Sigh. Trying times.

News blues…

More crazy ‘Mericans… (2:10 mins)

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

Healthy futures, anyone?

Human inability to deal with our garbage/rubbish/waste/trash.
Perhaps it’s the lack of one shared and collective term, but we humans show a remarkable inability to deal with our waste, from biological (poop, pee, blood, body parts….) to throw away packaging and toxic waste from generating energy.
Did you know:

• 12 human visitors to the moon left behind “96 bags of poo, urine, and vomit” and other trash
• Encounters with and trips to the moon make it a junkyard of more than 200 tonnes/tons of debris, from space hardware to golfballs….
• Our oceans are flooded with chemicals – from use and over use of fertilizers on farms with chemical runoff into waterways that ultimately flow into the ocean – and trash from human activities… .
• The continent of Antarctica, too, is a human litter zone. “Half-operational and deserted stations are scattered around the continent, some still inhabitable, others lost to extreme conditions, and a number left standing to solidify geopolitical claims to land, fishing rights, and minerals. These abandoned … “ghost” stations are a physical manifestation of the passion for this harsh land—a drive to both understand and dominate it—that has ultimately begun to destroy it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Gearing up for sweltering 32C temperatures today with more of the same running around associated with trying to make life plans for my mother – and myself.
A potential house purchaser who’d dropped out last week is back this week – now with money in his pocket. We shall see.

***

Days getting shorter, nightfall happening earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 10: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:22pm.

Riding the waves

News blues…

Third wave South Africa:

Over the past year, SA has been ravaged by Covid-19. To date, more than 1.5 million cases and more than 50,000 deaths have been confirmed. The true number of cases is likely to be more than 10 million, and we know that unexplained deaths, most of which are due to Covid-19, sit well above 100,000. With ongoing community transmission and subsequent error-prone viral replication, new variants of SARS-CoV-2 will probably emerge and may favour further transmission.
None of us knows when the third wave will hit, but most of us in public health and science believe our Covid-19 vaccination roll-out will not be quick enough to prevent this, nor subsequent waves.
Read more >>

Third wave United States:

The next two months could determine whether the US will experience another surge in coronavirus cases, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After months of devastation, steep decreases have been reported in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. More people are getting vaccinated, and the government on Monday released guidance on safe activities for fully vaccinated people.
But now infection numbers have plateaued at very high levels -- with the US averaging 60,000 new cases daily in the past week. Multiple governors have eased safety measures despite health officials' warnings. Spring break events are kicking off across the country, threatening the potential for further spread of the virus.
Read more >>

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The Care Center in which my mother currently resides caters to a large population and, by default, must engage what I’d call “institutional care” rather than “intimate care.”
I'd polled many facilities in the region before taking her there to evaluate the place as one that might meet her needs. Her biggest need: ability to keep her dog, Jessica. 

In addition to meeting that need, my mother agreed it was “a nice place” and that, yes, she’d move in.
Now that she no longer has the dog (it is back at her house, with me), I’m considering placing her in a smaller, more intimate facility.
I’m polling various medical and geriatric experts and friends and acquaintances to gather info on the feasibility of moving her, 87 years old and recently traumatized by surgery and anesthetic.
I’m also evaluating the feasibility of bringing her back to her home.
If the house does not sell soon (on the market almost 6 months) I’d consider hiring home-based care. This is actually not as expensive as her current care. In fact, on paper, this solution may be more financially feasible than keeping her in the Care Center. And offers far greater advantages to her spirit and her psychological and emotional health.
I’m now polling experts on this possibility, too. After all, when she “passes” (aka “dies”) she’d pass far happier in her own bed, her own house, and surrounded by her own, faithful dogs.
I know, I know: sounds crazy.
But the overall situation is crazy.
If I receive a serious offer to purchase the house - not a suspensive sale offer, I’d sell in a heartbeat. Moving her to a more intimate environment, after that, is still an option.
Tomorrow, March 10, was my arbitrary D-Day, the date I planned to make a “final” decision on future direction if no acceptable purchase offer had been made.
To date, no acceptable purchase offer has been made.
An “interested party” – husband and wife – viewed the place yesterday and, according to the realtor, “are very interested.”
Alas, even as I write this, the realtor is undergoing unexpected surgery. She’ll take the next several days to recover from the immediate effects of surgery then two weeks away from the office to regain her strength – although she plans, in the interim, to “work from home.”
So, despite best intentions, even if the interested party makes a feasible offer, fate will slip my arbitrary D-Day date.
Murphy’s Law: “What can go wrong, will go wrong….”

