Category: learning curve

Mostly Habanero

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The recipe for my homemade chilli sauce is not hugely complicated. Chillies, a bit of olive oil, a splash of vinegar and a few coriander leaves. Blitz it in the food processor. Stick it in a jar.

But I’ve run out of my homemade chilli sauce. The jar is empty.

So when I was passing the chilli section in Woolies this morning I grabbed a couple of bags of their mixed chillies, so that I could make some more.

It doesn’t really matter what chillies I put in my homemade chilli sauce, and a bit of everything is the best way forward, so the mixed chilli packs are great. Some African Birdseye, a few Jalapenos, perhaps some Serrano, and then maybe the odd Habanero. It’s worked flawlessly for years now.

It was only when I got home and turned over the packets, thus allowing me to see the actual goods instead of the label, that I realised that the mixed chilli bags contained mostly Habanero. In fact, one of the bags was almost exclusively Habanero.

It’s on me. I’m not blaming anyone else. I was in a bit of a hurry and I ignored the basic principle of due diligence. And now I have to face the consequences of my actions.

Because this batch is going to be a little hotter than my recent efforts. But that’s not going to be a problem as long as I remember each time I use it.

Although, I think that I will always remember, if I don’t remember just once.

If you see what I mean.

The short of it

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Short stuff news: Today is the shortest day of the year here in the Southern Hemisphere. It also marks the Astronomical beginning of winter. Meteorologists have been here for three weeks already – please do try to keep up!).

Anyway, Cape Town will manage with just 9h53m31s of daylight today, but wow – all of that has been wall-to-wall sunshine. It’s been a stunner.

Let’s fill you in with some facts to impress your family and friends, and to annoy your enemies:

Sunrise was 7:51am this morning; sunset will be at 5:44pm this evening.

And tomorrow’s daylight will be whole 2 seconds longer than today’s.
That’s because of the sunset moving later, because the sunrise also moves later until the beginning of July. This is because the way we humans measure time and the way that the sun measures time are ever so slightly different. But because the sunset moves later faster than the sunrise moves later (still with me here?), the days do get longer.

You can see that pattern in the distance of the sun away from our little corner of Africa, as well. It reaches its furthest distance away on the 3rd July, at 152,088,000km away.

The sun was closest to Cape Town on 4th January at “just” 147,104,000km away. That means that the light from our big yellow ball takes 18 seconds more to reach us in winter than in summer.

And, to complete the comparisons, on the longest day of the year (that’s Dec 21st here):

Sunrise will be at 5:31am in the morning – 2 hours and 20 minutes earlier than today; sunset will be at 7:57pm in the evening – 2 hours and 13 minutes later than today.
That will mean 14h25m06s of daylight: fully 4h31m35s more than today.

We do have A LOT of winter to get through before those halcyon summer days (starting with Wednesday, which looks horrific), but the long journey back starts tomorrow!


Locals and Tourists

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I’m a bit of both this week, and that’s my rather tenuous link to this project which compares the location of images shared on social media by… well… locals and tourists.

The blue dots represent local people’s images and the red dots are pictures taken by tourists.

Here – for example – is Oxford:

Down at half past six is Abingdon and up at 11o’clock is Blenheim Palace. Off to to west is Witney, but no-one really goes there. It’s no surprise (especially if you’re familiar with Oxford) that all the tourist stuff is happening up the High Street and down Broad Street:

Pretty University buildings, innit? That sidearm heading off to east is the road out to Headington, with a nice bit of red around Oxford Brookes.

Oxford is a good example of how divided a city can be, both in real life and on these maps. London is bright red around Westminster, the West End, the river and its bridges.

But perhaps unsurprisingly, no-one goes to Croydon.

It’s worth looking through any cities you know. It’s amazing how many bridges are key tourist spots: see London above, Budapest and San Francisco, for examples.

My only gripe with this project is that it only makes it into Africa as for as the Pyramids, while places like Minsk still get a map. And no-one’s being Belarus-hing there lately.

I would love to see Cape Town’s version.

Sunday watch idea

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It’s Sunday and you might have nothing on.

Like plans for the day, I mean.
Although… each to their own.

Here’s a half hour watch from the Matt Gray Is Trying series on Youtube, in which Matt Gray tries being on a Mountain Rescue team.

This fits in well with this post from a couple of weeks ago and demonstrates – again – just how essential, how well-organised and how poorly funded these organisations are.

Nice easy watch, loads of information, some decent humour, and an interesting end…

Another Home Affairs disaster

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Hugely busy day today. Literally one thing after another, and then some other things interspersed within those things.

Hectic, bru.

One of the things I really did have to get done was a visit to the Home Affairs Department, and as anyone in SA will tell you, that can take a whole day in itself.

Thankfully though, as I arrived, I was surprised to see that the place was just about empty, and I got my hopes up. This could be good!

And then I realised that I’d brought a horse with me.

Damn.

Rookie error. I’d left my cutlery. gun, cigarettes, camera, flip phone and wine at home…

…but I had brought a horse with me.

And you can hide a phone or some fags. A horse, though..? Not so much.

Even as I approached the desk, I could see the clerk looking over my shoulder at the horse. He shook his head (the clerk, not the horse), and I knew that this was going to be the end of my Home Affairs visit for the day.

Game over.

Look. it’s fair enough. I shouldn’t have brought a horse along. The signs do make it very clear that they’re not allowed.

Looks like I’ll be heading back there tomorrow.

Without a horse, obviously.