The Dark Ages

Angel Chimes

We have load shedding again! It has been Stage 4 for several days, meaning scheduled power cuts of up to 2 1/2 hours, 3 times in 24 hours.

Last night they announced it was going to Stage 6. There are jokes about this online: namely that at Stage 6 a man from Eskom comes round to your house and blows out your candles!

Mostly people work round the power cuts. Knowing the times beforehand means you can plan to some extent. It is still extremely annoying though. The other night our power went out at midnight and came back on at 2.20 am. The neighbour’s alarm went off both times, waking everyone up!

Your day becomes divided into 2 hour allotments. Either you have power, and watch the clock counting down with anxiety and dread, till it is switched off; which can be anything from on the dot, (mean!) to 13 minutes past the hour, as today, giving you the momentary false hope that maybe they’re not cutting your power!

Or you are sitting in silence and perhaps darkness, anxiously waiting with anticipation for the power to be returned. This can be from 10 past the hour to half past the hour, by which time you are beginning to wonder if they have forgotten about you!

It is not too bad here in Cape Town, as daylight in summer is from 5.30 am to 8 pm. Johannesburg, 1400 km farther north, only has daylight from 5 am to 7 pm. Believe me, they will notice that extra hour of darkness at night!

Also, I feel sorry for those who work online. Even if you do have power, the internet is slow because other places are down. Service providers try to re-route your connection, but there is still a bottleneck.

I even feel sorry for businesses. This time of year they make enough money to see them through the following year. In an already struggling economy, many businesses will fold next year.

Why is the power supply still so bad in South Africa?

Ageing power plants and equipment; poor maintenance and repair;  mis-management; lack of planning.

Well, the purpose of this post (OK I had a good moan!) was just to let my Readers know that I am struggling to keep up with my Blog, especially commenting on yours. So if you don’t hear from me as much as usual, at least now you know why.

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“In vain have I struggled. It will not do.”*

*Can you guess who said this and which book it is from?

Sunbeams will be sent to those with the correct answer, which I’ll put in my next post.

 

Sunday Musings #198

My favourite machine at the gym is the vending machine.

– Caroline Rhea

 

Actually, I don’t go to the gym, as I exercise at home and also get a good workout hacking branches off trees and lugging buckets of grey water around the place etc.

But if I did go to the gym, the vending machine would definitely be my favourite!

 

WordPress Ads

Dianthus Raindrops 1

I apologise for all the Adverts you might be seeing these days in my blog posts or WordPress emails.

This has absolutely nothing to do with me!

My site is not monetised and I make nothing from these extremely annoying in-your-face adverts.

I take care when writing a post to place my photos and text carefully, so it is easy to read and makes sense. WordPress sticks its Ads in wherever it feels like, completely messing up my layout and leaving stray bits of text wandering free!

WordPress has been nagging me, again, to upgrade to a paid domain. I ignore all their many emails. I have noticed in the past that when they pester me like this and I don’t upgrade, they increase the amount of adverts on my poor little blog, as a kind of “Look what we can do! If you want your Blog to be Ad-free, then BUY BUY BUY!”

My blog is tiny. I write just for fun. The whole point was that it was free!

So, again I apologise for all the annoying Ads. But I guess WordPress must make its money somehow; if not a paid account, then adverts!

 

Seen Out and About

Egyptian Geese 1

Haiku 167

Seen out and about

Showing off their family

The new residents

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Egyptian Geese 2

I was driving back home one day and came across this little family of Egyptian Geese on my street.

This is the house where the funny-looking Dikkops live; I only hope they have not been displaced!

I stopped my car and got out to take a few photos. As I did so, the parents became more watchful, protecting their clutch from me; they are very good parents.

Egyptian Geese 3

One little chap had no such reservations and came towards me to see who I was! The parents looked nonplussed, but stayed with the main group of goslings.

The bold youngster waddled closer, had a good look and then returned to his family. I think he will go far and become a Leader among Geese.

In the meantime he is a headache for his parents!

 

Sunday Musings #197

It takes real skill to choke on air, fall up the stairs and trip over nothing. I have that skill.

– Unknown

 

Yes, I am gifted that way!

I choke on air quite often. My only excuse is that I have asthma, but I honestly don’t think that is the cause!

I fell upstairs as a school kid. It was an odd experience suddenly to come face to face with the steps. The only injuries sustained were footprints from all the girls behind me, who just carried on walking! Still, it was much better than falling downstairs, which I’ve done a few times.

And it was only the other day that I tripped over nothing. I was walking round the pool and my feet went wrong of their own accord. I managed to right myself before face-planting and fortunately I didn’t fall in the pool – which I have done in the past!!

So, how was your day?

 

Why I Love My New Flip Flops!

Flip Flops 1

Haiku 164

Sparkling on the peg

Calling me across the store

Buy me! Buy me! Buy!

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Flip Flops 2

My new flip flops have sparkly straps and the moment I saw them in the shop, I knew I had to have them.

Why? Because they took me right back to my childhood and the following story:

When I was a kid I saw some children’s plastic mules for sale in a shop.

They were slip on play shoes, with a high heel, and made of a hard reddish plastic, embedded with spangles.

They glittered and called to me every time I saw them. I would stand in front of the shelf, take them down and caress them lovingly.

Oh how I coveted those sparkly mules.

But Mum said No!

 

Morning Tea

Tea and Scones

Haiku 163

A civilised way

With tea and scones al fresco

To start off the week

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Beat the Monday blues with a little time out.