Category: this is south africa

Pick n Pay Happy Hour

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Once you’ve read this post, please share it so that everyone can benefit.

Pick n Pay Happy Hour??!!??

I thought that it was a bit of a gimmick, but there were a lot of signs in the local supermarket, so I updated my app, allowed notifications, and…

…then I forgot all about it.

But this morning: PING!

Happy Hour between 2pm and 3pm this afternoon. Get R250 off when you spend more than R500.

Seriously?

Well, there are two parts to this. Firstly, I needed some stuff from Pick n Pay anyway, and secondly, who turns down the chance of R250 off in this sort of economic climate? Or indeed in any economic climate?

The timing of the Happy Hour wasn’t ideal, but it was certainly doable, and so I thought I’d give it a go.

And… it worked:

R250 off, just for doing the shopping I was going to do anyway, but checking out at 2:06pm instead of a couple of hours earlier.
R250 is comfortably two meals for a family of 4. It’s 7.5kg of washing powder. It’s 10½ loaves of bread. It’s 14 litres of milk. Or slightly less of each of them if you share it about a bit, obviously.

I’m not sure how Pick n Pay gains from this, but for a family like us, who always have something on the shopping list, and usually have room in the freezer, this might actually be a bit of a gamechanger.

Add in the R115 of Smart Shopper points that I used, and that’s 46% off my R800 shop this afternoon.

That’s pretty amazing.

Note: This isn’t an ad. I’m fully transparent, and I tell you when I’m doing ads. But please share this post. Everyone needs all the help that they can get at the moment, and this offer is certainly helpful.

Nights like these

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Last night was amazing.

Some aging footballers, forced into a double header, back-to-back against teams much higher than them in the log, both of whom had fresh legs from not playing twice that evening, and from “being young”.

And yet, against all the odds, we came out with two huge wins.

It’s like a Hollywood movie script yet to be written.

The first match, surprising in its eventual 9-3 margin, and taking full advantage of the other side forced into capitulating early in the second half, was a masterclass in taking chances. I even scored a goal with my face.
The second one though, was arguably even better. A tight 4-3 win in a real slog of a game, which became bad tempered and downright nasty towards the end; our opponents’ arrogance clearly on display and their displeasure at getting beaten by a team of “whining old men” so very enjoyable to witness.

My left thigh is a complete mess of bruises this morning from their naughtiness (yes, I’m probably too old for this), but I’m wearing them like a (painful) badge of honour after another one of those great football nights.

And maybe there’s more we can learn from this, with a somewhat lop-sided rugby semi-final coming up. A triumph for the written-off underdog, through sheer will, determination, a never-say-die team spirit, the willingness to give it all for each other, and full commitment no matter what.

Or maybe that was just us last night.

But what a night.

No-one likes us, we don’t care

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Uh-oh. Here I go again.

Oh no. Some words have happened. It seems that England, through to the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup, aren’t very popular with several of the other nations, because… well… they’re England, I suppose.

Traditional rivalries with Scotland, Wales and the haw-hee-haw Frenchies are fair enough, maybe even Ireland, but I can’t believe that Italy are really all that bothered. Maybe after the football this evening? Still, let’s post the meme anyway…

And, while you can argue that they had an easier draw and and and… it would seem to me that England are also the only unbeaten team at the tournament. (And if their draw was so easy, how come theirs is the only pool producing two semifinalists?!? How curious.)

Not that that counts for very much of course, but it is still a STAT.

Interestingly, the same ref that SA got for their quarter final will be doing their semi final against England as well. The French didn’t really seem to like him very much:

And incredibly, there were even threats from Saffas in a game that they won!

As well as the more usual pre-game nastiness:

Hmm. (Also: Double E, Double F, if you could, please?)

I once remarked that watching a stadium concert from the back wasn’t like being “at” a concert:

For the entire performance, I couldn’t get away from the fact that I was watching a concert, not being at a concert.

And that’s how it feels watching the people watching the rugby. I have zero investment in the sport and so I can concentrate on what’s going on in the surroundings. And those things are often very strange.

Look, I get that SA are a great team, I get that it was a big win against France, and I really get that the country really needs this World Cup win. Oh God, I get it.

But the arrogance that has followed the victory over France and the feeling that the Boks are as good as World Cup Winners already – and if they’re not, then it’ll be because of the referee?

Meh – I really don’t need that.

Finding images

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I’m in the process of going back through the last few years of my photos, looking for some pictures to print for the wall in the new bar.

I do think my ‘togging has improved, but there are still one or two from pre-Covid that might just make the shortlist.

This Cape Sugarbird isn’t one, not least because of the ridiculous crop, but it’s still quite fun.

And it does work very nicely as a quota photo for today’s post.

Nice day – here, at least

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While the rest of the world fights each other over land and religion and money and politics, I’m hiding down in the bottom left corner of Africa, sitting in the sunshine and drinking a beer. It’s been a bit of a heavy week in many ways, and so I’m giving myself the luxury of a bit of a day off.

After an early start collecting the Boy Wonder from a Clown Boxing sleepover, I forced myself into a 9km trail run. Well, I say “trail run”, because I did cross a grass verge at one point, so that counts, right?

It’s all pretty relaxing and pleasant sitting here and wondering which football matches I’m going to watch later, but then I made the mistake of clicking on a news site.

Foolish. Very foolish.

WARNING FOR BRAAI LOVERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

baited the headline. It’s a difficult one, because actually, given that the Venn diagram for Braai Lovers and South Africans is a perfect circle, this means it’s a warning for the whole country. But mentioning the braai bit gets everyone very anxious and so they inevitably click through. I know I did.

So what’s the warning?

Food prices are going up. Thanks, Detective Professor Sir Sherlock Einstein. None of us had noticed that, at all..
It’s worth pointing out that all food prices are going up, not just those specifically associated with braais. Look at the onion stat above. Great on Boerie Rolls, 63% more pricey than 2022.

This Business Tech headline comes less than a month after their previous warning for Braai Lovers in South Africa:

Someone is being very lazy with the headlines and stock images, hey?

This warning was essentially “Fire burns things. Be careful.” Good advice, although, I suppose as long as it’s not the expensive onions you bought, it’s probably not that bad.

All this braai talk (not least the warnings) are making me think about the possibility of having a quick one this evening (careful now) before it gets too expensive and dangerous