Dark day

The family, who's house was on fire - lost everything. Everything burned down! Appeals went out to the neighbourhood asking for basic clothing, food, baby formula ... my neighbour, the one with the cats, immediately got in touch with his horse-riding club and they put together a parcel. He really is awesome!

Even though his cat kept me awake by howling at Smeagol on my veranda from around ten last night ...

I got to thinking, what I can do to at least keep important documents, etc. safe in case of a fire. And then add to that keeping them safe in case of flooding. Plus, keeping them safe in case of crime ... and really, there is just no way to protect against all eventualities. Crime is so high in this country - in part, because so many people are not earning enough to survive. And with the landlord constantly re-arranging the landscape outside ... I can't be sure my house won't be flooded again! And what can I do in case of a fire? When the power is out - and there's no water pressure ... and the fire brigade can't reach ... 

So much can happen, and so quickly! I mean, the flooding happened in minutes! The fire burned down the house in about an hour! I measure by the time the first notice was posted, that the house was on fire, until the notice for help came out ... 

There really is no way to safeguard or protect myself against all eventualities. I just have to do my best and hope ... and try not to stress.

I woke sometime in the night and noticed the power was on. So it must have been between midnight and four in the morning. Good! Our Ward Councilor worked through the night with the teams testing lines, coordinating, doing whatever needed to be done to ensure we have electricity!

And, knowing him, he's also in touch with the family of 5, who's house burned down to see where he can help them!

He may not be much of a politician - but he definitely earns my vote!

I woke up very early ... not sure why. Got up and hauled out the gas bottle, put the kettle on. Mippies were under my feet everywhere, I picked up, I cuddled, I treated, I milkied (that's giving them a wee bit of milk) ...

On the way to work, traffic was again an nightmare! Half an hour to move 2 km! In first gear! The 'problem' is actually the traffic police trying to do something about all that illegal overtaking. But they don't make much headway - because they just don't have the manpower to cover everything. What happens is: where they're NOT, illegal overtaking continues, worse than ever. And those of us staying within the law just stand almost still. Then, when the illegal overtakers see the police, they try to force themselves into the legal lane ... sometimes three at a time, from left and right and far left ... all at the same time! And they actually behave as if they have right of way - and we MUST get out of their way! This morning, I had my car slapped again by some of those jerks. They don't attack cars with male drivers ...

But I was only half an hour late for work - only an hour on the road. Only ... I left my WiFi router at home! All my load shedding power cells and lights are low ... I've connected my LED torch to the mains, so it'll charge while the power is on. And I've taken my USB power bank to work, with the charger. Smartphone will also have to be charged ... the other LED light / power bank will have to make do with solar energy, I'm afraid.

Whiskas and filters just arrived.

I'm not sure what's going to be going on at home tonight - electricity and internet wise - so I'm just going to publish now. It's five to five ...