***

Days getting shorter, nightfall happening earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.

Pithy

News blues…

Numbers of active Covid infections in South Africa appear to be dropping. For the first time since June last year, SA's active Covid-19 infections are just below 30,000.
With new infections decline – 862, and 31 deaths – in the past 24 hours, are we on an upswing? Or is this the ebb before the next wave?
Play it safe: masks, social distance, vigilance, and stay home.

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

***

Weird-isms for the times
Never were truer words uttered by “flip flopper” Senator Lindsey Graham who expresses a desire to “harness the [Trump] magic. There's a dark side and there's some magic there. To me, Donald Trump is sort of a cross between Jesse Helms [religious bigot], Ronald Reagan [conservatives’ golden idol] and P.T. Barnum [circus impresario].” https://www.rawstory.com/lindsey-graham-harness-donald-trump/
This is the same Lindsey Graham who said of Trump in 2015, “He’s a race baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot…” 
These days, Graham is Trump’s bestie BFF and golf partner. “"Donald Trump was my friend before the riot…and nd I'm trying to keep a relationship with him after the riot. Uh, I still consider him a friend. “
As ‘they’ say, “politics makes strange bedfellows”… and these guys are strange.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Short and sweet posting today as I’m off and running early.
First meeting with matron of Care Center to review my mother’s situation. My original thinking, before she agreed to move into that facility was, number 1: they are the only place in town that accepted her with a dog. Plus, the location is gorgeous with wandering wild zebra, warthog, impala, blesbok, etc., passing right outside her bedroom window.
I’m also meeting with the manager of a smaller, more intimate care center to understand what it might offer my mother – all the while holding the reality that my 87-year-old mother is very frail and would be further disoriented by another move.

***

Days getting shorter, nightfall earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 6: sunrise 5:53am; sunset 6:25pm.
March 7: sunrise 5:54am; sunset 6:24pm.
March 8: sunrise 5:54am; sunset 6:22pm.

Business as usual, cont'd...

News blues…

A Tweet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC - finds that state-issued mask requirements are associated with the slowing of COVID-19 cases and deaths. “Wearing a well-fitting mask consistently and correctly is one of the best ways we can protect ourselves and each other. “
On the heels of Texas and Mississippi lifting their statewide mask mandates and ditching other coronavirus safety measures, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report suggesting states should be doing the complete opposite to Texas and Mississippi.
The study closely examined COVID-19 cases, as well as hospitalization and death rates across the country, and – surprise! - found that mask mandates were associated with reductions in those figures, while on-site dining was associated with increases.

From March 1 to Dec. 31 of last year public mask mandates were associated with a 0.5 percentage point decrease in the daily growth rate of cases up to 20 days after the rule was put into place, the study found. Those reductions increased over time, shooting up to 1.8 percentage points 100 days after implementing the mask mandate.
Rules allowing for restaurant dining, meanwhile, were associated with a 0.9 percentage point increase after 60 days of greenlighting that activity. That figure jumped to 1.2 percentage points after 80 days. The study, however, did not differentiate between indoor or outdoor dining, the latter of which infectious disease experts say is much safer than the former.

• CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a recent press briefing, “I am really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19.” 
• Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said that it is a mistake to relax coronavirus restrictions when more contagious and possibly more dangerous virus variants are circulating in the US. He warned, “We're walking into the mouth of the monster.“  
• Dr. Anthony Fauci said the US shouldn't ease restrictions in place to prevent Covid-19 before the number of new coronavirus cases falls below 10,000 daily, "and maybe even considerably less than that…." He added that the country should pull restrictions gradually, after a substantial portion of Americans are vaccinated.
  The last time the US saw fewer than 10,000 new daily cases was almost a year ago, on March 22, 2020. The number hasn't fallen below 50,000 daily cases since mid-October, and the seven-day average on Wednesday was more than 64,000. 

