davetapson

Six people stabbed - quiet night for just about any non-salubrious place in Gauteng. Guy taken down in 60 secs, in a populated supermarket, with people running around screaming, with no collateral injuries. That's pretty impressive. Outcome sounds like relief, both for those having to deal with him, and himself. (Now waiting for knife buy-back scheme...)

I buy coffee from a place around the corner that is rated 2nd best in the country (I don't know who first best is) and, yep, well... But, you start giving up buying coffee out, because home coffee is just so much better.

So how is it that they won't send a new Milk Frother (yep, crisis) because 'Not Essential' yet my daughter's boyfriend gets cupcakes delivered to her same day...?

My experience with gout is that all common wisdom is wrong. My worst case got set off by over concentrated electrolyte solution on a training ride. Oh, and that SAB products are a real problem, but I liked Windhoek, so ok. I eventually determined it had mainly to do with my hydration state, and if I had not been drinking sufficient water, I'd get it. I'm not a fan of water, so that' like, well, I've only drunk tea, coffee, beer for a week or so. That and that I was taking Enalapril Maleate for blood pressure, and that raises uric acid slightly, just enough to tip me over. Stopped that, and haven't had gout since. I hate drugs. I always think that it might fix one thing, but then causes another...

Enalapril combined with SAB...?

It's like the entry form for the US: Are you a terrorist, or do you belong to a terrorist organisation, sorry organization? Hmm, I wonder what I should answer. Given 9/11 I'd take a wager that it doesn't catch everyone...

I came through Darwin or somewhere having spent an extended time in SEA. DEA type guy: "Do you have any hard drugs?" Me: "Geez dude, if I did, would I tell you?" Him, looking a bit non-plussed: "Well... do you?" Me: "No." I always wondered: a: just what a stupid question it is b: just how badly that might have gone. Maybe they ask you and watch your reaction.

I've kind of figured "It's only rain if you notice it". The Kiwis don't. Kiwi: "I think I'll go for a run" Saffa: "But it's raining?" Kiwi: "What?"

I'm amazed you're quite happily chuffing along on this process. Something must still be functioning normally at INZ despite all the disruption... maybe I should ask you to check up on our PR application!

Don't be daft with what you bring, no need to declare anything. If you trying to be a smart ass with anything, you will know full well what you should be declaring. To state the obvious, don't bring biltong, droe wors, organic stuff. Probably do bring one box of Advil CS because Pseudoephedrine is banned and you can't get real Advil (or any other sniff-reducing muti) here... claim ignorance and incredulity that such a thing would be banned because wtf would ban something like that? (They can't get upset over one box because you can't start a P lab with just one box, however, if this is going to make you sweat like a drug smuggler, don't.) Our experience of walking through the airport at midnight was "anything to declare?" "no" "no biltong?" "no" done... Do throw a bunch of expensive booze of your liking into your container. It's more expensive here. Actually, buy your limit of alcohol at the duty free on the way through to last you through quarantine...

I'm slow to the game here (sorry Patches, killing your skillful move there...) The thing is that it's not "1, yes 1." It's the pub full of people that one guy was in, plus the pubs that those people then went to plus the pubs that all of those pubs full of people went to plus... Add in every other place that those people went to - supermarket, chemist, concert, church - so the lurgy is well spread by the time one case is identified. And, if he's got it, who else has it also? I went back to find the time line of our first, long, drastic, traumatic, lock down. It was two weeks of half lockdown, four, yes four, I'll spell it, f-o-u-r weeks of proper lockdown, then two weeks of lesser lockdown, then trail off. So we killed that-that-must-not-be-named by sitting at home watching series for four weeks*. And then essentially went back to normal life while the rest of the world went up in flames. Why would we be anti-lockdown? (Edit: * Not really, I changed jobs, built a boat, found out my kid has ADHD by trying to teach him at home, and since getting him sorted, all at govt expense, his school life has turned around, won a values award end of last term at school, I found out I have ADHD (not at govt expense) because my kid has ADHD and when the psychologist said 'If we don't get your kid treatment his life will probably look like this" and I thought "hmmmm" - which has changed my life around.)

What it's doing is keeping vast amounts of cash sloshing around the local economy. I don't think anyone quite realised how much Kiwis spend on finding some sunshine. And cheap food and booze.

I use a Thule that I brought with me. Thule stuff is so good it needs to be handed down like family heirlooms... Personally I prefer tow hitch mounted things because they are less fiddly and damage the car less (says he who's dropped a kayak on the current car's roof, punched a trailer tow bar through the rear valence and closed the garage door onto the bonnet, not to mention sundry other abuses that the missus and daughter learning to drive have heaped on it.) You buy a 10 yo car from Japan, it looks brand new. In six months, it looks 10 yo. The original owner would weep.

Yep, proper butchers who care about meat. Veg imported from places that have sun, in volume, so economies of scale. I've had some pretty awesome meat - rumps and fillets from there, and when buying by the 1" thick or whole fillet, was not as expensive as I thought it'd be. Not sure why pommies eat such minimal pieces of meat and call them steaks. Salt-marsh lamb... mmm, mm.

