Lock-down Day 46

It's 3 in the afternoon now, and I'm finally getting around to writing! It's been a very, very busy day! As a matter of fact, the next couple of days are going to be busy, too - and I'm looking forward to that!

Okay, so I woke up at half past five, when the alarm went off. Mippies kept me busy and I had my work cut out just rolling over, snatching this, that and everything they tried to pull or push off the bed. Mewthos patrolled the bed, meandering forlornly around me, looking for he-doesn't-know what ... then he twirled for a while, then came looking at my face again ... just restless. It didn't help, that the passage door was shut, either! Anyway, I got up around seven.

I just made myself one cup of coffee and then I left. Somewhat nervous, but at the same time quite looking forward to my first taste of freedom after 45 days at home! I had my scarf, some wipes to use in the car ... and wheeee! Away I went!

Not one single road block! Not one! Not even a police or army vehicle in sight - well, there was a police car behind me at the first toll gate, but it was just driving the same way. At the second toll gate, I noticed that they had changed which gates for what. What I mean is, the far right one is usually unmanned only for e-toll (long story, but you have a token in your car and money is taken off your account - no need to stop, just slowly drive through). Today, however, that one was manual, the next two e-tag only, but the heavy vehicle one was manual, as always. The roads were fairly empty, so there wasn't much of a queue and I drove on.

At the store, there was no queue at all, and I could go right in. Well, after sanitizing my hands - they have a foot-pedal dispenser at the entrance. It took me a bit to figure out how it works, mostly, because with the face mask, I've got chicken-vision. You know, where you have to jerk your head like a bird to see what's left or right. I was doing the chicken-jerk the entire time, trying to find prices, look for goods. I suppose that must have been somewhat funny!

Some prices were outrageous, in my opinion. R40 for a bunch of grapes? But other prices were acceptable - and, looking at the till slip now, I see that the actual prices were even lower than what they advertise on the shelves. Some of the, at least.

But it's really sad to see how empty the shelves are! How much is just not available - they simply sold all stock, and there's no more coming in! I couldn't get mozzarella, at least not the brand I normally take. They did have another type - which looks cheaper, but is actually even more expensive! So I bought a big block of cheddar, instead. I still have cheddar, and even some gouda in the freezer ... but pizza isn't pizza without cheese. I'll have to cut the block into several and vacuum pack each smaller block.

The Celery looked surprisingly good, so I took a bunch. I also took a cucumber, some tomatoes, and some fresh mushrooms! But potatoes? Yikes! The prices on the shelf were beyond my budget ... I took a bag anyway, and I see now, they charged a reasonable price. Honestly, I have no clue what that is about?

There's no Insect Spray in the shelves. None. Shelves are empty. The Pasta shelves have only the cheap brands, which have no taste. I couldn't find tinned mushrooms. The spice rack is empty ... here and there an item, but lots of gaps everywhere.

Baking goods are another problem. I took the last 2 bags of brown bread flour! They had only 1kg bags of white bread flour. No whole wheat, no rye. I did get baking powder, though - but it's the one I left behind last time, because it wasn't the right one. Now it's the only one available. I took a tin and a refill. The refill is more expensive than the tin! Since I got baking powder, I could also take cake flour. I did get cocoa, but no chocolate - not chips, not anything. I settled for the only item available: chocolate discs. Not sure how they will work, but it's chocolate!

Sunflower Oil was horrendously expensive - but I found a brand for a reasonable price, so I took a bottle. I see on the slip that I paid more than the advertised price. Ah, well - I've won some, so I'm okay to loose one as well.

Fruit Juices were scarce! They had some of the mixes, but no plain orange juice. I took a bottle of Strawberry Juice, after checking the date, of course.

Butter is outside my affordable range! So, I took a fresh cream to see if I can make my own - and what that works out to per kg.

I couldn't get any frozen pastry dough. The usually have a whole freezer full with all varieties ... today? Nothing! Not one! Ah, well, I've got flour ... something else I might teach myself?

I didn't get the bread-machine yeast, so I took Instant Yeast, which should be the same.

I did get meat, though, but no chicken hearts for mippies. I did get them some tins, though - I saw that Petleys now make a Pate for adults, two flavours: chicken and lamb. So I've taken some tins. Stretch the sachets ...

Another sad shelf was for coffee. They had a few decaf and one lonely real coffee, of my brand, so I took that. They have refills, which also cost more than the glass jar! I thought about it, as I'm running low, but decided against it.

Well, that's me stocked up for another two months ... except for meat and produce, of course. But I can get some of that near my home - there's the meat market on the old Warmbaths road, a bit of a drive, but affordable; and they did have a few greens in the general store down the road here.

I loaded everything into my car, and then I was glad to take the scarf off my face! I called my colleague and he confirmed that someone was on site, so I could collect my deliveries. He also mentioned getting orders, so I offered to process them for him - I have a spreadsheet, where I just need to enter the quantities and it looks up stock-on-hand of all work-in-progress stages plus calculates whether we have enough raw material in stock or need to order. He asked me to please do that - no problem! And then, to my delight, he offered me a packet of cigarettes! Bargain! Okay, so it's not my brand and it is 12x stronger than what I smoke, but in these times, I'm grateful for anything!

