M5

Harry and I made off down the M5 freeway this morning to run some errands. After a brisk walk to bring the kids to school and then back home (takes me 70 minutes) I’m ready for a snack. Harry plays with Kellen; I check my email and made some phone calls. First stop to pick-up a few of Henry’s supplies in Plumstead, that is south of us. Then we have to exchange the light bulbs (they have the standard Edison twist-ins like we use and what I bought, and they have a different connector, almost like a BNC connector but bigger) at the Kwik Spar. That is in Rondebosch near Henry’s school. We get him at 12, then on Friday’s, Katy has early dismissal and that is at 12:15. I also ran across to the hardware store to get some insulation and plastic to sound proof our windows in our bedroom. There are Castle beer trucks going all night long….due to the brewery just down the Main Road from us. I’ll try to finish this project this afternoon. After the pickup, we take the Chariot pieces up north on the M5 to an industrial park right on the ocean. The guys there are very friendly and will try to fix the axle and arms for us. One of the owners had just been to Calgary and raved about it, said it was the most beautiful place he’s ever seen. So we’ll see how this works out for us. Tonight is movie night, Herbie the Love Bug is on the agenda due to Harry’s love of all the punch buggies around here.

From 2007-01-17 Fi...

Accident!

Today started off right on schedule, getting the kids ready for school, making lunches, etc. we drop Katy off, then get going to Henry’s school which is another fifteen minutes further. Just after we pass over the train bridge, we get to an intersection. I notice the cars inch out on the cross street and then try to merge into the main road (which we were on). I stuck the nose of the Chariot out to signify my intent to cross the street and this lady pauses, then turns and with her rear tire runs over the front wheel of the unit. I immediately shout for her to stop, and she hesitates then stops and reverses to come back. I check on Harry to make sure he is OK and then get Henry to watch him at the corner. Henry is in a little crisis because he certainly doesn’t want to be late for his first day of school and we still have a ways to walk. When I approach the lady in the truck, she immediately she it was her right of way. I asked her if she realizes she almost ran over my child and she continues to maintain she was in the right. Finally I get her name and number as a policeman drives by I wave him over and ask him what to do. He says to visit the station nearby and file a report.

So, I pick up what’s left of the front end and start wheeling on two wheels over to the school. Henry is distraught as he thinks he’ll be late. We make it to the school a little late, but that’s Ok since there are still many parents and the kids are still milling about. I dropped Henry off, and as we were leaving a lady walking beside me notices my predicament and offers me a ride. This is very fortunate as it is tough to wheel Harry along on the crippled device. I folded up the Chariot and we cram it into her small two door Opel hatchback. She mentions to me that she teaches art at Rondebosch every Thursdays if I ever need a lift and then drops me off at the police station (albeit the wrong one). Luckily the officers had time to give me a ride to the correct one down the street in Rondebosch. There I file a report, and another patrol car gives me a ride home.

So late r on this lady calls me up and insists that she has done no wrong. She has conferred with her husband and they both agree the fault lies with me. I will check with the police again to see what action I should take, but I’ll probably try to find a welder to fix the issue temporarily. Carla and I are both bummed since this means change of plans for a while to get the kids to school and back with Harrison. I walked to Henry’s school twice and that is a forty minute jaunt one way. I really don’t understand the complete lack of compassion on her part. In the end it isn’t too much money, just the principle of the whole ordeal. I was considering writing a letter to the local paper. Or finding a lawyer. However I don’t have any idea how that works here. Luckily Harry wasn’t hurt.

Lesson learned. I will call her once again, tell her there is no grudge, offer for her to pay half the welder’s cost…then it will be done.

Sorry forgot to upload the pictures of the school kids…but they will come on shortly. The kids had a good day at school.

Canal Walk

Almost school time

Nothing terribly exciting today as far as trips go, but we did make our first official visit to the kid’s schools. First we went to Rustenburg for Katy and stopped at the tuck shop to pick up all the supplies needed for a uniform, including paint smock, dress, underwear, swim suit and hat, as well as various bags for this and that. We then met Katy’s teacher, Mrs. Pain. Won’t be hard to forget her name. The school is very old, and it reminded me of an English school, with plenty of stone, brick and wood. Katy goes for her “tea” tomorrow at 9:30 before the first day of school on Wednesday. We then went to Henry’s school, Rondebosch Boys prep school. This was also quite stately with a courtyard in the middle of the school. Once we sat down to wait for the secretary, the headmaster dropped by to introduce himself to Henry and myself. He seemed quite nice. Ms Wood was also very friendly and she took us to Henry’s teacher (whose name I’ve forgotten). After meeting the staff there, we had to drive over the the Rondebosch high school to find the tuck shop and pickup Henry’s knee length socks, tie and badge for his blazer. We also found his swim gear. A tiny pair of speedos! Can’t wait to see those on him. Everything is in school colours. They have cool cricket gear there too, which I might get on future visits.

Henry and I then went home, had a bite to eat and then took the other kids to the library where we signed out some fresh books. Reading the same ones twice a night for three weeks gets a little tiresome.

For supper we were off to Spur’s but in a different location. I had heard about Canal Walk north of the city, so we picked up Carla from Groote Schur and headed into traffic to find it. This shopping center/entertainment complex/hotel/condo district is stunning…hard to believe we would find this in Cape Town. I could understand the waterfront as a tourist attraction, but the amount of construction going on here was mind blowing. Cheap labour I guess. This mall made Polo Park look like Fort Richmond Plaza! I heard from a neighbor that minimum wage here has just been increased to just over 1000Rand a month. That is about $160 Canadian. So divide that by twenty working days. So each store/restaurant seems overstaffed. The parking lots all have attendants as well which you pay when you leave a token 2rand coin for “watching” your car. Businesses can afford to pay these people such cheap wages.

Update – jan 16…got most of the kids supplies today. Henry tried on his speedo… got the proper pencils, erasers, etc. what a deal. Every crayone has to be labeled. School tomorrow, will take pictures of the uniforms.

Dad’s the Boss of South Africa

Or at least that is what Henry thinks. I wasn’t aware we were living in a (Hutterite) colony here! We started the morning with a good breakfast of Bokomo brand Maximize and Pro-Nutro cereal and toast and then were off on the M2 south towards the ocean. We wanted to hike and then beach for a while. The hike ended up being a two hour trek through beautiful terrain. We could see both oceans from certain points of this mountain. Again the Chariot that Harry was riding was great and a definite conversation starter with the other hikers. Everyone wanted to hop in with him. We met one gentleman in a group of hikers that works in the same department that Carla will be in. It was hot, but with a nice breeze was bearable. The flowers and plants, I cannot name, so I took pictures (posted). A highlight for Harrison was watching the Dung beetle work on a big piece of poop. He rolled it even though the poop was bigger than he was! Harry says he misses the beetle now. After we were done with the hike, we got to our car and it didn’t start! OBA! We found a boost, but it turned out that I had not plugged in the immobilizer key long enough.

After a trip to the gelati store, we headed to the beach in Muizenberg. What fantastic waves and beach we found! The kids loved jumping into the big waves, watching the surfers, but not the salty taste in their mouths. I enjoyed this too, but when the salt dried on my back while driving home was not great. This was all within a fifteen minute drive from our apartment.

This evening we’ve made a short trip to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. It really is amazing. I’ll post pictures, but you really will need to visit to see the incredible display of botanical wonder.

From 2007-01-14 Mu...