Power Cut!

Right here in Walnut Creek, California. Kind of made me homesick, although only one appliance beeped when the power came back on. Kind of an anticlimax after getting used to a dozen or so different things announcing they were back on again.

It's now 30 days since I touched down in the good 'ol USA and I've roused myself to the point of looking through job listings. It's hard to tell if this will be easy or difficult. It certainly is hard to read some of the listings, things like: "Fluent in Klingon", "you must not be a dumb ass". I must admit to being less than interested in "dynamic, growing company in the social web space".

How about boring, solid company? Did you hear that Honda made a profit this quarter? Because they've always taken a measured approach to borrowing and expanding and concentrated on building decent cars perhaps? Maybe they have some openings.

Americans and soccer

I'm watching AC Milan vs. Chelsea in a a game in Baltimore, Maryland and now understand at least one reason why Americans don't like soccer. This is something called the "World Football Challenge", a tournament made up of European and Mexican teams, played in various American cities. That's fine. But the TV coverage makes it almost impossible to watch. They suck, suck, suck. They don't know the game, they don't know the players and most of all, they won't shut up.

I'm pretty lenient regarding sports commentators, after all I've been getting up early every morning to watch the Tour as announced by Phil Ligget and co.

Just watched Drogba put in a long distance shot into the upper left corner of the net, so maybe I'll soften my stance. What a shot! But please, if anyone wants soccer to be a success in the U.S., please take care of these other details. BTW, Mr. Drogba was awarded African Footballer of the year for 2008. Love to see him play.

Echoes of Africa

One of the realities of living outside the U.S. is the realization that U.S. is not the center of the world. In a former British colony, like Nigeria, they still look to London. So my perspective has shifted too. Phone calls go through London, plane flights and TV channels come from there. ESPN sports center, that most American of productions, is a real hoot in the European version. You can either love or hate Tommy Smyth, I love him, but there's not any American equivalent at least since Howard Cosell.

I was tickled by this comment from the Manchester Guardian concerning the recent British open. Sentimental favorite Tom Watson (59) lost in the playoff to upstart Stewart Cink and with classic cutting understatement the columnist dismissed Cink with this comment.

"Anyone who uses his acceptance speech to thank his wife for introducing him to the Almighty so fits the stereotype of boring American God-bothering Republican-supporting lime-green-hat-and-shirt and cream-trouser wearing golfer he deserves all the indifference he gets."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Anyone for Biltong?

If you had looked at my pictures, or whatever, you would have noticed that after visiting with all the animals, we went to Cape Town to be like regular tourists. For a tourist, South Africa is an interesting place. After all those issues with apartheid and sanctions and international acceptance you might suppose that you are visiting an integrated country and all get together and sing Kum Ba Yah . But as a white tourist you are not that likely to see many black people at all. As my daughter had said during our trip last year, "It's like Africa without any Africans". If you look closely, you will see blacks as maids, porters, bus boys, and other such invisible positions.

When you drive into Cape Town from the airport, there are some slums off the freeway, but they're pretty well hidden. In town, there is a thriving market around the bus station, but the guide books warn you to stay away. We had taken a cab from our hotel in Rosebank to Mandela Square in Sandton and since the driver was not that familiar with the area he dropped us off at what turned out to be the servants entrance. Rode up the lift with a group of blacks all wearing their uniforms for their respective menial jobs.

I just don't know what to make of it. It's pretty clear that racism is alive and well, but hidden now by politically correct speech and self selection. The current crop of politicians claim prestige based on how many years they had spent in prison during those dark years. President Zuma can only claim ten years on Robben Island, the next generation will have to claim new qualifications.

It's a beautiful country, and the people are as nice and helpful as any I've met. I wish them all the best for the future.

