Migration

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Incoming from The Guru:

FYI, the server we’re on will be migrated to a new datacenter, starting 27/12 at around 2am our time. It’s unlikely that anything will break. The process could take as long as a couple of days, but might well be done by mid-morning on the same day. Regardless of duration, sites will be fully accessible while it’s going on, and I’ll let you know when it’s complete. But I’d recommend not posting anything on the 27th itself, and certainly not doing any site changes, as what could happen is that you do something during the transition, and it gets lodged in the old database locations, and then the new database locations don’t contain that data. So it’s entirely possible that a comment or somesuch could get lost between the 2 datacenters.

Thanks, The Guru.

This doesn’t sound anywhere as spectacular as swallows flying non-stop across Europe and Africa or magnificent herds of wildebeest galloping across the Kenyan savannah, but it obviously has implications for me posting anything on the 27th – unless, of course I get it in before the 2am CAT deadline. Which is obviously what I have done if you are reading this.

Please feel free to leave comments during the 27th. I like to live dangerously like that. If your comment does get lost because of the migration, then I will personally head off into the old datacenter (there’s a portal at the back of my wardrobe) and risk my life, Indiana Jones-like, to try and rescue your thoughts.

Otherwise – back tomorrow.

SA Xmas

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While many may say that there’s nothing like a traditional UK Christmas – dark nights, snow on the ground, roasted chestnuts and a local pub or seven – I’m very much getting used to Christmas in summer. We spent most of yesterday sitting around the pool, braaiing crayfish and drinking beer. And as today seems to be turning into an absolute scorcher as well, I would imagine that more of the same is in order.

Christmas means many things to many people, but since becoming a dad, it’s really all about the kids for me. Not that that means I don’t enjoy giving and receiving gifts as well. After last year’s amazing present from my wife (and even though it all ended in tears), I had high hopes for something extraordinary and had been dropping hints about viticulture for the past few months: I have always dreamed of owning my own vineyard. Things seemed to be going well, as Mrs 6000 kept dropping hints about my dropping hints – a sure sign that my hint droppage had not gone unnoticed.

It was only when I opened the gifts on Christmas morning that I realised that there had been a breakdown in communication somewhere along the line. I had said “viticulture”, she had heard “vermiculture”. And as those of you well versed in Latin will already have realised, that means that I now own my own little worm farm. It does produce a liquid product, but you really don’t want to be drinking it. However, my veggies will love it and I can always get a wine farm next year, can’t I darling? Darling?

Hello?

Anyway, the kids loved their presents – a motorised crane for the boy, a stereotypically intricate German doll’s house for the girl – and the wife will be running and gymming to her new mp3 player.
While I’m not tending to my worms, I will be mostly reading this gift from my parents. Bittersweet stuff.

But for now, it’s back to the original plan: pool, beer, braai.

Pick n Pay Real Baby Range Review

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Those of you who follow me on twitter may have seen my response to @picknpay‘s call for “Mommy Bloggers” to come forward and review their newly revamped and relaunched Real Baby range of baby products. Anatomically, I don’t actually fit the bill as a Mommy Blogger, but since I have small children (Alex, 4 and Kristen, 2) and I blog, the anatomy bit is the only missing piece and so I laughingly volunteered my services. Fair play to PnP’s social media gurus for breaking the mould and including a *gasp* (sometime) Daddy Blogger on their panel of reviewers. It remains to be seen whether their online audience will believe a word I say though.

A couple of months on and we’ve been enjoying the Real Baby hamper that PnP sent through for us. I was actually just expecting a few nappies, but we got literally bags of stuff, including nappies, baby lotion, vaseline, aqueous cream, soaps, shampoo and cotton wool in several different (but all useful) formats, all packaged in a big white box which was immediately (and permanently) borrowed by my son and converted into a garage for his toy cars. Readers who have never had kids will not understand just how many different creams,  lotions and potions a small human requires, nor how many garages a toy car needs.

