New days dawn

A new week, a new month, and a new lockdown level…

News blues…

South Africans skip lockdown level 2 and, from level 3, go directly to level 1.
President Ramaphosa announced last night that South Africa had seen new Covid infections reduced enough that the country will move from lockdown alert level 3 to lockdown alert level 1 regulations.  (3:45 mins)

Lockdown alert level 1 restrictions:

• Curfew from midnight to 4am
• Restrictions on social political and religious gatherings are lifted subject to the size of gathering – 100 people maximum indoors and 250 outdoors or 50percent of capacity of small venues
• night gatherings after funerals still not permitted;
• ongoing social distancing, health protocols (ventilation, hand sanitizing)….
• night clubs remain closed;
• sale of alcohol permitted according to normal license provision but no alcohol sold during curfew hours;
• Mandatory wearing of masks in public places; failure to do so “remains a criminal offense.”
• Border posts that have been closed (30 of them) remain closed; border posts that have been open (20 of them) remain open.
• Five airports open for international travel with “standard infection control measures remain in place.”

***

Extreme Covid measures – how the other half lives  (2:38 mins)

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

***

Their former law professor calls out (US Senators) Cruz and Hawley behavior  (5:53 mins)

***

Republican angst:

"There are a lot of people in the party ready to move beyond Donald Trump. In fact, most of us realize he is much better at golfing than governing which is really saying a lot if you know anything about Donald Trump's golf game," before adding, "Donald Trump lost, not because more Democrats came out. Donald Trump lost because his own voters defected from him." Watch a Republican point of view of how to “move beyond Donald Trump” – from “crazy to rational”….  (5:58 mins)

Hmmm. We’ll see….

Healthy planet, anyone?

Photo essay: the week in wildlife 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Months ago, about the time my mother’s house went on the market, I talked to an electrician about surveying the electrical system to ensure it passes the mandatory inspection.
Background: The former owner had been an unscrupulous DIY guy who owed a lot of money around town. He’d kludged together a DIY electrical system based on guesswork and, maybe, dabs of super glue… in the same way he’d DIY’d other “fixes” around the house. This, to make the house appear sales worthy enough to a naïve, too trusting 80-year-old woman, (also too stubborn to heed advice). 

My mother paid his asking price for a house that required many fixes after she’d moved in.
Fast forward to 2020-2021. We’re selling the house “as is” – “voetstoots” in SA realtor lingo – but that does not mean illegal. Unlike my mother’s seller, we will sell the house with a functional electrical system, as per law. (My mother’s seller simply paid off the friend /inspector responsible for signing off on the electrical system.)
The electrician I hired showed up yesterday (after a 5 month wait) and began inspecting, then fixing, the malfunction system in the garage/workshop and upper apartment.
This included locating the second “DB” – sub distribution board - in the ceiling of the garage (a surprise: I had not known there was a second sub board).
Apparently, the wires in the ceiling were a rat’s nest resulting in the power failure - something to do with improper connection of live and neutral wires….
He also began replacing the remaining power-hungry incandescent and florescent bulbs with LEDs. (I replaced a handful last year as the incandescent bulbs burned out.)
My discoveries about South African building law continue: electrical outlets/wall sockets are not permitted in bathrooms. This explains why the bathroom in my new home has zero electrical outlets – other than two overhead halogen bulbs. It also explains why the bathroom light switch is located in a different room. This law makes it highly impractical for a residents to plug a hair dryer, electric shaver, electric toothbrush, etc., in another room but….
I’d thought the lack of outlet was a building error specific to my new home. Apparently, no such outlets are permitted in South Africa. (This explains, too, why there are not outlets for hair dryers in the public dressing room at the swimming pool – or the bathrooms at my mother’s house.)
Inevitably, electricians have a (legal) workaround… I’ll hire the electrician to install the workaround in my new bathroom.

***

Living semi-moved into two living spaces has drawbacks, the biggest of which is forgetting one's cell phone battery charger.
With the battery failing fast in my iPhone 6SE (and Apple’s ongoing refusal to address their “slowdown” of this device series) I carry my slowed-down phone and battery and charger cable everywhere. (Yes, I’m addicted to my phone … therefore it’s accessories.) Unfortunately, yesterday, I didn’t notice until after nightfall that I’d left my battery charger at my new home. My first reaction was panic: how would I handle my routine hours of wakefulness at midnight and 2pm and 4pm? Usually, I read my latest library e-book on my iPhone’s Kindle app. 

Could I survive hours of no iPhone?
How would/could I handle withdrawal?
It helped that the battery charger was not missing, that I knew where I’d left it. I wasn’t able to fetch it until morning, but the crisis was survivable.
True, I’ll also miss my daily routine early morning phone call with my friend in (his late night) California. My laptop, however, functions so I can email him and let him know. Then I plan to race over to my new home and retrieve the lifesaving devices.

***

Big social occasion: I had lunch with two friends in a café yesterday - first time in more than a year. What a treat! 

***

Our neighbor races pigeons and, yesterday, while training, one of his pigeons landed near our garage and limped under cover of a plant box.
I called to alert the neighbor and he arrived promptly to fetch it – one of his “youngsters,” he said, newly introduced to training.
He reported he’d lost several pigeons that day to hawks attacking mid-flight.
Training racing pigeons to return home happens by 10 kilometer increments: first trip away from home is 10kms distant, then 20kms, then 30kms… until the birds can find their way home from as far away as 800kms.
Now there’s an inbuilt homing device.

***

Obsession: Tracking the sun’s rising and setting schedule:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
Feb 27: sunrise 5:48am; sunset 6:32pm.
Feb 28: sunrise 5:49am; sunset 6:31pm.
March 1: data missing due to failed battery on iPhone 6SE. (Curse you, Apple!)

Apropos of nothing

“Oh, Misty always hates me showing this slide. ...
It’s halftime at the ’88 Detroit-Chicago game when we first met.”
© Gary Larsen, The Far Side 

News blues…

South African efforts to vaccinate are ”going spectacularly “:

By Friday, 63,648 health-care workers had received vaccinations against Covid-19 and the sleep-deprived teams providing them had exceeded targets, said professor Glenda Gray, a co-principal investigator of the Johnson & Johnson implementation study.“
We are ahead of the schedule of 80,000 in 14 days. It is going spectacularly and the demand has been overwhelming,” she said. “We will be ready for the next batch after the weekend.” 

***

Meanwhile… a news report out of Florida (USA) has two women – one in her 30s, the other in her 40s – disguising themselves as “grannies” in order to qualify for their second vaccination. This means their granny disguises succeeded for their first dose…
And, in California

Access codes meant to give Californians of color priority access to Covid-19 vaccine slots have been getting passed around among other residents in the state, allowing some to cut the line and get appointments meant for underserved Black and Latino residents. 

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

Healthy planet, anyone?

