Category: annoying people

Day 394 – Bending the rules

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Remember this?

Upon which I wrote this:

I’m not saying that there is any danger or risk in how those people are gathered on the lagoon on the left. But instead of choosing to understand that there was a reason that they weren’t allowed to gather on the beach on the right, they simply chose to just gather somewhere else close by.

In this case, it’s not the virus being “clever”, it’s the people being obtuse.

Well, this weekend, school rugby is back. And with it are the entitled Karens and Gavins of the Southern Suburbs Private School Set. Because while school rugby is back, spectators of school rugby aren’t allowed. For this reason, our local school – hosting matches today – closed its entire campus for the day, so that the rugby was played behind closed doors… er… gates. Karen and Gavin didn’t like that idea of no spectating though, so they just stood directly outside the fence and watched from there instead.

Genius.

Now, I’m not saying that I agree or disagree with the rules and regulations. Nor am I suggesting that these people are breaking any law. But given that there has been no school sport for over a year now and students and parents alike have been telling us all how much they have missed it, surely some degree of caution to help prevent another lengthy lay-off would be common sense? And while it would be wrong to say that there wasn’t a mask in sight, there were very few, and they were notably absent on the more bellowy, steroid-fuelled pumped-up fathers.

But, much like the beach and the lagoon above, it’s not the virus that’s “clever” enough to know on which side of the fence these parents are standing, rather it’s those parents not thinking (or more likely simply not caring) about the implications. Or maybe just thinking that the rules are for someone else, because yes, these were mainly Karens* and Gavins from Bishops School and generally, they are of the opinion (and theirs is the only opinion that matters) that rules and regulations don’t apply to them.

You know the sort.

With our R numbers steadily rising over the last two weeks, with school holidays and colder, damper weather just around the corner, with no vaccination programme even starting for another 3 weeks – and with this sort of behaviour ever more rife – it could be a fairly miserable winter for SA.

* I promise that there were several Karens in there, despite what the photo might suggest.

Day 392 – More great customer service /s

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Where /s = sarcasm. (For the uninitiated.)

Ah. South African customer service. It’s crap.

Our last major project for the moment is getting a fireplace put into the new house. We had a fireplace at our old house and it was one of the Best Things Ever. The beagle liked lying in front of it. And winter is coming, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the old, rattly windows on this place will stop the cold North Wester with the same efficacy as a colander. It’s a no brainer.

The fireplace is being installed today.

But obviously, it’s not. Did you not read the title and the first line?

I’d set aside time for the fireplace to be installed today and Mrs 6000 was staying home from the office to make sure that everyone was happy with where the fireplace was going to stand, because it weighs 135kg and once you’ve put it down and popped the flue through the roof, it ain’t moving. Ever.

I emailed the sales guy earlier in the week to check what time they were coming today. He didn’t reply. This should have been a bit of a red flag, because look, he always got back to me pretty quickly when he wanted me to buy the fireplace. But now that he has my hefty deposit, it seems that simple manners and common decency have left the building and eloped to the Free State (or somewhere equally distant).

So it’s me doing the chasing but he still won’t take my calls. Eventually, his PA has to do the dirty work, informing me without any hint of an apology that our unit wasn’t in the first container that they unloaded. First off, that really doesn’t make everything alright. But on the plus side, it does suggest the existence of a second container that might have been unloaded.
So, ok: there’s still hope. And… was it in the second container?
They don’t know.
And they don’t know because the second container is still on a boat and won’t even be in Cape Town for another 2½ weeks.

Good job I checked, hey?

Thing is, I could have got this job done by someone else and we could have a fireplace this morning. But we put our faith in this particular company because they’re local, they’re established and well-known and, well, you don’t survive for that long by being rubbish at doing literally the only thing that you do, right?

Right?

So we have to wait another three weeks for our fireplace, which isn’t the end of the world, but there are couple of things that have irked me. The guy not having the decency or the courage to call me is one of them. That’s so weak. Remember the mantra?

Mistakes happen. It’s how you deal with them that makes the difference.

This mistake was not dealt with at all, let alone well.

The other is more practical. I paid the 70% deposit (it’s a serious sum of money) safe in the knowledge that my fire would be installed 9 days later. Hasn’t happened. And so instead of sitting in my account, that deposit gets another 3 weeks earning interest* for his company, even though they’ve done bugger all. And sure, if they’d come and installed the fireplace today, then that 70% – and the other 30% – would be obviously be doing the same thing. I’m not expecting never to pay them any money.