Now, at this point, I should inform new readers and visitors from the Pick n Pay website that I don’t tend to mince my words on this blog – “I say what I like and I like what I say” – and I do admire the bravery of Pick n Pay in including me in this review. But what became obvious as we got into using the products was that they had well-placed confidence that their range would meet my exacting standards (and those of my kids). I should also say that I’ve had no pressure from Pick n Pay to write anything specific or even anything positive about the products. In fact, I was told:

We don’t want a hard push for sales, just a user experience vibe.
Talk about it they way YOU want to talk about it.

Like I said – that’s bravery and confidence right there.

It seems to me that they have pitched this brand relaunch just right. It’s obviously aimed at the parents who have enough available money to go beyond the basic (read “No Name”) economy products, but who don’t want to spend extra cash (who does?) on the premium brands. Real Baby offers solid, decent, functional products without the bells and whistles, but without the hefty price tag as well. From that point of view, it’s might seem rather difficult to say anything hugely remarkable about the range, save for the exceptional value for money, but there are some products that really do stand out for us:

The Real Baby Nappies we are using are the size 5 (15-25kg) ones. Now, in the past, we have had nappy issues. While we would (obviously) love our kids to wear cheaper nappies, these just didn’t work – we had leaks, the nappies were uncomfortable and it was no fun for anyone concerned – and in the end, they only settled in the top of the range Pampers. Think of it like your fussy cat who will only eat the expensive cat food or your fussy husband *ahem* who will only watch the smartest flatscreen TV.
However, these Real Baby nappies do the job. I have commented on twitter that I am amazed at how much capacity they have, and this is important, since our kids are at the stage where they are only wearing nappies at night – and so that’s 10 hours at a time.
If I have one criticism, they are a little bulkier than the Pampers brand, but for nighttime use, this really hasn’t been any problem at all. And we have tested them thoroughly – including nights after swimming, hot nights with extra drinks and even one 13½ hour marathon sleep by little Kristen. Not a leak in sight. Amazing.
Then compare the price: R2.50 each versus R3.75 each for the Pampers equivalent. It’s impressive stuff.

The Hygiene Liquid Hand Soap isn’t specifically a baby product, but it is an essential in any house with small children (and I say this in both my blogging guise and my professional role as a microbiologist). Again, this just does the job with no fuss. The active ingredient is triclosan which is a very effective antibacterial and antifungal agent and the product has a pleasant citrus scent. I have the bottle in front of me here on my desk and already Alex is wanting it put back in the bathroom so that he can go and wash his hands.
So evidently, it also promotes good habits in your little ones.

But my favourite product of all is the Real Baby Tear Free Baby Shampoo. It has a cartoon giraffe on the front, which is a great start (although the product does look hugely similar to the Real Baby Body Wash, which has caused a little confusion).
At R23.99 for 400ml, this shampoo comes in about half the price of the equivalent Johnson’s product, but rather than being as good, but cheaper than the market leader like many of the Real Baby products, this one does the job better in so many ways.
The design of the bottle, for example: someone has actually thought about it. The shape means that it’s easier to grip, which makes a big difference when you have soapy hands (are you reading this, Mr Johnson?) and the flip-top lid has a big lip which means that you don’t have to struggle to hold a slippery child in frog-in-a-sock mode in one hand, the shampoo bottle in the other while opening the lid with your third. Wait, what?

We’ve all been there.
(In fact, it was this post about bathing the kids that established my credibility as a parent for many readers).

The shampoo is thick, which means that a little goes a long way. It smells great (that’ll be the chamomile extract) and – without wanting to sound like a Verimark advert – it left my daughter’s hair silky smooth and tangle free. (I’ve failed, haven’t I?)
Best of all, it really is gentle on the kids’ eyes – which is good, because “it’s hard to lose a friend when your heart is full of hope, but it’s worse to lose the towel when your eyes are full of soap”. Especially when the eyes are those of your 2-year-old daughter.
Seriously, it’s kind of hard to get excited about baby shampoo, but this stuff has revolutionised our hair wash nights. I might even start using it myself.

So there you have it. 1,000+ words about Pick n Pay’s Real Baby products. You didn’t think it was possible; I didn’t think it was possible. But the cynic in me has been silenced. (Briefly, at least.)

I’m giving the Real Baby range a solid thumbs up. Good quality, great value.
Nice work, Pick n Pay.