Home alone

News blues

Plummeting Covid-19 case counts across the United States are leading to lifted mask mandates and more conversations about steps toward normalcy — but more people are dying of the coronavirus now than during most points of the pandemic.
Read more >> 

The pandemic is following a very predictable and depressing pattern. As with diseases such as malaria and HIV, rich countries are “moving on” from COVID while poor ones continue to get ravaged.
Read more >> 

***

War!:
Not focused on Covid-19 … but meet Fiona Hill, my hero since I watched her uncompromising and forthright testimony during Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. (Video clip from that time >>)
Fast forward to March 3, and Fiona Hill and Stephen Colbert chat about her dinner with Vladimir Putin, Russians protesting Putin’s current war, and the invasion and demolition of Ukraine and Ukrainians >>  (9:28 mins) 

Nuclear weapons:
For more than 30 years, one very good friend has engaged the reality of nuclear weapons and nuclear power: that they’re no good for people or planet. This friendship makes me sensitive to the topic – and very fearful of Putin’s putsch into Ukraine. These days, ridding our planet of nukes – weaponry and power generation – should be in the forefront of all humans’ minds.
The consequences of nuclear war would be devastating. Much more should – and can – be done to reduce the risk that humanity will ever face such a war. 

***

The Lincoln Project: Biden's Response to Tyranny  (1:35 mins)
Vote Vets:
Party of Putin  (1:10 mins)
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Alexander Vindman Articulates What Must Happen Now That Russia Invaded Ukraine  (1:29 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Scientists have doubted whether the process of evolution can create “prudent predators” able to avoid extinguishing their own prey – and therefore themselves.
But “wild life” predators must avoid overexploiting their prey if they are to survive. They cannot evolve to become so aggressive that they eat all their prey and then go extinct themselves?
Why – and how – have they “done” this?
Read “Animals have evolved to avoid overexploiting their resources – can humans do the same?” >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Last night was my first night, ever, alone – well, with three dogs – in my late mother’s house. (After a year of barely any time off, our domestic worker took the weekend off to attend a traditional Zulu wedding. This includes a cow meeting its demise and its peeled and dripping skin drying out over a fence while the edible parts are consumed with gusto).
Locking up the house last night was an adventure. I discovered where are the “weaknesses” … noticed which locks are tenuous, which exterior lights need attention….
Unlocking this morning was an adventure, too. Under the watchful eyes of hungry dogs, I managed this laborious task then doled out breakfast.
For the next 3 days, I’ve arranged my weekend to ensure the appearance of constant human presence in the house. This, to discourage unexpected incursions. (That thuglet who threatened my life still haunts the neighborhood, albeit mostly sleeping in local bushes as he sleeps off drunken episodes. I keep an eye out for him and opt to prevent incursions from the gen pop, too.) 

This weekend will be replete with painting walls, gardening, hedge clipping….
A year ago, I perseverated over purchasing a mechanical hedge clipper to trim the many hedges around my apartment. While this fecund vegetation affords privacy - one of the reasons I chose that apartment - one afternoon manually clipping presents reality: I can’t do this regularly. Reluctant but practical, I put aside ambitions of designing and cutting shapes - waves? Animals? People? - and contemplated the glory of mechanical clippers.
Alas, the selection of such tools around here is narrow: most clippers are too big and powerful for me - or too small and not powerful enough.
A friend swore by her small, battery-operated clipper, but I wasn’t enamored of the manufacturer and avoided that brand.
Hedge clippers were the last thing on my mind after I departed the country last year and attended to the demands of Covid-19.
A year later, those privacy-presenting hedges tower over my apartment garden. They desperately need clipping. I haven’t the appetite manually to clip them. Moreover, the many hedges in my late-mother’s garden need clipping too.
Rekindling interest in the perfect mechanical hedge clippers, I comparison-shopped in three local stores, saw little that enticed, returned home to the reality of overgrown hedges, and grappled with my dilemma.
I returned to one store, listened again to Vision, the salesperson, and focused on one brand. All the men with whom I consulted about mechanical clippers steered me away from purchasing a battery-operated set: “battery-run tools are limited”. Nevertheless, I purchased a battery-operated Stihl brand tool that perfectly suits me.
How did I settle on it?
The petrol (“gas”) fuel clipper offers a rope pull. After months struggling to start my small gadabout-boat motor with a rope pull, I swore never again tug anything with rope pull.
For my late mother’s large garden, the electrically powered versioin requires a very long extension cord (cost about R1000,00/US$65). And it would lie in/near water while I clipped. No way I’m risking electrocution if water intruded into the electrical system.
The set I purchased has a battery designed to run for up to two hours. Since I work 30-to-45-minute sessions, it should work. It’s lightweight enough for that duration session, too.
Back home, I charged the battery, inserted it, and clipped.
The device is 95% perfect for my size and strength. The 5% that’s imperfect? It struggles to cut long, sword-shaped, densely packed leaves. I’m a soupçon disappointed, but perfection is rare in a single garden tool. (After all, it’s the hunt for perfection that sends gardeners back to garden stores and allows tool manufacturers to generate profits.)
I’m chuffed with my almost-perfect mechanical hedge clippers.
What fun!