Will Americans listen?
Some will. Some will not.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is listening. He signed an executive order once again extending the requirement that most people in Colorado “wear a medical or non-medical face covering” … for another 30 days. 

The following US states and territories have mask mandates:
Alabama | American Samoa | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | District of Columbia | Guam | Hawaii | Illinois | Indiana | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | Ohio |Oregon | Pennsylvania | Puerto Rico | Rhode Island | Texas | U.S. Virgin Islands | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming The following US states and territories do not have mask mandates:
Alaska | Arizona | Florida | Georgia | Idaho | Iowa | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | North Dakota | Northern Mariana Islands | Oklahoma | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee
Details on each state’s mandate >>

Choose your summer vacation spot with care and an eye toward health.

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

Healthy planet, anyone?

To address and inform the public about how corporate and ideological interests spread disinformation across the US, and use their influence to try to stop climate action, the Guardian is partnering with Floodlight , a nonprofit environmental news collaborative partnering with local journalists.
Floodlight’s debut story  investigates how the gas industry is fighting to weaken the climate ambitions of two Texas cities: Austin and San Antonio.

***

Cyclone Winston devastated vital coral colonies off Fiji, but four years on, the reefs are alive again, teeming with fish and colour 

***

Photo essay: the week in wildlife 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday’s cooler weather allowed me to wheel my mother on a long-awaited trip outside the Care Center. We didn’t go far and, hunched as she is now, I’m not sure how much of the local flora she saw, but it made a welcome change for her. I’ll do it again today, but this time I’ll pad her with cushions to prop her up and prevent her slumping in the wheelchair.
I’m concerned about her swollen and painful right hand. She’d complained last week that her hand was sore and, as I massaged tight tendons in her palm near both pinky fingers, I’d encouraged her to flex her hands frequently. That hasn’t helped.
No red spots on her hand indicate insect bites or infection and she has no discernable bruising; puzzling.

***

House sale, ongoing: neighbors who have lived on this street for 30 years, indicated interest in viewing the house after the end of the sole mandate period. They prefer to make an offer free of an agent’s commission.
Yesterday, I showed them around the property. I discerned references to yet another suspensive sale. This relies on the seller assuming the loan while the buyer pays it off over an agreed period.
I’d refused a suspensive sale last week (the buyer tried a classic bait and switch) and informed real estate agents, “no more offers for suspensive sales – I’m not interested.”
Turns out this is likely the neighbor’s tack, too. I’ll refuse his offer, too - albeit with reluctance.

 
After more than a year living here, I’ve learned a thing or two about this country.
For one thing, I despair of what I call the country’s “reverse development” mentality: very little effort put toward educating workers about the benefits of high-quality work product. Planning is an alien concept as it what defines quality and/or a job well done. This means people work without a plan, or supervision, or quality controls, and or consequences for failing to perform adequately.

***

Days getting shorter, nightfall happening earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 6: sunrise 5:53am; sunset 6:25pm.
March 7: sunrise 5:54am; sunset 6:24pm.

Human hearts?

News blues…

One might despair of the lack of … humanity … humans display - and the seeming abundance of corruption lurking in the human head/heart.
Goings on during a global pandemic display a host of humanities worst “shadow” characteristics - more than enough to give some human hearts heart burn:

• Amid many other cases of corruption – SA health minister Mkhize and close associates have allegedly benefited from COVID-19 tenders that the Department of Health had issued at more than R82-million. 
• Despite recommendations from the US CDC for a combination of evidence-based strategies to reduce transmission of COVID-19, US politicians recommend the opposite 
• Significant amounts of fake vaccine have been uncovered in at least two countries – South Africa and China  – 
• Investigation uncovers countries “either less than transparent or in denial about the scale of the [Covid-19] problem” hide pandemic data. 