First, the bad news

Brazil’s Cerrado encompass some of the country’s most beautiful national parks. The region’s rich habitat features 11,000 species of plants and more than 200 varieties of mammals, including jaguars, anteaters, armadillos and tapirs.
“It … covers more than 20% of the country, is also an important motor in Brazil’s economy, producing over half of Brazil’s beef, 49% of its soybeans, 47% of its sugar cane and almost all its cotton, according to the government agricultural research institute Embrapa.
To raise those crops, the region’s native forests and vegetation are being systematically replaced by farms and ranches. Under Brazilian law, the Cerrado enjoys much less protection than the iconic Amazon rainforest to its north. Half of its land has already been cleared, including some 2,800 square miles last year alone. (That compares to about 20% of the Brazilian Amazon gone.) 

Then, (marginally) better news as scientists discover wild animals thriving in Chernobyl exclusion zone  (9:57 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

On this day of rest and the last day of February, I will walk from my apartment to the Care Center to visit my mother, swim at least 12 laps, then walk back to my apartment. After that, I will check in with the electrician who is investigating, then fixing, the electrical fault that has shut down power to the upper part of my mother’s house – including an apartment and the double garage.
I’ll also don my waders and begin – again – to remove overgrown exotic lilies in the pond.
I hope you enjoy your day of rest as much as I expect to enjoy mine.

***

Obsession continues: Tracking the sun’s rising and setting schedule:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
Feb 27: sunrise 5:48am; sunset 6:32pm.
Feb 28: sunrise 5:49am; sunset 6:31pm.

Fishy

Courtesy of street artist Jeremy Novy 
whose stencils his signature koi fish across the city of San Francisco.
Since the pandemic, he’s doing commissions, too. 

News blues…

The medical team from People's Hospital [India] … “running the [Covid vaccination] trial, may have failed to adequately explain that they were part of a trial and that only some of the participants would receive a vaccine. … [and] appear to violate India's clinical trial rules that require informed consent from all participants.” 

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

***

The Lincoln Project: an interesting point of view on what went wrong  (5:26 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

How fare the fish?
The Global Ocean Science Report is updated and published every five years. Another report due next year. Meanwhile, catch up on the current status of ocean science around the world 

Explore ocean-focused organizations:

• Mission Blue 
• Pacific Marine Mammal Center  I’ve observed seals healed by PMMC released back into the Pacific. It’s an unforgettably wonderful experience.
• Oceanic Society 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

A day for reality checks:
SARS – SA Revenue Service. For the first time ever, my mother is due a hefty tax refund. Around about October 2020, I began receiving emails from SARS to expect those funds to be deposited into her account “in ten days.” Four months - and 8 emails - later and still no deposit. 

Now, SARS says I need this form and that form and this signature and that signature before the service will release her funds. Her attorney suggests a signed General Power of Attorney will do it. (That’s not going to happen.) Her accountant suggests we take my mother to the SARS office.(She’s physically incapable of drinking out of a cup never mind endure an hours long wait at SARS so that’s not going to happen either.) The accountant refuses to go to SARS himself due to Covid-19 – and I don’t blame him. So. Her interest free refund remains at SARS (or, knowing South Africans’ reputation for corruption, it’s already paying for some fleeing SA official’s poolside sundowner cocktails in Dubai!)

Culverts. With more rain and culverts still blocked, the stream, therefore the lower lawn – is flooded. I called the local councilperson – again – and heard – again – his sigh of disbelief? Frustration? – and his promise – again - to call his contact – again.

Outcome so far? Culverts are still blocked.
I did, however, notice a bulldozer with a backhoe heading up the road yesterday. Unfortunately, the driver did not stop anywhere near the culverts but continued heading away from them. 

Is this an omen? Is the public works department at least getting closer to the culvers? 

If its taken 2.5 years to get them this close, how much longer before they actually find the culverts? Then how much longer before they unblock them?
Enquiring minds wanna know.

House sale. I met with the “business man” interested in purchasing my mother’s house. It was my first direct encounter with a genuine South African “bait and switch” artist.
Prior to our meeting, his proposal included a deposit of a bit less than one third of the asking price – plus my mother carrying the rest of the loan that he’d pay off at interest (not stipulated) each month for four years. None of this in writing.
During yesterday's face-to-face, he proposed ZERO deposit - plus my mother carrying the loan that he’d pay off with 7% interest each month for five years.
I cancelled that offer – and let him know my thoughts on his tactics.
The other offer came from a young guy and his soon-to-be wife – both of whom run their own businesses (a dog trainer and a baker) – and “do their own accounts.” On paper they look quasi “realistic” but in reality?  They will never get a bond/mortgage with their skimpy finances.
Am I still California dreaming? Nah. I’m back to the drawing board regarding how to sell this house. I’m going nowhere, not to California, nor Texas, nor my houseboat. 

Sigh. 

I’m stuck here for many more months.

***

At least my obsessions distract. 

Tracking the sun’s rising and setting schedule continues apace: 

• Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
• Feb 27: sunrise 5:48am; sunset 6:32pm.

Shot in the arm

Pandemic street art in Copenhagen 

Courtesy of street artists everywhere, enjoy the view of street art around the world.

News blues…

Covid-19 vaccination programs:

• South Africa As of this week, the start of South Africa’s program, SA is using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, administered as a single dose.
  The country has received 80,000 doses of this vaccine, which has been shown to be effective against the variant first identified in South Africa.
  President Cyril Ramaphosa says the country has secured nine million doses in total, and more doses are expected. Read more about SA’s vaccination program >> 
• USA CDC’s key things to know about COVID-19 vaccines  and the CDC’s COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Recommendations 
• Europe Vaccination schedules for individual European countries and specific age groups 
• Africa Vaccination programs in Africa 

Vaccine question: Once I get the vaccine, what precautions do I still need to take?
Sarah Zhang, Atlantic Monthly staff writer responds:

If you and a small group of friends are all fully vaccinated, congrats. You can relax precautions among one another. If you’re with unvaccinated people, though, remember that your risks are smaller, but not zero. Your chance of getting sick is significantly reduced (by about 95 percent), and your risk of infecting others is likely also much lower. (That exact statistic is still unknown, but is probably less than 95 percent.) Your tolerance for these risks might depend on whether the unvaccinated people you’re with are at risk for COVID-19 because of other reasons.
I think there’s another reason to keep wearing masks in public, at least for now. The strangers around you in a grocery store have no way of knowing whether you’re vaccinated. Wearing a mask is also a signal that you take the virus seriously and believe that we’re in this together—because we are. We can all get back to our normal lives when enough people have been vaccinated that the coronavirus no longer poses much of a threat in schools, workplaces, or even a big, crowded party.

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

***

Good news for the US: Merrik Garland at his confirmation hearing US Attorney General. Take a a moment and watch a really decent human being – intelligent, humble, public minded, and cognizant of history – explain what motivates him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mICmR9luUeE
Soon-to-be US Attorney General elect Merrick Garland is the guy Senator Mitch McConnel refused to allow a hearing to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Healthy planet, anyone?

I didn’t realize until day’s end yesterday, that I’d not completed posting to this blog. I’d posted one third of the usual then – likely distracted by the intense wind and thunderstorm – I’d forgotten to complete the posting.
Was that yet another sign that 49 weeks of lockdown causes brain burps?

