Today (Thursday, 6 June 2024) is the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings beginning on Normandy Beach
2024 is the year of elections not only in South Africa but in India, the UK and the USA. In India, after six weeks and more than 640 million votes cast across the country, India’s general election draws to a conclusion yesterday. Our election day was only one day, a very long day for some who opted to go and vote later in the day some queueing post the official close of the polls and only voting close to midnight. Johan and I opted to go to vote at about 9am so we could have the majority of the national day to do as we wanted; walking to and from the polling station, standing in the queue and going through all the processes, took 90 minutes which really was no issue. It is always entertaining people-watching and listening - a youngish black lady had no issue loudly proclaiming about "this old-assed white lady" which earned her a glare from me because it was just rude (conveniently forgetting how I got into trouble when, in my teens, my Dad overheard me on the home phone talking to one of my girlfriends complaining about the "old fogies" meaning him and my Mom!) The voting process was relatively straightforward after I had enquired from the DA gazebo outside the voting station which voting line we had to be in and we are still sporting the telltale proof of voting; our marked thumbnails!
Upon returning home we headed for DC Coffee as I had a number of bottle tops and bread tags to drop off there in the designated containers. For a number of years we have collected bottle tops and bread tags (it started with bread tags before the Sweethearts Foundation announced it was also collecting bottle tops). As it states on its website:
"Please help us give the gift of mobility to the poor and marginalised of our society by supporting us financially or by collecting tops and tags which we sell to recyclers."
DC Coffee were giving a free coffee to anyone who came in and was accompanied by someone who had proof that they had voted (a marketing ploy adopted by many businesses as mentioned in the last blog post) so we only paid for one cappuccino. We sat and played a couple of games of tic-tac-toe while enjoying our coffees before heading home.
DC Coffee is a place where you can pay for a coffee and post a card on a board encouraging someone who is unemployed; feeling thirsty; lonely; stressed to take a card and collect a free coffee and/or something to eat etc. Its a place of inspiration and motivation and where the owner (who has his own personal battles with mental health and who has overcome a lot as well as dealing with a lot of traumas in his life) works hard to cultivate a welcoming, warm and nurturing environment - and dogs are welcome; we had an enjoyable time there before heading home to spend the rest of the national holiday relaxing at home.
Every cuppa whether in house or takeaway has an inspirational message attached to it
The election turnout was, it was thought, significant but this was not correct.
"South Africa’s lowest voter turnout
Ahead of the May 29 elections, a record 27.7 million South Africans registered to vote. However, only 16.2 million votes were cast on election day, resulting in a voter turnout of 58.64 percent – the lowest ever in South Africa’s 30-year democratic history.
In fact, voter turnout has been on a gradual decline in recent years. In 1999, nearly 90 percent of the registered voters cast their ballots, while the 2019 election had a 66 percent turnout."
As I have blogged before, voting apathy was genuine with me even suffering from it and, for the first time ever, unsure about which party to vote for. Apparently a number of voters living in, for example, Soweto also felt that it was not worth their while to cast their voters as even though they were fed-up with the ANC and had a pantechnicon load of woes and complaints, it was not worth going to the bother to walk (in some cases quite a distance), queue and, at the end of the day, "for what?" so they did not vote. Very sad but true.
The party which was not taken seriously enough was the MK party who fared better at the polls as opposed to the Economic Freedom Fighters. Both parties are not favourable and the MK party, headed up by the criminally-convicted former president, Jacob Zuma, who is now peddling and spewing the same type of election-nonsense as Donald Trump. I am not alone in this thinking, the media are citing this too that Zuma sprouts garbage straight from the Trump playbook - rigged elections, defaming the Independent Electoral Commission, threatening violence and more. Funny how when Trump unfortunately won the 2016 USA Presidential election, that election was not rigged. It is maddening beyond believe and the true leadership of the MK party is being debated in the Electoral Court as the ousted leader of the party, Jabulani Khumalo who claims that the signature on the resignation letter purportedly from him, resigning as leader of the MK party, was forged by Zuma's firebrand daughter, Duduzile Zuma (who is also behind bombarding Twitter (I refuse to use the new name, X) with conspiracy theories including a video where Donald Trump allegedly urges all South Africans to vote for MK (as if Racist Trump would do such a thing!) MK party supporters and sycophants of Jacob Zuma attacked Jabulani Khumalo outside the Electoral Court on Monday afternoon and threats against the Commissioner of the IEC - all sound rather familiar and very deja vu post-the-2020-USA-Elections?
As the IEC were counting the votes, having the tallies verified and the results announced, winter descending with a vengeance (is this to be the Winter of our Discontent?). We had a thunderstorm in Johannesburg on Sunday (rain in winter in Gauteng is an anomaly and a winter thunderstorm is an even bigger oddity), a tornado in parts of KwaZulu Natal with devasting and tragic results and flooding in the Eastern Cape, again with fatalities and so much devastation. There is snow in parts of the country already though not in our beloved Hogsback (I have checked) and the winter season is a mere 5 days old!
