Gentle morning

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After a rough evening of thunderstorms, downpours and braai’ing in the rain (yes, I know you’re singing it too), today dawned much more gently, albeit with a parting thundery shot at 5am.

We headed into town for a bit of shopping, and afterwards, down to the harbour for a bit of harbour wanderage.

There was some fishing happening:

And a lot of rules and regulations to be aware of:

That’s probably the entirety of the DEFF annual budget you’re looking at right there.

The afternoon is filled with a 4 hour loadshedding block, but we’ll just blog and nap our way through that before hitting the (hopefully drier) braai this evening. There are rumours of ribeye steak.

Away

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The Boy Wonder has arrived safely in Egypt, ready to represent his country and do battle with the best in the world. Although to be honest, he looks a bit knackered after a long day of travelling.

And I’m taking some time out for some daddy/daughter time in Cape Agulhas. So while daily posts will continue on here (obviously! duh!), they may be shorter and a bit more photoey* as I actively try to engage less with the frankly often terrible world outside our windows.

With a sales pitch like that, I wouldn’t really expect you to come back, but I’d still appreciate it if you did.

See you tomorrow, then. 😉

* “a picture is worth a thousand words”, after all…

Petty

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I am currently being irritated by an advert that I keep being served on the internet. Mainly YouTube, but I have seen on The ‘Gram, as well.
It’s for a toothpaste which claims to relieve the problem of sensitive teeth.

I don’t have a particular issue with sensitive teeth (my problem – as you’re about to find out – is more with (over) sensitivity regarding the wording of online toothpaste advertisements), but I guess it’s a thing for people my age and they’re just chucking it out there to my demographic and hoping that someone will bite. No pun intended.

The line that gets me every time, just before I’m allowed to hit the SKIP button is that the product:

…offers instant relief in 60 seconds.

That’s not what “instant” means. What you are after is a synonym for “quick”. Something along the lines of “fast”, “speedy” or “expeditious”. But I’d probably suggest “rapid” for the alliteration.

But “instant” doesn’t mean “in 60 seconds”. It means “instant”.
And if you can’t even get that basic information correct, what are the chances of you being to cure my (or anyone else’s) sensitive teeth?

“ARGH! THE ICE CREAM! IT HURTS!”
“You’ll be fine. Just give it a minute.”

Look, obviously I’m not going to take this any further: it’s sad enough that I’ve even brought it this far.

But if I wanted to…

Indeed:

The Kraft Company markets its microwaveable cups as “ready in 3.5 minutes” but Amanda Ramirez says it takes longer.
The $5m (£4.2m) lawsuit claims the time advertised does not include preparation time – opening the lid and sauce pouch, before adding water and stirring.

Same petty energy.

Never forget

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[Content Warning: Tony Blair]

(sorry)

As Christmas approaches, there will be all sorts of public figures sharing their Christmas cards with us. If you’re a posh Brit (and also if you are a bit of a posh Brit wannabe), your Christmas card won’t be bought from the local Christmas card shop and it won’t feature an image a happy Santa or a drunk reindeer or even a traditional nativity scene. And definitely not all three.

It will feature an image of you and your spouse and your kids. And possibly your dog.

But however hard you try, your effort will never, ever beat the best of the the genre, released in 2014:

[cockney accent]
“Leave it Tony. ‘E ain’t werf it!”
[/cockney accent]

It’s appalling for a range of reasons, not least for the actual people in it, but couldn’t they have found anything better than that threatening look of impending violence?

Now we know what Iraq felt like.

If you’re thinking of doing your Christmas cards like this, this year: don’t.

If you do want to wish people a Happy Christmas/Winterval/Holiday Season, why not do what we do: send it electronically and spend the money you save on beer donate the money you save to a local charity?

Prefect end to the year

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Last day of Term 4.
Therefore the last day of the 2022 school year.
The ceremonial switching off of the 6am alarm on the phone.
Prizegiving, and a goodbye to the headteacher of 19 years.
Some great results, and that prefect announcement.
Celebrating with a family meal out tonight (while our home sits in darkness).
And why not, given that there’s lots to celebrate and there’s the 2000-2230 slot for the next couple of evenings, and then an “are you actually f_____g kidding me” 1800-2230 on Sunday?

At least we won’t be able to watch Carte Blanche.