Category: positive thoughts

Day 411 – Tripping hazard

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Lol. A little play on words there, because this post is to announce the return of StumbleUpon – which was one of the best (ok, and occasionally worst) ways to waste time on the internet. And the competition is STRONG (PointerPointer, Geoguessr, Flickr Explore, Angry Birds on Chrome, TruthFacts, QuizUp on Android etc etc.).

I know one regular reader who might be very excited by this. (If you think this is you, well, it probably is, because there aren’t many other regular readers, to be honest.)

StumbleUpon was great, but then it moved to/got taken over by Mix.com in 2018. And that site is only available via an app on Apple products at the moment. But not everyone is stupid enough to use an iPhone, and so StumbleUpon – in whatever guise or name it now exists – is unavailable to the sensible parts of the internet-using spectrum.

It’s EARLY DAYS, but now something very like it is back.

It’s not quite the same – it has a new name: Stumbled, and a new address – https://stumbled.cc/. And it’s NEW, so there are only 1801 sites listed on there so far. But with more collaboration and more posts like this, there will be more users and more sites. It’s a project by Kevin Woblick, who is “a Web Engineer and Open Source Creator from Berlin, Germany.”

Says Kevin:

Since starting with web development in 2008, I created a lot of different projects, including a bookmark manager, an invoicing software, a web archive for video game quotes and many more.

And now this.

Time will tell if it manages to get off the ground and up and running, but it’s nice to have something like StumbleUpon back on the internet – even if it isn’t quite StumbleUpon… yet.

Day 410 – A goodbye

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Friends of ours emigrated to the UK this morning. Everyone seems to be emigrating at the moment. So much so that I’m wondering if we’re going to be the only people left here soon. Almost a case of “will the last ones out please switch off the light”, although that happens fairly regularly anyway. This particular emigration was foisted upon the family in question by the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m quite sure they’d still be happily here if it weren’t for the nastiness of the last 18 months.

But I digress.

I know how hard it is to leave friends, your family and your home country behind. I had a bit of last minute assistance in that regard in that the weather on my way down to Heathrow was absolutely filthy and most anyone who had the option to leave the country for sunnier climes would likely have done so as soon as they possibly could.
Cape Town was nowhere as near as helpfully persuasive this morning.

Eina. Fancy that being your last view (for a while, at least) of your hometown.

And then having to fly to Johannesburg. And then (eventually) to London. I mean, obviously, the place has its perks and positives, but sunrises over the Simonsberg like this? Not so much.

Good luck out there. I’ll keep the photos coming in case you miss the mountains.

Day 409 – Racehorsing

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I’m not a gambling man. Except for the golf, obviously. But we went along to the horseracing yesterday, and you can’t do that without a bit of betting.

I didn’t win on many races, but when I did win, I won (relatively) big.

So, after a great afternoon with a lot of laughs and fun, I still came home with more money than I set out with.

And a smile on my face as Sheffield Wednesday got relegated.

It was a good day.

Day 403 – Don’t waste the day

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It is hot out there today. Really hot. Paula Fish would be having great time.

Big plus: I don’t need to light the fire we still don’t have.

I got out early for a reasonably brisk 5km. Back in the day, it used to be all about how fast I could get up a hill. And it will be like that again sometime soon. However, in my current condition, it’s more about whether I make it up the hill at all (I did) and whether there’s a sneaky episode of vasovagal syncope waiting for me near the top (there almost was). Who knew that there was a long tunnel at the top of Visser Avenue?
But the hills are good for training, and the view from the top was pretty special. I didn’t take a camera with me (because who does?), but I might pop up there and get a pano across the city if there’s a suitable morning soon.

Once I’d recovered, it was off to do those pesky Monday morning errands in seventeen different places across the Southern Suburbs. All went well apart from the frankly stupid decision to take Wynberg Main Road as a shortcut. Wynberg Main Road is never a shortcut, although you do get to see all sorts of interesting people along there. It’s like the Dubai Airport or the Deep Space Nine of Cape Town, but grimier and with a lot more taxis.

However, despite that minor inconvenience, everything got done and I was back in time to unpack the shopping to Charlotte de Witte’s There’s No One Left To Trust. There’s a time and a place for heavy techo, and today it was 12ish and in my kitchen.

However, that’s not all. With winter on the way (it’s just around mid-30s outside) (yes, Celcius), I’m not wasting this peach of a day.
Braai tyd vanaand because you never know when your next chance will be. It might be tomorrow, but it might not.
Looking at the forecast, it probably will be tomorrow.

Anyway, I need to sort a few more things out – lunch and a blog post (this are it) – before heading out to get the kids from school and the usual afternoon chaos ensues, so let’s chat again Tuesday, hey?

Keep safe, keep well.

Day 401 – About last night

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Last night, we went out for a meal together for the first time in ages. And what a meal.

Treated by the owners of The Black Sheep in town to an amazing, special, one-off tasting menu. 8 courses, and literally some of the best dishes that we have ever tasted. Truly incredible food, which Jonny was coming up with on the fly: finding and combining ingredients in the kitchen like some sort of grey-bearded Harry Potter.
It really was magical stuff, and a wonderful way to celebrate 16 (sixteen) years of marriage.

10/10 would recommend. I’m already planning our next trip to the City Bowl.