Category: learning curve

Angry birds

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A clickbait-laden headline led me to a paywalled article from the M&G this morning:

More like… budgie constraints, amirite?

But hard luck, M&G, because I got all the information I required from your first (free) paragraph. Ha!

We know that there is no money available to help control or eradicate these pests, because
a) there’s no money available for anything, and
b) the entire department budget went on “don’t do this” signs in Struisbaai.

On the actual birds, we don’t see much of any of them in Cape Town (yet). Allegedly, there are Indian House Crow colonies here, but they are nowhere near as widespread as in Durban and KZN. There are more mallards in Bakewell than in Kaapstad, and the Mynas and Parakeets haven’t really got this far either.

It’s a bit concerning to see the parakeets described as “popular” above. Sure, they’re nice to look at, but they are still nasty invasives, destroying the habitats of our indigenous wildlife. This is the same thing that squirrels do, and it’s why I will happily take a catapult to any I see around our garden.

These parakeets are a problem worldwide. But who is responsible?

Paging Ian Betteridge.

That said, while these may all be terrible invasive avian species to have around, they’re still not annoying as some of our homegrown birds: the Egyptian Goose (not really from Egypt, not really a goose) and the F*****g Guineafowl being the worst birds ever to exist.

I’m less willing to take a catty to either of these two, because sadly, they do actually belong here, but I will (and have) happily taken the drone out of an evening to dislodge them from a prospective roosting spot within earshot of my bedroom.

Cape Town Loadshedding Schedules For Christmas Day & New Year’s Eve 2022

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I know that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but for those who do, it can be a big thing. And since eating is one of the main pastimes of the day, and loadshedding will almost certainly the unwelcome guest at your party, I thought that it might be useful to look at when you can expect to not have electricity to cook, light or do anything else with.

Of course, we don’t know how bad the blackouts will be on Christmas Day: demand should be fairly low in the greater scheme of things, so hopefully, there won’t be too much of an issue, but here is what you will be looking at in Cape Town for Stages 2, 4 and 6 on Christmas Day:

CHRISTMAS DAY 2022: 6000.co.za

Those numbers represent the different loadshedding zones in the city, because this is taken from the City of Cape Town schedules, and they’ve been glued together using t e c h n o l o g y so that you can see what to expect and when to expect it.

As an example, if you’re in Zone 5 [waves] then you can expect to be cut at 0400 and 2000 in Stage 2, 0400, 1200 & 2000 in Stage 4, and 0200, 0400, 1200 & 2000 in Stage 6.

Zone 5 will not escape the dreaded 2000 slot.

And, because it’s another big day in the calendar, here’s the same table for New Year’s Eve, 31st December:

NEW YEAR’S EVE 2022: 6000.co.za

Looks like at least Obs and Camps Bay are going to be bringing in the New Year in darkness. Sorry for you guys. At least you can party through the night once the lights come back on.

Assuming they come back on.

T&Cs: All information taken from City of Cape Town website, linked above. Different stages of loadshedding may occur. No guarantee is made that this information is correct, although it is correct, but that still isn’t a guarantee. Please drink responsibly. Is fokkol is festive. Have a wonderful holiday.

Not a nerd. Well, not that much of a nerd.

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Yeah. Halfway through the title, I realised that my opening line was going to be “Yes, I play Geoguessr…”, and that is quite a nerdy thing to do. So I had to add the second bit.
To be fair, I was going to follow it up with a “but”, but actually, it’s still quite a nerdy thing to do.

Not that I have a problem with that.

Nor do I have a problem with what follows, but it does rather put my nerdiness in perspective.

You see, I might be nerdy, but there are levels to nerdiness. In this case, there’s playing the game, there’s knowing some of the vagaries and giveaways for identifying which country you are in, there’s being aware that the roadside bollards might be one of those vagaries (you’ll find me here); then there’s identifying each design of each roadside bollard and assigning them a country, and finally(?) there’s knocking up vector images of each of the most common bollards for each country, making a 14-page long document and sharing it on Reddit.

