How many years is that now?

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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

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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

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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

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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?

One letter

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A while back, I did a post on the most popular town names in each country in Europe. During that post, we discovered that basically everywhere in Europe is named “New Village” (in their various native languages).

Well, here’s another European place name map from the same people – it’s called … ok, it’s actually got a title on the image:

A quick count makes that 8 in Norway, 6 in Sweden, and one each in Denmark and France.

And look, there’s a reason for this apparent laziness (most of the time, at least).

Å (pronounced Å), is the old Norse word for a small river. And that’s why you can see places named Å all over Scandinavia. Many small rivers, see?
Likewise, Ö (pronouced Ö) is ta Swedish world for “Island”. And as any fule kno, Sweden has the most islands of any country in the world (267,570 to be exact), which does make it a bit interesting that there is only one place called Ö. It has 90 inhabitants.

And, oh. It isn’t on an island.

Though, as beagle-eyed readers might have spotted, it is just up the road from Johannisberg.

Wow.

Finally, there’s Y (presumably pronounced EE) in France. And I know what you’re thinking…

Y did they call it that?

Is it because pourquoi was too long?

Well, they named it that because – apparently – it’s the shape that the roads make in the village.

Mmm. I suppose it depends on how strong your medication is.
Mine is clearly not strong enough.

Tomorrow, 2-letter places names! Yes, this is going to be a series* until we get all the way up to that place in New Zealand.

Auckland?

No: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

Bless you.

Eish.

* it’s not.