| not the same old song | february 2002 |
Hello! Well, isn't it nice to hear from me again?
I've spent quite a bit of time recently doing boring "Change of Address" letters. It's the responsible thing to do, isn't it? We also investigated the Post Office's service of redirecting mail that continues to come for one's old address. But seeing as they charge for the service and I've spent so much time trying to be thorough about it, we won't be making use of their service. Anyway after all that, I've had the first two comebacks this afternoon.
The first was a phone call from Standard Bank saying I will have to go into one of their branches with my ID and a specimen signature and a copy of the letter I sent them. Why? Apparently my signature looks very different from when I originally signed with Standard Bank in Grahamstown 10 years ago. Does that mean I am also very different? I suppose with all those years of endless signing of things at UCT, my signature has become more confident. So that's another waste of my time. Perhaps I shall go on Saturday morning since I am already making one bank visit on Saturday. I have to go to First National with Lauren so that she can set in motion a student loan application. The second comeback this afternoon was one of Michael's "Change of Address" letters being returned to sender. It was for the company the car insurance is with. As it happens, when Michael was sorting through some more stuff last night he found a later letter from these people which I then filed. Their address has indeed changed, I have now discovered. Ah well instead of posting it this time, I will ask him to fax it to their new fax number tomorrow.
No wonder people don't bother to do the responsible thing - you think the job is over, but it never is, is it?
A guy called Rocco is organising our move on 26 March. That is also the day our phone number is meant to be moved. We will move much of the smaller boxes and things ourselves. We have until the end of March to get everything out of this place and yeah to clean it up where necessary. I only got two quotes for the move. Yes, I chose the less expensive one.
I believe that on average February has proven once again to be the hottest month of the year in Cape Town. We have just experienced an energy-sapping heat wave. It seems to have come to an end with today's weather although we are still in the high twenties so it's not anything like a cool day. This is one reason I have only started my newsletter on the very last day of the month. Another is my favourite reason for not doing things: just not getting around to it.
I have been sorting through things and throwing out what I really think is just taking up space (e.g. university notes and handouts). It is difficult for me to get rid of things that could be useful, but we're not going to be living in a mansion. You just can't keep everything in this day and age where conservation of space is everything. And I've packed some boxes already. We had some boxes I could recycle (by throwing out most of their contents) and Michael found a few more at UCT. Wendy will be bringing home plenty soon since they are currently moving offices.
I'm not sure what is wrong with our computer these past few days. We think it's the heat. It actually beeps (some kind of alarm thing) after being on for a while. And it's doing it now. Very irritating. So I'm going to give it a break, switch it off, and have some lunch and liquid. Write to you later!
Back for about half an hour or so I suspect. Lauren just called to ask if she could come here from UCT now so I probably won't write for a while when she gets here.
I've been reading a lot this month - books I bought with Christmas and birthday gift vouchers, a Leisure Book order and most recently library books. I am onto my last one now - it's a Barbara Vine book. She is Ruth Rendell under another name. I've just recently read "Heartstones" by RR and "Grasshopper" by BV. So you could say I have really been getting my fill on her books. Well, there are so many of them, it's difficult for the library (and the shops and Leisure Books) to run out of them. I'm not buying books these days though (except for the compulsory Leisure books quarterly order) - money is dwindling. And of course the cost of living in our new place will be more. Plus we will want to buy a few things like a cupboard for the bathroom (unless I've forgotten that there is actually one), an oven (we've still only got our 2-plate and microwave) and probably a washing machine. It will take time. And my Unemployment income does not go far. I will soon be desperate enough to not be picky about the kind of job I'll apply for.
I will also re-write some of my short stories and write new ones and submit them to magazines and such for publications, but that can only be a sideline thing. I've read a few of them recently and was not impressed. Hopefully that means I can do better.