What can you do to maintain healthy brain and heart during lockdown? Some folks keep chickens or organize chutney tastings, or draw one another. These 56 small, affordable suggestions won’t end lockdown misery, but they might help. 

Below, Atlantic Monthly writers and editors offer their best suggestions for maintaining sanity during lockdown
Alexis C. Madrigal, staff writer, takes a neighborhood plant walk.
I have taken up night walks, wandering the empty streets of Oakland and Berkeley after my kids go to bed. Every once in a while, I find a succulent from a neighbor and snip just a tiny piece. Then, I take it home, stick it in water, and wait for its roots to sprout and grow down. Eventually I plant it in the tiny garden that I've built.
Shan Wang, senior editor, suggests building on your indoor garden.
Grow it; don’t throw it: Plant some kitchen scraps (lemon seeds, lentils, celery stalks, avocado pits) and watch new life happen in days, no extra soil or pots required.

Call someone, says Rebecca J. Rosen, senior editor.
Pick up your phone and call—actually call; don’t text—a friend just to catch up. Any time I have talked to a friend during this pandemic, I have found the conversation restorative, grounding, and gratifying. Plus, you never know when the person on the other end of the line really needs a friend, too.

Emma Green, staff writer, makes pierogies.
One weekend, perhaps seized by the spirit of some ancient Polish ancestor, I found myself irresistibly drawn to the idea of making pierogies. The little dumplings require an astonishing amount of time and patience, at least by my standards, but the process is meditative, and at the end, you have something delicious for the freezer.
Do like Marina Koren, staff writer , and take a fake commute.
If you're working remotely, create a daily commute and take a walk around the block in the morning. Quarantine has blurred so many work-life boundaries that even a pretend journey can feel refreshing.

 
Learn about cicadas, says A.C. Valdez, senior podcast producer.
Maybe you or your kids are fascinated by bugs. If so (and if an overabundance of insects isn’t too biblical-plague-esque for you), now’s a perfect time to study up on them before your spring hikes: The Brood X cicadas are emerging for the first time in 17 years. (Did you know that there are also 13-year broods?)

Kate Cray, assistant editor, and friends host a standing Zoom get-together.
A group of my friends organized a standing nightly Zoom meeting for the month of February as part of a plan to revive a college tradition. This structure has (perhaps ironically) recreated both the consistency and the spontaneity that I’ve been missing socially. The meetings are planned, but it’s always a surprise who will show up. They help to fight against the instinct toward self-isolation by removing any barriers to seeing friends: Someone will be on the call each night.

 
“Change up your hair (but don't give yourself bangs)” – from Karen Ostergren, deputy copy chief
Every day is the same. Every day is overwhelming. You scroll through Instagram, bored, procrastinating, and see the same ad as always, for brightly colored hair dye, until one time you hit Purchase. Why not? It turns the floor of your shower purple; now you’ve got Saturday-night plans. And the next time you see yourself in a mirror, you smile—for once, not everything is the same.
Take on a home-improvement project, as did Amanda Mull, staff writer.
The most satisfying things that I’ve done for myself in the past year have been a series of small home-improvement projects, such as swapping out my kitchen faucet for a model with a higher neck and spray nozzle. DIY projects work on several levels—they give you something new to learn, they require you to put down your phone and focus on the task in front of you, and they provide the satisfaction of solving a problem whose solution you can see and appreciate every day.

And… buy new socks.
This is sad, says Paul Bisceglio, Health, Science, and Technology editor, but even the smallest novelties help. I ordered two pairs the other week just to have something to feel excited about.

Caroline Mimbs Nyce, senior associate editor: Set micro-goals, and track your habits.
I know, I know. This seems like the kind of toothless advice that the worst person you know would offer on LinkedIn. But it works: My habit calendar guided me through a turbulent January, forcing me to take five-minute stretch breaks and get outside once aper day. Crossing my daily tasks off also helped me visualize the passing of time. 

Nora Kelly Lee, senior editor, Politics: Do a clothing-and-other-items-that-can-be-donated purge.
The pandemic is nothing if not clarifying, and one thing it’s helped me realize is that I have too much stuff. Twice this past year, I’ve gone through my belongings—clothing, books, kitchenware, decor—and separated out items for donation. Hopefully, my neighbors will find them as useful or educational or beautiful as I once did.

Volunteer, suggests Katie Martin, associate art director.
Many organizations offer creative ways to serve the community while staying safe. You can organize a contactless food drive, tutor a student over Zoom, or answer a domestic abuse hotline. I consistently find a deep sense of purpose and connection in meeting and helping my neighbors.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Raining again - still. And heavy rainfall, too. If I was a narcissist I’d see it as a direct challenge on my ability not to have my 2.5 year old request to local public works department acknowledged. The blocked culverts I’ve tried to address for almost 1,000 days are still blocked. (Prior to my getting on board, my brother tried for at least a year, too. They ignored him. Now they’re ignoring me.) 

Nor is the local city councilor is responding to my calls anymore. 

Think about it. We pay high “rates” (property tax) each month and the street pot holes only get bigger, deeper and more numerous. Add to that, neighborhood roads and street Stop signs generally not maintained. Culverts are not as common as street signs but blocked culverts create stagnant water that breed mosquitos and other pathogens as well as endanger properties along the flooding stream. Meanwhile, residents’ rates and utilities bills only increase.
Americans get a lot of flack around the world for their litigious instincts. There really is something to be said for residents’ ability to sue…
Whaddya say South Africans? Shall we get onto the litigious band wagon?

***

Resuming an obsession. It’s been months since I’ve felt the need to track the sun’s rising and setting schedule. Alas, dawn is later and later each day down here on the semi-tip of Africa. Time to begin tracking again: 

Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33 pm.

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Worldwide (Map) 

February 25 -  112,534,400 confirmed infections; 2,497,100 deaths

January 21 – 96,830,000 confirmed infections; 2,074,000 deaths
December 17 – 73,557,500 confirmed infections; 1,637,100 deaths

US (Map)
February 25 - 28,335,000 confirmed infections; 505,850 deaths 

January 21 – 24,450,000 confirmed infections; 406,100 deaths
December 17 – 16,724,775 confirmed infections; 303,900 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
February 25 -  1,507,450 confirmed infections; 49,525 deaths

January 21 – 1,370,000 confirmed infections’ 38,900 deaths
December 17 – 873,680 confirmed infections; 23,665 deaths

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

News blues…

Covid-19 can mess with your sleep 

India’s rate of infection and death dropping? Or… 

***

The Lincoln Project (down but not out?) presents The “new” Republican Party  (1:20 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Quirky and cool – creatures of our planet
Magpies 
Amazing animals 
Amazing sea creatures, snakes, and insects 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday, the gardener and I loaded the “bakkie” with as much scrap metal as we could then I drove it to a local scrap metal yard. The yard I frequented last year went out of business this year and the “new” yard - more established, less “intimate.” The old yard weighed just the merchandise, the team weighed the entire vehicle – twice. I gathered the first load was iron and steel while the second was metal and “other” materials – plastic, wood, etc.
I was paid off – a measly rate but what can a gal do? - I returned home.
Scrap yards do good work (recycling metals) but one wonders how contaminated is the yard itself. And if the business pays health care costs for its workers. Hmmm.

