absolutwillie

Month: January 2008

  • Your Stars Foretold : By E.S. Kom (The Future Made Clear – dark, but clear – eish)

    Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 21) : Things will be pretty dark for you today, unless you remember to buy new torch batteries.

    Taurus (Apr 21 – May 21) : You’ll probably eat cold, raw food again today.Try to remember to get that gas cylinder filled! Be cheerful, though, and remember that your ancestors lived like this and survived – 25,000years ago.

    Gemini (May 21 – Jun 22) : There will be a programme on TV tonight that you’ll love. Sorree that you can’t watch it ’cause it’s on during your allotted “block” in the Eskom disco derby…

    Cancer (Jun 22 – Jul 23) : Thought you were smart buying that generator? But we know you’re going to run out of fuel tonight and the nearest working petrol station is 20km away. As you get there, we’ll cut their power… Sorry.

    Leo (Jul 23 – Aug 24) : Another morning without that essential cup of coffee awaits you… If you make it to 10am we’ll reward you with enough power to make some, but by then you’ll probably have killed 3 people and severely injured a 4th. (Don’t worry, though. This is the New SA – you’ll probably get away with it.)
    Virgo (Aug 24- Sep 23) : Not for very much longer… What else is there to do after dark?

    Libra (Sep 23 – Oct 23) : Your star-sign stands for fairness and justice. That’s why we’re going to hit your area with three 2hr outages a day, while the area where your local MP stays will enjoy uninterrupted power throughout.

    Scorpio (Oct 23 – Nov 23) : Your area’s assigned outage “block” is from10:00 to 12:30. Expect the power to go off any time before or after that. And don’t think it will only be out for two-and-a-half hours, either.

    Sagittarius (Nov 23- Dec 22) : Today you’ll buy some food that is apparently within its sell-by date. What you won’t realize is that the sell-by date is for food that has been stored in a constantly operating fridge…. Although you’ll get severe food poisoning, we think you may survive if you can find an emergency ward that has back-up generators. Good luck!
    Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 21) : Don’t bother to go to work today. During the hours when you actually will have electricity, your network provider will not, so you won’t be able to do anything anyway. Stay home and well…. there’s not much to do there either, is there?

    Aquarius (Jan 21 – Feb 20) : Today you’ll get so fed up with our incompetence that you’ll decide to emigrate. We regret to inform you that this is no longer possible… The airports have all shut down, because – well think about it! They need electricity to run the place!! You ain’t going – nowhere…

    Pisces (Feb 20 – Mar 21) : Today all your hopes and dreams will come true. You’ll have power during “Days of Our Lives”.

    If today is your birthday : Use lots and lots of candles on that cake – even if they don’t reflect your age. How else are you going to see to open the presents? You will receive the ideal gift – your very own miner’s helmet!!

    The Times – Article

    Blogged with Flock

  • Eskom's Darkest Hour [Carte Blanche: 27 January 2008]

    This was the title of last night’s episode of Carte Blache

    During the broadcast, they asked viewers whether or not they had faith in Eskom to solve our power crisis (sms voting):
    N: 109 538
    Y: 1 216

    By clicking the title-link of this post, you can read the transcript of last night’s episode.

    Riveting stuff, I tell ya!

  • load shedding schedule for George and Danabaai

    We just phoned our local municipalities for the latest load shedding schedules:

    George:
    Daily from 10:00 – 12:30 and 18:00 – 20:30

    Danabaai:
    Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 14:00 – 16:30 and 22:00 – 00:30
    Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: 04:00 – 06:30, 14:00 – 16:30 and 22:00 – 00:30
    Sundays: Random

    Right, what does this mean for my business? In a nutshell: over half of my clients will have to place their orders between 08:00 and 10:00 or 12:30 and 14:00 – as I can only process these between 08:00 and 14:00. (That’s a 3-hour window for George clients!)

    Georgians also have a tiny one-hour window (17:00 – 18:00) in which to do all their private shopping, refueling, cooking and cleaning. Unless they wait till 20:30 – when most shops are closed.