Michael and I were meant to go to my cousin, Francesco's wedding on 16 February. As it turned out, Michael went to East London instead. On Monday, 11 February, his grandfather, Leonard Wood, died after being in Frail Care for over a year. In the end he had pneumonia and didn't recover from that. He was 88 years old. The funeral was on Friday, 15 February, and Michael went to East London by bus on the Thursday. It was six times cheaper than flying and would not be as exhausting as driving all the way (about 10 hours) on his own. I probably would have gone along if we'd felt the car was ready for it and if it wasn't for the wedding. The car hasn't been serviced in a while so it seemed safer to use the bus and of course I can't drive so I wouldn't have been able to share the driving anyway.
Michael stayed at his great-aunt's house with the rest of his immediate family who had travelled by car and plane from Pretoria. His great-aunt, Florence, is the sister of his grandfather. Then he had to leave in the late afternoon of the Saturday to return on Sunday morning. He got back an hour early so he took a train home instead of waiting for Wendy and me to fetch him. It meant he got back home before the time the bus was supposed to arrive in Cape Town!
At the wedding everyone asked me where Michael was. Okay not everyone because some of them already knew and other people didn't know me.
Wendy, Lauren, Trevor (Lauren's friend) and I went to the afternoon church service as well as the reception. Lauren was meant to be working at Tango's restaurant in the evening and was due to miss the evening reception, but she didn't feel well so she asked to be excused from work. You don't need to feel well to attend a wedding reception, do you? Anyway the wedding went very well, Francesco (pronounced like Francisco in San Francisco) and Nicole looking very happy.
On 18 February, Amanda (my friend and ex-boss) had a birthday lunch party at Verity's house. Amanda and Macjerry flew down from Johannesburg on the Saturday, wanting to have Amanda's birthday in Cape Town since it was her first birthday living in Johannesburg and most of her family and friends are down here. Marilyn (my friend and ex-colleague) and Jermaine also came down here that same weekend so that they could have their daughter's second birthday and a bit of a holiday in Cape Town. They are still here now, but Amanda and Macjerry left the morning after her birthday. Anyway Kelvin fetched me after 11.30 so we were the first to arrive at Verity's lovely house.
Alex was looking older and more active, as he does every time I see him. He's almost four months old now and I must make a point of visiting again, I think.
Amanda and Macjerry then arrived and eventually the place was brimming over and the noise level incredibly high. It's amazing how babies can sleep through that.
It will be amazing if I remember all the people who were there that afternoon. But I'll try. Other than those already mentioned, Debbie was there, Marius was there, Cindy (Verity's friend who also works at UCT) was there and the HR crowd was there: Gay, Ruth, Karen, Tracey, Rowina, Chernise, Carol, David, Marlene, Valencia, Rosina. And it was all good.
I'm taking a break again since Lauren has arrived and it's rude to keep on typing when you have a visitor! :)
It's March now - all of a sudden. And yet it was only February yesterday. The warmth continues, although without the tag of "heat wave". Last night, Michael, Wendy, Lauren and I went to the Community Chest Carnival, an event held once a year at Maynardville in Wynberg. It takes place over four days and yesterday was day two. It was dusty as usual and very well attended. Better to avoid on Fridays and Saturdays when it's even busier and also more expensive to get in. Then again, they are raising money for a good cause.
We had our suppers there. Mostly it's stalls representing different countries you have to choose from. I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted and resigned myself to a boerewors roll in the end. Michael had the same, Wendy had sweet and sour pork and Lauren had the taste of Portugal - yeah you guessed it, Nando's! We all had chocolate bananas for dessert and then Michael and Lauren knocked themselves out in the bumper cars. We also ran into various people we knew. Sometimes Cape Town is a small place. The only thing we bought to take home was fudge. Then we dropped Lauren off at our grandparents' home in Retreat.