BUT I WOULD HAVE A FIREPLACE!

So now we wait. And wait. And wait. And we sit on our hands and we smile sweetly. Because we’re stuck with them and you don’t crap on your own doorstep.
But there will be another check in a couple of weeks time, just to remind them. And there will be an appropriate review and a terse email once the unit is in. Because no matter how perfectly they do the job when they do the job, no matter how nice the specialist installation guys are and no matter how good it looks, they can’t earn my 5 stars or my respect back.

Don’t buy a fireplace in Cape Town without talking to me first. I can’t tell you where to go, but I can tell you where to avoid.

* Significant sum of money in a savings account with SA interest rates – it makes a difference.

Day 390, part 2 – It was water what did it

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It seems that this morning, the Cape Town fire has been finally brought under control, although mopping up might take as much as another week.

And, in a real shock revelation, despite the many (many, many) prayers for rain, it didn’t.

Didn’t happen.

Super helpful. Next time, do something worthwhile and donate energy drinks and eye drops to the firefighters.

This guy wasn’t even praying. he was asking others to do it for him. Shocking.

The unaffected parts were indeed spared. That’s what unaffected means.
However, in contrast, the affected parts were roundy fucked.

Great choice of image. Thanks for the thoughts to the sky fairies. It didn’t rain. At all.

No, it turns out that it was the helicopters with the big buckets full of water underneath that was what finally got the fire under control. That and the firefighters working tirelessly all night with hoses and beaters.

Not the rain. That never turned up. God wasn’t interested.

Day 380 – Phil stuff

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Just some thoughts about the last 24 hours. Not drum to bang, no product to sell, just a few things I have noticed and that I’m going to write down now. You can learn a lot about people by watching their public reactions to this sort of news.

I recognise that not everyone likes a royal family, and I recognise that Prince Philip may sometimes have been a divisive figure, but some of the comments on social media – particularly those making it all about the individual posting – are both appalling and superb.

It’s true that this is a bit of a new thing for the BBC. No-one as nationally important (I’m talking about his standing in his traditional and ceremonial role, not what you think his rank in society should be) has died since 1952. Things have moved on since then. A lot.

“Timings not great for this”? Yeah. How irritating of him to die now. I’ll have words. Not to worry though, we’ll be sure to get the next public figure to pop their clogs at a suitable time for you, Cazza. Do you have anything free in October next year, for example? “Unbelievable really” actually does sum it up nicely. But your comment rather than his poorly timed demise.

And then this: There are hundreds of thousands of hours of BBC content on radio, TV and the internet every single year. But literally a couple of hours of news about the Duke of Edinburgh dying and John’s wondering where his money is going, the tight-fisted sod.

Other radio stations and streaming services are readily available, and I’m sure that John knows that, but just quietly switching over doesn’t get him the attention he requires. We need to be told about it. He is quite clearly nuts.

Still, could be nuts-er. Hello, Lisa Beaumont.

Nail on the proverbial. This is exactly what it’s like in North Korea. You moaning on social media (despite the fact that speech is forbidden) from PyongYang just like all North Koreans are always doing. Mark Radcliffe playing Aqualung, Zero 7 and Sigur Ros over the airwaves whilst the much beloved leader of the country oversees mass military demonstrations of thousands of conscripted soldiers all marching in perfect unison. Public executions of dissidents. Half the population starving, the other half in concentration camps. Regular botched nuclear missile tests.

“wElCoMe tO nOrTh KoReA.”

YES, IT’S CLEARLY EXACTLY THE SAME, LISA. WELL SPOTTED. Fkn muppet.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. There are some really amusing memories of Prince Philip as well. He seems to have been a fairly jovial character a lot of the time. See this from Private Eye:

Look, I need to get the braai lit, so I’m going to leave this whole thing with one final thought, which has been the one dominating my mind since I heard this news.

Photo story (it’s not the one you keep reading).

They were married for over 73 years. That’s absolutely incredible. I’m approaching n years old and my Dad was only a toddler when they tied the knot. The Queen has reigned for almost 70 years and he was by her side every single day of that. I fully realise that theirs is not a normal life by any stretch of the imagination, but to lose someone who has been your partner for that long must be impossible to bear.

I think a lot of people – especially those rushing to whine or fling insults around on social media – forget that there’s a human side to this as well. They’d do well to take a step back and think again.