Friday, 31 May was a historical day with a former USA president found guilty, by a jury, of 34 charges. Charges brought by the District Attorney, nothing to do with President Biden and yet Trump can still campaign to be president again in November - heaven help the world. In the event that he is re-elected (please dear God no) there will be so many countries that he will not be able to visit as a convicted criminal; imagine the President of the USA being barred from several countries because he is a criminal - but his cult of followers, the podcasters and You Tube who push his narratives of fake news, and conspiracy theories because to check for actual facts is a reach too far, will continue to support him and laud him like the God he thinks he is. I was hysterical watching a news clip of 2 MAGA mania fans who clearly seem to live in some mountains, possibly in a cave, with their toothless grins, crying, in fact literally sobbing, when news of the 34 guilty convictions filtered out to them; standing outside the courthouse in New York City, and the "sageing" by another supporter clearly did not work in their favour! The world has gone mad - I never thought that in my lifetime I would live in a world where there was so much hatred in terms of race and religion, and where white supremacists and neo-Nazis literally walk amongst us.
Heartening to see in Mexico, a woman has been elected as President as from 1 October, in a historical landslide win. She is an academic, having worked as a scientist in the energy sector in California before returning to Mexico.
A snapshot of the weekend and week:
Returning to home life, Johan and I were invited to breakfast on Saturday morning at Old Ducky French Cafe by Maure. I have been wanting to visit this spot for ages and it was as lovely as the reviews I have read. Its quaint with plenty of duck-related decor as can be imagined and our food was delicious, the service was top-notch and it was a really awesome time catching-up with Maure. I can't wait to return to Old Ducky French Cafe!
Having baked a batch of bran and raisin muffins on Saturday, we headed to my Mom in the afternoon so we could virtually join the memorial service for Doreen Cragg. What an experience! It was, unfortunately, a classic example of how NOT to livestream a funeral on zoom and, tragically, it was like an episode of the famous "Fawlty Towers" comedy. With octogenarians declaring "Why can't I turn my video off?" (and why can't you mute yourself all the other attendees were wondering); nobody at the church monitoring the zoom livestream and the sound from the service below sub-par, it was challenging. Johan being an IT genius had invisible smoke coming out of his ears from frustration, he knew what had been done and for an extra R50 the sound problem would have been resolved. It was so unprofessional and completely disrespectful to poor Doreen. The former Bishop of the Methodist Church was paying tribute to Doreen, almost inaudibly, and then became completely silent due to rugby commentary suddenly emanating from the zoom livestream - yes, another attendee was evidently multi-tasking watching the memorial service on a laptop or computer and watching rugby on his tv and had taken himself off mute!! This went on for about 10 minutes with a number of people restoring to the chat function to get his attention imploring him to mute himself - finally success was achieved and the sports commentary ended; but then someone else was not on mute and we were subjected to the sounds of their cellphone, rustling papers and more. Neither tribute by 2 of Doreen's 3 children could be heard at all. Very tragic and really not the memorial service which Doreen deserved.
A visit to Ruki at 7 Sins; coffee with Davida at The Daily; visits to the library for books for my Mom and me; a visit to Reea Bookshop as all books were being sold at a 50% discount for 2 days; various shopping errands for my Mom; donating blood at Nosworthy Oncology Centre; dinner a la nostra casa with Tristan and a friend; aqua classes, daily rebounder sessions; daily Duolingo sessions and knitting (yes believe it or not I do knot - very basic but I knit either squares for blankets for charities, teddy bears and baby and toddler little jerseys) is how the rest of the week has been for me. Some more nibbles for work, a motivating and encouraging call from Wendy; a wonderful catch up call with Bronwyn in Dubai, and various communications with a number of other friends has really helped me to not descend into the dark hole of depression.
I had the opportunity to attend a free webinar today "Think Like an Entrepreneur, not an Employee" which was very educational, enjoyable, insightful and inspiring. It was not a webinar regarding possible work opportunities but rather about growing one's brand, and how to enhance and market ourselves as entrepreneurs.
I am working at the process of letting go of worrying and anxiety about work; I have to have faith in the process and let God and the universe reveal what the big plan for me is. Updates re work will be given as and where they are relevant.
Taken from the New York Times newsletter, Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Where I have been:
7 Sins - https://7sins.co.za/
DC Coffee - https://www.dccoffee.co/ DotDot Direct - https://dotdot.direct/
The Daily - https://www.thedailycoffeecafe.co.za/
What have I been listening to?
Podcasts:
Betrayal Season 3
Blood is Thicker (a true crime story)
Fallen Angels (an excellent investigation and exposure into Los Angeles' darkest corridors of power and wealth)
Something was Wrong
The Daily
The Damage Report
The Girlfriends
The Meidas Touch
The Rise and Fall of Ruby Franke
To Die For
White Devil
What have I been reading? What am I reading?
"All the Broken Places" by John Boyne
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" by Elizabeth Adler
What have I been watching?
My usual bubblegum shows so I can decompress and not think; and just be entertained
Ciao House (filmed in Puglia, Italy)
Netflix: Geek Girl
The Parisian Agency
Notre Dame
Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery
The Outreau Case : A French Nightmare
And that's a wrap for now - remember if you have any Parisian related suggestions, please let me know; ditto for Italy and in the meantime, stay safe, keep warm and dry if you are in South Africa, keep cool if you are in the warmer parts of the world, and thank you for reading my blogs and supporting me the way you do!
With love, light and blessings - adieu et a bien tot!
Barbara