***

February in KZN is “usually” hotter and drier than the early part of summer. Not this year. Rainfall is more copious. This is not good news since, and after 2.5 years of trying to get “someone” to clear the culverts, they are still blocked. 
Before dawn, gale force gusts and heavy rainfall hammered the house. I’m almost frightened to scan the lower garden for fear of flooding. The public / municipal department (that ought to be) responsible for public works continues their abysmal record of public no-works.
I’ll phone the local councilperson – third time - for an update. Alas, I predict he’ll say, “Haven’t they done it yet? I’ll call the person I know….”

***

My mother has two offers to purchase her house. Neither is the desired cash only offer although each offers advantages. Next Tuesday I will review both offers with my mother’s lawyer and decide which is the more advantageous.
I’m “California dreaming”: both buyers are open to negotiating an early move in. An early move in means I/we can move out – and I can return to the US.
Meanwhile, I explore potential liabilities associated with early move-in that could burden my mother.
Is that light I see at the end of the tunnel? Or is it the ominous glow of radioactivity ?

Be a flake

Remember Donald Trump's February 2020 claim about the coronavirus? That “there were only 15 cases of the coronavirus in the United States” and that those infections “within a couple of days are going to be down to close to zero”?
New York Daily News front cover page reminded him – and the world – of that this week - on the newspaper's front page. 

News blues…

When is the pandemic declared “over”?

The “end of the pandemic” means different things in different contexts. The World Health Organization first declared a “public health emergency of international concern”  on January 30, 2020, holding off on labeling it a “pandemic” until March 11.
The imposition (and rescinding) of these labels is a judgment made by WHO leadership, and one that can reflect murky, tactical considerations. Regardless of what WHO decides (and when), national governments—and individual states within the U.S. — have to make their own determinations about when and how to reopen their schools and loosen their restrictions on businesses.
Read the Biden administration 200-page comprehensive national strategy for “beating COVID-19.” 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Cutting down forests: what are the drivers of deforestation?

Since the turn of the millennium, the world has been losing around 5 million hectares of forest every year. Nearly all of this occurs in the tropics; almost half of all deforestation takes place in Brazil and Indonesia.
Three-quarters is driven by agriculture. Beef production is responsible for 41% of deforestation; palm oil and soybeans account for another 18%; and logging for paper and wood across the tropics, another 13%. These industries are also dominant in a few key countries.
Effective solutions will be focused on these agricultural activities and those countries where most deforestation occurs. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Clearing out the garage of years of rubble, some useful, most not - is one thing and, slowly but surely, I’m getting that done. Today, I plan to visit the scrap yard and try to recoup (minimal) funds for recycling metal.
Clearing out useful household goods is another thing entirely.
Many Americans, certainly San Francisco Bay Area residents, use Craigslist and garage sales to sell / recycle household items. Interested parties respond to Craigslist posts and then they show up to view/purchase/haul items away.
In South Africa? Not so much.
Far too many people respond to ads, offer to pay via EFT – before viewing items – and make firm appointments to pick up. THEN THEY NEVER SHOW UP. One simply never hears from them again. This behavior is routine and, apparently, accepted.
Is it just me or is this bizarre behavior?
It’s not just your average Joe Blow doing this. Business people do it too. Yesterday, for example, three different and disparate parties did this:

• Realtor said she’d bring current interested house buyer early in the morning – 8am – so his girlfriend could see the place.
• Online shopper phoned to say she’d come at 4pm to purchase a TV – offered at a very affordable price (so affordable that more than half a dozen people wanted it. (I opted for the first person who contacted me and make a plan to pick up. This means I still have the TV.)
• Swimming pool guy said he’d come by – “in the morning” – to check the pool filter.

Not one of those people showed up.
Realtor called – at least she did that although 2 hours after she’d been due – to say girlfriend “didn’t want to be late for work,” and that they’d come at 5:30pm. At 1pm, realtor called to say they wouldn’t come at all but would bring around “an offer tomorrow morning,” that the purchaser “didn’t want to lose the opportunity to buy.” Well, we’ll see, today, what happens on that.
Pool guy never showed up, never called. Naturally.
Excited TV purchaser never showed up, never called.
Everyone offers advice on how to circumvent dealing with these sorts of issues, but none of those solutions work either.
Now I have a perspective on why one can get nothing done in this country…. It is not just “incompetent” officials. It’s the culture itself. It’s perfectly acceptable, even expected, to be a flake.

Lockdown disorientation

Ah, the joys of lockdown. Forty-eight, going on 49, weeks.

Somehow, amid the ongoing monotony of lockdown, I lost track of days and dates. Yesterday’s post assumed it was Sunday. But it was Monday… evidenced by the gardener’s appearance to garden. After all, why would he show up to work on Sunday?
Every day, for 334 days (and counting) I’ve posted something about macro and micro aspects of the pandemic that concern this human:

• a beautiful and bountiful planet poorly managed by capitalist thinking (use it all up, suck out the wealth, ensure ROI - return on investment),
• a pandemic that, essentially, is the result of capitalist thinking shrinking and toxifying the wild places and stressing the world’s creatures,
• and the resultant zoonosis.

For 334 days,  I’ve posted about aspects of my small, personal life amid a global crisis.
How much longer can this continue?
(Impressive, indomitable Dr Fauci suggests that “we” - those of us who actually wear masks - might still be wearing them in 2022.)
Famous pirate, Long John Silver, puts things in perspective: “shiver me timbers…”

News blues…

More than half a million Americans – confirmed - dead of coronavirus.

The milestone [and magnitude] based on a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html , came just over a month after the nation's death toll passed 400,000 and as public health officials train their sights on new, more contagious coronavirus strains that have been reported in almost every state and threaten to tax already stressed local health systems.

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

***

Let’s remember how We the People got to the current toll of half a million Covid-19 deaths: 

The big lie propagated by former President Donald Trump, involving the coronavirus pandemic systematically downplayed the severity of Covid-19 and the utility of face masks. It very likely resulted in the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
To understand the genesis of this lie, remember that the coronavirus arrived in an election year. Despite a rancorous initial three years punctuated with an impeachment, the former president's path to reelection was bolstered by one unimpeachable accomplishment: a robust economy. The coronavirus threatened that. The resulting interplay between politics and the pandemic created an irresolvable conflict that influenced the Trump administration's coronavirus response for the remainder of his term. 

***

The Lincoln Project is back – at least temporarily. Let’s enjoy their humor while we still can:
Book your Mexican Getaway Now!  (1:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

A slight modification of Benjamin Franklin reported words, “A Republic, if We Can Keep It”: a bountiful planet, if we work at keeping it….

Health means many things to many people. Often it means an absence of illness, but to the World Health Organization (WHO), health does not just mean freedom from illness, but a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. This concept of well-being became translated into the language of biodiversity in a significant way through the work of the Millennium Assessment. 