***

Eight days to the beginning of California's daylight saving time regime.
It’s drizzling in the San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:34am
Sunset: 6:06pm

It’s drizzling in KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:53am
Sunset: 6:27pm

Moving forward

Worldwide (Map) 
March 3, 2022 - 439,214,350 confirmed infections; 5,968,350 deaths
March 4, 2021 – 115,175,000 confirmed infections; 2,600,000 deaths.

US (Map) 
March 3, 2022 - 79,099,500 confirmed infections; 952,800 deaths
March 4, 2021 – 28,770,000 confirmed infections; 518,400 deaths.

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
March 3, 2022 - 3,675,700 confirmed infections; 99,430 deaths
March 4, 2021 – 1,516,265 confirmed infections; 50,366 deaths.

News blues

With the world-changing arrival of Covid-19, this blog morphed from its original topic - the effects of war on people – to the struggle, the war, if you like, on Covid-19 – and its effects on people.
Now, the world and its people, amid a proven-deadly novel coronavirus (perhaps morphing into endemic) are watching  a brutal war unfold in Ukraine.
How long before Covid-19 impacts efforts of both uninvited and invading Russians and Ukrainians?

 
The good news on a different front? Despite dire predictions of several weeks ago, the US has not seen the official count of Covid deaths pass the one million mark.

***

In the US, the White House plans to unveil a wide-ranging strategy for the next phase response to the pandemic. The strategy will lay out how the nation can safely ease public health restrictions and restore some sense of normalcy and a less disruptive endemic stage of the virus. 

***

Most people know someone who has stubbornly resisted catching Covid, despite everyone around them falling sick. Precisely how they do this remains a mystery, but scientists are beginning to find clues.
The hope is that identifying these mechanisms could lead to the development of drugs that not only protect people from catching Covid, but also prevent them from passing it on.

Read “Scientists seek to solve mystery of why some people do not catch Covid” >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
We were warned  (1:50 min)

Healthy planet, anyone?

In a new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), researchers from 67 countries warned that warming is putting a large portion of the world’s biodiversity and ecosystems at risk of extinction, even under relatively conservative estimates. Never before has an IPCC report — considered the gold standard for climate science — revealed in such stark detail how climate change is harming nature. What ails wildlife ails us, the authors wrote. Humans are inextricably dependent on many species that are in jeopardy from rising temperatures, whether they’re animals that pollinate crops, filter rivers and streams, or feed us. In the US alone, for example, more than 150 crops depend on pollinators, including nearly all fruits and grains, and climate change puts them at risk.

Read more >> 

***

African countries are being forced to spend billions of dollars a year coping with the effects of the climate crisis, which is diverting potential investment from schools and hospitals and threatens to drive countries into ever deeper poverty.
Dealing with extreme weather is costing close to 6% of GDP in Ethiopia alone, equating to a spend of more than $1 repairing climate damage for every $20 of national income, according to research by the thinktank Power Shift Africa.
The warning comes just before the major new scientific report from the global authority on climate science, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This report, the second part of the IPCC’s comprehensive summary of global climate science, will set out the consequences of climate breakdown across the world, looking at the floods, droughts, heatwaves and storms that are affecting food systems, water supplies and infrastructure. As global temperatures have risen in recent decades, and as the impact of extreme weather has become more apparent around the world, efforts to make infrastructure and communities more resilient have largely stalled.

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

For the second time this week, our security alarm screeched in the early hours of the morning. Checking the CCTV monitor showed no incursions. What’s going on? Who knows?
Do alarm systems have self-determination or is it only our system?