Take heart though. Some countries are doing well with vaccinations.

The next challenge is finding humane ways to share vaccines across borders, continents, and hemispheres.
From a recent policy paper published in The Lancet:

The COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to end until there is global roll-out of vaccines that protect against severe disease and preferably drive herd immunity. Regulators in numerous countries have authorised or approved COVID-19 vaccines for human use, with more expected to be licensed in 2021. Yet having licensed vaccines is not enough to achieve global control of COVID-19: they also need to be produced at scale, priced affordably, allocated globally so that they are available where needed, and widely deployed in local communities. In this Health Policy paper, we review potential challenges to success in each of these dimensions and discuss policy implications.

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

***

Remember The Lincoln Project? Here's another obituary...  (5:27 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

As countries locked down to control the rapid spread of Covid-19 and consequently reduced human mobility (‘anthropause’) — a unique opportunity emerged to gather far reaching insights into human–wildlife interactions in the twenty-first century.
Anecdotal observations indicate that many animal species are enjoying the newly afforded peace and quiet, while others, surprisingly, seem to have come under increased pressure.
Nature ecology and evolution’s addresses findings: “COVID-19 lockdown allows researchers to quantify the effects of human activity on wildlife” to review this ‘anthropause’. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I continue to run around in a tizzy - like a chicken without a head, or feathers, or chicken feet. (Cultural humor: bagsful of chicken feet are a popular food item in the refrigerator section of most South African grocery stores. Where do so many feet they come from? I assume from people like me running around in a tizzy….)
Yesterday I:

• went to the dentist. (South Africans complain about the “exorbitant expense” of dentistry. Yet, American dentistry is far more expensive. In the US, one x-ray, or a cleaning, costs far more than what I paid for two fillings.)
• met with my mother’s financial adviser and was provided further perspectives on possible directions to protect my mother and her future.
• met with a real estate management company to gather information on the potential for renting my mother’s house – since no sale is imminent.
• talked on the phone with the matron of two other care centers to gauge the feasibility of moving my mother away from the current center. (The latest eye-opening action? Someone decided to cut my mother’s hair. I know my mother would not have consented as her long, thick hair is her most prized vanity. Now, she’s lost not only her dog (the primary reason I’d placed her in that facility was because they agreed to take her dog), she’s also deprived of self-agency and her dignity.)
• met with the real estate agent that I trust more than any other and, to stimulate a purchase, lowered the house’s asking price, and phoned our neighbor who, during the house’s sole mandate period, showed interest in viewing/purchasing the house. He will view the house today. (A businessman, he intimated he’d pay cash although would not involve a real estate agent (to avoid the 6% commission). Yes, that requires extra vigilance, but I have a plan….)

It’s a busy time.
The best news? My California-based daughter’s recent vaccination against Covid allows her to consider visiting me. Yes, I worry about international travel and the potential for further exposure to the virus, but oh, she’d be so welcome.

***

With daylight savings time approaching in the US, my season-watch obsession continues:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 6: sunrise 5:53am; sunset 6:25pm.

One year of Covid

© Mike Lukovich

News blues…

What’s up with them crazy ‘Mericans, anyway?

According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Kansas... the 24 counties with mandatory mask mandates saw an overall decrease in COVID-19 cases, while the 81 counties that opted out of the mask mandate continued to see increases in cases.

Today, despite warnings from experts across the nation, the trend is for “red states” (predominantly Republican-dominated states), always resistant to mask-wearing, push against continuing mask mandates.
Dr Fauci’s warning on governors deciding to ease coronavirus restrictions, even completely lifting mask mandates, amid the pandemic. (3:35 mins)

***

In South Africa, after a year of Covid, some sobering and not-so-sombre facts on the pandemic:

• The first Covid-19 case was recorded on March 5 2020. The patient was a 38-year-old male who had travelled to Italy with his wife as part of a group of 10 people who had arrived in the country four days earlier.
• On March 28, the health ministry announced the first Covid-related death. On January 13 2021 the country recorded its highest death toll in a single day - clocking in 806 new Covid-19 related deaths in 24 hours.