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Learn about GLEWS - Global Early Warning System - for health threats and emerging risks at the human–animal–ecosystems interface. The Joint FAO–OIE–WHO project to inform prevention and control measures, through the rapid detection and risk assessment of health threats and events of potential concern at the human-animal-ecosystems interface.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Trying to sell a house during a pandemic is bad. Trying to sell a house during a pandemic in South Africa is worse. Trying to sell a house during a pandemic to South Africans is a nightmare.
I’ve shared many bleak observations about South African tradespeople who make appointments then never show up, never warn that they’ll not show up, and never apologize for either.
Similar thing happens with home buyers. They make appointment to show up at an agreed upon time then, at the last minute, change their minds and make a different appointment time.
If I had nothing else to do but sit around sipping sundowner cocktails, perhaps I’d be more understanding.
Instead, last minute changes of mind based on apparent whim force me to reset my own appointments - and appear to disrespect someone else’s schedule.
It’s madding for someone with control freak tendencies who has lived for decades in the “time is money” US to appear as flaky as other South Africans.
It’s a live and learn world….

Welcome, day of rest

© Matt Davies-Newsday and Andrews McMeel 

News blues…

Just a matter of time before third wave hits SA – so predicts Prof Salim Abdool Karim: “Based on what we have seen so far with the second wave in SA and third wave in about a dozen countries so far, it is very likely we’ll have a third wave here.”
He suggests there’s more than a 50% chance of a new variant, in which case a third wave would be “substantial. … If we only see minor mutations without significant immune escape, then the third wave may not be as severe. Our levels of naturally induced immunity from the first and second waves will play a part in this.” 

Healthy planet, anyone?

UK-centric and wonderful … see and listen to birds and bird sounds 

South African birds and their songs – challenge yourself….

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I began what feels like a daunting task: contacting the travel agency with whom I traveled here. Their over-riding response to my email queries about applying my unused funds to my return trip?

Thank you for contacting [us].Your business and feedback are very important to us. … expect a response regarding this matter within 48 hours. ! Due to the outbreak COVID-19 we are experiencing an unprecedented volume of calls and requests. This has significantly delayed our response time. Please bear with us as we work to help all of our customers during this global crisis. We thank you for your patience.

My patience is thin. This is the same response I received when I contacted them in May, 2020 due to my Covid-19-cancelled flights … and in June… and in July … and in August…. It’s the exact same message I receive now, 10 months later.
Just the idea of pursuing this agency for information and to put my refund towards my next flight is exhausting. Nevertheless, after more than a year pursuing various KZN bureaucracies, I've developed tenacity....

Weatherings

Yesterday was another stinking hot 31C summer day in KZN – and no rain to cool things down.
Gone are my “salad days” – childhood and youth in South Africa - when I hardly noticed stinking hot 31C summer day as “inclement” weather.
These days, however, the weather forecast is one of my first daily go-to apps. My heart sinks when predictions indicate temperatures in the upper 20s and higher.
I tremble as I learn more about predictions in the future of global weather and climate. 
We, the people, appear particularly unwilling (or unable?) to grapple with issues of climate, climate change, and other ecological changes. We ignore predictions and continue blithely to act as if “nothing” much will really change.

News blues…

Last summer California fought unprecedented fires. This winter, Texas faces unprecedented ice storms and deep freeze. What’s clear to anyone willing to pay attention: few are prepared for the chaos of coming climate crisis.

An analysis of US Department of Energy data published in September found weather-related power outages are up by 67% since 2000. Climate change is expected to continue fueling hotter heatwaves, more bitter winter storms and more ferocious hurricanes in the coming decades. As both California and Texas have discovered in recent years, power plants, generators and electrical lines are not designed to withstand the catastrophes to come. And all the while, the fossil fuels that both states rely on to power these faulty systems are driving the climate crisis, and hastening infrastructural collapse.
“We’re already seeing the effects of climate change,” said Sascha von Meier, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. “There will be more of this and it will get worse.” 

Related but not “officially” recognized by “elected leaders”:
The planet
Prof Sir Robert Watson is one of the UK’s most eminent environmental scientists who led the UN’s scientific organisations for climate and biodiversity, is a former chief scientific adviser at the UK’s environment department, held senior positions at Nasa and the World Bank, and worked for then-president Bill Clinton.
Upon hearing that the British government will not block a new coalmine in Cumbria (“that’s absolutely ridiculous”) Watson said with great irony, “We’re going to lead Cop26 in Glasgow, we really care about climate change…but, by the way, we won’t override the council in Cumbria, and we’ll have a new coalmine.’” He added, “You get these wonderful statements by governments and then they have an action that goes completely against [their statements].” 
Human health
Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain of bird flu has been detected for the first time among seven workers who were infected at a Russian poultry plant. In recent months, the strain has been reported in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and north Africa, but only in poultry. 

My advice to fellow humans?
Educate yourself on how to prepare for a future our “elected leaders” are unprepared to acknowledge. And build resilience, in yourself, your children, and your loved ones. We’re gonna need it.

Healthy planet, anyone?

Photo essay: Lockdown in Brighton, UK 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I’m dreaming of a … California summer….
Now that I’ve dared entertain the notion of re-entering my own life, caring for my own life tasks and my own personal business, it’s as if a spell cast over me has broken.
For more than one year, I’ve lived in my mother’s house and dealt with issues raised by her life decisions/lack of decision. It’s been a wild ride. (Remember, for example, her “faithful” domestic worker’s son threatening to kill me, shoot me, rape me - this, after he’d served 5 years of a 7-year prison sentence for rape .)
Since I daring to imagine re-entering my own life, dealing with my own taxes (deadline to file taxes in US is April 15), living on and maintaining my houseboat again, even finding short-term income-generating work, the idea of returning to California holds steady in my imagination.
Yes, there are many things to complete before I purchase an airplane ticket, and many considerations - who can I line up to visit and/or communicate with my mother while I’m away? What if she dies while I’m away? -  but do have the right and a responsibility to my own life….

***

I’m hosting potential buyers of “stuff” – water pump, welding kit, pillar drill, and lots and lots of nails, screws, electrical switches. This activity stimulates me to permit myself actually to buy a ticket, get on an airplane, and return to my own life!
Nevertheless, I tremble at how I’ll tell my mother that I’m leaving.
I’m “it” for her day-to-day visits, and her day-to-day life decisions. I’m confident that, once I’ve sold the “household stuff” and begun to implement whatever plan will deal with the house, I can accomplish remotely most of the day-to-day bill paying, etc. Rather, it is my mother’s day-to-day life that gives me pause.
Can I persuade my brother to visit twice a week? His health is such that he cannot drive anymore. He’ll need someone to drive him the 20 to 30-minute each way. I’ll pay for his petrol.
Can I persuade my nephew, my mother’s favorite person in the world, to phone her or leave WhatsApp audio message after I depart when he’s not done so in the last 10 weeks?