 
After a month of fretting about the overgrown vegetation in the large garden pond, yesterday I donned my waders and spent an hour weeding. Last week, I’d offered a landscaper the job, but his quote was beyond my capacity to pay. (Aside: South Africans assume anyone with “dollars in her pocket” is rich and therefore can be soaked.)
I assist the crabs and other water-based life back into the water if they find themselves suddenly thrust into air-based life.
I plan to continue short forays into the pond over the next weeks to finish the job.
Wet vegetation is heavy. Nevertheless, the pile on the banks of the pond will grow day-by-day.
Not sure yet what to do with the discards. Options are 1) wheelbarrow transport it in increments to an area in front of the house and fill in dongas (holes) there (despite the huge physical effort, that's my preference) or, 2) hire someone to collect it and drive it to the local dump.
The problem with option 1: the ANC was voted out of office in favor of the DA (Democratic Alliance) and the DA’s “new” municipality is keen to fine anyone recycling vegetation by filling in dongas. The ANC didn’t care one way or another since most ANC councilors spent their time feathering their own nests rather than conduct business for the people. For now, DA councilors are trying hard to enforce regulations. We’ll see how long this lasts. In the meantime, I’ll keep pulling out pond overgrowth.
The fun never ends.

 
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:37am
Sunset: 6:04pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:52am
Sunset: 6:29pm
Ten days to the beginning of US daylight saving time.

So, long Covid

News blues

Among the nearly half a billion people who have contracted COVID around the world so far, an estimated 10 to 50 percent will experience long-term symptoms.  For four weeks to years after the initial diagnosis, the aftereffects of the virus may linger, affecting how patients go about their daily lives.
Medical experts are still trying to understand why long COVID grips some patients and not others. According to a study in the journal Cell,  a patient may be more prone to long-term symptoms if they experience one or more of the following biological factors: high viral load during the initial infection, a flood of autoantibodies, reactivation of the Epstein-Barr virus, and a history of Type 2 diabetes. These drivers aren’t immediately visible in patients from the outset, making it challenging to predict who eventually is at higher risk for long COVID.
Some studies suggest that vaccines halve the risk of adults ending up with long COVID—but other preliminary research suggests otherwise.

Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
[Conservative Political Action Conference] CPAC: Days 3 and 4 in 135 Seconds  (2:10 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

United Nations’ latest temperature-check on global warming provides a sweeping analysis of climate impacts and vulnerability

[The UN report] emphasizes what millions of people can already intuit from dramatic shifts in weather patterns: Ways of life that sustained generations are coming to an abrupt and chaotic end, causing great suffering that world governments’ responses so far have proven woefully inadequate to ease, much less reverse.
“We simultaneously need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to reduce the risks of climate change and address losses and damages that are already being experienced,” Adelle Thomas, an author of the report and researcher at the University of Bahamas, said in a call with reporters. “And we have a very limited amount of time to do this.”

Confirm your intuition about our collective futures and read “14 Takeaways From The Latest U.N. Study On Climate Change’s Deadly Toll” >> 

Case in point of “world governments’ responses so far have proven woefully inadequate to ease, much less reverse”: the US Supreme Court is weighing in on climate change. The Court appears

… poised to narrow the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to reduce carbon pollution from power plants, a move that could further derail President Joe Biden’s ambitious plans to fight climate change that have already suffered a setback in the Senate.

Feeling hopeless about effective leadership on this critical, world-changing reality of our times? 

Yup, me too!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Who is Suzie and how did she arrive on the scene in my email inbox? 

For the past year the US Democratic Party has been sending promo and fundraising emails to “Suzie.” I’m not sure who is this Suzie person, or how she came about. Moreover, the number of emails to Suzie is increasing exponentially. Where once Suzie received emails from one Democrat, today Suzie receives emails from Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff, and others. Neither I nor Suzie read these emails….

***  

Thirteen more days until California changes to daylight savings time. Unfortunately, the predicted cold spell arrived, but none of the predicted rain. Some snow in the Sierras….
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:40am
Sunset: 6:02pm

Lots of rain as autumn/fall marches along in South Africa:
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:50am
Sunset: 6:32pm

Het Bouhe

Police surround a protester holding a sign painted with "No to war!" and an image of the Ukrainian flag in St. Petersburg.
Photo: Kommersant Photo Agency/REX/Shutterstock.