And the extra weight, momentum and power mean that you can crash around a cross country course with panache and abandon. At some stage you got to wonder when it stops being MTB and starts being Motocross...

eBikes are awesome. Have a buddy who is a pretty competitive MTB rider and he was forced to go eBike to keep up with his less competitive buddies who were out cycling him on eBikes (this is over a two year or so period...) He reckons he's probably 20% fitter since going eBike - something about being able to keep going longer that gives you an edge over normal bikes. When you're finished on normal bike you stop, on eBike you just flick the energy input from motor up a notch and carry on.

And we haven't even mentioned the elephant in the room for this discussion... eBikes...

I brought the stuff that was in good nick, chucked the stuff that was old. Cheap camping chairs are just about for free from Bunnings - $5 or so, but don't last long on uneven ground. Tables I bought here, also from Bunnings. Check their website. Gazebo needs to be seriously wind proof. Fridge may be worth bringing if its a good one. Gas fittings are different here, so don't bring SA gas bottles. You can replace the connectors with local versions if you choose to go that route. Best thing is to price that stuff up. Hunting and Fishing will give you a reasonable price (i.e. not particularly cheap, so you don't get suckered into thinking you'll get it cheaper here), Bivouc Outdoors, Katmandu, Macpac, Torpedo7. Makro level stuff from Bunnings. Top-gear.co.nz for more specialized stuff. In NZ you need waterproof, layered clothing. I buy stuff from Bushbuck.co.nz which is pretty cheap when on special and seems pretty good quality. Seriously warm sleeping bags are necessary. Ha - yes, one think I'd DEARLY loved to have brought - our Campmaster trailer. They just don't do light, closed, water proof trailers here. I enquired at one place and the thought was that they are just too labour intensive to make here. The typical trailer her is this and they are just crap at being Venter/Campmaster trailers. Heavy, clunky, shallow, not water/dust proof. Noisy because they bounce about on hard springs. And expensive. I normally hire one for our holidays - best price is about $40/day. Makes sense to buy one sometime given what I've paid in rental fees, but haven't bit the bullet. Storage space for that kind of thing is a hassle.

For me, bring sentimental stuff (except pets), the rest is just stuff. If you're sentimental about your bikes, or they are high end, bring them. SA furniture tends to be too big for Kiwi houses, unless you already live in a Townhouse, in which case, probably OK. Rental properties usually come with dishwasher, sometimes washing machine and dryer. Fridge may or may not fit in kitchen, esp. if double door. We've been in three properties, double door would not have fit in any, and have had to take off overhead cupboards over fridge in two properties - bought the fridge here and it is a pretty standard size I'd think. Furniture is not cheap, but shipping it is not cheap either. Have a look on line, see what you think of prices vs shipping. Pets, make a plan to leave them. Friends brought out their two beloved dogs. Couple years later both dogs are dead and the cost to get them here was considerable. We made a plan for four, so it's not like I'm not walking the talk. I brought out all our bikes, bike stuff, tools. Have no regrets. But then we're not the kind of people that turn over bikes regularly, so wouldn't be looking to spend $$$ on getting new ones here. The only thing I regret not bringing is our Weber, but there was no space for it and they are flpn expensive here. We have a couch in the garage that doesn't fit anywhere in the house, and the house is not that small by Kiwi standards. But relatively speaking, I think Saffas accumulate an amazing amount of crap compared to Kiwis, including clothes. They wear the same few things over and over, we have cupboards full (not really, but you know what I mean) of stuff that never gets worn. I'd also not be stressing about the time it takes to get your stuff here... it's a blip in the timeline of the rest of your life. Go buy some cheap stuff from Warehouse to make do until it arrives, or leave it all behind and buy new this side. We used 20ft container for a family of five, and some break bulk stuff - strip build canoe, big old Rhodesian Teak outdoor table that my father made.

They did a lot of processing in Beijing. My parents visa got cocked up there and then they (INZ Beijing) just disappeared, citing some virus. Haven't heard anything since. But for a week my parents would still be riding out covid here rather then there. I'll tell you which they'd prefer. Applied for Permanent Residence on 7 July, heard nothing so far. A couple of pics from Countdown half an hour ago, just to give you Saffas a heart attack...

Another bad/sad - the fruit (apart from the climate appropriate types like Apples, which are insanely delicious) the fruit (naartjies) and veg (tomatoes) just look slightly sad, like they haven't seen quite enough sun to blast them to full ripeness.

There's an MIQ hotel on the Viaduct - I figure if you're going to be locked up, why not there and enjoy the passing parade. Went past onetime and the inmates looked so bitter I was tempted to take a pic. Decided it might be deemed too cruel so didn't ???? But did feel like throwing them a banana or a beer or something....

Re the sim card, dunno if duty free is a thing still, but you used to be able to pick them up on the way through the airport with no rica'ring etc. I got a month one, converted it to proper contract at the end of the month.

Yep, check DM's / PM's whatever they're called.

Yeah, things can only happen when they are ready to happen.