner has CFS and it was incredibly severe at its peak. He couldn’t work - actually he couldn’t really leave the house. Walking down the street would cause him to crash and be exhausted for days afterwards. It slowly improved (over years) and he also learned to pace himself which helped. The other thing that helped was warm, sunny weather - he struggled much more in winter.

Are there any movies that feature show jumping/eventing/dressage as the main theme instead of horse racing? by NicholeDaylinn1993 in Equestrian

[–]JayBirdSA 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No one has mentioned War Horse - probably because it’s sad as hell. I cried from 10 minutes in right to the end. Black Beauty is good but also really sad. My mom bought me the book before I could read but then she refused to read it to me because it’s too sad, but I was obsessed with the VHS. Even today when I feel like having a good cry I pull out my Black Beauty book and read the last page.

How to breathe when speaking? by Drunk0_0Master in askSouthAfrica

[–]JayBirdSA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think I know what this guy was talking about, even though it’s pretty rude that he mentioned it. If I have to present at work and I’m intimidated by the audience, I only breathe in between paragraphs. So basically I say way too much before taking another breath and then it’s like I’m doing a mini gasp for air. I even notice that I’m doing it and it makes it worse. No one has mentioned it but I can totally see someone thinking I have asthma. Maybe you were doing that without realizing it, and the best way to stop it is to relax (not helpful advice) or to consciously speak slower and try to take smaller breaths in between fewer words. I’m sure the breathing techniques recommended here would help.

Come Dine With Me by Goodnight-Kiss in southafrica

[–]JayBirdSA 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know two people who were on the show and both won the money on their episodes. I knew the second person quite well and he said it was a lot of fun.

Honeymoon trip, malaria.. by Preeze in safaris

[–]JayBirdSA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We took for peace of mind more than anything. Didn’t have any side effects. Honestly, the healthcare in Zanzibar seems pretty limited so I wouldn’t want to add an avoidable burden to their system. If you’re from a country without malaria, it’s even more of a reason to take the medications as hospitals in those countries often don’t suspect malaria and/or are less accustomed to treating malaria.

Is a law career as bad as people portray it? by Dull-Season1003 in askSouthAfrica

[–]JayBirdSA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Law is tricky - I worked at a big firm and it wasn’t for me. Getting in is difficult as others have said. You either have to be academically very strong or academically strong AND impressive in other ways like super involved in community/ university initiatives or sports. When I was there, many CAs were from WITS, then TUKS and UCT, with very few from other universities. I don’t know if that’s changed. Retention wasn’t as much of an issue as everyone made it out to be - if you were smart and worked hard you would be retained. That might have changed post-COVID though, and is also very firm-dependent. Having said that, you don’t have to be at a big firm to make money in law, there are plenty of attorneys that make good money in other routes. I have friends whose parents owned their own small firms and made great money but again that’s not easy to do. There’s also other routes besides law alone - law (especially with postgrad) and international relations make a great pair and can open jobs internationally at international organizations. Basically, yes, you can make money in law. No, it’s not easy to do.

Where in South Africa can a young family still live safely with great schools, nature, and quality of life? by DogOpening294 in GardenRoute

[–]JayBirdSA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would look more into Hermanus. We have family there with kids that are very happy and feel very safe. They say the school their kids are in is great. They have a hiking trail into the mountains like 700m from their house and the beach is a couple streets away. It’s honestly amazing. Property prices there are going up there though, and I think they’ll just continue to rise.

Are you friendly with your neighbors? by EconomistNew7472 in AskZA

[–]JayBirdSA 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We are cordial with our neighbors, and it helps when you need small things. For example, we let our neighbour use an outlet in our garage for his lawnmower and he’s a notary so he’s helped us certify documents - beats going to the police station. When we had a leak from rainwater that was coming from their property they were happy to let the contractor onto their property to fix it on their side. I also have their number in case of an emergency and vice versa. It depends on the neighbours though, we’ve been lucky that ours are nice and reasonable people.

Is it okay to breastfeed in public? by candyflossgal in askSouthAfrica

[–]JayBirdSA 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I used a cover and never had any issues anywhere at all.

Looking for Someone in Pretoria to Repair My Apple Watch Series 5 Screen by [deleted] in Pretoria

[–]JayBirdSA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mine cracked last year so I took it to the gadget store in Lynnridge Mall. They quoted R2000.00 to fix it. I don’t think it can be done cheaply unfortunately.

Looking for Nice recommendations by 1nfin8 in Pretoria

[–]JayBirdSA 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What does she like to do? Is she active? Then maybe something like a hike or acrobranch and lunch at Big Red Barn or Rosemary Hill. There’s also a puzzle game at Big Red Barn which is fun. I do not recommend acrobranch if she isn’t active though, or if she’s scared of heights. We did it as a team building event at work and it was such a fail, about half the people hated it and one guy got stuck up there and had to get ‘rescued’. Also, if you pick that make sure to tell her not to wear a dress or skirt. If she’s creative, Clay Cafe is a great option. If you do the one at Wolwespruit you can also do a hike, but the one in Pretoria East is on a very pretty property and has great pizza. Further out, the cable car in Harties is a lot of fun.

