Day 78 - How Not to Carry a Bike

 

Lockdown Day 78 - Level 3 Day 12 - I had to take a drive west and it was getting too cold for the bike which means that I am getting soft during this lockdown, ahhh shame. Anyhoo so here I was in my cage and saw this atrocity before me, a scooter being carried in such an undignified manner in the back of a hatchback on it's side. I could actually cry seeing this but anger had to be controlled. 

Well my mamma did teach me that I can't say a thing until I walk in their shoes, so I don't know what the circumstances are that lead to this horrible sight but this is not how you carry a bike on another vehicle. NO!

Day 11 - Crash and Burn

 

 Lockdown Day 11 - My world has come crashing down with an email from my boss at WebSense who also owns Therabreath South Africa, terminating my employment due to the "very precarious financial position" he finds himself in due to the Corona Virus outbreak in South Africa and the lockdown that the government has put into place even after all our preparations of working from home. 

Oh well at least the rain has stopped and the sun is out drying up the tears.

Day 8 - Non Essential

 

Lockdown Day 8  - I another long run to the south of Johannesburg. I must say it is good to get about with my essential services documentation. I must say that there are many out and about breaking the lock down conditions such as this moving of a trampoline. I suppose by day 8 of lockdown has driven parents of kids insane and breaking the lock down laws has become essential before someone gets killed.

There was a large roadblock on the N1, with the mayor and press all in attendance. Thank goodness my paperwork is all in order.

Just 9km

 

I was so happy this morning, setting out on my Vespa when just 9km later it just said "how's your father"and cut out, refusing to start again. I called Dale to come pick me up and to drop the Vespa off at  the mechanic once again. At first we suspected that the fixed injector was still causing problems but it turns out that the lead cable to the spark plug had melted on the hot manifold.

Eish when is this going to end?

Hate this Traffic

 

When you see the gap then remember that you're not on the bike. Yes I hate this traffic but thank goodness I still have my pickup to fall back on. My Vespa's injector has been fixed last week but now it needs a new rear tyre, so here I am stuck in traffic once again.

Overheating Rain

 

After the heat wave of last week, rain has set in. Rain is an awesome sight but along with the rain comes the traffic snarl ups. My Vespa still has not been fixed and I am still using my pickup which is starting to show here age, 20 years, after 2 months of daily runs to work and back. One of the problems is that she is starting to overheat while sitting in traffic jams.  Oh poor old girl.

22 Days

 

And finally we get Lynda's car back after what was estimated will take 10 days, took 22 days at the panel beater, Auto Magic. The new bumper looks different, and I had to look at other Brios to see what was different, oh they forgot to paint the one section black, doesn't bother us too much but what does is that the car doesn't have aircon anymore. 

We told the insurance and the panel beaters that the aircon was damaged in the accident but the report from the panel beaters is that there is nothing wrong with the aircon, only out of gas. Oh well now we have to do it ourselves.

Additional Note: We took the car to an independent aircon specialist. They tried to fill it but found that the compressor was damaged in the accident. It is cracked and leaking gas. Which begs the question how did the panel beaters test that the aircon is okay without putting gas in? I think they must have taken a chance. Now the car has to go back.

Oopsie

 

Last week we had an oopsie with Lynda's car as it saw the back of the garage a little too close and poor Lynda had to continue to drive it without an air conditioner that is until this morning as we dropped it off at Auto Magic in Strydompark to see if they can work some magic to restore it like new. 

Back in the Cage

 

My Vespa started playing funny buggers today by missing indiscriminately. It is due for a service plus the exhaust needs to be fix so I limped it to the mechanic after work yesterday. And now I am back in the cage for the long early morning drive to work. Already I miss the Vespa.

Big City Glow

 

I haven't quite gotten over my early starts in the morning and here I am riding my Vespa at the crack of dawn into the city. This morning the sun was causing the big city to have this orange glow as it started to peak over the horizon.  

Sunrise to Work

 

Now that I have being using my pickup to work and back while my Vespa is in the shop, I have been sitting in traffic. Urgh who likes traffic, especially not me? 

I have to keep myself busy while sitting in the cage on the highway. It is still dark when I set out for work and along the way the sun decides to grace us with his presence and by the time I arrive home it is dark yet again. Oh the joys of working. 

How Not To Polish Your Car?

 

I not only have to get used to driving to work in my pickup now that my Vespa is in the Panel Beater's shop, I have to look at this! Why oh why do people do this to their poor car, oh the embarrassment she must be feeling.

I just can't get it why people leave the polish on the car for days or even weeks, getting more and more difficult to remove. Don't they know that leaving wax or polish on your car too long is BAD for the paintwork as it erodes the protective coat.

Let Kyle show you the proper way to polish your car after given it a good wash.

Last Night's Crash

It all started with a phone call from Andreas, since its the holidays the RNW is asking for patrollers to help out with traffic control. Seven hours later here we were still directing traffic.

A truck carrying wine was coming down Doreen Road and its breaks failed. At the first set of traffic lights at the bottom of the hill the truck collided into a BMW and Mercedes, pushing the Mercedes over 50m past the lights before rolling on its side trapping the driver of the Mercedes. Not to mention that the truck went over an electrical box which caused extra problems. 

Matthew and I crawled back home after 3am this morning, duty done. 

