Not for the inevitable collapse of society (yet). More for our trip away.
So I have lots to get done today.
And very ready for the break.
Absolutely.
Prepping
Category: in the news
Vacuous
A busy day today, including (but not limited to) waking up with no electricity (and therefore no coffee), lying on a sunlounger three times and being jumped on by a beagle (also three times), taking the boy to the doctor for a Dodgeball injury, a nice family curry, a school event and a guy coming around to look at our windows.
It’s all too much.
So let me show you this from the internet. It’s from, I hasten to add, a site that I never visit: I saw this shared elsewhere. I only know one person that frequents this site, and the more I see stuff like this:
…the more I wonder why. You know who you are. We’ve discussed this. Save yourself now.
Perhaps we need an intervention.
How utterly mundane. Is this how low we have stooped as a society, that this crap passes as somehow newsworthy or entertaining? Man does thing. Or rather, in this case, Man does thing while also doing other thing. Even if both those things are very dull, I suppose that makes it ever so slightly more exciting. But for me, this just shows how completely vacuous internet culture, celebrity culture and (more especially) internet celebrity culture has become.
I’d even rather listen to Putin’s unsavoury sabre rattling.
“President threatens nuclear attacks while losing conflict”
No, actually on second thoughts, that is much worse. Never mind.
Useless Government Ministers, Part 3074
After this, I also need to share this.
There was a horrific crash involving a truck (illegally overtaking on a solid white line) and a school bus in Pongola in KZN on Friday which resulted in 21 primary school kids being killed.
In any civilised country, this would be headline news for weeks and weeks. But that’s not us.
And then yesterday, there was this, just down the road from that same site. A truck crash (on the left), followed by another truck crash (you’ll see it):
Fortunately and amazingly, it seems that no-one was killed in this incident.
But suddenly, with this incredible video going viral, our transport minister – the self-styled “Mr Fix” ? – has noticed that two things have happened involving trucks and has worked out that there must surely be a better way of moving things from one place to another:
I think we can probably assume that “tiad” is “road”, and “ill” is “I’ll”. There’s a full stop needed in there, as well.
We might mock, but this is exactly the sort of direction that a new transport minister should be taking, getting South Africa’s underfunded, underutilised, much vandalised and crumbling rail network back to doing its job.
The problem here is this: Mbalula has been transport minister for 3½ years now. He’s overseen the demise and looting of the entirety of the SA rail system on his watch with hardly a peep, but now when he sees a chance to get some cheap fame and relevance, he suddenly comes up with a poorly-written, pre-morning coffee tweet with a promise (which he may or may not keep) of delivering a plan.
The chances of any follow through on that plan are non-existent, but by that time, the fuss will have died down and there will be no (personal) consequences for his continued inaction.
We shouldn’t be surprised.
He was useless as sports minister, and he was useless as police minister as well…
“I’ll take ‘Things that didn’t happen’ for 200 please, Alex.”
…so I’m not quite sure what we were expecting.
Anyway. Don’t be fooled by his 15 word statement on his amazing idea and faithful promise this morning.
Nothing – aside from more deaths because of trucks on the road – will happen. Again.
(Please also note that we will see images and footage of numerous truck crashes over the next week or so. It’s not a new thing. These were always happening, it’s just that the media will decide to take note of each and every one of them for a little while before normal service resumes and they keep happening, but no-one cares.)
More on that thing
The that thing in question being loadshedding. Rolling blackouts. Power cuts. And I’m sorry to go on about it because I know that it’s really not a thing that South African residents need to hear any more about, and it’s probably not a thing thing that is of huge interest to those overseas.
Yet.
But it is completely dominating our lives at the moment, and it occurred to me, as my inner voice breathed a huge sigh of relief that our planned 12 hours of electrical darkness was reduced to “just” 8 yesterday, that I’m clearly suffering from some kind of Stockholm Syndrome. I think that it’s important not to do that. In a semi developed country such as SA, we shouldn’t have to accept 8 hours of no power every day and just be able to turn the other cheek, smile and say “Well, at least it wasn’t 12!”.
We shouldn’t be normalising loadshedding. We should be angry about it.
The courier guy who just came to our door (alerting me to his presence at the gate by a whistle, because the doorbell isn’t working, because we have no electricity, because of loadshedding), was certainly angry:
No, man. I’m so moeg of it. And then your electrical items like your fridge and your TV get fucked up because of it.
There’s nothing quite like an expletive in a Cape Coloured accent to really drive the message home.
That said, there needs to be some balance and understanding as well (whatever your accent). Because the constant anger and stress will do our collective health no good whatsoever, and it won’t make a jot of difference to the situation.
THERE IS NO QUICK FIX. We’ve missed our opportunity to to do that over the last 14+ years.
Meanwhile, our government is doing very little to remedy the problems – some are even exacerbating them – although there was this absolute gem from serial disaster merchant and wannabe ANC leader, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma:
Well, no shit, Sherlock. Thanks for that valuable insight, just 14 years in the making.
What a woman, trying desperately hard to be relevant ahead of the December ANC conference.
So much soundbite. So little action.
Still, even given all the nonsense I have described, those individuals who go out of their way to USE MORE electricity (when they have it), just because Eskom told them not to and they don’t like Eskom, are equal parts irritating and amusing. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. To be honest, I’m sure it’s mainly internet bluster and bravado: surely no-one could actually be that stupid, right?
Love it or hate it [Really?!? -Ed.], we’re unavoidably stuck with loadshedding for the foreseeable future and beyond.
And as is clear from the several hundred words above, my advice is to just get used to it, but also very much, don’t let yourself just get used to it.
I hope that helps.
Words
These ones from the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Queen’s Funeral earlier today:
People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer.
But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are long forgotten.
Indeed.
It was a wonderful sermon.
I just wonder if anyone to whom his words were directed, was listening.