Pick 'n Pay

This weekend's camping trip neccessitated a bit of grocery shopping, destination: Pick 'n Pay.  Living independantly neccessitates a job, so I shot out at lunch.

Pick 'n Pay was packed... who shops on a Friday at lunch time?!  I guess the government got paid yesterday, but thats no reason to skip work and go shopping.

It was a pretty uneventful trip until I walked past the cabbage display, aka ground zero.  Report just in, Asian man detonates 400g of high explosive in local shopping center.  Someone's Friday afternoon just got a whole lot more to do with 'sweeping up cabbage'.

I also spotted a polystyrene tray of ham off-cuts, all different colours... grey contrasted by spongy pink 'meat' and some nasty looking curry coloured stuff.

Spirit

Human spirit.  Its hard to pin down the trait, but theres a little somin'somin in each of us, which defies the other somin'somin in us; rational thought.

Well illustrated by Sunday afternoon's activities.  It was windy.  Ultimate (frisbee) is an awesome game, but if it has an achillies heal, its definitely prevailing weather conditions.  And yet 25 people pitched, well aware of the moving air.

So we play for 2 hours, vexed by shifting air pressure.  Then we braai.  We braai in a hurricane.  It took a three man hudle to manouvre the alight-blitz from the clubhouse, to the drum.  Even an enthusiastic kite flyer, kite'ist... guy who flies kites... would have bailed in favour of an electric frying pan.

What is that feeling you get, like an inner spicyness, when you defy yourself and end up with a boerie roll in one hand and a boerie roll in the other hand...

Buffet

Life tends toward tough, and invariably is.  Seems like everyone's battling their own one-eyed monster, hand to hand, no one spared the stress woven into today.  But it makes me happy that a group of people can get excited about a buffet, despite this.

Paying for your meal is like buying a ticket into a Theme park.  A passport to portliness.  Its a total afront to menus.  Ill have one of everything please.  Even the veg, once you've scooped a pile of corn onto your plate, you're already reaching for the carrots - and you've got 4 bowls to get past before you hit the meat podium.

I love how the meat is always slightly raised, well illuminated and above all... there.  Then the disher names your options and slaps down a piece of the good life once you've asked her for  everything.

We left satisfied.  I got attacked my a killer moth.  Well played moth.  We will meet again Country Bumpkin.

Shopping

I was in the Spar yesterday, buying cheap chocolate biscuits. Priorities.  A classic white, western ritual was playing out at the end of the biscuits and coffee isle.  A couple-shop.

We've all seen it happening... you may even have done it at some point.  I can't help but think theres a lot to it, like it might be the sort of thing the sentimental half of your relationship looks forward too... while the other half is dying a slow, inefficient death.

There's the pusher, the one who's in a constant state of cringe - crossing off another to-do list item they won't be able to complete that day, everytime he swings the trolley into another isle.

The other half, the shopper... clutching a list - more on that shortly - wobbles, shifting their weight from one foot to the other, ignoring the silent complaints of her partner, as she compares prices of every product in the store, every product.

Which begs the question - whats with the list.  If you're going to look at every price, mumble about every product... why do you have a list?!

But its a good thing the shopper has backup, you need a spotter, preventing slow speed head ons infront of the peanut butter and jam display.

Bread basket

We had supper at a nice restuarant on Friday.

The first sign you're at a nice restuarant is when they ask if you've booked.  We hadn't, but they were able to fit us in.

The second hint you're in a classy establishment, is the bread basket they deliver shortly before the meal you ordered arrives.  Interesting one this...  "Here, have some dry bread, yes... you've arrived."
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It could be a confidence thing, "Our food is so good we can leave this basket of bread infront of you, and not worry about you filling up on carbs before your lamb cutlets arrive..."

Possibly a little injoke.  "Here, eat some dry bread... we're about to over charge you for the meal you ordered, later, we may make you dance like a monkey.".

Bread sticks or not, the food was good and I left satisfied.

I switched on the kettle this morning.  No joy.  No joy with the toaster either, or the microwave.  I wondered whether we'd suffered a monstrous infrastructure failure... but further investigation revealed that there was one  electric device functioning.  The prepaid electricity meter screen. Reading "0.0".

I got a sympathetic, knowing look from the lady at the BP when I hobbled in clutching a handle full of money at 6:12.

Ride to work

The morning ride to work is always fun.

First up is my face off with the taxi offloading people on the corner of May & Beach.  I like to make sure my visor is down before I get there, so that it looks black and menacing.

Things are chilled until I make it to the 4 way at Spar.  People assume guys on bikes take gaps because they're jerks.  Have you ever tried holding in the clutch, revving (cold engine), making sure you're in first for the pull off and waving the cautious soccer mom through the intersection.  Its just not efficient.

Bar the exceptional case of a man with three arms, who's conscientious enough to let someone go first. Realistically though, given the present social discrimination against people who are 'different' and the increased chance of agressiveness associated with the stereotyped biker, its unlikely that such a fellow would have remained amiable and sensitive to the anxious leanings of middle aged woman.

Then there's the Devereux sprint, from Ronnies to the Port Rex lights.  Its us against them.  Devereux vs Hudson Avenue.  People who can do maths, vs people who think its quicker to wait in a 400m queue, squeeze through a traffic circle and then wait at a red robot.