Wet Wet Wet

Thank goodness I saw the weather report this morning and decided to drive instead of ride to work. It looked like it would be a wonderful clear day but by the afternoon the clouds had closed up and the weather started to look rather ominous. By the time I left for my journey home the heavens opened up and it took me 3 hours to drive home. By this time I was wishing I was on my Vespa as I would be home by now.

Traffic Eejets

We all have to wait in the traffic, yet there are some eejets who simply cannot obey the law. This eejet along with the local taxis think that they are better than everyone else, that the traffic laws don't apply to them.

Breathe in, Jerome, Breathe out. Two days ago I was nearly taken out by a clap out pickup jumping a red traffic light, just because it was red doesn't apply to him, and all his passengers sitting in the bin who all would have died if I had being just a half a meter forward. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Well thankfully I am not always in this type of rush hour traffic.

Mystery Story

How about a mystery story today? Yesterday when my pickup was returned I discovered that the alarm, immobiliser,  and central locking was not working. Thinking that perhaps it was just a wiring connection that was forgotten I drove my pickup back to the panel beater.

While in the waiting room, waiting for the workshop manager as one does in a panel beater's waiting room, I saw a few woman magazines and this book titled "15 Mystery Short Stories". My first thought was, surely I hope I won't be that long to actually read a short story. Never in a thousand years did I think that I was about to enter an actual mystery.

It wasn't a too long of a wait, and the workshop manager arrived. I told him my story and he asked me to pull my pickup into the workshop while he went to fetch the auto-electrician who worked on my car. When the auto-electrician arrived, and I told him that my alarm does not work. He answered that there never was an alarm in the pickup when it arrived. WHAT!!!

In my hand was the pickup keys with the alarm remote. The auto electrician also thought it was odd as all the alarm wiring, siren, and anti-hijack system was in place BUT no alarm control box. He showed myself and the workshop foreman a bunch of wires that he explained that these wires go into the control box and look how they have been neatly bridged. He explained if it wasn't bridged and the alarm control box had been just yanked out it wouldn't start. The workshop foreman took some photos to cover themselves I suppose but where is my alarm?

The mystery deepens as I  phone my insurance company. Who stole my alarm? It is such an old pickup and the alarm system is old too. I don't think that they make that type any more. Anyways from what I recall. When my pickup caught on fire on Thursday 1 February it had an alarm system. My insurance company got a towing company to collect pickup and take it to their yard for the assessor to come inspect. But somehow they lost my pickup and it was only found a week later on the following Friday 9 February. I was told that when the towing company arrived to drop my pickup off, the yard was full and they took it to a yard next door. That is what I was told by my insurance broker when they finally found my pickup.

I got a call from an assessor not long after that asking me if my battery was flat. I answered no and that was the last I heard until I got an email from the insurance company that my claim was approved and that they are sending my pickup to the panel beater.

Over a month since the fire, I got my pickup back minus a alarm system. It is up to the insurance company to solve the mystery and rectify. I'll go back to reading some mystery novels. 

When it Rains

All I have is a little faith. They say even with little faith you can move mountains. I am trying, believe me, I am trying. It seems that somehow with the little faith that I have I am getting through the month but it is still piling up in front of me. 

My pickup Suzzette, was dropped off this afternoon in the midst of a highveld thunderstorm. The repair work looked okay but I could not stay long in the rain as I am down with a nasty bug since yesterday. Yes I did not eat any polony or any viennas as I don't enjoy pink slime, so it can't be that listeriosis recall.

Later when I was putting Suzzette away, I notice that the alarm did not work. Oh dear now I have to make sure that she is under lock and key for the night and the beams activated around her just to keep her safe until I can get her back to the panel beaters tomorrow morning.

Belgium Campus

Matthew has his heart set on going to the Belgium Campus ITVersity in Pretoria. He has applied and has being accepted from his Grade 11 marks but has to be ratified with his final exam marks which he has to write soon.

It was one of their Open Days and Lynda and I trekked up to Pretoria to visit this IT research focused university or ITVersity as they like to call it. The Belgium Campus is something like MIT or Caltech but on a much smaller scale.

On the way across the boerewors curtain we had to go through this tunnel and I just had to shake my head. What is with this you have to hoot or roll down the windows and howl? Ah hooooooooooooo!!!! Is it like some type of primeval instinct similar to the gathering around a fire pit. To me I think it must be a hankering memory of the birthing experience that the caveman and cavewomen still clutch onto. A save place in the womb and then this must be the light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s hope that the light is not a train, Wooooot Hoot!

Serious symptoms of grief

What a year this has been? With the violent loss of 3 cats and a dog, another dog diagnosed with a tumour, and now this. What happened yesterday was horrible of my company even when I gave many years of loyal service. It goes to show that nowadays loyalty means nothing when it comes down to greed.

Anyway somehow I have to deal with this as quickly as possible, yesterday was the shock, disbelief, denial, guilt, and anger. Not sure when the bargaining stage starts, all I know, I am still angry and depressed at the same time. I know that I need to get to the acceptance part as quick as possible as there is only a few weeks left till companies closed down for the holidays.

In the meanwhile I better get my pickup valet and start thinking about my move this weekend.

Top of the World

"I'm on top of the world, ay!" – squawked a crowned crane who thought that he is now king of the world from top of his perch which just so happens to be someone's car.

I have long since learnt the hard way of where not to park in the office park’s parking lot because on top of the world means pooping is going to happen and a lot of Jurassic toe scratches.