At work, to my surprise, I found my boss on site as well! Apparently, we are going to be producing face masks now! Yes, my boss is very versatile - an excellent entrepreneur, which is why I still have a paying job! Well, not paying at the moment, but one day again ...

He also started growing a mustache!  Looks very strange! Anyway, three drips and drabs have been delivered so far: tins, sachets, litter and Fit 32. Still waiting for the Iams and Acana ... I checked online, and both are confirmed - but no delivery date. Ah, well, someone will be on site all week, so it should be okay.

I checked my work mail and there is no actual new order - just changes in quantities for existing orders, which took less than a minute to update. I ended up having to wait until about 11 - 2 hours - until my colleague arrived and we could discuss what & how ... basically we have to wait for further mail from the client. No problem, I scored a packet of Stuyvesant red, so: YEEEHAAA! I must confess that I babbled like an excited teenager at my boss & colleagues! 6 Weeks of isolation will do that! My boss tells me that on the road from his place, he went through 3 road blocks! I told him I didn't even see a single one!

Anyway, as things stand, it is not likely that I'll be working this month. Not even next month. Not as it stands now. If all we are making is face masks - I'm not involved in that. Even if we produce our usual goods - I'm not really needed. Which I told him is perfectly fine with me - I won't be starving. Rather bring in people who need the income.

Speaking of starving, by now I was really hungry to the point of starving! I hadn't had any breakfast, nor did I have anything in the car, I could just eat. I bought ingredients, not food. Well, bananas. Those I could eat, but I only remembered them when I unpacked them.

I had a chat with a colleague who stays in a deliver-able area. I asked if he would mind, if I arrange for deliveries to go to his home and he bring it to work, where I can then collect. He said that's fine with him, and his wife is home all day anyway. That will help me a lot!

On the drive home, I heard on the radio that, apparently it is now illegal to transport cigarettes!?! They are talking about a single packet, from which you are currently smoking - not commercial transport, but individual! WTF? That can be fined at R500! And if you pay that fine, you will have a criminal record! Seriously: WTF? This is ridiculous! I hope that either I misunderstood that or they made a mistake there! As I understood the article giving the details, legal cigarettes (illegal cigarettes are different brands) CAN be transported, just not sold.

On the whole, I feel a little silly now about all that anxiety and paranoia over this shopping trip today! But then again, I may just have gotten lucky to have missed all the road blocks.

Anyway, back at home, mippies were very happy to finally be let out! Ha Ha Ha, how quickly they are spoiled, eh? Well, I carried everything inside and then first made myself a cup of coffee and ate a muffin, just to get something in my stomach!

I packed everything into the fridge, and packed away what I could - the flour is still stacked on the table, though: no space, yet! Not a problem, though. I washed the waste bin - having taken ALL waste to work today - and the Bokashi bin, both of which are back and ready to be used again. I cleared out the glass and tins, gave our worker my butts and then I fried myself a steak. Funny thing is: I'm still hungry! Oh, I had to share my steak with Mewthos and Mini - but they left me quite enough! I just had a banana and feel a little better now.

As I said, I still have a lot to do, processing my groceries again. And there's no rush this time. I'll have to cut and repack the meat, wash the Styrofoam trays it came on, vacuum pack the tissues that are on those trays; cut and blanche the carrots, then pack and freeze them .. etc, etc, etc. Lots and lots to do. Starting tomorrow, though.

In the news last night, I found two more interesting articles. One, claiming there was nothing sinister behind the U-turn on the cigarette ban, and then an interesting read about just how much science can help in the decision making process. And comparing the complete about-turn of our country towards science comparing our response to HIV and now the coronavirus.

When I came online today, I found a new 'address' by our president had taken place today. It has absolutely no substance, this time. He isn't announcing anything, nor giving any information, just saying to stay put. I'm glad I didn't waste any data watching that today!

Our Minister of Health seems to hint that Level 3 could happen very soon, while our president talks about a 'next phase' which sounds like what we already have, not any change.

Oh, and on some news channel they did a survey which apparently states that the majority of South Africans are in favour of the ban on the sale of cigarettes. Huh? That's definitely NOT the reality! Ah! Found the article. The question wasn't whether to lift the ban, but whether citizens are able to procure cigarettes illegally. So, basically, it means that the majority of South Africans are not willing to risk incriminating themselves.

And an interesting voice of reason, our former Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, questions the logic of some of the regulations. And there's also talk that the ban on the sale of cigarettes could be lifted as early as Friday ... I'm not holding my breath, though! Oh, and someone shared that they paid R400 for a packet! ONE PACKET! Poor sod, must be really desperate to pay 10x it's worth!

Mippies came in without much trouble. Well, Janey went off while we were waiting for Ziva, so I called them inside - and Janey did come. Ziva took a little longer, but not too long. I ended up giving them 3 sachets tonight. Mewthos keeps poking his head in the door, every time I open to take out a sachet - it's like he's counting them with me, every time! Ha Ha! Then I had a very long cuddle cave session with Ziva, under the duvet! After my lovely hot bath, though.

Anyway, I've smoked quite a bit more than I meant to today - hopefully tomorrow I'll be busy enough to smoke far fewer of my few precious cigarettes!

I'm quite looking forward to tomorrow! Makes a nice change!