YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME...

(Wednesday 9th December at 5.55am....)

I'd already noticed that there was hardly any pressure this morning, when Missus Bernie kindly rang after 5.00am to say there was no water... She said she'd tried my landline several times before calling my cell and each time the phone had been answered by an auntie... A relative of yours Bali? *curious... Missus B will of course be charged for those deliberately corrupted calls, won't she Jannie? Kerching? Kerching? And this is not criminal because...?

LATER at 3.45am...

I had to smile yesterday when the GW told me that cabling had been stolen from the Moses Madiba Stadium.. AFAIK there've only been two big functions held there since it was officially declared open, but I guess that's been more than enough opportunity to find specific problems with the monitoring system?
I also have to guess the cabling 'disappeared' close to some luxury suites/boxes? *winks.. You only have to imagine the big names in industry and government that will be hanging out in those confined areas to understand the necessity for the eavesdropping system to be in place and working efficiently....
What delicious conversations will be listened to and recorded, to add to the vast data base of stolen information?

The Wireless Song carries above the wind out in the valley at this hour, and I find my enthusiasm sadly lacking this morning...
There is indeed a large new gap in the trees lining the Controller's valley-facing deck, and I guess the tree's removal has given him an unobstructed view to - where? The orphanage? The Senior Boys Hostel and THESE two magnificent examples of Signal Enhancing lights?

I'd gone up yesterday at 2.15pm to help the GW with the gates, as he headed off to the shops... How long prior to that THIS hydrant across the road had been fountaining out water, is anyone's guess, and the droog looked suitably guilty...*grins..
I went over and chatted to him briefly and he relaxed... The bakkie that had been parked next to the hydrant had left smartly, but returned some minutes later and the driver got out and ostentatiously tested the water quality before they turned off the water and left... The GW noticed almost immediately that they'd omitted to recap the hydrant and the cap was nowhere to be seen...*sighs... Why bother when they will come back overnight and run off even more?
The toothy and seriously bent Town Clerk will tell you gaily that the huge water loss the city and suburbs are experiencing is due to the poor infrastructure and even to some extent theft of water by the Informal Settlement Dwellers... You will of course swallow this bullshit down....

I guess I've enough photos to show that's absolute twak.. Pictures that reveal an inordinate amount of work being done over the past five years on just this little stretch of water line alone.. You have only to compare the speed that the new fat blue pipes are being laid up in Westville to wonder what exactly is going on in our neck of the woods...
The volumes of water run off overnight on Tuesday and during the day yesterday were enormous.. See HERE the river of water running down the Crescent at 8.00am....?
Not important? Just as the powercuts were only a minor irritation back when they first began? Fools!

Thursday 10th December at 3.40am..

I nipped out to the shops yesterday and was coming out of Pick n Pay when I saw the owner of Budget Photo behind his counter.. Tata ma chance thought this idiot, and I'd gone over to greet the Ferret and ask that he print some pics out for me.. After all, he wouldn't muck about with my photos while the Boss was standing there... You think? *falls right on over frothing...
Little wonder I'm the Tard of the bloody Decade!!
The screen kept freezing as I tried to choose which pics to print and eventually I pulled out the memory card and said not to worry....
I headed on up to their other shop at Westville Mall and asked Fibreman to have a look... He showed me his PC screen which said the card was empty... Haikona!! *laughing... That'll teach me.. No, wait, it probably won't.... *waves to Delon....

Fibreman set to and recovered more pictures than I'd though possible, some of which dated back to 2007 FFS!!! Ahh.. this modern technology is amazing.. I got the prints I wanted and a CD with all the pictures on, but by then my card was kaput and wouldn't reformat..*grins...
I headed back to Sherwood and stopped at our CPF Comm. Officer's house to share my experience...
He tells me that his outdoor lighting system (fairly new) has developed a mind of it's own lately, and that the lights come on or go off of their own accord!! He's even had an electrician in to check them out but they were given a clean bill of health... *looks at her Network Administrator...

Who's doing your job over in Abrey Road, Master? Who activates or deactivates the nearby lights on your request? Who has control of that particular circuit? *fascinated... A Vahed Junior perhaps? One with direct links to the Whisperers? Or a Barnabas perchance? We have families bearing both those nicks right there in Abrey Road, who would be only too willing to assist their prestigeous relatives....*coughs loudly...

After a really interesting chat I scooted on over and found Sister Stephen busy at the Convent Clinic... I always enjoy her perspective as she gets to hear more about the real workings of the Zone than most... Turns out BTW, that her email addie isn't working (winks), so we went into the Admin Office for a bit of paper and asked the unsmiling Jenny to write down an alternative email address for me...
I said to please print it carefully, as I was prone to making typos... She did, and handed it to me.. Luckily there are no flies on the little Sister and she immediately pointed out a glaring error...*laughs at Jenny.... Nice try Madam, and may I ask what exactly is your connection to the Project that you're always less than thrilled to see me? *makes a note to enquire....

My next call was to the Hall Caretaker to book ahead for our next CPF Meeting... He gave me some rather disturbing news just as I was leaving and I guess I'll have to pay more attention to him for a while..
You recall how he had a neatly executed burglary recently? When his TV and a whole lot of booking money that had come in that day was nicked as he slept? How I'd speculated from the size of the hole made in his trellidoor that little Morris might well have been hired to do the job?
Has Morris been back more recently? Those cameras in Cullingworth activated again, Bali? *curious..

I forgot to tell you that I'd bumped into my uncle earlier up at Hofmeyer, and was charmed to find that my VC (dear girl), had been INSISTENT that he attend the SAPS Braai function this Friday....*keels over laughing....
The poor man has been persuaded that der Kommissar is a good cop, and won't be told otherwise... *grins... Let's see now, do I believe my first hand experiences, the opinion of a Holy Sister who heads the Clinic, a lady who runs the psychiatric ward at Entabeni (both Zone dwellers BTW), or do I pay attention to the misconceptions held by an outsider?
I'm hoping for an hilarious photo opportunity on Friday as a result, and would give pride of place in my album to a Picture of my only remaining blood relative (in SA) schmoozing up to Tweedeldumb!!!!! *fingers crossed...

The old man works for Enforce, and as such he attends a good many CPF Meetings and is always at the main GOCOC Meetings held down at Makro every Monday... He's been told not to bother visiting our little CPF Meetings here in Sherwood, as all we do is talk and never get anything done...*startled....
Now who told him that ? *looks at the Serial Sexual Offender with interest.... You want I should change my tune there One-Eyed Jack? Not gonna happen at this point *shrugs... I've told you often enough that I'm aware of her Agenda and that it doesn't colour my perception of her as a wonderful person... Bite it! *laughs...
While you've pretty much won the day as regards my unfortunate Chairman, and my efforts to protect him from himself are a laughable FAIL, I'll hang on to my VC a while longer if you don't mind..*beams..

If our little token CPF fell apart tomorrow, it will have been more than worth it... How else would I have come to know so many wonderful people? I'm happy to say that despite your best efforts, you simply can't take that away from me...*singing....
We're off up to Notties for the day, so wish us luck out there on the Freeway....

Peace...

---oOo---

Thursday 10th December 2009 at 7.41pm.