Guess Who’s Back?

Posted on

Back again.

Eskom’s back.

Tell a friend.

Ag, there’s actually no need to tell anybody. I’m sure that this is already hot news right across the nation. I’d have posted it earlier, but I was gecko-proofing an internet switch box.

As you do.

I don’t know exactly what plans you had for this coming weekend, but I hope that they didn’t involve too much electricity. Because it does seem likely that there will be somewhat of a shortfall in the supply of that here in SA.

To be fair, we’ve had a pretty good run, especially considering the state of the system before. It was quite literally held together with duct tape and prayers, so for it to hold on seamlessly for 10 months is actually rather impressive. And hopefully this is just a blot on the landscape, a fly in the ointment, a floater in the swimming pool.

A temporary thing that can be sorted quickly and easily.

In the meantime: download the ESP app again, check your inverter settings and charge up your devices.

We’ll get through this, South Africa.

How many years is that now?

Posted on

It’s the last Thursday of the month and that means that I’m heading out for the MBCC dinner this evening. And this is the first last Thursday of the month of the year, which means that we’re starting yet another year of this monthly boys’ dinner thing.

How many years is that now?

Definitely at least several. It must be getting into the late teens (if not more), and that would make it the third longest thing I’ve been a part of since I moved to SA some few years ago. That’s after football and my relationship with Mrs 6000, obviously. Without the latter, I wouldn’t even be here.
Without the other two, I might not be here either though, I guess.

I think it’s quite impressive that we’ve kept it up for so long (careful now). Personal friendships are one thing, but it takes some organisation and discipline to keep a group thing going. And amongst a group of guys… well, that’s to be applauded. Because generally, organisation and discipline aren’t necessarily up there with the most recognised of attributes for an assembly of blokes.

And so I guess we’ll celebrate in the usual manner this evening, with some beers, some decent food, chat about footy, golf, poker and not cycling, and throw in a smattering of jokes in poor taste.

I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Landing

Posted on

Sometimes, my ability in the field of photography even astounds me.

This wasn’t one of those times.

But still, here’s a shot from the bedroom window, handheld [audience: no shit, sherlock] of Mrs 6000’s flight arriving back from Johannesbeagle this evening.

Her plane (a 737-8LD, as I’m sure you can see), is the small orange smudge almost dead centre, just above all the small (and large) whiter smudges. Given the weather this evening, with plenty low cloud and a strong wind, I think I did ok to even see the thing, let alone capture it in pixels.

But I doubt that this image will win any awards.

It’s just nice to have her back. It’s been a long 15 hours without her.

Finito

Posted on

I’m fully done today. 18,000+ steps deep into a day that has included some Pilates and then a reasonably quick 5km run. It didn’t feel like the Pilates was enough exercise, but looking back now, the combination of the Pilates and the run was almost certainly too much exercise.

It’s sometimes difficult to find a balance, and I’m clearly not the only one finding that:

I had to rush out and make some urgent purchases – we seem to be spending ALL of the money at the moment 🙁 – followed by a massive cleaning session ahead of a neighbourhood meeting in our house. I’m not in the meeting, I just prepped for it.
Oh, and plenty of driving in some of the most horrendous Cape Town traffic.

All of this in 34 of your South African degrees of heat.

It’s been draining, and my knees and core are feeling particularly drained.
As you might expect.

Thankfully no football tonight to try to tempt me into a late one, although I genuinely don’t think I would fall for their charms. Self preservation is the name of the game this evening.

Tomorrow looks cooler, which is good, as I have a lot of outdoor work to get sorted. And I can get going on that early, because there’s no way I’ll be able to do any exercise thanks to the World Of Pain™ that I am fully expecting to wake up into.

Small – and unfortunate – mercies.

Architecture

Posted on

For many differing reasons, Architecture has been a hot topic Chez 6000 this week. And so when I saw this cartoon:

It’s a different approach, sure. And not to be a boar (sorry), but while I think that there is certainly merit in daring design materials like this, I’d still prefer to see some sort of solidity here.

Has the fourth little pig learned nothing – bad or good – from his three siblings?