No matter how much I play, and no matter how much I want to learn and win, I think it’s unlikely that I will ever take it to that level.

Although you never say never.

Hard at it

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I’ve spent a good length of time in the gym this morning, working off some of the many excesses of a very enjoyable final MBCC meet of the year. No December meal because let’s face it, we’re all going to be in Struisbaai by that time.

Well, most of us.

This morning was a session of weights, kettlebells, stepping, spinning and sprinting. All the major bases covered then, and I’m still feeling remarkably fresh after it all. And it was required after appearances from Jack Black (and almost his mate Jack Daniels), Rupert and Rothschild, a superb ribeye steak, and goodnight prayers courtesy of Don Pedro.

What’s this? Oh, just the border post between Paraguay and Bolivia on the Ruta Nacionale 11. It looks like a rather uninspiring place. But it also looks like a place that exists.

“But, but” I hear you ejaculating, “If Paraguay has a border with Bolivia, then surely Bolivia has a border with Paraguay, no?”

Strange you should ask. Literally weird.
Yes, of course it does. 466 miles (750km) of it:

If you had better eyesight, you’d be able to see the tiny conurbation that is Mayor Infante Rivarola towards the horizon. One meteorological station, and – somewhat implausibly – it’s own aeródromo. But your eyesight isn’t that good. So you’ll just have to take my – and Google Maps – word for it.

That’ll be R2000, please.

It’s not always been so dull and quiet there though:

A border dispute between Paraguay and Bolivia existed for 74 years. The dispute, which began with the Chaco War (1932-1935), is believed to be related to a large oil reserve that both countries wanted to control. Paraguay eventually won control of approximately 66% of the entire region (about 22,000 square miles of land). The war, supported by two opposing oil companies, is remembered as the deadliest encounter of the twentieth century in South America. Over 70 years passed before any petroleum was located, and the discovery occurred in an area that was declared as part of Bolivia after the war.

I – as I think we all were – was well aware of the border between these two countries, but knew less about the war. It wasn’t nice. (Wars aren’t, generally.)

Humph. Typical Czechoslovakia sticking their noses in where they had no business. Will they ever learn?

Apparently, some of their veterans from World War I advised the Bolivians and helped supply them with weapons. They replaced a German general, Hans Kundt. No comment.
Anyway, it didn’t end well for any of them, as you can see above.

Fortunately, Bolivia and Paraguay (neighbouring countries which share a border) now exist in peaceful harmony.

Made up quote

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I spotted on Twitter (yes, it’s still there), and Pocketed it, but after some investigations, this sadly appears to be an incorrect attribution. That is, if it’s an attribution at all.

Obviously, this tweet was hugely popular. 18,000+ retweets, 82,000 likes. Because it describes modern life so perfectly, and yet this was happening 4,000 years ago. It’s telling us that IT’S NOT OUR FAULT THAT THINGS ARE FALLING APART.

But it’s not true. Neither the attribution, nor the blamelessness.

To be fair to Ryan, it’s left to us to assume that he is linking the quote and the image. And it’s a reasonable assumption to make, but he doesn’t actually tell us that’s what the tablet in the picture says.

In fact, the tablet in the picture is more of a accounting book and shopping list, according to the New York Metropolitan Museum:

This tablet is of a type used by the Assyrian merchants to track the income and expenses generated by caravan shipments. The cuneiform text, read from left to right, records not only the amount of silver invested in tin and textiles, but also the less commonly traded precious stone lapis lazuli, which was sourced from Afghanistan. In addition to investments in trade items, these shipments required various expenditures like clothing and wages for guides, as well as donkeys and their equipment and fodder.

What you see in the image above is the Old Assyrian version of Excel. (But it probably crashed less and was easier to use.) What it isn’t (apparently, at least) is some sort of Get Out Of Jail Free card for modern humanity over the mess that society has become. You are not absolved.