Some weird symbols on my weather app this week.
What are the five blue dots on the cloud for Wednesday?
I’m sure I have seen them before – maybe like six months ago – but they just aren’t familiar to me.
Answers on a postcard, please.
Could it be another event – I’m playing football that evening – ruined by precipitation?
I had cause to phone for an ambulance for one of the residents in our neighbourhood yesterday. It was a serious situation. Literally life and death stuff.
The first number I tried was Netcare911. They are arguably the best known private ambulance company in SA, and theirs is the number that you have etched onto the front of your brain at times like these.
I don’t want to go too deeply into this, but while they repeatedly promised that they were sending a vehicle – nothing ever turned up. And calling them back became something of a farce as they asked repeatedly for the medical aid details (company, number, dependents etc etc) of the patient, when the patient was very, very much not in a condition to tell them.
Then as we called again, (because there was still no sign of an ambulance), using the reference number they had given us, they thought that we were in Gqeberha. That’s a city about 1000km east of here (there’s actually very little 1000km west of here).
That’s when we gave up on them and called ER24 on 084 124. Fifteen minutes later, the medical team arrived, stabilised the patient and headed off to hospital.
We’ve chatted about this to a few people since and there have been a lot of remarks that Cape Town, and Southern Suburbs especially, are now rather poorly covered by Netcare. So, what I’m saying here is to put the number 084 124 into your phone now, in case you ever need medical help in a hurry.
Not an ad. Just a heads up that just because you know the company name, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to turn up and do the job. And while sometimes that can be annoying, sometimes it could literally be fatal.
Much like the Wilderness Search And Rescue number, this is one to put into your phone NOW.
And – of course – hope that you never have to use it.
City Centre living. It isn’t for everyone. And if Cape Town is anything to go by (and it is), it’s damn expensive too.
But other than the convenience of your office being right on the doorstep, what else is there to justify the massive price tag?
I’m sorry, did you say “immediate obliteration in the event of a nuclear strike”? – that sounds perfect!
Not that there’s likely to be a nuclear war, of course. The two guys controlling about 90% of the world’s nuclear missiles seem decent, sensible and reasonable, and not at all deranged.
Yeah. Maybe it’s worth that extra million quid to get that little place in Westminster. Far better than the prolonged agony of the daily commute (and then the protracted dying, should the worst actually happen) of the outlying areas.
How does this relate to Cape Town? It doesn’t really. Missiles can’t reach this far, and if they could, we still have a big mountain to hide behind, and the South Easter will take all the radiation away within a couple of minutes.
.
Graphic from here.
Bit knackered this evening. But I’ve worked out the reason why.
Getting back into the rhythm and routine of the school term shouldn’t really be a struggle, but it seems no-one has told my body that.
Can’t keep going on like that.
But…
On the plus side, I had a great drive around the peninsula today, with some great colours and occasional wildlife on show.
More of that another time though, as there’s a goodbye braai to enjoy this evening, as the sun descends on another smoky Cape Town afternoon.
Not sure which one(s) of these is making the sunset quite so orange this evening, but while it’s pretty, it’s never good news.
Yeah, I’m going to admit it. I’m a bit chilli sauced out, and so I’m cheating a bit with my SmokedOke chilli sauce advent calendar review. Two days still to go (I haven’t opened today’s yet), and we’ll surely get to them at some stage, but wow – I’m actually a bit overwhelmed.
Here’s what’s been opened since my last post (which was a few days after my first post):
No. I’m not sure why they are on a piano either. I just needed somewhere to ‘tog them on and the rest of the house seems to be in some sort of pre-Christmas chaos. Weird.
So: what news?
First off: nothing has topped the Cowboy Candy. This was the one, and it remains the one.
But that doesn’t mean that there have been other highlights. Reaper’s Breath was fairly terrifying. Grim Reaper was even more scary. And the Honey Chipotle was delicious. The Chilli Crunch was very nice, and the Piccalilli Relish was unusual and tangy, and begged for some cheese, ham and maybe a pork pie.
Less good: the chilli gherkins. I’m not sure that they were supposed to be fizzy. I gave them a go anyway – what’s the worst that could happen? Microbiologist readers don’t need to answer that.
But this has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. A lot of the sauces have been too strong for me, but I just use less and so even these sample vials are going to last for ages.
I can only imagine that we are going to finish with the showstopper: The Kraken, but honestly, it’s just been great trying some different stuff that I would never have dared buy in any sort of reasonable volume for retail.
If you have a chilli lover in your life, then you need to give this a go for them next year. It’s been great.