Dysseldorp – 3 February 2024

Today is Friday February 2nd and, it’s getting boring, how hot the weather was today. Lisa and I had some tasks today so we could flee the house towards George. Yesterday we also drove a long lap with Annie and ate in the town of Hartebees by the sea. It was a wonderful trip although it was quite unsociable at the coast.  Only after a lot of searching did we find a place to sit and have lunch. Along the way we saw beautiful houses and residential areas everywhere that were clearly set up to show everyone how rich people are. The pecking order was clearly visible with the really rich on the hills and dunes and the lesser people in the valleys below. Sometimes we are quite a pathetic animal species actually. Speaking of animal species, I haven’t seen anyone walk a dog anywhere while there are quite a few pets walking around. No one who shouts at you ‘he doesn’t do anything’ is quite relaxed.

The photos were taken from the restaurant and show the Indian Ocean near Mosselbay.

In the coming days, an electrician will connect the wiring for the outbuildings and we had the shopping list with us. A new distribution box will definitely come because this one (see photo) is very dangerous.

My navigation system (TomTom 920) is stuck with a suction cup to the window and it didn’t survive the heat of the past few days very well. Fortunately, I was able to fix it with some second glue because that TomTom is really very good. We’ve had these since 2018 and he’s never let me down.

Today I charged the Ipad using the 12-220V inverter in the camper and that thing also works fine. Also crossed off the list.

I have decided to do some work on Annie’s outbuildings next week because the people who built it were not so skilled. With some simple work I can fix this, but I have made it an employment condition that it is below 30 degrees because otherwise I will just melt. It looks like this is going to happen in the coming days so I can get to it. We look at what we can do before we leave February 12.

We occasionally hear something from the children and they still seem to be alive. Tom has been promising to take the scooter to the bike mechanic for 2 weeks but guess what, the car is just as easy. He had to take an exam yesterday but this did not go through, due to a mistake by the organization. Tamara and Farrah are busy with their daily concerns.

Yesterday there were a lot of thunderstorms at a great distance which is a beautiful sight especially if there is no power at that moment. There was a little bit of rain.

Tonight I was once again confronted with my frustrations about the financial maturity of, eeeh, people. I don’t mention examples, but I can say that I get very tired of my side job as a banker that I only have because cash flow management or some knowledge of money matters is de facto assigned to me. Cash shortages for clothing, bills or food are solved by a request for money directed to me where it is apparently irrelevant where I have to get and manage it from. I think I’ve expressed that quite neatly actually.

Enough about this, it’s just like that and I’ll have to deal with it sometime because I want to get rid of that frustration.

Tonight it will be very hot, so the expectation is sticky and humid. Hopefully there is a breeze.

It was certainly sticky last night and also noisy. The residents of the ‘sakkieshuizen’ made themselves heard loud and clear again, just like the rooster of the neighbors who has never learned to look at clocks. At 5 o’clock I was smoked out of my tent by Annie who is making ‘roosterbrood’ for me. Delicious fresh bread, roasted on the fire. It doesn’t matter what you put on it, it tastes delicious.

The temperature is really going to drop in the coming days so I will have to (and want to) work to finish something on the outbuildings. As a goal, I only set that the gutter behind should be hung neatly and that the board plates should be finished all around. Painting the outside is also a nice task, but Lisa can do that excellently.

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