One of the less-alluring aspects of my mother’s personality that regularly regurgitates in my life? She selectively weeds out full disclosure and presents to others a picture of how I victimize her.
For example, yesterday, I returned a phone call my mother received from one of her acquaintances. I explained to him that she loves to hear from him but she’s unable – too weak - to respond. I asked, would he continue to call her and be prepared to talk to her yet not expect a response? He was agreeable. Then he asked me why she was still in “that place”?
Apparently, prior to her fall, she’d expressed to him how terrible the Care Center was and how much she hated it, that I’d forced her into it, fired her ultra-faithful domestic worker, taken away her dogs, abandoned her….
Sigh.
I offered an alternative view to her friend and filled in details she’d conveniently forgotten to share - himself living in a care center.
“That does sound like your mother,” he said.

Yes, elderly people feel disempowered by and resentful of their growing frailty. Ditto their dependence on others.
I sympathize. After all, “growing old is not for the squeamish….”
I’m also reconciled, after a lifetime of the same, to my mother undermining my efforts and diminishing who I am.
I’m disappointed. But the upside? I’m a functioning adult. I've learned to weather this kind of emotional betrayal and I can handle disappointment.

She’s trained me well.
Thank you, mother.

A change in the weather

Family in Texas reports its still cold near Houston but things are looking up. They're cold, but not frozen.
In this part of KZN, we're facing a 31C day. Just the thought of it exhausts.

News blues…

SA has recorded 1,500,677 cumulative cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Health minister Zweli Mkhize said in an update on Friday evening that the death toll in the country had climbed to 48,859. 
There were 151 more Covid-19 related deaths reported in the past 24-hour cycle. The deaths according to province were: Eastern Cape (12), Free State (21), Gauteng (43), KwaZulu-Natal (40), Limpopo (one), Mpumalanga (eight), North West (zero), Northern Cape (zero) and Western Cape (26).
The US, meanwhile, approaches half a million dead. The US confirmed infection rate – more than 27 million in a population of 328 million , is almost more than two thirds greater than the next highest toll, India, population 1.3 billion.

The US, meanwhile, approaches half a million dead. The US confirmed infection rate of more than 27 million in a population of 328+ million is almost more than two thirds greater than the next highest toll, India, population 1.36 billion.

***

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel nails Texas Senator Ted Cruz who fled the weather disaster in his state…  (9:00 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

“… in the US, recent research has revealed, that global heating harms Black and Latino children before they are even born, as well as in the first years of their lives.

The analysis of dozens of medical studies found women of color, particularly Black women, and their babies are most likely to suffer low birth weights, pre-term births and stillbirths from climate-driven threats. Hot temperatures can cause strain upon women and their unborn children, while heat can also react with pollutants from cars and power plants to create ozone, a ground-level pollutant that can cause an array of health problems.
“This pollution cause placental inflammation and affects the baby,” said Pacheco. “This can cause impacts in childhood but also bad outcomes when they are adults, such as heart and kidney disease. Even what we would consider limited exposures can affect the development of the baby.”
The climate crisis is shaping the lives of Black children and children of color before they take their first breath, but it doesn’t stop there. Once a Black or Latino child is born, there is a good chance they will live in a neighborhood that gets even hotter than nearby, whiter suburbs. Researchers have found that in US cities including New York, Dallas and Miami, poorer areas with more residents of color can be get up to 20F hotter in summer than wealthier, whiter districts in the same city. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

More and more people I know in the US have been or are in the process of being vaccinated. Hooray!
I’d like to be vaccinated but that’s not the reason I’m beginning to plan my return to California. 

I must return – soon – to take care of many outstanding business and tax-related issues. 

I’m considering travelling early April even as I grapple with how to ensure my mother’s continued well-being and how to manage the house and domestic workers if the house has not sold. And how to manage the sale from a distance when the house finally sells.
My mother was tracking well when I saw her yesterday. Both her eyes open and she continues to try to communicate.
The Care Center has ended the regime of spraying the facility against coronavirus. That’s good news for residents – and visitors – who had to escape the building for the duration.

Another day under lockdown

The beginning of week 48. In 32 more days, South Africans will have spent one year under some form of lockdown.
A silly joke:
     Time flies like the wind
     Fruit flies like bananas….

News blues…

(c) Covid-19 dashboard

  
Vaccination rollout begins in SA 
US state by state vaccination rollout 

***

Healthy planet, anyone?

New ideas and innovations in the fight against microplastics:

Microplastics have been found in rain, Arctic ice cores, inside the fish we eat, as well as in fruit and vegetables. New research suggests 136,000 tons of microplastics are ejected from the ocean each year, ending up in the air we breathe. They are in human placentas, our wastewater, and our drinking water. All plastic waste, regardless of size, is detrimental to the environment, but microplastics pose a special challenge given their minuscule size (some are 150 times smaller than a human hair) and ability to enter the food chain.

Read, “Magnets, vacuums and tiny nets: the new fight against microplastics” >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

One of the pleasures of this time of year in KZN – late summer – is the blossoming coral shrub in the garden. The shrub variety sprawls so I trim back the thorny limbs and cut off the blossoms to display in my bedroom. 
More than 100 species of Erythrina trees and shrubs  – aka coral– aka lucky bean tree, gewone koraalboom (Afrikaans) umsinsi (Zulu) – grow around the world.

A decorative tree, it is also an important ecosystem component, providing food and shelter for a variety of birds, animals and insects. Many birds and insects feed on the nectar. Vervet monkeys eat the flower buds. Kudu, klipspringer, black rhino and baboons graze on the leaves. Black rhinos, elephants and baboons eat the bark. Bush pigs eat the roots, and the brown-headed parrot eats and disperses the seed. Birds such as barbets and woodpeckers nest in the trunks of dead trees, and swarms of bees often inhabit hollow trunks. Erythrina lysistemon is also widely used and enjoyed by mankind. They have been regarded as royal trees, and were planted on the graves of Zulu chiefs. They were planted as living fences around kraals, homesteads and waterholes.
As the photo shows, it produces stunning flowers. It also produces pea-like pods that twist into sculptural shapes to eject the black and red seeds. 
I gather both pods and seeds and sprinkle them with scented oils to create aromatic mini sculptures.

***

My mother, still weak, was nevertheless brighter yesterday during my visit. She follows what I’m saying – updates on the dogs and the (slow but steady) trickle of potential house buyers (no firm offers yet) – but still cannot clearly articulate her comments.

Crazy daddio!

Worldwide (Map) 
February 2021 - 109,885,600 confirmed infections; 2,430,000 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 92,314,000 confirmed infections; 1,977,900 deaths

US (Map)
February 2021 - 27,824,660 confirmed infections; 490,450 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 23,071,100 confirmed infections; 384,635 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
February 18, 2021 – 1,496,440 confirmed infections; 48,480 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 1,278,305 confirmed infections; 35,140 deaths

News blues…

The first batch of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines arrived in South Africa on Tuesday night. 
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) says the vaccine will be administered at 17 sites.
Some healthcare workers should receive their jabs on Wednesday.
Meanwhile,

As SA began the first phase of its Covid-19 vaccination programme, health authorities would have also been buoyed by another day where new infections and the positivity rate remained low.
Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize confirmed on Wednesday night that 2,320 new cases were recorded in 24 hours. These were from 35,413 tests, at a positivity rate of 6.55% — again well below the 10%-12% range that Mkhize has previously cited as being of concern. 

