weather controls my life

Oh, how the weather controls my life, more than food and TV.

My Thursday night was pretty much cancelled. No hockey because of the rain. Drumming was also cancelled because the teacher dude was sick.

All hail, the mighty weather machine. You rain supreme above all else. The wind, sun and waves of the ocean are yours to control. But I bet you didn't know we can make electricity of the wind, sun and waves. Right back at you!

I fear you resent us using you like that. I'm sorry, please don't be too angry. I really enjoy hockey and drumming on Thursdays, more than food and TV.

soccer balls

The 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa starts next month. Its a big soccer tournament. It will be best enjoyed in Cape Town I think. All the other venues are too complicated. I don't have much to say about it, except this...where ever you are, however lonely you feel, its better to roll with the masses.

max was blown away

I spent the weekend at the Darling Wind Farm, up the west coast of Cape Town. This is the first commercial wind farm in South Africa and already supplies power to Cape Town.

The drive to this farm is breathtaking, and almost rivals the garden route. I was hosted there by a nice Afrikaans electrician, Dirk.

I spent time asking Dirk many questions while also posing for photos. I left the farm thinking its great that we can use wind for that purpose. As far as I know, wind is colourless and, a zero carbon source of energy. The size of one of those turbines is unimaginable and the blades are almost the length of a Boeing 737 wing. Totally completely awesome! But I'm not totally completely convinced.

Something tells me we probably need to know more about wind energy before becoming totally dependent on it, like we have with our black friends c.o.a and l. I'm going to have to read up on this, however as a conclusion for the purpose of this entry, its fair to say I was blown away.

identity

The honeymoon phase of our rainbow dream has come to an end. How fitting that it has happened in 2010 when the world will be looking at South Africa for something to learn.

In the few days and weeks to come, the media will popularise issues around identity because that's what everyone will be asking. Who are these south africans and what do they have to offer the world? Finding the answer will be interesting.

It seems to me that to know your national identity is only good if the future is truly yours to decide. Unfortunately it is not, because there is always someone else in charge...the government, and who knows what direction they might decide to take next. Those who will bother to look at South Africa may find a very confusing definition of identity.

And here it is: a country with first world expectations engaged in an exciting process of self-discovery but also one of frustration because it finds itself in a third world reality.

remediation

I spent the day doing what we call vacuum enhanced remediation...or sucking out petrol vapours from underneath a service station. If its not done, my guess is that the place would blow up or people would get sick or something! Blowing up would be cool. I think I'm gonna need my own vacuum enhanced remediation this weekend.

cape town

I sat in a geography class many years ago and was taught by Mr. David Miller, a well to do bloke from England. He spoke many scary words, as do the English. He used 3 such words 'mid-latitude cyclone' in explaining the nature of winter weather in Cape Town. The MLC's as he used to call them, bring rain, overcast conditions, cold and strong winds anytime between the months of May, June, July and possibly August.

I've only ever read about these MLCs, but since the start of May I have truly experienced cape town winter; Wet, cold and miserable! It is my first and mostly certainly terrible winter yet. Melbourne wasn't this b(rrrrrrrr)ad!

When I play

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays I'm on the hockey field, and here's a little introduction to the equipment I use.




Say hello to my Adidas HS4 stick. It retails at just under R1000 at Sportsman's Warehouse. Most good sticks are well over that figure. The grip on this one is great but the power is lacking mainly because of the 15% Carbon/5% Aramid/80% Glassfibre ratio. Basically more carbon equals more power.

Then for shoes, I chose to play with my Salomon trail runners, because I already owned the pair when I started playing. Hockey shoes are similar to soccer trainers because both are designed for grip on flat well cut grass or artificial surfaces. Hockey is mainly played on astro (artificial surface). They are sturdy comfortable shoes and it will be a while before I change over to another pair or brand. You wont find many people playing hockey in these shoes, but then again everywhere you look feet and shoes have occupied a glorified position in society. Each pair wants to be different from the next, and this desire to be different is increasingly evident in shopping malls and now on hockey fields.

My shin guards are pretty standard. Grays has always been a big name in hockey, and I am sure most of hockey players use grays shins. This particular type is designed to have a mold-to-your-shin effect and by my estimates is the most widely used by field and astro players.

Some of the other equipment not included are gum guards, gloves, socks and playing clothes etc.

internet quiet time

The Internet is great, and sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking it will solve all our problems. But its not all that great. I think Google has made us all stupid.

Today I tried to do a quiet time through this site, but with all the adverts and different fonts types and sizes, my eyes were wandering all over the page. As it turned out, it wasn't much of a quiet time. Big mistake on my part.

I did however learn that when clouds are full of water, it rains. So give, give and give as much as you can. I just wish my eyes were a little less distracted.

plastic surgery

It has taken me 5 days and 3 trips to the hardware store, but I finally replaced my toilet seat. It all started when the old toilet seat was "no longer adequate", so I was left with little choice but to replace it. Before, the seat would not close properly, so yes my bathroom stunk royal.

I went looking and finally settled on a plastic replacement instead of wood or porcelain. It was totally like performing plastic surgery. I had the gloves, bolt cutters, pliers, screw drivers and ofcourse the new seat which, in the line of thinking I'm presenting here, can be taken as a new face.

But to be honest, it feels slightly weird to be sitting on a seat the I installed myself. Do people do that? It's certainly a first for me. Just like it would be weird for a plastic surgeon to date a woman he's performed plastic surgery on.

Luckily I'm not a plastic whajima'call. I just enjoy the serenity of taking a crap on plastic.

the millions

The good people at the World Bank say that 12 million South Africans live on less than $1.25 a day. Based on the current exchange rate, $1.25 will get you R9.20. Living on R9.20 a day is near impossible, yet 12 million South Africans are doing it everyday.

So today I find myself asking "what if I tried to live on R9.20 a day?".

I could definitely get 1 loaf of bread. Thank God for bread. But I would not afford a house, so that means I won't have access to clean water. I can forget about getting to work the next day. I will not make next month's rent. I certainly won't afford a car. No movies for me. Sorry KFC and McD, but I can't afford your cheapest menu options. Hope I don't fall sick, because R9,20 won't get me to the nearest hospital or clinic.

I have lived in South Africa for over 25 years and I know of its harsh and unforgiving reality, and if 12 million people are living in extreme poverty, you better believe it. The urban areas seem to be full of potential but there's an undercurrent of neglect and desperation. That is why pickpocketing and petty crime in some parts of Johannesburg can be directly related to extreme poverty. The rural areas are the most heartbreaking because the demands for help and the accompanying sense of dependency seem bottomless.

The challenge that we must all take up, as presented by the Global Poverty Project, is to realise that extreme poverty and the issues around it are important, urgent and related to all of us. Our generation can end extreme poverty and to overcome it we must join up in our numbers to make it happen.