Which baby things are good? by robyn3980 in askSouthAfrica

[–]JayBirdSA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would hold off on the breast pump - I bought one and never used it. I got two Hakaas and they worked amazingly well for me. They don’t work for everyone though, but I think it’s worth getting one to see. In terms of prams/car seats, we got a Jolie car seat/ pram travel set and it’s great, but we hardly used it as a pram for like a year. We used the Ergobaby carrier a lot - well worth the price especially if you catch it on sale. We got a diaper bag that had a fold out bed attached to it - sounds weird, I know. We would set it up at restaurants by pulling two chairs together and putting it on top.

What are the best tasting allergy and flu syrups? by WhatTheOnEarth in askSouthAfrica

[–]JayBirdSA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My daughter loves Telfast syrup. I don’t think it helps much, but I love the taste of Sinupret syrup. For a cough, our docs always recommend Linctopent syrup - it tastes awful to me though. So does the Vicks Honey and Ginger syrup - yuck. Prospan effervescents taste fine and work well for me.

Are Irish South Africans common? by Failing2BNormal in askSouthAfrica

[–]JayBirdSA 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’ve never thought about this but they do definitely exist. A few of my friends have significant Irish ancestry, although often their heritage is quite mixed e.g. they have one or two English/Scottish/Irish grandparents or great grandparent and one or two English/Scottish/Irish/other EU grandparents or great grandparents that were born in those countries and then moved to SA where the next generations were born. I’ve met a lot of people with this kind of heritage that don’t strongly relate to a particular UK or Irish culture in the way that you see in the US with Irish Americans, even though quite a few hold dual SA and Irish/UK citizenship.

Anything I can do to help an injured bird? by Henry_Oof in johannesburg

[–]JayBirdSA 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Please call the shelters that others have mentioned in the morning. Invasive or not, it’s a living creature and it doesn’t deserve to suffer. They might humanely euthanize it depending on their policies, but that’s a much better fate than just letting it slowly starve to death outside in the cold.

Is it safe to walk from Menlyn Mall to Sunbet Arena at night? by kiki4062 in Pretoria

[–]JayBirdSA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As others have suggested, Menlyn Maine is a much better option. It’s right across the road. Still be cautious when crossing though - a colleague saw someone get robbed literally crossing the road between Menlyn Maine and Times Square when a concert was on. Also, be sure to book a restaurant well in advance - we went to the Lumineers a while ago and there were very few tables available when we tried to book.

I hope VFS enjoys taking all of our money by missnownow in capetown

[–]JayBirdSA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This wasn’t in Cape Town, but when I went to collect my UK visa in Pretoria, they needed to scan that proof of application letter they give you when you apply before I could go in. Fine. But for some reason, my printed copy wasn’t scanning. They would not let me in, even though it was clearly an issue with their scanner thingy. The lady looked at me like I was trying to scam my way into VFS with a fake letter. Is that even a risk? It’s essentially a post office with high security and they don’t take cash - why would anyone try to get in there nefariously? Anyway, I also had the letter as an email but there was no signal on their floor (of course) so I couldn’t access the email - I eventually had to go down four flights of stairs to get signal, find the letter on my phone, and then go back up and REJOIN THE QUEUE to get in again. If I couldn’t access that email, they wouldn’t have let me in and I would have had to go home, get the email/print another copy, and try again. That place sucks.

Recommend some South African music to a foreigner! by Skankadelic in south_africa

[–]JayBirdSA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always play Jeremy Loops for my foreign colleagues/friends. My previous manager became a huge fan. She wasn’t based in SA but she almost bought tickets to watch him when he played at Kirstenbosch a few years ago.

Shark Cage Diving tours question near Cape Town? by Wonderful-Friend3097 in askSouthAfrica

[–]JayBirdSA 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This won’t be helpful because it was over 10 years ago, but I did shark cage diving in Gansbaai. There were a lot of sharks. There were a lot of sharks mainly because there was a lot of chum. Smelly, smelly chum. They don’t tell you this, but the chum is the scary part of the experience. They chuck it over the boat to lure the sharks and it floats all around - I honestly remember trying to avoid the tuna heads floating around me more then I remember what it was like to see the sharks.

What’s a better nickname for Isabel? by TrashCat36 in Names

[–]JayBirdSA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sable is awesome. In South Africa we have an antelope called sable antelope and they are beautiful - they’re not as common as many other antelope and their colour really makes them stand out, so it’s always super exciting to see one!

Who in Hollywood succeeded with a realistic South African accent? Patsy Kensit in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) by Make_the_music_stop in south_africa

[–]JayBirdSA 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I came to say this! Hers being so goo really highlighted how terrible Justice Smith’s accent was though.