Extreme Retirement

(or my life as told on a Discovery Channel show)

(Upstairs bedroom, morning light streaming in through windows, JoJo rolls over, pulls covers over head)

NARRATOR
With the hurricane gathering strength, JoJo only has a few hours to get everything taken care of before the waves become too high. That doesn't leave much time for a shower, JoJo skips that and heads downstairs

Every year, dozens of people are injured or even killed on staircases just like this.

JOJO
(bounding down the steps, two at a time)
But I've got to take that risk, that's just who I am. There's stuff to do!

(Sounds of garbage cans being thrown around outside. Realizing it's garbage day, JoJo grabs the bag out of the kitchen wastebasket and rushes outside.)

JOJO
That's some left over chili that just leaked out onto my shoe. Can you imagine that? But the world needs it's leftover chili taken out, so I'm here to do it.

GARBAGE MAN
Hey, you better get that out here if you want that picked up. What's the matter with you anyway? Sit inside at your computer all day while we do the real work.

Here, watch this.

(Garbage truck backs over mailbox, and then rolls forward over it again for good measure. JOJO and GARBAGE MAN enjoy a hearty laugh.)

NARRATOR
But there's more than meets the eye when dealing with garbage. And that storm is still on the way. Better get the cover on the pool before the waves get too high.

(As the pool cover closes, two tiny mice dash out from their hiding place onto the plastic surface.)

STEVE IRWIN
These little guys may look small, but the bite of the suburban pool mouse is filled with bacteria that can cause gangrene and rot your finger right off.

JOJO
Handle it Steve, there's some weeds that need pulling and worms have been spotted in that area. I better look into that.

(JoJo bends over in the garden and tentatively begins to pull at some weeds.)

JOJO
Yikes! I told you there were worms in here! Look at that one, wriggling just like a worm would. And these could attract those deer that have been seen in the area. Did you know that deer hooves are sharp enough to kill?

(Doe with two fawns approaches from behind the bushes. Music swells with menace.)

JOJO
I knew if we let Martha Stewart plant that horseradish it would attract predators. That's the karma gang looking to consolidate their territory, and we might be in the way. Ever since the garter gang broke up, the entire area has been unstable.

Say STEVE, have the waves gotten too high in the pool for you to handle those critters?

STEVE IRWIN
Looks like that hurricane has turned into a blizzard. We better get over Afshin Pass before the haul road closes. Those miners need this load of gear, hop in.

(As the sun shines brightly through the blizzard/hurricane the salvage divers climb out of pool, scattering the mice and sending the karma gang into full retreat. JoJo returns to bed.)

Produce

As part of my reacclimation exercise, went to the local farmer's market yesterday. The town closes off a couple blocks of a street near downtown for local vendors to sell what's supposed to be locally grown food. I was astounded by the variety and quality of the available fruits and vegetables. Having gotten used to a limited selection, I was overwhelmed by the choices. Want tomatoes? There are several types. Everything was in great variety, especially nice were the stone fruits, something I hadn't had in quite a while. Nectarines, peaches, apricots, cherry's of several types as well as fresh sweet corn, perfect carrots, and everything else California has to offer in July.

Some of the supposedly local products were a bit of a stretch, why did a painting contractor have a booth? And the trio providing background music was just excreble, but cheerful at least. We bought a watermelon that the guy assured us was sweet but it wasn't really. I guess my next quest will be to find a watermelon with seeds. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the peaches, just heaven.

The whole affair is conducted in a kind of smug silence that I guess I'll just have to get used to. Everyone walking around like they were some kind of famous chef searching for just the right flavors for that fabulous meal they had planned. Similar to the attitude you see at intermission at the ballet, everyone showing "Hey look at me, I'm at the ballet". I was actually just looking for some food. Better remember to shell those peas today. That always reminds me of being a kid visiting the relatives in Minnesota. We would inevitably buy a bag of fresh peas along the road on the way home from wherever we had been and then us kids in the back seat would shell them as we drove back, usually with the thunderstorms gathering for the afternoon performance.