Lauren and Michael have both started the 2002 university year now and so there's been much money spent on textbooks. And more to come because some text books are still on order. Tomorrow we have to apply for a student loan for Lauren so that we may be refunded for her textbooks at some point and also since the tuition fees are suddenly more than they were originally quoted as. Michael's already had to ask for an extension on a Philosophy assignment since he has been unable to get the textbook. Speaking of subjects starting with P's, Lauren's considering swapping Physics for Psychology since the Physics hasn't started well. The lecturer has already told them to forget what they learnt at school. Anyway she will decide by this weekend.
Wendy has finally managed to get the salary she insisted on with her company. As it is, the student loan she has had to start paying back is a huge chunk of it and will take two years to go away.
I finally got my first installment of UIF (unemployment) money in February. It was on Valentine's Day and the day Michael went to East London. Lucky me I also got a red rose and a hazelnut Cote d' Or chocolate before he left on the Greyhound.
We bought our sleeper couch as well in February - I'm not going to bother checking the date for that one. The fools forgot to include the mattress inside the metal mechanism, or at least the person who folded it up didn't realise it was supposed to be included. So Michael fetched it the next day. I paid the delivery guy to take our old two-seater to Verity's house since she'd said she would like it for their TV room. They just needed to get something to cover the seat area because the leatherette was cracked. I gave our beanbags and the spare single mattress to Benson, the guy who keeps Mayfair Court clean and functioning. Oh yeah if anyone in Cape Town is looking for a gardener, someone to clean their windows or just general help, Benson's looking for some extra work since he currently only has the two half-days at our complex. He's very efficient and hardworking - I would highly recommend him!
On Friday last week, Michael and I watched the Stormers beat the Sharks. We went to Claremont's Sports Café to do this. It was the first Stormers game of the Super 12 season. It was great especially when the Stormers came from behind to beat the Sharks. It was also a surprise win for those who made predictions since our team, the Stormers, are without so many of their Springbok players. Injuries - yes, rugby is indeed a violent game, I must admit, but if they want to play it, who am I to complain? (Oh I had a really great chocolate daiquiri at the Sports Café - the best part was that the drink comes in a chocolate glass not that I realised that until Michael pointed it out to me while I was holding it) The Stormers play the NSW Waratahs (from Australia yeah) tomorrow. I think their chances are even slimmer than against the Sharks, but they'll do their best and they'll have the Newlands crowd to help them along. We are going to support them. I am not sure how long I'll be able to keep these visits to Newlands up since they are very expensive. I'll take it as it comes I guess. I bought our tickets on Monday which is the day WP Rugby Supporters Club members can get their tickets, the day before they go on sale to the general public. Club members have also been invited to watch the team practice this coming Monday - not sure if I have the nerve to go on my own though! I'd feel like a fanatic, to put it mildly. And I don't yet know enough about rugby to look like a true fan of the game. Anyway, I suspect I will keep you posted.
I think my favourite TV show this month has been the UK's Pop Idol. It's been very entertaining and so well done with some endearing almost Pop Idols. Unfortunately I already know who has won it even though we only get to see the final this Sunday. It would have been better if they had been smarter about showing the end closer to the actual end of the show in the UK. But perhaps it would have been too costly or something. I don't know how these things work. I hope that the South African version can at least half live up to it. From the first time I heard the winner sing I thought he was the best - it's pretty amazing when someone can make you like a song you didn't like before.
Another show I've been enjoying is "Kiss me Kate" - it's a repeat of the first series, but I didn't watch much of it at the time so it's been a treat. I watch some other TV programmes as well, like the repeat of "Seinfeld" (always good), but I wanted to mention those two. And somehow Jerry's show snuck in there too.
I haven't been buying CD's since it means spending money. But that's ok, it gives me the opportunity to value my old ones more.
Speaking of spending money, Michael's home now and we're supposed to be going grocery shopping so I'll be off for a bit. I'm going to get a spool developed this weekend so I might have some photos for this issue. If not, you might just have to put up with the dreariness.
Thanks to everyone who said such nice things about my last ADT, but I am sure even they will be relieved that this one is so much shorter.