See more anti-warRussian protesters <br>

News blues…

South Africa’s National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and other stakeholders are working on “alternative measures to exit the state of disaster… our health regulations, making sure that we have enough protection measures through the National Health Act and its regulations to replace the Disaster Management Act.”
This, to formulate new regulations to replace the national state of disaster and to ensure continued management of Covid-19.

***

Under its revised guidance on when Americans should consider wearing masks to protect themselves against Covid-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  lays out a system that designates individual counties as being at either low, medium, or high risk from Covid-19. Roughly 62.6% of counties — home to 71.7% of Americans — fall into the low- and medium-risk categories.
Under the new guidance, roughly 70% of the U.S. population can now contemplate removing their masks.
The CDC now focuses on minimizing severe disease and ensuring that hospitals are able to cope with Covid cases while still delivering standard care.
Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
[Conservative Political Action Conference] CPAC Day 1 in 105 Seconds  (1:50 mins)
CPAC: Day 2  (1:50 mins)
Primetime propaganda [2]  (0:55 mins)

Mother Russia  (1:24 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Painting, painting, painting. How come painting – walls, not arty pictures – is such hard work? I spent more than a day prepping the walls, then more time prepping the materials: step ladder, drop cloths, paint gear… then finally started painting. Miraculously I didn’t spill paint on anything other than my hands, feet, overalls, and the drop cloth.
Naturally, the dog insisted on sleeping on its doggie bed in the middle of the room I was painting. Paint didn’t spill on her either. The other unexpected surprise? A handyman who has become a friend dropped by on the spur of the moment, so I put aside the painting for the duration of his visit. The paint didn’t dry out. Paint didn’t coagulate on brushes and roller. Afterwards, I returned to painting and finished the job. 
A Sunday well spent.

Covid-19. Passé?

News blues…

Move over, Covid-19! You’re passé. You’re yesterday’s news. We, the people have moved on… to war!
What’s amazing is Russians are protesting Putin’s invasion of Ukraine >> photo essay of anti-war protests across Russia 
But before we leave Covid-19 in the dust, author Steven Taylor, professor and clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia, and author of The Psychology of Pandemics, reminds us that the pandemic changed everything about our lives: how we worked, socialised, travelled. Dealing with so many changes at once was a mental challenge for us all. As Covid-19 fizzles out, and things go back to “normal”, some of these pressures will ease as life becomes more recognisable. But the end of a pandemic will require an adjustment, just as the beginning did.
We are not entering the same “normal” that we left – and we are not the same people we were then.
Read his article, “I wrote the book on pandemic psychology. Post-Covid will take some getting used to” >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Primetime propaganda (0:58 mins)
Old man  (0:14 mins)
Today's Republican Party  (0:46 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

World leaders will come together online and in Nairobi, Kenya, next week, in what is described as a “critical moment” in progress towards the first ever global treaty to combat plastic waste. …
[According to Inger Andersen, director of the UN Environment Programme] an agreement at the UN environment assembly could be the most important multilateral pact since the Paris climate accord in 2015.
Public disgust and impatience over the growing mountain of plastic waste has led to an unprecedented “degree of focus” that could see member states agreeing a blueprint for a legally binding treaty to control plastics “from source to sea”, she said. “Public impatience is something that is very powerful. … The public has had enough. We are all dependent on plastic, but they obviously want to see some resolution of this issue.”

Hear! Hear! 

Read “Plastic summit could be most important green deal since Paris accords, says UN” >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The mysteries of old houses include expecting that after removing old and ugly carpet, the floor below will be bare concrete that can be stained to produce an unusual, useful, and attractive “look.”
Alas, removing carpet in this old house disclosed one third of the floor space devoted to two large, thick slabs of plywood. The screws in each corner of both slabs are already stripped so I cannot easily remove them to discover what’s underneath the wood. The implication of this plywood is that there’s some sort of space below. The oddity? Far as I can tell, there is no more house under it, only dirt.
Have I stumbled upon a long-lost crypt? A secret stash of rhino horns? Piles of Kruger Rands?
Enquiring minds wanna know….
The good news? After removing the carpet and foam backing, I placed them on the street side of the security gate – hoping someone passing by would adopt them and carry them home. (Such “donations” have proven popular in the past.) However, I assumed a 50/50 chance since carpet and foam is bulky and requires a truck or bakkie to carry them away.
An hour after setting out the goods, I checked the status. All had disappeared.
Yay! Nothing from this house went into landfill today.

In decline?