***

Despite the state of Texas presenting enormous potential for renewable energy, renewables are pooh poohed.
Texas politicians, from the governor down, pan renewable energy in favor of fossil fuel. Texas is rich in oil and natural gas – and that industry contributes massively to conservative and right-wing politicians. Together, oil and gas money and politicians have created an “independent energy supply” grid – disconnected from the nation-wide grid.
The Texas independent grid is failing, massively and publicly, during the freak snowstorms. Texas politicians, however, spin reality and constantly pump out lies that blame “windmills.”
The truth? Fossil and nuclear fuel industries failed when instrumentation froze and became inoperable. 
Moreover, for more than 10 years Texas has ignored reports that predicted power grid emergency….  (2:44 mins) 

An oldie but goodie… “Can the world run on renewable energy” from 2015 offers information and data worth reading.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Four years ago, I asked a Texas real estate agent - selling property upon which my family planned to build a house – about Texas’ installation of solar and renewable energy. Her response: “We don’t do that in this state.
Too bad, eh?

***

Yesterday turned into a rout. I wasn’t able to visit my mother due to families coming around to view the house and my continued efforts to sell tools and machinery.
The latter sets me off on another rant about apparently accepted South Africanisms: making appointments and not following through.
I took a phone call from the adult son of a friend’s landlord who is an independent contractor. He expressed interest in a welding kit and other tools for sale. We set a time for him to drop by and I texted/sms’d him the address. 

Keep in mind, despite families dropping with a view to purchase the house, cars parked willy nilly, dogs barking…I made an effort to ensure the independent contractor could easily access the garage where the tools are located and, at the appointed hour I waited. 

And waited.
He never showed.
I’d put off visiting my mother, delayed a trip to the grocery store, opened the upper security gate… and waited….
At 7:00pm that night, he texted/sms’d that he’d “forgotten”….
If there’s anything consistent in South Africa, it’s this behavior from so-called business people and South Africans in general
Do the people on the other end of the appointment – those waiting – simply ignore confirmed appointment and go about their business?
Why can’t I do that?
It would make my life a lot easier to follow suit but ….

Things that matter

News blues…

“Wearing masks, washing hands… those things matter,” says President Joe Biden. Hear! Hear! (Hear him during the first 3-plus minutes of this interview clip) 

***

In South Africa, a new Covid wrinkle: blood donations potentially spreading the virus.

A startling statistic emerged on Friday with the publication of a report led by the SA National Blood Service and the Western Cape Blood Service.:
Almost two-thirds of Eastern Cape residents may already have had Covid-19, with antibodies picked up in blood donations done in late January. 

As Texas (where my son and his family live) faces unprecedented snow and the rest of central and eastern United States freezes, another right-wing attack on renewable energy heats up. Chris Hayes expresses his incredulity as the next battle front opens in America’s Culture Wars  (7:35 mins)

***

The world has lost one-third of its forest, but an end of deforestation is possible 

© Our World in Data 

In the above chart we see how the cover of the earth’s surface has changed over the past 10,000 years. This is shortly after the end of the last great ice age, through to the present day.
Let’s start at the top. You see that of the 14.9 billion hectares of land on the planet, only 71% of it is habitable – the other 29% is either covered by ice and glaciers, or is barren land such as deserts, salt flats, or dunes. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used.
The bar chart just below shows the earth’s surface cover just after the end of the last ice age.2 10,000 years ago 57% of the world’s habitable land was covered by forest. That’s 6 billion hectares. Today, only 4 billion hectares are left. The world has lost one-third of its forest – an area twice the size of the United States.
Only 10% of this was lost in the first half of this period, until 5,000 years ago. The global population at this time was small and growing very slowly – there were fewer than 50 million people in the world. The amount of land per person that was needed to produce enough food was not small – in fact, it was much larger than today. But a small global population overall meant there was little pressure on forests to make space for land to grow food, and as wood for energy.
If we fast-forward to 1700 when the global population had increased more than ten-fold, to 603 million. The amount of land used for agriculture – land to grow crops as well as grazing land for livestock – was expanding. You will notice in the chart that this was not only expanding into previously forested land, but also other land uses such as wild grasslands and shrubbery. Still, more than half of the world’s habitable land was forested.
The turn of the 20th century is when global forest loss reached the halfway point: half of total forest loss occurred from 8,000BC to 1900; the other half occurred in the last century alone. This emphasises two important points:

• First, it reiterates that deforestation is not a new problem: relatively small populations of the past were capable of driving a large amount of forest loss. By 1900, there were 1.65 billion people in the world (five times fewer than we have today) but for most of the previous period, humans were deforesting the world with only tens or hundreds of millions. Even with the most basic of lifestyles compared to today’s standards, the per capita footprint of our ancestors would have been large. Low agricultural productivity and a reliance on wood for fuel meant that large amounts of land had to be cleared for basic provisions.
• Second, it makes clear how much deforestation accelerated over the last century. In just over 100 years the world lost as much forest as it had in the previous 9,000 years. An area the size of the United States. From the chart we see that this was driven by the continued expansion of land for agriculture. By 1950, there was almost as much agricultural land as forest – 43% of habitable land. By 2018, this had increased to 46% while forests shrank to 38%. When we think of the growing pressures on land from modern populations we often picture sprawling megacities. But urban land accounts for just 1% of global habitable land. Humanity’s biggest footprint is due to what we eat, not where we live.

Read “The world has lost one-third of its forest, but an end of deforestation is possible ” >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

And… after yet another potential house buyer decided against buying, yet another potential buyer will visit today.
Hope springs eternal...
I’m reduced to wild imaginings and “what ifs”: what if this place never sells (at a reasonable price)? What if I can never return to California? What if I’m stuck living someone else’s life (my mother’s)?
On the plus side, a friend shared two WhatsApp local sales groups with me. A seller places photos and details of a sales item – one per WhatsApp message – on the message board and interested buyers make offers. 
It might work.
I’ll give it a try.

Short and (somewhat) sweet

News blues…

New infection rates slowly drop in many US states and the new administration’s doubling down on insisting Americans wear masks and practice social distancing is paying off.

But with only 4% of the US population fully vaccinated, experts say Americans must continue safety precautions at full force to prevent highly contagious variants from undoing all the progress. 

Not only does the US have the highest rates of Covid infections and deaths in the world, its experiencing political turmoil and, now, devastating weather with an unprecedented cold front and snow. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The potential buyer of my mother’s house – the one who’d signed the papers but asked for the weekend to think things over – dropped out. Despite his soon-to-wed son wanting the house, his dad – the money guy – said he “couldn’t see his kids running up and down the many steps.” There are “many steps” – the house is built on a slope and has three levels – and I can see his point. Disappointing, nevertheless. So, back to the “for sale” notice boards.