    Living in Danabaai is a lot easier. Work till 14:00 and (from 16:30) only worry about electricity again at 22:00.

    Memo to self: Get a wind-up alarm clock and save the planet, as well as your working week! (Electrical ones reset close to three times a day, you know…)

  • the world goes even darker

    Photo Gallery – Heath Ledger dies – Free People images | theage.com.au

    I don’t know what else to say.

    Blogged with Flock

  • If we can laugh at ourselves, we're still fine

    And with the Soccer World Cup coming our way in 2010:

  • Power in SA – a lucky draw

    Welcome to the latest update on our power situation. Several “schedules” for load shedding in our region have been published – none of them showing the same times…

    In an attempt to plan my days, I turned to the Eskom website for answers. Turns out there’s no fixed schedule – whatever happens, depends on whatever happens.

    [Your town is] subject to the scenarios listed at the times specified for load shedding. If any of the stages are reached today, these schedules will apply.

    Brown Stage 3B
    12:00 – 14:30

    Brown Stage 3B
    20:00 – 22:30

    Brown Stage 1A
    18:00 – 20:30

    Brown Stage 1B
    12:00 – 14:30

    Brown Stage 2A
    12:00 – 14:30

    Brown Stage 2A
    18:00 – 20:30

    Brown Stage 2B
    12:00 – 14:30

    Brown Stage 2B
    20:00 – 22:30

    Brown Stage 3A
    12:00 – 14:30

    Brown Stage 3A
    18:00 – 20:30

    In short: Cross your fingers – you might be f*(%3d today, or not.

  • things to do in SA when it's dead

    By now, most of you should have heard about South Africa’s power-shortage:

    Wikipedia says:
    “Due to the South African government denying funding to Eskom – South Africa’s national electricity producer – for expansion, the capacity of the nation’s electricity grid has not kept up with demand. From December 2005 until February 2006, rolling blackouts were implemented in Cape Town and other areas of the Western Cape. This was the result of one of two reactors at Koeberg nuclear power station being unavailable for this period, with the transmission lines from the coal-fired power stations in Mpumalanga having insufficient capacity to make up the shortfall. These blackouts and the accompanying brouhaha in the media resulted in Eskom and the government announcing a number of plans for new power stations, and Eskom started returning mothballed power stations to service. However, it is expected that the supply constraints will last for a number of years.

    In October 2007, rolling blackouts were implemented in many parts of the country, including the executive capital city,     Pretoria, and the biggest city and economic hub, Johannesburg. At times these blackouts have been reported to last a number of days.

    Although     Eskom and the municipalities involved in implementing the blackouts make some attempt to provide schedules, very often the information is incorrect or is only provided after the blackout has started. A number of deaths resulted from power to hospitals being cut in the Cape Town blackouts in 2006, with certain hospitals not having adequate backup facilities. As a result, an agreement was reached to not cut power to hospitals. However, during the blackouts in Pretoria in October 2007, the City of Tshwane municipality cut power to areas including hospitals.

    Eskom uses load shedding and demand side management during peak loading to prevent large scale blackouts.“

    Recent news headlines serve to illustrate the point further:

    “Eskom gives reasons for resorting to load-shedding [January 11, 2008, 09:00]
    Eskom has given reasons why their technical problems are now more serious than in the past, forcing them to resort to load shedding. Power cuts were experienced in various places yesterday as the utility resumed power cuts nationwide, due to technical problems at power stations. General Manager of demand-side management at Eskom, Andrew Etzinger says technical problems have always been there over time. The amount has been reduced slightly but what has changed is that there are no longer reserve margins to help them through. “Those times in the past, if we had a problem with a generator we would simply start another generator and make up for that difference. But we just do not have those spare generators any more”.     ” source: SABC News

    Basically, our national electricity provider doesn’t have the capacity to fulfill our (growing) national demand. (More people = more houses, educational facillites & places of business = more power needs.) We need new power plants – which take time to build. (8 years, apparently.)