Worldwide (Stats ) 
February 24, 2022 - 429,508,650 confirmed infections; 5,917,000 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 112,534,400 confirmed infections; 2,497,100 deaths
Vaccination data & map >>

US (Map) 
February 24, 2022 - 78,731,000 confirmed infections; 942,000 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 28,335,000 confirmed infections; 505,850 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
February 24, 2022 - 3,662.100 confirmed infections; 98,868 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 1,507,450 confirmed infections; 49,525 deaths

News blues…

Despite predictions to the contrary, the US has not yet reached the 1 million and more dead from Covid-19. That good news indicates Omicron has been less fatal than Delta, although “nursing homes and other long term care facilities have lost a record number of residents and staff to COVID-19…

[Such numbers represent] about a quarter of all COVID deaths  in [the US].
Now, the industry is suffering through a historic staffing shortage, further exacerbated by omicron. Workers have quit in record numbers since the pandemic started. And during the worst of omicron many frontline staff had to stay home because of breakthrough infections.

Read or listen to “The pandemic pummeled long-term care” >> 

According to a recent statement from WHO,

The Omicron variant of concern is currently the dominant variant circulating globally, accounting for nearly all sequences reported to GISAID. Omicron is made up of several sublineages, each of them being monitored by WHO and partners. Of them, the most common ones are BA.1, BA.1.1 (or Nextstrain clade 21K) and BA.2 (or Nextstrain clade 21L). At a global level, the proportion of reported sequences designated BA.2 has been increasing relative to BA.1 in recent weeks, however the global circulation of all variants is reportedly declining.

Read WHO’s full statement on omicron sublineage BA.2 >>

Doh! Ivermectin fails another COVID trial as study links use to GOP politics >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Weakness  (1:24 mins)
Four decades living in the US indicated being a “commie” was about the worst kind of American. Not so anymore. Thanks to Trump, “Commies”, Putin, et al are “good”. Right wing Americans now beat the drums against “socialists”, the “woke”, and supporters of Black Lives Matter.
The Donald sews mayhem:
Trump loyalties  (1:30 mins)
And, where The Donald goes there goes Fox News: Fox loves Putin  (0:55 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party - February 22, 2022  (2:20 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

As Midlands KZN copes with almost too much rain, California and the American West considers desalination as a cure to its lack-of-water woes >> 
According to GRID – Arendal,  the Number of wildfires will rise by 50% by 2100 and, surprise, governments are ill-prepared >> The organization,

calls on governments to adopt a new ‘Fire Ready Formula’, with two-thirds of spending devoted to planning, prevention, preparedness, and recovery, with one third left for response. Currently, direct responses to wildfires typically receive over half of related expenditures, while planning receives less than one per cent. To prevent fires, authors call for a combination of data and science-based monitoring systems with indigenous knowledge and for a stronger regional and international cooperation.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Almost finished recycling rusty patio furniture. It looks “good enough”; happily, I paid less than ZAR 300 (equivalent to about 20 Yankee Dollas) – plus sweat equity – to accomplish this feat. I placed a cushion on one of the refurbished chairs and thoroughly enjoy the peace, the cool late afternoon breeze, and the sounds of assorted birds.
Nothing I do in the DIY department is perfect, but I’m replete with good intentions and try my best. Many can do a more professional, more skilled job, but I wager our joyous sense of accomplishment is similar.

***

The area of KZN I occupy – semi-rural/sub-urban - is replete with social media. Today’s social media posted a warning from a local resident:

Take note: people stage minor accidents then demand compensation.
Between 9:30 and 9:45 my wife and I travelled in a westerly direction [and] suddenly heard a dull thud on the left side of my vehicle
I asked my wife, “What that was?”
We saw two males approaching the vehicle, at a fast pace. … I turned left at the robot and stopped outside the hospital.
The accomplice, in a very friendly manner, inquired whether my vehicle was damaged.
I replied, NO.
The second male was holding his right arm which he said was very sore.
I accompanied him to the clinic at the local hospital where the doctor suggested an X ray examination.
The X ray was returned, and the doctor found no fractures.
The patient received medication from the clinic. I signed and paid for doctor including the X ray, an amount of R850.
The sister in charge at casualty warned me that these type of accidents occur frequently. She said that [people] deliberately stage minor accidents and then demand money. She advised me to accompany the patient to the local police station where we’d both sign an affidavit agreeing that his injury was appropriately attended and that he had no further financial claim.
He, however, refused to sign this affidavit. He argued furiously with the police and was absolutely determined to be remunerated for the accident, regardless of the medical findings and expense incurred.
I reported the accident to the Howick police and signed an affidavit.