© Gary Larsen, the Far Side

I continue sorting through items stored in the garage: thousands of assorted nails, screws, hooks, and who-knows-whats, dozens of assorted electrical switches and fitting, scores of tools from hammers, screwdrivers, rasps, drill bits, many light fittings, plus a heavy duty “pillar drill”, a welding kit replete with acetylene and oxygen tanks and 2-wheel pushcart.
Big question: how to sell these items?
A major drawback to selling is my lack of familiarity with how things are done here. I have few contacts, little experience, and I’m a woman in a misogynist society.
I could sell online with Gumtree (SA’s version of Craigslist), but based on my thwarted experience trying to purchase a ceramic kiln I hold little faith in this venue. Buyers enquire from some impractical far-flung regions - Cape Town, or Pretoria, or Oudtshoorn, or Mtubatuba….(One potential buyer of a patio heater enquired from Birmingham, UK.) Or interested local buyers will make an appointment to view items then never show up. (Alas, a common South Africanism.)
I consulted with a friend about hosting an American-style garage sale. Her advice? Hire a couple of security guards to ensure my overall physical safety and protect myself and others from Covid by providing and enforcing the use of hand sanitizers, masks, etc.
Physical safety goes beyond the day-long sales period. It include recognizing potential thieves targeting the house for further “investigation.” This house has CCTV-style cameras and laser beams, but determined house thieves easily bypass safety measures.

***

Yesterday’s visit with my mother was short. By the time her physical needs were taken care of, she was exhausted and fell to sleep.

Admiration abounds

I’m one of those artists  sorely lacking in mathematical skills and somewhat lacking in ability to retain scientific facts.
I accept my mathematical realities.
Attempts at improving my basic scientific knowledge always culminates in my profound admiration for scientists and science.
Science is not a panacea for all of life’s ills but it adds a compelling dimension. 

News blues…

The virus is evolving, but the antibodies that fight it can change, too.

To locate some of the world’s most superpowered cells, look no further than the human immune system. The mission of these hometown heroes is threefold: Memorize the features of dangerous microbes that breach the body’s barriers. Launch an attack to bring them to heel. Then squirrel away intel to quash future assaults.
…The immune system is comprehensive, capable of dueling with just about every microbe it meets. It’s archival, ace at memorizing the details of its victories and defeats. It might be complicated, but it is also, simply put, cool as hell.

Read “The Body Is Far From Helpless Against Coronavirus Variants” >> 

Side effects from the second Covid-19 vaccine are just a sign that protection is kicking in as it should.

When hit with the second injection, the immune system recognizes the onslaught, and starts to take it even more seriously. The body’s encore act, uncomfortable though it might be, is evidence that the immune system is solidifying its defenses against the virus.
“By the second vaccine, it’s already amped up and ready to go,” said Jasmine Marcelin, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Fortunately, side effects resolve quickly, whereas COVID-19 can bring on debilitating, months-long symptoms and has killed more than 2 million people.

Read “The Second COVID-19 Shot Is a Rude Reawakening for Immune Cells” 

FYI: The Atlantic Monthly, usually subscription based, offers free coronavirus coverage to any and all readers. Catch up on solid investigation and writing >> 

***

WHO Wuhan mission finds possible signs of wider original outbreak in 2019. 

Investigators from the World Health Organization (WHO) looking into the origins of coronavirus in China have discovered signs the outbreak was much wider in Wuhan in December 2019 than previously thought, and are urgently seeking access to hundreds of thousands of blood samples from the city that China has not so far let them examine.
The lead investigator for the WHO mission, Peter Ben Embarek, told CNN in a wide-ranging interview that the mission had found several signs of the more wide-ranging 2019 spread, including establishing for the first time there were over a dozen strains of the virus in Wuhan already in December. The team also had a chance to speak to the first patient Chinese officials said had been infected, an office worker in his 40s, with no travel history of note, reported infected on December 8.

***

Profanity alert! Yes, Corey Ryan Forrester uses “hardcore” language to express his frustrated opinion  but listen to him anyway. And, if, essentially, you agree with him, speak up and speak out in your state, town, and neighborhood (minus the profanity)….

 
Another way of thinking about at it (and an opportunity to examine your own assumptions and actions): “History Will Judge the Complicit. Why have Republican leaders abandoned their principles in support of an immoral and dangerous president?” 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Around the world, coastal waters are steadily growing darker. This darkening—a change in the water’s color and clarity—has the potential to cause huge problems for oceans and their inhabitants.
“It’s affecting the quality of the sea we know,” says Oliver Zielinski, who runs the Coastal Ocean Darkening project  at the University of Oldenburg in Germany. These “changes in the physics will lead to biological changes,” he adds.
Some of the causes behind ocean darkening are well understood: Fertilizer might enter the water and cause an algal bloom, or boats might stir up light-blocking silt. But other causes are murkier. During heavy rains, for instance, organic matter—primarily from decaying plants and loose soil—can enter oceans as a brown, light-blocking slurry. This process is well documented in rivers and lakes, but has largely been overlooked in coastal areas.

Read “Coastal Darkening Is a Hidden Environmental Nuisance"  >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

We’re heading towards one year of lockdown in South Africa. Initially, I’d planned to create a day-by-day record how South Africans in my small part of the country acted and reacted to the unfolding pandemic. I’d overlooked the reality: that I’d have to expose myself to contracting the virus to do that. Instead, I’ve focused on the obstacles I face daily in creating a safer environment for my 87-year-old mother under pandemic conditions. Today, at Lockdown Level 2, South Africans wear masks and sanitize on entering stores, but it appears much else is business as usual.
Biz as usual can’t be true for people having to work or to find work.
The range of experiences in that category - “people having to work or find work” - however, is enormous.
I had a small view of that yesterday when I young man arrived at the security gate. He carried what South Africans call a “bush cutter” (Americans call it a “weed whacker”).
Our gardener has been too weak, post illness, to cull the over-human-height weeds outside the house. This, while we’re trying to sell my mother’s house, gives a bad first impression: no “curb appeal.”
I negotiated with the bush cutter-wielding man through the gate and we agreed upon a price and the extent of work.
I also asked if he had water to drink. He said he had nothing – to drink or to eat.
I asked our domestic worker to make him a serving of sandwiches and a drink.
She went a step further and offered him lunch, too. I’d assumed the cutting wouldn’t require him staying around until lunch time but … his choice.
After finishing the cutting and his lunch, he set off to seek further work.
I learned later that he’d travelled more than 15 kilometers, from a more upscale neighborhood to seek work here. How did he travel? Who knows? Taxi? Bus? Ride with a friend?
Life for most young South Africans is hard.
Imagine having to stalk various neighborhood carrying a bush cutter– and fuel to run it - and offer your services through well-defended security gates. “Hit or miss” trivializes a day-to-day reality and doesn’t begin to cover the stress of such a life.
Moreover, under “normal” conditions, that is, our gardener being healthy, I’d have rebuffed this young man’s offer of service.
It’s sobering to think of him trying his best, day after day after day, to make enough money to eat, seek work, and fuel his bush cutter.

***

Hoping to find her less tired, I visited my mother during the 3pm – 4pm visitor slot. Alas, she was just as tired, if not more so, during that time. I asked if she’d like me to bring photos of the good old days: Bobby the dog, Jacko the pet monkey, Teaser, Squibs, Gypsy, Robin, Janet the horses…. She nodded.
As has been said before by people far wiser than I: Old age is not for the squeamish.