What is one of the things I miss the most about living in South Africa?
I'll get to that in just a bit.
But first, the weekend.
I was on call this weekend, I got called by a colleague just before 5pm Friday evening (yes, evening, it gets dark around 6pm) to help him out. He had a submersible pump inside an aerator tank that wasn't getting up to pressure and he couldn't figure it out. So I headed on over to help him figure it out.
I was there less than 10 minutes when I showed him that the side of the pump was completely split open. He couldn't see it because the tank was full of water, but I stood on my modified milk crate and could see down into the water. So I headed over to the shop to go get a new one while he pulled the old one out and got stuff prepped for the install.
We finally had the new pump installed and sorted by 7:30pm, so I headed on home. Back home at 8pm, supper, a drink, and bed.
Saturday I spent the entire morning cleaning the house. There are different levels of cleaning; the first level is just running the vacuum over the floors and putting stuff back where it belongs. The next level means actually moving furniture when you vacuum, and wiping the dust off stuff, and putting stuff away where it belongs. The top level means buckets of water and soap and scrubbing brushes and rags and vacuums and stuff. Saturday was one of those "top level" kind of cleaning days.
I scrubbed the entire bathroom from top to bottom, scrubbed the toilet inside and out, scrubbed the floor tiles, scrubbed down the shower, did a proper cleaning of the washbasin and cabinets. The kind of deep clean that needs to be done every so often...
Tom van Brits arrives tomorrow (Monday) so I also cleaned up his room, the dogs had had a field day in there so there was lots of Sammy hair on the carpet, and everything else. I filled up the dust canister on the vacuum completely with Sammy hair just vacuuming out the Florida room
(he IS a very hairy man you know
)
I was eventually done by around 2pm, had a sammich for lunch, then went off to the supermarket to get some supplies. Apart from the necessities like milk and veg and stuff, we now have a dozen ice cold beers in the fridge for tomorrow evening when I get Tom home
So back to the original question; what is one of the things I miss the most about living in South Africa is Gertrude. Gertrude was our Zimbo maid, she came over once a week and cleaned the house, did the ironing, and washed the dishes. She did the kind of cleaning that I did Saturday. She was amazing. We paid her around double what the "going rate" was, and she was worth every penny. I miss Gertrude
Today was another "chores" day. Mostly. I washed my tekkies. I cleaned up the front porch, I did the weed eating and mowed the lawn, I gave Maggie a shave and a bath.
I also finally made a base for my bench grinder that incorporates the "debris catcher" and a lamp for better looking at what I am grinding. The base sits on top of the workbench when I need the grinder, and then it comes off and slides into its slot under the workbench when not in use. The lamp needed some modification, and figuring out a system that stops the whole contraption vibrating around when the grinder is running took a few minutes to figure out, and a bit longer to make. But I like it, it works, and it's simple. Maybe Tom can remind me to take some pics for y'all
Now I'm sitting typing this to y'all, then I'll have some supper before bed. Tomorrow I have a 3/4 day at work then I go get Tom at the airport in Orlando.
Big pity for Tom. There is a SpaceX launch scheduled for tomorrow morning. Unless there is a problem and they postpone the launch he will miss it
Holding thumbs for bad weather or a technical problem at the launch site
Topic: Life in America - I made the move. (Read 926775 times)