No papaya or pineapple at this market though. But plenty of good stuff to take my mind off those delights, at least for now. It was fun to see a woman shopper carrying a really nice Ghana basket, the kind with the leather wrapped handle that makes it so pleasant to carry. I wonder where she got that?

The Sucker Society

These days (I hate that expression, is it really that different to previous days?), the news and the TV is full of stories about families that have lost their houses, their RV's, their boats, their dreams.

OK, so they borrowed too much, maybe suckered in based on ads from TV, or radio or newspapers. Now they are in trouble, I guess they forgot the part about paying back what you borrow. But anyway, what kills me is that the media is full of ads for ways to get out of your problems.

For only a small fee, some "debt relief agency" will take care of that overwhelming credit card debt, or stop the foreclosure on your house and solve all your problems. Now these suckers are on the news complaining that they lost their house and had paid these clowns who promised that they wouldn't lose their house and lost that money too.

I wonder if we've gotten to the point where the society is more complex than the current level of education can deal with. I mean, if you don't understand interest, should you really be getting a "negam" loan?

Amongst the flood of ads promising to get you out of whatever situation you have got yourself into, will there ever be one that says "you lose, sucker?". After all it's not the money you spent that you didn't have, it's those evil collection agencies, credit card companies, predatory lenders. These suckers are going to get into even more trouble. Maybe they should buy another house to flip?

The Orange Cat

I've often wondered about the benches that architects sprinkle around their buildings. The ones that no one ever sits on. Often found around public buildings, again always unoccupied. Is there some quota that cities demand?

Out for a walk yesterday evening, I'm sort of at loose ends these days trying to acclimatize and figured a walk might do me good. Along our local railroad right of way become bike path, there are scattered benches, most with memorial plaques. Bike traffic was pretty heavy, and lots of walkers and joggers too. I was feeling a bit footsore so figured with my current freedom I could risk the antisocial stigma of sitting on a bench. As I sat down, I noticed a large orange cat was laying on the other end of the bench.

Another vagrant, perhaps. After a few moments the cat came over and looked at me. I'm not much of a cat person, but I could tell that he wanted a good scratch between the ears and was happy to oblige. We communed for a few moments, when I stopped petting, he snuggled up to my arm. I noticed an empty cat food can discarded in the bushes, is that the equivalent of beer cans around a homeless encampment? I would like to hear that animal's story. Living on donated food along the trail, free to himself, or someone's house cat out for a stroll when his humans have gone about their business? I'll have to go by there again and check, at least one bench got sat on anyway.

Oh, God, here I am

I'm here in the USA and going around like the proverbial chicken, headless. Got in fine, except for LOS to ATL at 13 hours is just too long, then husstle through customs and onto SFO flight for four more hours. I just don't know how to deal with people, everything is different. When the baggage guy throws my bag on the transit belt with unusual fury, should I take him to task? Or is his job to break everything in every bag?

And so quiet, what is it with you people, when someone is in your way at the baggage claim, do you just move away, or do you let them know what for? No talking allowed in the supermarket, caused a stir in Home Depot by actually demanding some help, no honking on the road, everything in whispers, what is with you people?

So much meat everywhere, I swear a lot of African families could eat for weeks at Costco, just from the demos. Me too. Had a haircut from the same woman who had cut me in March as I was leaving. She's Vietnamese and we shared some stories. Like the one about the watermelon that I bought yesterday with no seeds and no taste. She claimed that I was missing Africa and maybe I am. Would have been nice to settle into the back seat of the car and let Jesse drive, I am driving like Mr. Careful, don't know what the rules really are and some leftover caution from RSA as well. Left hand good, right hand bad!

And the TV stations are all different too. No rugby, no soccer and anyone ever heard of cricket? Is Wimbledon a foreign planet?

I swear, the USA is a bunch of narrow minded people who only care/know about their own country. But hey, the weather is great, the people understand what I am saying, and did I mention the weather? California sun. Hey Ho, let's go!