Category: annoying people

An odd morning

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Woke up to news of Stage 6 (six) loadshedding and the sound of a spotter plane and fire helicopters overhead.

This isn’t good.

The Stage 6 loadshedding is “retribution from the Government for the VAT increase not going through in the Budget speech”, according to some online pundits. But this seems a little silly to me. The Budget speech was postponed four days ago. Why wait until 1am on a Sunday morning if you are a vindictive ruling party wanting to make a point? Who – apart from the most weird of tinfoil hat wearers (see above) – is going to put those two and two together to make four? Far more likely is that the power grid – held together with vinegar and brown paper borrowed from Jack of the famous nursery rhyme – fell over when someone forgot to tie the string properly.

Others online suggested that the loadshedding was somehow the City of Cape Town’s fault, arguing that “Cape Independence can’t come soon enough”, while conveniently forgetting that a massive 0.26% of the 58.64% of voters who turned out, actually supported that idea in last year’s election.

Either way, any way, whatever: it’s a shlep being without power for 12 hours a day. Again.

The fire is on Table Mountain, probably about 4km from our place, but it’s heading up and away from us at the moment. “African prayer groups” was the wildest conspiracy theory I saw for this one, but why not “retribution from the Government for the VAT increase not going through in the Budget speech”? Cyril’s place is literally 1km from where it mysteriously started in the early hours of the morning.

Either way, it’s far from sorted yet, and the spotter plane is still circling overhead, endlessly spotting.

The best way to get around these problems is to try and ignore the drone of the plane and the lack of electricity, and go to the gym. And so that’s what I did. And it was as I left the gym that I thought I saw the silhouette of a woodpecker in a tree in the back garden.

As you do.

But no, woodpeckers do have a rather distinctive shape. So I wandered closer to investigate and yes:

The old bird proof/ID photography policy thing worked well here. Get any photo first, no matter how bad, and then try to work from there. That’s what this is: the first bit. I gave up on the work from there bit, as I was knackered from the gym.

And that’s a female Olive Woodpecker (Dendropicos grisocephalus). Not uncommon, apparently, but a first for me, and certainly a first for me in our garden. The male was there too, but he didn’t hang around for a hastily taken photo like his missus. She was also gone pretty soon afterwards (probably as retribution from the Government for the VAT increase not going through in the Budget speech), but a nice spot and one to watch out for again.

I’m looking forward to an afternoon of napping and football watching, now that the odd morning is done.

Was I wrong about Twitter?

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Sort of. Maybe.

Two and bit years ago, I suggested that Twitter was on its way out.

So, is this the end for Twitter? To be honest, I’d been using it less and less over the past few years. But I’ll still miss it.
Maybe it’s for the best, given the direction it was clearly about to take. Of course, Musk doesn’t think so, but the replies to his tweet are exactly the reason that I’ll miss Twitter so much when it chooses (or I choose) to give up completely.

The fact is – as I actually hinted in that post – Twitter was only dying for some of us. If you happen to be a right-wing, anti-vax, Oompa Loompa fan, then Twitter is still very much the go-to destination to meet up with like-minded people. But for everyone else, despite its obvious uses, it’s becoming more and more untenable to keep using the site.

There are still many, many interesting, erudite, important, humorous and entertaining people on the app, and still plenty of useful information, from valid local and international sources, and it’s sad that those informal bonds and communities seem likely to die the death now.

The latest to leave – that I’m aware of, anyway: I’m sure that there are thousands of others – is The Stranglers, who posted this, this week:

Of course, the news that some “aging rockers” are leaving the app won’t break Elong Muskrat’s bank – especially with all the extra subsidies he’s now dragging in via his orange buddy – but they are the latest in a long line of people moving on, just like I did.

Surely then, there will come a tipping point, where the only people left on there will be rabid Nazis. We’re not too far away from that now, with them all happily and unironically paying $8 a month to the richest guy on the planet in return for “free speech” and protection from the consequences of their words.

But the further down the Trump route that he goes, the more Nazi salutes he gives, the greater his nasty wankery becomes, surely there will be a point at which there will be a mass exodus of the mainstream companies, personalities and sports teams from Twitter, because of his ownership.

We just really need a few brave (big) people to stick their heads up above the parapet and it could be so lovely watching the platform flounder.

I do think it’s coming.

The end is naai

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Always wanted to use that phrase (which will mean a lot more to local readers than to anyone elsewhere). But yes, its death knell is sounding, it has one foot in the grave, it is moribund and it is clearly no longer pining for the fjords.

What is it?

Padel. Padel is what it is.

About two years ago, some sage bloke wrote a rather witty and perhaps not ever so kind piece about the this sport, which ended with the lines:

Thankfully, it won’t be around for long.
Please remember to recycle your bat on the way out.

And golly gosh, it seems like he was right. The time has come and the fad has passed.