More facts on this topic. 

South Africa’s year of Covid in pictures 

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

Healthy planet, anyone?

(c) Our World in Data

Disclaimer:

I spent my adolescence, teenage years, and early adulthood, first, as a fruitarian then as a vegetarian. Oddly, when in South Africa, I occasionally eat chicken and, about once every two months or more infrequently, lamb chops. This year, under lockdown, I’ve eaten more lamb chops – about 8 - than I’ve ever eaten in my life.
I never eat pork. (A favorite childhood activity was watching – “helping” – staff clean then butcher and segment pigs grown and slaughtered on “the farm.” I was fascinated by the view of pigs’ interiors but eat them? No way..)
I seldom eat beef and, when I do, it’s usually while in South Africa.
Seldom eating meat presents an opportunity to notice the impact meat has on digestive system and my wellbeing when I do eat it.
I do not suffer digestive maladies. I notice a meat-based meal staves off hunger longer than a plant/cereal-based meal.
For me, an occasional meat-based meal likely is positive for my overall health. (Feel free to disagree. Healthy disagreement fosters enlightenment.)

 
With that disclaimer out of the way, Our World in Data presents fascinating information on the impacts, real and potential, of how adopting a plant-based diet could reduce global agricultural land use – from 4 billion to 1 billion hectares  (a size comparable to the entire United States and Brazil).
If you are a regular meat eater, how would you feel about adopting a predominantly plant/cereal-based diet?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

As of today, all, even the wishy-washy, property deals concerning the sale of my mother’s house are off the table. I’m back at square one.
It is worrisome, particularly as my mother’s care expenses have escalated alarmingly over the last weeks: health insurance increased by more than R1,500/ month; Care Center rate increased by more than R3,500/ month. Running two households on one fixed income is no longer feasible.
I continue to seek advice from an assortment of professionals: other care providers, realtors, lawyers, and, today, I meet with my mother’s financial advisor.

***

A good day to obsess about the sun’s trajectory as autumn/”fall” approaches:
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 my iPhone 6SE. (Curse you, Apple! LOL!) March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 3: sunrise 5:51am; sunset 6:28pm.
March 4: sunrise 5:52am; sunset 6:26pm.

On the cusp of Week 50

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new week on some level of Lockdown – and Week 50. In two more weeks, South Africans will have endured a year of Lockdown.
Vasbyt, mense!

The numbers of confirmed infection and death continues to rise:
Worldwide (Map) 
March 4 – 115,175,000 confirmed infections; 2,600,000 deaths
February 4 – 104,367,000 confirmed infections; 2,268,000 deaths
December 31 – 82,656000 confirmed infections; 1,8040100 deaths

US (Map) 
March 4 – 28,770,000 confirmed infections; 518,400 deaths
February 4 – 26,555,000 confirmed infections; 450,680 deaths
December 31 – 19,737,200 confirmed infections; 342,260 deaths

SA (Tracker)  
March 4 – 1,516,265 confirmed infections; 50,366 deaths
February 4 – 1,463,016 confirmed infections; 45,344 deaths
December 31 – 1,039,165 confirmed infections; 28,035 deaths

Graphic: Pieter van der Merwe – Source: Dept of Health 

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

News blues…

A landmark report from the World Obesity Federation prompts calls for governments to urgently tackle obesity, and prioritize overweight people for vaccinations. The report reveals countries with high levels of overweight people, such as the UK and the US, have the highest death rates from Covid-19.
World’s highest Covid death rates are in countries with majority-overweight populations. 

***

Prof Tulio de Oliveira of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Informatics and Sequencing Programme (KRISP) revealed, during a virtual media briefing on the latest scientific results on the Covid-19 variant, that those infected with 501Y.V2 (discovered in December) may have immunity against reinfection.

“… One thing that we see from these new results is that the plasma collected from people infected with the variant have good neutralising activity against itself as well as the first wave virus, but actually other variants of concern.
“What it means is that people infected may have immunity against the variant and other lineages but it also means that we know that immunity can decrease over time … in no way are we saying that these people should not vaccinate…” 

***

Police in China and South Africa have seized thousands of fake doses of Covid-19 jabs, global police organisation Interpol said on Wednesday, warning this represented only the “tip of the iceberg” in vaccine-related crime, AFP reports.