One more negative thing to look out for while in the world. 

Humans. 

Hard to live with ‘em, hard to live without ‘em….

Done and dusted?

News blues

South Africa’s President Ramaphosa has criticized the EU for protecting vaccine profits over people. He also concedes that progress has been made towards lifting COVID-19 vaccine patent rights (9:30 mins)
California’s Governor Newsome describes the “smarter plan” for post-pandemic Covid in that state  (first 4 mins of 9:16 mins)
Six African countries – including South Africa - to begin making mRNA vaccines as part of WHO scheme 
R200 voucher incentive resulted in 15% increase in vaccinations for people over 50 >> 

***

Meanwhile, as many countries ease Covid restrictions, UK’s Boris Johnson told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the country was “moving from government restrictions to personal responsibility” as part of a plan for treating COVID-19 like other transmissible illnesses such as flu.
“Today is not the day we can declare victory over COVID, because this virus is not going away,” 
Hmmm, “personal responsibility”. Let’s hope Boris ain’t jumping the gun….
Then again, Covid’s toll of death and destruction is eclipsed by Putin’s threat of upcoming of death and destruction.
What a crazy world!

Healthy planet, anyone?

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sea levels around the United States will rise up to a foot over the next 30 years due to climate change. That’s as much as they have risen in the previous century.
NOAA’s study  forecasts sea levels rises along the U.S. shoreline of 10-12 inches (25-30cm) on average by 2050.
The good news? 

NOAA predicts levels will tend to be higher along the Atlantic and Gulf shores, because of greater land subsidence there, than along the Pacific coasts.
Ten to 12 inches will impact the beach and park where I live in California. It might be manageable although heavy rainfall could enter the slightly-below-ground-level garage upon which my condo complex is built.
Better hold on to my Sea Eagle inflatable: by 2050 I’ll be too old to dog paddle.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

According to my StepsApp, I reached my goal (6,000 recorded steps per day) ZERO times last week. That app is accurate: I do not carry my cell phone – with the StepsApp – in my pocket when I’m working outside. But working outside produces way more exercise than 7,000 steps per day.
As do all days so far, yesterday’s work began with the pool: backwashing the filter, cleaning filter baskets, re-setting the system. 

Then, up on the carport roof cleaning gutters that haven’t been cleaned in years. All sorts of perfect composting material fermenting in those gutters, but much as I love compost and composting, saving gutter debris for compost was just a bridge too far, even for a compost-obsessive.
The irony of me, a white woman, doing such tough physical labor? White South African womandom would take credit for the labor but would not actually do the physical part. Rather, a gardener or handyman would do it overseen by the WSAW and presented as her labor. Gods know, it is tough work managing laborers…. 

The American parallel? A hands-off boss or office manager taking credit for excellent work done by lower-level employees – without mentioning who performed the actual labor.
I have no gardener or handyman, only me …gifted with a pair of strong hands, a strong back, and way too much impatience and determination. Moreover, I’m a cheapskate. Why pay someone to do work I can do? There will come a time – soon, I hope – when such tasks will be too much for me. 

Meanwhile, I face a perfect storm: no trusty gardener, no trusty handyman, dwindling funds, and an enormous pile of repetitive chores.
Move over, Sisyphus.
For the many jobs I’m incapable of doing – including re-roofing a section of leaky patio – I ask around for worker references from friends, acquaintances, and other handy-people. The biggest obstacle? Despite saying they’ll show up to review a job and give a quote, more than 50 percent of the time, the handy-person never shows up! This is a feature of life in South Africa. Lots of talk and not much action.
This is frustrating for an American-punctuality-trained South African. In the US, time is money. In South Africa? Time is fluid.

***

Today? I recycle patio furniture I’d planned to toss out. A second look persuaded me a good cleaning, scraping off rust, and repainting with anti-corrosive paint would squeeze out another few years of use. Moreover, besides offering me latitude to paint creatively – adding additional color and design - I love the feeling of momentarily beating the system of rampant consumerism – and saving hard-earned dough.

***

Autumn/fall marches toward South Africa:
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:45am
Sunset: 6:39pm
In less than one month, daylight saving time begins in US states:
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:49am
Sunset: 5:55pm