    Thankfully, Eskom worked out a “load shedding schedule” for the country. In my area, we’re scheduled to be without power as follows:

    Mon, Wed, Fri : 12:00 – 14:30
    Tues, Thurs, Sat: 18:00 – 21:00

    (Load shedding, however, is not a 100% managable process:

    “Load shedding started in some part of SA due to four generators that tripped in MpumalangaJanuary [12, 2008, 10:15]
    Load shedding started early today in some parts of the country due to four generators tripping in Mpumalanga, Eskom said.The four coal-powered generators tripped yesterday night. “It is a coincidence of events that these generators tripped within hours of each other,” said Eskom spokesman Andrew Etzinger.”We did not plan load shedding for this weekend but the combined effect of these generators is such that load shedding has to happen,” he said.Etzinger said they would load shed on rotational basis and would keep it to not more than two-and-a-half hours. He said technicians were working hard to make sure the four generators are operational soon. – Sapa    ” Source: SABC News

    Now, thinking about how all of this has affected me, my business and those I know – I’ve began to think that this situation might force a new approach to business and life in general.

    Obviously the first option is to buy your own generators. (Not a carbon footprint-friendly sollution though.) And what does it help if you have power, but your local supplier(s) dont?

    Another idea is to restructure your operating hours.

    I’m thinking a siesta on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays might be a good idea. As in Spain, I’d take those hours off for a leisurely afternoon nap – and work them in during the early evening. (There are some hitches with this idea, I admit. One being that load shedding doesn’t occur at the same time, all over the country. Obviously.)

    At home, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays – I’d have to have pre-prepped dinner, or braai. Bugger candle-light, I live by the sea – the stars are awesome! Another benifit of this forced “quality time” would be healthier relationships!

    U-oh – gotta go. Load shedding in 10 minutes!

    Have fun kids! I close at 3PM ;0)

  • a Roxette song comes to mind…



    Crash! Boom! Bang!

    Oh how wonderful January is…
    It doesn’t look that bad – but the wheel’s control-arm-thingamabob is bent (still doesn’t flap or quote musicals though), meaning the car won’t move. Estimated repairs = R10 Grand.

  • …and in despair, I came across this

    During one of the many Reformation battles, a young soldier found himself and his army being soundly defeated by the enemy. He and his comrades hastily retreated from the battlefield in defeat, running away in fear of their very lives.

    The enemy gave chase. The young man ran hard and fast, full of fear and desperation, and soon found himself cut off from his comrades. The soldier eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave.

    Knowing the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase, he chose to hide there. After he crawled in, he fell to his face in the darkness, desperately crying to God to save him and protect him from his enemies. He made a bargain with God. He promised that if God saved him, he would serve Him for the remainder of his days.

    When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance to the cave. As he watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young soldier pondered its irony. He thought,

    “I asked God for protection and deliverance, and He sent me a spider instead. How can a spider save me?”

    His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon discover his hiding place and kill him. He soon heard the sound of his enemies, who were now scouring the area looking for those in hiding.

    One soldier slowly walked up to the cave’s entrance. As the young man crouched in darkness, hoping to surprise the enemy in a last-minute, desperate attempt to save his own life, he felt his heart pounding wildly out of control.

    As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came upon the spider’s web – which by now was completely strung across the opening.

    He backed away and called out: “There can’t be anyone in here. They would’ve had to break the spider’s web to enter the cave. Let’s move on.”

    Years later, this young man, who made good his promise by becoming a preacher and evangelist, wrote about the ordeal. What he observed has stood by me in times of trouble, especially during those times when everything seemed impossible:

    “Where God is, a spider’s web is as a stone wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider’s web.”

  • aaaaaaarrrggh!

    Welcome to my first working week of 2008. So far, my constant source of unimaginable joy is, wait for it, this message on my business’ PC:


    If you take the amount of (hard earned) dosh I’ve had to shell out for this biotch’s maintenance over the last 4 months, I could’ve bought a fully kitted-out Mac Pro (the new one) with an Apple Cinema Display. Frankly, I think my business would’ve been better off too.

    *ggrrr* PC *ggrrr*