Author: 6000

Writing in advance

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We’re about three weeks from heading off to Northern climes, and so my thoughts are turning towards pre-writing posts for our time away, so that if I don’t have time or inclination (or I’m not able) to blog while I’m away, then there’s still something for you to read on 6000 miles… each day.

And if I do get a post done on any given day while I’m away, well, then you get double the disappointment excitement.

Basically, that means writing a couple of posts each day until we leave, publishing one and scheduling the other. I’m usually pretty good at doing that, but I do always have to add the proviso that because these posts are written in advance, and this is a blog at the cutting edge of current affairs, then the subject matter that they cover might have somehow changed: Putin might have dropped the nuclear bomb, Sheffield United might have signed Haaland, Eskom might have sorted the loadshedding problem once and for all.

Sadly, those are most likely in order of probability.

Anyway, on a happier note, if I don’t mess up by writing about something that then immediately becomes dated, you probably won’t even notice the difference each time you access your favourite daily blog.

Or this one.

Artistic QR codes

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From here.

You can’t go far these days without seeing a QR code for something: a restaurant menu, a website link, an entry form for something or other. But a lot of them are a bit… robotic and dull.

These ones aren’t boring. These ones are amazing.

AND THEY WORK! (Scan them with your phone if you don’t believe me.)

Mind. Blown.

Obviously, these were designed by AI, because everything is designed by AI these days, but still: absolutely incredible. An amazing twist on an old technology*.

* not that old, I know

Dam good news

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Cape Town’s dam levels, so often the cause of local panic, have finally risen above the percentages from this time last year. And while last year wasn’t anything to write home about water level-wise, you have to start somewhere, and being almost 41 billion litres ahead of last June is a good place to begin.

Stat attack:
That weekly change of 5.7% represents an incredible increase of 51,200 Ml.
An average of more than 7 billion litres or 2800 Olympic sized swimming pools gained each day.

And with another two cold fronts quite literally just over the horizon, we could even be looking at exceeding the levels from this time in 2021, which would put us in the incredible position of having the highest June dam levels since 2014, when all that nastiness began.

Of course, much like electricity, the best time to save water is when you have water to save, so although a nice long hot shower might be just what you need right now, maybe think of the parched, dry summertime some way ahead, and just limit yourself to a couple of minutes for the greater good.

Or better still, just stand outside for 30 seconds on Wednesday evening. Your call.

Next wave

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I woke up this morning with a nasty headache. No, I hadn’t been drinking, but thanks for your attempted victim-blaming. Probably just a bit sinussy, but this was a bad one, so I drugged myself up and hid in bed for another hour. Once I was up and about, and less sore, I decided (using my basic knowledge of biochemistry) that a gym workout might get rid of the congestion, noradrenaline production and all that…

And it did. Mostly.

I would have gone on a run, but… well…

And while I’m not scared of a bit of cold, it’s actually just a really unpleasant day outside and so I decided that I’d much rather stay in and play with my kettlebells.

Careful now.

Feeling better for it, though.

The next wave – in the form of that blue and green cold front – has now reached us and unleashed a few early torrential downpours, demonstrating its power and unrestrained wet rage. 1.5mm precipitation be damned: it dropped 5mm in less than 10 minutes. That’s taken us up to 64mm so far in the last 7 days and we’ve still more to come again this evening and then a big one to look forward to (careful now, again) on Wednesday.

And early forecasts suggest that could give us another 50mm before lunchtime on Thursday.

Wrap up warmly. And take an umbrella.

Lazy Saturday

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Bit of a lazy one today, as the Cape Town weather alternates between bright sunshine and torrential showers. After a wild night last night, with winds gusting to near 100kph, I’ve been removing most of the neighbourhood from our pool. And – happily – even after 30mm+ of rain, my waterproofing efforts seem to be working at the moment.

And – notably – there was this:

I’m not quite sure that South Africans will know what to do with no loadshedding. But I doubt that we’ll have very long to think about it before normal service resumes.

EDIT: 18 minutes after I wrote this post:

For me: a nice fast run in the cool, fresh air this morning, and then a variety of different televisual sports: The Derby (won a bit on that), some motorbikes, some rugby, a touch of cricket, and soon, the FA Cup final.

Top off the evening with some La Liga and that potjie:

…and it will have been a lazy, but enjoyable Saturday.