The Lyon-based Interpol said 400 vials - equivalent to around 2,400 doses - containing the fake vaccine were found at a warehouse in Germiston outside Johannesburg in South Africa, where officers also recovered fake masks and arrested three Chinese and a Zambian national.
In China, police successfully identified a network selling counterfeit Covid-19 vaccines in an investigation supported by Interpol which has 194 member countries, it said.
They raided the manufacturing premises, resulting in the arrest of some 80 suspects and seized more than 3,000 fake vaccines on the scene.

***

Healthy planet, anyone?

Use lockdown to entertain and educate about our amazing planet. A quick browse of what Netflix offers for “your edification and your delight”:

• Our Planet
• A Life on Our Planet
• Absurd planet
• Night on Earth Tiny Creatures
• Dancing of the Birds

Don’t have Netflix? Presupposing you have access to Internet, a quick browse of what You Tube offers:

• Our Planet series (Frozen Worlds, Coastal Seas, High Seas, Jungles, Fresh Water, From Deserts to Grasslands, etc.)
• The Story of Earth and Life
• The Whole History of Earth and Life
• The Earth in 2050

… and the shows go on….

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The culvert curse cont’d:
Yesterday morning I was excited to see a backhoe arrive  and the prospect of cleared debris from two culverts. I imagined the culverts magically appearing and one long, happy tributary flowing unimpeded into the Umngeni River.
Alas, not so fast! That dream is dashed.
Behold! The results of March 3, 2021 culvert clearing… (compare to photos through the last 3 years...)

 Shows house side of road with 2 culverts
(compare to photos taken over the last 3 years...)

House side of stream with water receding due to partially cleared culvert 1 

Environmental damage as byproduct....

Culvert 1 still 80 percent blocked but at least water can flow through 20 percent now cleared.
Culvert 2 (circled in red) should be visible to the right of culvert 1. It has, however, been completely blocked with debris. No one would ever know that debris hides a culvert.
Archaeologists in 1000 years MIGHT find it again but it’s lost to your “average” South African!

Backhoe residue.

I imagine history will repeat and, in 5 more years, more maintenance will be required. 

What to say? 

This is the result of NO PLAN and an ad hoc just in time response. 

NO supervision. 

N0 post-work review. 

NO consequences for shoddy work.
I’m sorely disappointed - and demoralized.
Moreover, I pay “rates” (“property taxes”) for such slovenly results.
The silver lining?
I’ve been worried for 3 months about when I get my first “rates” bill for my new home. I’ve heard it can “take months” and that, eventually, I’d likely have to approach the over-crowded Municipality (and run the risk of Covid infection). Waiting for the bill, however, could mean months of ever-increasing debt – plus interest and penalties – culminating with a suddenly-due bill of accumulated debt. By the time the bill arrived I’d be over my head in debt.
Moreover, in what form would the rates bill arrive? In the post? But SA post office is moribund if not totally dead. (I've not seen my mother's water bill for 4 months; I pay an amount each month that may, or may not, have a basis in reality. Who knows what the actual debit - or credit - is?)
Seeking my rates bill, I’ve been regularly dropping by my post box in the Body Corporate (“HOA”) office.
Yesterday: No rates bill. Indeed, no post at all.

Then, returned to my mother’s house, I checked my email and – astonishingly - two rates bills resided in my email in-box. 

One was for my mother. One was for me: was my rates bill. Some enterprising official had reviewed the transfer documents and found my email address. Then, s/he and actually emailed my rates bill.
I was shocked! Wonderfully, happily, shocked.
What’s even more shocking? How excited I am about getting a bill!

I'm learning: in South Africa, everyday life is a game of "win some/lose some"....  

***

Meantime, summer is passing - and I'm 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! LOL!) March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 3: sunrise 5:51am; sunset 6:28pm

March 3: sunrise 5:51am; sunset 6:27pm