The Daily Maverick told us last week of the upcoming complete over-saturation of the padel market and the inevitable crash that will… er… inevitably follow. Because there are lessons to be learned from those who came before SA:

Trends come and go, and a look at international markets may hold some clues for eager padel investors. In Sweden, which was once a padel pioneer, the market is now struggling with oversaturation. As a result, Swedish giant We Are Padel is applying for corporate restructuring and may have to close half of its 80 venues.

South Africa is following exactly the same trajectory as Sweden did, and look what’s happening here now:

Although the early adopters of padel were cashing in, paying off their courts within a year thanks to their 70% occupancy rates, things have shifted. Most South African padel courts now operate at just 30% to 50% occupancy, according to Roger Barrow, general manager of the Padel Building Company.

And with fewer people playing – and therefore paying – and even more courts appearing:

Virgin Active Padel Club, already home to 65 courts, plans to push that number to nearly 100 by mid-2025

it’s surely only a matter of time before the bottom drops out of the market.

Oh no.

Hey, and to add to those woes, there’s the sudden appearance of Pickleball.

Looks like you came to the wrong neighbourhood, motherfunster.

Pickleball is another sport that shit tennis players can try to play to help them forget just how bad they are at tennis.
But I won’t be joining them because (contrary to popular belief) I’m not an septuagenarian living in a Florida retirement complex.

Yet.

Anyway, Pickleball is seen as “a market disruptor” (for translation, see this post), and probably the only thing that will keep local Padel players from defecting is the fact that Pickleball is crazily accessible to many more of the economic demographics, unlike the rather elite and aloof Padel, which for starters, has to be played in a huge aquarium.

Either way, though. It’s clear that the end is indeed naai, Padel naaiers.

Hate to say I told you so.

Why should we bother?

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Technology is the key to our advancement as a species.

We invent things using technology.
We improve them using technology.
We simplify processes using technology.
We overcome society’s problems using technology.

There’s a lot of work, a lot of brains and a lot of money that goes into developing these technologies so that they can benefit humankind.

And yet, sometimes all of that seems so very unappreciated.

And it does seem that parents are particularly unappreciative of the things that could literally save their child’s life.

Like the mother driving her squabbling kids home from school yesterday: both of them 8 or 9 years old and climbing around the footwell and passenger seat of her car – not a seatbelt in sight.

To the parents in Gaines County in Texas,

It seems that in this case, religious beliefs may have been a strong reason behind many of the (now 24) cases: all of whom *shock* are unvaccinated. Gaines Country has a high population of Mennonites, and all of the cases in Gaines can be linked to Mennonite schools. Traditionally, Mennonites reject “modern” technology (which would likely include vaccinations), which is all well and good until it backfires and a wholly preventable measles outbreak maims or kills their children.

According to this from MennoniteUSA.org:

Mennonites believe in simple living but express that simplicity in a spirit of stewardship and awareness of the needs of others rather than completely separating from society

But if I was the parent of a baby in Texas right now (the first MMR vaccination is at 12-15 months), I would be very worried. I certainly wouldn’t be thinking very kindly about the Mennonites and their alleged “spirit of stewardship and awareness of the needs of others” BS.

Look, religious or not, as parents we deserve to give our kids the best chance in life. And that should start with the right to health and life. Willfully ignoring or rejecting the proven technologies that we have developed to keep our children safe and well is tantamount to child abuse. As one commenter points out:

It’s difficult to have sympathy for an adult who refuses a vaccine and then gets the disease.
The children didn’t have a choice.

Yep. The children deserve better.
And everything they need is right there. It’s readily available.

They’re just not being used.

And that does raise the question: Why should we bother?

Wankernomics

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I’m not a corporate person. I know a lot of people who are corporate persons, but I am not one of them.
Really, if being a corporate person is the goal in life – and many corporate persons do seem to think that it genuinely is – then I have failed.

But I’m happy to have failed.

To be fair, a lot (but certainly not all) of the corporate persons that I know, don’t tend to throw around corporate speak. Or if they do, then (I hope, at least) it is tongue-in-cheek: poking fun at those office characters who can’t help but “circle back”, “touch base” or “unpack” something rather than just use normal words like “repeat”, “meet” or “explain”.

And it’s precisely because I will never use this corporate lingo, that I will never be a corporate success.

Oh well.

Step forward comedy duo Wankernomics: James and Charles.

James is the Chief Disruptor and Strategy Optimisation Evangelist, brand builder and thought leadership Ninja. Charles is Customer Engagement Jedi; passionate about creating bespoke consulting solutions and growth strategies for clients across all sectors.

Of course he is. Of course they are.

And their stuff – which I spotted on Instagram – is so good!

I actually use this one in this way in my life, which is why I laughed at it.

“Waterboard them!” still means the same thing though, right?

Brilliant footnote usage.

There’s so much on there – including some great videos – and on their website, their shop (the tote bag!!!!), and news about their tour.

Navigate through their digital platforms to optimise your online experience and leverage the full spectrum of available content.

Erm, I mean… Go and enjoy!