You should always try any experience that you can. Who knows? You might find something that you really like.
I wouldn’t include smashing the little toe of your flop-clad foot into the back wheel of a Pick n Pay trolley, though.
I tried that so you don’t have to.
Talking of… If Woolies’ shelves are empty because they were unable to maintain their cold chain due to the delays from the taxi strike, then either Pick n Pay have somehow been using different roads (?!?) or they don’t care that their cold chain was compromised.
Hmm.
“I wonder which one it is?”, he thought, as the milk went off 2 hours after he bought it.
I might start on the prophylactic antibiotics with their chicken this evening before I end up trying another new experience.
Further to that, the rule which I did write, says that I must remind everyone that this video was shot in Piketberg. Piketberg is also known for… er… being on the N7 between Malmesbury and Citrusdal.
That’s about it.
But onto more important matters: Of course, this season, the Mighty Red And White Wizards from Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane are also in the Premier League.
So, some sort of prediction seems appropriate.
Well, given that we’ve known for almost 4 months that we were going to be starting in the Premier League this weekend, it’s been a pretty disastrous pre-season, and an especially chaotic last fortnight. We’ve sold several of our best players (yes, including Sander, who I foolishly referenced in that last post):
We don’t have many players, we do have a lot of injuries, and we also have at least one visa issue, thus it looks like some of our team, and even more of our much-depleted bench will be made up of academy players. Compare and contrast with the big boys spending literally hundreds of millions of pounds throughout the summer, and it feels like we’re scratching around in the dirt for whatever we can find.
It’s going to be a very long, very hard season. So I’ll absolutely bite your hand off for 17th position or above – and therefore survival – and the chance to go again next season.
On our side, we have the best fans in the country, we have a formidable stadium to visit, we have some incredible team spirit, and we have a local, down-to-earth manager who understands the club, the limitations facing him, and the importance of the team’s success to the fanbase. I can’t wait for our first win (it took a horribly long while last time), but I’ll fully understand when we struggle, and I’ll continue to support wholeheartedly as long as there is 100% effort from the players.
You can’t ask for more.
We’re a very small fish in a very big pond, but it’s quite literally the best pond in the world to be in. We worked damn hard to get promotion last season and we had some great times getting it. This is what we wanted*. We shouldn’t forget that at any point this time around.
I mean, there’s no other word for it. I’m off on a jolly. In the English, informal noun sense of the word.
Away far up North (in this country, at least), in order to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
I’m trying very hard not to feel too guilty about leaving the family behind for almost 6 days, but I am looking forward to a few days in Kruger, observing the animals and sampling the local beer.
My only previous Kruger experience was taking (camera) shots of the fences between the Park and the citrus farms that backed onto it: good fences, well-funded. And while that was great fun, and there was wildlife around, the chance to see some animals close up and then talk about it over a braai in the evening is something I’m very quite excited about.
No idea about internet coverage there, so I’ll be pre-loading some posts before Wednesday’s red-eye flight and the 8 hour drive to – almost – the Mozambique border. But as ever, keep checking in here for additional impromptu posts, and Instagram for ‘togs on the fly.
Up (relatively) early and ready to go on this public holiday. But no-one tell the weather about the day off, because it clearly doesn’t know that it’s supposed to be ruining it for everyone. The sun is out, the solar is charging the batteries and the coffee is doing the metaphorical same for me inside. The beagle is in the back garden eating unripe loquats and… oh christ… wait… The beagle is now inside. With tonight’s planned family dinner out now cancelled due to circumstances (not these ones), I’m ready to fire up the braai this evening for the first time in a long while. I’m just about to marinade my ribeye*.
I’m finally feeling better after this low-grade viral nonsense of the last week or so, and there are a number of things that need doing around the house before we head out to more horseriding adventures (again, not me) this afternoon.
Oh, and at some point, I need to tell you about next week, which is going to be rather exciting. But let me leave you on that cliffhanger, in the hope that you’ll pop back again tomorrow for more fun and games.
As I mentioned yesterday, the Cape Town taxi strike has been – and continues to be – hugely disruptive to the whole city. At the supermarket this morning, staff numbers were low, service was even slower than usual, and there were several (or more) empty shelves.
These are genuine effects of the taxi strike, and that’s annoying for all concerned: for the people who want to work, for the people who want to shop. But for every incident of someone being honestly inconvenienced by the recent (ongoing) events, there’s another of someone using them to excuse something otherwise indefensible.
“I think I might need an extension on my maths homework because of the taxi strike.” “The maths homework I set last week, before the strike began?” “Yes, but there was always the danger that it might begin, and that has actually proved to be the case.”
“Sorry, I can’t do that spreadsheet for you this week. The taxi strike, you know?” “But don’t you work from home? In London?” “Yes, it’s had surprisingly wide-ranging effects.”
“We’re going to sell Sander Berge.” “What? Our rangy, Rolls-Royce Norwegian midfielder? But why on earth would you want to do that?” “Wish we didn’t have to, but it’s collateral damage from the Cape Town taxi strike. Very unfortunate.”
The taxi strike is due to end on Thursday morning, when the guys who have been shooting guns at people, stoning cars and burning out buses choose to risk the lives of civilians in a different way: by driving minibus taxis again.
But the effects and pseudo-effects will run on for a good while yet.
