Its been a while. About a month and a bit actually but hey who's counting. Since last sitting here and writing my bit to save the planet (or at least my sanity) the Rugby World Cup has come and is nearly finished, the end of summer has turned into the beginnings of winter, the kids are well and truly ensconced in their schooling, seasonal sport - soccer and netball - is well underway for them, and we are nearly three months into trading this new venture of ours which means...well, what does it mean?
It means that we are getting settled, it means that we are slowly figuring out the system and the ways of business here in the UK (in fairness its quite similar here to 'ol sunny SA but better enforced and checked up on), it means that we are working out who to deal with and who not to bother with (tricky sometimes in a small village when you risk upsetting people and them not supporting you and their mates not supporting you either), who are nice people and worth spending time with and who are not and of course working out who to connect with and again who not to. The saving grace here is the fact that we are the current custodians of this village's historical cross roads or meeting place. Everyone that is anyone in this town has spent some time in these walls as has their parents and their parents parents. Three months on now and everyday we are asked about this or that pertaining to this pub. We are regularly informed about a wedding or christening that happened here at some point in the last hundred years or more. I still find it interesting and try, in my own mind, to make comparisons with establishments in SA that have a long history. I would imagine that place like The Queen Vic in Durban or The Fireman's in Cape Town probably have a story or two but probably not of the scale that could be told here. And although this is old - about 500 years - there are other pubs that date back to the 10th or 11th century. How do put that into perspective? I think humility is the order of the day. I think understanding and not over stating one's contribution to the fabric of the village is the important thing to remember. And only time will tell us that we have achieved that.
Or we can pillage for all its worth and do what everyone else has done, two or three years, move on and leave a mess for someone else to sort out. I know the route we plan to take.
Onto more serious stuff. Rugby. South Africa, now former world champions, lost their crunch decider quarter final against the arch enemy, Australia. I am not an expert but like all other Saffers feel that I am at least qualified to pick a world beating team and of course, in my spare time, play and ref test match rugby. And if all that fails I can and will start a petition that will change nothing and then for a week or two whine and whinge to anyone who will listen about the outcome of the game. I am at the very least better than Bryce Lawrence. And here is my measurement. When the Aussie commentators - who are as biased as all hell all the time!! - on the feed that I watched were obviously and vociferously cringing at the decisions made by the ref, decisions going in Australia's favour, then you know that there might just be something wrong. When Aussie journos slate the outcome of the game because it was a farce then you know that there might just be something wrong.
So will anything change now regarding the outcome of the game? Of course it won't. Technology that so freely exists of course won't be utilised to make the game better. 'ol Bryce will move onto to ref another game - although probably not in SA 'cos the dutchies will KKK his ass. For the next four years us Saffers will whine that we were robbed (just like NZ has done since 1991) and whoever wins on Sunday will never be the true champions because of that one game. Funny old world.
And onto other stuff. The recession. I don't know if there is a real one to be honest. I don't know anyone that has recently lost their job and will never find work again. But I'm fairly simple when it comes to this stuff. I don't know any one whose salary has been cut to put them below the poverty line. The food prices in the supermarket don't seem to be rising too much over here, petrol came down last week. You can be sure the banks still make billions, as do the supermarket chains. No. I think this whole recession is something we have talked ourselves into or something that the miserable bankers and economists have talked us into. Simplistic view yes. Still a funny old world.
Anyway, thats my lot for today and maybe even this month. I will try and write more regularly because I know that you can't wait to read the next installment. It raining. Wish you were here.
